May 26, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES I, II, III & IV • Page 31 Classic TV Western broke time slot tradition by Dennis Seuling Until “The Virginian” bowed on NBC in the fall of 1962, Westerns were relegated to either half-hour or one-hour time slots. The network took a chance, counting on the popularity of Westerns at the time, to expand a weekly Western series to 90 minutes. The gamble paid off. The show ran through 1971, chalking up a total of 249 episodes. “The Virginian” is the third longest-running TV Western, behind only “Gunsmoke” and “Bonanza.” “The Virginian: The Complete First Season” (Timeless Media) contains all 30 full-color episodes from the first season. The 1902 Owen Wister novel on which the series was based was set in the town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming in the 1890s, and chronicled the lives and relationships of the people who traveled west to settle the wild land. The title refers to a man of mystery whose past was unknown. The novel was first adapted to the screen as a silent picture directed by Cecil B. DeMille. There was another silent film in 1923 and then the 1929 sound version starring Gary Cooper as the man with no name. Joel McCrea reprised the role on the big screen in 1946. The story was one of the best known in the genre by the time it hit home screens. For the TV series, James Drury starred in the title role as foreman of the Shiloh Ranch. Doug McClure portrayed Trampas, a devil-may-care lovable rogue, and Lee J. Cobb played patriarchal figure and ranch owner Judge Garth. Gary Clark, Pippa Scott, and Roberta Shore rounded out the cast of regulars. Filmed mostly in the greater Los Angeles area, on the back lots and sound stages of Universal Studios and at surrounding ranches, “The Virginian” was strengthened by A-list guest stars. In the first season, George C. Scott, Lee Marvin, Bette Davis, Robert Duvall, Brian Keith, Colleen Dewhurst, Hugh O’Brian, Gena Rowlands, Jack Warden, Ricardo Montalban, Fabian, Eddie Albert, Vera Miles, and Ida Lupino made guest appearances. The collector’s set is packaged in a handsome, embossed tin container. In addition to the entire first season, the set includes a bonus disc containing interviews with star James Drury and cast members Gary Clark, Roberta Shore, Robert Fuller, and Peter Brown. “Stagecoach” (The Criterion Collection) is one of the greatest of big-screen Westerns. Directed by John Ford, it is the film that made John Wayne a star and associated James Drury stars as the man with no name in the TV series, ‘The Virginian,’ the third longest running TV Western of all time. him with the Western genre for the rest of his career. Until “Stagecoach,” the Western was relegated to the B-picture format. Ford showed that with a solid story, interesting characters, and plenty of action, a Western could hold its own as an A-list film. The plot concerns a group of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory. The passengers include an alcoholic doctor (Thomas Mitchell), a woman (Louise Platt) traveling to her cavalry officer husband, a mousy whiskey salesman (Donald Meek), a gambler and Southern gentleman (John Carradine), and a prostitute (Claire Trevor) driven out of town by the Law and Order League. The Ringo Kid (John Wayne) rides shotgun. Though Wayne and Ford were friends, Ford had not used Wayne in any of his 1930s pictures, telling him to wait until he was ready as an actor. In doubt about casting the Ringo Kid, Ford showed Wayne the script and asked his opinion. Wayne suggested Lloyd Nolan, but eventually Ford asked Wayne to star. That presented a problem with securing financing. Wayne had starred in only one big-budget Western, “The Big Trail” (1930), and that was a box office flop. Producer Walter Wanger wanted Gary Cooper, but Ford held firm on his decision to cast Wayne. Ford shot much of “Stagecoach” in Monument Valley, providing some breathtaking images of the West’s natural splendor. 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