The Rifleman
Encyclopedia
The Rifleman is an American Western
television program that starred Chuck Connors
as homesteader Lucas McCain
and Johnny Crawford
as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory
. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran on ABC
, from September 30, 1958 to April 8, 1963, a production of Four Star Television
. It was also one of the first primetime series ever to have a widowed parent raise a child.
Westerns were popular when The Rifleman premiered, and producers struggled to find gimmicks to distinguish one show from another. The Riflemans gimmick was a modified Winchester Model 1892
rifle with a trigger mechanism allowing for rapid-fire shots. Despite the anachronism, Connors demonstrated its rapid-fire action during the opening credits as McCain dispatched an unseen villain on North Fork's main street. Although the rifle may have appeared in every episode, it was not always fired, as some plots did not lend themselves to violent solutions, e.g., a cruel teacher at Mark's one-room school. There were several episodes where McCain dispatched the bad guys without the use of the rifle at all and he once threw the rifle to knock his opponent off his horse instead of killing him because he was a friend. In one episode McCain even "spiked" the barrel of his own gun when he knew it was going to fall into the hands of the villain so that it would backfire. McCain was also well versed in the use of a six gun although he did not own one and this aspect was rarely shown.
The various episodes of The Rifleman promote fair play, neighborliness, equal rights, and the need to use violence in a highly controlled manner ("A man doesn't run from a fight, Mark," McCain tells his son, "But that doesn't mean you go looking to run TO one!"). Thus the program's villains tend to cheat, to refuse help to those down on their luck, to be bigots, and to see violence as a first resort rather than the last option.Indeed, when the people of North Fork meet blacks
, they are truly color-blind. In "The Most Amazing Man", a black man (played by Sammy Davis, Jr.
) checks into the only hotel in town; for the entire show, no one notices his race. Not only is this noteworthy for the 1880s setting, it was radical for Hollywood of the early 1960s. While the message was clear, it was neither heavy-handed nor universal. Yet a certain amount of xenophobia
drifts around North Fork, once forcing McCain to defend the right of a Chinese immigrant to open a laundry
("The Queue") and later, the right of an Argentine
family to buy a ranch ("The Gaucho"). This racial liberalism does not extend to villains, however. The Mexicans in "The Vaqueros" are indolent and dangerous, and speak in the caricatured way of most Mexican outlaws in Westerns of the time.
Another fundamental of the series is that people deserve a second chance. Marshal Micah Torrance is a recovering alcoholic. Similarly, McCain gives an ex-con a job on his ranch ("The Marshal"). Royal Dano
appeared five times, once as a former Confederate States of America
soldier in ("The Sheridan Story"), given a job on the McCain ranch, who encounters General
Philip Sheridan
, the man who had cost him his arm in battle. Learning why the man wants him dead, Sheridan arranges for medical care for the wounded former foe, quoting Abraham Lincoln
's last orders to "...Bind up the nation's wounds." (Dano also appeared as a man who thought he was Abraham Lincoln, as a rainmaker, as a wealthy tanner who mistakenly believes Mark is his lost son and again as a preacher with a haunting gunfighter past in an episode where Warren Oates
and L. Q. Jones
, as unsavory brothers, try to goad him into a gunfight and attempt to bushwhack him.)
McCain was human and could also play the hypocrite. In an episode with Phil Carey as former gunman and old adversary Simon Battles, he is unwilling to believe the man has changed and become a doctor. It takes a gunfight, with Battles fighting alongside him, to make him admit he is wrong. In "Two Ounces Of Tin", again with Sammy Davis, Jr., this time as Tip Corey, a former circus trick-shot artist turned gunman, McCain angrily orders him off the ranch when he finds him demonstrating his skills to Mark. And in "Stopover" with Adam West
as gunman (and former teacher) Chris Roth, who turns up at the ranch as a passenger on a stagecoach stranded in a blizzard, McCain reacts when he realizes who Roth really is, again stating his views that a man who earns his way with a gun is unsavory. It is an unusual reaction from a man who has, by this time in the series, killed over twenty men. Indeed, he killed four the day he first showed up in town. And, from what we learn throughout the series, from Mark and others, he had a healthy - or unhealthy - reputation in the Indian Territories back in Oklahoma. It was here he first acquired the nickname of "The Rifleman". The McCains lived in Enid, Oklahoma
where Lucas' wife died in a smallpox outbreak (Season 5, "The Guest").
