Zane Grey Theatre (1956–1961) User Reviews

Great old Western series

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 19 September 2015]

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 the first season as well as the stars that were featured. Why do I have this list? Because I have the first season on DVD. Hopefully this list will give you an idea of the talent involved.

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, BobbyDriscoll

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 - Village of Fear -David Niven, George D. Wallace

1.22 - Black Creek Encounter- Ernest Borgnine, Jan Merlin

1.23 - There Were Four - John Derek, Dean Jagger

1.24 - Fugitive - Eddie Albert, Celeste Holm

1.25 - A Time To Live - Ralph Meeker, Julie London

1.26 - Black is for Grief - Mary Astor, Beulah Bondi, Chester Morris

1.27 - Badge of Honor - Gary Merrill, Tom Tully, Robert Culp

1.28 - Decision at Wilson's Creek -John Forsythe, John Dehner

1.29 - 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 does appear in some episodes, as you can see from the listing of season one above. Highly recommended if you like the old westerns of the 1950's.

His favorite author

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 9 August 2015]

According to Tony Thomas's book on The Films Of Dick Powell, Zane Grey was Powell's favorite author and he loved reading his western novels. Before his Four Star Production Company went forth with this series, Powell got the rights to all of Zane Grey's work. This also might explain why you don't see any more work filming his stories.

But he found that some of the work was long and complex and not easily fit into a half hour or even an hour format. As a result other original material was commissioned. But at Powell's insistence always in the Zane Grey spirit.

For someone who liked Zane Grey Powell did few films that could be considered westerns. There were two musicals Cowboy From Brooklyn for Warner Brothers and Riding High for Paramount that had western settings. There was also the very good noir like western Station West for United Artists. That one is highly recommended for noir and western fans.

Powell's partners the other three stars Charles Boyer, David Niven, and Ida Lupino were more than content to just act occasionally in Four Star TV shows and reap the profits while Powell handled the business and creative end. Powell's motto was always like Madonna to reinvent himself from musical crooner to tough star of noir films to TV producer and tycoon. It was either that or go out of fashion very fast.

I think Powell succeeded in making a fine western anthology series that rivaled Death Valley Days for the years it was on, only ended by Dick Powell's death.

Morality storytelling

[screenidol · 9/10 · 29 April 2021]

Each half-hour episode is a story about one character--or a whole town--having to make a decision about what's right versus what's most expedient, the safest, or the most profitable. The right decisions are made, usually, such as where, for example, revenge turns to forgiveness. Sure, some of it's sentimental, even maudlin. But the stories feel good, even with their happy endings.

But what makes the show so good are the many character actors such as Parley Baer, Dabbs Greer, Strother Martin, Jack Elam, Denver Pyle, and Harry Lauter, and faces we recognize whose names we don't know. Plus the named faces before they hit their prime: James Garner before Maverick, Lloyd Bridges pre Sea Hunt, David Janssen before The Fugitive, Robert Culp prior to I-Spy, Robert Vaughn before The Man from U. N. C. L. E., Walter Brennan before The Real McCoys, DeForest Kelly before Star Trek, Ray Collins prior to Perry Mason, Tom Tully before The Lineup (aka San Francisco Beat), and Frank Lovejoy before the short-run series Man Against Crime. And all those stars: James Whitmore, Ida Lapino, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Beverly Garland, Claude Akins, Rory Calhoun, Ralph Bellamy, Celeste Holm, Denver Pyle, Jack Lemmon, Gloria Talbot, John Payne, Stuart Whitman, Sterling Hayden, George Wallace, Eddie Albert and more. And that's just the first season!

Dick Powell provides interesting historic input at the beginning of each episode, along with a bit of his typical humor, (and he stars in a few episodes, as well).

I grew up watching black and white, and I love it. Photography is good; western towns and sets are like going home to a comfortable bygone era. The music is rich, albeit predictable (you can always tell the bad guy when he enters because of the music). There's drama and suspense, and you leave with a feel-good feeling.

Episode 21 of Season 2, The Sharpshooter is The Rifleman

[chuckju · 26 February 2006]

Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford are Lucas and Mark McCain is this excellent half hour western. It was so good they decided to make it a series. Thus "The Rifleman" was born.

This was far better than any subsequent episode of The Rifleman series, which was a bit too "nice" to be realistic.

