A Fistful of Spaghetti: Once Upon A Time In A Western Blog

ROUL WALSH: THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF HOLLYWOOD'S LEGENDARY DIRECTOR

2011-10-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Finished this very entertaining and informative book on one of Hollywood's greatest directors by Marilyn Ann Moss. Book straightens out a lot of facts from fiction as Raoul was known to embellish, re-write and edit parts of his life.
He had some spaghetti western connections. He directed THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW which was one of the first westerns filmed in Spain and he directed Rik Battaglia and other sw participants such as Rosalba Neri, Folco Lolli, Sergio Fantoni, Renato Baldini and Gabriele Tinte in ESTHER AND THE KING in Rome. The great Mario Bava was Director of Photography on this film and Walsh really liked him and they got along quite well. Walsh also directed most of the battle scenes for Robert Wise's HELEN OF TROY.

Not only did Walsh direct a lot of classic films... westerns and many non-westerns (WHITE HEAT, for one, with James Cagney) but he also discovered and re-named Marion Michael Morrison...John Wayne and had him star in THE BIG TRAIL. Moss uncovered some evidence that John Ford was so pissed at Wayne working for Walsh that he had him black-balled into "C" western territory for years. Ford was vicious at Wayne many times during this period and for what-ever reasons Wayne put up with it. Walsh also put Kirk Douglas into his first western....ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE.
Walsh over the years liked to remake his own films and the best example of this is he remade the classic Humphrey Bogart/ HIGH SIERRA as the great western COLORADO TERRITORY with Joel McCrea.

Walsh had a good relationship with Jack Warner and often, because he needed the cash (he had a weakness for horses and also was always behind in alimony) would take over troubled productions without credit, and he didn't mind doing this as long as he was well compensated. He completely took over and totally directed one film and, yet, let the novice director keep his credit. HE was a nice guy....very rare for Hollywood. He loved directing action scenes and often was called in by Jack Warner to direct them for many films. He had a unique directing style. Once he called "action" he would turn around and not watch the scene....only listening to it. If he liked the way it sounded and the camera man would say everyone hit their marks he would yell "print." Some say he developed a very keen sense of hearing to compensate for the lost of one eye. The loss of the eye cost him the lead in the first sound western as well as the directing job of IN OLD ARIZONA.

Iconic character actor L.Q. Jones is oft quoted in the book. L.Q. whose real name is Justice McQueen adopted the name of the character he played in Walsh's BATTLE CRY.....L.Q. Jones.

Good read. Walsh went from directing silent films to directing "talkies" well into the 60's when he was 77.

TOUGH AS NAILS: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF RICHARD BROOKS

2011-08-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

Just finished this interesting and very entertaining book on Richard Brooks. Made more interesting since I knew so little about his life other than his films. Lot of people didn't like him and after reading the book you will know why. He was very demanding and could be very very cruel at times. He wanted things done one way and that was HIS way. You do have to admire him for being his own man even while working under the studio system but you don't have to admire or even like his tactics. He did make some very great movies and deserves to be on the list of the greatest of Hollywood directors.....and screen writers. He opened up important screen roles for minorities and women.

Brooks had a chance to do a lot of other well known and successful films but turned them down, instead choosing to do only movies for which he would write the screenplays....mostly adaptations. Before he started directing he wrote the screenplays for THE KILLERS and KEY LARGO among others. His writing and directing accomplishments are many....THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, THE LAST HUNT, SOMETHING OF VALUE, CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, ELMER GANTRY, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, LORD JIM (a flawed but noble effort), THE PROFESSIONALS (my favorite of his), IN COLD BLOOD and BITE THE BULLET among many.

A couple of interesting pieces of trivia that came from this book....Early in the casting process, David Carradine had been given the Dick Hickock role in IN COLD BLOOD and was told not to tell anyone and Brooks meant this....he was very secretive about all his projects...and as soon as he heard that David had been telling people that he had gotten the plush part Carradine was fired and terminated immediately from the project and was replaced by Scott Wilson.

Columbia Pictures has purchased the screen rights to Frank O'Rourke's novel "A Mule for the Marquesa" with the hopes of turning it into a movie starring...get this....Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. Later Richard came aboard the project and rewrote the screenplay and renamed it THE PROFESSIONALS which he ultimately made with Lee Marvin, Burt Lancast and Robert Ryan instead.

This book and Peter Ford's book on Glenn were both published by the University of Wisconsin Press.

A dang good and fast read.

GLENN FORD: A LIFE BY PETER FORD

2011-08-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

Peter acknowledges in this book that his dad documented his life on cassette, letters, notes and in journals. At every opportunity Glenn would record his thoughts, fears and observations. And Peter, himself, had the chance through the years to talk with and meet many of his dad's co-stars, contemporaries and various other Hollywood luminaries. And, yes, Glenn never told his son that he loved him....near the end (of Glenn’s life) they were more like brothers than father and son. As Peter says in the book...he (Glenn) often told others that he loved me, but he never said those words to me. Glenn was a momma's boy and until her death she either lived in the same house with Glenn or in an apartment located on the same property.

Glenn sure had his way with the ladies and especially his leading ladies. He had torrid affairs with almost all of his female co-stars. It was kind of accepted at this time that leading men and their leading ladies would hook up. The only name that popped up that I was not aware of was Connie Stevens. His affair with her started when she was playing Cricket on HAWAIIAN EYE....their age difference doomed it. Peter mentions that Glenn and Judy Garland were a number at one time. Other than Eleanor Powell...Rita Hayworth was probably Glenn's greatest love. Rita lived next door to Glenn for years and she had a special gate in the fence which separated their properties that allowed her to visit Glenn without anyone knowing.

Glenn loved making westerns and, according to Peter, appeared happiest when making them. Here is what Glenn had to say about foreign westerns....ie. spaghettis. "No foreign country can make a western. In Spain, it's not a western. It's got to be done where it happened....The public knows a real western and God help anybody who tries to fool 'em......." Interesting thing here is...to be the devils advocate.....Glenn made THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE totally on the back lot of MGM which stood in for the gritty streets of New York...yet people were fooled into thinking that it was made on location. What's the difference whether it be a western or an eastern?

Some interesting tidbits...Glenn always was a heavy drinker off the job but by the time THE SACKETTS was made he was also drinking heavily on the job and Peter said he could tell by his dad's looks and performance when he was loaded. On one of Glenn's westerns, DAY OF THE EVIL GUN, Lon Chaney was flown in to play one of the roles and they couldn't sober him up enough to say his lines...so he had to be sent home.

Book is a very realistic and honest portrait of Glenn, in my opinion, not like the damning books written by the daughters of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The sad thing is...towards the end Glenn had to be hospitalized several time to detox and each time he seemed to latch onto a nurse who had ulterior motives…pretending to like Glenn and under the pretext of this and taking care of him got him to sign over powers of attorney, etc...thus shutting him away from his family and his Hollywood friends and using Glenn’s money for their benefit. Fortunately before the end Peter and some of Glenn's friends, especially Debbie Reynolds, were able to sway the courts and get back control of Glenn's health and his property. (t was a similar situation with Burt Lancaster years before his end....his young wife supposedly cut off and shut out everybody and totally isolated Burt until the day he died....to protect her interests and not Burt's.)

Peter and Debbie Reynolds and other Hollywood greats tried to get the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honor Glenn with an honorary Oscar, to no avail, even though in the late 50's Glenn was number one at the box office in the world. The Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts and Sciences when Peter and other approached them about honoring Glenn they seemed to dismiss his career...forgetting that THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE was a major, major breakthrough in film making and story telling. They couldn't even get AFI to honor Glenn AFI’s statement was that he never supported them....yet he was one of the founding fathers of the organization.

Book goes into a lot of other details about Glenn's life and there are other interesting anecdotes from the making of his films. In my opinion Glenn lived too long to be appreciated. If he had died 20 years earlier he would have been deified. Glenn did a lot of crappy things towards the end of his career, but he didn't do any of them just for the money. He did them because he liked to work.

One more thing about THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE. This is the first movie wherein Glenn wore his hair short. He didn't want to cut his hair, even though the director Richard Brooks insisted he do so....he didn't want the military-like haircut. He almost had to be tied down for them to cut it.....but when he saw the look, he liked it so much that he kept his hair short for the rest of his career.

Totally worth reading.

One thing I remembered that was either over looked in the book or totally ignore… Johnny Carson's attack on Glenn during his opening monologues. After Johnny and his wife Joanne Carson broke up (separated or divorced....not sure) Glenn started dating Joanne and this was during his Cade's County days. I remember Johnny making some really bad jokes about Glenn and often he included Edgar Buchannan in them...sometimes they bordered on being homophobic. I remember hearing them live. Lot of people wondered why Carson was being nasty to Glenn. Glenn and Edgar were friends for many many years....as was Glenn and William Holden even though in their early years both were often up for the same roles.

