Having played host to more than 60 Hollywood productions—from the early years of cinema through the 1970s—Sedona, Arizona’s unsung role in American film is the topic of this blog. Here, once and for all Sedona gets her due as a key location in movie history . Please click picture to view website
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Clint Eastwood, 1966.
Shane, Brandon de Wilde, Alan Ladd, 1953.
MOVIE: The Great American West of John Ford.
The Great American West of John Ford is a look back at the career of six-time Academy Award winning director John Ford (1894–1973) as told by John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Henry Fonda both. Filmed in Monument Valley and the location of the former back lot of Twentieth Century Fox, as well as in the den of Ford, the story goes back to Ford's start in the silent era up through the early 1960's. Click picture to view movie.
Ladd was a high-school swimming and diving champion and participated in high school dramatics. He opened his own hamburger and malt shop, which he called Tiny's Patio. He worked briefly as a studio carpenter (as did his stepfather) and for a short time was part of the Universal Pictures studio school for actors. Click picture to view Alan Ladd official web sight.
Andy Devine
Born in Flagstaff, Arizona. Andy Devine grew up in nearby Kingman. His father was Thomas Devine Jr., born in 1869 in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Andy's grandfather, Thomas Devine Sr., was born in 1842 in Tipperary County, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States in 1852. Andy's mother was Amy Ward, the granddaughter of Commander James H. Ward, the first officer of the United States Navy killed during the Civil War.
Audie Leon Murphy
Was the most decorated American soldier of World War II and a celebrated movie star for many years in the post-war era, performing in 44 films. He also found some success as a country music composer. Click picture to view Audie Murphy Official Website.
Buck Jones
Jones had more than 160 film credits to his name, in a career that began in 1918. By the 1920s, Jones joined Hoot Gibson, Tom Mix, and Ken Maynard as the top cowboy actors of the day. In the 1940s, Jones played Marshall Buck Roberts in a series of movies. During his career, he would develop a lifelong friendship with Scott R. Dunlap, a director and producer who would work with him on many of his films.
Charles Bronson
Best known for his "tough guy" image, who starred in such classic films as Once Upon a Time in the West, The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, The Evil That Men Do and the popular Death Wish series. He was most often cast in the role of a police officer or gunfighter, often in revenge plot lines. Click picture to view fan website.
Chuck Conners
professional basketball and baseball player, best known for his starring role in the 1950s ABC hit western series The Rifleman.
Claire Trevor.
She was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir" because of her many appearances in "bad girl” roles in film noir and other black-and-white thrillers. She appeared in over 60 films.
Dennis Hooper
Actor, filmmaker and artist. Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1955, and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). Over the next ten years, Hopper appeared frequently on television in guest roles, and by the end of the 1960s had played supporting roles in several films. He directed and starred in Easy Rider (1969).
Doloras Del Rio
Dolores Del Rio, was a Mexican film actress. She was a star of Hollywood films during the silent era and in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Later, she became a famous actress in Mexican films. She was thought to be one of the most beautiful actresses of her time and was the first Latin American movie star to have international appeal. With the arrival of the talkies she was considered one of the principal Art Deco symbols of beauty. Click picture to view website.
Ernest Borgnine.
Borgnine built a reputation as a dependable character actor and appeared in early film roles as villains, including movies like Johnny Guitar, Vera Cruz and Bad Day at Black Rock.
Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn, is probably best remembered as Robin Hood and his swashbuckling adventure films. Flynn also did a few western films. They mabybe be not as popular as some of his other pictures, but they are still entertaining movies. Click picture to view Errol Flynn's Official website.
CLINT EASTWOOD
Actor, director, producer, and composer. He has received five Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and five People's Choice Awards—including one for Favorite All-Time Motion Picture Star. Click picture to view websight.
Colleen Moore
She performed leads in B pictures and Westerns, several co-starring with Tom Mix. Click picture to view (awesome) websight.
Gabby Hayes
Radio, film, and television actor. He was best known for his numerous appearances in Western movies as the colorful sidekick to the leading man. Click picture to view website.
GARY COOPER
His career went from the 1925 until 1961, during which he made one hundred films. Click to enter websight.
GENE TIERNEY
Click picture to view Noir and Chick Flicks Gene Tieney page.
Glenn Ford
In 1978, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Click picture to view websight.
Gregory Peck
One of Century Fox 's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s. Click to view fan websight.
