Steve Canyon

Series 1 & 2

1958

Released on DVD 2008

United States

B&W

TV Series

Web: http://stevecanyondvd.blogspot.com/

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

Some issues back we reviewed the first Steve Canyon rerelease, a varied set of episodes from the different TV series released between 1958 and 1959. Thirty four 30-minute shows were made and in this DVD we see the first 24. Volume 2 is shipping at the moment. Steve Canyon was a pilot in the United States Air Force and the stories cover his various missions around the world and in the U.S.

Although the comic strip on which Canyon was based covered his post-WW2 private flying career, the TV series dealt purely with his military career. The US Air Force was created in 1947, the same year that the Canyon comic strip appeared. The USAF seems to have been happy to assist the producers with use of aircraft and facilities to show off their new Air Force. It is perhaps because of this that the episodes in Series 1 are so varied – air-to-air refueling, rocket-assisted launching of fighter jets, air safety investigations, UFOs, target drones – it’s all here in a glorious parade of technology. Most of the military footage is genuine, and has historical rarity, especially the scenes of the B52 crash landing.

The main aircraft shown is the Convair F102 jet fighter, but even the humble C47 (military version of the Dakota) gets to star in an episode. We even get nice shots of Russian MiG jets. In the episode dealing with the dropping of a hydrogen bomb we see just about every jet aircraft in the USAF’s arsenal. The photography is stunning, even in black and white. The episodes were done from creator Milton Caniff’s private collection of broadcast masters. As a historical sideline they include the original cheesy advertising for Chesterfield cigarettes and their many brands, and ads for ABC TV’s various family shows. This makes each episode a true period piece.

Dean Fredericks played Steve Canyon throughout the series and he is ideal for the part. He also did some of the cigarette commercials.

The DVD sets includes commentary tracks on the episodes. It is rare to be able to look back at what was the standard TV fare of the day, and rarer still to see such high-quality work. Episodes were shot to film in those days and edited by professional film editors, and the professionalism of each episode is higher than some of today’s work.

If you like aircraft or flying-oriented adventure stories these are sets you must have.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.4 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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