WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:49 pm

I am currently 30 episodes into the complete collection of all 94 episodes. This was out, I am told, from 58-61. I was 3 in 61 (late 61). Anyway, I'm enjoying them and wondering how he made a living when he is always giving away the money either in an act of kindness or a poker game.

the bullets are confusing. gun was a 44-40, they mention 30-30, (but that can't be in a 92) and in one case, he uses one of his bullets in a 45-70 carbine trapdoor (I know he carried 45-70 for effect in the show). anyway, other than that, fun fun fun, only 64 more to go.

shooter · Post by **shooter** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 9:56 pm

It was way before my time, but I like that show.

Gun Smith · Post by **Gun Smith** » Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:34 pm

The gun was a Model 92 Winchester. I believe he had "30/30" or 45/70 shells in his belt. The gun actually would have used the famous 5 in 1 blanks in filming each episode.
If I remember right, my mind is slowly fading away, the bluing shop I worked for blued this gun. I seem to remember taking it apart. That was 50 years ago, and I may be wrong. Most of the western TV series used guns from the Stembridge rental company, and I think this was probably one of their guns. My employer did all of their refinish work.
In other posts I have mentioned doing the Rifleman carbines and Pallidin's (Have Gun Will Travel) Colts too.
I also remember there was some kind of permission from ATF, or it was registered thru them because of the barrel length.

Warhawk · Post by **Warhawk** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:29 am

Hollywood is a magical place where all "bullets" fit all guns, and vice versa.

Poohgyrr · Post by **Poohgyrr** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:23 am

The Good Guys won and bad guys got their just deserts, and no foul language. This show is one of the reasons I like Levers today.

I remember watching that as a young boy, on about a 12" black and white TV. Dad pulled the knob out to turn it on, and we waited for the tubes to warmup. The words "remote control" didn't exist then, but sometimes Dad might let me get up and walk over to the TV and rotate the dial to change the channel, or adjust the rabbit ears. Oh yeah, we had four channels, but one was UHF with the round antennea and the reception was bad. We thought that was pretty good TV.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:51 am

I am down to my last 4 discs...enjoying it a lot...
Poor *** was always getting his gun taken away...
smacked on top of the head...or loosing or giving the bounty away..and
I always wondered why they screwed up with the bullets and the gun!
The least they could do was put a 45-70 in a scabbard or something!
Typical Hollywood!
And I did not know he had a side kick in the later episodes.....

alnitak · Post by **alnitak** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 8:47 am

Great show! Here's an interesting article from 1961 with some little know detail about the show, Steve and his quick draw (winning a Colt SA from Sammy Davis, Jr.), the blanks he used, the trouble they got into with the BATF, the guns used (there were three, including one octagon barrel), how Steve invented the large loop lever (later used by Chuck Conners), etc.

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:35 am

Thanks for the great article alnitak!

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:59 am

Mike - Where did you find the rest of the series? I found a "Volume One/Season One" DVD at Wally World, but have never seen any others.

alnitak · Post by **alnitak** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:24 am

YK,

Amazon had a sale on the series before Christmas. Not sure if they still have it going on. I also had the season 1 DVDs, and I was able to pick up the whole series for less than I paid for the one season. Remember this thread?

http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=23025

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:34 pm

YK
BEST BUY HAS THE COMPLETE SERIES

don Tomás · Post by **don Tomás** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:08 pm

Great article, thanks for posting. I never missed the show when it was on...

Gun Smith · Post by **Gun Smith** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:26 pm

Hey, alnitak, what a great find! So, my memory isn't as bad as I thought. Stembridge was my first choice as originator of the gun. But the article says different. I do remember the flap by the ATF. Now that I look closely at the picture, I don't think I ever worked on any of those three guns.

Can you imagine getting on or off an airplane today with a rifle slung over your shoulder?

I did work on Sammy Davis' guns. We nickle and chrome plated several for him. He was one of the fastest at quick draw of all the celebrities then. Another actor you don't associate with being fast was Glen Ford. But he was one of the quickest in his western movie days.

During that time the fast draw craze created a phenomenon called by doctors at the Naval Hospital in San Diego the "Quick Draw Syndrome". Servicemen were being brought into the hospital with bullets or holes in their lower legs from trying to emulate movies using real ammo. I had a very close college buddy who put a .22 caliber bullet into his leg. It went into the marrow. Boy, that must have hurt!!

Later the fast draw people started putting steel deflectors on the bottom of their holsters to protect their legs. But I'll bet a bullet would kick that steel pretty hard into your leg even then. Later the competition shooters moved to wax bullets with primers only.

I did a lot of action work on single action guns for quick draw fans. Today I think about the liability I must have incured by modifying all those guns over several years. I can't imagine doing something like that today. Oh well, I was only 25 and we were all indestructible then.

alnitak · Post by **alnitak** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:56 pm

Gun Smith wrote:Can you imagine getting on or off an airplane today with a rifle slung over your shoulder?

