Tag Archives: Lawrence Mann

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 17: A Man’d Be Proud (originally aired December 31st, 1966) – Series Finale

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Episode 17, the final episode of this short lived TV series, begins with Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) in serious need of a cook at his cattle ranch. While lamenting the horrible state of the vittles that he and his men are being forced to consume to Sam Grafton (Sam Gilman), it’s suggested that he consider asking Marian Starett (Jill Ireland) to be his cook. Ryker ends up taking Sam’s advice and heads out to the Starett ranch to see her and even gets invited to stay for dinner. None of this is setting well with Shane (David Carradine) or Tom Starett (Tom Tully), as neither man trusts Ryker, especially since he has spent the better part of the first 16 episodes of the series wanting to take the ranch away from them. They make their feelings very obvious as Ryker plays nice and Marian seems to appreciate his suddenly more caring and complimentary nature. Later at Sam’s bar, Ryker begins telling Sam about how good it would be to have a woman to spend his time with. Sam tells him “You’re talking like a man in love.” It really seems that Ryker may be falling for Marian. He even gets a fresh shave and haircut. Shane walks in on Ryker getting his haircut and gets pissed all over again. He heads back to the ranch and tells Marian, who offers to give Shane his own haircut, that Ryker is “trying to court you,” hoping that she’ll put down the idea. Sensing what Shane is up to, Marian decides to play devil’s advocate and acts like dating Ryker isn’t such a bad idea. It drives Shane crazy, which seems to be making Marian quite happy. Ryker keeps pressing forward, even bringing Marian some excellent peanut brittle. As a jealous Shane tries to warn Marian that Ryker is dangerous, she asks Shane why he cares, clearly wanting him to answer honestly, which he doesn’t. Will Shave ever admit to Marian that he loves her?!! Will Ryker be able to convince her that he can give her a good life at his ranch? Will Tom threaten to kick Shane’s ass if he doesn’t handle his business with Marian? The good news is that all such questions are answered in this final episode.

While episode 17 presents a strange conundrum, Shane vs. Rufe Ryker for Marian’s attention, I must admit that I found it an excellent conclusion to the series for several reasons. First, Rufe Ryker’s best nature is finally revealed. Throughout the series Ryker has been a lot of bluster, but with a couple exceptions, he has mostly been a reasonable man and has even worked with the Starett’s multiple times for the good of the valley. His feelings for Marian bring out a sensitivity and kindness in him that we have not seen before. Being one of the more interesting characters, I liked that he was given even more depth this late in the series. Second, there’s a scene late in the episode where Tom confronts Shane, chews his ass out and tells him he’d kick that same ass if he was a little younger since he’s not “man enough” to take care of his business. So many times people dance around and do everything possible NOT to tell people how they feel in these shows. Not this time, as Tom tells Shane exactly how he feels and he doesn’t pull a punch even slightly. It pisses off an already pissed off Shane even farther, but these are words he needs to hear, and they spur him to action. I’ve mentioned some of Tom Tully’s excellent moments in the past, but he saved the best for last. I found it to be one of the best individual moments of the entire series. Finally, you’d think this storyline and the fact that it’s the very last episode would force Shane to finally tell Marian how he fills about her. I’m not going to spoil the ending, but throughout the entire series, Shane has been shown to be a man of action, not of words, and that aspect of his character remains unchanged to the very end. You’ll have to watch for yourself to find out exactly what I mean with that last statement.

I started watching this series for two reasons; I loved the 1953 movie SHANE with Alan Ladd, and I wanted to watch Jill Ireland in an on-screen role that does not rely on Charles Bronson. After watching every episode, I can confidently state that SHANE is a solid TV series, and that Jill Ireland does a fine job as the beautiful Marian Starett. And even better, it’s been a lot of fun sharing my thoughts with the readers of The Shattered Lens. Thanks to all who have joined me!

