14 reviews
I became a Peckinpah fan through The Wild Bunch, first saw it probably 1980. I never knew he had his own TV show back in 1960. I found out about The Westerner through a guest star overlap with Have Gun Will Travel. (That's a great show too.)
I found a homemade set of The Westerner DVDs on eBay and decided to take a chance. I'm two episodes into the 13 total episodes. In a word, "Wow!"
The director packs so much into the 25-minute run time. Brian Keith is outstanding as the lead, and the supporting characters have depth. Even the dog Brown has depth, and this has been established in only a few quick scenes over the two episodes. There's violence, but it fits the plot lines and isn't sensationalized or made to look operatic as in later Peckinpah works.
Recommended for western fans who value the steak over the sizzle.
I found a homemade set of The Westerner DVDs on eBay and decided to take a chance. I'm two episodes into the 13 total episodes. In a word, "Wow!"
The director packs so much into the 25-minute run time. Brian Keith is outstanding as the lead, and the supporting characters have depth. Even the dog Brown has depth, and this has been established in only a few quick scenes over the two episodes. There's violence, but it fits the plot lines and isn't sensationalized or made to look operatic as in later Peckinpah works.
Recommended for western fans who value the steak over the sizzle.
- kapengwe14
- Dec 28, 2015
- Permalink
This series reminds me another one called THE LONER. Same period, same scenery and atmosphere with a kind of anti hero travelling from a place to another and who meets all kinds of people. As it was in the LONER, you deal here with pretty good characters study all over the show, far from those predictable garbage stuff which you find elsewhere in western series.
- searchanddestroy-1
- Aug 20, 2018
- Permalink
One of the most unusual and sophisticated westerns for its time or any other. Those who have seen it (I was able to see all thirteen episodes in Peckinpah festival in NYC at Walter Reade Theatre) will know how revealing it is about Peckinpah and his developing film technique, and just how plain entertaining it is. Brian Keith is so watchable that it makes you regret the fact he spent so many years doing Family Affair where he was mostly catatonic. If there is any way of getting this series onto home video, I would love to join forces with anyone who had an idea of how to bring this about.
A few of the episodes were weak, yes, but the over-all concept and execution of this show was brilliant. I have always thought that Peckinpah was an extremely erratic director.I am in the minority, but he was at his purest and best early in his career. Ride the High Country, for example, is one of the supreme masterpieces of the western genre.Peckinpah made an well acted, philosophical western, with little violence, and displayed care and craftsmanship making it. True affcionados of the western genre recognize it as one of the few truly original or interesting Television Westerns ever made. It is a shame that no network exists where shows like this can be re-run. Instead we get TV land showing endless reruns of Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.
I watched this show as a kid in syndication on Saturday afternoons. I liked it as I did all the old Western shows from the 50's and 60's. I recently watched the series again and was struck by how dark and raw the show was. It has more of a ring of truth to its storylines than a wholesome moral code. The people Dave Blasingame meets are often flawed, desperate people. At times beyond helping or redeeming.
Dave Blasingame doesn't always get the girl or save her, he doesn't win every fight, he isn't an educated man, and he doesn't always do what a morally superior western hero should do. But his character seems more realistically honest than those of other shows of this genre in this era.
- drunkenwaylander
- Sep 18, 2018
- Permalink
During Westerner's era of American culture, the film and television market was oversaturated with hordes of westerns that were mostly insignificant, sometimes banal, exercises in boredom and mediocrity. Some films of this time, like those of Ford, Hawks, and Mann - not to mention some films from Stevens and Zinnemann - are unforgettable classics. Some TV projects have also been remembered fondly as well, like Rawhide, Gun Smoke, and The Riflemen; Peckinpah wrote for Gun Smoke, created the Riflemen, writing and directing some early episodes in the process. He left early in the shows run to create his own more personal project.
This was the Westerner. Though less known, it allowed Peckinpah a lot more creative freedom, showcasing the talent he would later burgeon into. The show was much more grittier and violent, making it unpopular. It was cancelled after one season, and mostly forgotten. Today the show is remember by a few as a remarkable touchstone in the development of a master. It was truly ahead of his time, and thankfully, time caught up to Peckinpah.
This was the Westerner. Though less known, it allowed Peckinpah a lot more creative freedom, showcasing the talent he would later burgeon into. The show was much more grittier and violent, making it unpopular. It was cancelled after one season, and mostly forgotten. Today the show is remember by a few as a remarkable touchstone in the development of a master. It was truly ahead of his time, and thankfully, time caught up to Peckinpah.
