Coming Soon...

Union Suit Fans, I received an email from Elliot Ferguson of OK, OK. He wrote:

"Mark McCain was not the only character in The Rifleman who wore unionsuits. Marshal Micah Torrance also wore them. I saw this recently in Season 3: "Closer Than a Brother." It is a surprising story. Lucas McCain was never seen in a unionsuit as he apparently preferred wearing only long white drawers without an undershirt when dressed for bed. If you watch closely at the end of the show, Micah climbs partially out of bed in his underwear while still wearing his boots. I thought this odd. You may wish to post this one too." 

Sure enough, I looked up the ABC (episode 22) Elliot referenced and there was the Marshal holed up in his apartment wearing long white, one-piece underwear: 

This is a compelling episode. So, I asked Ian Sanderson to review the story and he has agreed. Watch for it... Chris

Interesting Fact: Lucas McCain killed 120 people over 168 episodes in The Rifleman. An additional 77 folks died of other causes in the show.

Personal Note: Johnny Crawford (Mark McCain) died on April 29, 2021, at age 75 after contracting COVID-19 and pneumonia before later succumbing to Alzheimer's disease. He had been residing in a care home prior to his death. Before his death, Crawford was the last surviving main cast member of The Rifleman. 

 The Rifleman: Outlaw's Inheritance 

                  by guest contributor, Ian Sanderson

Later in ABC television's Season One (Episode 38), young Mark was put to bed back in the North Fork Madera House hotel when he and his pa, Lucas McCain were unable to return home due to heavy rain that washed out the road to their ranch. 

A notorious outlaw, Wade Joyner, had died and left a $500 inheritance to Lucas in his will. After the townsfolk learned of this, you can imagine, they were quite upset that one of the most respected and upstanding citizens of the territory was the beneficiary of ill-begotten money!

Lucas had never heard of Joyner and could not imagine why he had been left money as a "rightful heir."  Nevertheless, he told his boy, Mark, not to worry, to climb into bed and get some sleep. They would figure this mystery out and return home tomorrow. Mark undressed and climbed into bed in his union suit, falling asleep, and tossing and turning all night:

The Rifleman

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.

 

 

Before confronting the jail escapee, Lucas returns to his boy's hotel room to comfort and assure him that all will turn out well. 

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.

Thanks, Ian, for your contributing to a very memorable episode of The Rifleman. This and all other episodes of this popular western can be found on several streaming platforms in syndication....Chris

City Slickers

Speaking of inexperienced cowboys, how about the laugh-out-loud, 1991 Columbia Pictures comedy western, City Slickers. These cowpokes were older than the young cowboys in the John Wayne movie, The Cowboys, but are no more experienced in wrestling cattle. In fact, these middle-aged fellas spelled big trouble on their modern day cattle drive. The movie starred Billy Crystal as Mitch and Jack Palance, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as Curly. Daniel Stern (Phil) and Bruno Kirby (Ed) co-starred as Crystal's pals who joined him on the escapade.

As younger men, they had run with the bulls in Pamploma, Spain along with other exciting adventure trips. But none compared with what would come next. Ed and Phil gave Mitch a present on his birthday when he turned 39 years of age. It was for an all expense paid, two-week vacation on a cattle drive. They would travel from New Mexico to Colorado. The three of them had led pretty boring lives in dead-end jobs. They once again desired to add some excitement in their lives. Boy, did they get it.

The fellas spent the night under the stars after meeting Curly, the trail boss, and beginning their drive way out west. 

As the three tenderfeet began to get the hang of cowboy-ing, they got up and out of bed one day early in the drive, along with the other wranglers. Phil wore long johns and Ed chose a red union suit, just like a real cowboy, as they departed their tent and started the day.

All of a sudden, Mitch caused a stampede which ended up completely destroying their camp. The trail hands jumped on horses to help bring the startled cattle under control.

Doing his part, Ed jumped on his horse, still in his long underwear!

City Slickers streaming everywhere... Enjoy!

 The Cowboys

One of my favorite western movies ever was Warners Brothers' 1972 John Wayne hit, The Cowboys. This epic centered around cowboys who were actually just boys. I wasn't much older than they when I enjoyed this film with some buddies of mine at a Saturday matinee, downtown at our one local theater. Featured famous actors included Bruce Dern, Roscoe Lee Brown, Colleen Dewhirst, Slim Pickens, and a very young Robert Carradine, from the famous Carradine family, making his movie debut as one of the boys.  John Williams wrote the incredible score that accompanied this film.

John Wayne played Wil Anderson, an old rancher, whose cowhands abandoned him for a gold rush, leaving just before they were needed to drive 400 head of cattle to a distant stock yard. Desperate and against his better judgement, Anderson visited a one room school house and eventually hired about a dozen little boys to help him get those bovines to market. 

Following are some scenes of the boys in the bunkhouse, ready for bed in their union suits and nightshirts, the night before the adventurous cattle drive. 

Upon an unexpected late night arrival, the boys don't quite know what to make of their new cook, Jebediah Nightlinger, played by Brown. He had been hired to fill the boys' stomachs on the arduous journey ahead. His appearance scares them so, that they scurry for cover and the safety of their beds.

Mr. Nightlinger slowly walks across the bunkhouse room, stops in front of young Slim and makes him move his gear and guitar out of his bunk so he himself can bed-down and sleep in the place the boy had chosen.  

Three of the boys work up the nerve to approach and begin asking him questions. 

None of them have seen a black man before. 

Nightlinger then begins to tell them the story of this life making the hairs on the back of their necks stand up!

Now, you boys hit the hay! We head out at sunup! They scramble to do as they were told!

If you've never seen this Warner Brothers movie or if it's been awhile, do yourself a favor and purchase, rent, or stream this film on any number of platforms. It is excellent! 

Here's the YouTube video bunkhouse scene (copy and paste):

https://youtu.be/JOARPYLOujQ