One sad note...everyone that Glenn picked to be his pallbearers died before he did..such as William Holden, Henry Fonda, Frank Sinatra, and Edgar Buchanan.

I found this amusing. Peter did The Dating Game....he actually cut a few records that did ok. The other two personalities involved in the show were Bobby Sherman and Rod Lauren. I knew Rod , back in the day, under his real name of Rod Lauren Strunk. Rod had a career moment of a couple of years with some records in the top 40 and he made movies with Rory Calhoun and Peter Breck. Years later Rod moved to The Philippines and married one of the top movie/tv stars there. Then she died under mysterious circumstances and he returned to Visalia where he died a few years ago. Until the day he died Rod was under suspicion of having had something to do with her death. Never charged and, obviously, never proven.

Interestingly Glenn's bedroom was so big that one of his granddaughters learned how to ride her bike in it. Glenn had his bedroon suite at one end of the house and Eleanor's was at the other end. AND...between them was Glenn's mother's bedroom. It was common back in the day for stars and their spouses to have their own bedroom suites...but not ones with a parent located in the middle. Glenn was a momma's boy from day one and his mother really doted on him.....she was good to Peter, too.

Book is well written and a very good read. I wholly recommend it.
 

COWBOYS AND ALIENS

2011-08-05T14:22:00.000-07:00

Saw COWBOYS & ALIENS this morning and really liked it....excellents blend of oater and sci-fi. Like several other reviewers have said....Craig does remind me of Steve McQueen...and not in a negative way.......Steve McQueen lite. I will probably see it again in the next week or so with my son, if he can find the time. Movie kept moving along and time sped with it....not a slow spot in it. Lottsa fun. We gotta encourage all our amigos out there to go see this movie or the cycle of big budget westerns might end before it begins. Sure some of the stuff was a bit preposterous, but so what! And to top it off the movie was well cast...maybe the weakest of the actors was Paul Dano as Harrison Ford's son. But then an unwritten rule of the western, continuing from back in the day, is that either Rance Howard, John Carradine or Royal Dano had to be in every oater made. Since the last two are deceased John's son Keith was cast as the town sheriff and the only Dano they could find was Paul. Kudos to Producer Ron Howard for having the balls to not cast brother Clint or dad Rance...but then Rance probably couldn't find time in his schedule to do COWBOYS & ALIENS since it appears he's going to be in 700 movies released in the next year.

A COLD DAY IN HELL...new western just out on dvd

2011-06-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

This new western "stars" Michael Madsen....at least he's the biggest name in the cast and the only recognizable one at that. However, he's barely in the pic and it mainly revolves around a character called William Drayton, played by Jim Hilton who isn't that bad. However, the movie is not that good, the acting over all is poor and just about when I was ready to give up on the movie it gave up on me....the dvd froze. Seems this is some kind of sequel to the 2009 western ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE (which I have not seen or attempted to watch) top-lining David Carradine and featuring many of the same actors in the same roles as in "Cold Day." Christopher Forbes has almost as many credits on "Cold Day" as the Campagna Brothers have on SIX REASONS WHY. (See blog entry dated 2-26-09.) He co-produced, directed, co-wrote the script, co-wrote the music, did the cinematography and edited the flick. Wonder if he scouted the locations also? In a blurb on the front of the dvd jacket, Stuart Alson of "Independent Film Quarterly" says "3:10 TO YUMA rides up next to TRUE GRIT" and his blurb on the back of the dvd jacket says, "The best film Michael Madsen has starred in since RESERVOIR DOGS." What movie did this guy Alson watch? But then again, I didn't get to see the entire movie and I suppose it could have gotten much better at the end.....and…if frogs had wings their butts wouldn't hit the ground when they hop.

Don't get me wrong....I like westerns. I love westerns and I applaud people who get them made, but making bad ones only sets the genre back.

STEVE MCQUEEN, one of my all time favorites

2011-06-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching Steve's last movie.....THE HUNTER. Sadly, it didn't improve with age. I was wanting it, the first time I saw it and today, to be so much better. Steve was reunited with his Mag7 costar Eli Wallach and his THE GETAWAY costar Ben Johnson. Sadly, they both weren't in that many scenes with him. Steve was dying when he made TH which was released in August of 1980...he passed away 3 months later. Movie could have been better if they didn't dwell so much on his character's bad driving. Still all in all....a bad Steve McQueen movie is better than most other movies.

I actually met the "bounty hunter" that Steve's character and the movie was based on...Ralph "Papa" Thosrson. "Papa" was a big bear of a man but gentle as a lamb....more of a Grizzly Adams look-alike than McQueen....and he can be seen in a bar scene near the end of the film.

I was working for the LA County Probation Department at the time and after one of my probationers failed to report I went looking for him knowing that he lived with "Papa" Thorson (who had all kinds of felons living with and working for him.) I was hesitant to make the home call but went ahead. I walked up on the porch and knocked on the door and the biggest person I had ever seen outside of pro wrestling stood there filling the door way. It was all I could do to introduce myself without shaking and after I told him who I was and why I was there, he said in one of the friendliest voices I had ever heard..."Come on in and we'll solve this problem right now." Then, he took me to his dining room (the one in the movie looked very similar) that had all kinds of characters sitting around its table...and then proceeded to dress down my probationer right in front of everyone there. Needless to say everyone listened and up until he got off probation my guy never gave me a bit of trouble. I think my guy was either a petty thief or got caught kiting checks. (Kind of looked like Tracey Walter who played the scum Rocco Mason in TH, but with darker hair.) That sure was one heckuva day.

Periodically, Thorson would call me up and ask how my/his guy was doing and would often ask me to come by for a bar-b-cue. Each time I politely declined....telling him how much I would like to but my supervisor would never approve it. He never once said or hinted that I could come by and no one would know. he had too much integrity. Shame there wasn't a better movie based on his exploits. "Papa" made "Dog" look like a sissy. He was called "Papa" because he took care of so many of the people he brought back and often put them up until they got a job or had a place to stay.

Rome

2011-03-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here is some spaghetti related music you might enjoy....furnished by my friend Lauren at EMI.
Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi present: ROME - album release date 16th May.
Featuring vocals by Jack White and Norah Jones.

United by their shared passion for classic Italian film music, Danger Mouse and Italian composer Daniele Luppi created the ROME album over an intense songwriting period using vintage equipment and original musicians from films such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. Every effort was made to replicate the recording practices of the 1960s/70s golden age.

For all its cinematic qualities, what follows is a complex, nuanced pop record with intensity and darkness as well as uplift and light. It’s an ambitious work with a uniquely modern sound that has been achieved through traditional, vintage processes. It is, above all, a fully realised album, perfectly formed and hauntingly beautiful.

Check out a trailer for ROME, including interviews with Danger Mouse, Daniele Luppi, Jack White and Norah Jones here:

HERE-TO-FORE (UNKNOWN BY ME) JAMES COBURN FLICK

2011-03-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I watched James Coburn in THE INTERNECINE PROJECT a movie, up until a few days ago, I had never heard of before finding it at Interact in Pasadena. Costars are Lee Grant, Keenan Wynn and Harry Andrews. Story involves Coburn as a Professor and former secret agent who is given the job opportunity of a lifetime: advisor to the President of the US. Of course o'l Jimmy has some skeletons in his closet (or else there would not be a movie) that need eliminating, namely the four people aware of his shoddy past. So, in order for him to make sure no one will ever know about his past dirty life, he hatches an ingenious plan to get rid of his four nemeses by getting them to unknowingly kill each other in the course of a single night. Interesting to find out how they will do it. And...it manages to make a long sequence in which one man sits alone in a room waiting for the phone to ring quite suspenseful.  Good film, even with it's 70's music and 70's pacing, and with a very good performance by JC (has he been bad?).....a movie that would never get green-lit today. DVD contains an interview with writer Jonathan Lynn (directed MY COUSIN VINNY) which is interesting in itself and is about both TIP and other projects Lynn has worked on. In passing, Lynn talks about the actor Harry Andrew's performance in the film...he feels it was a little over the top and somewhat homophobic.....considering Harry was homosexual. Never knew that...never ever heard that before and frankly I don't care. I've always liked Andrews, and like JC, was always good in every part he played. TIC was released originally in 1974...for Jimmy a year after HARRY IN YOUR POCKET and a year before BITE THE BULLET.

