Posted in Angie Dickinson, Dean Martin, Howard Hawks, John Wayne on September 30, 2014| 15 Comments »
Here’s wishing Angie Dickinson a happy birthday. Of course, I’m gonna offer up a photo of her on the set of my favorite Western, Rio Bravo (1959).
Howard Hawks gives the film such a cool, friendly vibe, and the performances are so good, that I feel like I’ve known its characters all my life.
Posted in John Wayne, William H. Clothier on September 29, 2014| 1 Comment »
Here’s the great cinematographer William H. Clothier and John Wayne on the set of The Alamo (1960). I love this photo and have been waiting for a chance to use it: the Dodgers heading into the post season seems like a good reason.
Posted in 1958, Forrest Tucker, Mark Stevens, Monogram/Allied Artists, Old Tucson, Thomas Carr on September 26, 2014| 51 Comments »
Directed by Thomas Carr
Produced by William D. Coates
Screenplay by Paul Leslie Peil & Robert Joseph
Story by Paul Leslie Peil
Director Of Photography: William Whitley, ASC
Film Editor: George White
Music Composed by Sid Cutner
CAST: Mark Stevens (Chip Coburn), Forrest Tucker (John Brazos), Gail Robbins (Lou Crenshaw), Vaughn Taylor (Ben Bodeen), John Ward (Slick Kirby), Kevin Hagen (Clem Haney), John Cliff (Sheriff Cass), Gail Kobe (Katy Porter), George Keymas (Hondo), Richard Reeves (Notches Pole), Bill Henry (Sheriff Blane).
__________
As the titles roll, we’re looking up into a large tree. Once “Directed by Thomas Carr” dissolves away, a noose is tossed over a branch of the tree, and the camera pans down for an establishing shot of a lynching, all in CinemaScope and nicely-preserved DeLuxe Color. It’s a stylish way to open Gunsmoke In Tucson (1958), an Allied Artists Western that really delivers—and maintains that visual flair and creativity throughout its running time.
Mark Stevens and Forrest Tucker are brothers on opposite sides of the law. Stevens is Chip Coburn, who wants to put his outlaw ways behind him and settle on a ranch of his own. Tucker is John Brazos, a marshal who doubts his brother will stay on the straight and narrow. Chip winds up in the middle of a rancher-farmer dispute and his forced to pick up his guns again.
Story-wise, it’s nothing new, but the writers—Paul Leslie Peil and Robert Joseph—manage to keep things fresh. As we all know, Westerns work well when they use one of the genre’s standard plots (or plots, in this case) as a springboard. Mark Stevens is really good at the intense, brooding, tortured tough guy, whether in Westerns like this one and Jack Slade (1953) or noir stuff like the excellent Cry Vengeance (1954), which he also directed. Of course, Forrest Tucker is always terrific. His 50s Western filmography is second to none. Gale Robbins is good as Lou, Chip’s saloon girl girlfriend. Gail Kobe’s part, as the good girl who’s loved Chip all along, doesn’t give her much to do. And Kevin Hagan, who plays farmer Clem Haney, is known the world over as Doc Baker on Little House On The Prairie. He does a good job, even though he’s forced to wear a lousy fake beard.
The bond, or conflict, between brothers was a common theme in 50s Westerns. It can be found in pictures like Horizons West (1952), Rage At Dawn (1955), The True Story Of Jesse James (1957), Night Passage (1957), Fury At Showdown (1957) and Face Of A Fugitive (1959, though Fred MacMurray’s brother doesn’t make it past the first reel). Forrest Tucker does a good job in Gunsmoke In Tucson, striking just the right tone in his brother-or-duty scenes and keeping the dialogue from coming off hokey.
Old Tucson was a busy place in 1958 and ’59. Buchanan Rides Alone. Rio Bravo. The Badlanders. The Lone Ranger And The Lost City Of Gold. The location adds tons of production value to this low-budget film, with director of photography William Whitley wisely letting us see the landscape surrounding the street set. The bridge that’s featured so prominently in Buchanan and Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957) gets some screen time as well. (I watch for that bridge like a favorite character actor.)
One of the things that really strikes me about Gunsmoke In Tucson, something that was mentioned in its reviews back in ’58, is William P. Whitley’s camerawork. Whitley worked for Sam Katzman at Columbia in the early 50s (Jungle Jim, serials, etc.), then got into television—The Adventures Of Superman, The Lone Ranger (the fifth, color season) and eventually Bonanza. He shot over 75 episodes of Bonanza before retiring. He did three pictures for Allied Artists, all released in 1958: Quantrill’s Raiders, Queen Of Outer Space and Gunsmoke In Tucson. All are in Scope and look terrific. Whitley seems to have enjoyed the chance to shoot for the wide screen–his shots are well-composed and inventive throughout Gunsmoke In Tucson. And he made sure Gale Robbins’ red hair popped in scene after scene.
We wouldn’t be appreciating Mr. Whitley’s work if it wasn’t so well presented by Warner Archive. It’s a bit soft, perhaps, but the color is really nice and the audio’s got plenty of punch. This is a really tough, solid little movie—the kind of forgotten treasures this genre, and decade, are full of. Recommended.
