The Western — Film—Television—Streaming

https://www.loc.gov/item/00694220/

THE ALAMO.  1960.  173 minutes.  Western.  Directed by John Wayne.  This film’s story is the famous one of the heroic last stand by Texans and American volunteers against the forces of Mexican General Santa Anna at the Alamo in 1836.   John Wayne produced, directed and Stars in this film (he plays Davy Crockett) and obviously was much attached to the project, just as he would be at the end of the ’60s with his Vietnam film of  The Green Beret.  Like the last mentioned film, The Alamo is more patriotic bunk and hokum than history.  It’s not boring, and many of us grew up on this kind of romanticized and myth making movie history.  It’s harmless but will not be to every viewer’s taste.  With:  John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joan O’Brien, Chill Wills, Ken Curtis, Carlos Arruza, Jester Hairston, Joseph Calliea, and Richard Boone.  Notes:  Academy Award nominations for best picture, supporting actor (Wills), Photography (William H. Clothier), scoring, editing and sound (for which it won the award).  Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.  Screenplay by James Edward Grant.  Box-office gross:   $7,918,616.

ALONG CAME JONES.  1945.  90 minutes.  Western.  Satire.  Gary Cooper.  Directed by Stuart Heisler.  Gary Cooper is a lanky, rambling cowpoke with a sense of humor who finds himself mistaken for a killer in this smart-alecky western written by Nunnally Johnson.  Loretta Young is the real killer’s beautiful girl, who discovers she has a soft spot for the cowboy.  This film actually plays a lot like romantic comedy.  It has some very funny moments, most provided by the definitely miscast William Demarest as Cooper’s sidekick.  Young is smart and ravishing too.  The story revolves around the killer’s efforts to retrieve money stolen from the railroads and how the cowpoke’s appearance creates confusion about who-is-who and where the money is buried.  With: Dan Duryea, Frank Sully, Lane Chandler, Russell Simpson, Chris-Pin Martin, John Meton, and Hank Bell.  Notes:  Written for the screen by Nunnally Johnson, from a novel by Alan LeMay.  Produced by Cooper and Johnson.

ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE.  1951.  88 minutes.  Westerns.  Kirk Douglas.  Directed by Raoul Walsh.  A U.S. Marshall stops the lynching of a cattle thief accused of murdering the son of a big rancher.  The decision to take the accused to court for a trial does not sit well with the men from whom he was rescued.  They pursue the marshal and his deputies across the rugged Arizona desert to get their man.  The marshal, meanwhile has to fend off the efforts of the cattle thief’s beautiful, strong-willed daughter to save her father as well.  Along the Great Divide was Kirk Douglas’s initial foray into the western.  Like all the big time male Stars of the ’40s, Douglas knew that the western was the surest way to sustain his career.  This film is tightly woven, intelligent, professional western.  Douglas’s signature role — the hard as nails loner with a troubled past — was easily adapted to this genre.  The rest of the cast, especially Virginia Mayo as the spirited young woman determined to save her father’s life and Walter Brennan as the garrulous old cattle thief are very fine.  First rate horse opera.  With: John Agar, Walter Brennan, Ray Teal, Hugh Sanders, Morris Ankrum, James Anderson, Charles Meredith.  Notes:  Screenplay by Walter Doniger and Lewis Meltzer from a story by Doniger.  Photography by Sid Hickox.  Music by David Buttolph.  Produced by Anthony Veiller.

AMERICAN CINEMA:  THE WESTERN.  1995.  Documentary.  American Films, History.  American Films, Criticism and Interpretation.  Produced for Public Television and broadcast during February through April of 1995, this program is largely a history of American Film from the beginning of the sound era to the present.  The Western.  1994.  60 minutes.  This segment of the extensive series American Cinema deals with the uniquely American, westerns portray the open frontier; the lawless edge of civilization; the legendary outlaw; and the solitary, enigmatic, often reluctant hero.  Yet to limit the western to these images alone is to miss its true scope; central to the style are dramatic stories from the American experience.  This program looks at the development of the western and its chances for survival in the future.  Featuring films from Stagecoach to The Magnificent Seven, The Western includes interviews with directors John Sturges, Clint Eastwood, and others.  Notes:  Narrated by Eli Wallach.

ANNIE OAKLEY.  1938.  90 minutes.   Westerns.  Barbara Stanwyck.  Annie Oakley.  Wild West Shows.  Women in the West. <V1295>.  Directed by George Stevens.  A young backwoods girl proves to be a pretty formidable marksman.  Her notoriety gets her a Starring part in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West extravaganza.  Barbara Stanwyck was one of the most gifted actresses of the 1930’s and 1940’s.  She usually played strong-willed independent women, or proud women fighting intense odds to succeed or find love.  She did few comedies and just as few westerns.  This tale of the sharpshooting Annie Oakley was her first western.  It is a pleasantly entertaining studio Star vehicle and her leading men — Preston Foster and Melvyn Douglas — were often the leads for the great lady Stars of the time.  With:  Moroni Olsen, Andy Clyde and Chief Thundercloud as Sitting Bull.  Notes:  Screenplay by Joel Sayre and John Twist from a story by Joseph A. Fields and Ewart Adamson.  Photographed by J. Roy Hunt.

APACHE.  1954.  91 minutes.  Westerns.  Burt Lancaster.  Western Fiction.  Apache Warriors.  Directed by Robert Aldrich.  Burt Lancaster is Massai, a lone Apache warrior who escapes the train taking the defeated warriors of Geronimo to reservations in Florida.  The proud, noble warrior endures much to maintain his freedom at whatever cost.  Handsomely produced western which portrays interestingly non-stereotypical Indian characters.  With:  Jean Peters, John Dehner, Paul Guilfoyle, Walter Sande, Ian MacDonald, Charles Buchinsky [who would change his name to Bronson], John McIntire, Morris Ankrum, and Monte Blue.  Notes:  Screenplay by James R. Webb from the novel Broncho Apache by Paul I. Wellman.  Photographed by Ernest Laszlo.  Music by David Raksin.  Produced by Harold Hecht.

ARIZONA BUSHWHACKERS.  1967.  87 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Lesley Selander.  Colton, Arizona is getting a new sheriff, an ex-Confederate soldier named Lee Travis.  The idea has the town in an uproar, especially the boss of the local gang.  A  Professional western with a damned good cast of solid old professionals and good location photography.  The story also relates an interesting footnote to Civil War history.  In 1862 Lincoln authorized an arrangement where imprisoned Confederate soldiers could gain their release by volunteering for service on the frontier as Indian fighters or as deputy marshals and sheriffs in far flung western towns like the one depicted in the this film  With:  Howard Keel as Lee Travis, Yvonne De Carlo as Jill Wyler, John Ireland as Dan Shelby, Marilyn Maxwell as Molly, Scott Brady as Tom Rile, Brian Donlevy as Mayor Smith, Barton MacLane as Sheriff Grover, James Craig as Ike Clanton, Roy Rogers Jr. as Roy, Reg Parton as Curly, Montie Montana as Stage Driver and, Eric Cody as Bushwhacker.  Note: Photography by Lester Shore.  Music by Jimmie Haskell.  Screenplay by Steve Fisher from a story by Fisher and Andrew Craddock.  Produced by A.C. Lyles.  The narrator is the inimitable Jimmy Cagney.

ARIZONA STAGECOACH.  1942.  58 minutes.  Westerns.  Range Busters Series.  Directed by Ray Luby.  Ray Corrigan, John King, and Max Terhune are the Range Busters in this entry in a popular B series from the late ’30s and early ’40s.  The story in this entry in the series revolves around the rangers’ trying to find out who’s been robbing the Wells Fargo coaches with such regularity.  They stage a robbery to trap the real villain — the local Wells Fargo agent.  Also with:  Nell O’Day, Charles King, Roy Harris, Kermit Maynard, Carl Mathews, Slim Whitaker, Slim Harkey, Steve Clark, and Frank Ellis.  Notes:  Photography by Robert Cline.  Story by Arthur Hoerl.  Quality of tape is only fair.  Recorded at extended play and may not pause or search on some machines.

ARROWHEAD.  1953.  105 minutes.  Western.  Charlton Heston.  Western Literature.  W. R. Burnett.  Apache Wars.  Directed by Charles Marquis Warren.  Charlton Heston plays a veteran army scout whose bitterness against the Apaches is believed to be a detriment to the Army’s plans for making peace with the warring tribesmen.  When the rebellious and embittered son of the chief returns from an Indian school in the East, his return is seen as the return of mythical warrior from “out of the East” by his people.  The scout’s prophecy of treachery proves true.  Despite his constant warnings that the Apache are treacherous and do not really want peace, a troop of soldiers is sent out to parlay and gallop into a deadly ambush.  Hard edged, action packed western melodrama with Heston heading a professional, capable cast that includes:  Jack Palance, Katy Jurado, Brian Keith, Mary Sinclair, Milburn Stone, Lewis Martin, Frank de Kova, Robert Wilke.  Notes:  Screenplay by Charles Marquis Warren from the novel by W. R. Burnett.  Photographed by Ran Hennahan.

BAD GIRLS.  1994.  100 minutes.  Western.  Prostitutes.  Women in Westerns.  Directed by Jonathan Kaplan.  Cody, Anita, Eileen, and Lilly are four beautiful young working girls in the old west.  When they have to get out of town after Cody kills a local big shot (who was much too rough on Lilly), they must fight off posses, bad guys, and the embittered widow of the man they killed.  The film does not do much for the careers of most of its Stars.  They are all professionals and the film is a competent western programmer.  This is Young Guns with girls.  The film’s sharpest performance is that of Drew Barrymore as the spunky, charming Lilly.  With:  Madeline Stowe as Cody Zamora, Mary Stuart Masterson as Anita Crown, Andie MacDowell as Eileen Spenser, Drew Barrymore as Lilly Laronette, James Russo as Kid Jarrett, James Legors as William Tucker, Robert Loggia as Fran Jarratt, Dermot Mulroney as Josh McCoy, Jim Beaver as Graves, and Nick Chinlund as O’Brady.  Notes:  Music by Jerry Goldsmith.  Photographed by Ralf Bode.  Story by Albert S. Ruddy, Charles Finch, and Gray Frederickson.  Screenplay by Ken Friedman and Yolande Finch.

BAD LANDS.  1939.  70 minutes.  Western.  Apache Wars.  Arizona Territory.  Directed by Lew Landers.  A small posse, lured into the desert by Apache warriors find themselves stalked by the Indians to the death when they come across a rich vein of silver at a watering hole.  The Apache, have them cornered at the watering hole — and begins picking them off one by one.  Well done little western about men under duress.  Good black and white photography.  The film is clearly a remake of the fine action film The Lost Patrol Starring Wallace Beery.  With:  Robert Barrat, Noah Beery, Jr., Andy Clyde, Robert Coote, Douglas Walton, Quinn Williams, Addison Richards, Francis Ford.  Notes:  Screenplay by Clarence Upson Young.  Musical score by Roy Webb.  Photographed by Frank Redman.

THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE.  1969.  122 minutes.  <V898>.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Cable Hogue, a prospector, is left for dead by his two crooked partners.  Against impossible odds, he drags himself out across the desert to the brink of death when he stumbles onto the “true” treasure of the desert wastelands — a water hole.  Hogue becomes rich from this water source and even gets a chance at revenge against his former partners.  A laconic, “swan song” to the Old West by one of the genres finest directors.  With:  Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Gene Evans, Slim Pickens, Kathleen Freeman, Peter Whitney, R.G. Armstrong and Max Evans.  Notes:  Screenplay by John Crawford and Edward Penney.  Music by Jerry Goldsmith.  Cinematography by Lucien Ballard.

THE BALLAD OF LITTLE JO.  1994.  124 minutes.  Western.  Bigotry in the West.  Women in the West.  Asians in the West.  Women Directors.  Directed by Maggie Greenwald.  Suzy Amis is Jo Monaghan a Boston heiress who runs away from home after having to give up her illegitimate child.  She travels west where she experiences many difficulties as a young woman traveling alone.  To protect herself she disguises herself as a young man.  The role suits her and her need to hide her past and she spends a lifetime as Joe Monaghan in the wilds of Montana.  Only when she meets and rescues a Chinese man from a beating by men of her town does she find a kindred spirit.  This is the most melancholy western ever made.  It moves slowly but holds our interest because Amis’ sensitive performance holds the ruse together.  She is not necessarily believable as a man, her sad-eyed beauty betrays her but her clever performance that makes the thing work.  The excellent supporting cast includes:  Bo Hopkins as Frank Badger, Ian McKellen as Percy Corcoran.  David Chung as Tinman Wong.  Heather Graham as Mary Addie. Rene Auberjonois as Straight Hollander.  Carrie Snodgrass as Ruth Badger, Melissa Leo as Mrs. Gray, and Sam Robards as Jasper Hill.  Notes:  Screenplay by Maggie Greenwald.  Cinematography by Declan Quinn.  Music by David Mansfield.

BAR 20.  1943.  54 minutes.  Western.  Hopalong Cassidy.  William Boyd.  Directed by Lesley Selander.  William Boyd is the honest, intelligent cowboy/rancher Hopalong Cassidy in this well done western about an unscrupulous cattle rancher’s efforts to buy up the herd of his neighbor and longtime friend.  The villain attempts to frame Hoppy and the boys.  Andy Clyde is California and George Reeves [the original TV superman] Hoppy’s sidekicks.  A very young Robert Mitchum is Richard Adams, the strongheaded young victim of the scam, and Victor Jory the bad guy.  With:  Dustin Farnum as Marie Stevens, Douglas Fowley as Slash, Betty Blythe as Mrs. Stevens, Francis MacDonald as Quirt Rankin, and Earle Hodgins as Tom.  Notes:  Screenplay by Morton Grant, Norman Houston, Michael Wilson from characters created by Clarence E. Mulford.  Photographed by Russell Harlan.  Music direction by Irving Talbot.

THE BATTLE OF ELDERBUSH GULCH.  1913.  24 minutes.  Silent.  Western.  Directed by D.W. Griffith.  Indian attacks, calvary rescues, and hairsbreadth escapes on innocents from the clutches of bad guys.  In this early three reeler from Griffith one sees all the future stereotypes of action westerns that would follow.  Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish are young girls orphaned by Indian attacks.  When the Indians over run Elderbush Gulch the townspeople are saved, just in the nick-of-time.  With:  Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish, W. Chrystie Miller, Robert Harron, Charles H. Mailes and Kate Bruce.  Notes:  Also included in the collection entitled D. W. Griffith Triple Feature.  

BEND OF THE RIVER.  1952.  91 minutes.  Western.  James Stewart.  Oregon Territory.  Western Literature.  James Stewart plays a former gunman who looks to change his way of life when he leads a group of farmers from Missouri to the Oregon Territory in the 1870s.  With:  Arthur Kennedy, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, Stepin’ Fetchit, Henry Morgan, Lori Nelson, Jay C. Flippen, Royal Dano, Frances Bavier, Howard Petrie.  Notes:  Screenplay by Borden Chase based on the novel Bend of the Snake by Bill Gulick.  Photography by Irving Glassberg.  Hans J. Salter.  Produced by Aaron Rosenberg.

BEST OF THE BADMEN.  1951.  84 minutes.  Western.  Post-Civil War Drama.  James Gang.  Directed by William D. Russell.  Robert Ryan is Jeff Clanton a major in the Union Army just out of the Army who is framed for murder by an ambitious, unscrupulous bounty hunter named Fowler after he tries to give fair treatment to a troop of Quantrill’s former raiders.  The raiders include the likes of the James and Younger Brothers and the Ringo Kid, all hardened bad guys.  When Clanton escapes he joins the ex-Rebels with plans to destroy Fowler’s power.  Well paced, well acted western melodrama adding another interesting spin on the James and Younger gangs.  With:  Claire Trevor, Jack Buetel, Walter Brennan, Bruce Cabot, Lawrence Tierney, Barton MacLane, and John Archer.  Notes:  Screenplay by Robert Hardy Andrews and John Twist from a story by Andrews.  Photography by Edward Cronjager.

