Wed 22 Dec 2021
A TV Western Review: THE MEN FROM SHILOH “The West vs. Colonel MacKenzie†(1970).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV Westerns[13] Comments
THE MEN FROM SHILOH. “The West vs. Colonel MacKenzie.†NBC, 16 September 1970. (Season 9, Episode 1, of The Virginian). Stewart Granger (Colonel Alan MacKenzie), Doug McClure (Trampas), James Drury (The Virginian), Lee Majors (screen credit only). Guest Cast: Elizabeth Ashley, Martha Hyer, Don DeFore, John Larch. Directors: Murray Golden & Jerry Hopper. Currently streaming on the Starz channel.
When the TV series The Virginian began its ninth series, some changes were made, starting with the title. The new owner of the Shiloh ranch also showed up: Alan MacKenzie (Stewart Granger), a British army colonel, along with his former aide-de-camp, now a combination valet and butler. As the new owner, the intent was to give the show a new perspective, that of someone unfamiliar to the West, someone who must learn its new ways and how things are done. On the job training!
When he arrives, both Trampas and the Virginian are ready to step aside, but by the end of this first episode, they have agreed to stay. Roy Tate, a new regular to be played by Lee Majors, does not yet appear.
Col. MacKenzie does not have long to wait to get his first crisis under his belt, that of the hanging of a suspected rustler by a gang of vigilantes. His sister claims he was innocent, and MacKenzie is inclined to agree with her. This simple act puts him in direct opposition to the sheriff and the local Cattleman’s Association. Nothing like getting off on the wrong foot with the people in power in the country you’ve just moved into.
Given the 90-minute format the series always had, there’s plenty of time to flesh out the story without feeling that there was padding to waste, at least this time around. While I found nothing amiss in having an Englishman in charge of the ranch, I did find Col. MacKenzie a little too kind and good to be true. But kindness and goodness sometimes win out, and not very surprisingly, they certainly do here.
December 22nd, 2021 at 10:25 pm
All of these ultra-long westerns of the period played like soap operas but without sexual tension. Stewart Granger turned out to be, missing Lee J. Cobb’s ability to belch on cue, but no more interesting. Bickford and McIntyre were better, though it was impossible for these men to do more than collect their pay. When James Drury was on, and there was never enough for him, or of him, the show sparkled a bit.
December 23rd, 2021 at 12:00 am
This is as far as I’ve gotten into this season, but it’s my impression that the Virginian (Drury) is going to be de-emphasized considerably, and one of the reasons for the title change. Likely a mistake on NBC’s part, but the show was probably already running out of steam. Not many TV westerns lasted longer than THE VIRGINIAN did.
December 23rd, 2021 at 12:51 am
Most of what you say is true, but the title change was related to landing Stewart Granger, the first real movie star, albeit nearing the end, on television at the time, or at least in a western. All part of a $250,000 contract that did not pan out.
December 23rd, 2021 at 10:01 am
The reboot also tried to ride the Spaghetti Western boom with.a new opening theme by Ennio Morricone, replacing the earlier music by Percy Faith. That didn’t work either. Grainger made a fair number of Western movies in then genre’s ’50s and ’60s heyday, including three “Old Surehand” films in Germany.
December 23rd, 2021 at 2:24 pm
“That didn’t work, either.” That seems to sum it up, right there.
December 23rd, 2021 at 8:58 pm
I’m not sure the ratings on this one ever came up to the expense of producing a weekly movie. It struggled along after a solid first year or two as BONANZA without the family ties.
December 24th, 2021 at 2:42 am
“When you call me that, smile!”
I admit to an irrational longing for 1800s life. A time when a wrong word-choice meant a duel, with knives, on a gulf-coast sandbar.
Doug McClure: always wondered where he originated. I recall him particularly from those ‘lost continent’ movies with Peter Cushing. Strange casting, that.
Charles Bickford sure had a marvelous life; I looked him up after repeated viewings of ‘The Big Country’. Boy, was he good there.
December 24th, 2021 at 6:52 am
The Wikipedia article on THE VIRGINIAN series has yearly ratings for the series. THE VIRGINIAN was in the top 30 US shows every year from 1962 through 1968, except for season 8, 1969-1970. That year the ratings tanked, and the show fell out of the 30.
The rebooted MEN FROM SHILOH was a ratings success. The show was back in the top 30.
BUT: US television was undergoing a radical change. Demographics were added to ratings. The networks did the notorious “rural purge”: getting rid of shows set in rural areas that attracted rural and/or older viewers.
The network cancelled MEN FROM SHILOH. Even though it was a ratings hit. It was too “rural”.
At least, this is what Wikipedia says. I’m no expert on ratings, and can neither confirm nor deny their account.
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THE VIRGINIAN had the most beautiful production values of any 1960’s US TV show, in my judgment. The wonderful color design, color cinematography, and sumptuous sets and costumes were astonishing.
I have no idea how they afforded this, either.
December 24th, 2021 at 10:41 am
Well done and of great interest, Mike.
December 24th, 2021 at 11:23 am
Memory Time:
– Sometime in the early ’60s, Mickey Rooney gave a choleric interview to TV Guide, decrying the then-current slowdown in his career.
Rooney spoke about his “sure-fire” idea for a 90-minute series, which he wasn’t able to sell; instead, NBC bought The Virginian:
” … a western! Oh sure, it’s got lots of action and pretty color, and old Lee Cobb scratching himself and belching, but it’s STILL A WESTERN!!!”
A few weeks after this, TV Guide interviewed Lee J. Cobb, who responded thusly:
“I play a judge. The last thing I would do would be to scratch myself or belch.”
Posted here for the record.
In 1962, both color and 90-minute length were comparatively new on the TV scene.
Back then, home TV sets were still pretty small, and picture definition was nowhere near what it would evolve into these days.
Since The Virginian is now available on digitally restored DVDs, maybe someone with the facilities could tell us all how their memories of how the production looked on the old 1962 Motorola, versus a 2020 widescreen.
Of course, film always looked better anyway, but the comparisons might be interesting to observe …
December 24th, 2021 at 11:58 am
To tell you the truth, Mike, I don’t remember when my family bought our first color TV. I went off to college in 1959. I don’t think we had one then.
But whenever it was, color TV was Wonderful. No other word could describe it.
December 26th, 2021 at 9:37 pm
NBC conquered color early, THE VIRGINIAN looked pretty good. Frankly it looked better than some movies from that era even on a small screen.
Keep in mind even most small town theaters weren’t exactly showing the big epic films to their full advantage so we weren’t comparing TV to the best Hollywood had to offer, and by then a lot of directors, actors, writers, and cinematographers from the movies were working on television. It had only been a little over a decade that most people even had a television.
It had to be fairly expensive comparatively even back then when they were better set up to do Westerns. Ratings did sometimes take a back seat to demographics and cost. A borderline success that was cheap to make could crowd out a bigger hit that wasn’t as cost effective.
May 16th, 2023 at 8:00 am
I just purchased the ninth and final season of the Virginian, and despite some negative comments regarding the changes in format, l have found some of the early episodes to be some of the best writing of the series. A team of female writers seemed to have really punched up the female parts, offering some unique storylines for a fresh slate of guest actresses, breathing some new life into the aging format. I am only 12 episodes into the Shiloh format, and if l had any complaints, it is that the characters remain separate, with very little interaction on the ranch. Also, whoever handled the lighting on this season should he shot, as many scenes are horribly lit, with boom and crew shadows plainly visible in many scenes. Despite the technical problems however, it remains as compelling as ever!