- killencooper
- May 4, 2021
- Permalink
There are only 13 episode.....darn.
As someone who grew up watching westerns on TV and in the movie theater, I can say that this one was different in a very good way.
The "heroes" of western TV shows of the time were all solid, up-standing individuals, with jobs. But the "hero" of The Westerner is a drifter, a usually unemployed cowboy, with no connections except with his dog.
The shows were very adult. I'm actually surprised some were allowed to be shown. One, for example, centered on a nude painting of a beautiful woman. You never saw it, but you saw parts of it. There were a lot of prostitutes.
Brian Keith (an underrated actor anyway) played the part perfectly. He roamed a land without morals, and yet he had standards for himself. He never hurt anybody unless they deserved it.
But he was never going anywhere in life. Just meandering through it.
In this show you see a lot of actors who made it big later. That was fun.
If you like Westerns, you will enjoy this one. And it was created by the genius Sam Peckinpah. What more needs to be said?
As someone who grew up watching westerns on TV and in the movie theater, I can say that this one was different in a very good way.
The "heroes" of western TV shows of the time were all solid, up-standing individuals, with jobs. But the "hero" of The Westerner is a drifter, a usually unemployed cowboy, with no connections except with his dog.
The shows were very adult. I'm actually surprised some were allowed to be shown. One, for example, centered on a nude painting of a beautiful woman. You never saw it, but you saw parts of it. There were a lot of prostitutes.
Brian Keith (an underrated actor anyway) played the part perfectly. He roamed a land without morals, and yet he had standards for himself. He never hurt anybody unless they deserved it.
But he was never going anywhere in life. Just meandering through it.
In this show you see a lot of actors who made it big later. That was fun.
If you like Westerns, you will enjoy this one. And it was created by the genius Sam Peckinpah. What more needs to be said?
- whidbeydanielg
- Nov 23, 2022
- Permalink
There were so many westerns on TV in 1960 that you could almost smell the phony gunsmoke. Most were forgettably simple-minded tales of good vs.evil, with cardboard characters, predictable outcomes, and no hint of real world complexity. Then along came an anonymous entry on Friday night without the big name stars or glamour of a Wagon Train, Bonanza, or Big Valley and long before the movie-going public had heard of Sam Peckinpah. You had to stumble across the show to even know it was there-- (what little publicity it got dwelled on a gimmick, Keith's 'scoped rifle', which Peckinpah ditched as soon as possible.). Nonetheless, The Westerner, as other reviewers point out, was ground-breaking in its willingness to explore nuance, and bring some realism to that most heavily fictionalized of American genres-- The Cowboy Movie. Instead of the usual cowboy hero as an unbeatable force for good, Bryan Keith's Dave Blassingame is a recognizable human being. He's a cowpoke drifter-- dusty from the trail, who befriends dogs, hookers, and lowlifes, can't read or write, likes to drink and brawl win or lose, and is obviously going nowhere in life. But he has an innate sense of honor that occasionally lifts him above the ordinary. In short, he's one of those rare characters who stands for the rest of us, not as a god, but as a real recognizable human being. It would be a mistake to read too much into the show-- it only lasted 13 weeks. But Peckinpah's willingness to challenge conventions is clearly evident, while the episode titled The Line Camp is as good as any show from that era. In this post-Vietnam period, it may be harder to see what was so special about the series. Still, the episodes wear well and the best are dramas as good now as they were then. I never thought I'd have a chance to share a public salute to what Peckinpah was trying to do, and was never even sure anyone else was watching. The series was simply there one week and gone the next as though it had never existed-- and I never knew why. I think now that the plots and characters were simply too offbeat for the time, and the sponsors and network lost their nerve. But I've never forgotten Dave Blassingame and his big scruffy dog. Thank you, Sam Peckinpah for trying to do something special, and thanks to The Western Channel for reviving this obscure but outstanding series.
- dougdoepke
- Apr 23, 2006
- Permalink
This well done episode of the Westerner with Brian Keith as a laid back cowboy wandering into a Land dispute between a dying old man and his grandson (old man played by that great character actor Sam Jaffe...before Ben Casey fame) against the no good baddies led by that great "heavy" of them all Robert Wilke. It was well acted by all...the old man wouldn't give up his property...Mr. Wilke telling him to give up or die! Brian Keith is as cool as anyone stepping up to help the old man and his grandson...incidentally originally the baddies stole his horse and "Blassingame" was trying to get even! Very well-acted episode of this rarely seen series from 1960-61. I'm glad the western channel has resurrected this old gem of a series from Sam Peckinpah.
