Wanted: Dead or Alive. From Season 1. With Steve McQueen.

This show is new to me. I thought I would share. Wanted: Dead or Alive, is a Western television show starring Steve McQueen that ran for three seasons from 1958 to 1961.






McQueen's first break would not come in film, but on TV. Elkins contacted Vincent M. Fennelly, producer of the Western series Trackdown, to have McQueen try out for the part of a bounty hunter, Josh Randall, in a pilot for a Trackdown companion series. McQueen performed as the Randall character in an episode of Trackdown, working with Robert Culp, after which McQueen filmed the pilot episode. The pilot was approved for a series titled Wanted: Dead or Alive on CBS in September 1958. In the interviews included in the DVD of "Wanted", Trackdown's star Robert Culp takes credit for bringing McQueen out to Hollywood and for getting him the part in The Bounty Hunter. He also claims to have taught McQueen the "art of the fast-draw", adding that, on the second day of filming, McQueen beat him. Like many of Culp's claims, it is not supported by the evidence. Randall's special holster held a sawed-off 44.40 Winchester rifle nicknamed the "Mare's Leg" instead of the standard six-gun carried by the typical Western character, although the cartridges seen in the gun belt were dummy 45.70, chosen because they "looked tougher". Along with the negative image of the bounty hunter (noted in the three-part DVD special on the background of the series) this added to the anti-hero image along with a mixture of mystery that made this show stand out from the typical TV Western. Ninety-four episodes, filmed at Apacheland Studio from 1958 until early 1961.

Son of Pale Face (1952).

Son of Paleface (1952), is a western comedy film and sequel to The Paleface (1948). Director: Frank Tashlin and written by Tashlin, Joseph Quillan and Robert L. Welch. It was thought to be better than the earlier movie. Cast: Bob Hope, Jane Russell, and Roy Rogers, who sings his song "A Four Legged Friend" to his horse Trigger. Russell plays a masked lady bandit who has been terrorising the town of Sawbuck Pass. Rogers is the undercover agent who is sent to catch her, while Hope travels to the west to collect his father's fortune.

Roy Rogers and Trigger.

Trigger, performed in all of Roy's movies, 88 movies total by Roy's count. Trigger also performed with Roy in all 100 episodes (some sources say 104) of The Roy Rogers Show on television, which aired from 1951 - 1957.

Joel Mc Crea.

Joel McCrea, began his movie career by performing as an extra in a serial starring Ruth Roland. By 1920, McCrea was a movie stunt double, and by the time he attended USC, he was regularly performing at the Pasadena Playhouse. McCrea's big Hollywood break came with a part in the 1929 talkie Jazz Age. He became one of the most popular action stars of the 1930s, making lasting friendships director Cecil B. DeMille and Will Rogers. It was Rogers who taught McCrea to have a strong business sense, as well as a love of ranching. Concentrating on westerns after performing in The Virginian (1946), McCrea became one of Westerns biggest box-office attractions. He extended his western fame to an early-1950s radio series, Tales of the Texas Rangers, and a weekly 1959 TV oater, Wichita Town, in which McCrea costarred with his son Jody.

List of Joel Mc Crea Westerns:

Dead End (1937)
Wells Fargo (1937)
Union Pacific (1939)
Buffalo Bill (1944)
The Great Moment (1944)
The Unseen (1945)
The Virginian (1946)
Ramrod (1947)
Four Faces West (1948)
South of St. Louis (1949)
Colorado Territory (1949)
The Outriders (1950)
Stars in My Crown (1950)
Saddle Tramp (1950)
Cattle Drive (1951)
Rough Shoot (1953)
Lone Hand (1953)
Border River (1954)
Black Horse Canyon (1954)
Stranger on Horseback (1955)
Wichita (1955)
The First Texan (1956), featuring son Jody McCrea
The Oklahoman (1957)
Trooper Hook (1957)
The Tall Stranger (1957)
Cattle Empire (1958)
Fort Massacre (1958)
The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959)
Ride the High Country (1962)
The Young Rounders (1966)
Sioux Nation (1970)
Cry Blood, Apache (1970), starring son Jody McCrea(pictured below).
Mustang Country (1976)

Colorado Territory(1949)

Colorado Territory (1949). Cast: Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo and Dorothy Malone. A remake of the 1941 film noir High Sierra. Both films were directed by Raoul Walsh. The story was remade again in 1955 as I Died a Thousand Times with Jack Palance and Shelley Winters.

