This one’s cool, folks. A 35mm print of Colorado Territory (1949) will run at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center For The Arts on Sunday, July 27 as part of their Invasion Of The Cinemaniacs series.
I don’t know about you, but Raoul Walsh’s Colorado Territory is one of my favorite Westerns. It’s the movie that made me go nuts over Joel McCrea. And Virginia Mayo is absolutely wonderful in it.
Jonathan Knapp, who looks at this blog on occasion, is the cinemaniac who picked it. Boy, do I wish I could get to this one.
And another thing: I’ve been waiting months to use that artwork (above)!
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
Wish I could be there too, Toby! One of the absolute “classic” westerns with McCrea on top form.
That fabulous artwork is just stunning!
This is a personal favorite of mine too–one of the best Westerns ever. It’s sublime, especially the ending. Glad to say I’ve been lucky enough to see a 35 print a number of times.
I agree entirely; Colorado Territory is one of my very favorite movies. Joel McCrea is fabulous: decent, sympathetic but still a criminal. Virginia Mayo is delightful; I think this is probably her best role anywhere. I’ve never been able to see it in a theatre but I’m just grateful to have it on DVD.
It’s wonderful to know that others admire this movie as much as I do. For my book, this and Hellfire have made me consider being a little flexible in what I consider the 50s — I’d love to include them both.
You can’t leave Raoul Walsh out of the book. And that means if you do stick strictly to the 50s, you’ll have to go to a little lesser movie than this one, though I’d say not too much less. Personally, I love THE TALL MEN and especially ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE. For that matter, I care a lot about THE LAWLESS BREED and SASKATCHEWAN. And if someone were to put on GUN FURY or DISTANT DRUMS right now, I’d be glad to watch it. In fact, in the right mood, I’d enjoy THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW too.
You’re right, Blake. Though we tend to knock Walsh’s 50s Westerns, they’re certainly worthwhile. I love both The Lawless Breed and Gun Fury.
On Fri, Jul 11, 2014 at 2:07 PM, 50 Westerns From The 50s. wrote:
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It surely is Virginia Mayo’s best role. In an interview, she said that although she was a contract player and usually just assigned by the studio, Walsh asked for her and that meant the world to her. It was the first of four movies in a row she made with Walsh. He is definitely the director who most appreciated her and it was mutual–I saw her in person (at a screening of WHITE HEAT) and she asserted strongly that he was her favorite director.
Not only are McCrea and Mayo both great in it, they are great together. They make one of the most moving couples ever seen in a movie–and that’s really important in this movie, as anyone who knows and loves it understands. Though McCrea had chemistry with many other actresses, including his wife Frances Dee, I think on screen it’s especially so here with Mayo. Not that I’m forgetting that scene where he dances with beautiful Arlene Dahl in the still underrated THE OUTRIDERS. Still, COLORADO TERRITORY is special.
Toby, If you finally decide not to include COLORADO TERRITORY
and HELLFIRE because they are both ’49 you certainly have some
tough decisions to make,especially which Walsh to include.
To replace HELLFIRE I would highly recommend THE SHOWDOWN
which IMHO is the finest of the 10 A Westerns William Elliott made for
Republic. After all what other Western starts with a chilling grave-
robbing sequence set during a thunderstorm at midnight.
The Fifties Walsh Westerns y’all have been discussing are fine by me.
“The Fifties Walsh Westerns y’all have been discussing are fine by me.”
Good to hear. I do want to add that I wrote that off the top of my head and at the time thought I had remembered the titles of all of them. But I realize that I forgot THE KING AND FOUR QUEENS. Just an oversight. That’s another excellent Western. And kind of an offbeat one too.
For me, Walsh never declined and I love his 50s films. His use of color alone would make those movies worthwhile. That’s something that only becomes important in his last phase. There are so many other things to cherish about them, too.
I rarely dislike his movies, but I must admit BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE gave me nightmares as a child because of the way its last scene is done, and I didn’t like it any better going back to it as an adult. So that’s one I guess I’m through with now. But most of my experience with him is not like that and I’ve been with his movies my whole moviegoing life.
Walsh is one of my favorites. There is a certain momentum to his movies that I wish more films had.
Take Battle Cry, for instance. It bounces back and forth from cool battle scenes to all that melodrama stuff, but the pace never drops off. Plus, it has James Whitmore as another military type and great use of Scope. During our brief flirtation with 35mm in our home theater, we had a print of this and the magnetic stereo was stunning.
BATTLE CRY is one of my favorite Walsh movies–also a favorite of my wife so it’s one we have and have watched a number of times. Your description is just right-it keeps all those elements in balance and I love all the interlaced stories, especially Aldo Ray/Nancy Olson. And Van Heflin is superb of course. Walsh’s first use of ‘Scope–and he did beautifully with it first time out, just as one would expect.
Yes, I think plenty of us out here wish more films had the momentum of his–or as it’s often been described, “energy.” Walsh seems to have it so naturally. A few years ago, we were watching DESPERATE JOURNEY and at some point near the two hour mark, I started finding it just jaw dropping how the pace never let up and it was just so endlessly dynamic
I had a similar reaction to Objective Burma.
