The Virginian – The Complete First Season (1962 – 1963/aka The Men From Shiloh/Timeless Media DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: B
Among the
many hit Westerns that have not found new audiences, The Virginian has been one of the less-discussed hits, despite a
9-season run. NBC produced it with the
Revue TV division of Universal Pictures (they were separate companies then) and
started it in color as NBC was owner by TV manufacturer RCA, determined to have
product to show off the hot new item of the day: color TVs.
James
Drury played the title character, living on the Shiloh Ranch in the late 1800s
and helping out and working with those who live there (including Lee J. Cobb,
Doug McClure, Gary Clarke and Roberta Shore) as the moral center of the area
surrounded by good people (including Pippa Scott in a recurring role), bad
people and interests near and abroad that may have other plans. You get your murders, thieves, crooks,
schemers and businessmen out to rob and pillage in any way they can. Yes, it is the typical Western TV formula.
However,
what distinguished it from other Westerns is the amount of ambition, production
and larger scope of the episodes than most of the series made in the
genre. The teleplays may not be as memorable
as some of the very best such series (Have
Gun, Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Bonanza), but this is up there with The Big Valley as a solid A- level
production. Having not seen the show for
literally decades, it was only somewhat memorable. No fan of the genre, I was surprised how rich
the show was and more so than I may have considered at the time.
The
remarkable list of guest stars for this debut season include Bette Davis, Ida
Lupino, Colleen Dewhurst, John Larch, Richard Bull. Hugh O’Brian, Parley Bear,
Jack Warden, Ted Knight, Ricardo Montalban, Aldo Ray, Mickey Shaughnessy, Hal
Needham, Robert Colbert, Jim McMullan, Eddie Albert, Tom Skerritt, Lee Marvin,
Albert Salmi, Claude Akins, Charles Aidman, James Gregory, Brandon De Wilde,
Alice Backes, Harold Gould, Byron Murrow, Woodrow Parfrey, Carol Lynley,
Shirley Knight, Brian Keith, Geraldine Brooks, DeForest Kelley, Ben Johnson,
Herb Vigran, Ben Wright, Ken Lynch, Tammy Grimes, Regis Toomey, Fabian, Charles
McGraw, Nancy Sinatra, Robert Vaughn, Dana Wynter, Phyllis Avery, Gene Lyons,
R.G. Armstrong, Barbara Barrie, J. Pat O’Malley, Ford Rainey, David Wayne, Nina
Foch, Denver Pyle, Michael Rennie, Paul Sorensen, Robert Duvall, Don ‘Red’
Berry, Howard Duff, Joey Heatherton, Edward Asner, Grace Lee Whitney, Richard
Anderson, Jocelyn Brando, Skip Homeier, Harry Morgan, Jeanette Nolan, Dolores
Hart, Joe De Santis, Jeannine Riley, Alvy Moore, Ann Doran, Whit Bissell, Don
Galloway and Bert Freed.
This tin
box set (with a paperboard booklet holding 11 DVDs) includes all 30 episodes
from the first season, including the 90-minutes-long telefilm pilot, a TV
first. You get your share of courtroom
drama, all kinds of well-constructed & well decorated sets, gunfights,
action and nice outdoor shooting. The
show simply did not make syndication in the long term after the 1970s and has
been somewhat forgotten in the cannon of TV Westerns, but I don’t see why
outside of the Western’s decline. The
genre has been somewhat revived for a while anyhow, so this set is long overdue.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot on 35mm film and the show was lucky enough to have gifted
cameramen throughout its run. Lionel
London, Benjamin H. Kline and Russell Metty served as Director of Photography
on most of the shows here. Color is
good, but we do get some softness here and there, plus a few print flaws, but
this looks very good for its age and will surprise those who have not seen it
for decades. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is
also not bad from show to show, but can be compressed and show its age. Percy Faith did the theme song. In combination, playback is usually good for
the format. Extras are interviews
contained as all of the content of DVD 11, all new including Drury, Shore,
Robert Fuller, Peter Brown and Guy Clark.
- Nicholas Sheffo
