So far as style fiction legends are involved, William Shatner is close to the highest for his half as Captain James T. Kirk within the authentic Star Trek collection. Nevertheless, within the a long time following his time as Kirk (a job that will outline his total profession), Shatner pivoted from the far future to the (comparatively) current previous for How the West Was Received. No, not the theatrically-released characteristic movie that featured John Wayne, James Stewartand Henry Fonda. We’re speaking concerning the three-season tv drama headlined by Gunsmoke star James Arness. And boy, did Shatner ship on this harrowing Western story.
William Shatner Stands Out In This Fabulous Efficiency on ‘How the West Was Received’
Showing within the second season of the underrated three-season Western dramaShatner exhibits up briefly on the finish of “Orville Gant” as Captain Robert Harrison. Nevertheless, it is his efficiency within the following episode, “Amnesty,” that’s particularly of notice. After mountain man Zeb Macahan (Arness) saves Beth Harrison (Vera Miles of Psycho fame), an previous flame of his from a long time earlier, he follows her to her secluded mountain house, the place he encounters the previous Union captain. Because it seems, Harrison, who had been presumed useless by the military after a Native American bloodbath, was blinded on account of a battle in opposition to the group of warriors who had kidnapped Beth. Because of this, Harrison has develop into considerably suicidal, wishing to die or for Beth to depart him, regardless of her remaining devoted within the 20 years since.
Shatner is genuinely highly effective right here, displaying off his dramatic performing chops and reminding audiences that he can play the intense half simply as effectively (and even perhaps higher than) his extra pulp-inspired characters. The second he remembers the battle that resulted in his blindness, there’s an intense shift in the way in which Shatner presents himself. His stone-cold demeanor captivates the viewer, and even the sound design adjustments in order that we spiral into the captain’s uneasy headspace, listening to the horrors of struggle that he remembers day-after-day of his life. It is a sensible method that provides to the depth of his phrases as he meditates on the incident that has pushed him almost to insanity and knowledgeable his life for the final twenty years since. What Shatner is ready to do right here with this highly effective monologue is certainly improbable. “You already know, the extra I am round you, Captain, the much less I such as you,” Zeb tells him the second they meet, however Harrison feels the other.
Whereas the Star Trek icon is probably not historically related to the Western style (although the franchise definitely delved into Previous West territoryand no surprise, as Gene Roddenberry wrote for Have Gun — Will Journey earlier than creating Star Trek), that is one efficiency that stands out among the many remainder of his filmography. It reminds us that there has all the time been extra to Shatner than his work within the science fiction stylebe it as Captain Kirk or in The Twilight Zone. As Captain Harrison, Shatner dove deeper into the psychological recesses of the American frontier, highlighting a few of the most uncomfortable features of westward enlargement whereas exploring the deep-seated problems with a person who has didn’t let go of his final battle.
‘How the West Was Received’ Was Notable For Its Spectacular Visitor Stars
After launching with a made-for-TV characteristic titled The Macahans, How the West Was Received was picked up as an official collection by ABC quickly after Gunsmoke got here to a detailed. In that point, the Western epic pulled in loads of large names for visitor stints in its 28 separate 90-minute episodes. From classical Western TV stars like Lloyd Bridges of The Loner fame and Jack Elam of The Dakotas to different large stars like Christopher Lee and Michael Conrad from Hill Avenue Blues. Whereas William Shatner was one of many greatest of those names (barring Lee, after all, who performed a visiting Russian politician), there was by no means any scarcity of recognizable faces on the late ’70s Western program. For goodness’ sake, Tron legend Bruce Boxleitner was one in all its main stars, as was Fionnula Flanagan within the second and third seasons.
Though not a person recognized for venturing too usually into Western territory — save for motion pictures like White Comanche and a few visitor appearances on Gunsmoke, The Virginianand The Large Valley — William Shatner proved his capacity inside the style right here on How the West Was Received. With out even leaving the confines of his hidden cabin house, Shatner’s Captain Harrison made such an affect on the collection in his transient 20-minutes of screentime that he is nonetheless talked about by followers all these years later.