Laramie In Color Part One - 28 episodes!
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DVD details
Actor: Dennis Holmes, John Smith, Robert Crawford, Robert Fuller, Spring ByingtonDirector: n/a
Brand: FULLER,ROBERT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1450 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-03-30
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Timeless Media Group
DVD Reviews of Laramie In Color Part One - 28 episodes!
DVD Review: Partners
Summary: 5 Stars
I first encountered "Laramie" in reruns soon after it had gone off the air, loved it, and greeted with delight its appearance on DVD, since (of course) it's impossible to find uncut classic Westerns on TV anymore. And, like most of the older series (which were made by people who cared about entertainment, not just the Almighty Dollar), it holds up well even 40-odd years later. Of these 28 episodes, I had seen all but five. John Smith plays Slim Sherman, a 30-some Union veteran who inherited a small ranch and stagecoach swing station outside Laramie from his pioneering father; Robert Fuller is Jess Harper, the fast gun from Texas who became his friend and partner; Dennis Holmes is Mike Williams, the orphan they take in; and Spring Byington is their housekeeper, Daisy Cooper, a widow from back East who served as a nurse during the Civil War. "Laramie" is almost unique among not only Westerns but all dramatic series of its day: the overwhelming majority of the former, and most of the latter, focused on either a single main character (with or without a sidekick), as in "The Rifleman" or "Gunsmoke," or a duo of an older, mentor-type character and an attractive male ingenue (as in "Wagon Train" or "Rawhide"), but here we see two men of nearly an age who interact as equals and derive their success not from a student/teacher relationship but from a meshing of individual strengths and weaknesses. Slim is steady and serious, shaped by his father's death and several years as the guardian of a younger brother; Jess is quick-tempered and still only half-domesticated, a former Confederate, POW, and, as he admits, "on a Wanted poster a long time ago," prone to exploding when he runs into unpleasant reminders of his own past, but loyal and capable of real compassion. (In the episode "The Replacement" Fuller displays his real skill as an actor when Jess finds himself torn between Slim and a long-ago oath to kill a man.) Between them--sometimes one, sometimes the other, and sometimes both, often serving as deputies to Sheriff Mort Corey (Stuart Randall)--they cope with outlaws, Indians, crooked lawmen, old friends in trouble and old enemies looking for it, ex-cons trying to make new lives, accusations of murder, people in crises of conscience, rebellious teenagers, people who turn out not to be what they claim, and assorted other difficulties with style and humor.
Like many of the quality A-list Westerns of its era, "Laramie" attracted a long list of good guest stars: veterans like Harry Carey, Jr., character actors like Arthur Hunnicutt, Warren Kemmerling, Karl Swenson, Dabbs Greer, Kevin Hagen, John Anderson, Bing Russell, Trevor Bardette, Walter Sande, Willis Bouchey, R. G. Armstrong, Kathleen Freeman, Sean McClory, Henry Beckman, Harry Lauter, Jason Evers, William Fawcett, perpetual Indian Frank deKova, and the inimitable L. Q. Jones, long-time heavies like Robert J. Willkie (who at least once plays it straight as a lawman), Lyle Bettger, Hal Baylor, John Larch, Barton MacLane, Mort Mills, Lane Bradford, Anthony Caruso, George Keymas, and Dennis Patrick, perpetual backups like William Boyett, later stars-in-their-own-right like Leonard Nimoy, Gary Clarke (who became Steve in "The Virginian"), Russell Johnson (of "Gilligan's Island"), John Lupton (who plays an Indian-hating character quite unlike his Tom Jeffords of "Broken Arrow"), Robert Blake (the former "Little Beaver" of B-movies and later Baretta), and Alex Cord (credited as Alex Viespi), B-list stars like Rod Cameron, pretty girls like Roberta Shore (Betsy Garth of "The Virginian"), Ruta Lee, and Susan Oliver, and genuine stars like Dan Duryea and Lloyd Nolan. The scripts are uniformly fast-moving (you can usually depend on a fistfight or two and some shooting in each one) and always leavened with at least a touch of humor, and most of the exteriors were clearly filmed outdoors. Of course the perpetual weakness of classic Westerns is the confusion over history: though Slim and Jess agree that the action is taking place about six years after the close of the Civil War (i.e., 1871), all sorts of incongruities find their way into the scripts--mentions of actress Lily Langtry (debuted 1881), the Lincoln County War (1878), the James boys and the Daltons (said to have ridden the area "10-15 years ago"), and the towns of Billings, MT ("20-odd years ago") and Tascosa, TX, barbed wire (introduced 1873), and the Colt Peacemakers (ditto) that everyone carries. There's also some confusion over what Indians the partners should be meeting up with: though Wyoming was largely Sioux territory (and the Sioux do play a part in at least two segments), Arapahoes and Blackfeet also put in appearances--and the various tribal cultures aren't always accurate. Still, if you love old Westerns you're used to this sort of thing, and the series has the great advantage of being family-friendly, not addicted to gratuitous blood and dirty language like its modern counterparts.
