


Wanted, Dead or Alive was most folks first exposure to a screen legend. As for his Josh Randall character, you can see a bit of him in all the people Steve McQueen brought to the screen like Virgil Hilts, Nevada Smith, all the way to his last two films, Tom Horn and Pappa Thorsen. But with McQueen you knew the weapon was on the side of law and order. Take note of the Dan Duryea western, The Bounty Killer, a very Freudian piece where Duryea becomes hated and feared as a bounty hunter until an innocent bystander gets shot with it. Of course the sawed off shotgun was also an evil weapon in the wrong hands. After that Caan's of considerable help to Wayne and Mitchum. A 1987 feature film of the same name starred Rutger Hauer as a descendant of McQueens character.

The series aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958 to 1961. Before going to El Dorado to aid Robert Mitchum, they stop off and see a gunsmith who fixes Caan up with a Josh Randall special. Wanted: Dead or Alive was a Western television series starring Steve McQueen as Josh Randall, a confederate Civil War veteran who now makes a living as a bounty hunter in the Wild West. The Mares Leg version of the 1892 has captured the imagination and desire of fans and shooters alike ever since.
#Wanted dead or alive rifle movie#
In John Wayne's classic western El Dorado, you remember that Duke discovers that James Caan can't hit the broad side of a mountain with a regular six shooter. Introduced in 1958 by the western TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive, used by Steve McQueens character, bounty hunter Josh Randall to capture or kill movie screen bad guys. His character Josh Randall needed an equalizer. McQueen was after some of the most dangerous fellows in the old west, plenty who could shoot a lot better than he. It lasted for three seasons before McQueen decided to devote full time to the big screen. It was a western calculated to exhibit the talent and charisma of its star, Steve McQueen. Wanted, Dead or Alive was a star vehicle in the truest sense of the term.
