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''Death Valley Days'' is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945 and continued from 1952 to 1970 as a syndicated television series, with reruns (updated with new narrations) continuing through August 1, 1975. The radio and TV versions combined to make the show "one of the longest-running western programs in broadcast history."〔French, Jack & Siegel, David S. (eds.) (2014). ''Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929-1967''. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-7146-1. Pp. 43-49.〕 The series was sponsored by the Pacific Coast Borax Company (20 Mule Team Borax, Boraxo) and hosted by Stanley Andrews (1952–1963), Ronald Reagan (1964–1965), Rosemary DeCamp (1965), Robert Taylor (1966–1969), and Dale Robertson (1969–1970). With the passing of Dale Robertson in 2013, all the former ''Death Valley Days'' hosts are now deceased. Hosting the series was Reagan's final work as an actor; he was cast in eight episodes of the series. ==Hosts== The 452 television episodes were introduced by a host. The longest-running was "The Old Ranger" from 1952 to 1965, played by Stanley Andrews. For the first two years the series was produced by Gene Autry's Flying A Productions; then from 1954 to 1956, it was handled by McGowan Productions, also known for the ''Sky King'' series.〔"McGowan Org takes "Death", "Dr. Christian", ''The Billboard'', June 5, 1954, p. 8〕 Filmaster Productions Inc., which produced the first several seasons of ''Gunsmoke'' for CBS Television, took over production of the series after 1956. Later a Madison Productions was also involved. Following the departure of Andrews, Ronald Reagan, former host of ''General Electric Theater'', became the host of ''Death Valley Days.'' Reagan acted in twenty-one episodes, including the 1965 segment, "A City Is Born". He played mining developer Charles Poston, the founder of Arizona. When Reagan entered the race for governor of California, Rosemary DeCamp filled in as the host for a short time. The ''Death Valley Day'' hosting position went to Reagan's friend, Robert Taylor, who appeared in some segments too, including "The Day All Marriages Were Cancelled" (1966), also based on the career of Charles Poston. Taylor was cast in the 1967 episode "Halo for a Badman" as Porter Stockman, an ex-convict hired by the mayor (Roy Barcroft) of Las Animas, Colorado, to be the town marshal. Stockman must stand up to an outlaw gang which has robbed every gold shipment coming into town. He played Horace Bell in another 1967 episode, "Major Horace Bell." In the story line, Major Bell, an early settler of Los Angeles, defends a man whom he believes has been framed for murder. That same year in the episode "Shanghai Kelly's Birthday Party", Taylor played James Kelly of San Francisco, who shanghaiied sailors onto ships bound to the Far East, with the expectation that none would return to accuse Kelly of a crime. When Taylor became gravely ill in 1969, he was succeeded by Dale Robertson, former star of two other western series, ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' and ''The Iron Horse''. Production of new episodes ceased in 1970. Merle Haggard in 1975 provided narration for some previously-made episodes. While original episodes were still being made, older episodes were already in syndication under a different series title with other hosts; the series could even be in competition with itself in syndication. This practice made it easier for viewers to distinguish the new episodes from the older ones. (This was common practice through the early 1980s among syndicated series.) The hosting segment at the beginning and the end was easily re-shot with another performer having no effect on the story. Alternate hosts and titles included ''Frontier Adventure'' (Dale Robertson), ''The Pioneers'' (Will Rogers, Jr.), ''Trails West'' (Ray Milland), ''Western Star Theater'' (Rory Calhoun), and ''Call of the West'' (John Payne). The last title was also often applied to the series' memorable, haunting theme music. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Death Valley Days」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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