Robert Horton

2011-03-11T11:02:00.000-08:00

In the late 50's and early 60's Robert Horton was one of my favorite tv cowboys and if an episode of WAGON TRAIN came on that didn't say "Tonight Starring Robert Horton" I wouldn't bother watching it and you can imagine my dismay when he left the series to "branch out on his own." Watching him in the opening credits, posted above, and hearing him sing the main theme to A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH almost always brings tears to my eyes. His vocals are impeccable and the background scenes remind me of one of my favorite spaghetti westerns....Sergio Corbucci's classic THE GREAT SILENCE which was filmed a few years later. I had the fortune of meeting Robert at the 2004 Golden Boots...the year he received his Golden Boot (way too late) and was delighted that he signed one of my old TV Guides with a picture of him from Wagon Train on the cover. Very nice man. Very friendly man... but I, to me, felt a sense of sadness about him and I feel this even more when I hear him sing A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH. Needless to say when he left WAGON TRAIN, a mistake on hind sight, the series, to me, died with his departure. To the "Powers That Be" out there...."SHENANDOAH" is crying for a dvd release.

the name CRUMMETT

2011-03-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

Crummett is not that common a name and is a name you don't hear mentioned much...so you can imagine my surprise when on last week's episode of TNT's wonderful and very (and I do mean very) well done cop show SOUTHLAND (that NBC which needs a hit gave up on) I heard my last name mentioned in a start of a shift squad briefing about half way through the episode (#9 of 10). I was so taken aback at hearing it that I had to rewind my DVR to make sure that I had hear it. When the squad leader was handing out beginning of the shift assignments he said in passing..."Crummett and so and so do this and that." Don't remember what the assignment "Crummett" got or who his partner was, but I did hear Crummett. Kudos to the writer(s). For a really enjoyable and fast hour tune into this show and better yet rent or buy each season's box set.

the book "BRADY, BRADY BRADY"

2011-03-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

No, the book "BRADY, BRADY, BRADY" is not about the life and times of Scott Brady but about the tv show THE BRADY BUNCH ..written by Sherwood Schwartz creator of the show and his son Lloyd. Interesting way they did the book...Sherwood wrote about creating the show and putting it together and finally getting it on the air and Lloyd wrote about the show after it aired...he went from Dialogue Coach (for the kids) to producer and director. Book confirmed what I had always heard about Robert Reed. He was an Asshole with a capital A and always was in disagreement with everyone about almost everything. Apparently, Reed was disliked universally all over H'wood. "Well," you say, "why would you read a book about the Brady Bunch written by the creator of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND?" Well...it so happens that I met both Sherwood and Lloyd back in the early 70's when I was kind of involved in the development of different quiz shows...as a somewhat professional freelance quiz show contestant. One day I get a call from Dick Clark Productions asking me if I could meet Dick and some others at the Universal Sheraton Hotel for some run throughs for a quiz show they were developing. Much to my delight when I got there....so was Dick Clark and the Schwartz's (who were going to co-produce the show with Dick who was, needless to say, going to be the host). I cannot for the life of me remember what the name of the show was or the format but it was going to have celebrity guests as a part of the game since Abbe Lane was there, too. She still had it (beautiful and sexy) and was very funny and down to earth as were Dick and the Schwartz's....everyone had a great sense of humor. We even joked about how many people called her Abby Road (after the Beatles's Album). I had a great time, picked up some extra cash and went home. The show never sold and that was the one and only time I ever met Dick Clark and the Schwartz's. And, if you can believe it....totally forgot about it until I saw the BRADY, BRADY, BRADY book. Book is worth the read if only for how hard it is to sell a tv show and the many travails of doing a tv show for five years. A book about the life and times of Scott Brady might be interesting too.

Director george waGGNer

2011-03-04T15:40:00.000-08:00

For the past several weeks/months I've seen this name pop up in the credits as the director of various MAVERICK, CHEYENNE and WAGON TRAIN episodes. Yes, the fact that it was spelled george waGGner caught my eye. I never thought much about it until I started watching some of the extras on the Universal Legacy Series dvd set of the classic horror film THE WOLF MAN with Lon Chaney Jr and I saw this name again...this time spelled George Waggner. I put two and two together and discovered that they were and are one the same. So, I wonder, why hasn't this man gotten the acclaim he deserves for helming the best ever of the werewolf films or the recognition that other notable horror film directors got...such as James Whale (FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN) or Tod Browning (DRACULA, FREAKS)? Is it because he continued to direct almost every project...movie or tv show that was offered him or because scandal seemed to elude him like Whale whose sexual persuasion, some say, ended his career prematurely or like Browning who's movie FREAKS is now a classic, but at the time cost him dearly professionally? waGGner should be mentioned in the same breath as Whale and Browning as he, like them, helmed one of Universal's major triumvirates of horror and produced a character that everyone is still interested in and still talking about some 70 years later.

waGGner did direct some other films of note...THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN with John Wayne sidekicked by Oliver Hardy (yes that Oliver Hardy) and OPERATION PACIFIC also with the Duke.

And kind of like waGGner the other great Universal horror director Karl Freund (The Mummy) went on to be involved with all kind of genres and ended up, like waGGner, doing episodic tv work...but in the great scheme of things Freund made more movies that are known today, than wagGGner, but as a cinematographer not as a director.

STUNTMAN new book by Hal Needham

2011-03-03T13:29:00.001-08:00

Just finished this book and was very disappointed in it....didn't really shed any new info on anything. Yeah, Hal takes credit for a lot of break-throughs in stunt work such as air cushions for high falls and trampolines and explosives set under steel plates to make people "blown up" look more realistic and he helped design a new camera car to film high speed chases, etc. He dwells a lot on his NASCAR racing team and gives himself credit for all the product placements now found on the cars and on the drivers' suits. But not enough anecdotes about the movies he directed and he says nothing at all about why he stopped directing. Some interesting tidbits on his quest to break the sound barrier on land. Don't get me wrong...next to Yakima Canutt he probably is the next best stuntman ever. Just wish he'd given us more stories about his various film-tv projects. He did confirm that the Robert Klein director in HOOPER was based on Peter Bogdanovich whom he worked for on NICKELODEON. Hal said, in passing, that Jack Elam once turned down a tv series at Warner's because they wouldn't allow card playing on the set...wonder what series that was as Jack later starred in THE DAKOTAS for Warners?

TRUE GRIT the novel

2011-01-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

Was elated today when I located my copy of TRUE GRIT. First printing of the Signet Paperback in February 1969 cost me all of 95c. John Wayne movie tie-in pictures on the inside of the front cover and on both sides of the back cover. Higher printings can be purchased at used book sites anywhere from $25 to $35. Great read.

WAGON TRAIN

2011-01-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

I'm really enjoying the episodes of WAGON TRAIN now airing on Encore Westerns...more so than I thought I would. I was (and am) a big fan of Robert Horton and was always disappointed when episodes would air that he was barely in. To me the show went down hill when Bond died (even though John McIntire has grown on me over the years, he seemed weak to me as the wagon master) and almost dropped off a cliff when Horton left the show. One of my favorite Golden Boots moments was when Robert Horton autographed a copy of TV Guide with him on the cover and the smile I got when I gave him a duplicate copy.

THE "NEW" HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

2010-11-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

As most of you know for many years Hollywood had two major trade papers....VARIETY, which published a weekly and daily version, and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER which only published daily. THR went through bankruptcy awhile back and now has been relaunched with much fanfare. THR"s new goal is this.....their own words...."...to create the single most intelligent, compelling, inspired and irresistable read in the entertainment industry. To create something that you not only need to read but want to read." Bold words!

A few weeks back I got an email from them stating that I was one of a few (probably bull) select people that were picked for a free three month trial subscription to the "relaunched" version and even if I elected to receive the free copies I still may not be one of the final "chosen few" (probably even more bull). So, all in all, I said, "yes...please send me a free month trial subscription without any risks attached."

I forgot all about it until yesterday when THR's "Premiere Issue" arrived in the mail (a weekly publication and not a daily one)....looking very slick and well produced on first glance and, lo and behold, it is in the same size as our magazines used to be back in the day before all mags went into their squatty versions and the cover is printed on stock much, much thicker than the interior pages....like back in the day.

But and I do mean but....even though I liked this issue and it has some good reading in it, it doesn't have the feel at all of a trade magazine, let alone a major one at that, and, to me, it definitely doesn't live up to the hype printed above and taken from this issues's "Letter From The Editor." It just appears to be a slicker version of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY which is one of my favorite, to be redundant, entertainment publications. Even so....I am looking forward to THR's next issue..but in no way will I subscribe when my free trial ends. A year's subscription, even with my "special" deal would cost over $200 and in no way does this price justify my continuing to get it....if I were movie stars like Dan and raymie and could write off the subscription....then maybe....Naaaaahhhh.

We talk about inflation. When I arrived in Hollywod in late '67 both THR and DV were each one thin dime....and I used to buy my copies from Billy Curtis....yes that Billy Curtis...who had a little (no pun intended) portable news stand near Hollywood and Vine that he would set up each morning to sell the trades and the local papers. At that time THE HOLLYWOOD CITIZEN NEWS was still being published, as well as THE HERALD EXAMINER along with the venerable LA TIMES. Ahhhhh those were the days my friends.

FROM THE PAGES OF THE NEW BOOK ABOUT THE ORIGINAL H'WOOD TABLOID RAG..."CONFIDENTIAL."

