Directed by George Sherman
Starring Joel McCrea, Yvonne De Carlo, Pedro Armendáriz
Kino Lorber has announced Border River (1954) for DVD and Blu-Ray release in March of 2023. This year’s getting off to a pretty good start already, especially for me — I get to do a commentary for it!
This is the next-to-last of Joel McCrea’s six Westerns for Universal International, released from 1950 to 1954. It’s got a great cast, featuring Yvonne De Carlo, Pedro Armendáriz and the wonderful Mexican character actors Alfonso Bedoya and Nacho Galindo. George Wallace, Commando Cody himself, is in it, too.
It’s directed by George Sherman, so you know you’re in for a good ride. Highly recommended!
Archive for the ‘Joel McCrea’ Category
DVD/Blu-Ray News #352: Border River (1954).
Posted in 1954, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George Sherman, Joel McCrea, Kino Lorber, Universal (International) on January 1, 2023| 37 Comments »
RIP, L.Q. Jones.
Posted in Audie Murphy, Budd Boetticher, Joel McCrea, LQ Jones, Randolph Scott, Sam Peckinpah on July 10, 2022| 16 Comments »
L. Q. Jones (Justus Ellis McQueen, Jr.)
(August 19, 1927 – July 9, 2022)
The great Western character actor L.Q. Jones has passed away at 94.
His real name was Justus Ellis McQueen, Jr., but for the screen, he took his name from his first picture, Battle Cry (1955).
Jones worked with some of the greats of 50s Westerns: Randolph Scott (1958’s Buchanan Rides Alone, above), Joel McCrea and Audie Murphy. Sam Peckinpah made him a member of his stock company, casting Jones in five of his films. He stayed extremely busy on TV, often in Westerns, throughout the 60s and 70s. And he wrote, produced and directed the 1975 science fiction film A Boy And His Dog.
He was a great storyteller, as the many YouTube videos of him will prove.
L.Q. is T.C., the bad guy on the far right, in this promo still from Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). He became close friends with Strother Martin (upper left).
RIP, Joan Weldon.
Posted in 1953, 3-D, Andre de Toth, Columbia, Fred MacMurray, Gordon Douglas, Guy Madison, Harry Keller, Joan Weldon, Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott, Warner Bros. on March 5, 2021| 8 Comments »
Joan Weldon
(August 5, 1930 – February 11, 2021)
Joan Weldon, a lovely actress who appeared in some terrific pictures in the 50s, has passed away at 90.
She appeared with Randolph Scott in two Westerns, The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953) and Riding Shotgun (1954), both directed by Andre de Toth, along with The Command (1954) with Guy Madison, Gunsight Ridge (1957) with Joel McCrea and Day Of The Badman (1958) with Fred MacMurray. But the big one, the one she’s known for, is Gordon Douglas’s great giant ant picture Them! (1954).
She was quote a singer and did a lot of musical theater, including appearing with Forrest Tucker in The Music Man.
Happy Birthday, Joel McCrea.
Posted in 1957, Joel McCrea on November 5, 2020| 3 Comments »
Joel McCrea
November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990
Let’s remember the great Joel McCrea on what would’ve been his 115th birthday. He’s seen here in The Tall Stranger (1957).
Blu-Ray News #300: Western Classics I.
Posted in Alan Ladd, Andy Devine, Brian Donlevy, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Edgar Buchanan, Frank Faylen, Joel McCrea, Kino Lorber, Paramount, Pre-1950, Randolph Scott, Universal (International) on March 20, 2020| 9 Comments »
Kino Lorber has announced their first volume of Western Classics for June — When The Daltons Rode (1940), The Virginian (1946) and Whispering Smith (1948).
When The Daltons Rode offers up about 30 minutes of constant riding, shooting and just general mayhem in its last reels, all courtesy of the great Yakima Canutt. Amazing stuff. Whispering Smith was tailor-made for Alan Ladd — his first Western and his first color film. The Virginian puts a couple of my favorites in the same movie — Joel McCrea and William Frawley.
Working on the commentary notes for When The Daltons Rode has been a lot of fun, especially watching all the stunts again and again.
I love the first volume of sets like this, since it comes with the promise of more!
Happy Birthday, Roy Rogers.
Posted in Joel McCrea, Roy Rogers on November 5, 2019| 9 Comments »
Roy Rogers
November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998
Roy Rogers — the King Of The Cowboys, was born 108 years ago today.
So was the great Joel McCrea. Quite a day.
Thanks to Bob Madison for the reminder!
RIP, Nancy Gates.
Posted in 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, Budd Boetticher, Jacques Tourneur, Joel McCrea, Nancy Gates, Randolph Scott, RKO, Tim Holt, William Castle on April 14, 2019| 6 Comments »
Nancy Gates
(February 1, 1926 – March 24, 2019)
Nancy Gates has passed away at 93. She was from Dallas, signed with RKO at just 15, and made some really good movies before retiring in 1969 to concentrate on her family.
She was particularly strong in Westerns such as Masterson Of Kansas (1954), Stranger On Horseback (1955), The Brass Legend (1956), The Rawhide Trail (1958), The Gunfight At Dodge City (1959) and Comanche Station (1960). Her other pictures include Hitler’s Children (1943), At Sword’s Point (1952), Suddenly (1954), World Without End (1956) and Some Came Running (1958). She was busy on TV, too, with everything from Maverick and Wagon Train to Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Perry Mason.
Around here, we’ll probably always remember her as Mrs. Lowe in Comanche Station. She’s really terrific in that one.
RIP, Julie Adams.
Posted in 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1959, Budd Boetticher, Glenn Ford, Jack Arnold, Jimmy Stewart, Joel McCrea, Julie Adams, Raoul Walsh, Rock Hudson, Rory Calhoun on February 3, 2019| 15 Comments »
Julie Adams (Betty May Adams)
October 17, 1926 – February 3, 2019
Just heard the sad news that Julie Adams has passed away at 92. One of my favorites actresses, she made some great Westerns for Universal-International in the 50s — and she was always so beautiful in Technicolor.
She was born Betty May Adams in 1926 in Waterloo, Iowa. In 1946, at 19, she was crowned “Miss Little Rock.” From there, it was off to Hollywood. Betty May worked as a secretary and appeared in a few B Westerns. She used her real name until 1949, when she signed with Universal-International. She then became “Julia” — and eventually “Julie”.
Universal kept her plenty busy. She appeared opposite James Stewart in Anthony Mann’s Bend Of The River (1952), Van Heflin in Budd Boetticher’s Wings Of The Hawk (1953, up top) Tyrone Power in The Mississippi Gambler (1953), Rock Hudson in Raoul Walsh’s The Lawless Breed (1953, above), Glenn Ford in The Man from the Alamo (1953) and Rory Calhoun in The Looters (1955), to name just a few. Away from Universal, she was in The Gunfight At Dodge City (1959) with Joe McCrea and Tickle Me (1965) with Elvis Presley.
She had a leading man of a different sort when she starred in 1954’s Creature From The Black Lagoon. The Creature would become the last of Universal’s roster of movie monsters, a real icon. Julie in her custom-built one-piece bathing suit became pretty iconic as well.
Julie did lots of TV, too. She was a county nurse on The Andy Griffith Show. She was on Perry Mason four times, including the only episode where Mason lost a case. You’ll also find her on The Rifleman, 77 Sunset Strip, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, McMillan & Wife, Police Woman, The Streets Of San Francisco and more.
Westerns are often criticized for not having strong roles for women. Julie Adams was so good, that never seemed like a problem for her. She always impressed.