Rawhide: Season 2, Vol. 1

Rawhide was one of the best westerns that was ever on television. It's a shame that CBS/Paramount has decided to break this season up in two volumes. They didn't do it on Mission: Impossible. But there's just no telling about Paramount. I don't think they are particularly geared toward customer satisfaction.This set of Rawhide has sixteen episodes & they're in excellent condition. Though Clint Eastwood (Rowdy Yates) receives second billing, Sheb Wooley (Pete Nolan) is just as visible. Paul Brinegar (Wishbone) appears to have more screen time but James Murdock (Mushy) is still tagging along but not with much to do. We occasionally see Rocky Shahan (Joe Scarlet) but he doesn't say much. Robert Cabal (Jesus or as the credits put it, Hey-Soos) makes a single appearance.The set opens with " Incident of the Day of the Dead" which has Rowdy as the primary character. It's a peculiar episode of Rawhide that has Rowdy at a ranch to attempt to break a wild stallion that no one else has been able to. It's eerie music will give you a sci-fi flashback. "Incident of the Roman Candles" was a bonus episode of the first season. The episode features Pete Nolan as the main character. "Incident of the Shambling Man" has Victor McLaglen & Anne Francis as guest stars. Mclaglen is a former boxer that has delusions of being in the ring again. Most consider him harmless but his daughter-in-law (Francis) sets him up as dangerous & lies about him attacking her. "Incident of the Thirteenth Man" has Wishbone with a toothache. Wishbone & Rowdy go to the nearest town & get forced into jury duty. "Incident of the Stalking Death" has Cesar Romero as a guest star. In this episode Favor has wounded a cougar but it has escaped. A visit from a senora leads Favor into taking more interest in finishing off the cougar. Romero sees Favor as competition for the senora so he plans to kill him. "Incident of the Blue Fire" is an episode I actually remember. The St. Elmo's fire bit on the cattle has always stuck with me. Skip Homeier (Lucky) is the guest star. This is the only episode Jesus appears in; it's also the only episode Charles Marquis Warren directs in this set. This episode has a mild Twilight Zone-like twist. In "Incident at Spanish Rock" the drovers encounter a band of Mexican revolutionaries. "Incident of the Druid's Curse: is another strange episode of Rawhide. "Incident at Red River Station" involves a smallpox incident. The twist in this episode is the doctor expressing that everyone should be vaccinated. Nowadays we know about this but it was a novel idea in that period.Overall this is a very good set of Rawhide episodes. But it's odd, after all these years, to see a young Clint Eastwood who's character isn't the star & learning about the cattle business. There are absolutely no bonus materials included in this set, not even subtitles. CBS/Paramount has really skimped on this set though they didn't really have much bonus material in the season one set."Head 'em up! Move 'em out!" Rollin', rollin', rollin'...

I wasn't sure I was ready to spend 12 bucks on half a season (and with no extras) but I did with little if no regret. Like season one - of RAWHIDE - Season 2 Volume 1 looks great; and my volume (sound) better too (compared to season 1 disc).Plenty of good episodes to start RAWHIDE SEASON 2 VOLUME 1. Director Jack Arnold (Creature From Black Lagoon; Incredible Shrinking Man; Gilligan's Island (!) tv fame) takes the reigns on at least one episode as does another B-movie director Gene Fowler Jr who helmmed the rather famous early Michael Landon I Was A Teenage Werewolf as well as I Married A Monster From Outer Space with Gloria Talbot.Victor McClaglen Jr. directs his dad - portraying a punch drunk, bare knuckle fighter - in a good episode with an effective performance by Anne Francis (Forbidden Planet).Eventually Season 2 Volume 1 offers a string of episodes with plenty of real Texas (Arizona) footage -- even the drover camps are not sets! Classic black-and-white! Picture is great!The drovers feel cursed in the Saint Elmo's Blue fire episode when Skip Homeier (The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck) appears like Death.A prairie fire is reasonably well done in another (superimposed some ... but still not bad) episode.The Incident At River Station episode has a town paranoid and not trusting the ‘new’ vaccination of small pox. The death of a drover who had been vaccinated 8 years earlier causes much confusion and concern.There are 16 episodes on volume 1 season 2 of RAWHIDE.I will be checking out season 2 volume 2 soon.Strong 4 stars but just a bit too dated for a 5 star rating, although this is great tvfor a season that ended in 1960.