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 14: The Big Fifty (originally aired December 10th, 1966)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Episode 14 begins with one of Rufe Ryker’s men, Ed Bain, cutting barbed wire fence on the Starett ranch so their herd of cattle can go to a watering hole. As he’s cutting the fence, the sounds of gunshots from a “Big 50” rifle ring out as he’s shot and falls over. Shane (David Carradine) and Joey (Christopher Shea), who are riding through the area, hear the shots and find the wounded man. He rushes him to Sam Grafton’s saloon to see if Sam (Sam Gilman) can do anything to save him. Unfortunately the man was shot in the gut and there is no hope. About the time he dies, Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) and his men come into the bar. He immediately asks Shane why he killed him. Shane, picking the wrong time to be a smartass, tells Ryker that if he had killed him it would have been for his cutting their fence, but that he didn’t do it. Ryker doesn’t believe him and neither do his men. They decide that Ed Bain deserves justice because “he was not only a good hand, but he was a good man.” Out for blood, Ryker decides he’s going to put Shane on trial for murder right then and there with only his men as the witnesses and jury. I call this the “Saint Bain” portion of the story. Harve (Lawrence Mann) tells us what a brave and hardworking man Bain was. Bain’s best friend Greevey (a guest starring Wayne Rogers) tells about all of their good times and card playing together. It seems that Bain is such a good guy that Shane clearly deserves to die even though none of them actually saw him shoot the man. 

While the sham of the trial is going, the saloonkeeper Ben (Owen Bush) slips out the back and rides out to the Starett ranch to tell Tom (Tom Tully) and Marian (Jill Ireland) what’s going on. The two immediately set about trying to round up some of the homesteaders to go into town with them to try to stop Ryker and his men from hanging Shane. One by one, each of the homesteaders turn them down because “this is not their fight” and reason that Shane probably did it because “he’s a gunfighter.” Knowing they have zero chance against Ryker on their own, Tom and Marian come up with a plan. He’ll head to Laramie to get the U.S. Marshall, and she’ll go try to buy some time from Ryker with the only bargaining chip they have, the deed to the family ranch. 

Episode 14 of Shane is a bit of a mixed bag. On the positive side, the gun that is used to kill Ed Bain at the beginning is a unique and interesting element of the story. The weapon is a Sharps “Big 50,” a .50 caliber rifle that was designed for buffalo hunting and introduced in 1872 by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. The Big 50 joins a tradition of powerful weapons in filmed entertainment that provide their users with an advantage over their adversaries. Other examples include the Winchester 73 rifle, Dirty Harry’s 44 Magnum and Paul Kersey’s 357 Wildey Magnum in DEATH WISH 3. At one point, the killer is firing the Big 50 into the Starett cabin at Shane, Marian and Joey. Based on the power of the gun as already shown, there is a real sense of danger that someone could be seriously hurt. There was also one good scene centered around the unspoken love between Shane and Marian, even if Shane wasn’t a part of it. With Shane’s life seriously in jeopardy, Tom reassures his daughter-in-law, “honey, you’ve only been in love with 2 men in your whole life. I’m gonna make sure you don’t lose them both.” She sure doesn’t protest. It was a sweet scene and I enjoyed that as well. 

On the negative side, episode 14 featured the most lazy storytelling thus far in the series. The series has gone to great lengths to show Rufe Ryker as a man who’s hard-as-nails, but also mostly reasonable. The writers throw that out the window in this storyline and require him to behave completely irrational in his quest for vengeance for his hired man. It would be one thing if Ed Bain was his son or something, but Ryker’s line about him being a “good man” doesn’t get close to explaining the turnaround in his behavior. And not only do they present him as irrational, they make him incompetent to boot. Joey rides up and convinces Ryker that he’s only there to take Shane some food. Ryker even checks his slicker for a gun before letting him go in. Turns out Joey did have a gun under his jacket and Ryker just didn’t find it. The show had seemed to really be hitting its stride before this episode and the lazy storytelling surprised me. They should have introduced a new character if they were going to make him so irrational and incompetent. That description just doesn’t fit the Ryker of the first 13 episodes. 