I can't even imagine them allowing him to board with one!! And NY letting him go once he got off!! Amazing.

Gun Smith · Post by **Gun Smith** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:43 pm

What I said.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Fri Jan 08, 2010 9:02 pm

RIHMFIRE wrote:YK
BEST BUY HAS THE COMPLETE SERIES

Cool! I just got a gift card to Best Buy!

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:27 am

rjohns94 wrote:...the bullets are confusing. gun was a 44-40, they mention 30-30, (but that can't be in a 92) and in one case, he uses one of his bullets in a 45-70 carbine trapdoor...

I didn't see where the attached articles talk about this; but I recall reading about the guns of Hollywood. Steve McQueen carried a .30-30 but sported .45-70 bullets on his belt because they looked better; the same applied with Chuck Connors' "Rifleman" and others who carried or used a .30-30. Some cowboys with just sixguns also had their cartridge loops filled with larger bullets than their firearms would actually use, because it played better on the screen. After all, it's Hollywood!

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:42 am

It was those old westerns that gave birth to guns like the Fanner Fifty. That way you could shoot 50 times before reloading just the Hollywood stars.

I seem to remember reading an article on some of those Hollywood stars where they talked about one of them being so fumble fingered that he couldn't even be counted on to operate a SAA and have it work every time so they put an ejector rod on a DA revolver and let him use that.

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 12:54 am

Rusty wrote:It was those old westerns that gave birth to guns like the Fanner Fifty. That way you could **** 50 times before reloading just the Hollywood stars.

I seem to remember reading an article on some of those Hollywood stars where they talked about one of them being so fumble fingered that he couldn't even be counted on to operate a SAA and have it work every time so they put an ejector rod on a DA revolver and let him use that.

Hey - what's with all of this political correctness with the words, s-h-o-o-t and s-h-o-t - especially when this board is all about "expelling a projectile" and "that lead stuff that makes up the projectiles in a shotgun shell"??

Why do we have an auto-censor that has changed any entry with these words into a series of asterisks? Are these words "bad" words, now? Have the anti-gun nuts had their way with this board?

Gun Smith · Post by **Gun Smith** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:08 am

Hi JohndeFresno,
Neither Steve McQueen or Chuck Connors had 30/30's. Both their guns were Winchester Model 1892 in either 38/40 or 44/40 caliber.

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:16 am

Gun Smith wrote:Hi JohndeFresno,
Neither Steve McQueen or Chuck Connors had 30/30's. Both their guns were Winchester Model 1892 in either 38/40 or 44/40 caliber.

So much for accuracy in journalism! Thank you for the update.

alnitak · Post by **alnitak** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:13 am

My understanding is .44-40 for Steve, with .45-70 in his belt.

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:36 am

yep, but as I mentioned, they further get it wrong by referring to it as a 30-30 in at least one episode and in another, he uses the 45-70 he is carrying in his belt, to feed a 45-70 carbine. Steve's gun was a 44-40 and I thought it funny to watch him "palm" the long cartridges to feed the '92 when it had 5 in one blanks loaded.

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 9:25 pm

I am watching a 1966 Western, "The Professionals," starring Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy, Claudia Cardinale and others, in which mercenaries are hired to bring back a wife kidnapped by a Mexican revolutionary.

Not to be outdone, the makers of this flick had their Mexican riflemen wearing bandoleros with Browning .50 caliber (machinegun) rounds. Again, the rounds did not match any of their armament, but they presented a ferocious appearance on the screen.

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 1:25 am

I'm up to episode 5. I pulled them off the DVDs and watch them on my iPhone as I travel for work. Great show and what a great deal on the DVD box set!

Thanks,
Oly

fordwannabe · Post by **fordwannabe** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 8:59 am

I was able to see one of the original Mare's leg guns when the national firearms museum was having the "real guns of our reel hero's" exhibit. Yes there in the gunleather a sloo of 45-70's that were never gonna fit in to a 92 loading gate and that is the first time I ever noticed it. Many other great guns from movies and TV I looked at it for about 2 hours and wish I could spend more time. One of the duke's big lever 92's, a phaser from Star trek,gold plated SAA's from Roy R, Quigley's chaps, belt and knife. My youth in a display case. Tom

Jayhawker · Post by **Jayhawker** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:10 pm

So, what good would a fanning hammer have been on a Mare's Leg?

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:39 pm

Jayhawker wrote:So, what good would a fanning hammer have been on a Mare's Leg?

Fanning was to get the first shot off....Fast!

RIHMFIRE · Post by **RIHMFIRE** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 4:42 pm

rjohns94 wrote:yep, but as I mentioned, they further get it wrong by referring to it as a 30-30 in at least one episode and in another, he uses the 45-70 he is carrying in his belt, to feed a 45-70 carbine. Steve's gun was a 44-40 and I thought it funny to watch him "palm" the long cartridges to feed the '92 when it had 5 in one blanks loaded.