The show was created and initially developed by a young Sam Peckinpah
, who would go on to become the director of classic Westerns. Peckinpah, who wrote and directed many of the best episodes from the first season, based many of the characters and situations on real-life scenarios from his childhood growing up on a ranch. He also used many character actors such as Warren Oates
and R.G. Armstrong (the marshal in two early episodes who was killed by James Drury
before Paul Fix
joined the cast) who would later feature prominently in his films. His insistence on violent realism
and complex characterizations, as well as his refusal to sugarcoat the lessons he felt the Rifleman's son needed to learn about life, soon put him at odds with the show's producers at Four Star. He left the show and created another classic TV series, The Westerner
, starring Brian Keith
, which was short-lived. Sidney Blackmer
played Judge Hanavan, who owned the only hotel in North Fork, the California House and Restaurant, albeit for only a few episodes.
In November 2011, it was announced that CBS
and Chris Columbus
were developing a new version of The Rifleman, with Columbus slated to direct the pilot episode.
program centered around Lucas McCain
(played by former baseball/basketball player Chuck Connors
), a widower, Union veteran
of the American Civil War
(a Lieutenant
in the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
), and a homestead
er. McCain and his son Mark (played by future singer Johnny Crawford
) lived on a ranch
outside the fictitious town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory
.
The pilot
episode, "The Sharpshooter", was originally telecast on CBS on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater
on March 7, 1958, and was repeated, in slightly edited form, as the first episode of the series on ABC. Regulars on the program included Marshal
Micah Torrance (Paul Fix
) (R. G. Armstrong
was the original marshal for two episodes, the first and the fourth), Sweeney the bartender (Bill Quinn
), and a half-dozen other denizens of North Fork (Hope Summers
, Joan Taylor
, Patricia Blair
, John Harmon
, and Harlan Warde
were regulars). Fifty-one episodes of the series were directed by Joseph H. Lewis
, the director of the classic film noir
Gun Crazy
(1950), which accounts for some of the show's virtuoso noir
lighting and dark, brooding quality. Ida Lupino
directed one episode, "The Assault". Connors wrote several episodes himself. Robert Culp
of CBS's Trackdown
, wrote one two-part episode, and Frank Gilroy penned End of a Young Gun.
The February 17, 1959, episode of The Rifleman proved to be a spin-off
for an NBC
series, Law of the Plainsman
starring Michael Ansara
in the role of Marshal
Sam Buckhart. In the story called "The Indian", Buckhart came to North Fork to look for Indians
suspected in the murder of a Texas Ranger
and his family.
was a screw pin attached to the large loop lever which was positioned so as to trip the trigger when the ring was slammed home, thus allowing Lucas to rapid-fire the rifle, similarly to a semi-automatic rifle. The trigger trip screw pin was also used in two configurations. Sometimes McCain had the screw head turned inside close to the trigger. Most of the times he had it on the outside of the trigger guard with a lock nut on the outside to further secure its position. In some of the episodes the screw was taken out completely when rapid fire action was not needed. When properly adjusted, this screw “squeezed” the trigger when the lever was fully closed.
McCain fires twelve shots from this 11-round rifle during the opening credits. Seven shots are fired in the first closeup as the credits open and five more shots are shown as the camera switches to another view. The soundtrack contained a dubbed-in thirteenth shot to allow the firing to time out with a section of the theme music. McCain then swings the rifle to cock it and reaches for a round from his shirt pocket. The rifle was chambered in .44-40 caliber which could be used as six-gun cartridges or rifle rounds.
from 1946–1948. He also played professional baseball
for several teams thereafter. He was one of only twelve athletes to have played in the National Basketball Association
and in Major League Baseball
. Former Brooklyn Dodgers teammate Duke Snider
played a member of an outlaw gang in one episode. Snider and Connors were teammates on the 1949 Dodgers. Snider played in 146 games; Connors in one, as a 28-year-old rookie. Also appearing in episodes were Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale and legendary college and professional football coach Sid Gillman
has released The Rifleman on DVD in Region 1 in various incarnations. They have released single disc DVDs which contain 5 episodes as well between 2002–2006 they released 6 volume sets with each release containing 20 episodes. However, the releases feature a random collection of episodes, they are not in original broadcast order. These releases are now out of print as MPI Home Video no longer has the rights to the series.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
television program that starred Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
as homesteader Lucas McCain
Lucas McCain
Lucas McCain is the rancher and widowed father with a penchant for using his Winchester firearm -- as a last resort -- in the Western television series, The Rifleman, which ran on ABC from 1958-1963. The part was portrayed by the former athlete-turned-actor Chuck Connors...
and Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford
John Ernest "Johnny" Crawford is a prolific American character actor, singer and musician. At 12, Crawford rose to fame for playing Mark McCain, the son of the Lucas McCain character , in the popular 1960s ABC western series, The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963...
as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, from September 30, 1958 to April 8, 1963, a production of Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
. It was also one of the first primetime series ever to have a widowed parent raise a child.
History
According to network publicists, the series was set in the 1880s. There are also numerous episodes where the date is given in the 1880s. A wooden plaque next to the home states it was rebuilt by Lucas McCain and his son Mark in August 1881.Westerns were popular when The Rifleman premiered, and producers struggled to find gimmicks to distinguish one show from another. The Riflemans gimmick was a modified Winchester Model 1892
Winchester Model 1892
The Winchester Model 1892 was a lever-action repeating rifle designed by John Browning as a smaller, lighter version of his large-frame Model 1886, and which replaced the Model 1873 as the company's lever-action for smaller dual-use rounds such as the .44-40 .-History:When asked by Winchester to...
rifle with a trigger mechanism allowing for rapid-fire shots. Despite the anachronism, Connors demonstrated its rapid-fire action during the opening credits as McCain dispatched an unseen villain on North Fork's main street. Although the rifle may have appeared in every episode, it was not always fired, as some plots did not lend themselves to violent solutions, e.g., a cruel teacher at Mark's one-room school. There were several episodes where McCain dispatched the bad guys without the use of the rifle at all and he once threw the rifle to knock his opponent off his horse instead of killing him because he was a friend. In one episode McCain even "spiked" the barrel of his own gun when he knew it was going to fall into the hands of the villain so that it would backfire. McCain was also well versed in the use of a six gun although he did not own one and this aspect was rarely shown.
The various episodes of The Rifleman promote fair play, neighborliness, equal rights, and the need to use violence in a highly controlled manner ("A man doesn't run from a fight, Mark," McCain tells his son, "But that doesn't mean you go looking to run TO one!"). Thus the program's villains tend to cheat, to refuse help to those down on their luck, to be bigots, and to see violence as a first resort rather than the last option.Indeed, when the people of North Fork meet blacks
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
, they are truly color-blind. In "The Most Amazing Man", a black man (played by Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
) checks into the only hotel in town; for the entire show, no one notices his race. Not only is this noteworthy for the 1880s setting, it was radical for Hollywood of the early 1960s. While the message was clear, it was neither heavy-handed nor universal. Yet a certain amount of xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
drifts around North Fork, once forcing McCain to defend the right of a Chinese immigrant to open a laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
("The Queue") and later, the right of an Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
family to buy a ranch ("The Gaucho"). This racial liberalism does not extend to villains, however. The Mexicans in "The Vaqueros" are indolent and dangerous, and speak in the caricatured way of most Mexican outlaws in Westerns of the time.
Another fundamental of the series is that people deserve a second chance. Marshal Micah Torrance is a recovering alcoholic. Similarly, McCain gives an ex-con a job on his ranch ("The Marshal"). Royal Dano
Royal Dano
Royal Edward Dano was an American film and television character actor.-Early life:Dano was born in New York City to Mary Josephine , an Irish immigrant, and Caleb Edward Dano, a printer for newspapers. He reportedly left home at the age of twelve and at various intervals, lived in Florida, Texas...
appeared five times, once as a former Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
soldier in ("The Sheridan Story"), given a job on the McCain ranch, who encounters General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
, the man who had cost him his arm in battle. Learning why the man wants him dead, Sheridan arranges for medical care for the wounded former foe, quoting Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's last orders to "...Bind up the nation's wounds." (Dano also appeared as a man who thought he was Abraham Lincoln, as a rainmaker, as a wealthy tanner who mistakenly believes Mark is his lost son and again as a preacher with a haunting gunfighter past in an episode where Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
and L. Q. Jones
L. Q. Jones
L.Q. Jones is an American character actor and film director, known for his work in the films of Sam Peckinpah.-Life and career:...