- barry-mel45
- Oct 17, 2005
- Permalink
A series of shows with Brian Keith being the constant lead actor and hero with various guest stars appearing in the different episodes. Very well acted and interesting to watch, especially if future star spotting is one of the viewers hobbies. Very realistic approach to the western not normally used by directors of the late 1950s and early 60s T. V. shows. The series has Dave Blassingame (Brian Keith) appearing in various situations over the course of the shows usually as a combination drifter turned hero that saves the day or the lady in distress from the villain or villains. Brian Keith plays the part in a very down to earth low key approach that is very refreshing and realistic.
- thedon1940
- Dec 25, 2005
- Permalink
Probably too downbeat and "adult" for its times, the series soon vanished from network screens. At the age of eleven, having been beguiled by advance advertising of the series, I was bewildered when it disappeared before I could locate it on the schedule. In retrospect it seems like the ideal vehicle to make Brian Keith a top star-something that never quite happened.
It seems a brilliant touch of writing to make Dave Blassengame (what a name for a hero) an illiterate, itinerant cowpoke with the soul of a knight errant. He is Palidan without the cultural overlay. Guest appearances by distinguished journeyman actors like Slim Pickens, Michael Ansara, Robert Culp and others too numerous to include in this space make "the Westerner" a treat for me-especially when I had to wait forty-five years for it to appear on cable T.V. .
It seems a brilliant touch of writing to make Dave Blassengame (what a name for a hero) an illiterate, itinerant cowpoke with the soul of a knight errant. He is Palidan without the cultural overlay. Guest appearances by distinguished journeyman actors like Slim Pickens, Michael Ansara, Robert Culp and others too numerous to include in this space make "the Westerner" a treat for me-especially when I had to wait forty-five years for it to appear on cable T.V. .
This show was nothing less than brilliant. I saw it when it was first out, when I was in my last year of high school. I knew it was too good to be true then, and, sure enough, I was right.
It is to westerns on television what Fawlty Towers was to comedy. Yes, it was that good...
It is to westerns on television what Fawlty Towers was to comedy. Yes, it was that good...
Sam Peckinpah had been active on such early TV adult westerns as Gunsmoke and The Rifleman, but he hoped to and dreamed of creating the most authentic TV cowboy show of all. Originally to have been titled "The Lone Westerner," it finally reached network TV in the fall of 1960, and lasted maybe thirteen weeks before being unceremoniously canceled. Meanwhile, Bonanza - the most stupid and least realistic western of all time - was allowed to continue even though it didn't initially score in the ratings. But I'm off track. The Westerner was every bit as good as Peckinpah (who wrote some episodes, directed others) wanted it to be. Attention to historic detail was fabulous, and it had the kind of grim, no-nonsense qualities that made Gunsmoke so terrific during its first three seasons - when it was, briefly, the High Noon of TV westerns rather than the corny folksy show it all too quickly degenerated into. Keith had a John Wayne kind of quality that served the show admirably while that underrated character actor John Dehner played his sometimes sidekick, Burgundy Smith. Throw in the dog from Old Yeller (here called Brown, which was his real name) and some intriguingly anecdotal tales, all very anti-heroic, and you had a show that captured the escapades of an ordinary saddle tramp in a way that no other did. Tom Gries, who later mounted the magnificent western movie Will Penny, tried out some of the plots and characters of that 1968 film here. Look for such later Peckinpah stock company members as Warren Oates in the varied casts.
I've seen just two episodes of this series. In one, the hero drifted into a place that turned out to be a viper's nest. I don't remembered much about the plot, but the photography and suspense were excellent.
The other was set during a town's Independence Day celebration. The dude played by John Dehner, quite tipsy, offers the hero an amount for his dog. He declines. One takes a swing and they spend the rest of the episode trying to fight amidst marching bands, dancing girls, etc. It was supposed to be funny, but instead was painfully boring.
One could say that these episodes reflected Peckinpah's work in general: either great or awful, with little in between.
The other was set during a town's Independence Day celebration. The dude played by John Dehner, quite tipsy, offers the hero an amount for his dog. He declines. One takes a swing and they spend the rest of the episode trying to fight amidst marching bands, dancing girls, etc. It was supposed to be funny, but instead was painfully boring.
One could say that these episodes reflected Peckinpah's work in general: either great or awful, with little in between.
- Mister-UHF
- Aug 3, 2002
- Permalink