Truly Dreadful Film

Good idea lost in the noise

good back-story, and good acting

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Sam Peckinpah had been active on such early TV adult westerns as Gunsmoke and The Rifleman, but he hoped to and dreamed of creating the most authentic TV cowboy show of all. Originally to have been titled "The Lone Westerner," it finally reached network TV in the fall of 1960, and lasted maybe thirteen weeks before being unceremoniously canceled. Meanwhile, Bonanza - the most stupid and least realistic western of all time - was allowed to continue even though it didn't initially score in the ratings. But I'm off track. The Westerner was every bit as good as Peckinpah (who wrote some episodes, directed others) wanted it to be. Attention to historic detail was fabulous, and it had the kind of grim, no-nonsense qualities that made Gunsmoke so terrific during its first three seasons - when it was, briefly, the High Noon of TV westerns rather than the corny folksy show it all too quickly degenerated into. Keith had a John Wayne kind of quality that served the show admirably while that underrated character actor John Dehner played his sometimes sidekick, Burgundy Smith. Throw in the dog from Old Yeller (here called Brown, which was his real name) and some intriguingly anecdotal tales, all very anti-heroic, and you had a show that captured the escapades of an ordinary saddle tramp in a way that no other did. Tom Gries, who later mounted the magnificent western movie Will Penny, tried out some of the plots and characters of that 1968 film here. Look for such later Peckinpah stock company members as Warren Oates in the varied casts.

A few of the episodes were weak, yes, but the over-all concept and execution of this show was brilliant. I have always thought that Peckinpah was an extremely erratic director.I am in the minority, but he was at his purest and best early in his career. Ride the High Country, for example, is one of the supreme masterpieces of the western genre.Peckinpah made an well acted, philosophical western, with little violence, and displayed care and craftsmanship making it. True afficionados of the western genre recognize it as one of the few truly original or interesting Television Westerns ever made. It is a shame that no network exists where shows like this can be re-run. Instead we get TV land showing endless reruns of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.

I've seen just two episodes of this series. In one, the hero drifted into a place that turned out to be a viper's nest. I don't remembered much about the plot, but the photography and suspense were excellent.The other was set during a town's Independence Day celebration. The dude played by John Dehner, quite tipsy, offers the hero an amount for his dog. He declines. One takes a swing and they spend the rest of the episode trying to fight amidst marching bands, dancing girls, etc. It was supposed to be funny, but instead was painfully boring.One could say that these episodes reflected Peckinpah's work in general: either great or awful, with little in between.

This show was nothing less than brilliant. I saw it when it was first out, when I was in my last year of high school. I knew it was too good to be true then, and, sure enough, I was right.It is to westerns on television what Fawlty Towers was to comedy. Yes, it was that good...