THE VIRGINIAN - 1958 Screen Gems Version Pilot - Intro (Decision)

[CruelestSea]

Fascinating! Wherever did you find this?

[suir52]

@CruelestSea It's in a biography of Henry Fonda, "Fonda, My Life, as told to Howard Teichmann" Fonda never liked horses, despite his many western roles, but as a publicity stunt agreed to ride one along a road. It jumped over one car, crashed into another, throwing Fonda, who broke his wrist. The horse was unharmed, but the car owner sued Fonda for the damage to his car. It's the only time the Virginian has been played by an actor with his wrist in a cast and his arm in a sling!

[suir52]

Henry Fonda also played The Virginian on stage in 1937 at Mount Kisco, New York. Charles Bickford played Trampas a year earlier in a radio production with Gary Cooper. One of Doug's last roles in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues: Cruise Missile saw him acting with Colm Feore , who later played Trampas in Bill Pullman's version.

[RuthVaillette]

Doug McClure played Trampas.(in the TV series) In the book, Trampas was a bad guy.

[Poopingbotham]

I always thought that Doug McClure had the lead part in this show

[bear022013]

Joel McCrea,Randolph Scott,Doug McClure,Warren Oates,Jon Wayne,Royal Dano,

Ken Curtis,Richard Farnsworth and many more.Such gifted, hard working,unforgettable actors.I am glad that I was able to see so many of them. When Westerns were KING!

[collinclink]

It was a golden age definitly.

[RandyAKing]

Gee, this is such a long time before the series actually started!

[VictoriaGreenly]

@RandyAKing This is the pilot episode of a half hour b&W version of the series. The series we know as The Virginian has no affiliation with this pilot except the fact that James Drury played the Virginian in both of them.

[1985OldSkool]

When did MCA/Universal acquire the filming rights from Columbia/Screen Gems?

[lorrainewands]

Drury was actually more attractive in B&W. Didn't think that was possible...

[MrsAdely]

"The Man whitout name"....

[overner2001]

I remember my brother and I used to watch this. I recall Trampus (Doug McClure) but we could never find out what "The Virginian"'s name was! (played by actor James Drury) He didn't seem to us to appear very often either! We used to refer to the show as "The Virginian... who's never in it!"

[actionsub]

If you go back to the Owen Wister novel where the character was created, you won't find The Virginian's real name in there, either.

[Eduelsalvaje]

Antes de hacer James Drury de El Virginiano lo habian hecho Gary Cooper y luego Joel Mc Crea y como El Trampas Walter Houston y Brian Donlevy.

[clivetemple]

As a kid i always thought there was a somewhat dark side to this series... not exactly Bonanza was it?

[jade33710]

Oh cool!

[coolmamac]

If I remember correctly, there was a movie of the same name staring actor Joel McCray.

[VictoriaGreenly]

Yes, you are correct, coolmamac. That was in 1946. There is also a version from 1929 with Gary Cooper. In the 2000 version with Bill Pullman, James Drury has a guest appearance. And of course, the television series, The Virginian that starred James Drury, ran from 1962-1971.

[johnnynoirman]

It's Joel McCrea buddy

I haven't t seen the Bill Pullman version..did you?

[fromthesidelines]

Yes, the original pilot was produced by Screen Gems, and aired on a 1958 summer anthology of "busted" pilot films called "DECISION", on NBC. This version is from A&E's late '80s package from Sony/Columbia, "The Golden Age Of Television" {Wendell Craig, announcer}, consisting of reissued episodes from Screen Gems' "ALCOA-GOODYEAR THEATER" {as "AWARD THEATER" in syndication} and several Screen Gems pilots of the late '50s not included in that anthology.

[VictoriaGreenly]

This was Screen Gems attempt at The Virginian in 1958 and it wasn't picked up for the network schedule. In 1962, Universal Studios cast James Drury in the role of the Virginian again...totally unrelated to the 1958 version. It seems James Drury IS the Virginian no matter which way you cut it. :-)

[britfrenir]

It probably had the Revue logo before the Universal logo probably. I taped parts of episodes with the opening and closing themes from season 2 along with the logo which I like too.

[powergirl901]

@VictoriaGreenly I can just hear Drury saying, "I don't want people to just see me

as the Virginian"

Well, too bad!

[VictoriaGreenly]

@powergirl901 You may or may not be surprised. When asked weren't you in The Virginian? He replies, I 'am' the Virginian. :)

[spacepatrolman]

@powergirl901 They called him james droopy in MAD magazine

[zekepig]

This opening has it all: Man riding tall on a horse, words of wisdom ("It's not principles to kill anything ... unless I absolutely have to."), a complimentary gunshot, and the title & star telops.

But one minor, confusing thing: I thought this show was produced at Universal, not Screen Gems.

[misshamilton60]

It is fabulous! Thank you very much for showing this wonderful treasure to us.