Wagon Train

1957

Seasons & Episodes

  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
7.5| TV-PG| en| More Info
Released: 18 September 1957 Ended
Producted By: Revue Studios
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.

Genre

Drama, Western, Family

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Wagon Train (1957) is now streaming with subscription on Starz

Director

Production Companies

Revue Studios

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Wagon Train Audience Reviews

Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism
MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
drystyx One would think that the episodes of this Western that featured super star Ward Bond would have been much better, but the opposite was true.The wagon train that should have had great stories foundered with the most predictable clichés during the run in which Ward Bond and Robert Horton were the mainstays. The writing was simply a rehash of every Hollywood formula ever. It looked to be written for women instead of men, as any gorgeous babe was killed off during this spree. One got the idea that the directors and writers were being jilted by (or for) such women.The writing got much better for the later wagon master, and the later romantic muscle man, Duke. The stories became much more unpredictable, and had a taste of true theatrics to them.The series had some action, but most was implied, and the "stage presentation" was of the utmost importance. That's why the writing was so important. It isn't because of the actors, who all did their jobs well. It was the direction and writing that plagued this series for too long. The subject matter was such that this should have been much better. This turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in TV series history.
Subramani K Whenever i watch any western movie, i wish for long running time even thought it is only a wagon running or horse riding or coach journey. and i like the old days Western movie production, new one are not up to the mark. I didn't know about Wagon Train TV serial before, i accidentally watched Wagon Master, i impressed with the story and wagon master characters, so started searching something related, guess what i got "Wagon Train", i am watching it like a treasure map.Each episode is beauty, as of now i am in season 1 episode 7. Brilliant. I can say this is one of the best TV serials i watched so far.And also surprisingly in parallel i am also watching, Andromeda, Game of Thrones and Rome all are related to different periods.. cool.. i love this life. :) Thanks Youtube for Wagon Train complete episodes.
bkoganbing As a lad way back in the day I was one big fan of this TV series. Even at that age I appreciated all the famous guest stars this series seemed to attract. Take a look at the film credits of Ward Bond. You can hardly find a player, male or female, who at one point did not work with Ward Bond. All the more remarkable when you consider his rightwing politics and championing of the blacklist. The man was hated in some circles, but apparently no one denied his talent.It was a simple concept, Ward Bond as Major Seth Adams and his team led a group of hardy pioneers across the plains and mountains to California post Civil War. EAch episode focused on those traveling in a particular wagon or someone they met on the way who was usually a name guest star.Wagon Train was enormously popular. When Ward Bond died in November of 1960 it was national news. It was quite a month, his death and that of Clark Gable almost put the election of a new president named Kennedy out of the headlines. Bond's death also allowed Wagon Train to pioneer what Law and Order later perfected, the revolving change of regulars. Only Frank McGrath and Terry Wilson stayed with the show for the entire run.Frank McGrath and Terry Wilson were a pair of stunt men who worked a whole lot for John Ford and though they had done some roles with dialog in front of the camera, Wagon Train made their faces familiar to the public. McGrath was funny little guy as cook Charlie Wooster who must have kept them all amused because the regulars were forever complaining about his lousy cooking.Wilson played Bill Hawks and comments have been made about the horrible continuity Wagon Train had. It sure did and the most glaring example was that when the show first started, Hawks had a wife named Emily in that first season. She was not only dropped. but later on Hawks referred to himself as a bachelor. Couldn't do that today.John McIntire replaced Bond and was more than adequate as the father figure wagonmaster. There was a good episode that introduced McIntire as a temporary and sadistic wagonmaster played by Lee Marvin takes over and at the same time, the train picks up McIntire who's just seen his family massacred by Indians. McIntire is a former wagonmaster and he and Marvin have a confrontation.Robert Horton was scout Flint McCullough and several episodes featured him in the lead and they took him to the places he was scouting with guest stars there for him to interact with. Supposedly political differences were pretty rife between him and Bond. He quit as he was planning to do anyway as I remember even after Bond died. Bad career move though, he never got anything as good as Flint McCullough again.After that a host of new regulars came on the show, Robert Fuller, Denny Miller, and Michael Burns. The train came to an end in 1965. I was sorry to see it end.Hallmark channel runs Wagon Train sometimes, here's hoping they start them again.
lacmms Would like to know why Wagon Train is never shown in reruns. It was one of my favorite westerns and I would love to see the episodes again. I remember watching it every week with my Dad (who also loved westerns), in fact, the first time my future husband came to my house, we were watching Wagon Train, and he watched it with us, even though he didn't really care for westerns! It's a wonder we made it together, but we have been married now for 43, almost 44 years. I really preferred Ward Bond as the wagon master, but of course, he died and they had to replace him. Flint McCullough was my favorite character. I thought he had the most exciting role, being the one who always went ahead to check things out for the rest of the wagon train.

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