2010-04-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is a story that I have never heard before....I am not passing judgment on anyone nor am I condemning anyone's sexual orientation. I just think the facts are somewhat bizarre and humorous... and interesting.

CONFIDENTIAL MAGAZINE seemed to treat Van Johnson's sexuality more delicate that others of a similar nature. (They wanted to OUT Rock Hudson but Universal-International sold Rory Calhoun down the river and they published the story of Rory's juvenile crime history and dumped the Hudson story.)

When Johnson signed up with MGM in 1942 Benny Thau, MGM"s personnel chief, asked Johnson's agent, "Do we have a situation here?" There was something about Johnson that had spurred questions about his sexuality from the very beginning of his career. "Later there had been rumors that Johnson was carrying on an affair with actor Keenan Wynn, his best friend. Johnson, an awkward introvert, spent much of his time with Wynn and Wynn's wife, Eve. .....Questions later circulated about the nature of this menage a trois and many Hollywood insiders assumed or became convinced that Van's relationship with Keenan had a sexual component." (I find it hilarious that Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn might have been lovers.)

Keenan's father, comic Ed Wynn, reflected on the confusion. "I can't keep them straight," he said in a 1946 interview. "Evie loves Keenan. Keenan loves Evie. Van loves Evie. Evie loves Van. Van loves Keenan. Keenan loves Van."

CONFIDENTIAL reported that Johnson had revealed his homosexual tendencies when he was called before the draft board in 1941. (Later the army did an investigation to determine whether Johnson was faking his homosexuality to evade the draft.) Van told the FBI that he was making an effort to return to normal living and was continuing his "desperate" effort to rid himself of his abnormality.

But it took a a tragedy in Van Johnson's life to make him "succeed." The tragedy was an automobile accident which left Johnson with a fractured skull and "miracle of miracles" occurred. Johnson not only recovered his health but his heterosexuality and eloped to Juarez, Mexico in January 1947 with Eve Wynn, his best friend's wife.

In 1999 Eve finally explained the circumstances..."They (MGM) needed their big star to be married to quell rumors about his sexual preference and unfortunately I was the only woman he would marry. Mayer (Louie, head of MGM) decide that unless I married Van, he wouldn't renew Keenan's contract. I was young and stupid enough to let Mayer manipulate me. I divorced Keenan, married Van."

Eve Wynn separated from, reconciled with, and in 1962 finally divorced Johnson. Her son, Ned Wynn, claimed the final act was precipitated by Van's affair with a boy in the cast of THE MUSIC MAN, in which Johnson was performing.

Well into his eighties, Johnson, was still somewhat in denial about his sexual orientation and would kid himself, intimate friends stated, that he was never a homosexual. " Van would rather ignore an aspect of his life that might cause controversy or damage his image."

I must admit that Johnson was pretty darn good, and I enjoyed his performance, as Holley in "BATTLEGROUND." And, who can forget Keenan Wynn as Colonel 'Bat" Guano in "DR. STRANGELOVE?"

Friends I've been neglecting my blog for some time now. Had to return and share my thoughts on "THE GLORY GUYS" written by the great Sam Peckinpah

2010-04-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

Found THE GLORY GUYS on TH!S the other day and tivo'd it. Finally watched it....remembering that I saw it when I was in college....probably the last time. Disappointing and not very good as the leads could have been much better. Tom Tryon is okay …he was a fan favorite as Disney’s Texas John Slaughter….but Harve Presnell is totally out of his element and totally lost in the saddle as an Army scout that looks like he needs a back brace to sit up straight….and that wig? Nuf said. At any moment I expected ol’ Harve to try and sit tall in the saddle and start singing THEY CALL THE WIND MARIA(H) (Found it spelled both ways.)

Saving grace is Slim Pickens as good as ever and maybe even better. Just love that guy…..even when he side-kicked B-Western and the last of the singing cowboys, Rex Allen. James Caan had a supporting role but played an Irishman with an irritating accent. What almost caught me by surprise was that it was written by Sam Peckinpah....but then I remembered he was supposed to have directed it and was replaced by Arthur Laven of "Levy, Gardner, Laven" fame. (Apparently Sam wrote the script early on from the novel THE DICE OF GOD which was a fictional version of Custer at The Little Bighorn, while still doing scripts for Gunmoke and before he started "working" for LGL and then later sold in to them.)

Between 1965 and into 1966 Sam's money situation became so bad that he actually sold his rights to THE WESTERNER to Dick Powell's FOUR STAR ENTERPRISES for a measly $10,000. AND, according to Garner Simmons in his excellent book on Sam, "PECKINPAH A Portrait in Montage," the only project to be produced during this time with Sam's name on it was a cavalry western THE GLORY GUYS which was owned by LGL." Sam hated the movie as directed by Laven (for many reasons) but mainly because he felt the final film shifts the focus away from the Indian-whites conflict promulgated by a Custer-like General (Andrew Duggan) and concentrates on a love triangle involving a captain (Tryon), a scout (Presnell) and a fallen woman (Senta Berger). Simmons sums it up thusly..."It remains at best another example of the lack of communication between Peckinpah and Levy, Gardner, Laven" I agree 100 percent with Sam on this one....the love triangle totally, and I do mean totally, messes up a great western script that had a lot of potential going in.

One thing I did not remember is that Riz Ortolani did the score, and sadly to say it is very disappointing. Even though Riz wrote the music between scoring several spaghetti westerns his music here is pedestrian and sounds like any typical 50’s to 60’s Hollywood western score. Nothing to write home about, or to go off humming. If Ortolani had done a spaghetti score or at least aluded to one it would have made the movie at least some-what more tolerable. Thanks goodness when a movie is tivo’d you can fast forward through a lot of the drek.

NAKED CITY the movie

2010-02-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

Recently I watched the Criterion dvd of this noir classic....first movie to be filmed mostly on location, thus making the City of New York another chracter in the film. Stars Barry Fitzgerald, radio's Sam Spade Howard Duff (here playing a character on the other side of the law), Don Taylor (he of FIVE MAN ARMY fame) and Ted de Corsia (memorable in numerous westerns as an overweight henchman/villain) but here as a fit, exercise conscious bad guy.

What really got me is the numerous actors, here uncredited, that went on to become well known character actors....James (Barney Miller-The Manchurian Candidate-Sons of Katy Elder) Gregory, Paul (Sgt. Bilko-The Music Man-A Big Hand For The Little Lady) Ford, Kathleen (Jerry Lewis's favorite foil) Freeman, John (A Man Called Sledge-The Godfather), Bruce (The Untouchables) Gordon, John (Serpico), Arthur (Man of the West-Picnic) O'Connell, Nehemiah (Day Of The Outlaw-The Badlanders) Persoff, David (numerous guest appearances in all genres) Opatoshu, Molly(Fiddler On The Roof-but never in a western) Picon, Russ (who at one time seemed to be on every tv show at the same time) Conway and Walter (36 western appearancs) Burke.

RANDOLPH SCOTT REVISITED

2010-01-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I keep thinking about ol' Randy and his westerns. Guess it's because a bunch has been poppin' up lately on Encore Westerns and TCM ("CARIBOU TRAIL" will be airin' on TCM this Friday the 29th at 3:30pm PT). Words can't describe how much I have been enjoying these oaters. I have had a lot of catching up to do. For so many years, especially when I was a kid, I did not like Scott or his movies. Don't know why since I enjoyed the heck out of those awful "B" westerns Republic used to crank out.

So I started doing a little investigating to see if there were any books written about Randy or his films and found out that there were only a few and most of them, from the reviews, seem to be pretty poor. There's one by his son C.H. Scott called 'WHATEVER HAPPENED TO RANDOLPH SCOTT?" which deals more with a son and his father than a book about his films. (I put it on hold at the library...mebbe I read it years ago. I don't remember.)

Others I discovered are "RANDOLPH SCOTT: A FILM BIOGRAPHY" by Jefferson Brim Crow and "THE FILMS OF RANDOLPH SCOTT by Robert Nott....both published in October of 1994 by Empire Press. Crow also had published in 1989 "RANDOLPH SCOTT: THE GENTLEMAN FROM VIRGINIA: A FILM BIOGRAGPHY" and Nott wrote and had published in 2000 "LAST OF THE COWBOY HEROES: THE WESTERNS OF RANDOLPH SCOTT, JOEL MCCREA AND AUDIE MURPHY."

Anyone have any input on these books?

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Henry Levin's 1965 movie....GHENGHIS KHAN

2009-08-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago TCM aired this "epic". Kinda slow but interesting to look at....since it was filmed in Yugoslavia and several of the same locations pop up in the Winnetou films. And get this.....a total of 10 actors who are in this film have also been in at least one sw or Euro western.....Stephen Boyd, Telly Savalas, Eli Wallach, Woody Strode, James Mason, Gustavo Rojo, Robert Morley and lesser knowns...Kenneth Cope, Patrick Holt, and Dusan Vujisic.

