Montana(1950). Cast: Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith and S.Z. Sakall.
Australian sheep-man Morgan Lane comes to Montana riding in on his beautiful palomino looking for grazing land, and holds his sheep at the boundary line set up by the cattle barons to keep the sheep from eating all good grass. He goes to town, pretending to be a merchant and learns that Maria Singleton, owner of a large ranch, and Rodney Ackroyd, another ranch owner and Miss Singleton's fiancee, are the leaders of the cattlemen against the sheep-men.
Miss Singleton, quickly decides that Morgan has a much better name than Rodney but the cattle-vs.-sheep feud keeps them apart. Until they meet in the street for a showdown...
Another thing the movie Montana, is known for is a nice little cowboy duet that Errol and Alexis sing called Reckon I'm In Love.
I've put off doing this post, but I feel I have to respond to whats being said over at the CFU, butI know better than to say anything over there, I'll just get attacked .
Any way it seems quite a few members are upset that TCM would dare show this "Val Kilmer" film , as it's in their view "not a classic". HELLO! Have any of you people even bothered to watch the film? OK the film was made in 1992. So What. It has Val Kilmer's great performance along with a thought provoking story. Check out the trailer
This is one of my favorite films and I for one thank TCM for having The GUTTS to include it in the Native American series. I would have been upset if they had not run it.
Whats your thoughts? Id' love to hear them. Does TCM have to always be stuck in distant past? Or can a newer film be a classic? I think you know where I stand.
OK Just for the record here are my favorite John Wayne Westerns:
The Searchers Red River Rio Bravo The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence Fort Apache She Wore A Yellow Ribbon Three Godfathers Hondo Stagecoach Big Jake The Horse Soldiers The War Wagon I'll post my favorite non western John Wayne films at a later time
I broke my favorite John Wayne movies into 2 lists: westerns and non-westerns.
Westerns:
Rio Bravo
The Searchers
She Wore A Yellow River
El Dorado
The Comancheros
True Grit
The Shootist
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Stagecoach
The Sons of Katie Elder
North To Alaska
McLintock
The Train Robbers
*Red River - makes the list but I haven't seen it yet
The Shootist (1976)
Rooster Cogburn (1975)
Brannigan (1975)
McQ (1970)
The Train Robbers (1973)
The Cowboys (1972)
Big Jake (1971)
True Grit (1969)
Hellfighters (1968)
The War Wagon (1967)
El Dorado (1966)
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
McLintock! (1963)
Donovan's Reef (1963)
Hatari! (1962)
Rio Bravo (1959)
In honor of it being The Duke's birthday, how about we each do a top 10 favorite list of Wayne's westerns.
Mull over our choices and each make a separate post about it by tonight or tomorrow. Have a great day everyone.
Little Big Man (1970). Director: Arthur Penn. Based on the 1964 novel by Thomas Berger. Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Chief Dan George, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, Jeff Corey and Richard Mulligan. It is considered a Revisionist Western, with Native Americans receiving a sympathetic treatment uncommon for Western films in previous decades.
121-year-old Jack Crabb, story begins when Jack and his older sister Caroline survive the massacre of their parents wagon train at the hands of the Pawnee. Soon they are rescued by a Cheyenne warrior and taken back to a Cheyenne village. Caroline leaves during the night on horseback, but Jack decides to stay and is raised by the Cheyenne leader, Old Lodge Skins. Jack grows up happy, until one day, Jack accidentally makes an enemy of Younger Bear. Jack is given the name "Little Big Man" because he's short and proves himself very brave. During a fight with US soldiers Jack, quickly says that he is a white man to save himself. He is then turned over to Reverend Silas Pendrake and his wife Louise. Louise's attitude and her sexual appetite is too much for him to understand and he quickly leaves her home.
Jack becomes the apprentice of the snake-oil salesman Merriweather. They are tarred and feathered when their customers realize that Merriweather is a fake. One of the customers turns out to be Jack's sister, Caroline. Once Caroline realizes that Jack is her brother, she tries to turn her brother into a gunslinger named the Soda Pop Kid (because his favorite drink is soda pop). My favorite part of the movie is when, Jack meets Wild Bill Hickok at a saloon. When Hickok is forced to kill a man in self defense, Jack loses his interest in gun slinging.
Jack's next career, is to open a general store and marries a Swedish woman named Olga. Unfortunately for Jack, his business partner is a crook and Jack is forced to close the store. General Custer happens to ride past and suggests they head out west. Jack agrees, during their travels, their stagecoach is ambushed by the Cheyennes and Olga is kidnapped. On his journey, he is reunited with Old Lodge Skins, who is thrilled to see Jack. After a short visit with the tribe, Jack continues on in search of Olga.
