Carovane verso il west

I had never watched WAGON TRAIN when I was growing up as at that time I wasn't particularly fond of westerns. The only one I remembered enjoying was Death Valley Days. So it was with some amusement that when I ordered Wagon Train: The Complete Color Season at Amazon.Com, I was thinking at the time I was ordering the other shows. At 50, my mind was already slipping. When it came, I decided to give it a try. The DVD set includes all 32 episodes of Wagon Trains only color season, plus 16 episodes of the best of the black and white seasons. It turned out to be one of the best television series I have ever bought. What made the color season unique was that the shows were ninety minutes long, each story practically a movie unto themselves. The colors on the transfers were still vivid and the black and white episodes were crisp and clear. Unlike other comments, I really enjoyed John McIntyre in the role of Chris Hale as Wagonmaster. He reminded me almost of John Wayne in his later years, in movies such as True Grit and The Sons Of Katie Elder. The ensemble cast on this show was excellent as well as the endless parade of guest stars, most notably in the color season with Barbara Stanwyck, appearing in two episodes, Suzanne Pleshette, playing a very unsympathetic bad girl role, and Burgess Meredith in a touching, sentimental role that will leave tears in your eyes. Wagon Train was truly one of the great westerns. If you can't find it on TV, I suggest you get it on DVD in whatever form you can find.

Even though this series aired before I was born, it's been a joy to discover. I wish they'd have kept and credited the awesome vocals of the theme song throughout the series. Popular voiceover artist and singer Thurl Ravenscroft (of Tony the Tiger fame) was a part of the vocal ensemble behind the theme song. My Mother loves the character drawings in the opening and closing scenes. So much behind-the-scenes talent help make this series a true western gem.

Would like to know why Wagon Train is never shown in reruns. It was one of my favorite westerns and I would love to see the episodes again. I remember watching it every week with my Dad (who also loved westerns), in fact, the first time my future husband came to my house, we were watching Wagon Train, and he watched it with us, even though he didn't really care for westerns! It's a wonder we made it together, but we have been married now for 43, almost 44 years. I really preferred Ward Bond as the wagon master, but of course, he died and they had to replace him. Flint McCullough was my favorite character. I thought he had the most exciting role, being the one who always went ahead to check things out for the rest of the wagon train.

I remember watching "Wagon Train" when I was a child. It ranked up there with such western classics as "Gunsmoke," "Bonanza," "Have Gun Will Travel," and "Laramie." I think the earlier episodes that featured Ward Bond as the Major and Robert Horton as Flint were somewhat better than the last few years the show was on. Of course, Charlie the cook was everyone's favorite character. It was interesting to see what obstacle the wagon master had to overcome on a weekly basis: blizzards, floods, Indians, outlaws, religious fanatics, small pox, snakes, droughts and so on. There's an episode featuring the great Charles Laugthon as a pompous Englishman that is my favorite. This television program is the epitome of true grit on the lonely frontier.

I'm not quite sure how your website allows for the addition of biographical information - so I'm entering this comment in this forum in the hope that you might be able to add this to Mr. Horton's biographical sketch. I thought that your readers would find it interesting - as I did - that Mr. Horton wrote the biography for his character Flint McCullough in Wagon Train.

At the Western Film Festival in Tombstone Arizona (2004) - Mr. Horton stated that since the writers often changed from episode to episode - he wrote the biography for Flint McCullough - to ensure consistency for his character across all episodes. For example - one writer would write his character as an expert horseman - and the next would write his character as being less than expert with horses.