THE BIG CAT.  1949. 75 minutes.  Western Drama.  Directed by Phil Karlson.  Draught, depression, and a marauding big mountain cat are at the center of this film about life in Utah territory early in the 20th century.  Shot on location, the movie has a touch of simple realism and homey intelligence without being saccharine.  The tension in the film also revolves around the personal feud between two neighboring ranchers.  With:  Preston Foster as Tom, Lon McCallister as McCallister, Peggy Ann Garner Doris, Forrest Tucker as Gil, Skip Homeier as Jim, Sara Haden as Mary, Irving Bacon, and Gene Reynolds.  Notes:  Screenplay by Morton Grant as Matt, and Gene Reynold.  With:  Dorothy Yost from a story by Morton Grant.  Photography by W. Howard Greene.  Music by Paul Sawtell.  There’s a hell of a brawl half-way through the film — a brutal, hard fight, very well done.  The print available is fair to good but the color is much too faded to do justice to the beautiful scenery.

THE BIG COUNTRY.  1958.  166 minutes.  Western.  Gregory Peck.  William Wyler.  Novels Into Film.   <V2648>.  Western.  Directed by William Wyler.  This film is one big cliché after another — a strong, silent type from the East comes West to wed a big rancher’s daughter in Texas.  Almost immediately he is confronted by the bullying sons of his fiancée’s father’s worst enemy.  He’s amused by their rambunctiousness but his girl is outraged.  On arrival at the ranch he discovers the jealousy of the ranch forman (who is of course secretly in love with the daughter).  There is a pretty school marm, as the fiancée’s best friend who must fight off the villainous desires of the chief bad guy.  The father is a fanatic while his chief rival is a big, gruff man full of hate.  The story centers around the how the easterner finds himself unexpectedly involved in this rivalry.  Despite the clichés, the grandiose western works on most levels.  It has Star power in the presence of Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, and Charlton Heston.  There is a gloriously sonorous score by Jerome Moross.  Burl Ives won an Oscar for his lusty performance.  With: Charles Bickford, Chuck Connors, and Alfonso Bedoya.   Notes:  Screenplay by James R. Webb, Sy Bartlett and Robert Wilder from an adaptation by Jessamyn West and Robert Wyler.  Based on the novel by Donal Hamilton.  Produced by Wyler and Peck.  Moross’ score was also Oscar nominated.  Box-office gross:  $3,500,000.

BIG JAKE.  1971.  110 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by George Sherman.  Wealthy cowboy and gunfighter John McCandles’ eight-year old grandson is kidnapped by a ruthless mercenary in a daring daylight raid on his wife’s ranch.  Many of the hands and the foreman are brutally killed during the raid.  Big Jake, as McCandles is known, estranged from his wife, is called in to help track down the boy and his abductors.  McCandles’ sons, James and Jeff (who haven’t seen their father in almost ten years) along with old Indian scout Sam form their own search party to give chase to the kidnappers.  Tight, well constructed Wayne western from the early 1970s.  With: Richard Boone as John Fain, Patrick Wayne as James Macandles, Christopher Mitchum as Michael McCandles, Maureen O’Hara as Martha McCandles, Bruce Cabot as Sam Sharpnose, Bobby Vinton as Jeff McCandles, Glenn Corbett as O’Brien, John Doucette as Buck Duggan.  Also with:  Jim Davis, John Agar, Harry Carey, Jr. Gregg Palmer, Roy Jenson, Virginia Capers.  Notes:  Written by Harry Julian Fink and R. M. Fink.  Produced by Michael Wayne.  Photographed by William H. Clothier.  Music by Elmer Bernstein.

THE BIG SOMBRERO.  1949.  78 minutes.  Western  Gene Autry.  Directed by Frank McDonald.  This film is one of two Gene Autry would do with color [the other was The Strawberry Roan].  Gene is a down-on-his-luck cowpoke hanging out in Mexico.  He hooks up with some old pals at the ranch of a beautiful young Mexican heiress and becomes involved with a lot of little intrigues.  Autry’s films are mostly linchpins for his songs and cowboy music, which are often wonderful.  This film has the extra advantage of color and some nice action scenes.  With:  Elena Verdugo, Stephen Dunne, George J. Lewis, Vera Marshe, William Edmunds, and Martin Garralaga.  Original Screenplay by Olive Cooper.  Photography by William Bradford.  Songs include the lovely ballad You Belong to My Heart [the very first song and scene in the film], Thankful for Small Favors and seven other songs.

BLAZING SADDLES.  1974.  93 minutes.  Western Satire.  Mel Brooks.  <V59>.  Directed by Mel Brooks.  Brooks’ western parody is a tribute to the crude low humor he specialized.  The film is about how a young, cool, hip young black man becomes sheriff in a western town in the late 1860s.  The film is pretty pleased with its jokes and satirical references at conventions and some of them are amusing.  Cleavon Little is nice as the sheriff and Gene Wilder and Madeleine Kahn are pretty funny.  The rest is a matter of taste, but the film was a huge popular success and is the favorite Brooks movie for a lot of people.  With:  Dom DeLuise, Harvey Korman, Slim Pickens, David Huddleston, Alex Karras, Liam Dunn, George Furth and John Hillerman.  Notes:  Screenplay by Brooks, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg and Alan Unger.  Box-office gross:  $35,200,000.

BORDER FEUD.  1947.  57 minutes.  Western.  Lash LaRue.  Directed by Ray Taylor. When a smooth operator named Vince Sharpe tries to take over several rich mines from the rightful owners, the Cheyenne Kid and Fuzzy Q. Jones are teamed up once again to get to the bottom of the spate violence.  With:  Al “Lash” LaRue and Al “Fuzzy” St. John.  With:  Bob Duncan, Gloria Marlen, Ian Keith, Kenneth Farrell, Ed Cassidy, Bob Duncan, Casey MacGregor, Rad Slavin, Mikel Conrad.  Notes:  Original story by Joseph O’Donnell.  Screenplay by Patricia Harper.  Photographed by Milford Anderson.

BORROWED TROUBLE.  1948.  58 minutes.  Westerns.  Hopalong Cassidy.  William Boyd.  Directed by George Archainbaud.  With:  William Boyd as Hoppy, Andy Clyde as California, Rand Brooks as Bucky Jenkins.  With:  Anne O’Neal as Lucy Abbott, John Parrish as Steve Mason, Cliff Clark as Dink Davis, Helen Chapman as Lola, Earle Hodgins as the Sheriff, Herbert Rawlinson as Graves, Don Haggerty as Lippy and James Harrison as Rocks.  Notes:  Original screenplay by Charles Belden based on characters created by Clarence E. Mulford.  Music by Darrell Calker.  Photographed by Mack Stengler.  

BRANDED.  1951.  94 minutes.  Westerns.  Western Fiction.  Alan Ladd.  Directed by Rudolph Mate.  Alan Ladd is Choya, a bandit on the run who agrees to pose as the long lost son of a rich Texas rancher.  The love and decency the family bestow on him make him admit to the plot to deceive them.  He goes on a search to find the real son which leads him to a Mexican land baron.  Straightforward, no nonsense Ladd western.  With:  Mona Freeman as Ruth Lavery, Charles Bickford as Mr. Lavery, Robert Keith as Leffingwell, Joseph Calleia as Rubriz, Peter Hanson as Tonio, Selena Royle as Mrs. Lavery, Tom Tully as Ransome, John Berkes as Tattoo, Milburn Stone as Dawson, Martin Garralaga as Hernandez, Edward Clark as Dad Travis, and John Butler as Spig.  Notes:  Screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Cyril Hume based on a novel by Evan Evans.  Photographed by Charles B. Lang, Jr.  Music by Roy Webb.  Costumes by Edith Head.  

BROKEN LANCE.  1954.  96 minutes.  Western.  Racial bigotry.  Directed by Edward Dmytryk.  In Wyoming in the late 1890’s an imperious cattle baron runs roughshod over his competitors and his sons.  Only one of the young men shows the old man backbone and integrity, the youngest, born to the man’s second wife, a full-blooded Comanche.  When an incident with a mining company threatens the old man with a jail term, the youngest son sacrifices himself for prison.  After three years, he returns, to find his father dead his mother returned to her people, and his half-brothers have taken over the running of the ranch — a huge operation heading toward the 20th Century.  This film is enjoyable, intelligently produced western with subtly handled messages about greed, family, bigotry and even the environment [the old man won’t permit the unnecessary shooting of the mountain wolves  and relishes the pristine nature of the country around him.  The conflicts between the old man and his eldest son are presented even-handedly — you can understand how they misunderstood one another.   Honest, straight-forward family entertainment.  With:  Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, Katy Jurado, Eduard Frans, E. G. Marshall, Hugh O’Brien, Earl Holliman, Carl Benton Reid, Philip Ober, Robert Burton.  Notes:  Screenplay by Richard Murphy based on a story by Philip Yordan.  Photographed by Joe MacDonald.  Music by Leigh Harline.  Produced by Sol C. Siegel.

BUCK AND THE PREACHER.  1971.  102 minutes. Western.  African-Americans in the West.  African-American directors.  Directed by Sidney Poitier.  Sidney Poitier plays a ex-Army scout trying to help former slaves escape being forcibly return to Louisiana as tenant farmers.  Enroute he meets an itinerant black preacher [Harry Belafonte] who reluctantly helps him achieve his mission against the brutal trackers.  Tense, well acted western, probably the first western to depict black life of that era.  With: Ruby Dee, Cameron Mitchell, Denny Miller, Nita Talbot, James McEachin, Clarence Muse, Enrique Lucero, Julie Robinson, John Kelly, Lynn Hamilton.  Notes:  Music by Benny Carter.  Photography by Alex Phillips, Jr.  Screenplay by Ernest Kinoy.

BUCKSKIN FRONTIER.  1942.  75 minutes.  Western.  Railroads.  Directed by Lesley Selander.  When the railroads Start to encroach on the business of a big-time overland freight hauler conflict becomes inevitable.  A solid work that’s almost a little too sedate.  Everyone of the performers is capable, and the production values are much superior to those of a typical B or program western but the problem with the film may best reflected in Victor Young’s lulling, omnipresent score — with its over familiar themes and overly familiar notes.  Even at peak moments in the plot, Young’s music is filled with mellow, symphonic strings. .  The film gets most of its energy from the entertainingly overstated villany of Victor Jory.  With:  Richard Dix, Jane Wyatt, Albert Dekker, Lee J. Cobb, Victor Jory, Lola Lane, Max Baer, Joe Sawyer, George Reeves.  Notes:  Photography by Russell Harlan.  Screenplay by Norman Houston with additional dialogue by Bernard Schubert from the story Buckskin Empire by Harry Sinclair Drago.  Music by Victor Young.  About the cast:  Lee J. Cobb was only 31 at the time he made this film, and Jane Wyatt, who plays his daughter was just a year younger.  Max Baer, the heavyweight prize fighter was the father of the Max Baer, Jr. who played Jethro Beaudine on the TV series Beverly Hillbillies.  Jane Wyatt was one of the iconographic suburban housewife and mothers on the popular ’50s and 60s situation comedy Father Knows Best [with Robert Young].

BUGLES IN THE AFTERNOON.  1951.  85 minutes.  Western.  7th Calvary.  Little Big Horn.  Western Fiction.  Directed by Roy Rowland.  Captain Kern Shafter is drummed out of the service after a fight with a fellow officer.  He goes to a remote frontier western outpost in Sioux territory to re-enlist as an enlisted man only to discover that his rival has been appointed the post commander  Shafter is sent on the most dangerous missions by the vengeful commander.  The suave leading man, Ray Milland, like other top male Stars of the ’40s, turned to westerns in the ’50s.  This interesting variation on the fall of Custer at Little Big Horn, is about revenge and hatred between two brother officers dating back to some dark, unexplained event in their common past.  It’s handsomely photographed by the capable William Cline and the action is plentiful if somewhat routine.  Dimitri Tiomkin’s score adds to the film’s speed and pace when the plot lags.  With:  Hugh Marlowe, Forrest Tucker, Helena Carter, Barton MacLane, George Reeves, James Millican, Gertrude Michael, Stuart Randall, and William “Bill” Phillips.  Notes:  Photography by William M. Cline.  Musical direction by Nat Heindorf.  Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.  Screen play by Geoffrey Homes and Harry Brown form the novel by Ernest Haycox.  Produced by William Cagney.

A BULLET IS WAITING.  1954.  82 minutes.  Western.  Directed by John Farrow.  Jean Simmons, Rory Calhoun, Stephen Mcnally, Brian Aherne.  A plane carrying a sheriff Munson and his prisoner Ed Stone crashes on a remote sheep ranch owned by David Canham during a torrential rain storm.  Stone, falsely accused of murdering the sheriff’s brother has every intention of escaping from Munson, who was injured during the crash.  The two men find shelter with  Canham and his beautiful daughter Cally.  When the girl and Stone Start to form a romantic bond, the sheriff’s feelings towards the prisoner, already emotional, becomes vengeful.  Well played psychological melodrama by an appealing, intelligent cast that includes Jean Simmons as Cally, Rory Calhoun as Ed Stone, Stephen McNally as Sheriff Munson, and Brian Aherne as David Canham.  Aherne and Simmons are a very interesting, stylized father and daughter.  Simmons, a marvelous actress, had no equal as a screen beauty during her early career except the young Liz Taylor, whom she resembles.  Notes:  Photographed by Frank F. Planer.  Screenplay by Thames Williamson and Casey Robinson from a story by Williamson.  Music written and conducted by Dimitri Tiomkin.  Quality and color on tape, with magnificent Utah scenery, is good.  Tape is at extended play and will not scan or pause on many machines.

BULLWHIP.  1958.  80 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Harmon Jones.  A beautiful half-breed freight company heiress marries a condemned man in order to keep the property left by her father — his will insisted that she be married before inheriting the property.  A crooked judge helps her find a man.  They fall in love with one another and together, put an end to the shenanigans of a troublesome rival operator.  Just fair western with the buxom Rhonda Fleming playing an gutsy, independent woman.  With: Guy Madison, James Griffith, Don Beddoe, Peter Adams.  Notes:  Screenplay by Adele Buffington.  Photographed by John J. Martin.  Title song sung by Frankie Laine.

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID.  1969.  110 minutes.  Western.  Comic Western.  Butch Cassidy.  The Sundance Kid.  <V6>.  Directed by George Roy Hill.  Maybe the most popular western (at the box-office) in movie history.  The story is that of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, two notorious bank robbers in the Wyoming Territory in the 1880s.  The film is enjoyable, mainly because it’s so good-natured sense of and because the star quality of Robert Redford and especially Paul Newman as the heroes is so large.  The movie is sunnily shot, often-times in sepia, and has the deliberate look of old photographs, a nice touch.  The music is by Burt Bachrach and includes the immensely popular “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” sung by B.J. Thomas.  Katharine Ross is a very, very lovely Etta Place, a school teacher in love with one or another of the heroes.  Also with:  Strother Martin as Percy Garris, Henry Jones as the bike salesman, Jeff Corey as Sheriff Bledsoe, George Furth as Woodcock, Cloris Leachman as Agnes, Ted Cassidy as Harvey Logan, and Kenneth mars as Marshal.  Sam Elliott has a small part as a card player.  Notes:  Screenplay by William Goldman.  Photography by Conrad Hall.  Academy Award nominations for best picture, director, and sound.  It won Oscars for original screenplay, cinematography, best song and best score and a slew of British Academy Awards including actor [Redford], actress [Ross], director, screenplay and cinematography Box-office gross:  $46,039,000.  On the AFI list of 100 Greatest American Movies.

