Customer Reviews

The Jim Bowie: Complete Collection

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This set includes the full two seasons of this series and the images and sound, while not perfect, are very good and better than the earlier DVD releases, one of which included only the first season and others that only contained a few episodes. Forbes presents an appealing portrait of Bowie and is supported by a good cast. The series only paid passing tribute to real history, but it was and still is a lot of fun. And that knife -- the Iron Mistress itself, is still captivating.

The 76 half-hour episodes (in B&W) of the western "The Adventures of Jim Bowie originally aired on ABC from 1956-1958. This DVD contains the entire run of the series whose target audience was probably pre-teen boys. Today it is fun just to see the incredible historical liberties taken by the writers.

Scott Forbes (a British actor who had found a home in American television's many dramatic anthology series) plays the title character. Bowie and his brother Rezin (Peter Hanson) had invented the "Bowie Knife" and the opening credits begin with a knife being thrown into a wooden door. Then begins the theme song by the King's Men Quartet (not to be confused with the pop group that gave us "Louie Louie" a few years later).

Based on a novel "The Tempered Blade" by Monte Barrett, the series is set in the Louisiana-Texas region during the 1830's and the many episodes have Jim interacting with historical figures from the period like Andrew Jackson, John James Audubon, and Jean Lafitte the Pirate. If you were a young boy back in 1957 you could have mistakenly formed the impression that Lafitte was a central figure in American history, as it was his gold doubloons that the Hardy Boys were after on the "Mickey Mouse Club's serial: "Applegate's Treasure".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

"Jim Bowie Jim Bowie, he was a bold adventurer man. Jim Bowie Jim Bowie, he battled for rights with a powerful hand. His blade was tempered and so was he, indestructible steel was he. Jim Bowie Jim Bowie Jim Bowie, he was a fighter, a fearless and mighty adventurer man".

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I wasn't sure if I should purchase the whole series of Jim Bowie. I had some episodes on VHS which I always liked, so I decided to splurge. I'm so glad I did. All the great memories of that time came back watching these. Sure the history isn't accurate, some cheap sets are used & some so-so acting is involved. But, Scott Forbes is such a likeable actor & I love the era & even the Ken Darby Singers "Ooooing" away in the background. This was a huge show among my childhood peers & I just can't help liking it. Some shows I don't care about cost or quality, I'm just grateful to have them in any condition. The quality of these DVD's are excellent. If you want good old American 1950's TV history, check out Jim Bowie. I sure wish they would release "Yancy Derringer", "The Rebel" & "The Grey Ghost" on DVD.

I bought this series because I watched it as a child of the 50s. It is great entertainment and the video quality of the dvds are just plain great. Get it if you can.