Harry Carey
Although Carey, one of Hollywood's finest character actors of the sound era, received an Oscar nomination for his role as the President of the Senate in the 1939 film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, he is best remembered as one of the first stars of the Western film genre.
HARRY CAREY JR.
Click picture to view HARRY CAREY JR. Official web sight.
Henry Fonda
Fonda's, career spanning close to a half century. Most often in association with director "John Ford". He starred in many of the finest films of Hollywood's golden era. Click to enter websight.
James Arness
Best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke for 20 years. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Marshal Matt Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in 1987 Return to Dodge and four more made-for-TV Gunsmoke movies in the 1990s. Click picture to view James Arness Official web sight.
James Garner
Performed in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades. These included his roles as Bret Maverick, in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick; Jim Rockford, in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files and on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has performed in dozens of movies.
Jane Russell
Jane Russell film actress best known for her performance alongside Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Russell was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. Click picture to view websight.
Jay Silverheels
Silverheels began working in motion pictures as an extra and stunt man in 1937. During the early years of his screen career, he was billed variously as Harold Smith or Harry Smith, and appeared in low-budget features, westerns, and serials. From the late 1940s he played in more prestigious pictures, including Captain from Castile starring Tyrone Power, Key Largo with Humphrey Bogart, (1948), Broken Arrow (1950) with James Stewart, War Arrow (1953) with Maureen O'Hara, Jeff Chandler and Noah Beery, Jr., Drums Across the River (1954), Walk the Proud Land (1956) with Audie Murphy and Anne Bancroft, Alias Jesse James (1959) with Bob Hope, and Indian Paint (1964) with Johnny Crawford. He made a brief appearance in True Grit (1969), as a condemned criminal about to be executed. He played a substantial role as John Crow in Santee (1973) starring Glenn Ford. Click picture to view fan club website.
Jimmy Stewart
Stewart left his mark on a wide range of film genres, including westerns, suspense thrillers, family films, biographies and screwball comedies. He worked for a number of renowned directors later in his career, most notably Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, George Cukor, and Anthony Mann. He won many of the industry's highest honors and earned Lifetime Achievement awards from every major film organization.
John Carradine
Best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns.
John Lupton
John Rollin Lupton. Film and television actor. After graduating from New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was signed as a contract player at MGM in Hollywood. In 1957, he was cast in western series, Broken Arrow, which ran for two seasons. Lupton also co-starred in 1956 with Fess Parker in The Great Locomotive Chase. He guest starred on several television series.
JOHN WAYNE
Actor, director and producer. He is best known for his rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height. Click to enter websight.
Lee Marvin
Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou (1965), he landed more heroic and sympathetic leading roles.
Patrick Wayne
One of four children born to John Wayne with first wife. He made nine movies with his father John Wayne.
Joel Mc Crea.
One of the great stars of American Westerns, and a very popular leading man in non-Westerns as well. Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1969.
Karl Malden
Karl Malden's career that spanned more than seven decades, he featured in classic Marlon Brando films such as A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks. Among other notable film roles were Archie Lee Meighan in Baby Doll, Zebulon Prescott in How the West Was Won and General Omar Bradley in Patton. His best-known role was on television as Lt. Mike Stone on the 1970s crime drama, The Streets of San Francisco.
Ken Mynard
He first performed in silent movies in 1923 and in addition to acting also did stunt work. His horsemanship and rugged good looks made Maynard a cowboy star. His white stallion, "Tarzan", also became famous. He became one of the first singing cowboys to record two songs, "The Lone Star Trail" and "The Cowboy's Lament". Maynard made his first films with a musical soundtrack. He sang two songs in Sons of the Saddle (1930). Click picture to view website.
KIRK DOUGLAS
Douglas played a cowboy in his first western Along the Great Divide (1951). Douglas became comfortable with riding horses and playing gunslingers, and returned in many westerns. In Lonely Are the Brave (1962), one of his favorite roles. Click to enter Kirk Douglas official websight.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando was one of the most celebrated and influential screen and stage actors.
MERLE OBERON
She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935). A car accident in 1937 caused facial injuries that could have ended her career, but she soon followed this with one of her most successful films, Wuthering Heights (1939). Click picture to enter websight.
Maureen O' Hara
Irish film actress and singer. The famously red-headed O'Hara has been noted for playing fiercely passionate heroines with a highly sensible attitude. She often worked with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne. Click picture to view official Maureen O' Hara websight.