CHEYENNE AUTUMN.  1964.  158 minutes.  Western.  John Ford.  Cheyenne Indians.  The Trail of Tears.  Migrations, Native Americans.  <V902>.  Directed by John Ford.  Ford’s last film.  The story of a 1500 mile trek across barren wasteland in Oklahoma for forced resettlement made by three hundred starving Cheyenne, late in the 1890s.  An epic based on a true story.  Some of the grandeur of his earlier non-studio bound films, are recalled in this last trek behind the camera for the great John Ford.  The film has moments of great beauty, but it is filled with the sentiment that entered even his greatest films.  Worth seeing for its importance as the last effort by a master.  With:  Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Gilbert Roland, Arthur Kennedy, James Stewart, Edward G. Robinson, Ricardo Montalban Patrick Wayne, Elizabeth Allan, Delores Del Rio, Victor Jory and John Qualen.  Notes:  Screenplay by James R. Webb based on the novel by Mari Sandoz.  Photography by William Clothier.  Music by Alex North.

CHISUM.  1970.  111 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.  Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.  John Wayne is John Chisum a New Mexico rancher who fights off greedy land developers to keep his cattle empire intact.  The prototypical John Wayne western of the late ’60s and early ’70s.  This film is based on the Lincoln County Wars of 1878 — a long, drawn out battle of who would control New Mexico Territory.  Chisum represents the forces of good fighting the good fight against troublesome interlopers.  The story also has a sub-plot about Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett.  Big time western with lots of pace, action and big set piece scenes.  With:  Forrest Tucker as Lawrence Murphy, Christopher George as Dan Nodeen, Ben Johnson as James Pepper, Bruce Cabot as Sheriff Brady, Glenn Corbett as Pat Garrett, Andrew Prine as Alex McSween, Patric Knowles as Henry Tunstall, Richard Jaeckel as Jess Evans, Lynda Day as Sue McSween, Geoffrey Deuel as Billy the Kid, and Pamela McMyler as Sallie Chisum.  With: John Agar and Ray Teal.  Notes:  Written by Andrew J. Fenady.  Photographed by William H. Clothier.  Music by Dominic Frontiere.

CHUKA.  1967.  105 minutes.  Western.  Western Fiction. Directed by Gordon Douglas.  A gunfighter named Chuka tries to warn the soldiers of a small prairie fort commanded by a ramrod stiff martinet that they should make an effort to feed the Starving tribes surrounding  them.  The privations suffered by the Indians has brought them near the boiling point.  Chuka had difficulty persuading the commander or this troop to overcome their hatred of the Indians and their own petty squabbling enough to insure that the tribes don’t attack.  Competently done but routine.  With:  Rod Taylor as Chuka and with Ernest Borgnine, John Mills, Luciana Paluzzi, Angela Dorian, James Whitmore, Louis Hayward, Michael Cole, Hugh Reilly, Barry O’Hara.  Notes:  Screenplay by Richard Jesup from his novel.  Photography by Harold Stine.  Music by Leith Stevens.

CIMARRON.  1931.  124 minutes.  Western.  Oklahoma Territory.  Novel Into Film.  Edna Ferber.  <V2135>.  Directed.  Wesley Ruggles.  The only Western to ever win the Best Picture Oscar.  That doesn’t mean its the best but there is plenty of action in this sprawling film based on Edna Ferber’s novel about the great Oklahoma land rush at the end of the 19th century.  Richard Dix plays an Oklahoma Everyman, a restless, restive hero who can’t settle down.  With:  Irene Dunne, Edna May Oliver, Estelle Taylor, George E. Stone, Nance O’Neil, William Collier, Jr. and Roscoe Ates.  Notes:  Screenplay adaptation by Howard Estabrook.  Oscar nominations include best actor (Dix), actress (Dunne), director, cinematography (Edward Cronjager].  The film did win Oscars for Estabrook’s script and Max Ree’s interior decoration.

THE CINCINNATI KID.  1965.  104 minutes.  Drama.  Gamblers.  Directed by Norman Jewison.  Steve McQueen plays a hot young gambler in New Orleans ready to take on the most famous gambler in the business (played by Edward G. Robinson).  Scenes of cock fights, rough and tumble gambling dens and cynically composed sex scenes dominate this interesting, tawdry melodrama.  It’s not a very good film but the cast is most intriguing and it has local color to spare.  With: Ann-Margaret, Karl Malden, Tuesday Weld, Joan Blondell, Rip Torn, Jack Weston, and Cab Calloway.  Notes:  Screenplay by Ring Lardner, Jr. and Terry Southern based on the novel by Richard Jessup.  Box-office gross:  $3,900,000.

CINDERFELLA.  1960.  88 minutes.  <V2395>.  Directed by Frank Tashlin.  The Cinderella tale turned on its ears as a Jerry Lewis comedy.  Lewis plays Fella, the ill used stepson and brother.  With:  Ed Wynn, Anna Maria Albergheti, Judith Anderson and with music by Count Basie and Joe Williams.  Notes:  Written by Frank Tashlin.  Produced by Lewis.

COLORADO SUNDOWN.  1952.  67 minutes.  Westerns.  Colorado Timberlands.  Rex Allen.  Directed by William Witney.  Rex Allen comes to the aid of his friend Slim who has just inherited portion of a huge Colorado estate.  A mill outfit, run by Dan and Carrie Hurley try a piece of sharpness to get the land from the naïve Slim and the third sharer of the property, young Jackie Reynolds.   Well paced low-budget oater with plenty of action and songs.  With: Rex Allen as himself, Louise Beavers as Mattie, Chester Clute as Lawyer Davis, John Daheim as Dusty Hurley, Fred Graham as Dan Hurley, Mary Ellen Kay as Jackie Reynolds, Slim Pickens as Slim, Clarence Straight as the postman, and June Vincent as Carrie Hurley.  Notes:  Written by William Lively and Eric Taylor form a story by Taylor.  Cinematography by John MacBurnie.  Music by R. Dale Butts.

THE COMANCHEROS.  1961.  107 minutes.  Westerns.  Western Fiction.  John Wayne.  Directed by Michael Curtiz.  In 1840’s Texas, a Texas Ranger transporting a Louisiana gambler for extradition runs into trouble with a dangerous gang of cut throats led by a ruthless old man and his beautiful, wily daughter.  In the ’60s, John Wayne’s westerns began repeating themselves with some frequency.  The story line may have changed locale or local color but the results were generally the same — lots of action and broad humor carried the day.  This one, set in the pre Civil War Republic of Texas is no exception.  Enjoyable on the whole.  John Wayne, Stuart Whitman, Ina Balin, Nehemiah Persoff, Lee Marvin, Michael Ansara, Pat Wayne, Bruce Cabot, Joan O’Brien, Jack Elam, Edgar Buchanan, Henry Daniell, Richard Devon.  Notes:  Music by Elmer Bernstein.  Screenplay by James Edward Grant and Clair Huffaker from the novel by Paul I. Wellman.  Photography by William Clothier.  The last film directed by Michael Curtiz [Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, Captain Blood among many of classic Warner Brother titles].

THE COWBOYS.  1972.  128 minutes.  Western.  Cowboys.  Children in the West.  John Wayne.  Cattle Drives.  Directed by Mark Rydell.  When the cattle crew of crusty old cattleman, Will Anderson all run off for the riches of a gold strike, he’s stranded with a big herd of cattle to take on a long cross-country drive.  He decides, in desperation, to hire a group of boys, all under fifteen years of age,  to help him get the cattle to market.  Anderson gets together a diverse crew of young boys all willing to prove their abilities and drive.  With the help of his wise old cattle drive cook Jebediah, Anderson whips the boys into shape.  Against impossible odds the boys make the drive, outsmarting a brutal rustler and his gangs, and the wiles of a madam and her stranded bunch of whores to get the job done.  Passable, novel approach to the cattle drive, but movies like Bad Company and Cattle Annie and Little Britches offer more challenging and complex notions of how the young survived and died in the west.  Making young boys into tough hombres is the soul purpose of this story.  With:  John Wayne as Will Anderson, Roscoe Lee Browne as Jebediah Nighlinger, Bruce Dern as Asa ‘Long Hair’ Watts, Colleen Dewhurst as Kate, Slim Pickens as Anse, Lonny Chapman as Preacher, Sam O’Brien as Jimmy Philips, Mike Pyeatt a Homer Weems, Matt Clark as Smiley, Chuck Courtney as Stunts, A. Martinez as Cimarron, Norman Howell, Jr. as Weedy, Stephen R. Hudis as Charlie Schwartz, Sean Kelly as Stuttering Bob, Clay O’Brien as Hardy Fimps., Robert Carradine as Slim Honeycutt.  Notes:  Screenplay by Harriet Frank, Jr., Irving Ravetch and William Dale Jennings.  Cinematography by Robert Surtees.

DAKOTA.  1945.  82 minutes.  <V2906>.  Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by Joseph Kane.  This Republic western is one of Wayne’s best films of the period.  He plays a adventurous young man who meets, falls in love with and elopes with the spirited daughter of a railroad magnate.  His bride has plans to go to the Dakota territories to buy up land for right-of-ways on one of her father’s lines scheduled to come that way.  Others find out about the scheme and she and her husband are robbed. They trace the villains to Fargo in the Dakotas and ultimately get their money back and help the local wheat farmers defy the gang taking over the area.  This western has a quick pace, unfettered plot, and well conceived action sequences.  Wayne is actually very appealing and funny in this film as is Vera Hruba Ralston.  They make a good pair.  Ward Bond is the main heel — a smooth talking con artist.  Mike Mazurski is his lead henchman and the film boasts the perennial old-man character played by Walter Brennan.  It also has Stepin’ Fetchit.  With:  Ona Munson.  Notes:  Screenplay by Lawrence Hazard.  Photographed by Jack Marta.  Musical score by Walter Scharf.

DAKOTA INCIDENT.  1956.  88 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Lewis R. Foster.  Bank robber John Banner is bushwhacked by his own partners after a job.  He boards a stagecoach carrying a famous dance hall singer, a blustering U.S. senator and the cashier of the bank robbed by Banner and brother of one of the bandits.  Each has reason for boarding and each is unaware of the fate awaiting them.  Routine oater whose plot is a simple variation on the Stagecoach premise.  The cast is interesting.  With:  Linda Darnell, Dale Robertson, John Lund, Ward bond, Regis Toomey, Skip Homeier, Irving Bacon, John Doucette, Whit Bissell, William Fawcett, Malcolm Atterbury, Diane DuBois, and Charles Horvath.  Notes:  Photographed by Ernest Haller.  Music by R. Dale Butts.  Written by Frederic Lewis Fox.

DANCES WITH WOLVES.  1990.  181 minutes.  <V3127>.  Western — Action Drama — Lakota Sioux Indians.  Directed by Kevin Costner.  Lt. John Dunbar becomes, unwittingly, a hero when his death wish ride before Confederate troops in a Tennessee battlefield inspires his fellow soldiers to rout the rebel forces.  He is decorated and offered his choice of a post.  He chooses the furthest frontier station he can think of.  When he gets to the soldier’s fort in the middle of the Great Plains, he finds it abandoned.  In solitude he waits for some sign of Army presence.  None show, but he does confront a tribe of Lakota.  This film, based on the novel by Michael Blake, was the surprise mega-hit of 1990, a favorite of most of the critical community and the ticket buying public.  The story is simply told, all from the perspective of Dunbar – who sees the brutal, fierce world of the Plains through the eyes of the handsome, regal tribe of natives he befriends.  The film, is a new, variation on the theme of the noble savage and  a sensitive white man’s going native.  Though it is a handsome, well-mounted and produced film, its message is delivered with too much finesse — the savagery of the Indians is made nobler than that of the encroaching army; the nobility is further served up by Costner turning native.  Whatever its faults, the film apparently struck a great emotional cord of some kind among audiences, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  With:  Costner as John Dunbar, Mary McDonnell as Stands With Fist, Graham Greene as Kicking Bird, Rodney A. Grant as Wind in His Hair, Floyd Red Crow Westerman as Black Shawl and also with Tantoo Cardinal, Robert Pastarelli, Charles Rocket, Maury Chaykin, Jason R. Lone Hill, Tony Pierce, Doris Leader Charger and Larry Osher.  Notes:  Screenplay by Michael Blake.  Photographed by Dean Semler.  Music by John Barry.  Produced by Costner and Jim Wilson.  Academy Award for best director (Costner), best cinematography, screenplay, original score, sound, and editing.  Nominated for best actor (Costner) and supporting actress (McDonnell).  Box-office gross:  $162,753,745.  Available on DVD and VHS.

DANIEL BOONE TRAIL BLAZER.  1956.  76 minutes.  Western.  Daniel Boone.  Directed by Albert C. Gannaway and Ishmael Rodriguez.  Passably watchable re-telling of the Daniel Boone story.  Bruce Bennett is fine enough as Boone as is Lon Chaney, Jr. as his Indian friend, Blackfish.  Filmed on location in Mexico by Republic Pictures.  With:  Faron Young as Faron Calloway, Kem Dibbs as Girty, Damian O’Flynn as Rebecca Boone. Jacqueline Evans as Rebecca Boone, Nancy Rodman as Susannah Boone, and Freddy Fernandez as Squire Boone.  Notes:  Screenplay by Tom Hubbard and Jack Patrick.  Photography by Jack Draper.  Music by Raul Lavista.  Picture quality is only fair.

DARK COMMAND.   1940.  94 minutes.  Western.  Ante-bellum drama.  Kansas, the settling of.  John Wayne.  Directed by Raoul Walsh.  In the bloody Kansas of the pre-Civil War Days, a school teacher and a unschooled, but popular young wagon master become combatants for the same woman and political office.  When the cowboy wins the sheriff’s office, the teacher, embittered by the treatment and disrespect he feels is shown him becomes a cynical rabble rouser for the Southern cause a la Quantrille.  Well made western drama.  With:  John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Walter Pidgeon, George “Gabby” Hayes, Marjorie Main, Porter Hall, Roy Rogers, J. Farrell MacDonald, Trevor Bardette, Joseph Sawyer, Raymond Walburn.  Notes:  Screenplay by Grover Jones, Lionel Houser and F. Hugh Herbert from the novel by W.R. Burnet.  Photographed by Jack Marta.  Music by Victor Young.

D.W. GRIFFITH TRIPLE FEATURE.  <V3341>.  Three silent westerns by the legendary filmmaker are included in this video package:  The Battle at Elderbush Gulch.  1913.  24 minutes.  Silent.  Western.  Directed by D.W. Griffith.  Indian attacks, calvary rescues, and hairsbreadth escapes on innocents from the clutches of bad guys.  In this early three reeler from Griffith one sees all the future stereotypes of action westerns that would follow.  Mae Marsh and Lillian Gish are young girls orphaned by Indian attacks.  When the Indians over run Elderbush Gulch the townspeople are saved, just in the nick-of-time.  With:  Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish, W. Chrystie Miller, Robert Harron, Charles H. Mailes and Kate Bruce.  Iola’s Promise.  1912.  15 minutes.  Silent. Western.  Directed by D.W. Griffith.  Mary Pickford plays a lovely Indian maid who falls for the stalwart cowboy hero.  When settlers come into the regions her tribe rages war on them — they overrun the territory in search of gold.  Wild chases, Indian raids, last minute rescues sustain this early Griffith opus.  With: Alfred Paget, George Nicholls, W.J. Butler, Dorothy Bernard, and Joe Swicklard.  The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch.  1912.  12 minutes.  Silent.  Western.  Directed by D.W. Griffith.  A young woman and her fiancé find their love for one another tested by the arrival of the girl’s beautiful but conniving best friend.  The friend becomes part of a scheme by claim jumpers to steal the hero’s gold mine.  Strictly traditional silent melodrama.  With:  Blanche Sweet, Dorothy Bernard, Charles West, Harry Hyde, Alfred Paget, and C. H. Mailes.

