You sure don’t see these very often. John Wayne presented cups like these to the cast and crew of The Searchers back in 1956. This particular one went to Frank S. Nugent, who wrote the screenplay (based on Alan LeMay’s novel).
Nugent was a New York Times film critic who made his way into screenwriting. Beginning with Fort Apache (1948) and up through Donovan’s Reef (1963), he wrote many of John Ford’s finest films. Wonder how much of his dialogue Ford threw out over the years?
Nugent also wrote a couple of Phil Karlson Westerns I’m quite fond of — They Rode West (1954) and Gunman’s Walk (1958).
Coming from Mr. Nugent’s estate, this cup is currently on eBay for $3,750.00. Any publishers out there wanna come up with an advance on my book? Say, uh, $3,750.00?
By the way, this is the 200th post on 50 Westerns From The 50s. Thanks to those who’ve been reading ‘em.
Congrats on 200!
I stop by every day to bask in the glory of the posters, and was struck by these veneration-worthy mugs. Film history! Worth $3750? Hmmm.
I thought the same thing. That’s a lot of money.
BUT if I had the scratch laying around, I can’t think of anything cooler to spend it on.
And no offense to Mr. Nugent, whose work I greatly admire, but I’d prefer Hank Worden or Ward Bond’s mug!
Thanks for stopping by. Glad you dig the posters.