Le grand Chaparral

Noble but flawed and very human heroes, credible villains, realistic story-lines and family dynamics. "High Chaparral" had high adventure, powerful drama, some of the funniest moments on television and tender romance. This series combined brilliant actors, writers, producers and directors. Together, they brought memorable characters, 1870s Arizona & Mexico to life. Thirty years after it aired, I still remembered episode plots and dialog. The remarkable thing is, so could many other fans!

People all over the world love High Chaparral -- its themes and characters are universally appealing. New generations of fans have discovered it in re-runs. Hopefully, remastered, uncut DVDs will be released soon -- this treasure should be preserved and enjoyed, not forgotten.

This television series originally aired on NBC on Friday nights from 7:30 to 8:30 PM for almost its entire run. It ran right before another one of television's greatest programs, "The Name of the Game." I used to wonder if the reason I remembered this show with such admiration was due to the age that I was when the show originally ran, but recently seeing it again, I have to say that it stayed with me so long because it's just a fantastic show.

The show is centered around the character of John Cannon, played flawlessly by Leif (pronounced "Life") Erickson, and his brother Buck, played by Cameron Mitchell. Also in the cast were Linda Cristal as John's wife Victoria, Henry Darrow as Victoria's brother Manolito, and Mark Slade playing John's son Billy Blue Cannon.

When I was just a kid in grade school, my cousins and others I knew were tuned in to ABC's Friday night line-up, which was quite popular at the time. I couldn't tear myself away from this show though, and it's difficult to explain why without revealing too much about it. Let's just say that the stories were impeccably written and directed, doing much the same thing as Bonanza would do, alternating between high drama and humor. A good example of this is an episode entitled "The Firing Wall." If you ever get to see this series, keep an eye out for that episode. My personal favorite is an episode called "Champion of the Western World." Fun episode! The casting was perfect. Every regular cast member really seemed to like the characters they were portraying. Henry Darrow was outstanding in giving his character real depth and range of emotion. Cameron Mitchell also did some really fine work in this series. In fact, when you get right down to it, they all did!

I could go on about this show by using all the known adjectives, stupendous!, wonderful!, ect..., but if you're reading this, then you probably already share a certain amount of the same enthusiasm that I have for this show. If you're reading just out of curiosity however, then if you ever get the opportunity to do so, by all means, treat yourself to one of the finest programs that television has ever offered.

This television series originally aired on NBC-TV on September 10,1967 as part of its Sunday Night Lineup of shows where it aired at 10:00e/9:00c right after the long-running "Bonanza",and faced stiff competition with "Mission:Impossible",and the "ABC Sunday Night Movie" for all 28 color episodes of Season One that aired from September 10, 1967 until March 31,1968. Then from Season Two onward the network moved the series to a different time slot from Sunday nights to Friday nights for the remainder of its four-year run from September 20,1968 until the series finale on March 12,1971 where it aired at 7:30e/6:30c on its Friday night schedule(where it replaced the action-adventure series "Tarzan" after 2 seasons and 57 episodes) right before another one of television's greatest programs,"The Name Of The Game",and the wildly popular science-fiction series "Star Trek". "The High Chaparral",was produced by David Dortort,the creator of the successful "Bonanza" television series where Dortort was the creator and executive producer that ran for four seasons and produced 98 episodes all in color.

The show revolved around "Big" John Cannon(Leif Erickson),a rancher who lived in the Arizona Territory in the 1870's. He ran the ranch with his brother Buck Cannon(Cameron Mitchell),and son Billy "Blue Boy" Cannon (Mark Slade). Blue Boy's mother Annalee(Joan Caulfield)was killed in the first episode by an Indian arrow,and John Cannon then married Victoria Montoya(Linda Cristal),the daughter of the powerful neighbouring rancher Don Sebastian Montoya(played by Frank Silvera,who was one of several African-American actors who played "ethnic" roles for this series)in what is initially a marriage of convenience. His marriage to Victoria brought her brother Manolito Montoya(Henry Darrow) into the picture,and he also not came to live with the family but becoming a hired hand for the ranch. The stories for this series were impeccably written and directed by some of the best in the business while the series was filmed entirely on location. While doing much the same as "Bonanza" would do alternative between high drama and humor with the mix of action-packed and high adventure each week.

The guest stars that were on "The High Chaparral" were some of Hollywood's best ranging from William Windom to Adam West along with Scott Brady, Anthony Caruso, Chief Dan George, Roberto Contreras, Dennis Cross, John Dehner, Paul Fix, Ron Foster, Yaphet Kotto, to Connie Hines, Cesar Romero, William Conrad, Joanna Moore, Dub Taylor, Barry Sullivan and Morgan Woodward. Even Robert Loggia and Ricardo Montalban made guest appearances on this show. Several episodes of this series do stand out as sheer brilliance were the two-part pilot episode "Destination Tucson",and to "The Arrangement" not to mention "The Firing Wall",and "Champion of the Western World","A Time To Laugh,A Time To Cry","A Man To Match The Land", not to mention the two-part episode "The New Lion of Sonara".

When this series was canceled on March 12,1971 after 98 episodes,the powers that be at NBC-TV moved the show around different time slots resulting in its cancellation where it went opposite two powerhouse shows "The Wild,Wild West",and "The Brady Bunch" were it got clobbered on that same Friday night schedule. On September 12,1971, the show that replaced "The High Chaparral" after four seasons was the Jack Webb produced drama "The D.A." starring Robert Conrad(formerly of "The Wild,Wild West" fame),and on January 22,1972,the show that replaced both "The D.A.",and "The High Chaparral" was the comedy "Sanford and Son".

From David Dortort, one of the producers of the popular "Bonanza," "The High Chaparral" told the story of two families, The Cannons and The Montoyas, brought together by a marriage of convenience. Leif Ericson played "John Cannon," the patriarch of the family that lost his wife when they were making their way west. Linda Crystal played "Victoria," the headstrong daughter of Don Sebastian de Montoya (Frank Silvera) and brother to Don Sebastian's equally assertive son, Manolito (Henry Darrow). Mark Slade played John's son, "Blue," while perennial heavy Cameron Mitchell played John's brother "Buck." Rounding out the cast were frequent western performers Don Collier and Rodolfo Acosto.

What set the program apart from other "sagebrush sagas" of the period were its strong portrayals of Native Americans, as well as non-condescending looks at life among our Mexican neighbors. Set against the sprawling American southwest, the stories were engaging, filled with brilliant character studies, along with typical western situations.

It had a great casting coup by having black actor Frank Silvera assay the role of Don Sebastian. Silvera made a career out of playing a variety of "ethnicities," a tribute to his talent, as well as his "chameleon-like" appearance.

Another noteworthy bit of casting would be that of Crystal, Darrow, and Acosto, all Hispanic actors.

I recently watched recordings of this western and thoroughly enjoyed the shows. The cast was wonderful. But I was especially impressed with the talents of Henry Darrow and Cameron Mitchell. A couple of episodes showcase their comedic talents and are a scream. This western holds it own today - much better than Bonanza in my opinion. The writing was good and the location settings make for a much more realistic presentation. And the conflicts with the Apache and the whites are more historically presented. Some of the episodes are better than others, of course, but the series holds up well 40 years later. It's not on the level of Lonesome Dove but LD was a mini series and not episodic TV from the late 1960s. I do wish old westerns had refrained from false eyelashes and excessive makeup on the women. But this show is wonderful. Makes me want to see other work by Cameron Mitchell and Henry Darrow especially as they really did steal the show!