He becomes a "muleskinner" for Custer's 7th Cavalry. He fights in a battle against the Cheyenne. When they begin killing women and children, he becomes enraged and leaves the U.S. Soldiers. In the nearby woods, Jack finds Sunshine giving birth. He saves Sunshine from the soldiers and returns to Old Lodge Skins' tribe. Sunshine becomes his wife and they have a child together. Jack runs into Younger Bear, who is now the henpecked husband of Olga. Olga does not recognize Jack, and he does not tell her who he is. Sunshine asks Jack to take in her three widowed sisters as wives and father children with them. He is reluctant at first but finally agrees.
One day, Custer and the 7th Cavalry attack the Cheyenne camp. A now-blind and elderly Old Lodge Skins is saved by Jack and the Circle of Life. Sunshine and their child are killed along with her sisters. Jack wants revenge, but at the moment, with a razor to Custer's neck, Jack loses his nerve, and Custer makes fun of him. Destroyed, Jack becomes the town drunk in Deadwood, South Dakota. He is recognized by Wild Bill Hickok, who gives him money to clean up. When Jack returns to the bar, Hickok is shot and killed. With his last breath, Hickok asks Jack to give his money to a a widow he was having an affair with. Jack goes to see the widow, a prostitute who turns out to be a Mrs. Louise Pendrake.
While out trapping, Jack hears the faint sound of Custer and his troops. Jack still wanting revenge takes a job as a scout, believing anything he says will be a lie, they do the opposite. Jack leads the troops into a trap at the Little Bighorn. Jack truthfully tells Custer of the Native Americans hidden in the valley. Custer does not believe him and leads the 7th Cavalry to its doom. During the battle, Custer begins raving. Ignoring the closing circle of warriors, Custer decides to kill Jack and points his pistol at him. Before he can pull the trigger, Custer is killed by Younger Bear, who takes the wounded Jack, back to Old Lodge Skins' tepee.
Jack walks with, Old Lodge Skins to a nearby hill, where he gives his speech to the Great Spirit, saying he is ready to die. It begins to rain. Old Lodge Skins sighs and says, "Sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't." It is not his time to die.
My family enjoys watching this long but enjoyable western epic, which gives you insight to the lives of the American Indians.. In my opinion one of Dustin Hoffman's, best performances.
In 1960, Chief Dan George, was already 60 years old, when he got his first job acting in a CBC Television series, Cariboo Country, as the character "Ol' Antoine". He performed the same role in a Walt Disney Studios movie, Smith!, adapted from an episode in this series (based on Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse, a novella by Paul St. Pierre). At the age of 71, George won several awards for his role in the film Little Big Man, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He continued to act in other films, such as The Outlaw Josey Wales, Harry and Tonto and Americathon, and on television, including a role in the miniseries Centennial, based on the book by James A. Michener, as well as appearing in a 1973 episode of the original Kung Fu series, with David Carradine.
The Lone Ranger is an American radio and television show created by George W. Trendle and developed by Fran Striker.
The story is about a masked Texas Ranger in the Old West, first played by George Seaton, righting injustices with the aid of his, Native American sidekick, Tonto. Riding on the back of his white horse Silver, the Ranger would say "Hi-yo, Silver, away!" as the horse rode off into the setting sun.
Myrna Dell, started her career as a showgirl in the famous Earl Carroll Revue in New York, and made her first film, A Night at Earl Carroll's (1940). Signed by MGM, she performed in Ziegfeld Girl (1941), but MGM didn't pick up her option and she returned to Earl Carroll's. She soon began performing at the Billy Rose Nightclub, then spent a season in the "George White's Scandals" revue. Bitten by the acting bug, Hollywood never left her, and she went back in 1943 and performed in westerns with, Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson. She had a small part in the classic Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), and soon signed a contract with RKO Pictures. RKO kept her busy, putting her in more than 20 films over the next few years, even performing with future US President Ronald Reagan in, The Girl from Jones Beach (1949). She gave a good performance in the western The Bushwhackers (1952). She worked steadily over the years in films and on TV, and had a recurring role in the Dan Duryea adventure series "China Smith" (1952). She also wrote a gossip column, "Hollywood: Then and Now".
Confederate Veteran, Jeff Waring, arriving in Independence, Missouri shortly after the Civil War, wanting never to use a gun again. Until, he meets up with rancher, Taylor, and his henchmen, Sam Tobin and Cree, who are forcing out the settlers in order to take their land for the railroad. Myrna Dell, is Taylor's daughter and Dorothy Malone as the school marm.