ELI WALLACH AS A BEATNIK

2009-08-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I recently watched SEVEN THIEVES a very good 1960 heist film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Edgar G Robinson, Rod Steiger (in a nicely subdued performance), Joan Collins (who never looked better and held her own with the acting heavy weights), Eli as her saxophone playing beatnik "boy friend," and Michael Dante (very nice man...have met him several times). The heist takes place in Monte Carlo and involves several different twists and plot turns turns that make this a very enjoyable flick...all and all a very pleasant diversion made all the better by the great group of actors mentioned above and supported by Barry Kroeger (Orson Welles' evil twin), Alexander Skourby and Sebastian Cabot. First and only time I had seen this movie previously, was around 35 years ago. My how time flies. It still holds up.

A DISTANT TRUMPET FROM THE WARNER ARCHIVES COLLECTION

2009-08-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

This cavalry flick is the first dvd I've had a chance to see from the Warner Archives. At one time there was some discussion as to whether or not the movies from the "Archives" are dvds or dvdrs...well, in one word I think they can be classified as dvdrs instead of dvds, and that word is purple. The back of the disc of this movie is purple and not silvery as regular dvds are. "Trumpet" is a cavalry flick directed by the late great Raoul Walsh (his last movie, as a matter of fact) and features Susanne Pleshette and Dianne McBain vying for the charms of the very manly Lt. Troy Donahue but on occasions indians and soldiering get in their way. I remember this movie being much more enjoyable the first time I saw it (I was a lot younger then) and I often confuse it with the much much better Richard Boone/Charles Bronson/Slim Pickens Richard Chamberlain/Duane Eddy cavalry epic with a similar name A THUNDER OF DRUMS which was released three years earlier. Obvious this was a chance for Warners to use their contract stars in a feature film. "Hey they're under contract for very little, so let's put them in a movie."

Quality of the dvr is very good. On the menu there is a selection for "play" and one for the "trailer." No chapter settings...If you want to jump ahead or back for "ten minutes" at a time you can by using the quick jump button on your remote.

ol Randy in FIGHTING MAN OF THE PLAINS

2009-08-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to watching this pretty darn good Randolph Scott movie. (I'd been letting it age for a couple of weeks on the ol' Tivo.) Made in '49 and it again, seems like half of the pre Boetticher films ol' Randy is in, he was either involved with Quantrell....or some other quasi post civil war raider and his band.... or some undercover shenanigans to either clear his name or to find the killler of his...........(choose from the following brother, father, best friend, dog). Well this one had both. Randy was involved with Quantrell (the great James Griffith....unbilled), went undercover (took the name and identity of the detective who got killed while attempting to take him in) so to speak, to try and clear his name and to look for and to kill his brother's killer whose brother he had killed. Confusing? Well, it all works out in the end for ol' Randy. Why he even gets the girl. Funny thing is though....as she runs up to ol' Randy and right before she gets to embrace him the screen goes black and "The End" comes on. Well he got the girls but he didn't get the hug. Oh, well! Pretty good supporting cast, too. Victor Jory (in a good guy role for once) plays a gambler who becomes a friend and ally of Randy and Paul Fix and Bill Williams turn in good performances as the rotten to the core bad guys. Worth mentioning is the fact that Dale Robertson was introduced in this fillm "as Jesse James." All and all worth watching. On the Randy scale with THE TALL T being a 10.....this one is a 6. But then the script was by Frank Gruber from one of his novels, and you can't get much better than that.

I haven't been doing much bloggin' here in quite awhile,

2009-08-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

but I want to take time, today, to mention my friend Jamie's hard to find/ rare move site www.thedriveinconnection.com/. Trust me. This is the best site out there for you film buffs to turn to when you're looking for that hard to find spaghetti western or Euro cult film or any cool and crazy flick from the past. The prices can't be beat anywhere and the service is the best there is. Jamie doesn't wait around to fill any orders. The turn around time is incredible. I've dealt with Jamie and his site for years and every time I have been more than happy with his product and service. Tell him ol' jangoz sent yuh!

"Mountain Fortress" the pilot episode of the tv series CHEYENNE

2009-06-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

is essentially a remake of Errol Flynn's ROCKY MOUNTAIN (one of my favorite Flynn movies, let alone a western)....with James Garner (tv) in the Scott Forbes (movie) role....right down to the boy with a dog.

CHEYENNE EPISODE IS A LOOSE REMAKE OF A MOVIE

2009-06-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

The episode of CHEYENNE called "The Travelers" that aired on Encore Westerns on 6-12 was a loose remake of the Kirk Douglas movie ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE which was also known as "THE TRAVELERS." Pretty darn good little tv western...great production values and location sites for the most part....but at time when they were in the "desert" I could see, on the right side of the screen, a seam on the background cyclorama. Gregory Walcott was featured in a supporting role as was Robert Armstrong (Carl Denhan in the original KING KONG) as the Marshal. Len Merrick was the Marshal's name (Kirk Doulgas) in the movie and in the Cheyenne episode. Was great seeing the area around Vasquez Rocks while it was still pristine and not so cluttered and "civilized" as it is today.....and is always great seeing some of the old time movie greats pop up here and there in these tv shows.

BOYS WILL BE BOYS: THE GLORY DAYS AND PARTY NIGHTS OF THE DALLAS COWBOY DYNASTY

2009-05-15T12:21:00.001-07:00

Just finished this highly enjoyable and informative book, by Jeff Pearlman, on the rise of the Dallas Cowboys during the Jerry Jones-Jimmy Johnson era and their fall during the Jerry Jones-Barry Switzer years. Lottsa interesting tidbts.

3 new "American" spaghetti westerns on dvd

2009-05-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

DOC with Stacey Keach, Harris Yulin and Dan van Husen

CHINA 9 LIBERTY 37 with Warren Oates, Fabio Testi and Jenny Agutter

CATLOW with Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna and Dan van Husen (release date 6-23)

DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER

2009-04-03T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is a new book on the real legendary (and not celluloid) Jack Slade written by Dan Rottenberg. He was known as "The Law West of Kearney," and was very instrumental in helping the North win the Civil War. In 1859 when the US careened toward civil war, Washington's only northern link with America's richest state, California, was a stagecoach line operating between Missouri and the Pacific and Slade was hired to clean up and keep open this line. He kept the stagecoaches and the US mail running and helped launch the Pony Express all of which kept California in the Union.....and without California's gold, the Union could not have financed its cause. Slade's legend grew when he was shot multiple times and left for dead, only to survive and exact revenge on his would-be killer. Later on his life descended into alcoholism transforming him into a real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde....from a courageous leader, devoted husband and charming gentleman into a vicious quick-triggered ruffian and purported outlaw. No pictures exist of this man. Not knowing anything about the real Jack Slade makes this a most welcome read.

gaffes in TEN WANTED MEN

2009-03-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

Next time you watch this Randolph Scott-Richard Boone-Lee Van Cleef-Leo Gordon oater look for this.....When Randy shoots Boone (across a table) not only is his gun not cocked and the hammer never moves, but when you hear the sound of gunfire no muzzle flash or gun smoke is seen....when they cut to the next scene then you see the smoke from the gun shot puffin' up in front of ol' Randy. And, earlier on when Randy shoots Lee notice the odd angle of the gun in his hand....from the looks of things, to me, the gun was not pointed at Lee when he fired.

A FORTUNATE LIFE by Robert Vaughn

2009-03-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just finished this enjoyable "bio" from ol' Napoleon Solo hisself. Lottsa interesting anecdotes about different films he appeared in and lottsa stuff on THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. He deals with his early years in Hollywood and his relationship with Natalie Wood. Did Natalie date every male star in Hollywood or does it just seem that way? (Well, if Natalie wouldn't Lana would. OUCH!!) Vaughn spends too much time talking about his participation in the Civil Rights movement, his outrage re: the Vietnam war and his relationship with Robert Kennedy. (He feels Sirhan Sirhan was a "manchurian candidate" in the assassination of RFK and did not act alone and presents interesting info that Aristotle Onassis paid to have RFK killed.) That's his perrogative since it is his book...and I feel, at times, these stories grind the book to a screeching halt, but then I read these books for tales of Hollywood and movie making and not politics. Great stories about his life-long relationships with James Coburn (they met at LA City College) and Steve McQueen (from Mag 7 on) and he mentions a very bad experience involving his use of "pot" while with James Coburn and Ted Markland....a young stand-up comic. Is this our buddy "Reno" from HIGH CHAPARRAL? All in all, well worth reading.