DAYS OF HEAVEN.  1973.  98 minutes.  Western Drama.  <V81>.  Director Terence Malick.  The story: a young man leaves the steel mills of Ohio to escape possible prosecution for fighting on the job.  He goes on the road with his lover and her sister.  The three pretend to be brother and sisters.  They travel to Texas where the lonely and trusting owner of the ranch they work at befriends them.  This is an incredible first film.  It is beautifully photographed with some astonishing scenes.  Malick’s screenplay is not as satisfying as his other cinematic skills — the story is episodic and his message didactic.  Still it is a very impressive directorial debut.  With:  Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Richard Gere, Robert Wilke, and Linda Manz.  Note:  The stunning photography (which one an Academy Award) is by the great Nestor Almendros (assisted by Haskell Wexler).  The film is the first Shepard acted in.

DEAD MAN.  1996.  121 minutes.  Satirical  Western.  Independent American Cinema.  Directed by Jim Jarmusch.   Johnny Depp is William Blake, a hapless young accountant who goes to Montana country in response to an ad for a bookkeeper by a mining baron.  His adventures to the place are harrowing in and of themselves, but his life goes totally haywire when he arrives in the muddy little town only to find that the place already has a bookkeeper.  He finds himself nearly broke and hopelessly at a loss for what to do next, when he draws the attention of  a beautiful whore.  The lovelorn girl and Blake spend a sweet, blissful night. together.  The morning after proves disastrous – the girl’s lover, the only son of the man who had stiffed him on the job – returns and attempts to kill  Blake and the girl.  Blake is the only survivor of the three – or is he.  He’s been badly shot, maybe fatally.  Blake becomes a walking dead man.  When unconscious, just after the shooting, he is saved (more or less) by an Indian with whom he begins an almost mystical escapade of crime and violence.  Dead Man is Jarmusch’ s best film.  It’s a sharply focused film parable, filled with wit and style, and some wickedly funny moments.   William Blake, the mild mannered, frightened man from the Midwest  finds a core of courage and fearlessness in himself that’s absolutely heroic – its as if the bullet lodged near his heart was some source of renewal, an elixir releasing him from the routine.  The cast is first rate and Robby Müller’s black and white photography is truly stunning.  With:  Crispin Glover as Train Fireman, John Hurt as John Schoffield, John North as Mr. Olafsen, Robert Mitchum as John Dickinson, Mili Avitai as Thel Russell, Gabriel Byrne as Charlie Dickinson, Michael Wincott as Conway Twill, Eugene Byrd as Johnny “the Kid” Pickett, Gary Farmer as Nobody, Lance Henriksen as Cole Wilson, Iggy Pip as Salvatore “Sally” Jenko, Billy Bob Thornton as Big George Drakoufous, and Jared Harris as Benmont Tench.  Notes:  Photographed by Robby Müller.  Written by Jarmusch.  Music performed and composed by Neil Young. 

THE DEADLY COMPANIONS.  1961.  90 minutes.  Western.  Sam Peckinpah.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Four people — Yellowleg [a former soldier whose life is one of constantly skirting the edge of the law], Billy [a reckless young gunman], Turk [a greedy old ex-Confederate gambler], and Kit, [a beautiful woman with a past] — are thrown together as if by fate.  They cross the Arizona dessert with the body of the woman’s young son, killed accidentally by Yellowleg.  The leads — Maureen O’Hara, Brian Keith, Steve Cochran, Chill Wills are very fine.  The story is about redemption, greed and revenge.  Not the most action-packed film, but rather thoughtful and subdued.  This was Peckinpah’s feature debut and it has a lot of the quiet effects evident in his later classic Ride the High Country.  With:  Strother Martin, Will Wright, Jim O’Hara, Peter O’Crotty, Billy Vaughan.  Notes:  Music by Marlin Siles conducted by Raoul Kaushaar.  Song A Dream of Love sung by Maureen O’Hara with words and music by Siles and Charles B. Fitzsimons.  Screenplay by A. S. Fleishman from his novel of the same name.  Photographed by William H. Clothier on location in Arizona and Old Tucson.

DESTRY RIDES AGAIN.  1939.  94 minutes.  Western.  James Stewart.  Marlene Dietrich.  Directed by George Marshall.  Wonderfully entertaining, tongue-in-cheek western with James Stewart as Destry, a lawman who disdains use of guns to maintain law and order and Marlene Dietrich as the notorious chanteuse, Frenchy.  Dietrich, the exotic flower of von Sternberg films in the ‘30s saw her career waning when she was convinced to ‘rough it’ a little in this film.  Her Frenchy was definitely not the refined type she so personified in her ‘30s roles.  The pairing of her with the laconic, laid back Stewart was inspired.  Destry is  classic 30s film entertainment and the essence of what a Star vehicle was at the time.  With:  Brian Donlevy, Charles Winninger, Mischa Auer, Irene Hervey, Una Merkel, Billy Gilbert, and Jack Carson.  Notes:  Screenplay by Felix Jackson, Henry Meyers, and Gertrude Purcell.  Music by Frank Skinner. Photographed by Hal Mohr.

DEVIL’S CANYON.  1953.  92 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Alfred Werker.  In the Arizona Territory in the late 1890s a beautiful woman outlaw is imprisoned in the state prison where she becomes the focus of attention for two men –an ex U.S. Marshall imprisoned after defending himself in a gunfight and the brother of one of the men the marshal killed.  However improbable most of the film’s plot, its a competent, professional western with a big jail break attempt foiled by the hero shooting it out with a hundred bad guys with a gatling gun as a climax.  With:  Virginia Mayo is Abby Nixon, Dale Robertson is Billy Reynolds, and Stephen McNally as Jess Gorman.  Also with Arthur Hunnicutt, Jay C. Flippen, Robert Keith, George J. Lewis, Whit Bissell, Morris Ankrum, James Bell, William Phillips, Earl Holliman and Irving Bacon.  Notes:  Screenplay by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan from and adaptation by Harry Essex of a story by Bennett R. Coehn and Norton S. Parker.  Photography by Nicholas Musurach.  Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof.

THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND.  1946.  Hopalong Cassidy.  William Boyd.  Directed by George Archainbaud.  William Boyd is Hopalong Cassidy, Andy Clyde and Rand Brooks are his sidekicks California Carlson and Lucky Jenkins in this episode of the famous serial western.  In this story, Hoppy and the boys come across a crooked judge and his gang out to rob a beautiful girl of some hidden gold stolen from a bank years before.  There’s lots of action in this tale of murder and treasure buried in the rocky terrain of the Devil’s Playground.  With:  Elaine Riley is Mrs. Evans, Robert Elliott is Judge Morton, Joseph Greene is the Sheriff, and Francis McDonald is Roberts..  Notes:  Screenplay by Ted Wilson from characters created by Clarence E. Mulford. Photography by Mack Stengler.  Music by David Chudnow.

DOC.  1971.  92 minutes.  Western.  Doc Holliday.  Wyatt Earp.  Directed by Frank Perry.  Stacy Keach is Doc Holliday, Faye Dunaway is Kate, Harris Yulin is Wyatt, and Mike Witney is Ike Clanton in this revisionist ‘anti-western’ of the early ‘70s.  Director Frank Perry has taken the legend of Tombstone, the O. K. Corral and turned it into a parable of political corruption and ethical uncertainties.  Doc Holliday comes to Tombstone to meet his friend Wyatt Earp only to find Wyatt and his brothers engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of the town.  Envy, cowardice, greed, and politics are the driving forces for the characters as envisioned by the makers of this film.  As the advertising campaign for the film suggested ‘they were two of the West’s most legendary heroes. . . until now.”  The message of the film is clear –  hero worship of these morally gray characters is to be intentionally derailed.  The myth must be debunked if not destroyed.  Keach is the least animated of all the famous actors and stars to play the much romanticized Doc Holliday in films [see Victor Mature in My Darling Clementine, Kirk Douglas in Gunfight at the O. K. Corral, Dennis Quaid in Wyatt Earp, and Val Kilmer in Tombstone].  As Doc’s whore Kate, Faye Dunaway is fine despite her anachronistic beauty and model’s cheekbones.  Harris Yulin embodies the filmmaker’s vision of Earp almost too perfectly.  With:  Denver John Collins as the Kid, Dan Greenburg as Clum, John Scanlon as Bartlett, Richard McKenzie as Behan, John Bottoms as Virgil and Phil Shafer as Morgan.  Notes:  Music composed and conducted by Jimmy Webb.  Edited by Alan Heim.  Photographed by Gerald Hirschfeld.  Screenplay by pate Hamill.

DODGE CITY.  1939.  101 minutes.  <V3068>.  Western.  Directed by Michael Curtiz.  Action is plentiful in this western about the coming of the railroad and the telegraph to Kansas in the boon days of the early 1870s.  It’s really quite enjoyable schlock from Warner Brothers, one of the several films in this period that made Stars of Errol Flynn and the frequent leading lady at the time, Olivia de Havilland.  With: Bruce Cabot, Ann Sheridan, John Litel, Henry Travers, Victor Jory, William Lundigan.  Notes:  Original screenplay by Robert Buckner.  Music by Steiner. Box-office gross: $1,688,000.

DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK.  1939.  103 minutes.  Directed by John Ford.  Henry Fonda is Gilbert Marlin a young man who seeks to make a home for himself and his family on the barely settled frontiers of the Mohawk Valley in New York in the mid-1750s.  Marlin brings his beautiful and aristocratic wife Lana or Magdelana [played by Claudette Colbert] into a world totally alien to the refined life she was used to but one that she comes to understand and love.  The couples’ hardships, like those of many other pioneers in the area is made even more burdensome by the attacks of hostile Mohawk tribes instigated by the French who want to keep the territory unsettled by the English Americans.   John Ford directed this stirring, beautifully photographed [in color], epic of Americans under duress and the spirit it took the settlers of the valley to fight their way out difficulties a message that played well in the late stages of the Great Depression and just as the world stood on the precipice of war.  Ford’s late ‘30s outlook of America’s past was decidedly more upbeat than some of his later, more famous works would be, but he was just really hitting his stride with this film, released in the same year as his great western classic Stagecoach.  Ford would also find a uniquely durable and reliable hero/star in Henry Fonda who would star in several of the director’s best films.  With: Edna May Oliver as Mrs. McKlennar, Eddie Collins as Christian Reall, John Carradine as Caldwell, Doris Bowdon as Mary Reall, Jessie Ralph as Mrs. Weaver, Arthur Shields as Rev. Rosenkrantz, Robert Lowery as John Weaver, Roger Immof as Gen. Nicholas Herkimer, Francis Ford as Joe Boleo, Ward Bond as Adman Hartman, Kay Laker as Mrs. Demmooth, and Russell Simpson as Dr. Petry.  Notes:  Screenplay by Lamar Trotti and Sonya Levien from the novel by Walter D. Edmonds.  Photographed by Bert Glennon and Ray Rennahan.  Music by Alfred Newman.  Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck.

DUEL IN THE SUN.  1946.  138 minutes.  Western.  Gregory Peck.  Lillian Gish.  <V1252>.  Directed by King Vidor.  Sprawling western about the clash of wills between the sons of a big Texas land owner.  Gregory Peck plays Lewt McCandless, Joseph Cotten as Jesse and Lionel Barrymore is the father.  Lillian Gish is the mother and Jennifer Jones is the “beautiful half breed” girl sought after by both brothers.  Wild stuff.  After Gone With the Wind, Selznick spent the rest of his life trying to produce films that would duplicate it’s epic grandeur and success.  This is probably as close as he got.  It’s got scale and is most enjoyable tripe, a film with an outrageously crazy story and set of characterizations.  It’s not really a western so much as a soap opera on horseback.  Duel in the Sun is not art, and it is not good, but it is fun.  With:  Walter Huston, Charles Bickford, Tilly Losch and Harry Carey. Notes:  Photographed by Lee Garmes.  Screenplay is by Mr. Selznick based on the book by Niven Busch. And though Henry King gets the official nod as director, Selznick, von Sternberg, William Dieterle, Otto Brower, and R. Reeves Eason may have also had something to do with some of the film.  Box-office gross:  $11,300,000, a sum that placed it among the all-time grossing films well into the 1960s.  Academy Award nominations for best actress (Jones) and supporting actress (Gish).

THE FAR FRONTIER.  1949.  67 minutes.  Westerns.  Roy Rogers.  Directed by William Witney.  Roy Rogers stars in this well paced programmer about a murderous gang involved in transporting illegal barrels of oil across the American border from Mexico after WW II.  As a side trade, the oil drums are also used to transport deported gangsters back into the US illegally.   When a border patrol friend is knock unconscious by the leader of the gang, Roy and his friends are out to prove his  innocence.  With:  Gail Davis as Susan Hathaway.  Andy Devine as Judge Cookie Bulljincher, Francis Ford as Alf Sharper, Roy Barcroft as Willis Newcomb and Clayton Moore as Tom Sharper.  Notes:  Written by Sloan Nibley.  Cinematography by Jack A. Marta.  Music by R. Dale Butts.  

THE FIGHTING KENTUCKIAN.  1949.  100 minutes.  Western.  French Exiles in America.  Directed by George Waggner.  An unusual western set in the American frontier of the early 19th century.  The story revolves around conflict between French exiles in Northern Alabama whose land grants are being challenged by some unscrupulous land grabbers.  The tensions run high when Kentucky Rifleman John Breen intercedes on behalf of the beautiful Fleurette, the daughter of one of the leaders of the French colony.  Fair entertainment.  With: John Wayne as John Breen, Vera Ralston as Fleurette, Philip Dorn as the General, Oliver Hardy as Willie, Marie Windsor, John Howard as Blake, Hugo Haas, Grant Withers, Odette Myrtil, Paul Fix, Mae Marsh, and Jack Pennick.  Notes:  Screenplay by Wagner.  Music by George Antheil.  Photographed by Lee Garmes.  Produced by John Wayne

THE FIGHTING WESTERNER.  1936.  Western.  Randolph Scott.  Western Fiction.  Zane Grey.  Directed by Charles Barton.  Randolph Scott Stars in this western about a cowboy investigating murders at a Colorado radium mine.  Not the best Scott but serviceable entertainment.  The film has the look of a western but its production values are minuscule.  Cramped sets that depict no particular place or time make it look claustrophobic and the film stock seems to have every scene shot in the dark.  With radium being the valuable ore, the notion is that the events take place in the filmmakers’ present [the 1930s].  You don’t see horses or cars but in one of the last scenes the sheriff makes a phone call — that places it in some kind of timeline.  A very lovely young Ann Sheridan has one of her earliest roles in this film.  With:  Charles “Chic” Sale does duty as sidekick playing the part as a bungling old sheriff’s deputy.  With:  Mrs. Leslie Carter, George Marion, Sr., James C. Eagles, Florence Roberts, Kathleen Burke.  Notes:  Screenplay by Edward E. Paramore.  Adapted for the screen by Ethel Doherty from Zane Grey’s Golden Dreams.  Photographed by Archie Stout.  Quality of the tape is only fair.

FINGER ON THE TRIGGER.  1965.  89 minutes.  Western.  A group of ex-Union soldiers, trekking towards New Mexico to set up new homesteads, come across a band of Confederate soldiers waiting in ambush for a troop of  Union soldiers in pursuit of $10 million in hidden Confederate gold.  The Union soldiers,  pursued by hostile Indians are trapped in the ghost town where the gold is buried where they must decide to fight off the marauding Indians.    Spanish made, routine western film.  With:  Rory Calhoun, James Philbrook, Silvia Solar, Todd Martin, Brad Talbot, Leo Anchoriz, Jorge Rigaud, Eric Chapman, John Clark, Franando Bilboa.  Notes:  Music by Sola.  Screenplay by Luis De Los Arcos.  Photography by Antonio Macasoli.  Video at extended play, not capable of .

