Seraherrera
The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
ctomvelu1
Each episode of The Rifelman was either a little morality play or a learning experience, namely for Lucas McCain's impressionable young son, Mark (played by Johnny Crawford). As Lucas, former baseball player Chuck Connors was strong and honorable and a widower deeply concerned with his young son. A perfect example of an episode has a white guy raised by Indians who makes friends with Mark and to some lesser degree Lucas. In a moment of weakness, he robs a stagecoach, but by episode's end, Lucas has set him back on the straight and narrow. The show could occasionally be lighthearted, as when a little old lady (Agnes Moorehead) arrives in town. Turns out she's a bounty hunter, and has her own way of snaring a wanted man. Connors never had a better role in his relatively short career, although he made a memorable villain in one Western flick a few years later. Crawford faded into obscurity after the show came to an end after a five-year run.
w22nuschler
I grew up in the 80's and never saw The Rifleman until about five years ago. Chuck Connors was such a powerful presence. He loved his son more than anything in the world and he raised him the right way. Johnny Crawford played his son and he was just as important to the show. He also loved his dad more than anything and would defend him against anyone. Young men will really identify with the father/son bond. Chuck Connors only got to play a good guy in a few other films/series that I can remember:Branded, Superman(Guest Star), Arrest and Trial, Airplane II(The Sarge), Flipper. He deserved a lot more good guy roles because he was so good at it. He did get to play a comedic bad guy on Support Your Local Gunfighter that was great.
ellis1947
Two things in this episode are worth mentioning. First, as Mark is sent away from the ranch by Lucas, due to the possibility of his catching Yellow Fever, Mark says something to the effect of: "See you tomorrow night, dad!" This is the only time in the entire run of the show that he ever addresses his father as "Dad". Usually he calls him Pa ("Paw").The other thing in this episode is a distant shot of what appears to be an automobile driving across a field far behind the outdoor location of the McCain Ranch. As Luoas says goodbye to Mark as he prepares to go into town with the doctor, behind them far in the hills you can see what appears to be a vehicle driving along. It happens quickly, but is very noticeable.As usual, a great episode, but a remarkable one due to these two things.
IwasSquidly
I was the pre-pubescent target audience for this when it first ran and loved it. Like other 50s oaters Lucas carried a modified 'piece'. The title scene where Lucas street sweeps with his Winchester at noonday summa six shadows illuminates the careless production of the time. The cast adds gravitas to Conner's ball-field credits with the anchor of Paul Fixx playing the sagacious sheriff. Fixx had made his bones (albeit in a thinner incarnation) as the usual villain with the John Ford troupe. Every script was a convoluted morality play. Typically Lucas would blast some well deserving miscreant then hunker down to tell Mark this is what happens when you don't eat WonderBread or help old ladies cross the street. So far, there's nothing new here for a 50's horse opera save Lucas McCain was the one and only TV rancher with a mortgage. Where the Barkley's, the Cartwrights and the jokers on "High Chapperal" owned their states and governors, Johnny Yuma, Cheyenne, Sugar Foot, et.al. wondered alone blah blah, Chuck had to cough up monthly payments in a sedentary existence.If you want to see the genre circa '58 watch "Rifleman" today on Encore/Western for great, unintentional humor. Watch 'Maverick' for scripted humor. Watch "Have Gun - Will Travel" for an adult western. See Chuck Connors on the big screen in "The Big Country" but don't spend money on the "Rifleman".
