Zane Grey Theatre Complete Season One Review

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(More customer reviews)I remember seeing this show in syndication years ago as a child and teenager, and I had no idea Mr. Powell had had such a diverse career. Starting out as a crooner in Busby Berkeley musicals in the 1930's, evolving into a star in film noir, and then transitioning to television in a number of shows including this one from the golden age of TV westerns in the 1950's. He was in good company with other stars such as Robert Montgomery, who hosted his own first-rate TV show in the 1950's.
This show is not really a series. Instead it was in the mold of the weekly playhouse kind of show that was so popular in the 1950's. Each episode stood alone and featured different stars each week, some being quite popular figures from the silver screen. The show first used material from Zane Grey, but as time passed material had to come from elsewhere as well. The following is a listing of the episodes of that first season as well as the stars that were featured.
1.01 - You Only Run Once- Robert Ryan, Cloris Leachman
1.02 - Fearful Courage- James Whitmore, Ida Lupino
1.03 - The Long Road Home - Mr. Powell, Ray Collins
1.04 - The Unrelenting Sky - Lew Ayres, Phyllis Avery
1.05 - The Lariat - Jack Palance, Constance Ford
1.06 - Death Watch - Lee J. Cobb, Bobby Driscoll
1.07 - Stage for Tucson - Eddie Albert, Mona Freeman
1.08 - Quiet Sunday in San Ardo - Wendell Corey, Gerald Mohr
1.09 - Vengeance Canyon - Walter Brennan, Ben Cooper
1.10 - Return to Nowhere- John Ireland, Steven McNally
1.11 - Courage is a Gun - Mr. Powell, Beverly Garland
1.12 - Muletown Gold Strike - Rory Calhoun, Barbara Eiler
1.13 - Stars over Texas - Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Talbott, James Garner
1.14 - Three Graves - Jack Lemmon, Nan Leslie
1.15 - No Man Living- Frank Lovejoy, Margaret Hayes
1.16 - Time of Decision - Lloyd Bridges, Diane Brewster
1.17 - Until the Man Dies - Stuart Whitman, John Payne
1.18 - Backtrail- Mr. Powell, Catherine McLeod
1.19 - Dangerous Orders - Jack Elam, Mark Stevens
1.20 - The Necessary Breed - Sterling Hayden, Jean Willes
1.21 - The Hanging Tree - Robert Ryan, Cloris Leachman
1.22 - Village of Fear- David Niven, George D. Wallace
1.23 - Black Creek Encounter- Ernest Borgnine, Jan Merlin
1.24 - There Were Four- John Derek, Dean Jagger
1.25 - Fugitive - Eddie Albert, Celeste Holm
1.26 - A Time To Live - Ralph Meeker, Julie London
1.27 - Black is for Grief - Mary Astor, Beulah Bondi, Chester Morris
1.28 - Badge of Honor - Gary Merrill, Tom Tully, Robert Culp
1.29 - Decision at Wilson's Creek - John Forsythe, John Dehner
1.30 - Man on the Run - Scott Brady, Nancy Hale
Each episode is 30 minutes in length and features such diverse talent as James Garner at the beginning of his career and Chester Morris near the end of his career. Mr. Powell stars in three of the thirty episodes. VCI, though not widely known, has taken part in some quality restorations before, so I am hoping these great western dramas will be carefully restored.

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Wonderful tales of the Old West laden with history and adventure are presented in Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, a half-hour western anthology TV series that debuted on CBS, October 5, 1956 and ran for 5 whole seasons. Dick Powell served as the host for the entire series and also starred as various characters in 15 episodes. The series was originally based on the short stories and novels of western author Zane Grey, but as the series continued, new material was included. Aaron Spelling, who later became a legend in Hollywood, wrote twenty Zane Grey episodes. Zane Grey Theatre was also ground-breaking for producing five episodes which were spun-off into subsequent TV series: (1) Trackdown (from Season one's "Badge of Honor") starring Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman, (2) The Rifleman (from Season 2's "The Sharpshooter") with Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, (3) Black Saddle (from Season 2's "Threat of Violence" with Chris Alcaide instead of series star Peter Breck as Clay Culhane), (4) Johnny Ringo (from Season 3's "Man Alone") starring Don Durant, and (5) The Westerner (from Season 3's "Trouble at Tres Cruces") starring Brian Keith as Dave Blassingame. In addition, Wanted: Dead or Alive, with Steve McQueen playing the bounty hunter Josh Randall, was a CBS spinoff of Trackdown, and Law of the Plainsman, starring Michael Ansara as a Harvard-educated, Native American U.S. Marshal was an NBC spin-off of The Rifleman. Bonus Features: Episode Selection, Video Interview with Norman Powell (Dick Powell's son) by Joel Blumberg, Audio Interview on the history of Four Star Productions with author Christine Becker by Joel Blumberg, Classic TV Commercials. Product Specs: 4-DVD9s; Dolby Digital 2.0; 870 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1956-1957; SRP - $39.99.

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