Randolph Scott
Was best known for his image is that of the tall-in-the-saddle Western hero. Out of his more than 100 film performances more than 60 were in Westerns, "of all the major stars whose name was associated with the Western, Scott most closely identified with it."
RHONDA FLEMING.
She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became known as one of the most beautiful and glamorous actresses of her day. Click picture to enter RHONDA FLEMING official websight.
Richard Widmark
He starred with John Wayne in, The Alamo, with James Stewart in John Ford’s, Two Rode Together, as the U.S. prosecutor in, Judgment at Nuremberg and with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas in, The Way West. Also, St. Joan, as the Dauphin, How the West Was Won, Death of a Gunfighter, Richard Widmark was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
ROBERT DUVALL
He began his career appearing in theatre during the late 1950s, moving into small to supporting television and film roles during the early 1960s in such works as To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) and Captain Newman, M.D. (1963). He started to land much larger roles during the early 1970s with movies like MASH (1970) and THX 1138 (1971). This was followed by a series of critical successes: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), Network (1976), The Great Santini (1979), Apocalypse Now (1979), and True Confessions (1981). Click picture to view websight.
ROBERT MITCHUM
Actor, author, composer and singer. Mitchum is remembered for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s. Click picture to view fan websight.
Robert Taylor
Taylor performed in films of varying genres including Westerns. Click picture to view websight.
Rory Calhoun
Calhoun's career gained momentum and he appeared in several westerns, musicals, and comedies including Way of a Gaucho with Gene Tierney, With a Song in My Heart with Susan Hayward, How to Marry a Millionaire, and River of No Return with Marilyn Monroe. Click picture to view movie clip.
Sam Elliott
A born cowboy star if ever there was one.
Sheb Wooly
He played Ben Miller, brother of Frank Miller in the film High Noon, and also had a co-starring role in the television program Rawhide. Click picture to view websight.
Steve McQueen
Actor nicknamed "The King of Cool. His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. Click picture to view Steve McQueen Official Website.
Tom Selleck
Click picture for websight. Selleck became extremely popular with fans when portraying cowboy roles in Western films, starting with his role as Orrin Sackett in the 1979 film The Sacketts, opposite Sam Elliott, Jeff Osterhage, and Western legends Glenn Ford and Ben Johnson. He was easily accepted playing a cowboy, and the roles seemed to "fit" him. He followed The Sacketts with The Shadow Riders in 1982, then with Lassiter in 1984. Quigley Down Under is probably one of his best known Western films, however he also won a "Western Heritage Award" for his 1997 role in Last Stand at Sabre River. His last two cowboy roles to date were in the 2001 TNT movie Crossfire Trail (based on a Louis L'Amour novel of the same name), and the 2003 motion picture Monte Walsh.
Ward Bond
Bond made his screen debut in 1929 in John Ford's Salute, and thereafter played over 200 roles. He was frequently typecast as a friendly policeman or as a brutal thug. He had a long-time working relationship with directors John Ford and Frank Capra, performing in such films as The Searchers, Drums Along the Mohawk, The Quiet Man, and Fort Apache for Ford, with whom he made 25 films
Woody Strode.
Was a decathlete and football star who went on to become a pioneering African-American film actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960. . Click picture to view featured movies.
MATT CARTSONIS
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Matt Cartsonis first picked up guitar and mandolin at the age of fourteen, strumming his way into what has become a lifelong exploration of American roots, popular and world music. These days, his compositions can be heard in a growing number of features, documentaries, TV shows and commercials. Click to enter websight.
VAN DYKE PARKS
Composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, and actor. He has worked with performers including Grace Kelly, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Loudon Wainwright III, Silverchair, Ry Cooder, Joanna Newsom and Ringo Starr. Click picture to view websight.
MEN OF THE WEST:
BOB STEELE
Made a name for himself, and in the late 1920s, 1930s and 1940s starred in B-Westerns. Click picture to enter web sight.
GENE AUTRY
He was the most successful singing cowboy, performing in 93 movies and starring in 91 TV shows. Gene Autry was ranked among the most celebrated film stars and for years was considered to be the most popular Western film actor. Click picture to view Gene Autry Official websight.
HOPALONG CASSIDY and TOPPER.
a cowboy hero, created in 1904 by Clarence E. Mulford and appearing in a series of popular stories and novels. Click picture to enter Hopalong Cassidy Official web sight.