I am up to episode 70 or something like that....
and in this particular episode...they went to a gun shop...
and he asked for 45-70s.....
and I immediately said ....for what ya knucklehead!!

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Tue Jan 12, 2010 10:08 pm

Thanks for posting a great article. I always liked Steve McQueen. I watched "Wanted" as a kid.

I believe his first movie was the sci-fi classic "The Blob". Don't miss it!

GonnePhishin · Post by **GonnePhishin** » Wed Jan 13, 2010 10:15 am

alnitak,

Excellent article, dude. I haven't seen the series in many years, but it was great reading about it. I can remember watching it on tv when I was a lad.

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Wed Mar 10, 2010 11:53 pm

I'm still working through the series as I travel. I watch them on my iPhone and I have to say it seems to make flights go a heckuva lot faster.

At any rate, I've noted several things - the first being that these are really well acted given the 1950s period. Not schlocky or ridiculously over acted like many of the big budget films of the 1950s were or even some of the more famous shows like Bonanza were as well. Steve is obviously a natural and of course that's why he became a huge movie star.

Second, they're shot on location in Arizona which is a kick for me because since I live just outside Tucson it looks like many of them were shot right out my back door. I love it.

They do tend to use the same actors over and over again in the same season though! I thought that was pretty funny. You'll see a lot of folks who later made it big in TV or films in the episodes however. For example, James Coburn just had a bit part in one episode I watched and of course he and Steve both went on to become huge film stars and made a few together as well - one in particular I bet you all can name right off the bat!

Lastly I'll note that one of my other favorite characters, Captain Kirk, came to pass because a stage actor named William Shatner felt that since Steve McQueen brought so much credibility to TV work it was something he was willing to do as well (previously it was thought that TV was death to an actor's career). I dunno, maybe not too many Star Trek fans on a lever guns site (?) but even Kirk strapped on a single action rig in one episode and kicked Wyatt Earp's butt.

I hadn't seen the show before (I'm a bit too young and I somehow even missed them in reruns as a kid) so this has been a real treat!

Cheers,
Oly

fordwannabe · Post by **fordwannabe** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 8:56 am

The first episode on the "Wanted"DVD I got from walmart had a very young guy named Michael Landon in it. I think he went on to do ok in the entertainment world. Tom

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:47 am

I have finished the series now, getting ready to start back through it again. in the later years, he kinda had a side kick for a season, I didn't remember that. the 45-70's still crack me up

olyinaz · Post by **olyinaz** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:35 pm

>>>The first episode on the "Wanted"DVD I got from walmart had a very young guy named Michael Landon in it.<<<

Yep! I saw that, he looked to be just a kid. Died gut shot in the episode if I recall?

Oly

JohndeFresno · Post by **JohndeFresno** » Thu Mar 11, 2010 3:33 pm

olyinaz wrote:>>>The first episode on the "Wanted"DVD I got from walmart had a very young guy named Michael Landon in it.<<<

Yep! I saw that, he looked to be just a kid. Died gut shot in the episode if I recall?

Oly

It's amazing how many roles most actors have played before we start recognizing them. I checked the link below and found that Landon had performed in dozens of roles around 1957-1958, before appearing in "Wanted...". In the role noted above, he was about 22 years old (he was in two different espisodes as different characters).

Remember his leading role as the monster in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" - and the sensation that he caused among the young females of that era? That was the year before he appeared in this TV series.

Check out:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001446/

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 11:27 pm

Just watched another two episodes this evening. I've been doing the same thing - watching an episode or three on long flights. Just saw my third episode with James Coburn in it.

In addition to the gun changing, I noticed his hat changed as well. Now I'll have to go back and see if I can pinpoint when it did.

The third season's episodes don't seem to be as well written as some in the first two - IMHO. I'm bummed though - the Season One set I just got seems to have an error on it and I can't get episodes 19 and 20 to play!

Streetstar · Post by **Streetstar** » Thu May 06, 2010 2:00 pm

Old thread, i know ---- was able to score the first 2 seasons in a dvd set at Target last night for 14 or 15 bucks or so. Best Buy in my area did not have any other seasons --- but this should keep my "quiet time" entertaining for a while.

but Best Buy did have a 5 part documentary series called "Outlaws & Gunslingers" which looks like an A&E or History Channel type thing for 6 bucks , --- talk about cheap thrills

Joel · Post by **Joel** » Thu May 06, 2010 2:37 pm

In the recent film "Zombieland", Woody Harrelsons character carries a "Mares Leg" as his weapon of choice to dispatch zombies.

I don't imagine too many of the folks here would enjoy suck a movie, but you never know.

I have one of those 5-in-1 blanks in my collection, I always wondered what they were used in

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Fri May 07, 2010 8:48 pm

Finished up the series a couple weeks ago. Now I'm going to watch the extras!