Outlaw Wes McQueen, escapes from jail and travels to Colorado Territory, where he is planning to meet , Dave Rickard, so they can plan a train robbery.. On the stage, he befriends Fred Winslow and his daughter Julie Ann, who headed for their new ranch. Outlaws kill both of the stage drivers, Wes brings the stage safely into town. Wes's next stop is a ghost town, where Duke Harris and Reno Blake are waiting for him . Wes is concerned about dance hall dancer, Colorado Carson, might cause trouble between the men. When she he warns him about the unreliability of Homer Wallace, he decides to let her stay. Later, he rides into town to visit the Winslows and learns that the land they bought is waterless. Wes's attraction to Julie Ann makes him want to settle down. Dave asks Wes to pull one last job before he quits. On his way back to the hideout, Wes stops again at the Winslows with a new dress for Julie Ann and money to help them to dig a well. Winslow, tries to let Wes down easy when he tells him that Julie Ann, is in love with Randolph. Back at Todos Santos, Wes learns that Colorado presence is causing trouble between the men and asks Colorado to move into his room. She tells him that she he is in love with him, he lets her know that his plans do not include her. Duke and Reno are captured by the sheriff's men. When Wes and Colorado arrive at Dave's with the money, they learn that he has died. Later, Wes finds Pluthner, trying to steal the money and kills him, unfortunately, Wes is also wounded in the fight. After sharing his and Colorado real identity with the Winslows, he asks for their help.. Winslow agrees to help, but Julie Ann, tries to turn him in for the reward. Wes quickly leaves with Colorado.


After Duke and Reno are hanged, they think it would be better if they separate. Wes rides toward Mexico, leaving Colorado at Todos Santos, where She learns the posse plan to surround Wes in the Canyon of the Dead. Will Colorado get there in time to save Wes?


I just recently saw Colorado Territory, for the first time. I think it maybe one of my favorite westerns . Joel McCrea is perfect for the character he plays. the scenery is beautiful. It looks like it was filmed in Canyon de Chelly, one of my favorite places...

The Man from Laramie (1955)

The Man from Laramie (1955). Director: Anthony Mann. Cast: James Stewart. In their seventh movie. It was adapted from a story of the same title by Thomas T. Flynn first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1954, and a novel by publisher Ward Lock in 1955.

Will Lockhart, after delivering supplies ends up in trouble with the Waggomans, an influential ranching family, as he continues his search for someone selling rifles to the local Apaches after his brother was killed.. In one of my favorite scenes: Cattle baron Alec Waggomanis comes to get Will out of jail. He confides to Will that he is haunted by visions of a stranger who intends to do him harm and is losing his eyesight and can't count on his son Dave.
 Movie clip: Do you dream much?

Back to work Lockhart, believes he can collect salt for free, but Dave Waggoman accuses him of stealing and destroys every thing he owns. Lockhart returns to town, looking for Dave and ranch foreman Vic. After their fight, he goes to Alec Waggoman for payment for his loss. Alec sides with his son. Vic rides after Dave and catches him trying to sell guns to the Apaches. Vic shoots him and lets Alec believe that Lockhart was the one to shoot his son.. Lockhart takes refuge with rancher, Kate Canady. Alec wants to know for himself, if his son Dave was selling rifles to the Apaches. He is stopped by Vic, who pushes Waggoman from his horse and down a hill. Kate takes in Waggoman and tends to his wounds. Vic is worried because Waggoman is still alive and can identify him. He tries again to kill Alec but is stopped by Lockhart, who goes after Vic.Vic ends up attacked by the Apaches and is killed. Lockhart leaves town, but hints to Barbara Waggoman that some day he may return.

Another wonderful western by a man who gave some of his best performances.

Fun facts:

James Stewart starred in five classic western movies by director Anthony Mann. In all five, he plays a man who is haunted by the past. The films are famous for their use of the landscape to portray the characters' feelings.
Winchester '73 (1950)
Bend of the River (1952)
The Naked Spur (1953)
The Far Country (1954)
The Man from Laramie (1955)

Rawhide 3-3-1961

Rawhide (1959-1966), with Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, and Paul Brinegar. Rawhide was the fifth-longest-running television Western, beaten by nine years of The Virginian and Wagon Train, fourteen years of Bonanza, and twenty years of Gunsmoke.

Clint Eastwood got his role in "Rawhide" (1959) while visiting a friend at the CBS lot when a studio exec spotted him because he "looked like a cowboy.

Fleming co-wrote two episodes of "Rawhide" (1959) with Chris Miller: "A Woman's Place" and "Incident of a Night on the Town". He appeared in three episodes of "Bonanza" (1959) following his departure from "Rawhide".

Brinegar made over 100 appearances between 1946 and 1994, appearing in many western films, and played the barman in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in 1973. He was best known for his long-running role as the cook, "Wishbone," in Rawhide. In 1969, he performed in the Western Charro! starring Elvis Presley.

Rawhide was one of my favorite western TV shows in the 50s and 60s.