Overall, this may have been the least enjoyable episode so far. While it did have some good moments, I’m still struggling to let go of the way they changed Ryker’s character so completely for this one. We’ll see what happens with him over the last few episodes of the series. While I’m slightly disappointed with episode 14, I’m still looking forward to seeing what happens next. 

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 11: The Day the Wolf Laughed (originally aired November 19th, 1966)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Episode 11 of Shane opens with a group of outlaws making their way across the valley after pulling off a lucrative robbery. Needing a couple of days to lay low and rest their horses, they decide to take over Sam Grafton’s bar to drink and blow off some steam. They reason it’s a safe place to stay since there doesn’t appear to be any law in the area. Their leader is Reno (J.D. Cannon), with Augie (Skip Homeier) as his right-hand man, Grant (Daniel J. Travanti) as his enforcer, and a couple of others for good measure. Shane (David Carradine) and Marian (Jill Ireland) happen to be shopping in Sam’s general store when Reno and his men come into the bar. They can hear them breaking bottles and bullying Sam around in the next room. Sam comes into the general store and asks his employee Ben (Owen Bush) to ride out to Rufe Ryker’s ranch and ask him if he will come help with these guys. Soon the outlaws walk into the general store, where Shane and Reno immediately recognize each other. It seems the two gunslingers grew up together under the tutelage of an old man they called “The Wolf,” who taught them everything they know. Because Shane knows how skilled and dangerous Reno is, he asks Sam to let them stay for the next couple of days, and Reno agrees to pay Sam well for his trouble. Sam reluctantly agrees and Shane and Marian head back to the ranch. 

A little later Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) and his men ride into town and enter Sam’s bar. Reno gets the drop on them and sends them back out with their tails between their legs. They regroup back at Ryker’s ranch and decide to go back to town and try force the outlaws out of the bar. On the way, Ryker stops off at the Starett’s ranch to try to convince Shane to help. Shane tells Ryker that the best thing he can do is leave Reno and his men alone and wait for them to leave in a couple of days. With his pride hurt, Ryker is in no mood for listening and heads to town anyway. When the shooting starts, Ryker and his men are caught in a deadly crossfire. Trying to retreat, Ryker is shot and severely injured by Reno. While Ryker tries to recover, his men decide they are going to stake out the bar so they can be in position to kill Reno and his men when they try to leave. Feeling trapped, Reno instructs a couple of his guys to go to the nearest ranch and get a hostage to help them with their escape. When the guys grab a local girl named Shirley and Marian, who was in the area looking for their cow Katrina at the same time, Shane finally decides to enter the fight against Reno. Their old mentor “The Wolf” always predicted that their relationship would end with one of them killing the other. It looks like he just may be right. 

“The Day the Wolf Laughed” is my favorite episode of the TV series SHANE so far, as it really leans into Shane’s skills as a gunfighter and pits him against a man in Reno who’s every bit as skilled. When the two men first see each other in Sam’s general store you can tell that they really do respect each other. Reno goes so far as to tell Marian that “you have a good man. He’ll fight for you.” As soon as you hear those lines, you know Shane will end up having to prove those words to be true. Even though Shane spends most of the episode trying to convince other people that they just need to leave Reno alone, he doesn’t hesitate to take matters into his own hands the moment Marian is put in danger. This is the first episode of the series where Shane really lives up to the reputation that is always being hinted at in the series, and I loved it! 