REX ALLEN
Actor, singer and songwriter who is best known for narratoring many Walt Disney nature and Western films. Click picture to enter Rex Allen Official web sight.
ROY ROGERS and TRIGGER.
He and his third wife Dale Evans, his golden palomino Trigger, and his German Shepherd dog, Bullet, were featured in over one hundred movies and The Roy Rogers Show. Click picture to view Roy Rogers Official web sight.
TOM MIX
The star of early Western movies. He made 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of them were silent films. He was Hollywood’s first Western megastar and is best known for define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed. Click picture to enter TOM MIX awesome web sight and read about his first horse Tony.
TEX RITTER
Country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the father of actor John Ritter. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Click picture to view websight.
WHIP WILSON
Cowboy film star of the late 1940s and into the 1950s, known for his roles in B-westerns. Click picture to view websight.
Doc Holliday (age 20)
Dentist, gambler and gunfighter of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Wyatt Earp
Officer of the law in various Western frontier towns, farmer, buffalo hunter, gambler, saloon-keeper, miner. He is best known for the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, along with Doc Holliday, and two of his brothers, Virgil Earp and Morgan Earp. He is also noted for the Earp Vendetta. Wyatt Earp has become an iconic figure in American folk history. He is the major subject of various movies, TV shows, biographies and works of fiction.
WOMEN OF THE WEST
ANNIE OAKLEY
Sharpshooter. Oakley's amazing talent and rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which propelled her to become the first American female superstar.
BELLE STARR
She was born Myra Maybelle Shirley (known as May to her family) on her father's farm near Carthage, Missouri. Her mother was a Hatfield from the infamous Hatfield-McCoy feuding clans. In the 1860s her father sold the farm and moved the family to Carthage where he bought an inn and livery stable on the town square. Click picture to view more info on Belle Starr.
BIG NOSE KATE
Was the long-time companion/common law wife of fabled gunfighter Doc Holliday in the American Old West. Click picture for more info.
CALAMITY JANE
Frontierswoman, prostitute, and professional scout best known for her acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native American Indians. She was kind and compassionate towards others, especially the sick and needy.
DALE EVANS.
Dale Evans married Roy Rogers in 1947, and the couple often appeared together on the big screen.
Lucille Mulhall
World's Champion Roper. America's Greatest Horsewoman -- Queen of the Range -- and the only woman who ever roped steers competitively with men -- Lucille Mulhall held the top spot in contests and vaudeville for twenty years. Will Rogers, friend and teacher, called her the world's greatest rider.
PAULINE CUSHMAN
Actress turned Civil War spy who was ultimately captured and sentenced to be executed by the South. Rescued three days prior to her scheduled hanging, she was given the honorary commission of Major by President Abraham Lincoln. She toured the country for a number of years, telling of her exploits. She finally settled in Casa Grande, Arizona, with her third husband, sheriff Jere Fryer. After a few years of marriage, she moved to San Francisco where she spent the last years of her life as a scrubwoman.
The new western series, Hell on Wheels, which premiered on AMC back in November of last year is winding down for the season with one more new episode left for this Sunday night. Set in the 1860's it centers on former confederate soldier Cullen Bohannan, whose quest for vengeance has led him to the Union Pacific Railroad's westward construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad. Newcomer Anson Mount is great as Cullen. And he is supported by a great cast. Including Colm Meaney as railroad baron Durant. Common as Elam, Cullen's right hand man. Tom Noonan as the local reverend. Dominique McElligott as the headstrong Lily Bell, a woman whose husband worked for Durant and was killed by Indians. And Christopher Heyerdahl as The Swede, who runs the railroad camp with a strong hand.
Anson Mount as Cullen
Colm Meaney as Durant
Common as Elam
Dominique McElligott as Lily
Cullen is looking for the men who killed his wife and as he finds them, he kills them one by one. Along the way he works as the boss of the railroad and makes friend with Elam. Which riles the other men since Elam is a Negro and is seen as nothing but a slave. And he buts head with The Swede on a daily basis. And plus there is conflict with the local Indians as the railroad is forging ahead through the land where they live.
All in all, there is so much going on here, that it is a joy to watch each and every week. If you love westerns, then this is a very entertaining series. It is quite graphic and the language is raw but not as strong as Deadwood was. Catch this great series, now airing on AMC. Oh and if you're wondering, Hell on Wheels is the name of the town where it is set. And it has this awesome theme music that grabs you right away.
