''Rawhide'' is an American Western television series starring Eric Fleming and

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

. The show aired for eight seasons on the CBS network on Friday nights from January 9, 1959, to September 3, 1965, before moving to Tuesday nights from September 14, 1965, until December 7, 1965, with a total of 217

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

episodes. The series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren, who also produced early episodes of ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

''. The show is remembered by many for its theme song, " Rawhide". Spanning years, ''Rawhide'' was the sixth-longest-running American television Western, exceeded only by '' Wagon Train'', '' The Virginian'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American Western (genre), Western anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was ...

'', and ''Gunsmoke''.

Synopsis

Set in the 1860s, ''Rawhide'' portrays the challenges faced by the drovers of a cattle drive. Most episodes are introduced with a monologue by Gil Favor (Eric Fleming), trail boss. In a typical ''Rawhide'' story, the drovers come upon people on the trail and involve themselves in other people's affairs, usually encountering various corrupt individuals. Many times, one or more of the crew venture into a nearby town and encounter some trouble from crooked townspeople or lawless politicians from whom they need to be rescued. Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) was young and at times impetuous in the earliest episodes, and Favor had to keep a tight rein on him. Favor is a savvy and strong leader, who always plays "square" with his fellow men – a tough customer who can handle the challenges and get the job done. (Producer Charles Warren called on the diary written in 1866 by trail boss George C. Duffield to shape the character of Favor.) Although Favor had the respect and loyalty of the men who worked for him, the people, including Yates, are insubordinate to him a few times, after working too hard or after receiving a tongue lashing. Favor has to fight at times and usually wins. Some ''Rawhide'' stories were easy in production terms, but the peak form of the show was convincing and naturalistic, and sometimes brutal. Its story lines ranged from parched

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

s to

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

, ghostly riders to

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

cattle raiding Cattle raiding is the act of stealing live cattle, often several or many at once. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer.Baker, Sidney John (1945) ''The Australian language : an examination ...

, bandits, murderers, and others. A frequent story line was the constant need to find water for the cattle. The scout spent much of his time looking for water, sometimes finding that water holes and even rivers had dried up. ''Rawhide'' frequently dealt with controversial topics.

Robert Culp Robert Martin Culp (August 16, 1930 – March 24, 2010) was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on ''I Spy (1965 TV series), I Spy'' ( ...

played an ex-soldier on the drive who had become dangerously addicted to

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

. Mexican drover Hey Soos faced

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

at times from outside of the crew. Several shows deal with the aftermath of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, which ended four years earlier. The "Poco Tiempo" episode reveals that Yates' father's name was Dan, that Yates came from Southwestern Texas, that he joined the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

at 16, and that he was later held in a federal prison camp. Favor also served in the CSA as a captain. "Incident on the Edge of Madness" in season one, guest-starring Lon Chaney Jr., had Favor's old commanding officer attempting to enlist the aid of Favor and his men to start the "New Confederacy of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

" much to Favor's dismay. In that same episode, Favor and Nolan were revealed to have been in the Confederate forces up on Marye's Heights at the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat between the Union Army, Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Major general ( ...

, and they "felt shamed" at killing so many Union soldiers. Some American Indians demanded cattle as payment for going through their land. Rough characters were in the shows, and in one episode, Gil Favor is tortured by having his face held near a fire. In "Incident of the Town in Terror", people think that a sick Yates has "the plague" (anthrax), and they enforce at gunpoint a

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

of the cattle drovers outside the town. Also, cattle rustlers were around, including Comancheros. On occasions, ''Rawhide'' was eerily atmospheric. "Incident with an Executioner" featured a mysterious dark rider ( Dan Duryea) seen on the hillside following the herd, "Incident of the Haunted Hills" featured a sacred Indian burial ground, "Incident of the Druid Curse" and season two's "Incident of the Murder Steer" (where anyone sighting a rogue steer with "Murder" carved on its side soon after dies, based on an actual legend of the Old West). The series also featured episodes with

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

s, cattle with horns lit up by St. Elmo's fire at dusk, cowboys struck by lightning, plus a strange, totally enclosed

