Posted in 1956, Gene Autry, John Wayne on September 5, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Has anybody seen this art installation? John Wayne (from The Searchers) overlooks Glendale. Gene Autry and Clint Eastwood aren’t far away.
Justin Stadel, the Glassell Park resident and artist behind the cowboy cutouts, said he created the works so viewers could draw a spiritual feeling, a sense of freedom, from L.A.’s varied landscape.
Read about the project here.
Posted in 1951, 1958, Gene Autry, Gregory Peck, Music on April 8, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Even if Gene Autry did sing “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” in Hills Of Utah (1951), there’s not a lot of Easter to be found in 50s Westerns.
But with The Bravados (1958) coming up this week (Gregory Peck’s birthday was the 5th), I was reminded of the church scene towards the end. That’ll have to do. What a movie!
Posted in 1950, Gene Autry on December 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
From the fabulous Kiddie Records Weekly comes The Story Of The Nativity (1950) by Gene Autry.
Click here and scroll down to “Week 51.” Be sure to look around — there are plenty of other terrific things to be found here, from Tex Ritter to Mr. Toad. Roy Rogers’ tale of Pecos Bill is a personal favorite.
Posted in 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, Gene Autry, Pre-1950, Roy Rogers, Television, Tim Holt, William Elliott on October 27, 2011 | 7 Comments »
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)
Posted in Gene Autry on September 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Gene Autry
(September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998)
Ina Autry (Gene’s wife, from a July 1953 Picturegoer article): “Gene never comes down to breakfast unless he’s shaved and bathed and fully dressed in a cowboy suit with tie and boots. For relaxation he listens to Western songs. His favorite food is ham hock, corn bread and buttermilk.”
Posted in 1951, Gene Autry, Locations/Ranches on September 23, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Came across something interesting on the Iverson Ranch blog. I highly recommend this blog, but warn you that you’ll be there for hours.
A recent post covers the history of the Middle Iverson Ranch sets, from the buildings’ construction in the early 40s to their use in the pilot episode of The Real McCoys — and on to the fire that destroyed them in 1970.
A typical film that used these sets is The Hills Of Utah (1951), a later Gene Autry picture. Below is the main house set as it appears there. The set also included (at various times) a bunkhouse, barn and shed.
If you’ve seen AIP’s Panic In Year Zero (1962), you know that this house survived an atom bomb falling on LA. But it couldn’t survive sprawl: condominiums now occupy its spot.
Posted in Ads, posters & art, Gene Autry on July 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »
In case you ever wondered what Gene Autry’s letterhead looked like. What a beautiful illustration, complete with camera crew.
Posted in 1951, Gene Autry on April 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Gene Autry sings “Peter Cottontail” in Hills Of Utah (1951). You can hear a bit of it in this trailer.
Released by Columbia, it was directed by John English in Lone Pine.
Posted in Festivals, screenings, Gene Autry on March 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This weekend, the 2011 Palm Springs WestFest will feature a three-day Western film festival highlighting Gene Autry’s film and TV work.
Two of the films are among Gene’s best — South Of The Border (1939) and Hills Of Utah (1951, which includes the song “Peter Cottontail”).
Posted in Festivals, screenings, Gene Autry on January 30, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
With the support of Jackie Autry and Gene Autry Entertainment, the 2011 WestFest will feature a three-day Western film festival highlighting the film and television work of America’s Favorite Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry.
