Happy Birthday Claire Trevor (1910-2000)

Happy Birthday to the wonderful Claire Trevor, who made her mark in several entertaining westerns. Most notably Stagecoach (1939), Dark Command (1940), Texas (1941), Man Without A Star (1955) and The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953) to name a few. She also appeared in non-western films such as Murder My Sweet (1944), Key Largo (1948) and The Babe Ruth Story (1948). Happy Birthday Claire.

The Desperadoes (1943).

The Desperadoes (1943). Cast: Randolph Scott and Glenn Ford. It was the first Columbia Pictures production to be released in Technicolor.

When the bank is robbed in the small town of Red Valley, Utah, banker Stanley Clanton offers to repay fifty percent of his depositors' losses. Unknown to the town, Clanton has masterminded the bank robbery with Uncle Willie McLeod, the town postmaster and stable owner. Uncle Willie, is furious with Clanton for hiring Jack Lester, who killed three men during the robbery.

While looking for the bank robbers, sheriff Steve Upton, stops to water his horse. A man approaches from behind him and demands his horse at gunpoint. The man is Cheyenne Rogers, the gunslinger hired by Uncle Willie to rob the bank. Cheyenne, rides into town and at the stable meets Uncle Willie's daughter, Allison McLeod. Allison, is charmed by cowboy, who now calls himself, Bill Smith.

Cheyenne, heads for the saloon , where he meets "The Countess," his childhood friend. The Countess, does not believe that he will ever be able to "go straight".

Soon they hear explosion, then Nitro Rankin, Cheyenne's partner walks in with a injured his leg from the blast and Cheyenne refuses to leave town until his partners leg has healed. Later that night, when Cheyenne returns to the stables to see Allison, Steve is waiting to arrest him. When Steve recognizes the horse thief as his old friend Cheyenne, he invites him for a drink. As they walk toward the saloon, Uncle Willie recognizes Cheyenne as the man he hired to rob the bank advises him to leave town.

When the bank is robbed again, Cheyenne becomes, the prime suspect and his friend seems to be the only one who believes in his innocence.

One of my favorite scenes is, during the cow stampede started by a blast of nitro, used as a distraction while Cheyenne, rushes to help the wrongly imprisoned sheriff. Wonderful performances from a cast including: Edgar Buchanan, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Raymond Walburn and Irving Bacon as a bartender whose saloon keeps getting destroyed during fights.

Randolph Scott(January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) career spanned from 1928 to 1962. Scott performed in many types of genres, including: dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals, adventure tales, war films, horror and fantasy films. He is best known for his image as the Western hero. Out of his more than 100 film performances more than 60 were in Westerns.

Texas (1941).

Texas (1941). Cast: Glenn Ford and William Holden. Directed by George Marshall.

The story begins when, Dan Thomas and Tod Ramsey, two cow pokes who served in the Confederacy together, meet railroad promoter Windy Miller, when he pays their trespassing fine. To pay off their debt, Tod agrees to fight professional boxer Dutch Henry, who breaks his leg while jumping into the ring.



Soon after, while riding on the trail to Texas, they witness a gang of outlaws holding up a stage. The two cow pokes ambush the robbers and take the money, which Tod wants to return but Dan wants to keep. While Dan rides off to find dinner, the sheriff rides up with his posse and finds Tod with the stolen money. Just as the posse is about to lynch Tod, Dan rides in, saying that they are being attacked by Indians. Dan and Tod are able to escape, then decide to go their separate ways . The two friends do not see each other again for a long time. When they do meet up again, they find themselves on different sides of the law, where they may find themselves in a stand off.

I thought the film Texas, was a wonderful western, with two young superstars, William Holden and Glenn Ford. Two young cowpokes competing for the same girl, played by Claire Trevor. Also enjoyed seeing veterans George Bancroft and Edgar Buchanan. The film, blends humor and drama which makes for a good western.

Claire Trevor (March 8, 1910 – April 8, 2000) was nicknamed the "Queen of Film Noir", because of her many performances as a "bad girl”. She performed in over 60 films.

Her first credited film role was in the film, Life in the Raw(1933), with her feature film debut coming that same year in Jimmy and Sally (1933).

In 1937, she starred with Humphrey Bogart in the film, Dead End, which would lead to her being nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Some of her most memorable performances were opposite John Wayne, including the film, Stagecoach(1939), which was Wayne's breakthrough role. She also starred opposite Wayne in the film, Allegheny Uprising that same year, and again in the film, Dark Command (1940). Over a decade later, she would again costar with Wayne, gaining her final Oscar nomination for the film, The High and the Mighty.

Two of Trevor's memorable roles were starring opposite Dick Powell in the film, Murder, My Sweet and Born to Kill. She performed in the film, Key Largo, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Trevor moved into supporting roles in the 1950s, with her performances becoming increasingly rare after the mid-1960s. She played Sally Field's mother in the film, Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). She made a special appearance at the 70th annual Academy Awards in 1998.