George Randolph Scott
(January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987)
Let’s mark Randolph Scott’s birthday with the original poster art for The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953). It’s by the painter and illustrator Gustav Rehberger. (Click on the image so you can see it larger. It’s really incredible. Columbia didn’t use it very well when it came to the actual posters.)
Of course, Randolph Scott rides tall around here. His run of Westerns in the 50s is maybe the strongest of the decade, from the six he did with Andre de Toth (which includes The Stranger Wore A Gun) to those written by Burt Kennedy and directed by Budd Boetticher. This would be a good night to watch one.
UPDATE: I’ve been in contact with Rehberger’s widow, Pamela Demme, over the course of all the research for my One-Eyed Jacks book. She commented to this post —
“Rehberger was a big Western fan. When he arrived in this country at age 13, his cousin took him to see his first movie. It was a Western with a big fight scene. He said he was never the same after it. His most favorite movie was Shane. He saw it dozens of times. We would run to see every Clint Eastwood movie.
His first full day in Chicago was the Fourth of July. Between seeing his first Western and the fireworks, the farm boy was in paradise! He loved Westerns for another big reason…lots of horses. Which he loved from the age of three when he was given a rocking horse. Every Fourth of July, he’d say this is the anniversary of my first day in America. ‘Coming to America was the best thing that could happen to me.’”
