Rawhide: The Complete First Season

Rawhide holds so many memories for me, like other reviewers I am transported back over 45 years with the whole family settling down to watch it. The series has many memorable features, not least the opening theme tune sung by Frankie Laine, without doubt the best ever western theme. Every episode ended with the refrain, 'Head'em up, move'em out!' usually (but not always) uttered by the trail boss Gil Favor (Eric Fleming). It was the quintessential western series and in my opinion the best. Seeing a few episodes on TCM enticed me into buying this set and I am so glad I did. There is always a danger when revisiting childhood favourites like this; seen through modern day eyes the production shortcomings become glaringly obvious and cause sadness and disappointment, but in this case I needn't have worried. I loved it from the start and was delighted at how well the series had stood the test of time. The storylines are intelligent tackling the problems familiar to cattles drives on the Sedalia Trail; the constant need for water, fighting amongst the drovers, hostility from towns and farmers, cattle rustlers and dodgy lone characters that crossed their path. I was surprised to find it tackled head on the issue of racial predudice (against Native Americans and Mexicans) at a time when racial segregation was still the norm in many southern US States. There is a substantial amount of violence but unlike so much modern TV it isn't gratuitous or graphic. It is filmed in black and white and for me this only added to my enjoyment as it gave an edge to it all. I found the scenes where the drovers are herding the cattle across vast dusty plains or through deep meandering rivers strangely satisfying; perhaps watching Rawhide as a boy planted a seed in my mind and I wanted to grow up to be a drover all the time but never realised it until now, too late I think. Given his phenomenal career, launched by this series, it was inevitable that today's marketing ploys promote Clint Eastwood as the star of the show. He plays the ramrod (a kind of foreman), Rowdy Yates, but for me the star always was and remains Eric Fleming. He is superb as Gil Favor, the hard as nails but fair-minded trail boss, who's job it is to get the cattle to the railhead at Sedalia, overcoming all kinds of obstacles and dicey situations in the process. Sadly his career was tragically cut short when he died in a drowning accident not long after leaving the series aged 41. Other memorable characters are the cook Wishbone (Paul Brinegar), his sidekick Mushy (James Murdoch) and scout Pete Nolan (Sheb Wooley). I'll definitely be buying more DVD sets of this series.

The dvds was in a very good condition and l like television western dvds

The film is great picture quality not that good but its very old but overall a good buy if you like western films like i do

Some old TV series can be a disappointment when you view them many years later - they somehow don't look so good as your memory suggested! But "Rawhide" is an exception. Channel 4, to their credit, re-ran many of the episodes a while back. "Rawhide" stands apart from so many 1960s Westerns, in which the heroes look so impeccably turned out, with never a speck of dust and dirt on then. Instead "Rawhide" portrays grubby, smelly, tatty drovers, who bleed when they get thumped or shot, and bicker amongst themselves; the series features historically-credible and authentic detail with consistently credible storylines. For instance, our heroes aren't referred to as "cowboys", but "drovers" - a minor point but hey, that's authenticity for you. The black-and-white photography seems to enhance the atmosphere and the acting's pretty top-notch from the ensemble cast too. This is classic quality TV. Roll on the rest of the series please.

Very pleased with service and product thanks

I love Westerns. They are the only films I usually collect on DVD, as they always seem so adventurous, and the scenery is always so picturesque. This set and the other two volumes and two forthcoming volumes, one of which is due shortly contain the complete Rawhide television episodes from 1959 to 1965. The title track which I love was sung by Frankie Laine, one of the greatest singers. But I am a bit averse to the fact it is all in black and white, which is why I deducted a star, as by then all films were being made in color. But this may have been because it was a television series, and a lot of people in the UK still only had black and white television. But in the States where these episodes were filmed, it may have been different, as the Americans were always in advance to the British in regards technology. I have copy-pasted this review for all three volumes, so the review for them is identical.

I actually cannot review the item itself, as it was bought as a gift! However, as Amazon asked me to, I WILL say that the recipient, my Father on the occasion of his 81st birthday, was absolutely thrilled with it!This is a TV series he remembers with great fondness, and has always wanted to view repeatedly. He had recorded several episodes on his Sky box, but when it needed a total reset, he lost the lot... Cue this gift, at exactly the right time!I fully intend to purchase more in the set, as future gifts for him. I was very pleased with the speed of delivery from Amazon, and will likely use them for this future purpose.Again, apologies as I cannot offer details on the quality of recording or the content.

My husband was reminiscing about Rawhide and how much he'd enjoyed it as a boy, so when I saw this on offer I snapped it up. We found that the stories (predictable morality tales, where the baddie gets his comeupance) have stood the test of time pretty well. Criminals are humanised - except English ones who are irrevocably evil - and there are even a few strong roles for the girls. OK, not many, but a few. Given how old these are, the camera work is astounding and there are some great stampede shots! The Rawhide theme tune has to be one of the best ever. Now I'm hooked too and looking forward to series two.

