My daughter caught Beverly Garland in Gunslinger (1956, above) yesterday (on broadcast TV!) and loved it. She thought Beverly was about the coolest thing ever — which, of course, she is. She also thought her horse was pretty.
Blake Lucas suggested Johnny Guitar (1954) as a followup, and I thought of Hellfire (1949, below).
By then, this was looking like something we could all have fun with. So, while I have the opportunity to turn my little girl into a (cap) pistol-packing 50s Western fan, let’s program a 12-year-old girl’s 50s Western Film Festival. Put your picks in a comment.
You know, maybe it’s time 50 Westerns From The 50s had a guest blogger.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
westernsontheweb.com is an excellent link to the only American cap-gun maker, from there, you can purchase Western revolver replicas.
“Cattle Queen of Montana” is a great movie for a girl to see, as Barbara Stanwyck is the main character in it, along with the great Pres. Reagan doing his part. “40 Guns” would be another good movie if she’s looking for a more adult female pt. of view western. Gail Davies’ “Annie Oakley Show” is a good cowgirl TV show from the ’50’s you can buy on Amazon and so are many of the Roy Rogers movies good for a girl as Dale Evans plays a big part in them too.
I vote for “Rawhide” though it might be from the late forties…You can’t beat Susan Hayward with a rifle in her hands.
Incidentally, Toby, thanks for the heads-up on Winchester 73 in Atlanta..It was fabulous and I never would have heard about it if I hadn’t heard about it here!
I vote for “Rawhide” though it might be from the late forties…You can’t beat Susan Hayward with a rifle in her hands.
Incidentally, Toby, thanks for the heads-up on Winchester 73 in Atlanta..It was fabulous and I never would have heard about it if I hadn’t heard about it here!
I’ll add a vote for Westward the Women, especially as you already have Wellman’s name above so may have already had it in mind.
Wonderful Mala Powers avenger of few words in
ROSE OF CIMARRON (1952).
Really cool outfit too!
Did you know today is Roger Cormans birthday;as well as Spencer
Tracy,Gregory Peck and Bette Davis;sure wish mine fell on April 5th!
Love that picture of Marie Windsor!
Nondisposable Johnny, so glad you enjoyed the Winchester ’73 screening — it did look amazing in 35mm on the big screen, didn’t it! Emory’s Film and Media Studies Department offers a wonderful film series every year and all still in glorious 35mm. I wish I was able to get to more of their events but I made sure I was not going to miss Winchester ’73.
How about Tall in the Saddle for the girls? I’ve always loved that one because of the way Ella Raines (a real life outdoorswoman and rider) gallops her horse up onto the walkway and blocks John Wayne’s path, and also because (SPOILER ALERT!) Ella, the high-spirited cowgirl, gets the man instead of the sweet, but far more ladylike and conventional Audrey Long. Usually in these stories the tomboy or defiant woman dies so the goody-two shoes ends up with the hero, but not in Tall in the Saddle. 🙂
Indeed it did…It was my first experience at Emory and it was wonderful. I live about five hours away and if I was any closer I’d be there on a regular basis–Atlanta traffic and all!
Paula, In SOUTH OF ST LOUIS (SPOILER ALERT!) hero Joel McCrea
ends up with “bad” girl Alexis Smith instead of the boring uptight
Dorothy Malone character.
We know from the start that Alexis is is not a “good” girl because her
name is Rouge,and just see the look of sheer delight on her face
as McCrea and Victor Jory are really getting to it in an extended brawl.