The Second season aired from September 18th, 1959 until June 17th, 1960 for a total of 31 episodes and was rated even better than the First, ranking 18th out of the best 30 TV shows according to the Nielsen Rating and getting 25.8% of viewers (The Nielsen Rating is the percent of all TV-equipped homes tuned to the program on an average night, as measured by Nielsen Media Research).The Second season Vol.1 will consist of 16 episodes and they are as follows:24- Incident of the Day of the Dead 9/18/195925- Incident at Dangerfield Dip 10/2/195926- Incident of the Shambling Man 10/9/195927- Incident at Jacob's Well 10/16/195928- Incident of the Thirteenth Man 10/23/195929- Incident at the Buffalo Smokehouse 10/30/195930- Incident of the Haunted Hills 11/6/195931- Incident of the Stalking Death 11/13/195932- Incident of the Valley in Shadow 11/20/195933- Incident of the Blue Fire 12/11/195934- Incident at Spanish Rock 12/18/195935- Incident of the Druid's Curse 1/8/196036- Incident at Red River Station 1/15/196037- Incident of the Devil and His Due 1/22/196038- Incident of the Wanted Painter 1/29/196039- Incident at Tinker's Dam 2/5/1960I really did not like the idea of having this season being released in two separate sets or volumes due to the fact that 7 more seasons remains including this season, and if each season will be devided into two volumes I think we will have to wait at least 3 to 4 years before we have the whole show.I hope that the future seasons will be released in Complete season sets.Thank you for reading my review and have a nice day :)

I was impressed with the First Season release and the second season continues the quality. The previous reviewer is right about this release being only half the second season, but I suppose so long as you're aware of that it's all right (it was a 32-episode season as opposed to around 22 in the first). I have seen episodes from the fourth and fifth seasons (we're talking a staggering 217 episodes over eight years) on off-air VHS and the standard doesn't slacken. Most of the stories seem to maintain the quality and consistency of the earlier screenplays and the level of acting and atmospheric photography also remained high - much more authentic than in some of the more sanitised westerns of the '50s and '60s. This is good stuff. I can see myself shelling out on a regular basis if, as I hope, they continue to release the subsequent seasons!

This now completes my set of the first 3 seasons of this terrific classic TV series. Rawhide still stands up today as a well-written and atmospheric show with authentic feel. But when are CBS Paramount going to give us more?

Rawhide is great of course, and earns five stars. However look at the picture carefully to see this is actually Volume 1 of the Second Season. This isn't the fault of the DVD of course, but of Amazon for labeling it incorrectly. There are 16 of the 31 episodes, and only 822 minutes, not 922 as Amazon state.---and much later---Well, obviously they've fixed that problem in the meantime....

Una serie straordinaria, che ci racconta con simpatia l''Italia del boom! L'avevo seguita in televisione e mi era molto piaciuta, mi ero quindi ripromessa di acquistare i dvd non appena fossero stati disponibili. Consiglio a chi vuole comprarli, di fare attenzione perché entrambe le serie si compongono di due cofanetti, io non me ne ero accorta e ho comprato solo i primi due di entrambe le serie. Ho poi comprato gli altri due altrove perché per una delle due serie, su Amazon, non era disponibile il secondo cofantetto.Per il resto entrambe le serie sono veramente carine, la prima narra le vicende della famiglia Ferrucci dal gennaio 1954, anno di nascita delle trasmissioni RAI al 1961 o 1962, la seconda riprende dove si ferma la prima e prosegue fino al 1964. Le consiglio vivamente a tutti, sia a coloro che ogni tanto amano fare un viaggio nei ricordi, ma anche che chi, come me ha voglia di visitare un' Italia di cui hanno solo sentito parlare ma che non hanno vissuto, essendo nati dalla fine degli anni 60 in giù.

Regalato per il compleanno a mia moglie, lo guardo volentieri anch'io. Per chi come me è sulla cinquantina troverà nei contenuti pezzi del proprio vissuto e capire il perché ma soprattutto in che modo siamo arrivati fino ai giorni nostri. Da vedere in famiglia.Consigliato anche a chi dice di non conoscere la nostalgia.