This Trivia follow up, from my April 16, 2022 posting, showed a youngster standing in the doorway of his ranch home wearing long underwear. He had just been woken up and went storming out of the front door to see what had awakened him and to check on his dad. A good number of you knew immediately that the boy was Mark McCain of The Rifleman.
Just last week, I heard from one of the followers of my blog who was reminded of this TV series after viewing a posting of mine a couple of weeks ago of other young cowboys. I'll let him tell his story... Chris
Lessons by guest contributor, Ian Sanderson
Your recent posting of The Cowboys, reminded me of my favorite boyhood western television show, The Rifleman. Although I was not yet around when it first aired from September, 1958 to April, 1963 on ABC, I enjoyed this program many years later in syndication. It can still be widely seen on several streaming platforms. I grew up on a ranch outside of Cody, Wyoming so have been especially intrigued with this heartwarming story of a man and his son, and had a close connection with the boy on that series.
The story is of a man, Lucas McCain, a Civil War veteran and widower, who raises a young boy in the 1880's on a ranch near North Fork, New Mexico Territory. Each episode contains a worthwhile lesson for the boy, Mark McCain, as well as the viewers who enjoy the show. Lucas is played by Chuck Connors; Mark by Johnny Crawford. Father and son had traveled from Enid, Oklahoma to North Fork after the death of their wife and mother when the boy was six years old.
The Rifleman, a production of Four Star Television, holds up well even today though it was filmed only in black and white. Lucas carried a Winchester model rifle, modified with a ring lever that allowed him to cock the thing by spinning it around with his hand on the inside of his arm. It was further customized for rapid firing. And boy, did he use that unique rifle in nearly every show.
The following scenes are from Episode 28 of Season One titled, The Challenge. Here a murderer escapes from prison, takes Marshal Micah Torrance (Paul Fix) hostage in the general store, and challenges anyone in town to stand up to him in a gun fight. Of course, it is Lucas McCain who saves the day and rescues Micah. The show is unusual in that it is set to music.
Before confronting the problem, Lucas safely situates his son, Mark, in bed on the upper story of the town's hotel.
The boy in his union suit settles into bed but has a hard time falling asleep. He can't stay in bed so gets up to stare out the window, worrying over the fate of his father.
A short time later, upon hearing multiple gunshots, Mark jumps out of bed, pulls his britches on up over his union suit and runs to the General Store. There his dad has just rescued Micah, the town Marshal who had been held hostage, and both were safe.
My favorite western when I was a boy. I went back and watched this episode and enjoyed again although the music with singer throughout was a little corny hearing it now days...Paul, Willilamsburg, Virginia
ReplyDeleteMy favorite too when I was just a kid. I didn't particularly know it at the time, but always a great lesson for boys... Dale from Allentown, PA
ReplyDelete