Lee Marvin, is one of my all time favorite actors and also a fellow Tucsonian. He began his acting career after the war, while working as a plumber's assistant at a local community theatre in Upstate New York, Marvin was asked to replace an actor who became ill during rehearsals. He then began an amateur off-Broadway acting career in New York City and served as an understudy in Broadway productions. Soon after, Marvin moved to Hollywood. He found work in supporting roles. As a decorated combat veteran, Marvin was perfect in war dramas, where he assisted the director and other actors in portraying infantry movement, arranging costumes, and even adjusting war surplus military prop firearms. His first film was in You're in the Navy Now (1951) and in 1952 he performed in, Duel at Silver Creek, Hangman's Knot, and the war drama Eight Iron Men. He performed opposite, Gloria Grahame, in The Big Heat (1953). Marvin, also performed in a memorable role in The Wild One (1953) opposite Marlon Brando, followed by Seminole (1953) and Gun Fury (1953). He also had a small but memorable role as sailor Meatball in The Caine Mutiny. He was again praised for his role as Hector the small town hood in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) with Spencer Tracy.
During the 1950s, Marvin began playing more substantial roles. He starred in Attack (1956), and The Missouri Traveler (1958) but it took over one hundred episodes as Chicago cop Frank Ballinger in the successful 1957-1960 television series M Squad to actually give him name recognition.
In the 1960s, Marvin was given co-starring roles in films as The Comancheros (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Donovan's Reef (1963), all with John Wayne. Marvin also guest-starred in Combat! and The Twilight Zone. Marvin performed in the groundbreaking film, The Killers (1964) playing an professional assassin. The Killers was also the first movie in which Marvin received top billing. Marvin won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the western Cat Ballou starring Jane Fonda. Following roles in The Professionals (1966) and the The Dirty Dozen (1967), Marvin was given complete control over his next film. In Point Blank, he played a criminal out for revenge. In 1968, Marvin performed in Hell in the Pacific. He had a hit song with "Wand'rin' Star" from the western musical Paint Your Wagon (1969).
Marvin had a much greater variety of roles in the 1970s and 1980s, with fewer 'bad-guy' roles than in earlier years. His 1970s films included Monte Walsh (1970), Prime Cut (1972), Pocket Money (1972), Emperor of the North Pole (1973), The Iceman Cometh (1973) as Hickey, The Spikes Gang (1974), The Klansman (1974), Shout at the Devil (1976), The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday (1976), and Avalanche Express (1978). Marvin was offered the role of Quint in Jaws (1975) but declined.
Marvin's last big role was in, The Big Red One (1980). His remaining films were Death Hunt (1981), Gorky Park (1983), Dog Day (1984), and The Dirty Dozen: The Next Mission (1985); his final appearance was in The Delta Force (1986).
Gun Fury (1953). Director: Raoul Walsh. Cast: Rock Hudson and Donna Reed. The film is based on the novel Ten Against Caesar by Kathleen B. George and Robert A. Granger.
Georgian Jennifer Ballard is on a stage headed for California, to met her fiance, rancher Ben Warren, but, first the stage has to cross Arizona. Unknown to her, a fellow passenger traveling under the name of Hamilton is really outlaw Frank Slayton and his partner, Jess Burgess. With an Army escort to protect the payroll box, the stage stops at a small town overnight to wait for replacements. Ben shows up to surprise Jennifer, he has ridden out to make the rest of the trip with her. Slayton, attracted to Jennifer, is not happy by Ben's arrival, invites them to dine with him. The dinner conversation turns to the war, Ben, also a former Confederate, says the experience left him wanting the more peaceful life. Later, as Jess dances with Jennifer he advises her that she and Ben should take another stage to Tucson. Determined to get to California and marry as soon as possible, the couple stick with their original plans. The next day, the stage starts off with the Army escort, who have secretly been replaced by the Slayton's gang. After a short time, the gang stops the stage and kills the driver. Slayton revels his true identity, and when Ben tries to stand up to the gang, one of the other men shoots him. Leaving Ben for dead, Slayton and the gang take the payroll box and Jennifer to their hideout. Unknown to the gang, Ben follows, and although none of the townspeople he comes across are willing to help, he recruits three others who want revenge on Slayton.
My Darling Clementine(1946) Director: John Ford. Cast: Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan.
The movie was adapted by Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, and Winston Miller from the book Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake. The title is from the song "Oh My Darling, Clementine", which is the theme song of the movie (sung in parts over the opening and closing credits). Whole scenes from an earlier version, 1939's Frontier Marshal, directed by Alan Dwan, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, were re shot by Ford for this remake.