FLAME OF BARBARY COAST.  1945.  92 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Barbary Coast, San Francisco.  Directed by Joseph Kane.  John Wayne Stars in this opus about the rough and tumble days on the infamous Barbary Coast of San Franciso.  Wayne is a Montana cattle rancher who falls in love with the beautiful chanteuse at a Barbary saloon [Anne Dvorak].  His rival, in love and business is an ambitious Barbary buccaneer [played by Joseph Schildkraut].  The picture has lots of action, songs, atmosphere and, of course, the great earthquake.  Not a bad evening’s entertainment.  With:  William Frawley, Virginia Grey, Russell Hicks, Jack Norton, Paul Fix, Manart Kipper, Eve Lynne, Marc Lawrence, and Butterfly McQueen.  Notes:  Screenplay by Borden Chase.  Photographed by Robert DeGrasse.

FLAMING STAR.  1960.  92 minutes.  Western.  Elvis Presley.  Directed by Don Siegel.  Elvis Presley is the half-breed son of a Texas rancher, caught between the anger of the white settlers and the rebellious Indians in this well-paced, well acted western melodrama.  Presley gives one of his few good movie performances.  He has a certain swaggering presence that was practically wiped away several years later by his MGM films.  Don Siegel, the director was just beginning his strides as an action director.  With:  Steve Forrest, Barbara Eden, Delores Del Rio, John McIntire, Rudolph Acosta, Karl Swenson, Ford Rainey, and Richard Jaeckel.  Notes:  Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and Clair Huffaker.  Music by Cyril J. Mockridge, conducted by Lionel Newman.  Photography by Charles G. Clarke.  Songs Flaming Star by Sherman Edwards and Sid Wayne A Cane and a High Starched Collar by Sid Tepper and Roy Bennett.  The Jordanaires accompany Presley on his songs.

FOUR FACES WEST.  1948.  90 minutes. Western.  Joel McCrea.  New Mexico Territory.  Pat Garrett.  Western Fiction. Directed by Alfred E. Green.  Joel McCrea is Ross McEwen who walks into the bank of Santa Maria, New Mexico and quietly forces the bank’s president to give him $2000.  He signs a note for the money under an assumed name, and, after making the banker escort him out of town, releases the man who goes directly to the authorities to report the incident.   The enraged banker demands that Pat Garrett, sheriff of Santa Maria, hunt the man down.  This film is a enjoyable dramatic western about a cowboy’s sense of honor and purpose.  Even when hunted down by the determined posse, his compassion and sense of decency make it necessary for him to help a Mexican family suffering from diphtheria.  The always engaging, talented McCrea, gives his usual beautifully understated performance.  McCrea’s grace and well attuned sense of earnest fun is a pleasure in itself.  The rest of the cast is quite attractive and very, very good:   Frances Dee as Fay Hollister, Charles Bickford is Marshall Pat Garrett, Joseph Calleia as Monte, William Conrad as Sheriff Egan, Martin Garralaga as Florencio, Raymond Largay as Dr. Eldredge.  The film was shot on location in New Mexico and Russell Harlan’s fine black and white photography adds texture to the film’s simple story.  Good western but not a lot of violence and action.  All-in-all a very fine, unusual western.  Notes:  Screenplay by Graham Baker and Teddie Sherman, adapted by William and Milarde Brent from the novel and Saturday Evening Post story Paso Por Aqui by Eugene Manlove Rhodes.  Photography by Russell Harlan.  Music by Paul Sawtell.

GERONIMO.  1962.  101 minutes.  Western.  Geronimo.  Directed by Arnold Laven.  Chuck Connors Stars as Geronimo in this western about the Apache uprisings of the 1880s.  In 1883, the Apache led by Geronimo are forced to surrender to the U.S. Calvary after being hounded by U.S. and Mexican forces.  When the promises of the peace are broken, Geronimo breaks out of the reservation at San Carlos and mounts a legendary campaign against Calvary in the Apache Territory.  The film was shot on location in Durango, Mexico with excellent color photography.  The pace is quick and Connors is an athletic, strong willed Geronimo.  He plays the Indian warrior with the same stolid strength he would bring to his famous television series The Rifleman].  With:  Pat Conway, Adam West [who would gain greater notoriety as TV’s Batman], Armando Silvestre, Lawrence Dobkin, John Anderson Enid Jaynes, Ross Martin [notable as Artemus Gordon in the trendy ’60s spy western series The Wild, Wild West], and Kamala Devi.  Notes:  Screenplay by Pat Fielder from as story by Fielder and Laven.  Photography by Alex Phillips.  Music by Hugo Friedhofer.

GERONIMO: An American Legend.  1993.  115 minutes.  Western.  Geronimo. Directed by Walter Hill.  General George Crook.  Jason Patric is Lt. Charles Gatewood, Robert Duvall is Al Sieber, Gene Hackman is Gen. George Crook, and Wes Studi is Geronimo in this elegiacal tribute to the legend of Geronimo [the film full title is  Geronimo: An American Legend].  Hill evokes mythical, heroic images of Geronimo’s fight against General Crooks’ calvary forces in the late 19th century American west.  Geronimo led the last great fight by Native Americans against the U.S.  With his defeat, the west was essentially won.  Hill’s film is an elegy to Geronimo as man and rebel.  The film is far less visceral than one might expect from Walter Hill [the scene of the Turkey Creek massacre being an exception].  It is not nearly as cunning or revelatory a film as Hill’s working of the Wild Bill myth in Wild Bill.  The film has epic sweep if not scale and is, of course, beautifully photographed.  With:  Matt Damon as Lt. Britton Mavis, Rodney A. Grant as Mangas,  Kevin Tighe as Gen. Nelson Miles, Steve Reevis as Chato, Carlos Palomino as Sgt. Turkey, Victor Aaron as Uncas, Stuart Proud Eagle Grant as Sgt. Dutchy, Stephen McHattie as Schooover, John Finn as Capt. Hentig, and Lee DeBroux as City Marshall Hawkins.  Notes:  Photographed by Lloyd Ahern.  Screenplay by John Milius and Larry Gross.  Music by Ry Cooder.  Box-office gross:  $18,400,000.

GHOST TOWN RENEGADES.  1947.  55 minutes.  Western.  Lash LaRue.  Directed by Ray Taylor.  “Lash” LaRue and Al “Fuzzy St. John Star in this entry in the popular ’40s western series.  An abandoned boom town near Barton City, Arizona suddenly becomes a hot property when gold is re-discovered on the property.  When government surveyors are killed, and an heir to the property ambushed, two U.S. Marshalls, the Cheyenne Kid and his  old friend Fuzzy are called in to put an end to the shenanigans.  Tight, fast paced and action packed short western.  Very enjoyable and should bring back fond memories to fans of the Lash LaRue series.  With:  Jennifer Holt, Jack Ingram, Terry Frost, Steve Clark, Lee Roberts, Lane Bradford, Henry Hall, William Fawcett, Dee Cooper, and Mason Wynn.  Notes:  Original Screenplay by Patricia Harper.  Photographed by Ernest Miller. Music by Walter Greene.

THE GODDESS OF SAGEBRUSH GULCH see under D. W. GRIFFITH TRIPLE FEATURE

GOIN’ SOUTH.  1978.  109 minutes.  <V3074>.  Western Comedy.  Directed by Jack Nicholson.  A western comedy with Jack Nicholson playing a roguish bandit who is saved from the noose by a lovely, virginal maiden who only wants him to help her work her gold mine.  Everybody thinks its a useless mine shaft, but she persists.  Her new husband, has other ideas on his mind, which she manages to resist . . . for a while.  This curiosity is mildly entertaining largely because Steenburgen’s sweet amateurishness (its her debut film) is quite fresh, especially when contrasted with Nicholson’s raucous Gaby Hayes imitation.  Christopher Lloyd and John Belushi.  Notes:  Screenplay by John Herman Shaner, Al Ramrus, Charles Shyer and Alan Mandel.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.  1968.  <V185>.  161 minutes.  Directed by Sergio Leone.  Story:  Three men look for lost Confederate gold.  They go through the hell of the war just to get a chance to get the money.  Everything and everybody who gets in their way bites the dust.  This is the third film in what turned out to be the “spaghetti western trio Leone made with a then little known American actor named Clint Eastwood.  The films — A Fist Full of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and this film made Eastwood an international film favorite.  The Good…etc. clearly had a big budget following the success of the first two films.  The battle scenes are impressive — crowded and confused as battle is likely to have been — but they are just set pieces around which the action takes place.   Not for everyone but for fans of Eastwood and westerns it has flavor and action in abundance.  With:  Lee Van Cleef, Eli Wallach, Rada Rassimov, Mario Brega, and Chelo Alonso.   Note:  The score by Ennio Morricone is just as famous as the film itself has become.  Box-office gross:  $6,111,962.

THE GREAT JESSE JAMES RAID.  1953.  74 minutes.  Western.  James Gang.  Directed by Reginald LeBorg.  Solemn interpretation of the Jesse James story.  Willard Parker plays a mature, intense Jesse, a man who trusts, and has nightmares about abuse from authorities in his past.  Very routine and kind of flat.  The story line has James and Bob Ford robbing gold hidden in a closed mine tunnel.  It ends with this failed raid and Ford and James parting — only a balladeer’s humdrum tune and an ironic wanted poster with a reward on Jesse’s head complete the tale of Ford’s later treachery.  With:  Tom Neal, Barbara Payton, Wallace Ford, James Anderson, Jim Bannon, Richard Cutting, Barbara Woodell.  Notes:  Written by Richard Landau.  Music composed and conducted by Bert Shefter with the song That’s the Man For Me by Shefter with Lou Herscher.  Photographed by Gil Warrenton.

THE GREAT NORTHFIELD, MINNESOTA RAID.  1972.  91 minutes.   <V2151>.   Western.  Directed by Philip Kaufman.  Kaufman has crafted a revisionist look at the James and Younger gang depicting them as far less than heroic.  The story revolves around the desperate and wild gang’s efforts to pull of a bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota — a town they think too backward and filled with foreigners to stop the daring gang.  Enroute to the effort the story reveals the levels of distrust and contention between the two sets of brothers, and when they arrive at the town they discover that the citizens are not so backwards as they think.  It’s a well constructed film technically but its much too hard and cynical.  Though it may be more historically accurate in its depiction of these rough and ignorant men, it’s aim to demystify is too scattershot.  The cast is quite good, but the western purist may prefer Walter Hill’s elegant pastiche The Long Riders.  The real focus is on the role of the Youngers, who are depicted as the real leaders of the gang.  With:  Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger, Robert Duvall as Jesse James, Luke Askew as Jim Younger, R.G. Armstrong as Clell Miller, Dana Elcar as Allen, Donald Moffat as Manning, John Pierce as Frank James, Matt Clark as Bob Younger, Wayne Sutherlin as Charley Pitts, Robert H. Harris as Wilcox, Jack Manning as Heywood, Elish Cook ,Jr. as Bunker, Royal Dano as Gustavson and Mary Robin Redd as Kate.  Notes:   Screenplay by Kaufman.  Photographed by Bruce Surtees.  Music by Dave Grusin.

THE GREAT MISSOURI RAID.  1950.  83 minutes.  Western.  James Gang.  Directed by Gordon Douglas.  This film is attempt at depicting the James and Younger gang as men forced into their actions by the persecution of Union forces during the Civil War.  The story is introduced and narrated by the voice of the boys’ mother.  It’s a fairly mature even revisionist interpretation gang as social heroes — they are force into their violent actions because of their persecution as Confederates or Confederate sympathizers, but it’s not the as romantic a conception as the the Henry Fonda and Tyrone Power 1939 version. Wendell Corey as Frank James, MacDonald Carey as Jesse James, Ward Bond as Major Trowbridge, Ellen Drew as Bee Moore, Bruce Bennett as Cole Younger, Bill Williams, as Jim Younger, Anne Revere as Mrs. Samuels, Edgar Buchanan as Dr. Samuels, Lois Chartrand as Mary Bauer, Louis Jean Heydt as Charles Ford, Barry Kelley as Mr. Bauer, James Millican as Sgt. Trowbridge, and Paul Lees as Bob Younger.  Notes:  Story and Screenplay by Frank Gruber.  Photography by Ray Rennahan.  Musical score by Paul Sawtell.

THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.  1903  8 minutes.  Silent.   Western.  Edwin S. Porter.  Directed by Edwin S. Porter.   Included in the anthology of early American films from Facets Films entitled American Primitive.  The first blockbuster made for the cinema.  Edwin S. Porter’s film is generally regarded as the birthplace of narrative cinema and of the quintessential American genre, the western [see below however] The story of a daring train robbery, the escape and subsequent chase and capture of the bad guys created a sensation in 1903.  The segment also includes:   Life of An American Cowboy.  1903.  11 minutes  Silent.  Western.   Directed by Edwin S. Porter.  The narration of this obscure Porter film makes its claim as the first narrative film and the birth of the Western.  Apparently shot just months before its more famous “sequel.”   A gang of rowdy cowboys disrupt a town with their rough-housing and play.  Lots of fancy horse, rope and shooting tricks.  There is a stage coach chase  by Indians and the heroine and others are taken by the savages.  Of course, there is a rescue.  

THE GREY FOX.  1983.  95 minutes.   Action Drama.   Train Robbers.  Westerns.  Canadian Cinema.  Directed by Philip Borsos.  A Canadian film about Bill Miner, an outlaw known as “the gentleman bandit” who is released from San Quentin in the early years of the 20th century after spending 30 years in prison.   Pretty pictures and the calm presence of the noted stuntman/actor Farnsworth are the salient points of this film.  It’s really not a western so much as it is a Canadian action picture.  This is a pleasant, picaresque Canadian action film, but not much more than that.  With:  Richard Farnsworth, Jackie Burroughs, Wayne Robson, Ken Pogue, Timothy Webber.  Notes:  Screenplay by John Hunter.  Cinematography by Frank Tidy.  Music by Michael Conway Baker and the Chieftains.  Awards: Best Film and Director Genies (Canadian Film Awards, 1983.  1983 Golden Globe nominations for actor and Foreign Film.

GUN FURY.  1953.  83 minutes.  Western.  Western novels.  Directed by Raoul Walsh.  Gun Fury is a western about the abduction of a Civil War veteran’s fiancée by a vicious outlaw, during a stagecoach robbery.  The hero is shot and left for dead.  When he revives, he begins a search for the gang with the help of an Indian, whose family was slaughtered by the gang, and a former member of the gang.  A violent, fast paced film some good performances.  With:  Rock Hudson as Ben Warren, Donna Reed as Jennifer Ballard, Phil Carey as Frank Slayton, Roberta Haynes, Leo Gordon, Neville Brand, Lee Marvin, Ray Thomas, Robert Herron, Phil Rawlins and Forrest Lewis.  Notes:  Screenplay by Irving Wallace and Roy Huggins based on the novel Ten Against Caesar by Kathleen B. Granger, George and Robert A. Granger. Photography by Lester H. White.

GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL.  1957.  122 minutes.  <V27>.  Directed by John Sturges.  Famous ’50s version of the gunfight between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang in Tombstone.  With Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday.  Also with:  Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet, Earl Holliman, John Ireland, Lee Van Cleef, Frank Faylen, Kenneth Tobey, DeForest Kelly, Dennis Hopper, Martin Milner, and Olive Carey.  Classy, action-filled western.  Note:  Best selling novelist Leon Uris wrote the screenplay for this film.  The rousing title song was sung by Frankie Laine and was a huge hit.  Laine sang a parody of this song over the credits of Mel Brooks’ BLAZING SADDLES.  

THE GUNFIGHTER.  1950.  85 minutes.  <V2194>.  Directed by Henry King.  Gregory Peck Stars in this western about a gunfighter trying his best to overcome his reputation.  When he tries to make a visit to his estranged wife and son he still can’t get away from the ferocious young gun hands out to  take his place.  The film has a reputation not unlike that of Peck’s gunfighter.  Not that good, but not a bad western.  With:  Karl Malden, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell, Skip Homier, Richard Jaeckel, Alan Hale Jr., and Jean Parker. Note:  Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson.