Come to think of it, I had all kinds of reactions to it. It’s a very powerful film.
William Smith told a most amusing Walsh story that I read in an
interview with him several years back.
The interviewer asked Smith how he felt about generally being
considered “The Hardest Man In Hollywood”
Smith straight away corrected him by stating that Leo Gordon was the
holder of that title. While making GUN FURY Walsh had little time for
Lee Marvin and Neville Brand. He had also had a beef with Leo;who he
actually liked.The wily director decided to get back at all three,especially
knowing Leo’s short temper. There was a scene where Leo is sleeping
in a cabin and Marvin and Brand are supposed to rough him up a
bit.Walsh told the pair that he did not want play acting in this scene
and told them to really go for it.This did not please Leo who then
proceded to knock the **** out of the pair.
I presume this tale was related to Smith by Brand when they were making
the LAREDO TV series.
Smith also mentioned the epic punch-up with Eastwood in ANY WHICH
WAY YOU CAN.According to Smith this was the longest fight in screen
history without using stunt doubles. He also mentioned that Clint
accidentally broke on of Smith’s ribs but did not mention it because
he knew Clint would have felt bad about it………..what a guy!
A little sidebar – about 40 years ago I attended with 2 buddies a concert at The London Palladium. This was the highlight of a tour called ‘The Capitol Records Caravan’ (or something similar) to Britain starring Buck Owens and a number of other Capitol stars, including Tex Ritter. Before the show my buddies and I got to the bar upstairs for a beer (as you do). I happened to glance out of the window I was standing by and looked down into the street below just in time to see a taxi pull up and offload a small group, including Tex Ritter. Unexpectedly though, the final person out of the taxi was a giant in a suit and black stetson. I immediately recognised it as Leo Gordon!! I was probably the only person there that night who would have known who he was and I guess he was accompanying Tex as a friend and country music supporter (that’s just my guess though).
Funny how some images never leave your memory though!
Blake, I am so glad you have mentioned the “still under-rated” “THE OUTRIDERS”! This film was made during Joel McCrea’s peak period yet seems always overlooked. Personally, although I would never desribe it as a “classic” in the same mould as “COLORADO TERRITORY”, still I find it a more-than-competent and very enjoyable western. With McCrea, Arlene Dahl and Barry Sullivan as its stars really how could it miss. Anyway, it hits the spot for me.
I wonder if it is partly because the direcetor Roy Rowland has not been recognised as some others have?? Seven years later he directed “GUN GLORY” and again it is no classic but it is a western I very much like and enjoy and Englishman Stewart Granger is a revelation in it! He displayed some real horsemanship skills in the film and apparently took it very seriously.
Thanks for bringing up this not-often-mentioned McCrea film!
Sorry to throw a little rain on this parade for Raoul Walsh, fine director though he was. Not everyone thought of him in glowing terms. Kirk Douglas in his memoirs was very critical of the man.In his first western, that was directed by Walsh, Douglas said ” I hated Along the Great Divide” . He wrote” i did it, just to get my one picture a year obligation ( to Warner Brothers) out of the way”. He recalled the cruelty to the horses, the risks the stuntmen were forced to take and the sadism of Raoul Walsh ( perhaps pertinant to the aforementioned fight instigated by Walsh between Leo Gordon., Lee Marvin and Russell Brand).Douglas also stated in his memoirs “Critics talk about how Walsh movies have such great pace. They have great pace because he was always in a hurry to finish them”. I believe Kirk Douglas and Raoul Walsh never worked together again.
Oops, I should have written NEVILLE Brand.
Yep.I read that about Walsh in the Douglas autobiography too, but to be
fair Kirk had little time for lots of the guys who directed him King Vidor
and David Miller among them.I remember Richard Fleischer gained some
sort of reputation at the time as the only guy who had managed to
direct Kirk “twice”
Robert Ryan when making THE TALL MEN said Walsh was divided
between making the movie and checking out real estate potential.
Joel McCrea while making COLORADO TERRITORY refused a stunt
double for the scene where he is chased through the swamp.He expected
Walsh to say “gee that’s great kid” but found Walsh fast asleep while
the scene was being shot.
At the end of the day it’s the movies that matter and Walsh made
more than his fair share to render what I have just said redundant.
Yeah, at the end of the day it’s the movies that matter, just as you say.
I read what Kirk Douglas said about Along the Great Divide, but I wasn’t there and none of us were. I know Walsh found punishing locations for some of these Westerns (Pursued and Colorado Territory among them) and that’s part of what makes them great.
We may all have our own opinion of the finished movie, I hope. Kirk Douglas did not like Along the Great Divide but in my opinion he did not appreciate it as one of the best movies he is in. I know from personal conversation with the original writer Walter Doniger that he did not like Douglas in the role and would have preferred someone else (“he acts too much” was his comment) but to me he also was wrong. I find Douglas excellent in the role even if he himself rejects the film. And I consider it a great film.