, as unsavory brothers, try to goad him into a gunfight and attempt to bushwhack him.)
McCain was human and could also play the hypocrite. In an episode with Phil Carey as former gunman and old adversary Simon Battles, he is unwilling to believe the man has changed and become a doctor. It takes a gunfight, with Battles fighting alongside him, to make him admit he is wrong. In "Two Ounces Of Tin", again with Sammy Davis, Jr., this time as Tip Corey, a former circus trick-shot artist turned gunman, McCain angrily orders him off the ranch when he finds him demonstrating his skills to Mark. And in "Stopover" with Adam West
Adam West
William West Anderson , better known by the stage name Adam West, is an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman TV series and the film of the same name...
as gunman (and former teacher) Chris Roth, who turns up at the ranch as a passenger on a stagecoach stranded in a blizzard, McCain reacts when he realizes who Roth really is, again stating his views that a man who earns his way with a gun is unsavory. It is an unusual reaction from a man who has, by this time in the series, killed over twenty men. Indeed, he killed four the day he first showed up in town. And, from what we learn throughout the series, from Mark and others, he had a healthy - or unhealthy - reputation in the Indian Territories back in Oklahoma. It was here he first acquired the nickname of "The Rifleman". The McCains lived in Enid, Oklahoma
Enid, Oklahoma
Enid is a city in Garfield County, Oklahoma, United States. In 2010, the population was 49,379, making it the ninth largest city in Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a...
where Lucas' wife died in a smallpox outbreak (Season 5, "The Guest").
The show was created and initially developed by a young Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
, who would go on to become the director of classic Westerns. Peckinpah, who wrote and directed many of the best episodes from the first season, based many of the characters and situations on real-life scenarios from his childhood growing up on a ranch. He also used many character actors such as Warren Oates
Warren Oates
Warren Mercer Oates was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia...
and R.G. Armstrong (the marshal in two early episodes who was killed by James Drury
James Drury
James Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
before Paul Fix
Paul Fix
Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
joined the cast) who would later feature prominently in his films. His insistence on violent realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
and complex characterizations, as well as his refusal to sugarcoat the lessons he felt the Rifleman's son needed to learn about life, soon put him at odds with the show's producers at Four Star. He left the show and created another classic TV series, The Westerner
The Westerner (TV series)
The Westerner is a 1960 Four Star Television Western series on NBC created by Sam Peckinpah. The series stars Brian Keith as Dave Blassingame and features John Dehner as semi-regular Burgundy Smith...
, starring Brian Keith
Brian Keith
Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...
, which was short-lived. Sidney Blackmer
Sidney Blackmer
Sidney Alderman Blackmer was an American actor.Blackmer was born and raised in Salisbury, North Carolina. He started off in an insurance and financial business but gave up on it. While working as a builder's laborer on a new building, he saw a Pearl White serial being filmed and immediately...
played Judge Hanavan, who owned the only hotel in North Fork, the California House and Restaurant, albeit for only a few episodes.
In November 2011, it was announced that CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and Chris Columbus
Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Columbus is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had his largest success with the first two films in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, along with Home Alone, the last...
were developing a new version of The Rifleman, with Columbus slated to direct the pilot episode.
Synopsis
The black-and-whiteBlack-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
program centered around Lucas McCain
Lucas McCain
Lucas McCain is the rancher and widowed father with a penchant for using his Winchester firearm -- as a last resort -- in the Western television series, The Rifleman, which ran on ABC from 1958-1963. The part was portrayed by the former athlete-turned-actor Chuck Connors...
(played by former baseball/basketball player Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
), a widower, Union veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the original regiments in the Army of the Potomac's Iron Brigade.-Service:...
), and a homestead
Homestead (buildings)
A homestead is either a single building, or collection of buildings grouped together on a large agricultural holding, such as a ranch, station or a large agricultural operation of some other designation.-See also:* Farm house* Homestead Act...
er. McCain and his son Mark (played by future singer Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford
John Ernest "Johnny" Crawford is a prolific American character actor, singer and musician. At 12, Crawford rose to fame for playing Mark McCain, the son of the Lucas McCain character , in the popular 1960s ABC western series, The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963...
