Steve McQueen stars as Josh Randall, the straight-arrow bounty hunter who gives away most or all of his reward money, a gimmick that in actuality only lasted the first few episodes. However, Randall did indeed have a heart of gold, standing up for not only law and order, but actual justice as well, even if there wasn't always a fairy-tale ending and sometimes finding himself protecting the guilty against vigilante justice.
Like many of the late-fifties and early-sixties western television series', Wanted: Dead Or Alive packs a lot of narrative in each thirty- minute episode, usually with enough great ideas to fill a typical feature-length B-movie from previous decades, though featuring sudden bursts of violence you probably wouldn't see in the thirties and forties.
This made a bonafide star out of McQueen and a cult-star out of his signature gun, a sawed-off repeater rifle. Also, it was a great showcase for up-and-coming actors like James Coburn, Warren Oates, Michael Landon and Lee Van Cleef, not to mention a few old-timers like Lon Chaney and Noah Beery.
Also of interest is the short-lived stint of Wright King (who was probably being groomed to take over from the famously fickle McQueen), as Josh's flawed apprentice. Although it was somewhat better to have Randall acting alone, King's character was interestingly handled by the writers and his episodes (especially the first few) were very worthwhile.
One thing that might interest the modern viewer, is Josh's unwillingness to let his more sympathetic bounties to make a run for it, dispensing with one of the latter-day's most reliable contrivances.
Finally, look out for a few outstanding and hard-hitting episodes, penned by Twilight Zone writers Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, as well as a Kung-Fu themed episode that predates the series "Kung-Fu" by a dozen years!
Highly Recommended.
Like many of the late-fifties and early-sixties western television series', Wanted: Dead Or Alive packs a lot of narrative in each thirty- minute episode, usually with enough great ideas to fill a typical feature-length B-movie from previous decades, though featuring sudden bursts of violence you probably wouldn't see in the thirties and forties.
This made a bonafide star out of McQueen and a cult-star out of his signature gun, a sawed-off repeater rifle. Also, it was a great showcase for up-and-coming actors like James Coburn, Warren Oates, Michael Landon and Lee Van Cleef, not to mention a few old-timers like Lon Chaney and Noah Beery.
Also of interest is the short-lived stint of Wright King (who was probably being groomed to take over from the famously fickle McQueen), as Josh's flawed apprentice. Although it was somewhat better to have Randall acting alone, King's character was interestingly handled by the writers and his episodes (especially the first few) were very worthwhile.
One thing that might interest the modern viewer, is Josh's unwillingness to let his more sympathetic bounties to make a run for it, dispensing with one of the latter-day's most reliable contrivances.
Finally, look out for a few outstanding and hard-hitting episodes, penned by Twilight Zone writers Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, as well as a Kung-Fu themed episode that predates the series "Kung-Fu" by a dozen years!
Highly Recommended.