I cannot recall if McCain's rifle in this Zane Grey episode had the nifty fast-action features of the series' rifle.

I am surprised that there are no other comments on this generally very good western anthology series on TV. It was certainly a popular feature on Friday nights about 60 years ago.

I believe the host, Dick Powell, left the series to host his own hour long Dick Powell Theater on Tuesday nights. This series of individual one hour dramas basically lasted until Powell's death. All of these shows should be issued on DVD while those of us who liked and would buy them are still alive.

Zane Gray Theater was story-telling at it's best.

[mhall-17 · 10/10 · 7 January 2008]

This comment may contain a "spoiler.

"Dick Powell's Zane Gray Theater" was one of the highlights of my Friday night viewing back in the mid to late 1950's. I remember one episode in particular in which Powell starred as Dan Case , a kind of old west version of the flying Dutchman, who was killed in a gunfight, then doomed to wander the west, repeatedly getting into shootouts and being gunned down. The theme song sums it up: "They draw guns and then/Dan dies again/as he wanders in search of his soul". It was haunting T.V. in several senses of the term. Other episodes, with performances by journeyman actors, like Wendell Corey, Dennis Hopper and others, remain mere fragments in the memory, yet the impression remains of substantial story-telling and satisfying entertainment. I started watching at the age of seven; withing two years I was reading Zane Gray novels like "the Thundering Herd" (having cut my teeth on the comic book associated with the show).

Zane Grey Theatre

[osloj · 10/10 · 7 July 2015]

Zane Grey Theatre was a mainstay of German TV in the late 1950's. Many Germans loved American Westerns and there were plenty around at the time, Gunsmoke (TV Series 1955–1975), Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV Series 1958–1961), Have Gun - Will Travel (TV Series 1957–1963), Branded (TV Series 1965–1966), The Rifleman (TV Series 1958–1963), Rawhide (TV Series 1959–1965), Laramie (TV Series 1959–1963), Wagon Train (1957–62 and 1962–65), and Lawman (TV Series 1958–1962).

Just watching Zane Grey Theatre, you are reminded how good shows were written, how well they were acted and the sets, even though at times cheap, how they ultimately provided a more than reliable Western feel.

Frequent stars and character actors provided good action and fluid movement in the time allotted. Seeing them now, I am reminded how much I miss 1950's television.

Claude Akins, Eddie Albert, Martin Balsam, James Garner, Ernest Borgnine, David Janssen, Jack Elam, Burt Reynolds, Sterling Hayden, Cameron Mitchell, Jack Palance are just a few of the great actors that were on the show.

Of course, no one today will remember all these fine actors, which is a complete shame.

what a deception so far

[searchanddestroy-1 · 4/10 · 24 August 2018]

I started this long TV western series, and I must admit that I am bit deceived. maybe I'll be more in a near future. I expected a kind of AH PRESENTS scheme, different stories and characters, with of course UNEXPECTED, TWIST endings. Bittersweet, ironical endingd, know what I mean? Here, nothing of this sort, but always expected f...hppy endings, as we find in movies for théâtres. Why,why, why? Maybe it will be a little different in the next épisodes. Maybe...

Joan Crawford Can't Save It

[vcarl-34791 · 2/10 · 18 November 2023]

Odd; even Joan Crawford can't make this episode watchable. I only watched this one episode, entitled One Must Die, so I have no comment on the series as a whole. It's 24 minutes but it felt like I knew the twist for firty five minutes and was just waiting for the plot to catch up to me.

Joan does a great job playing two characters, at first. Then she falters just a little distinguishing between the two. But if you know the twist, which was painfully obvious to me; maybe it was an acting choice. She doesn't make bad acting choices, but this means she gets an A minus this time; not bad at all. She isn't the problem.

When she goes to confront the dog, I wanted her to shoot it. That is because it all seems fake. A fake looking exterior of the mansion, complete with too obviously distressed shutters, fake looking interiors; false ending- Did you know that a character could have a cathartic moment or realization without destroying anything? The writer doesn't. And all the main man had to do was to use a blanket and save lots of expense.

It's interesting to see Joan with a Western hairstyle but you don't need to watch this just for that. There should have been a little more subtlety between the stark contrast of the lens when it's on her and when it's not.