GUNSMOKE.  Television Westerns.  This most durable, and famous of television westerns starred James Arness and the solid, honest Marshal Dillon of Dodge City, Amanda Blake as the buxom owner of Long Branch Saloon [who would wait forever for Matt to propose] and Milburn Stone as Doc [the wise, crusty town doctor].  The Marshal’s sidekick varied over the years but the first and most memorable was Dennis Weaver as the lame Chester Goode, but Burt Reynolds and Ken Curtis [as Festus] were steady contributors later in the series.  What is remarkable about most of the programs was there uniformly excellent scripts, and strong acting.  Many very famous actors and directors appeared in episodes of the show either early or late in their careers.  Overall, one of the most consistently intelligent and watchable shows from the middle ‘50s through it last year as a regularly broadcast show.  When it was finally dropped by CBS, it was still consistently in the top 10 ratings, but its marketability was questioned – only older folks watched the show.

• Matt Gets It.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast September 10, 1955.  “Premiere show introduced by John Wayne.  Dan Grat (Paul Richards), a gunslinger with a reputation for provoking violence, arrives in dodge after killing an unarmed man in Amarillo.  Grat defies everything that smacks of law-and-order as he sets out to prove that even lawmen are expendable.  He ruthlessly shoots down anyone, who dares upset the chip on his shoulder, including Matt.”  With:  Vic Perrin, Harry Bartell, and John Dehner.  Notes:  Written by John Metson.  

• Magnus. [30 minutes].  Broadcast December 24, 1955.  “”Chester’s uncivilized brother (Robert Easton) arrives in town just in time for Christmas and Chester launches an all out campaign to “civilize” him.  Chester is determined to teach Magnus to gamble, drink and talk to women.  However, it is Chester who gets the education, when a bible-spouting madman storms into the Long Branch and threatens to kill Kitty.”  With:  With: Jams Anderson as Lucifer Jones.  Than Wyenn as Dealer, Tim Graham as the Cowboy, and Dorothy Schuyler as Olive.  Notes:  Written by John Meston.  Produced and directed by Charles Marquis Warren.

• Tap Day For Kitty.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast March 24, 1956.  “Nip Cullers [John Dehner], a rancher who lives near Crooked Creek with his housekeeper (Mary Adams) and an Indian girl named Blossom (Charlene Brooks), comes to Dodge City to find a wife.  Nip’s journey takes him to the Long Branch, where he selects an unwilling Kitty to be his bride.  When Nip becomes the victim of an attempted homicide, Matt concludes Kitty committed the crime.”  With:  John Patrick as Jonas, Evelyn Scott as Olive, Dorothy Schuyler as Kate.  Notes:  Story by John Meston.  Script by John Dunkel.  Produced and directed by Charles Marquis Warren.

• Hack Prine [30 minutes].  Broadcast May 12, 1956.  “The pilot episode, mat captures murderer Lee Trimble (Hal Baylor), and returns with him to Dodge.  Lee’s brother Dolph (George Wallace} vows he will not see Lee hanged, and to assure Lee’s freedom he pays a hired gun $800 to kill Matt.  The gunman turns out to be Hack Prine (Leo Gordon), an old friend of Matt’s who had once save his life. Now Hack wants Matt’s life back.”  With:  Hal Baylor as Lee Trimble, Wally Cassell as Oley and Tyler McVey.  Notes:  Written by John Meston.  Produced and directed by Charles Marquis Warren.

• The Killer [30 minutes].  Broadcast May 26, 1956.  “Crego (Charles Bronson], an unscrupulous vagrant who incites people to violence and then kills them in “self-defense”, arrive in Dodge after murdering a saddle tramp (James Nusser).  Crego only picks on men he knows stand no chance against him is “pretty good at picking fights with women and boys.”  When Matt challenges Crego, the cowardly killer refuses to fight back.”  With:  With:  David Chapman as Jesse Hill, Dabbs Greer as Jonas.  Notes:  Story by John Meston.  Script by John Dunkel.  Directed by Robert Stevenson.  Assoc. Producer, Norman MacDonnell.  Produced by Charles Marquis Warren.

• The Pest Hole.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast April 14, 1956.  “When several members of Dodge’s German population come down with typhoid, Doc and Matt race against time to determine the cause.  Meanwhile, much to the chagrin of the businessmen, the citizens of Dodge start to panic and leave. Backed into a corner, Doc takes drastic measures to find the carrier, a decision that puts his life and Chester’s in grave danger.”  With:  Patrick O’Moore, Howard McNear, Norbert Schiller, and Evelyn Scott.  Notes:  Written by David Victor and Herbert Little.  Produced and directed by Charles Marquis Warren. 

• Doc’s Revenge.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast June 9, 1956.  “A “stranger” rides into Dodge and Doc, uncharacteristically, runs to get his gun.  Chester and Matt are bewildered as Doc announces he will kill the man, even if he has to do it in cold blood.  Later, when the stranger is found with a bullet in his back, Doc is the obvious suspect.  Ironically, it is Doc who must labor to save the gravely wounded man.”  With:  Ainslie Pryor, harry Bartell and Chris Alcaide.  Notes:  Written by John Dunkel.  Directed by Ted Post.  Produced by Charles Marquis Warren.

• The Guitar.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast July 21, 1956.  “Weed Pindle (Aaron Spelling) is a simpleminded, guitar-strumming wanderer who travels aimlessly from town to town with his beloved burro. After arriving in Dodge, Weed captures the hearts of the barflies at the Long Branch saloon, and at the same time becomes the object of ridicule for two sadistic, blood-thirsty cowboys (Jacques Aubucon as Short, Charles Gray as Tyler).”  With:  Bill Hale as tom, Duane Thorsen as Delmer, Joseph Mell as Pence.  Notes:  Story by John Meston.  Script by Sam Peckinpah.  Directed by Harry Horner.  Produced by Charles Marquis Warren.  Assoc. Producer, Norman MacDonnell.

• Cow Doctor.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast September 8, 1956.  “Doc arrives at Ben Pitcher’s (Robert H. Harris) farm and is furious to discover that he has been summoned to treat a cow.  Ben, who hates doctors, gets into a fight with the irascible physician. To add to Doc’s resentment, a patient who really needs his help dies while he is away.  Later, Doc is again called to Ben’s farm, and despite Matt’s and Kitty’s protestations he makes the call.”  With:  Dorothy Adams as Mrs. Pitcher, Tommy Kirk as Jerry Pitcher.  Notes:  Story by John Meston.  Script by John Dunkel.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen. Produced by Charles Marquis Warren.  Assoc. Producer, Norman MacDonnell.  

• Legal Revenge.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast November 17, 1956.  “While returning from a professional visit, Doc happens upon an isolated cabin where he discovers Flory Tibbs (Cloris Leachman) tending to George Bassett (Philip Bourneuf).  Bassett is wounded, but neither he nor Flory want Doc’s interference.  Doc’s curiosity is heightened when he spies a gun under Basset’s bedcover.  Back in Dodge, Doc relates his tale to Matt who decides to investigate.”  With:  Robert Strong as the clerk.  Notes:  Story by John Meston.  Script by Sam Peckinpah.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen. Produced by Charles Marquis Warren.  Assoc. Producer, Norman MacDonnell.

• Bloody Hands.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast February 16, 1957.  “After a bloody battle in which he is forced to kill three men, Matt turns in his badge.  Matt has had to face death at every turn, but has never gotten used to the taking of life.  No longer a marshal, Matt takes a respite from violence.  It proves short-lived, however, as Dodge is terrorized by Joe Stanger (Russell Johnson), who takes advantage of the absence of law and order.”  With:  Lawrence Dobkin as Jack Brand, Gloria Marshall as Linda Hawkins, Harvey Grant as Tom.  Notes:  Story and script by David Saber.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.

• Daddy-O.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast June 1, 1957.  “Kitty’s wayward father, Wayne Russell (John Dehner) shows up in dodge under the pretext of being concerned about his daughter’s welfare.  Although he has not seen her since childhood, Russell wants Kitty to sell her share in the Long Branch, withdraw all her savings, and accompany, him to New Orleans.  Kitty is turn between her life in Dodge and her misplaced love for her father.”  With:  Judson Pratt.  Notes:  Story and Script by John Meston.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.  

• Kitty’s Outlaw. [30 minutes].  Broadcast October 5, 1957. “Cole Yankton (Ainslee Pryor) arrives in Dodge and it becomes apparent that he is more than just a casual acquaintance of Kitty’s.  The “friendship” has Doc and Chester concerned, but Matt refuses to confront Kitty about the relationship.  Things come to a head, however, when Yankton robs the bank as Matt and Kitty have dinner on the outskirts of town.  Has Kitty betrayed her friends?”   With Dabbs Greer as Mr. Jonas, Chris Alcaide as a cowboy, Howard Culver as a hotel Clerk and Jack Mann. Notes:  Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.  Screenplay by Kathleen Hite from a story by John Meston.  Photographed by Fleet Southcott.

• Twelfth Night.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast December 28, 1957.  Hillbilly Eben Hakes (William Schallert) leaves his home in the Ozarks and journeys to Dodge to “do in” Joth Monger (James Griffith).  Hakes and Monger are the only two surviving members of rival hillbilly families and, ironically, neither remembers the reason for the forty-year feud.  However, the men are determined to settle things once and for all despite Matt’s protestations.”  With Rose Marie as Mrs. Monger and Dick Rich as a farmer.  Notes:  Directed by John Rich.  Story and screenplay by John Meston.   Photographed by Fleet Southcott.

• Buffalo Man.  (30 minutes).  Broadcast January 11, 1958.  “Matt and Chester encounter crazed buffalo hunter Ben Siple (John Anderson) and his partner Earl Ticks (Jack Klugman) who are traveling with a reluctant young woman (Patricia Smith).  Siple disarms Matt and intends to kill him and Chester, but his plan is thwarted by the arrival of unfriendly Indians.  Siple and Ticks escape leaving their three captives for the Indians to finish off.”  With:  With:  Abel Fernandez as an Indian.  Notes:  Story by John Meston.  Script by Les Crutchfield.  Directed by Ted Post.  Produced by Norman McDonnell.

• The Cabin.  [30 minutes]. Broadcast February 2, 1958.  While returning form Hayes, Matt is caught in a blinding snowstorm.   He takes refuge in a remote cabin occupied by two outlaws (Claude Akins as Hack and Dean Stanton as Alvy and Belle (Patricia Barry), a desperate young woman. The men have murdered Belles’ father and have been abusing her for over a month.  When Matt enters the scene they decided to kill him to keep their whereabouts secret.”  With:  Notes:  Story and script by John Meston.  Directed by John Rich.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.

• The Cast.  [30 minutes].  Broadcast December 6, 1958. “Shell Tucker (Robert F. Simon) distrusts physicians and when his wife swallows a nail, he refuses to let Doc operate, Matt intercedes and allows Doc to perform the surgery.  Unfortunately, despite Doc’s efforts, Mrs. Tucker dies. The embittered husband vows to kill Doc, but a strange twist of fate brings the men together when Tucker’s favorite horse is critically injured.”   Also with:  Ben Carruthers.  Notes:  Story and script by John Meston.  Directed by Jesse Hibbs.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.

• Marshall Proudfoot.  (30 minutes).  January 10, 1959.  “Chester’s Uncle Wesley (Dabbs Greer) comes to dodge for a short visit.  Wesley is under the assumption that Chester is the marshal and that Matt is his able-bodied assistant.  Chester is terribly embarrassed by the misunderstanding, and tires to keep a low profile.  Trouble arises when Matt falls ill, and Doc and Kitty decide to stage a fake hold-up to make “Marshal Chester” a hero.”  With:  Charles Fredericks as Jack Pargo, Earl Parker as Ben, Robert Brubaker as Jim Buck.  Notes:  Story by Tom Hanley.  Script by John Meston.  Directed by Jesse Hibbs.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.

• Kitty’s Rebellion.  (30 minutes).  Broadcast February 7, 1959.  “Bill Christ (Barry McGuire), brother of a childhood friend of Kitty’s arrives in town and is shocked to find that Kitty is half-owner of the Long Branch.  Billy feels that a saloon is no place for a proper lady.  A true Southern gentleman, he is intent on defending Kitty’s “honor” from every trail bum and drunken cowpuncher.  Kitty is afraid that Billy will get himself killed.”  With:  Addison Powell as Tal, Robert Brubaker as Jim Buck. And with Richard Rust.  Notes:  Story by Marian Clark.  Script by John Meston.  Directed by Jesse Hibbs.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.

• Buffalo Hunter.  (30 minutes).  Broadcast May 2, 1959.  “Buffalo hunter Jim Gafluf (Harold J. Stone)  brings his dying skinner into town.  According to Fatluf, the unfortunate man fell into sixty pounds of hot lead.  Understandably, Matt does not believe history.  Upon talking to Tobe (Garry Walberg), one of Gatluf’s men, Mat discovers that Tafluf is a “greedy, downright wicked” man, who would rather kill his men than pay them.  With:  Lou Krugman as Tom Mercer, William Meigs as the Agent, Sam Buffington as Cook, Tom Holland As Alvin, Brett King as Duff, and Scott Stevens as Pete.  Notes:  Story and Script by John Meston.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.  Directed by Ted Post.

• Kangaroo [30 minutes].  Broadcast October, 10, 1959.  “Matt and Chester encounter religious fanatic Ira Scurlock (Peter Whitney] and his sons (John Crawford as Hod and Richard Rust as Dal] who are in the act of punishing a “sinner’, Scurlock preaches fervently as his boys whip a young cowboy.  When Chester frees the victim, Scurlock promises retribution.  He later kidnaps Chester and plans an appropriate sentence for his sacrilege, amputation of his hand.”  With:  Lew Brown as Jim Bride.  Clem Fuller as Clem.  Notes:  Story and Script by John  Meston.  Assoc. Producer, James Arness.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen.

• Saludos [30 minutes].  Broadcast October 31, 1959.  “A young Indian woman, Sochi (Connie Buck), is gravely wounded and her husband is murdered.  She manages to drag herself to Dodge, where Doc attempts to save her.  Matt follows Sochi’s trail and rounds up three suspects (Gene Nelson as Joe Foss, Jack Elam as Clem Steed, and Robert J. Wilke as Pegger).  Not knowing who is guilty, Matt waits for the culprit to incriminate himself by making a break for freedom.”   Notes:   Script by John Meston.  Story by Les Crutchfield.  Assoc. Producer, James Arness.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen.

• Doc Judge [30 minutes].  Broadcast February 6, 1960.  “While Doc and Chester are eating dinner at Delmonico’s gunslinger Brice Harp (Barry Atwater) enters and openly vows to kill Doc.  Brice Harp has mistaken Doc for the judge who sentenced him to seven hard years in prison and he is bent on vengeance.  With Matt called away on official business.  Chester must concoct an elaborate plan to protect his irascible friend.”  With:  Dennis Cross as Rob, George Selk as Moss, Dabbs Greer as Jonas.  Notes:  Story and script by John Meston.  Directed by Arthur Hiller.  Assoc. Producer, James Arness.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.

• Kitty’s Killing. [30 minutes].  Broadcast February 20, 1960.  “Jacob Leech (Abraham Sofaer) arrives in Dodge intent on killing Ollie Radford (John Pickard).  Radford was married to Leech’s daughter who died in childbirth, and Leech has sworn revenge.  When Leech discovers that Radford’s new wife is expecting, he tries to find the couple by forcing Kitty to led the way.  Kitty endangers her life by luring the madman in the wrong direction.”  With:  Clem Fuller as Clem.  Notes:  Story by Marian Clark.  Script by John Meston.  Assoc. Producer, Jams Arness.  Produced by Norman MacDonnell.  Directed by Arthur Hiller.

