Cheyenne - The Complete First Season

Arrived on time and in good condition.

Warning: This set contains several sets, each with two disks, each with several episodes of the show on it. Only the first set was in good condition. When I started viewing sets 2, 3, and 4, virtually every one had severe problems - no sounds, damaged picture - virtually unwatchable. The person who remastered this either didn't check the other sets or hoped the purchaser would not go past Set One until it was too late to return. Shameful quality, absolutely shameful. You would do better to purchase this from Walker's own website.I was a child when this series debuted, and while I did remember being aware of Clint Walker's astonishing physical presence even as a five-year-old female, I didn't remember much else. Imagine my surprise, upon taking a chance on this set, to find that these were well-scripted, well-acted, at times even touching programs. Yes, several Old Western Movie cliches are present, most notably last-minute rescues by the Cavalry, constant attacks by screaming Indians, good girl/bad girl stereotypes, always-unshaven villains (you can spot them a mile away), and lots of killin'. However, offsetting these are the hero's sensitivity, without sentimentality, to the plight of the Indians by this point in time; a reluctance to kill unless pushed to the wall; and a respectful gentleness toward all women, "good" or "bad". Walker imbues Cheyenne Bodie with great decency without seeming preachy or mealymouthed. In fact, Walker himself is one-quarter Cherokee and he is married to a Native American woman. Fine performers show up in their salad days, such as the always delightful James Garner (he appears in several of these episodes) and a handsome young Rod Taylor (whose bare chest gives Clint's a run for its money, no mean feat!). It is fun watching and suddenly saying, "Why, isn't that so and so when s/he was really young?!" You remember how important early television was to the careers of so many who went on to films or to television shows of their own (Garner went on to "Maverick" and thence to movie fame, Taylor to a movie career, etc.)These shows are, it is true, somewhat dated, but they are not without merit. Listening to Walker gently reassuring a terrified woman returning to white society after six years of captivity with the Kiowa that she will not revolt white men, and comparing this with the parade of sadistic violence toward and humiliation of women that permeates today's television shows, I felt a real sense of affection and loss. If you don't have a feeling for the west these may not interest you. But if you do, or if you were one of those children whose families sat around in the evening together and watched these shows in the 1950s, I think you will enjoy this set, for itself and for the lost era in which the shows emerged. I got my father the set as a Christmas gift - he was thrilled.

As we didn't have a TV during the first run I believe I watched this show in syndication probably on Saturday afternoons. These were high production from Warner Brothers and even though it was on 7 seasons only 108 episodes were made. The acting by Clint Walker was great as he was the star of the show as he was tall and handsome the imagine of a perfect western hero even though today we know that image was greatly distorted. The show dealt with good and evil and of course Cheyenne Bodie was the epitome of good in the west. The issue that some people may have is the treatment of Native Americans. The video and sound transfer to DVD was very good but the source material did came from Warner Brothers.

Running 107 episodes, from 1955 through 1963, "Cheyenne" was one of the first "television" productions from the Warner Brothers film studio. Clint Walker plays the title character, an ex-frontier scout who was raised by Cheyenne Indians after his parents were killed.Cheyenne Bodie roams the West in the days after the Civil War, having adventures and helping folks out. The tall laconic hero would eventually become television's quintessential loner but actually started out with a sidekick named Smitty (L.Q. Jones), who was a mapmaker. Cheyenne and Smitty do mapping work for the Army and in this occupation stumble across the people who make up each episode's story.The current DVD set covers the 15 episodes from Season One and includes a recent interview with Clint Walker called "The Lonely Gunfighter: The Legacy of Cheyenne". The reason there are only 15 episodes is because "Cheyenne" was only broadcast every third week, being part of an anthology series called "Warner Brothers Presents" which also included "Casablanca" (with Marcel Dalio) and "King's Row" (with Robert Horton and Jack Kelly). In subsequent seasons the anthology would feature shows like "Conflict", "Sugarfoot", and "Bronco Lane".Contrary to popular belief, the episodes on the 1st season DVD have not been abbreviated. Although they run less that the normal 50 minutes (60 minutes minus commercials) it is because the original broadcasts took some additional minutes for Warner Brothers to use in promoting their coming attractions; with a behind the scenes look at one of their soon to be released features.Also unique to the first season was an attempt to add scale to the stories by inserting a lot of stock footage of cattle drives, Indian attacks, and huge wagon trains. In general they did a better job than most "B" westerns of matching this footage to the back lot and sound stage stuff featuring the actual cast of each episode. But this technique and the busy schedule was a nightmare for the editors. The first episode "Mountain Fortress" includes a particularly amusing continuity issue. Watch how the sergeant and the trooper are killed early in an Indian attack, then magically reappear in a subsequent group shot. Most likely the editors noticed the problem but there was not time to re-shoot the scene with the correct cast.At least two episodes take actual movie plots and retell them in a Western setting. "Fury at Rio Hondo" is a retelling of "To Have and to Have Not" with Peggy Castle outstanding in the Lauren Bacall role. "The Argonaunts" is a retelling of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and features Rod Taylor.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Many years since I’ve seen this, great western excellent audio / video

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This version of complete season 1 was well worth waiting for. Each DVD is carefully packed inside a dedicated DVD case with contents of running episodes printed and well presented.The quality of actual motion picture is very good indeed considering age of the master reels then transferred onto DVD's. Audio quality is very well balanced and overall a fine produced package.The story lines are also entertaining and captivating.So, don't hesitate if you've been waiting like me for a finely presented product like this one from Amazon.

Will play on UK players. Picture and sound good. Typical 50's western with plenty of fist fights and gun play. French subtitles may show up on some players but can be removed. Interestingly, episode 3 is a remake of the Humphrey Bogart film "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" including dialogue. I wonder if I will recognize any other episodes I have yet to watch.

Have waited a long time to see this series, watched right through all 5 discs, however, disc 5 started to stop/start a lot which was very annoying, I took the disc out, cleaned it but it still stuttered, wonder if it was the disc or my player? Have always been a Clint Walker fan and this Western Series really brings back memories of waiting for it to start on a Saturday night on the old b & w goggle box MANY MANY MOONS AGO. With the size of "goggle-boxes" these days "Cheyenne" looks twice the size! Wonder why L.Q.Jones ("Smitty") only appeared on the first 2 or 3 episodes? Well worth watching is the Clint Walker interview (love the guy's accent!) Am waiting for delivery of Complete Season 2, and with all 7 seasons now released am determined to have all 7! HAPPY VIEWING.