Episode 11 is also elevated by its game cast of guest stars. J.D. Cannon (DEATH WISH II) is an especially strong adversary for Shane. He can be extremely cold blooded, but he’s also respectful, somewhat likable, and you believe that his word means something. You almost hate it when the two end up squaring off at the end. Daniel J. Travanti (HILL STREET BLUES), with a thick mustache, is quite intimidating as the enforcer of the gang. He seems quiet and laid back until he’s called upon by Reno. His countenance then completely changes, and you don’t really want to be on the other side of his gun at that point in time. It was also nice seeing Skip Homeier show up as Reno’s right-hand man, Augie. Homeier appeared in the excellent 1957 Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott western THE TALL T, and he provides good support here as well. As far as the main cast, David Carradine and Bert Freed take center stage in this episode, with both men doing a great job. Freed, in particular, has created a strong, complex character in Ryker over the course of the first 11 episodes, and I’ve actually grown to like him.

Overall, for a fan of badass western action, this episode was right down my alley. Shane and Marian may not have shared any long, lustful looks, but Shane proves his love by putting his life on the line for her against Reno’s gang. We only have 6 more episodes to go, and it will be fun to see where we go from here.  

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 5: The Bitter, the Lonely (originally aired October 8th, 1966)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Episode 5 opens with a man riding his horse down the hill towards a sweaty Shane (David Carradine) who’s plowing a field on the Starett ranch. The man gets off his horse, walks up to Shane and punches him right in the face. He then turns around and heads back towards his horse. Not putting up with strangers punching him in the face on this day, Shane gets up and punches the guy back in the face. The guy then surprisingly proceeds to knock Shane on his ass again, this time telling him his name in the most Bond-ian of ways, “It’s Posey…RG Posey” (Steve Ihnat). Through a variety of circumstances, we learn that Posey hates “sodbusters” who put up fences and work the ground. He hates sodbusters so much that when he rode up on a person he thought was a sodbuster, he just decided to knock the crap out of him.

Hanging out at Sam Grafton’s saloon, Posey tells the local cowhands about kicking Shane’s ass, so local cattle rancher Rufe Ryker (Bert Freed) hires him on the spot. He thinks that any man who has gotten the best of Shane is someone he wants on his side. Over time though, Posey’s hateful and bullying actions towards Tom Starett (Tom Starett), his daughter Marian Starett (Jill Ireland), and Shane are too much, even for Ryker. Posey’s one of those guys who refer to farmers as “apple knockers,” “nesters” and “stump jumpers.” On multiple occasions, he even says they’re not human. Ryker makes it clear to Posey that while he’s working with the Ryker outfit, the Starett’s will be treated respectfully. Not content to leave well enough alone, Posey decides to dam up the stream that flows onto the Starett’s ranch just because he can. When Shane finds out, he rides out to confront Posey, and the two men fight it out with shovels. Ryker rides up on the two men and fires Posey on the spot, and even helps Shane break up the dam. Unable to accept that his own bitterness and hate cost him his job, Posey decides to blame Shane and sets out to kill him. 

Episode 5 is an enjoyable episode. First, it has a couple of exciting action sequences. The scene where Shane and Posey fight with shovels is the best action scene in the series so far. Grown men swinging shovels at each other is extremely dangerous and this episode certainly captures that feeling. I also enjoyed the scene at the very end where young Joey Starett (Christopher Shea) is running through the field with Shane’s gun, trying to warn him that Posey’s on his way to kill him. It’s a well executed scene that had me on the edge of my seat. Second, this episode tackles an important social issue. Posey hates sodbusters “just because they’re different.” As mentioned earlier, in his own mind he’s reduced them to being less than human. This is beaten into our heads in a pretty heavy handed approach, but that’s perfectly fine. The episode aired over 58 years ago and has a strong “message” that illustrates how Posey’s hate has turned him into an angry, bitter man who blames others for his own bad decisions and problems. For a good example of this these days, just open up any social media app and scroll for a bit, and you’ll see how anger and bitterness continue to steal our joy. Finally, I think Steve Ihnat is good as Posey, a man so full of hate that he doesn’t have the first clue about how to actually be happy. Ihnat had a solid television career, appearing in almost every good TV show in the 1960’s. He would even direct the James Coburn rodeo movie from 1972 called THE HONKERS. Sadly, Ihnat would pass away in 1972 at just 37 years of age. 