I might add that I like Kirk Douglas a lot as an actor, but there are many accounts that he too could be hard going on the set, that he had a lot of ego and could ride roughshod with it. Likely that’s especially true of the movies he did through his own production company, Bryna (later Joel), although I like some of these. But one that he’s probably proud of where I don’t agree at all is Spartacus. I like the opening and most of the first part–but this is mostly Anthony Mann. Douglas fired Mann and I think he would have made a great film of it, so a very bad decision by Douglas in my book. Stanley Kubrick’s realization of most of the movie is pretty awful. It can almost be fairly said that it dies with Woody Strode.
One hears lots of things about directors. Eventually, everyone is dead but the work lives on. And we can see what is best in them–and everyone else who was involved–in that work.
More Leo Gordon…………….I was always intrigued by the friendship
between Leo and the urbane sophisticated Roger Corman.
One afternoon they had booked a tennis game,but it was raining so
they decided to write THE TERROR instead!
Interestingly Leo among his many writing credits also wrote a couple
of “big” movies for Roger’s brother Gene. (TOBRUK with Rock Hudson
and YOU CAN’T WIN ‘EM ALL with Tony Curtis and Charles Bronson).
More Roy Rowland………….We discussed Roy Rowland some time ago
on the GUN GLORY thread over at Colin.s. He was certainly MGM.s
Jack of all trades during the Fifties. For me THE OUTRIDERS is his
finest film and as Jerry says it’s rather underrated.
Oddly enough Warner Archive have just released SLANDER a
scandal sheet drama,never seen it but it sounds really interesting.
His best picture possibly, is the highly regarded Noir ROGUE COP
which again is slated for a future Archive release.
Rowland like Rudolph Mate ended up doing all sorts of diverse films
in Europe.Rowland’s last Western was A MAN CALLED GRINGO
a Euro Western starring the popular German actor Gotz George.
Normally when American directors were hired for these Euro Westerns
they normally had an American star so A MAN CALLED GRINGO is
a real curio!
Yes, he deserves more attention surely. I too will go with THE OUTRIDERS as my own favorite but ROGUE COP, as you observe, is also very fine, and as Jerry observes, GUN GLORY is another good Western. Has anyone else here seen THE ROMANCE OF ROSY RIDGE? A moving post Civil War drama (so could fall in as a Western) that’s very much worth the time.
I personally find the frontier comedy MANY RIVERS TO CROSS charming, especially for Eleanor Parker, and saw it several times when it first came out. And HIT THE DECK is a most enjoyable musical that he also did well.
I’ve seen SLANDER–it was an interesting movie if not his best. Rowland directed Van Johnson a number of times, always well (ROSY RIDGE is one of these), but I consider Johnson an underrated actor in any event.
That’s just a few of Rowland’s movies and there are other good ones too. I’ll admit I’ve enjoyed them without giving a lot of thought to a personal style and sensibility but doesn’t mean it’s not there. It may be something he didn’t work on consciously but is still present–in that he’d be like so many other good directors.
Jerry and Blake, I’m a big fan of GUN GLORY, bought my own copy. Granger made an excellent Western star and I wished he did more.
Also a big thumbs up for THE ROMANCE OF ROSY RIDGE and ROGUE COP, two terrific movies.
COLORADO TERRITORY is still ahead of me to see for the first time. As a Virginia Mayo fan — and of course I love McCrea — I look forward to it. (So many great movies, so little time…!)
Best wishes,
Laura
Blake and I agree on many things but I am afraid we are at odds with
MANY RIVERS TO CROSS which to me rates as Taylor’s worst Western.
I thought Eleanor Parker,who I normally like,was dreadful in the film.
Having said that Rowland’s film at least looks great.
Now back to “tough” directors.
Many directors from the “golden era” had reputations for being
difficult Preminger,Farrow,Hathaway Lang and Wyler among them.
From what we read many directors were either /or ill tempered lecherous
drunks,or in some cases all three.
Furthermore times they were a’changing the studio system was breaking
down and stars were forming their own production imprints and had the
power to fire directors,as Blake so aptly points out regarding
SPARTACUS.
When I met Dick Jones some years back he stated that Howard Hawks
killed Jack Buetel’s career all over some woman that they both fancied.
There have been many versions regarding this but surely Jones should
know…he was there.
A similar thing happened while filming RED RIVER Hawks had designs
on Joanne Dru and The Duke even went as far as to warn John Ireland
to stay away from Howard’s woman.
This story of course, had a totally different outcome.
Coleen Gray in a recent Laura interview stated how helpful and
supportive Hawks was to a new actress just starting out.
Hawks later certainly “bonded” with one of the exciting new breed of
stars,James Cahn.
Cahn certainly found hanging out with Hawks interesting especially
regarding “life lessons” regarding “this is a good steak….this isn’t”
“this is fun….this isn’t” and so on..
As the Sixties drew on it was the McQueens and Eastwoods who
called the shots and the days of the “all powerful” director were numbered.
Was Hollywood all the better for it…who can say!
I’m at it again………….Jeepers, I sure wish they had spell-check for
actor’s names.I should of course said James Caan.
Mispelling is infectious John.