Love these old vintage Halloween photos of kids in their Western outfits. I’m guessing we’ve got some Lone Ranger-ness happening in this one. Subject, date and source unknown.
Happy Halloween, y’all!
Archive for October, 2022
Happy Halloween!
Posted in The Lone Ranger on October 31, 2022| 2 Comments »
DVD News #349: Bill Elliott Western Double Feature.
Posted in Columbia, DVD/Blu-Ray News, VCI Entetainment, William Elliott on October 19, 2022| 32 Comments »
It’s been a long, long time since we had a Wild Bill Wednesday.
Thanks to the folks at VCI, we can add two more William Elliott pictures to our collections, from his time at Columbia.
In Early Arizona (1938)
Directed by Joseph Levering
Starring Bill Elliott, Dorothy Gulliver, Harry Woods, Franklyn Farnum, Jack Ingram, Charles King
Elliott is Whit Gordon, a gunslinger brought in to clean up Tombstone, which is being run by Bull and his gang. 
The Law Comes To Texas (1939)
Directed by Joseph Levering
Starring Bill Elliott, Veda Ann Borg, Bud Osborne, Charles King
Elliott’s a lawyer who poses as a rustler to get to the bottom of a Texas town run by outlaws. Around the time Veda Ann Borg did this picture, she was in a car wreck that required surgery to reconstruct her face. Bud Osborne is a crooked judge. (Love the tagline in this title card for the Astor re-release!)
Charles King plays Kaintuck, Elliott’s sidekick, in both. These were some of the last pictures from director Joseph Levering, who got his start with silent dramas and spent the late 30s doing Westerns for Columbia.
Really looking forward to this one.
Under Colorado Skies (1947).
Posted in Adrian Booth, Foy Willing & The Riders Of The Purple Sage, Monte Hale, R.G. Springsteen, Republic Pictures on October 18, 2022| 3 Comments »
Directed by R. G. Springsteen
Associate Producer: Melville Tucker
Screen Play by Louise Rousseau
Director Of Photography: Alfred S. Keller
Film Editor: Arthur Roberts
Musical Director: Mort Glickman
Cast: Monte Hale (Monte Hale), Adrian Booth (Julia Collins), Paul Hurst (Lucky John Hawkins), William Haade (Marlowe), John Alvin (Jeff Collins), LeRoy Mason (Faro), Tom London (Sheriff Blanchard), Steve Darrell (Clip), Gene Evans (Red), Ted Adams (Doc Thornhill), Steve Raines (Pony), Hank Patterson (Slim), Foy Willing & The Riders Of The Purple Sage
From 1944 to 1950, Monte Hale made 19 pictures for Republic. Under Colorado Skies is often held up as his best movie, with his next one, California Firebrand (1948), coming in second.
Here, Monte’s a medical student, working part-time as a bank teller and engaged to Adrian Booth. Booth’s brother is part of the notorious Marlowe gang, and when they rob the bank, Monte’s suspected of being in on it (he doesn’t have the heart to tell Booth her brother’s a crook.)
From there, things get complicated. Booth is shot in a stage holdup. Monte infiltrates the gang. And everyone cooks up an elaborate ruse to bring out the truth and clear Monte. There’s plenty of action along the way, as you’d expect from R. G. Springsteen. Monte and Foy Willing & The Riders Of The Purple Sage do a great version of Bob Wills’ “San Antonio Rose.” And there’s some Iverson location work — in Trucolor.
Hale might be better at action than acting, but he’s got a pleasant singing voice and is extremely likable. In everything from Republic serials to William Elliott and Monte Hale pictures to some The Three Stooges shorts to The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) with Boris Karloff, Adrian Booth (also known as Lorna Gray) is one of my favorites. She’s good here and she looks terrific in Trucolor. Hank Patterson, Hank Miller from Gunsmoke and Fred Ziffel on Petticoat Junction and Green Acres, plays a grizzled old prospector. And Tom London has a good part as the sheriff.
Monte Hale came along as Republic’s B Westerns were rounding third and beginning to wind down, as television took its toll on movies like Under Colorado Skies. By 1954, Republic was finished with pictures like this. This one’s a prime example of the bigger budgets, longer running times (and color) and focus on action that made these later Bs such a treat (similar to the later Roy Rogers movies directed by William Witney).
It’s a shame these films are so hard to track down these days. (Paramount, please do something with these things!) They’re an absolute joy.
Where’s Monte Hale?
Posted in Monte Hale, Republic Pictures on October 17, 2022| 4 Comments »
Robert’s Western World is a honky tonk on Nashville’s Lower Broadway. The building was once home of the Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company, owned by steel guitar virtuosos Shot Jackson and Buddy Emmons. Miss Jennifer and I were there the other night and came across this photo of Monte Hale.
It dawned on me that other than his cameo on Trail Of Robin Hood (1950), there hasn’t been much mention of Mr. Hale over this blog’s 13 long years. That’s an oversight I’ll take care of real soon. Unfortunately, Hale’s Republics, quite a few of ’em in Trucolor, are almost impossible to see nowadays, which is letting him fade out of Western movie history.
Monte’s one of the few Western stars I got to meet. He gave me a “Shoot low, they might be crawlin'” sticker (like that one above) that I sure wish I still had.
This Here Trail Sure Stretches A Long Way.
Posted in Blogging, Books on October 15, 2022| 26 Comments »
This month marks the 13th year of this blog. Wow.
That also means I’ve been working on the book that’s its namesake, 50 Westerns From The 50s, just as long. Along the way, there have been job changes, a move, several computer purchases and a steady coming and going of films on the list of “The Fifty.”
And while all that time is kinda embarrassing to admit to, I’m stoked to report that it’s getting pretty close and I have a publishing date in mind for it. Gonna try really hard to stick to it. As sure as the turning of the earth.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 