Montana Belle (1952). Western directed by Allan Dwan. Cast: Jane Russell. The story is a fictionalised biography of Montana outlaw Belle Starr.
Russell plays notorious outlaw sharp shooter Belle Starr, who after being saved by the Dalton Gang from the hangman's noose, falls in love with Bob Dalton. This doesn't stop Belle and Dalton from trying to stab one another in the back. Things take a turn for the better,(for a short time) after Belle Starr meets gambler Tom Bradfield who finally offers Belle a new start in life.
Supporting players George Brent and Forrest Tucker, who take turns getting out of Jane's way. Russell, makes a perfect Belle, you will enjoy seeing her in the saloon singing, "The Gilded Lily".
Jane Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011). Was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s.
Russell moved from the Midwest to California, where she had her first film role in 1943 with The Outlaw. She starred in over 20 films throughout her career.
There are many wonderful stories of courageous women who helped to settle the West, told through dramas, musicals and comedy. Here is a list of some of the better known.. Western Woman Classic films:
Belle Starr (1941). Director: Irving Cummings. Based on the life of outlaw Belle Starr. Cast: Gene Tierney, Randolph Scott and Dana Andrews.
After her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding Captain Sam Starr, Belle Shirley promises to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his group who make plans to attack banks and railroads and enemy troops. Belle and Sam are married and trouble begins when Sam lets a couple of ruthless rebels into the gang.
I remember seeing this film many years ago and fell in love with it. I have always liked civil war films. Gene Tierney is beautiful as always, but..did not care much for her southern accent throughout the film. Randolph Scott is wonderful as captain Sam Starr. I do not want to give the ending away.. Good performances at end.
FUN FACT: Originally, Alice Faye was to play the title role.
Annie Oakley (1935). D: George Stevens. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Melvyn Douglas, Pert Kelton, Andy Clyde. Biography of female sharpshooter Stanwyck and her on-again off-again romance with fellow performer Foster. Moroni Olsen, plays Buffalo Bill. I have not seen this one yet.
Annie Get Your Gun (1950). Musical biography of sharpshooter Annie Oakley. Cast: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Edward Arnold. Dir: George Sidney. Fun Facts: Judy Garland and Frank Morgan, who appeared together in The Wizard of Oz (1939), were scheduled to reappear together in this film. Garland was fired because of health problems, and Frank Morgan died shortly after filming began. As a result of this, Betty Hutton took over Judy Garland's role as Annie Oakley, and Louis Calhern succeeded Frank Morgan as Buffalo Bill. Howard Keel broke his leg during filming when a horse fell on it. I thought Betty Hutton was wonderful in this film. She may not have been the singer that Garland was, but she did a excellent job with her performance, as Annie with her amazing personality and humor.
Show Boat(1951). A beautiful musical of riverboat lives and loves. Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner and Howard Keel.
Westward the Women (1951) Director: William A. Wellman. Cast: Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel and John McIntire.
In 1851, Roy Whitman decides to take a group of women west to join his lonely men, hoping they will put down roots and settle down in his California valley.
Roy has the women pick their prospective husbands from pictures he has posted to a board. Two saloon girls, Fifi Danon and Laurie Smith, change their clothes when others like them are rejected. Roy is not fooled, but believes they are sincere in trying to change their ways and decides to let them join the other ladies. Roy hires a hardened trail boss, Buck Wyatt, to lead the wagon train.
On the trail, Buck shoots one of his men for raping Laurie. All but two of the trail hands leave in the middle of the night, taking eight of the women with them. This leaves only the Japanese cook, and Jim Stacey, who has fallen in love with an already-pregnant Rose Meyers to lead the train. Buck, decides the group must turn back. The women refuse to accept his decision. Roy believes that the women can learn to do "a man's job". The women go through one hardship after another. Will Fifi's bravery and determination change Buck's opinion of women?
This movie is very entertaining! It's funny, It's touching, It's violent. It's everything you'd expect from a film called Westward the Woman.
Mail Order Bride (1964). An aging cowhand tries to help a young rancher settle down by buying him a wife. Cast: Buddy Ebsen, Keir Dullea, Lois Nettleton. I have not seen this one yet.
Montana Belle (1952). The Daltons force Belle Starr to help them on a dangerous raid. Cast: Jane Russell,
George Brent and Scott Brady. I do not remember if I have seen this one or not.
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