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Rating:  -
the movie or show are worth watching over and over chuck conners does a very good job in this show as well as the rifleman
Rating:  -
Chuck Connors had great success, starring in The Rifleman, from 1958 through1963. The athletic Connors returned to television in Branded (1965). The series follows the adventures of disgraced West Point army Captain Jason McCord, notorious for being a coward. The series opens with McCord ceremoniously being stripped of his rank, his saber broken, and then being kicked out an army fort. A basic explanation is provided by the series theme song, which describes how McCord the only survivor of a massacre at Bitter Creek, is wrongfully believed to have run away and let his comrades perish.
In the second episode of the series, `The Vindicators`, some of the mystery surrounding the events at Bitter Creek are clarified, but interestingly McCord himself does not know what the exact truth is. General James Reed, the commander of the unit, was mentally incompetent. McCord as the second in command, attempted to relieve the general of command, order a withdraw, and prevent a massacre by the Apache. During the battle, McCord mysteriously blacked out, awakening to find that and everyone else in the unit has been killed. In the aftermath, rather than have his friend the General's reputation suffer, and risk the peace with the Indians, McCord offers no defense at his court martial.
Becoming a drifter, rarely working a steady job, McCord travels from place to place, his past inevitably comes up again and again, often being a catalyst for trouble. Although he does not have a tricked out weapon like Lucas McCain's Winchester, McCord is very skilled with a gun, and has no problems using one when necessary. He has a bit of a temper, from constantly being harassed about his past, and at times strikes back with real venom. And Chuck Connors has one mean, scary stare. Created by Larry Cohen (Phone Booth, Q), the theme of an honorable man's struggle against prejudice and injustice is explored in an interesting variety of ways, usually without getting overdramatic or heavy-handed.
There is a nice cross-section of guest stars from the period. Johnny Crawford, who was also in The Rifleman, guests in the episode, 'The Coward Steps Aside'. The gifted actress June Lockhart, and Claude Akins appear in 'The Vindicators'. Tommy Sands plays a West Point cadet looking to find the truth about Bitter Creek in 'That the Brave Endure', and Chad Everett has a dual role in 'The First Kill'.
Branded debuted midseason, in January of 1965, so there are just 16 episodes in the first season. They are in black and white, except for the three part adventure, 'The Mission'. Image quality is a little faded at times, but the source material appears to be pretty clean, and still looks quite good for the most part. There are some bonus materials, including an episode of the Rifleman, an episode of Four Star Playhouse featuring Chuck Connors in a supporting role, and a short Chuck Connors biography. Dominic Frontiere provided the music for the series, and some of the themes used in Branded, were also featured in The Rat Patrol. Although the first season was abbreviated, the program was popular enough to be renewed for a second full season.
Rating: -
Although I enjoyed Branded. . .
The second disc was cracked, unviewable, and unreturnable.
I'm stuck with a disc I cannot watch, use, or return.
I had to go to Fry's Electronics, where I found and purchased both First and Second Seasons for half the price of what I'd paid on line at Amazon. I got both seasons for the price of one. And they are returnable!
Next time and every time from now on, I will shop elsewhere before I buy from Amazon. You can't return opened DVD's. How do you know if they are broken until you open it? If I can't return damaged product, sent to me already damamged, what's the point of buying?
Anyway, Branded is great. I really liked the show!
Picture was pretty good. Wish there was more.
R. E.
Rating: -
BRANDED was good over all but You just can not beat THE RIFLEMAN, THE STORIES WERE OK, SOME WERE VERY GOOD AFTER THE MIDDLE OF THE
SEASON, BUT OVER ALL IT WAS GOOD! IF you like western you might like this one!
Rating:  -
the problem with this cd is that you can not skip from episode to episode making it almost useless.
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