) lived on a ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
outside the fictitious town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory
New Mexico Territory
thumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
.
The pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
episode, "The Sharpshooter", was originally telecast on CBS on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.-Overview:Zane Grey Theatre was created by Luke Short and Charles A. Wallace...
on March 7, 1958, and was repeated, in slightly edited form, as the first episode of the series on ABC. Regulars on the program included Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
Micah Torrance (Paul Fix
Paul Fix
Paul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
) (R. G. Armstrong
R. G. Armstrong
Robert Golden "R.G." Armstrong is an American actor and playwright. A veteran character actor who appeared in dozens of Westerns over the course of his 40-year career, he may be best remembered for his work with director Sam Peckinpah....
was the original marshal for two episodes, the first and the fourth), Sweeney the bartender (Bill Quinn
Bill Quinn
Bill Quinn was an American actor.Quinn appeared in more than 150 acting roles starting in the 20's in silent films and ending in the digital age in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. He is best remembered as Archie's blind friend, Mr...
), and a half-dozen other denizens of North Fork (Hope Summers
Hope Summers
Hope Summers was an American character actress known for her work on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD, portraying Clara Edwards.-Career:...
, Joan Taylor
Joan Taylor (actor)
Joan Taylor is a retired American film actress.-Early life:She was born in Geneva, Illinois. Her father Joseph Emma was from Sicily and became a movie manager and a Hollywood prop man...
, Patricia Blair
Patricia Blair
Patricia Blair is an American television and film actress, primarily on 1950s and 1960s television. She is probably best known as Lou Mallory on the classic Western series The Rifleman where she co starred in 22 episodes with Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford and veteran actor Paul Fix; and as...
, John Harmon
John Harmon (actor)
John Harmon was an American actor.Harmon was a very prolific bit actor. His career spanned over six decades and almost 300 movie and television roles in a wide variety of genres. Many of his earlier appearances are uncredited. His first major screen credit was in I was framed...
, and Harlan Warde
Harlan Warde
Harlan Warde was a character actor active in television and movies. From 1958–1962 Warde joined Chuck Connors in The Rifleman. In 1962–1971 Warde joined the cast of the TV Western series The Virginian in the recurring role of Sheriff Brannon...
were regulars). Fifty-one episodes of the series were directed by Joseph H. Lewis
Joseph H. Lewis
Joseph H. Lewis was an American B-movie film director whose stylish flourishes came to be appreciated by auteur theory-espousing film critics in the years following his retirement in 1966...
, the director of the classic film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
Gun Crazy
Gun Crazy
Gun Crazy is a 1950 film noir feature film starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. The film was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced by Frank King and Maurice King...
(1950), which accounts for some of the show's virtuoso noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
lighting and dark, brooding quality. Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino was an English-born film actress and director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers. In her 48-year career, she appeared in 59 films and directed seven others, mostly in the United States. She appeared in serial television programmes 58 times and directed 50 other episodes...
directed one episode, "The Assault". Connors wrote several episodes himself. Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
of CBS's Trackdown
Trackdown
Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired on CBS between 1957 and 1959. The series offered more than seventy episodes and was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television and filmed at the Desilu-Culver Studio...
, wrote one two-part episode, and Frank Gilroy penned End of a Young Gun.
The February 17, 1959, episode of The Rifleman proved to be a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
for an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series, Law of the Plainsman
Law of the Plainsman
Law of The Plainsman is a Western television series starring Michael Ansara that aired on the NBC television network from October 1, 1959, until May 5, 1960. The character of Native American U.S...
starring Michael Ansara
Michael Ansara
Michael Ansara is a Syrian-born American stage, screen, and voice actor best known for his portrayal of Cochise in the American television series Broken Arrow, Kane in the 1979-81 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Commander Kang on three different Star Trek TV series.- Early life and...
in the role of Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
Sam Buckhart. In the story called "The Indian", Buckhart came to North Fork to look for Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
suspected in the murder of a Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
and his family.