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

wagon, apparently steering itself, repeatedly turning up, all stand out as curiously "spooky" tales for a bustling dusty cattle drive; the show's often stark incidental music suited these stories perfectly. In episode 67, "Incident Near the Promised Land" (most episode titles began with "Incident" until Bruce Geller and Bernard L. Kowalski became the producers for season six), the cattle drive finally reached Sedalia for the first time in the series. Unusually, episode 68 continues on from that, where the cattle have been sold and the men celebrate in town and decide on their futures with even Favor thinking of leaving the business. Instead of the usual ending, wherein Favor gives the command "Head 'em up! Move 'em out!" and the cattle move off, this episode had the end titles over a view of a Sedalia street. Episode 69 has Favor visiting his two daughters, Gillian and Maggie, who live with their aunt Eleanor Bradley in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. In episode 70, a number of the men are back together and heading back to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

about 650 miles away, with a herd of horses (used in the titles) instead of cattle. Episode 71 has a new cattle drive ready to go, but the owner of 1600 of the cattle wants to be in charge, so Favor reluctantly signs on as a ramrod, but after problems, Favor becomes boss again at the end of the show. These five episodes made up one storyline instead of the usual single-episode stories, which could have been set anywhere in the West. Favor had many bad moments in the series, but none was worse than the "Lost Herd" episode. Close to drive's finish, Favor wants to beat another herd to town to get the best prices. He takes a narrow shortcut; due to thunder and lightning, the herd stampedes over the cliffs, leaving him just 9 out of 3000 cattle when the drive reaches town. He does not have the money to pay the drovers and has to face the owner ( Royal Dano), whose cattle he has lost, knowing that he might never work in the business again. From the second season, episodes began to feature individual cast members, notably Clint Eastwood's Yates (sole star in "Incident on the Day of the Dead", which opens season two); later, both Scout Pete Nolan ( Sheb Wooley) and even cook G. W. Wishbone ( Paul Brinegar) were featured as leads, while Fleming's Gil Favor remained in overall charge. Pete Nolan (Wooley), the scout, departs as a regular cast member after "The Deserter's Patrol" (season four, episode 18, 9 Feb 1962), but returns for a single episode "Reunion" (episode 26, 6 April 1962), and for a further nine episodes in season seven from "Texas Fever" (episode 18, 5 February 1965). Charles H. Gray's character Clay Forester, having played a villain in three episodes of season four (from "The Inside Man", episode six), then reforms and replaces Nolan as scout from "The Greedy Town" (season four, episode 19). Gray remained in the regular cast for the rest of seasons four and five (though in a number of later episodes, he is credited but not seen). John Ireland Raymond St

In the eighth and final season of ''Rawhide'', Fleming left the series after an apparent disagreement with the producers. ''Rawhide'' had fallen in the ratings, from sixth in 1960–61 to 13th, 22nd, then 44th. Eric Fleming, who played Favor, was let go. "They fired me because they were paying me a million dollars a year" (actually $220,000), Fleming told ''TV Guide'' in 1965. Cast members Sheb Wooley, James Murdock, Rocky Shahan, and Robert Cabal were also let go. Eastwood was promoted to series star as Yates finally becomes the trail boss. This outcome was hinted at in earlier episodes when Favor indicates he is training Yates to replace him as trail boss. The impression given is this was a later cattle drive with Yates now in charge, at a time after Favor had either "retired" or given up as boss, presumably having made his money or opted for a career change, since no mention is ever made onscreen of him or the reason for his absence in the final season's episodes. In its casting of the series, Robert Carricart was originally cast as George Washington Wishbone, but was replaced by Paul Brinegar. Carricart only played the role for the series unaired pilot. John Ireland as Jed Colby and Raymond St. Jacques as Simon Blake also joined the ''Rawhide'' cast at this time, plus semiregular minor cast member David Watson as Ian Cabot. With Fleming gone, ratings plunged, and the revised format only lasted 13 episodes before ''Rawhide'' was suddenly cancelled in midseason.

Cast members

Regular cast members included: * Eric Fleming as trailboss Gil Favor (seasons 1 to 7) *

as ramrod Rowdy Yates (seasons 1 to 7) (and trailboss in season 8) * Sheb Wooley as scout Pete Nolan (seasons 1 to 4, later season 7 nine episodes) * Paul Brinegar as the cantankerous cook, George Washington Wishbone (seasons 1 through 8) * Robert Cabal as the wrangler, Hey Soos Patines (seasons 1 to 7) * James Murdock as Wishbone's assistant, Harkness "Mushy" Mushgrove III (seasons 1 to 7) * Steve Raines as drover Jim Quince (seasons 1 to 7, ramrod in season 8) * Rocky Shahan as drover Joe Scarlet (seasons 1 to 7) * Don C. Harvey as drover Collins (seasons 1 to 4) * John Erwin as drover Teddy (seasons 2 to 4, 6 to 7) * John Hart as drover Narbo (season 4, two appearances in season 7) * William R. Thompkins as drover Toothless (season 2 to 7) * John Cole as drover Bailey (season 1 to 5, one appearance in season 6) * Milan Smith as drover Kyle (season 1 to 2) * Charles H. Gray as Clay Forrester (seasons 4 and 5 only, one appearance in season 6) * Paul Comi as Yo Yo (season 7 only) * John Ireland as Jed Colby (season 8 only) * Raymond St. Jacques as rider Simon Blake (season 8 only) * David Watson as Ian Cabot (season 8 only)

