Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

How sad is this?

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rawhide was without a doubt the best TV western. Even though it didn't run for as long as say Gunsmoke, it had everything that most of the others didn't have. The most obvious thing that made it stand out from the rest was the fact that it was mostly shot on location and looked for the most part like a cinema feature film, not a TV show. Unfortunately, the scenes shot on a sound stage looked like they had been (the lighting always gives it away), but in the main, they only made up a fraction of the show, unlike Bonanza (a 50 year old dad with three 35 year old sons) which looked like most of it was shot 'indoors'. Another thing in Rawhides favour was that it was an hour long, unlike a lot of the other popular TV westerns that only ran for 30 minutes. Apart from a good solid regular cast, the list of 'guest' appearances reads like a who's who of Hollywood greats...an episode I saw only last week on TCM had Claude Akins, Myron Healey, John Dehner and Robert Wilke as guests...amazing! Last, but by no means least, the show had the best theme tune by far, sung by Frankie Laine, a big star vocalist of the time, who was responsible for many feature film themes including Blazing Saddles and the original 3.10 to Yuma. All in all, Rawhide beat the rest of 'em outa sight in my view...long may it be shown on TV.

TCM have just started showing Rawhide every night recently here in the UK and i've never seen it before, even though i'm a big Clint Eastwood fan, so i thought i'd give it a watch.What can i say, i'm totally hooked on it now, i think i held some unfounded prejudices about shows from that era being a bit slowly plotted or not hardhitting or dramatic enough, well i was well off the mark there. The plots are really involving, the way Gil and Rowdy get drawn into these situations is really believable. The moral issues and even social ones that are addressed are always at the forefront of the plots and many are still relevant today. I can see why its been so popular over the years. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes westerns, beyond that i'd say anyone who appreciates moral dramas, thats twice i've used that word now and thats because the central characters have very admirable morals, particularly Gil Favor.I hate to sound corny, but i think its a good point, its re-assuring in a way to see that kind of attitude, in amongst the more "morally questionable" entertainment (that i do enjoy as well) of todays TV."Head 'em up, move 'em out" awesome.

Rawhide was a wonderful TV western series. Focusing on a band of trail drovers lead by the trail boss Gil Favor. Most episodes - especially from the first 3 seasons were really character studies of Favor and his men. Guest stars came and went but unlike Wagon Train they seldom dominated the episodes they appeared in. Rawhide was a true, gritty western and Gil Favor stood out as a memorable character never to be forgotten. Thanks to Eric Fleming's performance the show became a massive hit. Of course he was ably supported by a wonderful cast of good actors - Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, Paul Brinegar, Steve Raines, James Murdoch, Rocky Shahan, Robert Cabal. All of these actors left their mark in a piece of television history. Rawhide captured the flavour of that time of the west that no other series has for me, as yet anyhow, managed to do so. Later seasons tended to split the leads and give them individual story lines. For me some of the time this didn't work - the cattle drive and the regulars provided the best stories. However there were still some classic stories and Rawhide remained top drawer affair. The black and white photography added to a bleak, realistic feel that other western series seldom managed to capture. Rustlers, Indians,Commancheroes, beautiful damsels in distress, serial killers, they all showed up to give our heroes problems. The end came for the series quietly when the final season was axed less than half way through. The reason - Eric Fleming had departed and Rawhide was now a head without a body - the gritty realism was gone, Gil Favor commanded respect and exuded authority - he was never infallible and this made him all the more interesting. We shall not see his like again. Watch an episode whenever you can, they seldom disappoint.

In watching this old Western on the Hallmark Channel, I've come to enjoy it. A favorite of my mother's when she was a girl, who, like many others, thought Gil Favor was the handsome one. I sat down and watched them on this cattle drive and have come to enjoy the show.And of course, Clint Eastwood, co-stars as Rowdy Yates. I was told that back in the day, critics said he wouldn't amount to anything. Guess he showed them.