WARREN OATES: A WILD LIFE

2009-03-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

New bio out on one of my all-time favorite character actors....Warren Oates...by Susan Compo. Warren is probably best known as being one of Sam Peckinpah's regulars. Their last collaberation was 1974's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA. The movie was so dark that both James Coburn and Peter Falk turned down the lead. (Panned in its day "Alfredo Garcia" is now viewed by many as a master piece.) Oates' and Peckinpah's mutual sympathy was often interrupted by outbursts of alcohol-fueled acrimony and bouts of disloyalty....such as when Oates was instrumental in helping Peckinpah get the job of directing THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE, Sam repaid him by giving the lead role to Jason Robards. When Oates died in 1982 of a massive heart attack at the age of 53, such was the rift between him and Peckinpah that Sam was "resoundingly not invited to the service, but nothing could keep him away." A must read for movie fans of all ages but especially fans of both Oates and Peckinpah. Another great one gone way too soon.

TOMBSTONE TRAVELS

2009-03-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Got home yesterday afternoon from a great four day trip to Tombstone, Az....is there another Tombstone? Tom Betts did all the drivin' and I did all the ridin'.....shotgun that is. We met up with "resident" Chris Casey and our buddies from the east raymie (ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE AUTUMN) Isenberg & John Nudge and Franco Cleef flew in from the frozen North....Canada for the uninitiated. Saw where Billy the Kid killed his first man; visited the Rex Allen Museum (Marty Robbins was from the same town....Willcox , Az); had a spaghetti dinner capped by watching the Franco Cleef restored version of THE BIG GUNDOWN and we finished off the weekend by overeating at a bbq with the fixin's prepared by Missus raymie and son Justin and then watching the English language version of YANKEE (courtesy of ol' Mr. Franco Cleef hisself.) Like the fellow once said, "a good time was had by all."

GBU on Blu-ray

2009-03-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

One of the best spaghetti westerns ever made gets the high-def treatment. Release date is 5-12-09.

WHEN THE WEST WAS FUN: A WESTERN REUNION

2009-03-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

Anyone have a copy of this 1979 documentary hosted by Glenn Ford which served as a reunion for many of our favorites who played in popular western films and tv series over the years....just to name a few....Lee Van Cleef, Clayton Moore, John Russell, James Drury, Slim Pickens, Jock Mahoney, Neville Brand and Chuck Connors.

JONAH HEX coming to the big screen

2009-03-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

JONAH HEX has a new director according to Josh Brolin in today's LA Times. Brolin, who will portray Hex (for a scheduled 2010 release), said Jimmy Hayward is the new director. (Hayward's background has been in animation). John Malkovich will play the villain Turnbull and Megan Fox (THE TRANSFORMERS) will play Leila, the gun weilding beauty and love interest of Hex. Loved, or should I say love the comics. Hope I will do same with the movie.

SWEET JESUS, PREACHER MAN

2009-03-06T14:01:00.001-08:00

This obscure 1973 action/drama movie featuring our buddy William Smith and Roger E. Mosley ("TC" on MANGNUM PI) is airing on TCM tonight at 1am (PT.) This movie is not on DVD or video and frankly until I saw it advertised as being on TCM I had never heard of it. MGM actually did the theatrical distribution. Director Henning Schellerup may be best known for being the cinematographer on the Steve Forrest LAST OF THE MOHICANS tv movie in 1977and BLACK SAMPSON in 1974 with, again, William Smith and Rockne Tarkington who had a small role in Sam Elliots's 1995 tv western THE DESPERATE TRAIL. Schellerup at one time appeared to be the in-house director for Sunn Classic Pictures which produced a lot of biblical documentary style movies and several Dan Haggerty projects including GRIZZLY ADAMS.

ARENA with Gig Young and Lee Van Cleef

2009-03-06T12:35:00.001-08:00

Normally, because this is another rodeo western ("First Full-Length Western in 3 Dimension! the ads said.) I would have posted this below under the comments section of THE HONKERS....but since this one features Lee Van Cleef it demands its own brand new post. Never have seen this 1953 movie and and looking forward to its airing on TCM next Thursday (3-12) at 145PM (PT). Not on DVD or video!

TRAIL STREET with Randolph Scott

2009-03-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

This rarely seen 1947 Randolph Scott western with Robert Ryan and Gabby Hayes will be airing on TCM next Thursday (3-12) at 9:15am (PT). Randy stars as Marshal Bat Masterson. I have never seen this movie and am looking forward to seeing him with Robert Ryan. Randy and Gabby actually appeared together in five other oaters....WILD HORSE MESA in 1932; BADMAN'S TERRITORY in 1946; RETURN OF THE BAD MEN (also with Ryan) and ALBEQUERQUE in 1948 and THE CARIBOO TRAIL in 1950. Randy and Ryan had worked together before TRAIL STREET in the WW II action flick BOMBARDIER in 1943.

Maybe it's just my imagination but it seems quite a few of Randy's obscure westerns are finally seeing the light of day. Hmmmm.....I wonder if it has anything to do with all the publicity surrounding the recent release of Randy's Budd Boetticher westerns on dvd?

LEONARD COHEN

2009-03-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

The great Leonard Cohen will be in Los Angeles for one performance only on April 10. Joni and I were able to get some decent tickets to this concert and we can hardly wait. I've read and heard a lot about this legendary figure, but I've never seen him in person. He has a vast volume of work but is probably best known for the songs (and singing) he contributed to NATURAL BORN KILLERS. Also, he sings two of his songs in the new WATCHMEN movie.

THE HONKERS with James Coburn

2009-03-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

This rarely seen 1972 rodeo western starring James Coburn and featuring Slim Pickens and Jim Davis will be showing on Encore Westerns this month. First airing will be in the wee morning hours of this Saturday (3-7) from 3:45am to 5:30am. I have never seen this movie and, being a James Coburn fan, am greatly looking forward to viewing it. Also, I have heard very good things about it, especially, Slim Picken's performance. Sadly, the director, the late Steve Ihnat....so good in HOUR OF THE GUN, died shortly after it's release. There were three rodeo westerns released in 1972, and this hurt THE HONKERS as it appears to have been lost in the mix. The other two: J.W. COOP with Cliff Roberson and SamPeck's JUNIOR BONNER with Steve McQueen. THE HONKERS is not on DVD and as far as I know has never been released on video. Heck....I don't ever remember it being shown on tv anywhere! Don't miss it!

One of the best rodeo movies ever made was released twenty years earlier...Robert Mitchum's THE LUSTY MEN....with Susan Hayward, Arthur Kennedy and Arthur Hunnicutt; directed by Nicholas Ray (JOHNNY GUITAR-REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE-THE TRUE STORY OF JESSE JAMES and KING OF KINGS with Jeffrey "I was a teen-age Jesus" Hunter.)

BOOTS THE WONDER DOG

2009-03-01T14:15:00.000-08:00

This is another in a series of posts about the lesser known heroes of our by-gone years, most of whom you'll say "HUH?" while scratching your head in disbelief that anyone would take the time to blog about someone or some animal you've never heard of and could care less about. Oh, yes, "Boots, the Wonder Dog. "Who in the heck is he?" you say. Not much is known about this canine marvel. I don't even have a picture of him....and who's to say he's not a she? Boots only appeared in two films....both westerns. The 1939 THE ADVENTURES OF THE MASKED PHANTOM (title is a bit misleading since this is the only adventure the Masked Phantom had,so it should have been called THE ADVENTURE OF THE MASKED PHANTOM) with the legendary Monte Rawlins (WHO?), this being Monte's fifth and last film. (He used the nom de plume Dean Spencer twice.) "PHANTOM" was, for whatever reasons, filmed in Florida and was the story of a masked hero fighting a gang of gold-raiders. Did Boots sidekick the Phantom or did he belong to the obligatory kid? Boots last screen appearance was in the 1941 SILVER STALLION with Chief Thundercloud who had a better screen history than either Boots or Monte. Hmmmmm..... "SILVER,".... "MASKED?" Why am I thinking of The Lone Ranger? Don't know what happened to Boots after this as details of his life and career are fairly sketchy.

John Dehner and Robert Wilke

2009-02-27T15:39:00.000-08:00

These are two of my favorite western character actors of all time and both seem to have never gotten their due. Both appeared several times in almost every tv western and both have had significant roles in high-profile movies....some non-western. Dehner was very good as a villian or a good-guy but he was especially good at portraying slippery characters such as Burgundy Smith in Sam Peckinpah's classic tv series THE WESTENER. He appeared in several GUNSMOKE episodes and was even Miss Kitty's father in one. Dehner was in AIRPLANE II, THE SEQUEL; THE RIGHT STUFF and the two classic ROBERT MITCHUM mini-series THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE. He even appeared in a Bowery Boys movie...."THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS. Dehner looked quite a bit like my maternal grandfather whose name was John Dahmer (no relation to Jeffrey).

Wilke was great as a villian and in later year played similar character types but in a comedic way. He started out with bit parts in "B" westerns and his final role was in Bill Murray's classic comedy STRIPES. I first remember him as Jim Pierce in HIGH NOON and later saw him, like Dehner, in almost every tv western.