Notable guest stars

* Nick Adams * Claude Akins * Eddie Albert * Lola Albright * Tod Andrews * Morris Ankrum * Michael Ansara * Mary Astor *

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* Macdonald Carey *

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* Lon Chaney Jr. *

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* Linda Cristal *

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* Dan Duryea * Buddy Ebsen *

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* Julie Harris * Darryl Hickman * Kim Hunter * Rick Jason * Chubby Johnson * Russell Johnson * Victor Jory *

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Episodes

Background and production

Series producer Charles Marquis Warren based ''Rawhide'' on three sources: * '' Cattle Empire'' is the movie that he directed in 1958 and for which Endre Bohem was a screenwriter and Paul Brinegar, Steve Raines, Rocky Shahan, and Charles H. Gray were actors; all also worked in ''Rawhide''. * ''Chisholm Trail'' is the classic novel by Borden Chase that inspired the epic motion picture '' Red River'' starring

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

and Montgomery Clift. * The diary of trail boss George C. Duffield was written during a cattle drive from San Antonio to Sedalia in 1866. The narrations with which Gil Favor begins each episode are similar in style and breadth to the entries in Duffield's journal, lending the show an extra measure of authenticity. Filming for the first season of ''Rawhide'' took place at Universal-International Studios in Hollywood. The extensive railroad scenes in the third season were filmed in one month on the Sierra Railroad in

Tuolumne County, California Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorpora ...

. The premiere episode of ''Rawhide'' reached the top 20 in the

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

. The show had a grueling production schedule, being mostly weekly with a three- to four-month break between seasons. After the first season of 22 episodes, seasons two to seven were each 30 episodes. Often, the only way the lead actors could get a break was if they were said to be off on business. On rare occasions, the show featured a small number of the actors and some misfortune, maybe in a town, which would give the others time off.

Theme song

The

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

's lyrics were written by Ned Washington in 1958. It was composed by Dimitri Tiomkin and sung by pop singer

, with the orchestra and chorus conducted by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

(credited as Johnny Williams). The theme song became very popular, and was covered several times and featured in movies such as '' The Blues Brothers'' and '' Shrek 2''.

Title sequence

The eighth and final season's title sequence was animated by Ken Mundie of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.

Release

Home media

CBS DVD (distributed by

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

) has released all eight seasons of ''Rawhide'' on DVD in Region 1. On May 12, 2015, CBS DVD released ''Rawhide- The Complete Series'' on DVD in Region 1. In Region 2, ''Rawhide'' has been released in Scandinavia: Season 1, by Noble Entertainment, two boxes, 2009–2010, season one re-releasing in January 2014 by Soulmedia, seasons 2 and 3, by Soulmedia (season 2 in two boxes, and season 3 in four boxes). No more seasons will be released in Scandinavia. Revelation Films has released the first three seasons on DVD in the UK. Season 4 will be released on March 23, 2015, followed by season 5 on June 22, 2015. They are released as complete season sets rather than two volumes. In Region 4, Madman Entertainment has released all eight seasons on DVD in Australia, with each season in one box. Season 8, the Final Season, was released on October 5, 2011. DVD releases play heavily on Clint Eastwood's later fame, depicting him in the foreground as the chief character and crediting: "Clint Eastwood in...", but the original show credits for seasons one to seven actually depict the late Eric Fleming (as Gil Favor) being the lead cast member, with Eastwood as co-star (excepting a few later episodes where Eastwood is the sole star). On the Region 1 DVD sets, the episode "Incident of the Roman Candles" is included on both the Season One DVD set and the Season Two Volume One DVD set. Similarly, the episode "Abilene" is included on both the Season Four Volume Two DVD set and the Season Five Volume Two DVD set.

Response

Nielsen Ratings

Adaptations

Books

In 1961, Signet Books published a paperback original novel called ''Rawhide'' by Frank C. Robertson based upon the television show. Eric Fleming as Gil Favor and Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates are both on the front cover of the book. The book follows Favor, Yates, Wishbone, and others as they try to get their herd to Sedalia ahead of a rival's herd. The book was published multiple times with the last run printed in 1986.

Comics

The TV show was also adapted into a comic book by Dan Spiegle, distributed by

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

References

External links

*
''Rawhide''
at FiftiesWeb.com *

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The Eric Fleming Information Base
1959 American television series debuts 1965 American television series endings Television series set in the 1860s American English-language television shows Black-and-white American television shows CBS original programming Television series by CBS Studios 1950s Western (genre) television series Television shows adapted into novels Television shows adapted into comics 1960s Western (genre) television series Native American cemeteries in popular culture