Rating: - Those were the days . . .!
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.

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