Cast
- Chuck ConnorsChuck ConnorsChuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
portrayed Lucas McCain, a rancher, an American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
veteranVeteranA veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
(Union ArmyUnion ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
), and widowed fatherFatherA father, Pop, Dad, or Papa, is defined as a male parent of any type of offspring. The adjective "paternal" refers to father, parallel to "maternal" for mother...
who used his Winchester firearm as a last resort. Lucas earns enough money from a turkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
shoot contest to purchase a ranch near North Fork in the New Mexico TerritoryNew Mexico Territorythumb|right|240px|Proposed boundaries for State of New Mexico, 1850The Territory of New Mexico was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 6, 1912, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of...
, where he dedicates himself to rearing his son, whom he adores and whom he promised to protect and keep safe when Mark's mother was dying, and fending off gunfighters looking to kill the "fastest man in the west." He loved his wife a lot and misses her too much to remarry, although he does have several potential love interests in town. It is shown many times throughout the series how much Lucas loves his son and how he would do anything for him or to keep him safe. A cattleman, he is often mistaken by strangers as a "sodbusterHomestead ActA homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
" a term of denigration for a farmer in the eyes of most people, it seems, including in Lucas' and Mark's eyes. - Johnny CrawfordJohnny CrawfordJohn Ernest "Johnny" Crawford is a prolific American character actor, singer and musician. At 12, Crawford rose to fame for playing Mark McCain, the son of the Lucas McCain character , in the popular 1960s ABC western series, The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963...
as Mark McCain, the son of Lucas McCain. Mark is about 10 when the series starts and somewhere around 15 when it ends (albeit in real life Crawford was 12 when the series started filming and thusly 17 when it ends). McCain protects Mark often to the point of stifling his development as an independent person, although their relationship is very sweet. He refuses for a long time to let Mark near a gun (perhaps the producer's defference to the standards of the 1960's audience), although Mark is able to shoot well. In contrast, in many cases by today's standards-but not the standards of the 1880's (or perhaps the 1960's)-Mark is left alone to fend for himself in the wilderness, something that could get a parent in trouble with Child Protective ServicesChild Protective ServicesChild Protective Services is the name of a governmental agency in many states of the United States that responds to reports of child abuse or neglect. Some states use other names, often attempting to reflect more family-centered practices, such as "Department of Children & Family Services"...
and the police in today's more protective atmosphere for children in probably most jurisdictions. Mark idolizes his father. During an episode when Lucas is trying to find a fugitive in an undercover capacity for a local Marshal, we see Mark moping and missing him greatly while he is gone for months. - Paul FixPaul FixPaul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
as Marshall Micah Torrance, who tries to monitor Lucas McCain and keep gunfighters away from him. It is implied that Mark sees him as a grandfather figure. While Torrance is portrayed in some episodes as an ineffectual and even laughable figure, always relying on McCain to step in and handle things, he frequently demonstrates his ability to deal with his own problems, as in "The Marshal", where he kills two gunmen, including the man who has critically injured McCain. He relies on a slug-loaded shotgun as his equalizer and is proficient in its use.
Recurring cast
- Bill QuinnBill QuinnBill Quinn was an American actor.Quinn appeared in more than 150 acting roles starting in the 20's in silent films and ending in the digital age in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. He is best remembered as Archie's blind friend, Mr...
as Sweeney the Bartender - Patricia BlairPatricia BlairPatricia Blair is an American television and film actress, primarily on 1950s and 1960s television. She is probably best known as Lou Mallory on the classic Western series The Rifleman where she co starred in 22 episodes with Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford and veteran actor Paul Fix; and as...
as Lou Mallory - Joe HigginsJoe HigginsJoe Higgins is an Irish Socialist Party politician. In the 2011 general election he was elected to Dáil Éireann as Teachta Dála for the Dublin West constituency, having previously served in that capacity from 1997–2007...
as Nils Swenson - Harlan Warde as John Hamilton
- Joan TaylorJoan Taylor (actor)Joan Taylor is a retired American film actress.-Early life:She was born in Geneva, Illinois. Her father Joseph Emma was from Sicily and became a movie manager and a Hollywood prop man...
as Milly Scott - Hope SummersHope SummersHope Summers was an American character actress known for her work on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD, portraying Clara Edwards.-Career:...
as Hattie Denton - John HarmonJohn Harmon (actor)John Harmon was an American actor.Harmon was a very prolific bit actor. His career spanned over six decades and almost 300 movie and television roles in a wide variety of genres. Many of his earlier appearances are uncredited. His first major screen credit was in I was framed...
as Eddie Halstead - Seven different actors played the doctor throughout the series, usually with the name of Doc Burrage: Edgar BuchananEdgar BuchananEdgar Buchanan was an American actor with a long career in both film and television, most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the Petticoat Junction, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies television sitcoms of the 1960s...