Have to agree with another reviewer here: poor quality, and nothing like the series we already have ( 3 and 2) which are of a much better clarity and quality. Just received today, saw one now on our large movie screen, disappointing:(. Three stars are too many, should be 1.

日本版があまりに高価なのでこの原版を購入。もちろん、日本語字幕なしどころか英語字幕なしも承知の上で。言葉がすべて分からなくても映画やテレビドラマは分かるというのが経験済みだったからである。とにかく全22話のこのシーズン1が送料込みで2000円しないのだからお買い得。イーストウッドファンだし吹き替えの山田康生ファンだから、そりゃあ吹き替え版をちゃんと観たい気持ちは山々だが、そこは諦めた。で、買って正解だった。まだ全話観たわけではないが面白い。フェーバーさんの貫禄もいいし、何と言っても29才の若きイーストウッドは魅力的だ。この時の青年俳優が後々、大スターになるとは 〰 と感慨に耽ってしまう。ドラマその物ははあんまり密度はないし、率直に言って大した物とは言えない。でも気楽に観るにはいい。6年前のテレビドラマってこういう感じだったわけね、と妙に納得が行く。

gut gemachte Serie, sollte öfter gesehen werden. kann man in Erinnerungen schwelgen.freue mich schon auf Serie Nummer 2, danke für die komplete 1 Staffel.

For all those Clint Eastwood fans out there! It's amazing that he was so 'craggy' even when he was 'just a kid!' This is a great show to watch, even after all these years. They tackled some touchy issues, including a very sympathetic view of the plains Indians (at least sympathetic for the day). The intro evolves over the course of the series to show different scenes, but the music & song remain unchanged. Rowdy Yates (Eastwood) is excellent in his role, a naive young man with a good heart and sense of right and wrong, while still being willing to get 'talked into things' on occasion. All the regular characters are stereotypical, but played out well by the actors. The sound stage sets are well dressed and are quite convincing. The outdoor scenes really do make you suspend your disbelief and let you see into the hardships of the people who lived and work along the trail that these cowhands traveled. All the central actors are excellent horseman &/or ride well at least (of course, the horses are actors too). And, the stuntwork is well done and 'believable.'Very enjoyable for 8 year-olds and older. (A bit too much for those toddlers and very young kiddies to grasp or appreciate.) All in all, a very collectible series. Can hardly wait for the second half of season two to be issued.

As the producer says about the only just "in town' episode, he got a lot of angry mail afterwards because people loved the great outdoor action of the drovers and their cattle as they constantly moved into the unknown territory of the Sedalia Trail. This great long running western adventurer had one of the best ensemble casts of all the westerns. Clint Eastwood, who became the popular star, played youthful beefcake, brave and quick tempered ramrod, balanced by Eric Fleming's hard nosed, mature and responsible trail boss. In addition, Paul Brineger plays the classic tough, short tempered and frequently criticized chuck wagon cook who runs the camp when the cattle stop moving and he is one of the many actors who add so much to this western. The supporting casts features two men that look and act like real drovers and not Hollywood cowboys, Steve Raines as Jim Quince and Rocky Shahan as Joe Scarelet. Rounding out the cast is the man in the middle, Sheb Wooley (High Noon) who plays Pete Nolan the experienced scout and expert on Indians. And there is even a touch of comedy relief played by James Murdock as Mushy, the cook's louse. Robert Cabal as Hey Soos, the Ramuda wrangler, has a limited spot the first year. What was unique about Rawhide is that it had a real grimy touch of realism with a real cow herd, a predominately outdoor set that looks like north Texas and it features great acting and dialogue such as "You knew we were drovers by our look or are smell?" This first year has a touch of naivety in some of the episodes but Eric Fleming's booming voice and his character always add the touch of reality. His motto is business first and avoid unnecessary entanglements but when they intersect trouble they tend to get involved. This first year has a great collection of guest stars that include Lon Chaney, Jr., Martin Milner (Route 66), Brian Keith (Mountain Men), Beverly Garland (My Three Sons), James Drury (The Virginian), Rick Jason (Combat), Leslie Nielson (Airplane), Martin Landau (Mission Impossible), Linda Cristal (High Chaparral) and on. The stories seem to get better and better as the series developed particularly the battle over water in the "Dry Drive" and there is even a psychological drama of a shadowy hired killer stalking the men in the herd called "Executioner". Excellent first year, the cast stayed through the run until Sheb Wooley (also a singer who sang the great 50s hit "Purple People Eater') left for two years and Fleming skipped the last season and ironically drowned in his last film. The only blemish besides the "in town" episode was an excellent episode about wolves stalking the herd with a killer in their midst. Due to the lack of trained wolves, it clearly appears that they had to use several German shepherds running in the dark. But overlook that and you have one of the more fascinating episodes. The quality of the DVD film is excellent although in some episodes the dark scenes are not very discernible. Each episode includes an episode guide that often highlights the guest stars and there is a write up on Clint. Excellent 7 disc set with all 22 hour long episodes (without commercials of course). Hurrah, hurrah for DVD.