Search - Sheriff of Cochise - Volume 1 on DVD

Crime Fighting in the New West

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 03/10/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Sheriff of Cochise," a production of National Telefilm Associates, was broadcast from 1956 to 1958 before undergoing a later change in name (to "U.S. Marshal") and format, and running for another two years. John Bromfield stars as Sheriff Frank Morgan with Stan Jones as Deputy Olson. The show meshes the traditional western formula with modern day (circa 1950s) crime fighting.

This is not the first DVD release of episodes from "Sheriff of Cochise" and "U.S. Marshal." Episodes have been compiled on U.S. Marshal and U.S. Marshal, as well as appearing on Best of TV Detectives 150 Episodes. In fact, all of the episodes on this DVD appear on those previous compilations. The episodes contained in this DVD are all from the series' first season and include the following:

The Red-Haired Visitor (episode #10)
Bank Robbery (episode #18)
Lynching Party (episode #19)
Husband and Wife (episode #32)

Fans of the series "Mannix" will get a chance to see the star of that series, Mike Connors, portray a character on the wrong side of the law, and there are plenty of familiar character actors in these episodes including Malcolm Atterbury, James Best, Willis Bouchey, and Myron Healey.

The episodes on this release from Alpha Video are not restored and are fairly standard as releases of public domain material are concerned, i.e., they're far from pristine condition but watchable. The opening title sequence seems to be in the worst shape, but the episodes are in comparatively good condition, certainly on a par with most of the episodes contained in the other compilations that have been previously released. Alpha also includes a bonus episode from the series "Sugarfoot" titled "The Return of the Canary Kid," though the opening title sequence and closing credits have been omitted.

"Sheriff of Cochise" is a solid entry in the crime series genre from the 1950s. Fans of the series that have the other collections might want to skip this DVD as all of the episodes have been previously released, but those who are new to the series are likely to enjoy this disc. My rating is closer to *** & ½.
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