(five times), Fay RoopeFay RoopeFay Roope , born Winfield Harding Roope, was a Harvard graduate and a character actor who appeared in American theater in New York City from the 1920s through 1950, and in American film and television from 1949 through 1961.-Early life:...
(twice), Rhys WilliamsRhys Williams (actor)Rhys Williams was a Welsh character actor in movies and television, whose career spanned several decades.He made his film debut in How Green Was My Valley . This movie takes place in rural Wales with a large cast of Welsh characters, but was actually filmed in Hollywood with Canadian, American,...
(six times), Jack KruschenJack KruschenJack Kruschen was a Canadian-born character actor who worked primarily in American film, television and radio.-Radio:...
(twice), Robert BurtonRobert BurtonRobert Burton may refer to:* Robert Burton , Master of University College, Oxford, England * Robert Burton , English scholar and vicar* Robert Burton, Sr. , printing industry executive...
(twice), Ralph MoodyRalph MoodyRalph Moody was one of early drivers of NASCAR. However, he eventually became the most famous as team co-owner of Holman Moody.-Background:...
(three times) and Bert Stevens (once). - Richard AndersonRichard AndersonRichard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man...
as six different characters: Tom Birch; Lariat Jones; Duke Jennings; Jason Gowdy; Harry Chase; and Griff.
Guest stars
Many guest stars appeared more than once during the series playing different roles. Those that appeared more than once often played both "good" and "bad" roles. Prominent actors included:The Rifle
The trick feature of The Rifleman's RifleThe Rifleman's Rifle
The Rifleman's Rifle was the modified Winchester 1892 that Lucas McCain, as portrayed by Chuck Connors, always carried in the television series The Rifleman...
was a screw pin attached to the large loop lever which was positioned so as to trip the trigger when the ring was slammed home, thus allowing Lucas to rapid-fire the rifle, similarly to a semi-automatic rifle. The trigger trip screw pin was also used in two configurations. Sometimes McCain had the screw head turned inside close to the trigger. Most of the times he had it on the outside of the trigger guard with a lock nut on the outside to further secure its position. In some of the episodes the screw was taken out completely when rapid fire action was not needed. When properly adjusted, this screw “squeezed” the trigger when the lever was fully closed.
McCain fires twelve shots from this 11-round rifle during the opening credits. Seven shots are fired in the first closeup as the credits open and five more shots are shown as the camera switches to another view. The soundtrack contained a dubbed-in thirteenth shot to allow the firing to time out with a section of the theme music. McCain then swings the rifle to cock it and reaches for a round from his shirt pocket. The rifle was chambered in .44-40 caliber which could be used as six-gun cartridges or rifle rounds.
Connors the athlete
Chuck Connors played basketball for the Boston CelticsBoston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
from 1946–1948. He also played professional baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
for several teams thereafter. He was one of only twelve athletes to have played in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
and in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. Former Brooklyn Dodgers teammate Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
played a member of an outlaw gang in one episode. Snider and Connors were teammates on the 1949 Dodgers. Snider played in 146 games; Connors in one, as a 28-year-old rookie. Also appearing in episodes were Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale and legendary college and professional football coach Sid Gillman
DVD releases
MPI Home VideoMPI Home Video
MPI Home Video is a home entertainment company that produces and distributes popular documentaries, films and television series on DVD & Blu-ray for the home video market. MPI Home Video is a subsidiary of MPI Media Group which was founded in 1976 by brothers Malik & Waleed Ali...
has released The Rifleman on DVD in Region 1 in various incarnations. They have released single disc DVDs which contain 5 episodes as well between 2002–2006 they released 6 volume sets with each release containing 20 episodes. However, the releases feature a random collection of episodes, they are not in original broadcast order. These releases are now out of print as MPI Home Video no longer has the rights to the series.
Further reading
- Christopher Sharrett, The Rifleman (TV Milestones Series), Wayne State University Press, 2005