George Montgomery
(August 29, 1916 – December 12, 2000)
I don’t think George Montgomery has gotten his due. He may not have made a true classic, and most of his Westerns were of the studio product variety, but he can be counted on for a good solid way to spend an hour and a half. And those modest films are looking better and better with each passing year.
A real renaissance man — actor, producer, director, painter, sculptor, craftsman, builder and on and on — Montgomery had a pretty fascinating life.
Montgomery (to the LA Times): “I was real lucky. You know, I was just a farm boy from Montana when I arrived there (Hollywood in 1937). Two days later, I was in a Garbo movie at MGM, getting $35 a day doing some stunt work.”
I’ve been screaming for a while now about the many merits of Masterson Of Kansas (1954). But Montgomery made plenty of good ones, from The Texas Rangers (1951) to the very interesting Black Patch (1957). (Warner Archive has helped us out with nice transfers of a few titles.) Like Rory Calhoun, Montgomery’s 50s Westerns deserve the attention given to those of, say, Audie Murphy or Joel McCrea.
Apart from the titles mentioned by Toby the following films are
worth tracking down:
BATTLE OF ROGUE RIVER (1954)
out as a Sony MOD;really nice widescreen transfer
ROBBERS ROOST (1955)
Again out as an MGM MOD and in lovely widescreen
Really neat production still from the above Toby!
G.M. Wish list:
CRIPPLE CREEK (1952)
Action packed with a top supporting cast.
JACK McCALL DESPERADO (1953)
History re-written Sam Katzman style but a fun movie;
with Douglas Kennedy as a really nasty Wild Bill Hickok.
THE PATHFINDER (1953)
Montgomery and Jay Silverheels make a great team;this one has
better production values than the average Sam Katzman epic.
FORT TI (1953)
Lively 3D film with literally everything thrown at the camera.
This film cleaned up at the box-office.
THE LONE GUN (1954)
Fast moving action packed and with a knockout supporting cast.
GUN BELT (1954)
More of the same;does anyone have decent off-air copies of
the above two films? I wonder if decent elements of these titles exist.
The thing about Mr Montgomery he was always good even when the
films were not;furthermore he really looked the part (of a Westerner)
I’m wanting the same stuff, John. A friend tracked down a copy of Jack McCall for me. Don’t think I’ve seen it, so I’m really excited about a “new” Katzman Montgomery picture.
Looking forward to Robber’s Roost, too.
Silly me!
I left out two films that are VERY high on my wants list;the two splendid
Westerns that he made with Lesley Selander.
BELLE STARRS DAUGHTER (1948)
DAKOTA LIL (1950)
Its kinda interesting that he did a few non-Westerns in the Fifties as well.
SWORD OF MONTE CRISTO (1952)
A rare swashbuckler from George;and one of those interesting
Alperson productions that seem to be forever lost in the ether.
HUK (1956)
An action picture filmed in the Philippines in color co starring
Mona Freeman. Script by Sterlimg Silliphant;would love to see that one!
STREET OF SINNERS (1957)
A most interesting departure into Noir;again would love to catch up
with it.
WATUSI (1959)
George in a jungle film;have been waiting for the Warner Archive to
unleash this one.Legend has it that film was an excuse to use lots of
leftover footage from KING SOLOMONS MINES.
Masterson of Kansas is due on Nov 2 as part as Sony’s On Demand, as is most of the Scott-Boetticher pictures.
Can’t wait for a nice Masterson!
George Montgomery is someone I’ve come to appreciate in the last couple years. I need to check out more of his Westerns!
Did you know there is a George Montgomery Gallery at the Autry Museum in L.A.? I believe he was a museum benefactor.
Best wishes,
Laura
George Montgomery made quite a few CinemaScope and colour Westerns for Allied Artists in the late 1950s, including CANYON RIVER; LAST OF THE BADMEN; KING OF THE WILD STALLIONS and THE MAN FROM GOD’S COUNTRY. All, with the exception of LAST OF THE BADMEN, have all been released in widescreen by Warner Archive.
I’ve been slow to get those DVDs, and I’m really eager to see them.
Montgomery has become a favorite over the last few months.
Another one to look out for is INDIAN UPRISING (1951). It’s been on television a few times, but there’s no video or DVD of it. George Montgomery was a very dependable lead in Westerns. He always played the kind of man you could rely on. I’ve never seen him play a baddie. He was always the good guy and it suited him.
John K,
I have a DVD-R of “Fort Ti” that I bought off an eBay seller a few years ago. The sound is loud and clear and the colour is very good, but judging by the image, it’s been transferred from a VHS video that has been copied a few times, each time losing definition. But it’s acceptable until Sony decide to give it a professional DVD release.