ThiefHott
Too much of everything
Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Cristal
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
gemtea-2
I never though Jack Lord was a great actor yet as Stoney Burke was fortunate enough to be cast as the lead in a show that, for me, stood apart from the average show at the time. It had depth and Lord was never better although Hawaii 5-0 became an all time favorite it was not even close to being as great as Stoney Burke. I'm a fan of great actors, not stars and gossip and it was about this time in my life that I discovered an actor by the name of Warren Oates. He was better than Lord although Lord was a perfect example of great casting. He was exactly right for this modern day western. Bruce Dern, another favorite of mine, had good screen time here. There are so many DVD releases but here is a classic that should be available so people could appreciate great acting of the aforementioned actors plus an amazing array of guest stars. This show is a true gem as many others have written. It should not be a forgotten part of TV history. You can find some of the greatest acting in shows like this as well as Naked City, Route 66 (most underrated show ever), Death Valley Days, The Rifleman, Johnny Staccato, Slattery's People as well as the classics like Gunsmoke and Perry Mason. I've been watching some old TV recently. Today I'm exploring another sadly under appreciated actor, Vic Morrow, in Combat which was another great series. Someone, please release a pristine set of Stoney Burke DVDs.I jumped the gun. Recently purchased complete Stoney Burke series. I had forgotten it was only one season!
raysond
Six years before the role of Steve McGarrett made him a household name on "Hawaii Five-O",actor Jack Lord starred in this critically acclaimed short-lived series about the life of a modern day rodeo rider who competes for the Golden Buckle,the award given to the world champion saddle bronc rider titled "Stoney Burke" that was produced by the multi-talented writer,producer,director Leslie Stevens under his production company Daystar Productions(United Artists Television)that produced an astounding 32 episodes(all in classic black and white) that was on ABC-TV from October 1,1962 until the final episode on May 20,1963. The series aired on the network's Monday night schedule where it ran opposite "The Lucy Show",and "Saints and Sinners" which by the way didn't improve things in the Nielsens,but "Stoney Burke" was the show that replaced "Surfside Six" after more than 2 seasons. This series was especially good but with Leslie Stevens at the helm this was technically about as good as television got in the early-1960's. The quality of this series lies in it's production values,thanks to producer-writer-director Leslie Stevens who made this one of the more intelligent "modern" westerns ever committed to television. This series launched the careers of Warren Oates(Ves Painter),and Bruce Dern(E.J. Stocker)who would go on to bigger and better things in their careers because of this series. Out of the 32 episodes that this series produced,"Stoney Burke" brought along interesting guest directors(like Tom Gries and Gerard Oswald)made contributions to some of the episodes along with superb writing that was essential to the stories presented along with the best acting cast ever assembled. But what made this show stand out was it's beautiful stunning black and white photography coming from up and coming photography directors who would go on to become big time Hollywood heavyweights...from Conrad Hall to Ted McCord,Joesph MacDonald,and Haskell Wexler. Jack Lord gives a stunning performance as the title character,but Warren Oates steals the show as his shifty but resourceful best friend Ves Painter. While Lord and Oates make a great team,Bruce Dern also gives a memorable performance as Stoney's trusty sidekick E.J. Stocker....all given by three superb actors in the roles of their careers.What also made this show stand out were some of the guest stars that made the show a noir classic...top notch actors ranging from Ina Balin to Robert Duvall, James Coburn, Scott Marlowe, Sally Kellerman, to Charles Bronson, Burgress Meredith, James Mason, Jack Elam, Dub Taylor, Michael Pollard, Diane Baker, to Dyan Cannon just to name a few. After 32 episodes the show was canceled due to low ratings with the final episode of the series that aired on May 20,1963. After the success of "Stoney Burke",Leslie Stevens created the following year an anthology science fiction series that would become one of ABC's biggest hits of the early-1960's "The Outer Limits"...the phenomenal success of that series lasted two seasons before it was gone by mid-1965. After the success of "The Outer Limits",Stevens tried his hand an another TV-series and it wasn't as successful and by 1966 Daystar Productions went out of business. From then on,Stevens was a hired gun at Universal where he produced and directed several shows,among them was "The Name Of The Game"If ABC had given "Stoney Burke" a chance it would have been around much longer which would have blossomed into a full run series....imagine if "Stoney Burke" stayed around to make the transition to color during it's second season which never happened.....Imagine if ABC have given Leslie Stevens the chance to produce "The Fugitive" rather than independent producer Quinn Martin or better yet imagine if Leslie Stevens was given the chance to helm "Star trek" at NBC instead of Gene Roddenberry...but that never happened. During the early-1960's Stevens did two of television's greatest most original noirs...the modern day western "Stoney Burke",and the science fiction anthology "The Outer Limits"...who knows what the outcome would have been since Stevens put a touch that could have been even better,much less given it a longer stay.
Eaman Kelly
I didn't realize that I was only 14 when I originally watched these shows. This morning, I read an article about old TV shows that are being released on DVD. The newspaper asked to vote on your favorite. I honestly hadn't thought about "Stoney Burke" in decades. The show must have made an enormous impression on me because my 58 year old brain instantaneously retrieved from memory banks usually reserved for deeply held resentments. I couldn't tell you anything except Stoney Burke was a rodeo rider played by jack Lord and that Warren Oates was a member of the cast. My memory is poignant story lines - far ahead of the drivel that was typical of the early 60's.
poptones99
I have recently learned that this show was my mother's favorite when she was a little girl. I have acquired the first twelve episodes in order to learn more about the mother I never knew. In doing so, Stoney Burke has become one of my favorite TV heroes. No matter what scrape he gets himself into, he always manages to work through it the right way. The character of Stoney is a truly wonderful character and this show is more than a rodeo story. This was a well written and acted show that I will brag about whenever possible. I only wish I knew who to talk to about trying to get this properly released onto DVD format before the episodes become even more scarce. How about a DVD box set? Let's hope so.