In 1991, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
In 1882, the Earp brothers are driving cattle to California when they cross the Clanton family led by the "Old Man", who tells the bothers of a nearby town, Tombstone, the older brothers ride in, leaving the youngest brother James to watch over the cattle. The Earps find Tombstone a lawless town. When they return to their camp, they find the cattle rustled and James dead.
Seeking vengeance, Wyatt returns to Tombstone and takes the job of town Marshall, meeting with, Doc Holliday and the Clantons, to find out who was responsible. In the meantime, a young woman from Boston named Clementine Carter arrives in town...
Although the characters and setting of the Gunfight at the OK Corral is the plot of the film is loosely based on actual history. Important plot changes in the film, the death of James Earp, the death of Old Man Clanton and Doc Holliday (who was a dentist, not a surgeon, and actually died years later of tuberculosis), are inaccurately portrayed.
Absolutely the perfect western. "My Darling Clementine" is at the top of my favorite list of westerns ever made.
May be it's just my sick little mind, but haven't you ever wondered what would happen to Tonto if he and the Lone Ranger split up ? Wonder No More. From 1969.
The Trail of 98(1928). The cast; Dolores Del Rio, Ralph Forbes, Harry Carey, Karl Dane, Emily Fitzroy, Roscoe Karns, Tully Marshall & Doris Lloyd.
The western epic begins, in 1896 when gold was discovered in a creek in the Yukon's. Despite the trouble in getting there, over 30,000 people would travel to the boom town of Dawson City, looking to get rich. It would not take long before someone discovered $100,000,000 in gold.
The film story is about the lives of many prospectors, but there is one story that stands out, is that of a gold miner who strikes it rich and is heartbroken when he returns to his true love and discovers that she is dance-hall girl working for a known murderer.
The last of the great silent epics, M-G-M's The Trail of '98 has a wonderful music score, sound effects and a theme song, "I Found Gold When I Found You", by Hazel Mooney, Evelyn Lyn and William Axt. Based on Robert William Service's 1911 novel. The famous scene of the long climb to the Chilkoot Pass is one you will never forget. It is most remembered the harrowing journey down the Whitehorse Rapids. The scene cost the lives of four stunt players, including Ray Thompson, who played the ranch foreman in Buster Keaton's Go West (1925).
Paint Your Wagon (1969). Musical. Adapted from the 1951 stage musical by Lerner and Loewe. Cast: Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and Jean Seberg.
This one of those movies I'm embarrassed to admit I love. I really enjoy the friendship that develops between the two lead characters and their lack of singing talents, which is so bad that it becomes interesting.. The story begins as a wagon crashes into a ravine. Prospector Ben Rumson finds two brothers, one is dead and the other is injured with a broken arm and leg. As the one brother is about to be buried, gold is found at the graveside. As dirt is flying, Ben stakes a claim on the land and declares the other brother as his "Pardner". Later Pardner, a hopeless romantic sings a love song about a girl named Elisa.( Can you believe Clint Eastwood is really singing?) Pardner hopes to find enough gold to buy some farmland. Ben claims that while he is willing to fight, steal, and cheat at cards, he promises not to betray a partner, and that he will share what ever gold he finds with Pardner on the condition that Pardner takes care of him in his moments of melancholy.
Soon a tent city by the name, "No Name City" is built with the miners living a wild life. Singing songs: ("Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans") sung by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and my favorite song in the movie a beautiful balled ("They Call the Wind Maria"). By this time, the men are missing female companionship and the arrival of a Mormon, Jacob Woodling, with two wives are the last straw and they talk him into selling one of his wives to the highest bidder. Elizabeth, agrees to be sold believing that whatever she gets, "it can't be as bad as what she has." A drunken Ben has the highest bid. Ben is readied for the wedding by the other miners ("Whoop-Ti-Yay"), and Elizabeth is married to Ben under "mining law". She wants him to treat her with respect and to build her a wooden cabin. Ben promises to build her a cabin and with the help of towns men, Elizabeth has a roof over her head..
Elizabeth's presence soon becomes a problem for Ben. Just in time to save to Ben's sanity, they hear the news of the arrival of "six French tarts" coming to a neighboring town and quickly come up with a plan to kidnap the women and bring them to "No Name City" ("There's a Coach Comin' In"), providing the town with income as other miners from all over will travel to "No Name City" for... what should I call it... the night life.. Ben leaves Elizabeth in the care of Pardner. While Ben is gone, the two fall in love("I Talk to the Trees"). Elizabeth says that she also still loves Ben, and convinces them that if a Mormon man can have two wives, a woman can have two husbands. Everything seems to be going, what I will call.. reasonably well.. until a group of religious settlers is rescued from the snow, and is invited to spend the winter with Elizabeth and Pardner, who they believe to be her only husband. Ben has to stay in town. What will happen to this love triangle ?
