Rawhide (TV series)

Last updated

Rawhide
Rawhide-show.jpg
Opening title sequence
Genre Western
Created by Charles Marquis Warren
Starring
Theme music composer
Opening theme"Rawhide" performed by Frankie Laine
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons8
No. of episodes217 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerBen Brady
Producers
Production locations
Cinematography
Editors
Running time50 min.
Production company CBS Television Network Productions
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseJanuary 9, 1959 (1959-01-09) –
December 7, 1965 (1965-12-07)

Rawhide is an American Western television series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. The show aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights from January 9, 1959, [1] to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965, until December 7, 1965, with a total of 217 black-and-white episodes. The series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren, who also produced early episodes of Gunsmoke . The show is remembered by many for its theme song, "Rawhide".

Contents

Spanning 7+1⁄2 years, Rawhide was the sixth-longest-running American television Western, exceeded only by Wagon Train , The Virginian , Bonanza , Death Valley Days , and Gunsmoke.

Synopsis

Set in the 1860s, Rawhide portrays the challenges faced by the drovers of a cattle drive. Most episodes are introduced with a monologue by Gil Favor, trail boss. In a typical Rawhide story, the drovers come upon people on the trail and involve themselves in other people's affairs, usually encountering various corrupt individuals. Many times, one or more of the crew venture into a nearby town and encounter some trouble from crooked townspeople or lawless politicians from whom they need to be rescued. Rowdy Yates was young and at times impetuous in the earliest episodes, and Favor had to keep a tight rein on him.

Story lines ranged from parched plains to anthrax, ghostly riders to wolves, cattle raiding, bandits, murderers, and others. A frequent story line was the constant need to find water for the cattle. The scout spent much of his time looking for water, sometimes finding that water holes and even rivers had dried up.

Rawhide frequently dealt with controversial topics. Robert Culp played an ex-soldier on the drive who had become dangerously addicted to morphine. Mexican drover Hey Soos faced racism at times from outside of the crew. Some American Indians demanded cattle as payment for going through their land and several episodes deal with the aftermath of the American Civil War, which ended four years earlier.

Cast members

Eric Fleming postcard Eric Fleming Rawhide postcard.JPG
Eric Fleming postcard
Eric Fleming as Gil Favor Eric Fleming 1961.JPG
Eric Fleming as Gil Favor
Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates Clint Eastwood-Rawhide publicity.JPG
Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates

Regular cast members included:

Notable guest stars

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
1 23January 9, 1959 (1959-01-09)July 10, 1959 (1959-07-10)
2 31September 18, 1959 (1959-09-18)June 17, 1960 (1960-06-17)
3 30September 30, 1960 (1960-09-30)June 16, 1961 (1961-06-16)
4 29September 29, 1961 (1961-09-29)May 11, 1962 (1962-05-11)
5 31September 21, 1962 (1962-09-21)May 31, 1963 (1963-05-31)
6 30September 26, 1963 (1963-09-26)May 14, 1964 (1964-05-14)
7 30September 25, 1964 (1964-09-25)May 21, 1965 (1965-05-21)
8 13September 14, 1965 (1965-09-14)December 7, 1965 (1965-12-07)

Background and production

Clint Eastwood with stuntwoman Roxanne Tunis; Paul Brinegar and Rocky Shahan in background Clint Eastwood and Roxanne Tunis.jpg
Clint Eastwood with stuntwoman Roxanne Tunis; Paul Brinegar and Rocky Shahan in background
Eastwood and Don Hight (1962) Clint Eastwood Don Hight Rawhide 1962.JPG
Eastwood and Don Hight (1962)

Series producer Charles Marquis Warren based Rawhide on three sources:

Filming for the first season of Rawhide took place at Universal-International Studios in Hollywood. The extensive railroad scenes in the third season were filmed in one month on the Sierra Railroad in Tuolumne County, California. [3]

The premiere episode of Rawhide reached the top 20 in the Nielsen ratings.

The show had a grueling production schedule, being mostly weekly with a three- to four-month break between seasons. After the first season of 22 episodes, seasons two to seven were each 30 episodes. Often, the only way the lead actors could get a break was if their character was said to be off on business. On rare occasions, the show featured a smaller number of the actors and some misfortune, maybe in a town, which would give the others time off.

Theme song

The theme song's lyrics were written by Ned Washington in 1958. It was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin and sung by pop singer Frankie Laine, with the orchestra and chorus conducted by John Williams (credited as Johnny Williams). [4] The theme song became very popular, and was covered several times and featured in movies such as The Blues Brothers and Shrek 2 .

Title sequence

The eighth and final season's title sequence was animated by Ken Mundie of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. [5]

Release

Home media

Sheb Wooley and Walter Pidgeon Sheb Wooley Walter Pidgeon Rawhide 1962.JPG
Sheb Wooley and Walter Pidgeon

CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released all eight seasons of Rawhide on DVD in Region 1. [6]

On May 12, 2015, CBS DVD released Rawhide- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. [7]

In Region 2, Rawhide has been released in Scandinavia: Season 1, by Noble Entertainment, two boxes, 2009–2010, season one re-releasing in January 2014 by Soulmedia, seasons 2 and 3, by Soulmedia (season 2 in two boxes, and season 3 in four boxes). No more seasons will be released in Scandinavia.