Wilke and Dehner appeared several times in the same movie/tv show. Most notable was Anthony Mann's classic 1958 Gary Cooper flick MAN OF THE WEST. Dehner was Cooper's embittered cousin Claude and Wilke was Ponce another member of the Uncle Dock Tobin gang, and they were both in John Sturges' 1965 "comedy" western misfire THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL. They also were in "Incident of the Four Horsemen" a 1969 episode of RAWHIDE; THE CHEYENNE SOCIAL CLUB (1970); Tim Holt's HOT LEAD (1951); Monte Hale's OUT CALIFORNIA WAY (1946) with Roy Rogers; Rory Calhoun's POWDER RIVER (1953) and the 1946 non-western THE CATMAN OF PARIS. Wilke was unbilled as "The Catman."

Lets give these two guys their due.

SIX REASONS WHY (2008 "western?")

2009-02-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

I can give you 666 reasons why not and here are the first eighteen.......(1) A Campagna Brothers Independent Production; (2) Directed by the Campangna Brothers (Jeff and Matthew); (3) Written by the Campagna Brothers; (4) Executive Producers....the Campagna Brothers; (5) Co-starring the Campagna Brothers; (6) Cinematography by Matthew Campagna; (7) Film Editing by the Campagna Brothers; (8) Casting by the Campagna Brothers; (9) Production Design by the Campagna Brothers; (10) Production Manager...Jeff Campagna; (11) Visual effects supervisor...Matthew Campagna; (12) Stunt Double....Jeff Campagna; (13) two of the three camera operators....The Campagna Brothers; (14) Animator...Matthew Campagna; (15) Wardrobe...The Campagna Brothers; (16) Music Supervisor...Jeff Campagna; (17) The Campagna Brothers, whoever the heck they are and whoever gave them the idea they could make a movie and (18) absolutely, positively the worst attempt at a western ever made. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE AUTUMN garners 10 stars compared to this piece of drek!!!!!

A CUPPLA VERY GOOD READS

2009-02-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

ESCAPE ARTIST: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF JOHN STURGES by Glenn Lovell. Finished this gem of a book weeks ago....a very quick and enjoyable read. Sturges is one of my favorite directors of all time and, hopefully, with this book he will finally get the respect and admiration long due him. Lovell not only goes into anecdotes about the making of Sturges's films but also, with the cooperation of friends and family, delves into Sturge's private life, especially his rampant alcoholism. Interesting tidbits about the making of BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE GREAT ESCAPE (his best known works) and some of his lesser known films. It's interesting to compare Lovell's version of how TMS came to fruition with Eli Wallach's (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND ME) and producer Walter Mirisch's (I THOUGHT WE WERE MAKING MOVIES, NOT HISTORY...which, by the way, is a quote Mirisch took from Sturges....and a very, very good account by a Hollywood insider of making movies in the 50's and 60's.) Lovell talks about how Sturges quickly adapted to making movies in "CinemaScope" vs the old screen ratio and how his framing and use of the widescreen influenced other film makers, often without acknowledgement.

FIASCO: A HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD'S ICONIC FLOPS by James Robert Parrish (HOLLYWOOD DIVAS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE FABULOUS....there's that play on titles/words again! & IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING: THE SERIOUSLY FUNNY LIFE OF MEL BROOKS.) Some of the movies dealt with are THE CHASE (with Brando, Redford and Fonda), POPEYE, THE COTTON CLUB, ISHTAR (my most hated and despised movie of all time), SHOWGIRLS, WATERWORLD (failed as a movie but made a great action and stunt laden attraction at Universal Studios), BATTLEFIELD EARTH (what in the world was John Travolta thinking? hmmm....was he kind of pushed into doing it?) and PAINT YOUR WAGON (with Clint and Lee....a movie before one cent was spent was already thought of as being a loser) Who was director Joshua Logan (totally and I mean totally the wrong director from the get-go) talking about when he made this famous rant, "Not since Atilla the Hun swept across Europe leaving 500 years of total blackness has there been a man like ________?" Why our beloved Lee Marvin, that's who! And the bad experience on this movie, with its extravagantly wasteful excesses, is credited with giving Clint a valuable lesson in what not to do on a movie, and is one of the reasons why he always brings his films in on time and on budget. A lot of the anecdotes from the making of these various films I have already heard....but there are some new ones too!

friends I miss from the old SWWB

2009-02-25T19:10:00.001-08:00

With a virus hitting our fave the ol' SWWB like a roadside burger through an heiress most of us, including myself, have stayed away. I miss the drunken rants of Bob Booze Belle and those adorable southern hicks from Pine Ridge, Arkansas...ray ray and shermie. And, will we ever find out if Barry Matalo ever finishes MATALO, THE MUSICAL. Will we be forever left hanging and never know what the finished lyrics are to "Thar's Red Snow On My Boomerrang, Ma'am."

more ODDITIES

2009-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

A stagecoach in the 1945 Errol Flynn western SAN ANTONIO has framed pictures hanging on a back wall. Huh? This picture was co-written by two famous writers....W. R. Burnett (HIGH SIERRA, YELLOW SKY, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and Alan LeMay (REAP THE WILD WIND, THE SEARCHERS).

DESERT SHOOTER aka THE SHOOTER

2009-02-24T18:55:00.000-08:00

This rarely seen 1997, straight to video, little gem of a western starring Michael (AMERICAN NINJA) Dudikoff who's very credible in this western role and featuring our friend William Smith (nuff said) will air on Encore Westerns on March the 2nd in the early morning hours from 5-630am (PT). My video copy (I think from CineMax) is titled just THE SHOOTER. Pretty darn good direction from Fred Olen Ray....so set your tivo's! Wonder why Dudikoff has not acted since 2002? His next to last job was in our friend Jim Wynorski's GALE FORCE (2002).

DRANGO debut airing on Encore Westerns

2009-02-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

Hey you Jeff Chandler fans (and those of fellow West Virginian Joanne Dru, brother of Peter Marshall the original host, back in the day, of THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES). DRANGO, not Durango, not Django, not Jango, not Shango and not even Cjamango....one of Jeff's rarely seen westerns will air on Encore Westerns on the first of March (check your local listings). This 1957 civil war oater stars ol' Jeff as Major Drango (not Major Dundee....that's another movie) who is appointed US Military governor to a small Georgia community where tensions, needless to say, are running high affter the defeat of the Confederacy.....and the fly in the ointment is that ol' Jeff hisself participated in Sherman's march through the state. John Lupton is featured as an embittered Confederate Captain and guess who....you are CORRECT....Joanne is the love interest. Other featured familiar faces are Julie London, Milburn Stone (made on hiatus from GUNSMOKE), Chubby Johnson (one of my least favorite side-kick types), Bing (Kurt's dad) Russell, Parley Baer (the voice of Chester on radio's Gunsmoke and years away from his role as the mayor on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW), Donald Crisp (the patriarch, Mr Morgan in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY) and Ronald Howard (no relation to Ron or Rance....but Leslie's kid). I'm going to take a look-see as I have never seen this movie.

Bonus....Rex Allen sings the title song.

WHEN TITLE SONG AND TITLE DON'T MATCH

2009-02-22T15:13:00.000-08:00

The title song of the Glenn Ford-Inger Stevens-George Hamilton 1976 western A TIME FOR KILLING is "The Long Ride Home," which was also the film's original title but, for whatever reason(s) was changed for the US release. Later, in 2003, the title THE LONG RIDE HOME was used on a Randy Travis-Eric Roberts-Ernest Borgnine grade "D" western.

CLINT WALKER.....AN APPRECIATION

2009-02-21T14:51:00.000-08:00

Up until recently I was not that much of a Clint Walker fan. I had seen most of his movie westerns and, to me, they weren't that good and I never much cared for his performances. He just seemed to be a bit too stiff and wooden (exception Sampson Posey in THE DIRTY DOZEN.) I even owned the first season of CHEYENNE (on dvd) and never started watching any of the episodes until Encore Westerns started running the entire series. That caught my attention and I started watching the show and, by and by, with each different episode my appreciation of him and his work grew immensely. I now really like the guy, not that I didn't before....I just didn't care for his movies......I've heard he's a very decent person. I now actually look forward to the next episode. In his role as Cheyenne, Clint comes off as a very kind and caring person. If I had seen the CHEYENNE show as I kid I know I would have liked Clint more and a whole lot sooner and that he would be right up there with my other cowboy heroes. To me, on a whole, the CHEYENNE shows are much better than the MAVERICK's. Since my viewing of the other Warner Westerns of this period are limited which series was the best? To me, without a doubt, the worst was SUGARFOOT. I tend to think CHEYENNE would have to top the list.

RANDOLPH SCOTT

2009-02-19T16:22:00.000-08:00

Did the Los Angeles Times in an essay called "The Language of Desire" published in their Sunday(2-15-09) Calendar Section "out" Randy?