This is a clip from behind the scenes of the film, Paint Your Wagon.
FUN FACTS:
Eastwood and Marvin did their own singing while Seberg's songs were dubbed. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has a cameo in the song "Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans".
This film was made near Baker City, Oregon, Big Bear Lake, California and San Bernardino National Forest. Eastwood said that the experience made him want to become a director. According to Robert Osborne," Marvin drank heavily during the filming of the movie, which may have enhanced his screen appearance, but led to delays and many retakes.". My gosh..can you imagine..
My favorite place to visit is Sedona. Best known for its beautiful red sandstone formations, the Red Rocks of Sedona. The formations appear to glow in brilliant orange and red when illuminated by the rising or setting sun. The Red Rocks form a breathtaking backdrop for film makers.
Sedona is named after Sedona Miller Schnebly (1877–1950), the wife of the city's first postmaster, who was loved for her hospitality.
Westerns filmed in Sedona:
Call of the Canyon 1923 Riders of the Purple Sage 1931 Robber’s Roost 1932 Texas Trail 1937 Billy the Kid 1941 Angel and the Bad Man 1946 California 1946 Desert Fury 1947 Cheyenne 1947 Albuquerque 1948 Last of the Duanes 1948 Gunfighters 1948 The Fabulous Texan 1948 Corner Creek 1949 Tall in the Saddle 1949 Station West 1949 Blood on the Moon 1949 Comanche Territory 1950 Copper Canyon 1950 Eagle and the Hawk 1950 Broken Arrow 1950 The Red Head and the Cowboy 1951 Indian Uprising 1951 Half Breed 1952 Pony Soldier 1952 Flaming Feather 1952 Gun Fury 1953 Johnny Guitar 1953 Apache 1954 The Outlaw’s Daughter 1954 The Strawberry Roan 1954 Drum Beat 1954 Stranger on Horseback 1955 Shotgun 1955 The Last Wagon 1956 3:10 to Yuma 1957 Yellowstone Kelly 1959 The Legend of Lobo 1961 The Rounders 1964 Fire Creek 1965 Stay Away Joe 1967 The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle 1967 The Wild Rovers 1972 Gambler II 1983 The Quick and the Dead 1987 Riders of the Storm 1994 Deadman 1995
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) Epic/Western. Cast: Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson. The film was the last western to be directed by John Ford, who proclaimed it an elegy. Much of the film was shot in Monument Valley Tribal Park on the Arizona-Utah border, where Ford had filmed scenes for many of his films, Stagecoach and The Searchers. The tribal leaders were played by Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland , Dolores del Río and Sal Mineo , Ford hired members of the Navajo tribe for extras in this film.
This beautiful film begins with the Cheyenne Indians in 1970 being moved from their Wyoming home to a Oklahoma reservation. After waiting for a year for Federal aid , the tribe is losing the battle to survive and are dying off from disease and starvation. Wanting to save what is left of their tribe they decide to make a 1,500-mile journey to their Yellowstone hunting grounds. Traveling with them is their friend Deborah Wright, a Quaker schoolteacher. Hot on their trail is a cavalry troop headed by Captain Thomas Archer, Deborah's fiancee, who hopes to end what they believe is an uprising without bloodshed. Cheyenne brave Red Shirt, starts trouble in which several U. S. soldiers are killed. Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday are pressured into organizing a war party. Sympathetic Earp, purposely leads his posse in the wrong direction. With winter coming on, the Cheyennes split into two groups. Half continue on their long journey and half surrender to the heartless Captain Wessels, at Fort Robinson. Will the Indians survive this historic ordeal.
Films similar to Cheyenne Autumn, try to show that Geronimo, Sitting Bull and others were not criminals, they were only defending the land where they were born and raised.
FUN FACTS:
Ford added the segment with Stewart in place of an intermission. Ford didn't want people leaving the auditorium to go the bathroom or concessions counter, even though the film was long, and so he came up with the Wyatt Earp segment.
John Ford was urged to cast Richard Boone and Anthony Quinn as the Little Wolf and Dull Knife characters, as both had Native American blood. Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland, who were of Mexican descent, were cast instead.
Spencer Tracy was first cast as the secretary of interior Karl Shultz, but had a heart attack and was replaced by Edward G. Robinson.
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