DVD Review: Rawhide: The Complete First Season
Those were the first words spoken by the trail boss before the credits began during each episode of the popular 1959 television show Rawhide. On the air for eight seasons from 1959 thru 1966, Rawhide was the Western that launched the career of Clint Eastwood. The show was a hit from the start, and held a position as one of the top ten rated shows during its first season. Alongside Eastwood, Rawhide starred Eric Fleming, James Murdoch, Joseph Scarlett, and Steven Raines.
At over 19 hours, the 23 episodes from the first season of Rawhide would be fun for any fan of Eastwood or older Western dramas. Each episode of Rawhide has the feel of an epic made for television. The open West is extremely detailed and features a variety of sets from old dusty towns to the wide open range. There are plenty of horses, cattle, and other animals you would expect to find there.
Eric Fleming portrays the series lead, Gil Favor. He is the trail boss for the cattle drive that has left Texas with its herd. Young ranch hand Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) has to learn the ways of cattle driving and get used to life under the leadership of Favor. The cook, Harkness “Mushy” Mushgrove (James Murdoch), is a crusty veteran of cattle drives and provides comic relief. The rest of the crew includes Sheb Wooley (Pete Nolan), Wishbone (Paul Brinegar), and Jim Quince (Steven Raines), among others. While watching Rawhide: The Complete First Season, it was fascinating to see the number of well known people who made guest appearances on the show. Guest stars included: Lon Chaney Jr., Dick Van Patten, Star Trek’s DeForest Kelley, Leslie Nielsen, and Martin Landau.
The episodic nature of Rawhide allows for enough character development and story continuity to keep the show entertaining and fun. However, because each episode isn’t tied to the last, you can watch each episode in sequence or out of order, and not miss a beat. Certainly watching a cattle drive week after week could get boring pretty fast. However, with the changing scenery, romantic interests, and never-ending adventures, Gil Favor and his boys keep every episode interesting. Rawhide: The Complete First Season should be a welcome addition to anyone’s classic television collection.
The DVD itself is pretty good, considering these episodes of Rawhide are from 1959. Each episode is presented in the 1.33:1 black and white formatting of the original series. The black and white clarity is pretty good, the footage is a bit scarred but it doesn’t distract from your viewing of the episodes.
The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 mono. If you are watching Rawhide: The Complete First Season using a home theater system, you’ll hear some slight pops and hisses in the soundtrack at higher volume levels. This is probably due to the age of the source material. Fortunately, the dialogue is clear and doesn’t detract from the overall viewing experience.
The extras on Rawhide: The Complete First Season pose an interesting question. “Incident of the Roman Candles” is listed on the set as a bonus episode from season two. The Internet Movie Database and a couple of other sites list the episode as number 23 of season one. So that’s kind of interesting and I wonder if we will see the episode in the season two collection. Aside from that mystery, each disc contains facts about Clint Eastwood’s legendary career as well as a screen of production notes. While the extras on this set aren’t spectacular, the show holds up well on its own.
Rawhide: The Complete First Season was enjoyable to watch, and fans of the Western genre should definitely rustle up a copy. Clint Eastwood, was good as Rowdy Yates, but had yet to develop the persona that would make him a star. Any fans of Eastwood will want to pick up this collection to watch the young actor developing his craft. While the extras aren’t great, with over 20 hours of episodes, Rawhide: The Complete First Season offers a lot to see. Plus, I just love that familiar theme song. It has crept into my head on and off since I watched this DVD set.
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