The essay by Reed Johnson with a sub-headline of ...."Gunsels, victims, the sex-obsessed tricks. Hollywood has long been drawn to a limited range of gay 'types,' but with Milk Sean Penn embodies a far different--and admirable---leading man."

The article goes on to mention the different ways gays were portrayed in different movies and under CRUISING (a 1980 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Al Pacino) Johnson writes...."Partly under pressure from the bluenoses administering the Hays Code, Hollywood went back in the closet during the Eisenhower presidency and more or less stayed there until the late 1960's (although Sal Mineo and a few others managed to slip out once in a while.) Coyness and euphemism were part of the day, with the likes of Rock Hudson and Randolph Scott impersonating big-screen macho men."

Was Scott gay as long rumored? (Taylor Hackford alluded to this a bit in his commentary on one of the discs in the Budd Boetticher box set.) I don't know and I don't give a tinker's damn one way or the other. Scott made some of the greatest westerns ever and over the years several of them have grown in stature with me and now appear on my "all-time favorite movies" list. The reason I say "over the years" is that when I was a kid I didn't care for Scott or his westerns that much....they were too adult, I suppose. Even in my 20's thru my late 40's I enjoyed some of his oaters but still didn't care for him that much....but when I hit my 50's I suddenly started really appreciating him, his work and his movies. Maybe I just aged into appreciating them and him.....like he gracefully aged in his work.

The Statler Brothers have a great song called WHERE HAVE YOU GONE RANDOLPH SCOTT and the lyrics go something like this.....and are a bit ironic in parts.

Everybody knows when you go to the show you can't take the kids along.

You've gotta read the paper and know the code of PG and R and X.

And you gotta know what the movie's about before you go.

Tex Ritter's gone and Disney's dead and the screen is filled with sex .

Whatever happened to Randolph Scott ridin' the range alone ?

Whatever happened to Gene and Tex and Roy and Rex , The durango Kid?

Oh whatever happened to Randolph Scott, his horse plain as could be?

Whatever happened to Randolph Scott has happened to the best of me.

Everybody's tryin' to make a comment about our doubts and fears.

True Grit's the only movie I've really understood in years.

You gotta take your analyst along to see if it's fit to see.

Whatever happened to Randolph Scott happened to the industry.

Whatever happened to Johnny Mack Brown and Alan Rocky Lane?

Whatever happened to Lash LaRue? I'd love to see them again.

Whatever happened to Smiley Burnette, Tim Holt and Gene Autry?

Whatver happened to all of them has happened to the best of me.

Whatever happened to Randolph Scott has happened to the industry.

PALO PINTO GOLD

2009-02-19T15:35:00.000-08:00

Got a screener dvd of this new western way back before Thanksgiving. On the back of the dust jacket it says, "Order Due Date: Dec. 29; Street Date: Jan 20....Only $24.95 with a PPV Window of 90 days and a 4 month Pay Cable Window of 4 months." Oh...yeah...Bob Polunksky of The San Antonio Times said......"DELIGHTFUL.....a western just like they used to make 'em." I don't know who "they" are but whoever "they" are could certainly make 'em better....why even you and I could make 'em better if we had the same equipment and money, or even a camera, some film and a cuppla actors. So save your $24.95, even your $2.49 or your 24 cents and sit back and read on!

It seems this Texan Anthony Henslee decided to make a western so he co-wrote a script, starred himself and even directed it. I wish wish it were good; I even wish it were tolerable but it's so hard to watch. Good intentions do not a good movie make.

Starts out in the early 1900's with a writer pulling into the dirt parking lot of a beer joint. (We know it's the early 1900's since this is supposed to be a western and he's driving a Model-A roadster.) The writer wants to find out the real facts about a famous gun-fight that took place in front of the joint. So happens a youngster in the joint overhears him talking to the barkeep and points out ol' Roy Clark and ol' Mel Tillis sitting at a table...glad it was Mel and not Buck Owens as I would have thought it to be an episode of Hee-Haw. The youngen goes on to tell the writer that ol' Roy and ol' Mel happened to have been there some 50 odd years before when it happened and from the looks of them it appears they had stayed there at that table for the next 50 0dd years. So the writer sits down after being introduced and a bit of chit-chat and convinces them that he'll write the true story as they tell it as ol' Roy seems pissed that all previous writers or reporters always seemed to change what he told them and wrote what they wanted.....then one cliche western bit after another and that's only the first 14 minutes. Shame when the regular story started and it even had Kinky Friedman in it as the Texas Govenor...'spose since he once was an unsuccessful candidate for that office....it never got much better and seemed to take 50 years to watch. Another actor/stuntman in the production was Bill Hart who doubled Glenn Ford in BORDER SHOOTOUT and as bad as ol' Glenn's last western is it still is 100 times better than "PPG." And the way he could still command the screen the leads in "PPG" couldn't even wear the support gunbelt ol' Glenn wore in his last oater.

Hate the "end arounds" they put on some westerns like the one on PPG and THE LAST RIDE OF THE DALTON GANG.

AH-H-H.....VALENTINE'S DAY

2009-02-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

Thirty-nine years ago today my wife and I had our first date.....and Valentine's Day then was on a Saturday also. We had dinner at a Japanese Restaurant in Century City (the name slips my mind) and saw Henry Fonda as the stage mangager in Thornton Wilder's classic play OUR TOWN at the old Huntington Hartford Theatre on Vine Street in Hollywood and co-rented a car with another couple....all for around 50 bucks.

While watching 30 ROCK the other night we had to laugh as the running gag was "you never have a first date on Valentine's Day." Well we did, and it was (and continues to be) wonderful!

ODDITIES

2009-02-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

Glenn Ford wearing a bright red poncho in DAY OF THE EVIL GUN (1968)

PARTY SCHOOLS

2009-02-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

The list of top party schools was released and my alma mater, good ol' WVU, West Virginia University, was once again in the top ten....at number 4!

SPAGHETTI MOMENTS IN NON-SPAGHETTI WESTERNS

2009-02-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

Don Randi's music for Glenn Ford's 1973 western Santee (which by the way was "Co-Produced" by Edward Platt, the ol' Chief hisself from the GET SMART tv show and featured John Hart, the other LONE RANGER who couldn't carry Clayton Moore's mask) sounds spaghetti-like in several places.

The title song of the 1959 Jack (Billy The Kid) Buetel western MUSANG! sung by the amazing Champ Butler (so amazing I couldn't find any info on him) sounds like it could have been lifted from the credits of many a spaghetti. This modern western was co-written and directed by the late great Tom Gries (100 RIFLES & THE RAT PATROL.) Another favorite who departed this earth way too soon....at the age of 55.

The 1972 Robert Mitchum south of the border "American" oater THE WRATH OF GOD (not to be confused with the 1968 spaghetti WRATH OF GOD with Montgomery (Brett Halsey) Ford seems and feels more spaghetti to me than Mitchum's 1978 VILLA RIDES which was actually filmed in Almeria. Some of the movie is set in a town that is a mirror image of Los Albaricoques and co-star Ken Hutchison evoked memories of Lou Castel in A BULLET FOR A GENERAL.

GREAT STUNT(S)

2009-02-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Jack Mahoney, yes he's billed as Jack and not Jock or Jock O'Mahoney, in OVERLAND PACIFIC with the beautiful Peggie Castle (loved her as the "Miss Kitty" rip-off in LAWMAN with John Russell and Peter Brown) and the under-appreciated and oft over-looked William Bishop (both died way before their times....Castle a couple of months before her 46th birthday and Bishop at only 41.....pulls off a stunt during a fight that I've never seen before or since.....

Mahoney gets into a fist-fight with Jenks the stage driver played by "B" western regular Fred Graham. Ol' Jack ends up in front of a hitchin' rail and is knocked backwards by Graham. As ol' Jack falls backwards his butt lands on top of the hitchin' rail and as his upper torso snaps downward and backwards almost touching the ground, he catches the under side of the boards on the wooden sidewalk with the toes of his boots and then he springs upward and forward, in one fluid motion, like a giant cat.....and continues the fight. Any guesses who wins?

GOOF-O-RAMA

2009-02-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

When Ben Cooper clubs the deputy over the head in GUNFIGHT AT COMANCHE CREEK (with Audie Murphy and Jan Merlin) you can clearly tell the gun is made of rubber by the way its barrel bounces back and forth....

Separated at Birth

2009-02-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

Nello Pazzafini and Lon Chaney, Jr (see Chaney in ALBUQUERQUE with Randolph Scott)

be kind.......I'm just getting used to this blog stuff

2009-01-29T18:31:00.000-08:00

New Spaghetti Blog

2008-03-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. This is my new Western Blog....Even though it's spaghetti oriented feel free to post and leave comments on American Westerns as well! We will leave no western "unturned."