• The Blacksmith [30 minutes].  Broadcast September 17, 1960. “Emil (George Kennedy], Dodge’s good-natured German blacksmith, marries Gretchen [Anna-Lisa], his mail-order bride.  After the wedding, Tolman (Bob Anderson), a local bigot, disrupts the festivities but Emil refuses to retaliate.  Later that night, Tolman lures Emil way from his home and sets it on fire.  Infuriated, the blacksmith finally decides to let Tolman have it.”  With:  Wesley Lau as Will, Herb Patterson as Spooner.  Notes:  Story by Norman MacDonnell.  Script by John Meston.  Directed by Andrew McLaglen. Story by Norman MacDonnell.  Script by John Meston.

• The Wake [30 minutes].  Broadcast December 10, 1960.  “Drifter Gus Mather (Denver Pyle) brings Orson Boggs to dodge for burial on Boot Hill.  When questioned, Gus claims that Orson died of “chills and ague” and invites everyone to the wake.  Matt senses that something is wrong and locates Mrs. Boggs (Anne Seymour), who insists she has never heard of Mather.  Concerned that there may have been foul play, Matt exhumes the body.”  Notes:  

• Unloaded Gun [30 minutes].  Broadcast January 14, 1961.  “Matt sets out to catch the murderous Lime brothers (Lew Brown, William Redfield), but is successful in killing only one.  Before he can bring the second to justice, Matt is stricken with a fever that forces him to return home.  Back in Dodge, and desperately ill, Matt must face the vengeful brother.  However, Matt is unaware that Chester has cleaned his gun and has forgotten to load it.”  Notes:  

• Little Girl [30 minutes].  Broadcast April 1, 1961.  “Matt and Chester find an orphaned girl in the charred remains of a burned down cabin. Matt takes little Charity Gill (Susan Gordon) back to Dodge with him, with the hopes of finding her a good home.  When they arrive, Matt discovers that nearly the entire female population has gone to Wichita for a suffrage meeting.  Undauntedly by the situation, Charity adopts Matt as her temporary “father.”  Notes:

• Miss Kitty [60 minutes].  Broadcast October 14, 1961.  “Kitty becomes a woman a mystery when she rides out of Dodge at three o’clock in the morning, keeping her destination a secret from everyone.  Matt, Doc, and Chester are completely bewildered by Kitty’s actions and do not know what to make of it.  Their curiosity and concern is further intensified, when Jonas (Dabbs Greer) reveals that he saw a woman fitting Kitty’s description at a nearby relay station waiting for the stage to arrive.  The woman rode off accompanied by a little boy (Roger Mobley).  Kitty’s odd behavior has everyone wondering if the boy is her son.  What they are unaware of is that young Thad’s father is outlaw Tucker Ferrin (John Lasell), who is heading for Dodge to find his sons and to find Kitty, who he admits has a good reason to hate him.”  Notes:

• Chesterland.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast November 18, 1961.  Chester falls in love with pretty Daisy Fair (Sondra Kerr). And decides to turn his back on bacherlorhood.  Before his intended will say “I do”, however. Chester must prove that he can earn a decent living. The love-smitten Chester quits his job with Matt in favor of becoming a sod-buster.  He takes up farming on an arid, unyielding piece of Kansas land and digs underground home. When Daisy is shown her future “cottage”, she reacts very poorly to living underground and Chester’s rosy view of the future is dimmed.  When he accidentally finds water, however, the tables are turned, for it appears that Chester will now become a man of means.  Chester’s future looks secure as the money pours in, and Daisy’s ardor is fanned until the well dries up.”  Notes:

• Quint Asper Comes Home  [60 minutes.  Broadcast September 29, 1962.  “This episode introduces Quint Asper [Burt Reynolds] to the series.  After white men kill John Asper (William Zucker) his half-breed son Quint wants to join the Commence tribe of his mother Topsahan (Angela Clarke).  Before Chief Running Horse (Michael Keep) will accept Quint, however, he must prove that he is more Indian than white.  Over the next three years Quint lives the life of a full-blooded Commence and participates in their raids against the white man.  During one of these raids Quint is shot.  Mat finds him a d brings him back to Dodge to recover.  In trying to gain the young man’s trust, Matt bears the brunt of Quint’s bitterness, as well as the wrath of Dodge’s prejudiced citizens.  Undaunted, Matt is determined to turn Quint’s hatred into friendship.”  Notes:

• The Way It Is.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast December 1, 1962.  “Matt is forced to break an important date with Kitty because of official business.  Tired of being taken for granted, Kitty storms out of town to spend some time by herself.  On her journey she encounters a stranger, Ad Bellem (Claude Akins), who has been seriously injured after a fall from his horse.  Kitty nursed ad back to health and a romance develops.  When Kitty returns to Dodge, Ad follows close behind.  Kitty is pleasantly surprise when Ad enters the Long Branch and asks her to accompany him to the Dodge City sociable.  Much to the consternation of Chester, she accepts Ad’s invitation.  Three is a strong attraction between the two, but Kitty soon learns that Ad has a hot temper, especially when other men are attentive to her.”  Notes:  

• No Hands (30 minutes).  Broadcast February 8, 1964.  “Will Timble (Strother Martin) is busily carving a sign for the Long Branch, when he gets a splinter in his eye.  While Doc is treating him, pa Ginnis (Denver Pyle), the Sociopathic patriarch of a strange family, arrives with three of his worthless sons (Kevin Hagen, Rayford Barnes, Wright King). Pa demands that Doc drop everything to care his boy Lon, who has broken leg.  Doc tells the old man that he will have to wait his turn, and Pa vows revenge.  After Doc sets Lon’s leg, the Ginnis brood decide to partake of the amenities of the Long Branch.  While swilling down their second or third bottle, they bump into Will and Pa gets his chance to vent his anger.  Will’s carving had is crushed in the ensuing scuffle, which ultimately leads to its amputation.  Notes:  

• Kitty Cornered.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast April, 18, 1964.  “An ‘ill wind’ in the shape of beautiful Stella Damon (Jacqueline Scott) blows into town.  Stella is anxious to lay down new roots and after perusing the local establishments, the business minded lady decides to buy the Long Branch. When Kitty refuses to sell, Stella builds the most elaborate gambling place in Dodge City’s history. Determined to put Kitty out of business permanently, Stella throws a gala opening with dancing, singing, and free liquor.  The plan seems to be working, until a whiskey drummer (Joseph Sirola) arrives with surprising information. It seems saloon in Pueblo mysteriously burned to the ground with her husband in it.  Her livelihood in ashes, where could Stella have come up with the fortune to construct ‘Stella’s Palace.”   Notes:

• Blue Heaven.  [60 minutes).  Broadcast September 26, 1964.  “Although he is wanted for murder, Kip Gilman [Tim O’Connor] risks capture to aid a runaway boy [Kurt Russell] looking for his estranged mother (Diane Ladd].  The trail leads Kip and Packy to the seedy side of Dodge, where Kip discovers Elena is a hopeless alcoholic.  Undaunted, Kip proceeds to nurse her back to health for the sake of the his young friend.  To avoid recognition, Kip poses as Packy’s father and arranges a suitable homecoming for the boy.  He repairs Elena’s sorrowful shack and builds up her pitiful self-image.  Despite Kip’s cover, Matt and Festus recognize him from a wanted poster.  However, Matt questions the legitimacy of the charge and does not arrest him.  In the meantime, evidence mounts the three men tracking Kip have a hidden motive.”  Notes:

• Crooked Mile.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast October 3, 1964.  “Half-breed blacksmith Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds] falls in love with Susan Degler [Katharine Ross].  Unfortunately for the amorous couple, Susan’s domineering father Cyrus [George Kennedy] vehemently opposes the relationship. Cyrus threatens reprisal against Quint unless he stops seeing Susan.  When Quint ignores the threats, Cyrus ambushes him at his blacksmith’s shop and beats him with a bullwhip.  When the attack fails to dampen Quint’s ardor, Cyrus sends for the family’s hatchet-man cousin Praylie [Royal Dano] to device a way to remove Quint permanently.  Once Praylie arrives, however, is demands cause Cyrus to have second thoughts.  Cyrus attempts to renege on the deal, but Praylie is determined to see it thought to the bitter end.”  Notes:

• The Jailer.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast October 1, 1966.  “Etta Stone [Betty Davis] has waited six long years to avenge the death of her outlaw husband.  After much anticipation and planning, she has her daughter-in-law (Julie Sommars) and her sons [Bruce Dern, Tom Skerritt, Robert Sorrells and Zalman King], three of whom have just bee released from prison, aid her in a diabolical plot.  First, Kitty is kidnapped by the Stone boys a decoy to lure Matt into a trap.  Once Matt is captured, Etta imprison the marshal and prepares to hang him.  Matt and Kitty watch with growing desperation as the Stones build the gallows form which Matt will swing.  The indomitable Etta plans for Matt to die on the “morning of the second day” with Kitty as witness, just like she  had to watch her own husband’s executions six years earlier.”  Notes:

• The Newcomers.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast December 3, 1966.  “Scandinavian immigrants Lars Karlgren (Karl Swenson) and his son Tetter (Jon Voight), journey to Dodge to join their relative (Ben Wright) in his growing barber business.  The newcomers find the West even wilder than they had imagined, when a group of rowdies confront young Tetter.  Deputy That (Roger Ewing) breaks up the ruckus, but before the immigrants have a chance to get used to their strange new environment, Tetter is forced into a fight with Silvee (Charles Dierkop), one of the disgruntled cowboys.  In the ensuing struggle, Silvee falls into a pitchfork and is killed.  The Karlgrens delay telling Matt about the accident fearing that they will not be believed, and are confronted by a blackmailer (Robert Sorrells), who claims to have witnessed the “murder.”  Notes:  –

• The Avengers.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast December 18, 1965.  “Kitty is brutally attacked by Richard Strom and Festus is forced to try to kill him.  Three weeks later, Judge Calvin Strom [James Gregory] and his sons (John Saxon, Les Brown, Jr.) arrive in Dodge to place a headstone on Richard’s grave and to unravel the circumstances surrounding his “murder”.  The judge is convinced that Kitty and Festus drugged and lured his unsuspecting son to Kitty’s room and killed him for his money.  Storm has no jurisdiction in dodge and Matt orders him and his sons out of town.  Undaunted, Strom has Matt ambushed, and with the wounded marshal out of the way he abducts Kitty and Festus and sets up a kangaroo court.  As judge, jury, and executioner Strom allows one concession—Doc can serve as the attorney for the doomed defendants.”  Notes:

• Gold Mine.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast December 25, 1965].  “Concerned that the Long Branch is low on funds, Kitty travels to the town of Pickaxe to claim a gold mine she has inherited.  When Matt discovers she has made the dangerous journey, he is furious.  Unable to follow because of official business, he sends Thad [roger Ewing] to insure her safety.  Pickaxe is more uncivilized than Kitty and expected and she is confronted by every loafer and drunken barfly in town.  Fortunately, she is befriended by a mute boy (Tom Nardini), who rescues her from a hotel where she is a “sitting duck holding on to her feathers”.  Thad arrives only to be drawn into a brawl with the backwoods Gibbijohn clan (Paul Carr, John Anderson, Michael Vanever), who have appropriated Kitty’s mine and intend to remove all obstacles that stand in their way.”   Notes:

• The Wreckers.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast September 11, 1967.  “Matt has interrupted his vacation with Kitty to transport convict Monk Wiley (Edmund Hashimi).  The three are heading back to dodge via stagecoach.  After a stop at a relay station, Matt, his prisoner, and a disgruntled Kitty continue on their journey, unaware that a gang of outlaws has booby-trapped their stage.  The stage overturns and Matt is knocked unconscious.  Kitty has a broken rib and some bruises, and Wiley appears to have died.  When Kitty peeks out the window she spies the outlaws approaching.  Afraid of what will happen if they find out Matt is a lawman, Kitty handcuffs Matt and pins his badge on Wiley.  The three are brought to the gang’s hideout, where Kitty discovers that Wiley is not dead after all and may, in fact, betray her ruse.”  

• Time of the Jackals.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast January 13, 1969.  Directed by Vincent McEveety.  “Dan Foley (Robert Knapp) holds up a relay station, and Matt tracks him to a shack where they exchange gunfire.  When the gun smoke clears, Matt finds that Foley has been fatally shot. He is also surprised to find a wounded woman, who turns out be Leona (Beverly Garland), a former girlfriend of Matt’s Feeling responsible for her injury, Matt brings Leona back to Dodge.  The years have not been kind to her.  She has a “slow drawing ex-boyfriend, who is lying on a board at the undertaker’s” another ex-boyfriend, Jess Trevor (Leslie Nelson), who just escaped from jail, and a spineless ex-husband Tim Jackson (Edmund Hasidim), who would not lift a hand to defend the sanctity of their marriage.  The one good man in her life was Matt, and for a while she almost hooked him.”  Also with:  Buck Taylor as Newly, Kip Whitman as Dagger, Charles Maxwell as Del Rainey, Jonathan Lippe as Lucas Brant. Notes:  Story Consultant, Paul Savage.  Music composed and conducted by Leon Klatzkin.  Photography by Monroe Askins.  Teleplay by Richard Fielder.  Story by Fielder adapted by Paul Savage.

• Mannon.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast January, 20, 1969.  “One of the most menacing villains to walk the dusty boardwalk of Dodge is Mannon (Steve Forrest).  Mannon, who used to ride with Quantrill, takes over the town in Matt’s absence.  He begins hi s reign of terror by wounding Festus and stealing his mule.  When Mannon rides into town, no one can arrest him because he is too fast a gun.  Mannon waits in Dodge for Matt to return.  He hopes to increase his reputation and to gain respect once he has “Matt Dillon’s toes pointing to the clouds.” Festus, having seen Mannon in action, thinks he can do it.  While waiting for the showdown, Mannon helps himself to all the comforts of Dodge, free food, drinks and lodging.  As a final affront he turns his attention towards Kitty, the only one he has not “shrunk down to size.”   With:  Buck Taylor as Newly, Glenn Strange as Sam, James Nusser as Louie Pheeters, Roy Barcroft as Roy, Charles Seel as Barney, Ted Jordan as Burke, and Woodrow Chambliss as Lathrop.  Notes: Directed by Robert Butler.  Written by Ron Bishop.  Music composed and conducted by Mendoza-Nava.  Photographed by Monroe Askins.