Revelation Films has released the first three seasons on DVD in the UK. [8] [9] [10] Season 4 will be released on March 23, 2015, [11] followed by season 5 on June 22, 2015. [12] They are released as complete season sets rather than two volumes.

In Region 4, Madman Entertainment has released all eight seasons on DVD in Australia, with each season in one box. [13] Season 8, the Final Season, was released on October 5, 2011. [14] DVD releases play heavily on Clint Eastwood's later fame, depicting him in the foreground as the chief character and crediting: "Clint Eastwood in...", but the original show credits for seasons one to seven actually depict the late Eric Fleming (as Gil Favor) being the lead cast member, with Eastwood as co-star (excepting a few later episodes where Eastwood is the sole star).

DVD nameEp No.Region 1Region 2 (UK)Region 2 (Scandinavia)Region 4
Season 122July 25, 2006November 15, 2010October 28, 2009
January 13, 2010
January 20, 2010
Season 2, Volume 116May 29, 2007April 11, 2011September 22, 2010March 9, 2010
Season 2, Volume 216December 18, 2007September 22, 2010
Season 3, Volume 115May 27, 2008July 11, 2011September 28, 2011
January 11, 2012
August 11, 2010
Season 3, Volume 215December 9, 2008February 15, 2012
August 29, 2012
Season 4, Volume 115June 7, 2011June 6, 2016Seasons 4–8, not to be releasedSeptember 27, 2010
Season 4, Volume 215November 1, 2011
Season 5, Volume 115September 18, 2012September 5, 2016February 2, 2011
Season 5, Volume 214
Season 6, Volume 116June 4, 2013TBAMay 2, 2011
Season 6, Volume 215TBA
Season 7, Volume 115March 4, 2014TBAAugust 3, 2011
Season 7, Volume 215TBA
Season 813June 3, 2014October 5, 2011
The Complete Series217May 12, 2015

On the Region 1 DVD sets, the episode "Incident of the Roman Candles" is included on both the Season One DVD set and the Season Two Volume One DVD set. Similarly, the episode "Abilene" is included on both the Season Four Volume Two DVD set and the Season Five Volume Two DVD set.

Response

Nielsen Ratings

SeasonTime slot (ET)RankRating [15]
1958–59 Friday at 8:00 pm (Episodes 1–15)
Friday at 7:30 pm (Episodes 16–23)		2825.9
1959–60 Friday at 7:30 pm1825.8
1960–61 627.5
1961–62 1324.5
1962–63 2222.8
1963–64 Thursday at 8:00 pmNot in the Top 30
1964–65 Friday at 7:30 pm
1965–66 Friday at 7:30 pm (Episode 1)
Tuesday at 7:30 pm (Episodes 2–12)

Adaptations

Books

In 1961, Signet Books published a paperback original novel called Rawhide by Frank C. Robertson based upon the television show. Eric Fleming as Gil Favor and Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates are both on the front cover of the book. The book follows Favor, Yates, Wishbone, and others as they try to get their herd to Sedalia ahead of a rival's herd. The book was published multiple times with the last run printed in 1986. [16]

Comics

The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by Dell Comics. [17]

References

  1. ↑ Munn, Michael (1992). Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. London: Robson Books. p. 35. ISBN   0-86051-790-X.
  2. ↑ "The Legend of Rawhide - Sedalia, Missouri". The Sedalia Katy Depot. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  3. ↑ Jensen, Larry (2018). Hollywood's Railroads: Sierra Railroad. Vol. Two. Sequim, Washington: Cochetopa Press. p. 37. ISBN   9780692064726.
  4. ↑ "Frankie Laine : Hell Bent For Leather". Discogs.com. 1961. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  5. ↑ "The Big Cartoon Database". Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Rawhide DVD news: Release Date for Rawhide - The 8th and Final Season - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on March 4, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Rawhide DVD news: Announcement for Rawhide - The Complete Series - TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on February 24, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Rawhide - The Complete Series One [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Clint Eastwood: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. November 15, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Rawhide - The Complete Series Two [DVD][1955]: Amazon.co.uk: Clint Eastwood, Eric Fleming: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. April 11, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Rawhide - The Complete Series Three [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Clint Eastwood: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. July 11, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Rawhide - The Complete Series Four [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Clint Eastwood: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Rawhide - The Complete Series Five [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Clint Eastwood: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  13. ↑ "EzyDVD - Australia's first and largest online DVD and Blu-ray store". Ezydvd.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.[ permanent dead link ]
  14. ↑ "Rawhide (1959) - The Complete 6th Season (8 Disc Fatpack)". Ezydvd.com.au. Retrieved August 31, 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  15. ↑ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (9th ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 1682–1683. ISBN   978-0-345-49773-4.
  16. ↑ Robertson, Frank C. (1986). Rawhide. London: Collins. ISBN   978-0-00-247701-7.
  17. ↑ "Dan Spiegle". lambiek.net. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.