Technically I found the transfer generally satisfactory, with only "Trial by Fire" suffering from a hiss in the soundtrack and too bright a contrast. (Note that Timeless Media did have some difficulties with the early pressings, and if you have breakup or drop-out issues you can contact them directly and get replacements at no charge.)
DVD Review: "Settling For Mediocre"
Summary: 2 Stars
The sound and video detracts and distracts from the show and it's characters. On my DVD's, the sound gets out of whack with the lips, and I have to stop the DVD and restart it to get it back in sync. As with some other reviewers, the film is at times grainy, and hard to see during dark scenes. Why would they "settle for mediocrity?"DVD Review: very poor quality
Summary: 1 Stars
this dvd should be banned, the quality is dreadful, do not purchase this dvd you will be waisting your money. DVD Review: Great Western Series
Summary: 4 Stars
Laramie was a great western series. The picture quality is not real crisp but it is probably better than the picture quality in TV's in the 50's and 60's. I would recommend the set for anyone that enjoys the great TV westerns of the Golden Age of Television. DVD Review: Pathetic Video Quality Ruins A Pretty Good Series!
Summary: 1 Stars
I can only echo what several other reviewers have said...the video quality here is pathetic! It indeed does look like VHS at the SLP (6 hour) speed. Timeless Media apparently buys the legal rights to put some of these TV series out but good prints or video transfers are not always available from the source (NBC Universal in this case) so TM sometimes has to scrounge whatever prints or videos it can from collectors. They have put out some excellent quality western TV series such as "Tales of Wells Fargo" but this is not one of them. Think the worst of Alpha Video releases and that's what you'll get with this set. Shame on Universal for not providing some source material and shame on Timeless Media for putting this crappy set out with no word about the substandard quality on the packaging!
Description of Laramie In Color Part One - 28 episodes!
LARAMIE - IN COLOR! 6 DVD SET! The 1960s were a boom time for television westerns, with over 32 hours of prime time every week, on just three channels. One of the most watched and beloved of those shows was Laramie, which ran from 1959 to 1963, and is considered by many to be one of the best family westerns of all time. Now for the first time, TMG and NBC Universal bring you all 28 episodes of Laramie/Season Three in color on six DVD discs, along with an exclusive interview with Robert Fuller, who is still Jess Harper to his many fans! Originally airing in black and white, the series centered on the story of two brothers and a drifter who run a stage-stop in the Wyoming Territory of the late 1870s. John Smith (Cimarron City) plays the older brother, Slim Sherman, and Robert Crawford, Jr. (brother of Rifleman's Johnny Crawford) plays Sherman's younger brother Andy. When Jess Harper, played by the iconic Robert Fuller (Wagon Train, Emergency!), drifts into Laramie, he joins up with the brothers in their struggle against long odds. John Smith and Robert Fuller brought great chemistry to their roles in Laramie. Their opposing temperaments and strengths complimented each other on screen like few other duos in the western television genre. It is interesting to note that the producers originally wanted the two actors to switch roles. Robert and John dug in their heels, and the correctness of their decision is immediately apparent as you watch them interact. After two seasons in black and white, the third and fourth seasons were filmed in color. With Hoagy Carmichael gone, and Robert Crawford Jr.'s character sent off to St. Louis to school, the producers brought in Spring Byington (December Bride) as Miss Daisy Cooper, and a young Dennis Holmes (Wagon Train) as Mike Williams, whom Slim and Jess take under their wing. A terrific cast of guest stars highlighted the show, including Denver Pyle (Seige at Jubilee), Alex Cord (The Mountain Men), Leonard Nimoy (The Runt), Harry Dean Stanton (The Confederate Express), Cloris Leachman (Trial by Fire) and Jay Silverheels (The Day of the Savage) to name just a few. Laramie has been long anticipated and sought after, and this six-disc set brings you all 28 color episodes, complete and uncut. So kick off your boots and let Slim and Jess take you back to Wyoming Territory, heart of the Old West!General DVDs
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