As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
As a child growing up, I was thrilled by two western series in reruns, and for some reason I never liked Chuck Connors in other venues as he just did not seem likeable, but as I look back on it, I loved the Rifleman and Branded.
Mr. Connors never achieved the lasting acclaim he deserved, because in cinema, John Wayne was the star, and on television in the last days of westerns, James Arness as Matt Dillion was the star, as Connors had retired from television by the late 1960's.
His performances though were perfect American Dream as the widowed father of a young son in the Rifleman, which the 92 Winchester specially transformed, which the BATFE would have Chuck in prison for now, fired on every movement of the lever action, and in Branded, he played an officer wrongly accused of cowardice, but let the charge stick in order to save his General from humiliation.
Branded's writers was superb and Chuck Connors' performances were equally timeless. They were all about virtue and self sacrifice. As TL mentioned to me, every little boy in America should have to watch these series to understand thee American ideal.
I did some research on Chuck Connors and he was a most accomplished man. at 6.5 in height, he had over 20 scholarships to attend college. He chose Seton Hall in New Jersey, where he gained the nickname Chuck, as one of the other players always called, "chuck it to me".
At 180 pounds he was lanky, but was a military instructor at West Point in warfare, and then went on to play professional baseball. Mr. Connors also played professional basketball with the Boston Celtics and has the honor of being the first professional athlete to shatter a backboard while dunking. It was in the pregame warm up in the late 1950's.
In later life, he did a great deal of charity work for crippled children.
Connors hosted the annual Chuck Connors Charitable Invitational Golf Tournament, through the Chuck Connors Charitable Foundation, at the Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs, California. Proceeds went directly to the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation and over $400,000.00 was raised
I remember watching the opening of Branded, and for me, this was some of the most powerful cinematic history, as that segment was better than most of the programs ever aired. There was something so humiliating final in the way it is filmed, that the entire identity of a man is stripped away by his commanding officer, for the charge of cowardice, to the pulling off of every gold button, the breaking of his sword, it being cast out to the desert, and an armed guard escorts him from what was his nation.
That kind of punishment is long missing in the United States. I would love to steal this segment and make a movie of it of my own someday.
Branded opening
It is much better in black and white in the pilot than the colorized version, because of the hopelessness it conveys and the stark contrast it provides.
These series were not on television that many years, but they still have over 20 plus hours of television and every episode is worth viewing. The guest stars are all superb in they were all starting out actors who would become legends years later.
It pleases me to have a form of celebrity in order to remind people of Americans, and Chuck Connors was a Republican, of the Patriots we owe so much to. This is wonderful entertainment which never will wear thin. This was the golden era of television when the CIA was moving Mockingbird for good, to transform America to common civil good of Truth, Justice and the American Way. The wonderful Adam West would play such a character in the original Batman, another classic enjoyment.
Chuck Connors though has right to the place of western heroes. His performances were riveting and the writing was what is missing in all of media today. The stories did not have to be complicated, because the issue was as with John Wayne and James Arness of doing what was right, because it was the right thing to do.
In composing this, I realize that the greatest influences on me as a child, beside God, were John Wayne, William Shatner and Chuck Connors. Standing alone in doing what is right, no matter the consequences was ingrained into my mind. The women who appeared with these men whether Maureen O'Hara, Jeanne Cooper or Nichelle Nichols, were the role models of how Americans should be.
I often heard 1970's actresses complaining there were not any roles for them. Perhaps liberal trash could not make anything of their roles from the casting couch, but no one played stronger women, than the 3 above actresses, and they were not alone. Their performances melded so easily with these strong American role models that no one ever noticed how gifted they were.
This is my tribute to one of my favorite actors in Chuck Connors. While other western actors like Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood would fill the big screen moving on from television, Chuck Connors filled the hearts of Americans with an ideal which is lasting. I was so pleased to be able to view Branded again and enjoy myself in the protection of a Hollywood which did not violate American virtues and honor, and was epitomized by that wonderful American, Kevin Joseph Aloysius "Chuck" Connors.
Nuff Said
agtG