Posted in Adrian Booth, Andy Devine, Forrest Tucker, Joe Kane, Lydecker Brothers, Pre-1950, Republic Pictures, William Elliott on September 24, 2014| 10 Comments »
This is a bit of a cheat. Came across this while researching something else and had to use it.
A post on The Last Bandit (1949) IS in the works, however.
Posted in 1950, 1952, Charles Starrett, DVD reviews, releases, TV, etc., Fred F. Sears, Ray Nazarro, Smiley Burnette, The Durango Kid on September 22, 2014| 3 Comments »
Next month, the digital broadcast station GetTV offers up some Durango Kid pictures starring Charles Starrett, of course, and Smiley Burnette.
They’re presented Saturday matinee style, as they were intended. (And in chronological order, which is a nice touch.)
Saturday, October 11
12 p.m. – Both Barrels Blazing(1945)
1:20 p.m. – The Fighting Frontiersman (1946)
Saturday, October 18
12 p.m. – The Blazing Trail (1949)
1:15 p.m. – Bandits Of El Dorado (1949)
Saturday, October 25
12 p.m. – Trail Of The Rustlers (1950)
1:15 p.m. – The Kid From Broken Gun (1952)
Posted in 1956, 1957, 1958, Angie Dickinson, DVD reviews, releases, TV, etc., Forrest Tucker, James Garner, Monogram/Allied Artists, Nicholas Ray, Randolph Scott, Robert Mitchum, Warner Archive on September 16, 2014| 38 Comments »
For us Westerns fans, Warner Archive’s on a real roll this week. In addition to Nick Ray’s The Lusty Men (1952), and Randolph Scott, Angie Dickinson and James Garner in Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend (1957), there’s some good Allied Artists stuff available today.
The Young Guns (1956)
Directed by Albert Band
Starring Russ Tamblyn, Gloria Talbott and Perry Lopez
This one mixes the Western with your typical 50s juvenile delinquency tale, beating both The True Story Of Jesse James (1957, Ray again) The Left-Handed Gun (1958) to theaters.
A couple Allied Artists pictures that were Oldies.com exclusives are now standard Warner Archive titles: Oregon Passage (1957) and Gunsmoke In Tucson (1958).
And if that’s not enough, there’s Raton Pass (1951), Russ Tamblyn again in Son Of A Gunfighter (1965) and a couple spaghetti westerns, including one, Ringo And His Golden Pistol, from Sergio Corbucci. Told you it was a good week.
Posted in Clayton Moore, The Lone Ranger on September 15, 2014| 13 Comments »
Clayton Moore
(September 14, 1914 – December 28, 1999)
Being late is something the Lone Ranger certainly would’t approve of, but I didn’t want to let this slip by.
Let’s say you could sit down and have coffee or lunch with anyone, living or dead, from throughout history—who would you choose? That’s a tough one (and a bit weird), but one of my contenders would certainly be Mr. Clayton Moore.
Posted in 1952, Nicholas Ray, RKO, Robert Mitchum, Warner Archive on September 11, 2014| 14 Comments »
This blog tends to stay away from modern-day Westerns (well, they were modern in the 50s). But I’ll certainly make an exception with this one: Nicholas Ray’s The Lusty Men (1952). It’s been announced for release from The Warner Archive on September 16. (Blake, I’m sure you’ll be stoked about this one.)
Robert Mitchum often dismissed his work, but this was one he had nice things to say about. Ray gets a terrific performance out of him, and he does the same with Susan Hayward and Arthur Kennedy. They say shooting began while the script was still being worked on, and that many scenes were worked out on the set as a result. However it all came together, it’s one of Ray’s and Mitchum’s best films. And that’s saying a lot. Highly recommended.
This is one of the handful of films I’ve held onto my laserdisc of, and I guess it can be retired now. Thanks for the tip, Paula.
Posted in John Wayne, Roy Rogers on September 11, 2014| 7 Comments »
My wife came across these the other day. Keep a look out for ’em—the Lasso Lemon Lime is terrific.
Of course, there’s also Duke Bourbon.
Posted in Denver Pyle, DVD reviews, releases, TV, etc., Gail Davis, Gene Autry, James H. Griffith, Lee Van Cleef, Ray Nazarro, Television, VCI Entetainment on September 10, 2014| 2 Comments »
Gail Davis is just wonderful as Annie Oakley, a part she was probably born to play. This upcoming set from VCI (due October 21) gives you all 81 Annie Oakley episodes, restored, with all sorts of extras: a documentary, the pilot, commercials, photo galleries and more.
Some terrific character actors rode through this series: Slim Pickins, Helene Marshall, James Best, John Doucette, James H. Griffith, Lee Van Cleef, Alan Hale Jr., Dickie Jones, Fess Parker, Clayton Moore, Denver Pile, LQ Jones, Glenn Strange and more. (Even Shelly Fabares!) And in the director’s chair from week to week, you might find the likes of George Archainbaud, Ray Nazarro, Earl Bellamy or John English. Produced by Gene Autry’s Flying A Productions, many of these folks were veterans of Gene’s movies and series. Then there’s Lone Pine locations and those beautiful double-action Colts.
We’re gonna get a lotta mileage out of this thing at my house. My daughter Presley really loves this show.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 