The Great West Collection

Comprised of four programs which have aired on PBS and one (My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys) which aired on The Nashville Network, this handsomely packaged set offers plenty of down home authentic country cowboy imagery for the c & w crowd. We watched three of the programs: The Last Cowboys, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, and Ranch Album. The Last Cowboys, narrated by Joseph Campanella, was the best, with a thumbnail sketch of the modern cowboy followed by contemporary stories of a dying breed. Profiles of a woman named Heidi who runs her own ranch along with her sons Matthew and Adam, the owner of the Robber's Roost Ranch (on the site of the former hideout of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid and other nefarious outlaws), and rodeo barrel racer Charmayne Rodman--who is the first woman in her field to garner over 1 million dollars in prize money--make for an interesting hour. Add to that the nice background music and sterling cinematography, and The Last Cowboys comes out a winner. Ranch Album, which also focuses on cowboys and cowgirls working on farms and ranches is a bit more slow-paced. The format of the program is to shift from one Arizona family to the next, and listen to husband and wife offer capsule comments on their day to day work. While there are some real jewels here (one old rancher, espousing the simple principles of cowboy life, says: "you don't mess with another man's horse"), there's also some fairly dry--though most definitely authentic--stuff. On the plus side, Ranch Album dispels some of the romanticism of ranching, while at the same time demonstrating that the job is comprised of hard work, love, and dedication. These qualities may not be as colorful as spittin' tobaccy, but they're a lot more impressive. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys is, as far as we're concerned, mostly for the Waylon & Willie crowd. The program follows Waylon Jennings on a 10-day cattle roundup with ranchers Chris and Diane Lacey and their crew. During the day, Jennings ropes calves and rides herd, while at night he sings songs around the campfire. His overlaid commentary is fairly predictable Wayne and Garth "I'm not worthy" (of being a cowboy) stuff. The other two tapes in the series are: Great Ranches of the West and The Working Cowboy. (What's most interesting about the tapes we watched was how much attitudes have changed over the years. Some viewers will be downright angry over the sight of calves being roped and drug backward by their hindfeet to the man (or woman) who castrates and brands them--although the modern mass cattle breeding farm is no wonderful alternative.) A realistic portrait of contemporary cowboys, The Great West Collection is recommended. (Available from: Atlas Video, 4915 St. Elmo Ave., Suite 305, Bethesda, MD 20814; (301) 907-0030; FAX (301) 907-9049.)