Overall, I found episode 5 to be very good. It tells an exciting story, while teaching an important lesson about how a person who allows hate to fester in their heart will ultimately end up as a bitter and lonely loser. Shane’s relationship with Marian Starett doesn’t advance much in Episode 5 but they do look at each other longingly at one point. Now that I think about it, with all the hate shown by Posey, it would have been nice to see a little more love in this episode. Oh well, there’s always episode 6 to look forward to! 

SHANE (The TV Series) – Episode 1: The Distant Bell (aired September 10th, 1966)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I’ve been called “Charles Bronson’s biggest fan” on multiple occasions and by people I greatly respect. It’s possible that’s close to being true, but I chose to buy the entire TV series of SHANE on DVD because I wanted to watch Bronson’s wife, Jill Ireland, in a role that doesn’t include her more famous husband. I also wanted to see a young David Carradine as Shane. It doesn’t hurt that the 1953 film starring Alan Ladd is one of my absolute favorite movies. 

The very first episode of SHANE starts off with Mr. Starett (Tom Tully) and the new schoolmarm (Diane Ladd) riding into town. They immediately run into Mr. Ryker (Bert Freed) and his henchman Harve (Lawrence Mann), who tells them in no uncertain terms that there will never be a school in this town. Enter Shane (David Carradine), who works for Mr. Starett. He tells Harve to get out of the way, and Mr. Starett, the school teacher and Shane head out to their ranch.

The new school is going to be in Ed Howell’s (Karl Lukas) barn. Mr. Howell is concerned about the school and his own personal safety since he’s heard of Ryker’s threats. Mr. Starett reassures him that everything will be okay so they head to Grafton’s general store to purchase supplies. Mr. Ryker shows up there and tries some more intimidation. When they leave the store, they notice a fire off in the distance. It’s Ed Howell’s barn. Appalled by all of this violence, the schoolteacher catches the next stage out of town. 

Marian Starett (Jill Ireland), old man Starett’s daughter, decides she will teach the school. She knows her son Joey (Christopher Shea) needs to be educated along with the other children in the area. Since the barn was burned down, Marian asks Mr. Grafton if they can use the saloon to hold their classes since men don’t come to drink until 4:00 or later. Of course, now Mr. Ryker decides to come early and start drinking. They break bottles and glasses on the floor while the kids try to do their multiplication tables. Scared for the children, Marian takes the kids out and the future of the school appears to be in doubt again. 

Shane decides he’s had enough of this crap. He begins building a school out in the country and tells Marian that school will start there tomorrow. He’s prepared to defend the school against Ryker, Harve and anyone else who gets in the way. The next morning, Shane tells Marian & Mr. Starett to listen for the school bell. If they hear it, come on. If they don’t, there will be no school. Harve confronts Shane at the new school building. If Shane is defeated, the idea for the school and the education of the kids in the valley will be dead with him…

I enjoyed this first episode. The main cast does a fine job. David Carradine is a solid Shane. He has the confidence of a man who knows his true value is his ability with a gun. He doesn’t lead with the gun, but he’ll go there when it’s required. Jill Ireland is also good as Marian Starett. There’s a nice bit of sexual tension between her and Shane, and she’s also good as the doting mother to Joey. It is nice to see her in a role that doesn’t involve Charles Bronson, and she’s good in this first episode. Tom Tully is good as old man Starett, Marian’s father-in-law. His character is necessary as a guy who provides some needed relief between Shane and Marian. Finally, Joey is played by Christopher Shea. I’ll have to see how he grows on me as the series progresses. He’s fine in the first episode. Interestingly, he voiced Linus in the classics, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” so I’m willing to give him some space to grow! 

I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes. It’s a total of 17 episodes so it won’t take too long to get there!