At the end of 1949, the Motion Picture Herald announced the top stars for the year, as chosen by exhibitors. As you can tell from the headline, Bob Hope took the top slot away from Bing Crosby, with the help of The Paleface. Being that Bob never got the girls in their films together, this might’ve been a bit of a consolation.
There was a separate list for Western stars, with Roy Rogers being indeed the King Of The Cowboys. Looking at this list today, you can easily see the change in the Western genre that was about to take place. By the next summer, The Gunfighter and Winchester ’73 (both 1950) would show us what a 50s Western was — and by 1953, most of these cowboys were out of theaters for good.
1. Roy Rogers: Roy’s TV show would debut in 1951. His last feature would be Son Of Paleface in 1952.
2. Gene Autry: On television by 1950, he’d leave the big screen with Last Of The Pony Riders (1953).
3. Gabby Hayes: Cariboo Trail (1950) with Randolph Scott would be Gabby’s last picture. He’d have his own TV show the same year.
4. Tim Holt: His excellent series for RKO would wrap up in 1952. He wouldn’t make another Western.
5. William “Wild Bill” Elliott: His last Western came in 1954, with the last of his Monogram/Allied Artists pictures. His last feature was released in 1957.
6. Charles Starrett: Like Holt, Starrett would ride into the celluloid sunset in ’52 with the last of his Durango Kid pictures.
7. William Boyd: Hopalong Cassidy would make the switch to TV in 1952, and hang up his spurs in ’54.
8. Johnny Mack Brown: His last series Western came in 1953, but his career kept going into the 60s.
9. Smiley Burnette: He’d make Autry’s Last Of The Pony Riders his final film, but have a quite a career in television with Green Acres and Petticoat Junction. (By the way, he eventually had his named legally changed to Smiley.)
10. Andy Devine: Andy’s filmography was always a diverse one, and he rode out the death of the series Western with ease and continued in features (including The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) and on TV.
* William Holden in The Wild Bunch (1969)
That really does underline the vastness of the shift that occurred in the early ’50s.
The change in Westerns would never be the same, television tried to keep it
alive with all of the Western Series on every network, but it was flooded with too much that wasn’t the same quality we were used to growing up in the 40s and 50s … they’ll never be another like them.
Randy Scott, Joel McCrea and John Wayne kept Westerns alive until Clint Eastwood changed everything with the Spagetti Westerns.
Still love the Gene Autry, Johnny Mack Brown, Don Red Barry, Rod Cameron, Sunset Carson, Hopalong Cassidy, Buster Crabbe, Wild Bill Elliott, Monte Hale, Raymond Hatton, Gabby Hayes, Tim Holt, Buck Jones, Allan ‘Rocky’ Lane, Lash LaRue, Colonel Tim McCoy, Clayton Moore (Lone Ranger), Duncan Renaldo (Cisco Kid), Charles Starrett (Durango Kid), Bob Steele, Tom Tyler, Jimmy Wakely and last but not least Whip Wilson.
As you can tell I’m old and don’t have a life, have all of these on Video (VHS/DVD), never tire of watching great action packed Westerns.
Thanks to Toby, I’ve been sharing and reliving my youth … also review many of these on Amazon.Com
Mr. Jim
Amazon Vine Reviewer
Something to observe in looking at the list of actors Toby provides above is that actors go where the work is and may find a niche where they are appreciated–that can be series Westerns which take talent like anything else, and some of the people named could be great in other kinds of films that tapped gifts they had that weren’t needed in most of their films. I’m sure most of us would agree about Tim Holt for example.
In THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, Andy Devine–superb throughout the film as is the rest of the cast–shares one of the greatest moments in any film with Vera Miles, and they are both sublime; I’m referring to the early pre-flashback sequence in which they go out to Tom Doniphon’s burnt-out house. Most actors work hard at their art and are ready for these kinds of opportunities when they are there and when they are in the hands of a master. This is one of the best examples I can think of, as Devine is usually thought of simply as a figure of fun, and shows how much more he could be.
All by way of saying to everyone here, please look in to Skeins of Thought for the interview with April Lane, who has launched her blog “Directed by John Ford.” If I have any sense of Toby from “50 Westerns from the 50s” he will put this blog among his links after he reads the interview Moira did with Ms. Lane. It is one of the best interviews I’ve ever read about John Ford, and I say this as one who is, like April Lane, a devoted Fordian who has spent a lifetime with that artist’s work, never tired of it, in so many ways been nurtured by it. Ms. Lane’s insights and articulate voice on the subject are absolutely stunning–in this single interview I find her already a major voice on the work of John Ford.
And thanks to Laura, who linked the interview in one of her pieces. I already posted at her blog to acknowledge this.
I added April’s site to my links sometime last week.
A great site, and I have a feeling it’ll just get greater as time goes on.
What I find interesting about the early 50s shift from series Westerns to TV is that the crews often made the move, too. So, in a way, series Westerns simply evolved into TV shows. Shorter, cheaper, but not all that different.
Now I see you added it already, Toby. Sorry I didn’t notice that before.
Any thoughts on her interview with Moira? Again, it’s not to be missed, certainly not by any Fordian.
I could say more and maybe I will later. Haven’t even posted a comment to Moira’s blog yet, though I mean to after rereading the interview.
It is a good interview, and it serves as a solid introduction to all the stuff that makes up a “John Ford film:” the themes, the recurring cast and crew members, and on and on. No stone unturned.
There are so many excellent directors who could certainly benefit from sites like this one. And I wish people would hurry up and set ‘em up so I can use them in my research!
Days seem to be closin fast for vintage Western releases on DVD as
well! Even the ever reliable MGM/UA MOD imprint has let us down for
November;with not one Western listed.