Secrets Of TV’s The Rifleman: More Than Just Guns And Good Times

The Rifleman was one of the first American TV shows to air in Russia. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) visited the United States in the 1970s and was very eager to meet Chuck Connors. Apparently, the western was one of Brezhnev’s favorite shows while also being one of the few American programs to air in his country. Connors and Brezhnev did end up connecting and wound up becoming good friends who spent quite a bit of time together. The Russian invited the actor to visit his country on several occasions.

Hope Summers played Hattie Denton, the owner of North Fork’s general store, a recurring character on The Rifleman. She also appeared in shows such as MASH, Little House On The Prairie, Bewitched, The Andy Griffith Show and Bonanza, and had a role as a satanist in the film Rosemary’s Baby. Summers never had any breakthrough roles on film and instead focused her career on the small screen. She was known for playing teachers, nurses and other helpful mother-like figures. Fun fact: She provided the voice for “Mrs. Butterworth,” the famous talking maple syrup bottle.

The production techniques on The Rifleman were quite advanced and ahead of the time. Joseph H. Lewis directed the series. He was also responsible for the critically acclaimed noir film Gun Crazy. Film noir of the 1940s and 1950s was associated with a very specific black-and-white visual style that had roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Lewis used similar techniques from his unusual, B-style filming to the western. One of his signature trademarks was noir lighting techniques that had never previously been used on a western TV series. As a result of his techniques, The Rifleman included atmospheric shadows and interesting camera angles.

Actor Ralph Moody had appeared in several Westerns before he landed the role of Doc Burrage on The Rifleman. Edgar Buchanan, Fay Roope, Rhys Williams, Jack Kruschen, Robert Burton and Bert Stevens also played the doctor. Moody later starred in Bonanza after The Rifleman ended. His very first acting role was in 1900 playing Heinrich in Rip Van Winkle. In the 1940s, he was frequently a radio cast member on The Roy Rogers Show. He also joined the Gunsmoke radio show in 1952. His first TV appearance happened in 1949 on the Lone Ranger. He appeared in three episodes, and each time played an Indian chief with a different name.

John Harmon played hotel clerk Eddie Halstead. Prior to landing the role he appeared in The Untouchables. He later appeared in Cheyenne, Have Gun – Will Travel, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive, Green Acres, The Big Valley, and The Virginian. When Harmon got older, he became a used-book dealer and possessed several first editions of Mark Twain books. His store was located in and took up a large portion of Shirley’s Antiques on Topanga Canyon Blvd. just south of Ventura Blvd. in Woodland Hills, California. Harmon had a stroke and died a year later in 1985 due to heart failure.