Some interesting titles are now available as part of the MGM Limited Edition Collection.
Fort Defiance (1951) stars Dane Clark, Peter Graves and Ben Johnson. Directed by John Rawlins, it‘s in Cinecolor.
Johnson’s got the lead in Fort Bowie (1958), directed by Howard W. Koch. Koch is primarily known as a producer — everything from Pharaoh’s Curse (1957) to Airplane! (1980). But he directed the terrific crime/prison picture Big House U.S.A. (1955) and some episodes of The Untouchables, among other things.
Davey Crockett, Indian Scout (1950) stars George Montgomery, Ellen Drew and Noah Beery Jr. It was directed by Lew Landers (real name: Louis Friedlander), a prolific and often quite good director whose credits include everything from The Raven (1935) to Hot Rod Gang (1958).
What’s more, there’s The Gun Runners (1958), a non-Western picture that reunites Audie Murphy and Don Siegel.
Ah… one that includes the great George Montgomery. Always enjoyed watching him (he was great, too, in a episode of I SPY and in the Battle of the Bulge film). Thanks.
Toby,
Firstly let me say that I was saddened to hear of the
disaster thast struck your community.Its good to hear
that people all rallied together;sometimes these incidents
bring out the best in a community;I hope things return to
normal soon.
As I have noted before “Fort Defiance” and”Fort Bowie” are
both worth a look.The Crockett film is just an excuse to
re-use tons of stock footage (from Kit Carson I believe)
This is a very cheap Western even by Edward Small standards.Interestingly Small did produce a few of Montgomerys best Fifties Westerns (The Texas Rangers,
The Lone Gun and Gun Belt)
Howard Koch also was assistant director on “The Naked Spur” He formed Bel-Air productions in the Fifties with
Aubrey Schenck and they churned out lots of Westerns
(mostly directed by Les Selander) Horrors and crime films.
Koch went on to a long involvement with Frank Sinatra and
was head of production at Paramount.Schenck went on
to produce more of the same (Robinson Crusoe On Mars,
More Dead Than Alive) on somewhat bigger budgets.
The pair died within a couple of years of each other and
made a request that their ashes be scattered where they
shot all those Bel-Air Westerns.They must of had fond memories of making those things;the Bel-Air product
certainly had a “house style”.
MGM seem to be keen to make these Bel Air titles available
again,coming next month is “Ghost Town”(anyone seen it
out there in Fiftieswesternland?) and the non-Westerns
“Crime Against Joe” and “Hell Bound”.The latter is a really
obscure; a crime thriller with John Russell and Stuart
Whitman.The Bel-Air product seemed to showcase many
future stars like Russell,Whitman and Peter Graves,
John Smith and Chuck Conners.I hope that they unearth
“Desert Sands” the only Bel-Air film in Scope and colour
a Foreign Leigon epic directed by Lesley Selander.
I hope that they can unearth a color print of Selanders
“The Yellow Tomahawk” I also hope that they release
“Revolt At Fort Laramie” (Selander again) which has
the wonderful John Dehner an a rare lead role and was Harry Dean Stantons first picture.Other Bel-Air Westerns
on my wish list are “War Paint” “Fort Yuma” ” War Drums”
“Rebel In Town” and “The Broken Star”
I have a copy of “The Gun Runners” on the way I will let
you know what I think later.
Thanks for the kind words about what’s going on here in Raleigh. Driving to work every day, I pass through one of the areas hardest hit, and it’s a pretty sobering sight. But at the same time, each day the progress is truly remarkable.
Haven’t seen Gun Belt, but Texas Rangers (I love Phil Karlson!) and The Lone Gun were quite good. Montgomery’s pictures were often so cheap — and I’d guess that’s why he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. Masterson Of Kansas, for some reason, really sticks with me — probably because of James Griffith.
Those Bel-Air films, the few of them I’ve seen, do indeed have a house style. I’m glad to see more of those making their way to DVD. For those willing to invest the time and money to seek out these cheap 50s Westerns, there’s some real gold to be found. Maybe I should shift gears and do 50 CHEAP Westerns From The 50s!
I’ve been wanting to include a Bel-Air picture in my book, but can’t decide (or find) the right one. Any recommendations? By the way, I have not seen Ghost Town.
John Dehner is one of my favorite character actors. He really impressed me in The Fastest Gun Alive.
Enjoy the informative exchange of information! Love John Dehner too. Without him, the best episode of TV’s MAVERICK wouldn’t have been as great as it was…”If you can’t trust your banker, Bartley, who can you trust?”
Best wishes,
Laura
The best George Montgomery DVD available at the moment
is “Battle Of Rogue River” from Columbia Classics mainly
due to the lovely quality of the transfer.
Montgomery certainly deserved better than most of the low
budget things he appeared in.
“War Paint” was the first Bel-Air Western and did so well
United Artists were keen to distribute more of their product.
I have not seen it but it is reputed to be one of their best.
“Rebel In Town” is a very dark low-budget Western a stark
contrast to the splashy big budget things John Payne was
doing for Pine Thomas a couple of years before.Alfred
Werkers background in “Noir” comes across very strongly in
this tight little movie.
On the DVD of “Frankenstein 1970″ veteran B actress
Charlotte Austin;on the audio interview,gives a very good
account of what it was like working for Bel-Air and Howard
Koch in particular.Thats where I got the “ashes” story.
She named Koch “the velvet whip”because he was very
demanding but in a very nice way.
I am sure more Bel-Air product will surface from MGM in
time.Another obscure B coming from MGM (not Bel-Air this
time) is “Oklahoma Territory” anyone got any feedback on
this one? I am tempted because it features my favourite
B movie actress Gloria Talbott.
While we are on the subject of Bel-Air and Howard W
Koch there is another Koch directed Bel-Air film coming to
DVD on May 17th from the MGM Limited Edition series.
This time its a murder thriller,I have never seen it; but one
hell of a cast!
The Girl In Black Stockings (1957)
Lex Barker,Anne Bancroft,Mamie Van Doren,Ron Randell,
Marie Windsor,John Dehner,Stuart Whitman,Dan Blocker.
That’s one I’m really looking forward to. Anything with Marie Windsor.