• The Pack Rat. [60 minutes].  Broadcast January 12, 1970.  “While en route to Fort Union, Matt and his prisoner, Sam Danton (William c. Watson), meet up with a little Mexican thief named Sancho (Manuel Padilla, Jr.).  Before continuing their journey, they stop off in dodge to leave Sancho in the care of Kitty.  Belle Clark (Loretta Swit) and Martha mason (Heidi Vaughn), who are also headed for Fort Union, arrive by stage in time to accompany Matt and Danton.  However, Martha is eight months pregnant and Doc will not allow her to travel further.  Desperate to be with her husband, she stows away in Matt’’ wagon.  Meanwhile, back in Dodge, Sancho forages through Belle’s jewelry box and discovers a daguerreotype of her husband, Sam Danton.  Fearful that Matt is in grave danger, Sancho steals Festus’ mule and rides out to warn the marshal.  Notes:  

• The Badge.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast February 2, 1970. “Kitty, stunned at seeing Matt wounded once again in the line of duty, decides to leave Dodge city for good.  As soon as she is convinced that he is out danger.  Kitty puts the Long Branch Saloon up for sale and joins her old friend Clair Hollis (Beverly Garland) in running another establishment far from Dodge and Matt Dillon.  Kitty’s problem’s begin anew, however, when she challenges the authority of a despotic man know as “Papa” Steiffer (Henry Jones).  Papa controls the town and everyone in it.  When Kitty insists that she and Claire fight Steiffer’s corruption, the two women run into a dangerous impasse with him and his accomplices.  When Matt shows up unexpected, Kitty resents his interference and fears for his safety.”  Notes: 

• The Noose.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast September 21, 1970.  “Fred Garth (Tom Skerritt) returns to dodge after a fifteen year absences.  He was only a boy when he left, and Kitty does not recognize him when he enters the Long Branch.  Garth forces Kitty to accompany him to the Old Dodge town, and lures Festus and Doc out there as well. He locks them in the old jail and waits for Matt to arrive.  The young man has a score to settle.  Fifteen years earlier when Garth tried to stop his father’s hanging, Matt was forced to shoot him in the leg and chain him to a post.  Garth struggled, clawing desperately at the chins, as he watched the execution.  Convinced of his father’s innocence, Garth intends to avenge the injustice. When Matt arrives, Garth shoots him in the leg, chains him to a post, and prepares to hand an innocent victim—Doc.”  Notes:

• Sam McTavish MD  [60 minutes].  Broadcast October 5, 1970.  “Doc is planning to leave on a well-earned vacation, and has hired a physician to fill in for him during his absence.  When the replacement turns out to be Sam McTavis (Vera Miles), a woman, Doc is beside himself.  Hesitant at leaving a woman to handle a man’s job, the chauvinistic Doc soon learns that Dr. McTavish is not only an extremely competent professional, but is also a very warm and loving woman.  Having been assured of Sam’s ability, Doc prepares to leave.  However, a plague breaks out in Dodge and forces Doc to cancel his trip.  Both doctors work together hand-in-hand, day and night, to bring the epidemic under control.  Realizing that he has finally found a kindred spirit, Doc falls in love.  The feeling is mutual and Doc asks Sam to marry to him.”  Notes:

• The Lost.  (60 minutes).  Broadcast September 13, 1971).  “Kitty finds herself the sole survivor of a stagecoach accident.  Lost and injured, Kitty must seek help.  She finds it in the shape of a strange feral girl (Laurie Piper), who has been living out on the prairie like an animal.  At first, frightened and suspicious, the wild child eventually takes a liking to Kitty and accompanies her on her journey.  When they finally reach civilization, new perils awaits them.  They arrive at a tumble-down shack where the two encounter Mrs. Mather (Mercedes McCambridge) and her bizarre family (royal Dano, Link Wyler, Charles Kuenstle).  The opportunistic frontier woman binds and gags Kitty and cages the little girl.  She hopes to use “the animal” as a side-show freak and to claim the $100 bounty for “its” capture.  Notes:

• New Doctor In Town.  (60 minutes).  Broadcast October 11, 1971.  “Doc leaves Dodge unexpectedly, without even a good-bye. His sudden departure comes about after the death of a little girl.  Doc thinks he should have been able to save.  Unable to shake his guilt, Doc returns to medical school.  During his absence, he asks Dr. John Chapman (Pat Hingle] to fill his shoes.  However, Chapman is not welcomed with open arms.  He faces suspicion and mistrust from the townspeople and especially from Festus.  When Newly is seriously injured in an explosion, the new doctor is confronted with a severe test.  Newly needs a delicate brain operation, but unfortunately, the townspeople question Chapman’s diagnosis.  Unless Chapman can convince them otherwise, Newly will spend the rest of his life in a confused and violent state.”  Notes:

• Hostage.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast December 11, 1972.  “While Matt is out of town, socio-pathic killer Jude Bonner (William Smith) and his gang of “dog soldiers” invade Dodge and abduct Kitty.  This is their last ditch attempt to free Jude’s brother Virgil (Marco St. John), who has been convicted of murder and is sentenced to hang.  Jude leaves Matt an ultimatum, that if Virgil hangs, Kitty will be killed.  The Governor refuses to grant a stay of execution and the sentence is carried out as scheduled.  When Jude and gang realize their threats went unheeded, they savagely abuse Kitty, deposits her dazed and battered in front of the Long Branch, and gun her down. Matt returns to find that Kitty’s life hangs in the balance.  After an all night vigil, he takes off his badge and goes after Bonner.”  Notes:

• This Golden Land.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast March 5, 1973  “The Gorofskys, a family of Jewish immigrants, have purchased a farm in Kansas.  They have journeyed to the American frontier to escape the persecution and the anti-Semitism of their homeland.  Unfortunately, their dream of the promised land turns into a nightmare when the youngest song (Scott Selles) dies after an incident involving ruffians (Victor French, Wayne McLaren, Kevin Coughlin).  Moshe (Paul Stevens) saw the men drag his son away, but since he did not witness the fatal blow, Talmudic Law prohibits him from pointing the finger of accusation at the culprits.  Heartbroken, he must come to terms with his religious beliefs, his grieving wife (Bettye Ackerman), his bitters sons (Richard Dreyfuss, Joseph Hindyj), and his own personal loss.”  Notes:

• Matt’s Love Story.  (60 minutes).  Broadcast September 24, 1973.  “Matt is tracking Les Dean (Victor French), who is waned for killing a man back in dodge.  No matter how hard he tries, Les cannot shake Matt, so he ambushes him and leaves him for dead.  Mike Yardner (Michael Learned), an attractive, but feisty young widow, finds Matt out on the prairie and brings him back to  her farm.  Matt cannot remember anything, not his name, nor where he is from, nor how he got shot.  Mike christens him “Dan” and nurses him back to health.  During Matt’s gives his first on-screen kiss.  Although he still has amnesia, Matt is willing to give up his past for a new life with Mike.  However, their future happiness is threatened when a land-hungry rancher hires Les to “remove” Mike form her property.”  With:  Keith Andes as Starcourt, Jonathan Lippe as Monte Rupert, William Schallert as Cordelius, Glenn Strange as Sam, Richard Lundin as Canoot, S. Michael De France as Mio and Neil Summers as Man.  Notes:  Directed by Gunnar Hellstrom.  Written by Ron Bishop.  Music by Jerrold Immel.  Photography by Ted D. Landon.

• Kitty’s Love Affair.  (60 minutes).  Broadcast October 22, 1973.  “On route to St. Louis for a vacation with Kitty, Matt is called back to Dodge on urgent business.  Kitty is furious and decides to continue the journey alone.  Ex-gunman Will Stambridge (Richard Kiley), joins the stage and rescues Kitty when they are attacked by outlaws.  Kitty is drawn to Will and begins to question her future with Matt.  She is never-the-less uneasy when Will decides to settle in dodge, and indicates that he wants to start a new life with her by his side. Despite her ambivalent feelings, Kitty decides to give Will a chance.  However, as they start seeing more and more of each other, they become the target of vicious gossip.  Their problems continue to escalate, and Will finds himself facing a lynch mob after he is falsely accused of murder.”  Notes:  

• Matt Dillon Must Die.  [60 minutes].  Broadcast September 9,1974.  “Matt is forced to kill murderer Labari Wakefield [Frederick Herrick), just as his father, Abraham (Morgan Woodward), and his four brothers arrive.  The Wakefields disarm Matt and take him to their cabin.  Abraham and his sons have been terrorizing the countryside, leaving at least forty persons dead.  When Matt questions the reason for this carnage, he realizes that Abraham’s insane.  His wife was burned to death when an outlaw used her as a hostage and lawmen set fire to the cabin.  Abraham arrived in time to hear final screams.  Abraham plans on killing Matt, but out of a deranged sense of fair play, he decides to give Matt a sporting chance. He plans to give Matt an hour’s start and release him in the freezing snow, unarmed and without a coat or horse.”  Notes:

• The Colonel [60 minutes].  Broadcast December 16, 1974.  “Colonel Josiah Johnson (Lee J. Cobb), a once proud cavalry officer, has fallen upon hard times and has become the town drunk.  He works odd jobs, and when the spirit moves him and the audience is willing, he recalls his former exploits.  Carl (Daniel J. Travanti) needs someone to run his store so he can fetch his bride to be, and Matt suggests Josiah.  Despite his good intentions, Josiah accidentally sets the store on fire.  When Carl returns, he is furious with Josiah.  Unbeknownst to Carl, his fiancee (Julie Cobb) is Josiah’s daughter, but because of the embarrassment, both father and daughter keep it a secret.  Josiah plans to leave town, but a band of killers frustrates his plans, and provide him with an opportunity to recapture his former glory.”  Notes:

THE HALF-BREED.  1952.  81 minutes.  Westerns.  Directed by Stuart Gilmore.  The discovery of gold in Apache territory creates friction among the Apache tribes and whites in the town of San Remo.  When a corrupt politician hatches a scheme to rob some Indians of their land to get at the gold a hornet’s nest of trouble begins.  Dan Craig, a gambler, and sympathetic to the Indians, finds himself embroiled in possible Indian trouble and the affairs of the politician and a beautiful singer.  Robert Young plays the hero, Dan Craig, with a deft, light touch about the only thing to really recommend this tame western.  With:  Janis Carter, Jack Buetel is Charlie Wolf, Barton MacLane, Reed Hadley, Porter Hall, Connie Gilchrist, Sammy White, Damian O’Flynn, Frank Wilcox, and Judy Walsh.  Notes:  Screenplay by Harold Shumate and Richard Wormser with additional dialogue by Charles Hoffman.  Based on a story by Robert Hardy Andrews.  Photography by William V. Skall.  Music by Paul Sawtell.

HANG ‘EM HIGH.  1968.  134 minutes.  Western.  Clint Eastwood.  <V2153>.  Directed by Ted Post.  Tough minded, well done Clint Eastwood western about an ex-lawman who is lynched for a crime he didn’t commit.  The lynchers make the mistake of not making sure they completed the job.  A western about vengeance and hanging.  The quintessential vigilante western.  When the lawman is picked up and taken to the federal prison, a judge with the reputation as a hanging judge cajoles him into becoming one of his marshals.  As a marshal his first task is to hunt down the men who nearly killed him.  He is relentless in pursuit of his quarry, and as the news of his search reaches each man, their terror is complete.  With:  Pat Hingle, Ed Begley, Inger Stevens, Bob Steele, and Bruce Dern.  Notes:  Screenplay by Leonard Freeman, Mel Goldberg.  Cinematography by Leonard South and Richard Kline.  Music by Dominic Frontiere.

THE HARVEY GIRLS.  1945.  102 minutes.  Musical.  Western.  Judy Garland.  Directed by George Sidney.  This film is more famous for it’s Oscar winning song The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe [the number was immortalized in the scene from That’s Entertainment] than its whole parts.  Judy Garland plays an Ohio farm girl who comes west as a mail order bride.  When she and her prospective spouse meet and split, she gets a job as a Harvey Girl, a waitress in a fancy restaurant chain.  It’s all a very pleasant 100 minutes, and was hugely popular in the last year of World War II.  It’s escapist fare typical of its time. With:  John Hodiak, Ray Bolger, Angela Lansbury, Preston Foster, Virginia O’Brien, Kenny Baker, Marjorie Main, Chill Wills, Selena Royle and Cyd Charisse.  Notes:  Screenplay by Edmund Beloin, Nathaniel Curtis, Harry Crane, James O’Hanlon and Samsom Raphaelson from the book by Samuel Hopkins Adams and the original story by Eleanor Griffin and William Rankin.  Words and music by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren.  Produced by Arthur Freed.  Songs include It’s A Great Big World, Oh, You Kid, and the Academy Award winning best song The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe.  Academy Award nomination for musical score (Lennie Hayton).  Box-office gross:  $4,134,038.

HEAVEN’S GATE.  1980.  219 minutes.  <V407>.  Directed by Michael Cimino.  The huge, costly western epic that almost sank United Artists pictures.  An attempt at a mythical epic of the Wyoming range wars of 1890.  Cimino, flush from the Academy Awards holiday he had for his very overrated The Deer Hunter apparently had free reign with his producers’ money.  You see the expense on the film.  The scale of this western is gigantic.  The story is almost eliminated by the hugeness as is the narrative sense.  Still it is a true spectacle and the film was totally destroyed by the negative press from the same critics who had gone overboard with Cimino’s Vietnam film.  With:  Kris Kristofferson, John Hurt, Christopher Walken, Sam Waterston, Brad Dourif, Isabelle Huppert, Joseph Cotten, and Jeff Bridges.  Notes:  Photographed by the great Vilmos Zsigmond.

HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS.  1960.  101 minutes.  <V2998>.  Western comedy.  George Cukor.  Anthony Quinn.  Sophia Loren.  Directed by George Cukor.  Sophia Loren wearing a  dazzling blonde wig, is a showgirl in the comic romp through the old West.  Anthony Quinn is her lover and mentor, Healy, the owner of the little troupe she belongs to and  Margaret O’Brien, Eileen Heckart, and Edmund Lowe. Ramon Navarro, Steve Forrest, George Matthews, Edward Binn, Frank Silvera, and Warren Wade make up the rest of the company.  The story is simply that of narrow escapes and scrapes by the troupe from creditors, bad men and responsibility.  Loren, a wonderful comic actress, is wondrous to behold and hear.  The story is charming, if a little soft around the edges, and there are some very funny bits especially between Heckart and Margaret O’Brien as a stage mom and smart, spunky daughter.  Notes:  Screenplay by Dudley Nichols and Walter Bernstein.  Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof.  Photographed by Harold Lipstein.

HOMBRE.  1967.  111 minutes.   Western Drama.   Paul Newman.   Frederic March <V38>.  Directed by Martin Ritt.  1960s western about a half-caste Indian who helps a group of stagecoach passengers at the mercy of a brutal robber.  This is an incredibly boring and mediocre western giving the high profile of its cast.  The effort to make social commentary out of the half-caste’s heroic efforts to save a stage full of bigots from a hideous gang of bandits does not work on any level.  The themes in this film have been presented in this kind of fateful ensemble in films from Ford’s Stagecoach to Grand Hotel, to the film of Ship of Fools, each of which did it better.  Ritt, one of the finest film craftsmen of the ‘60s and ‘70s, and his fine writing team of Ravetch and Frank, have much better work from which they can be judged.  With:  Frederick March as Alexander Favor, Diane Cilento as Jessie Brown, Richard Boone as Grimes, Cameron Mitchell as Sheriff Frank Braden, Barbara Rush as Audra Favor, Peter Lazer as Billy Lee Blake, Margaret Blye as Doris Lee Blake, Martin Balsam as Henry Mendez, Skip Ward as Steve Early, Frank Silvera as the bandit.   Notes:  The screenplay is by Harriet Frank Jr. And Irving Ratvetch from a book by Elmore Leonard.  Photographed by James Wong Howe.  Music composed and conducted by David Rose.  Box-office gross:  $5,160,000.

HIGH NOON.  1952.  85 minutes.  Western.  Gary Cooper.  Fred Zinnemann.  Grace Kelly.  American Movies.  Directed by Fred Zinnemann.  A dramatic western about a U. S. Marshall forced to face a group of outlaws without help from the townspeople.  This is the western as myth, symbol, metaphor, and social augury.  It is much too self-important and august a thing to be considered a truly enjoyable western.  At the center of the story, which is shot to correspond with the actual time of the film’s action, is Gary Cooper – Movie Star as icon.  Generally regarded as one of the best westerns ever made, but usually by people not overly fond of the genre.  With:  Grace Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Katy Jurado, and Lon Chaney Jr.  Notes:  The film won Oscars for actor (Cooper, best song (Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Sparks), film editing, and music score (Tiomkin).   Cinematography by Floyd Crosby.  Screenplay by Carl Foreman from a story by John W. Cunningham.

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER.  1973.  106 minutes.  <V2155>.  Directed by Clint Eastwood.  This was the second film directed by Clint Eastwood (the first was Play Misty For Me).  In this western, Eastwood plays his signature character — the drifter ‘without a name’ from the spaghetti westerns that made him a Star.  The story resembles Kurosawa’s great comic samurai film Yojimbo however it is played here without the laughs (intended ones anyway).  With:  Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan, Jack Ging, and Billy Curtis.  Box-office gross:  $7,451,350.

HONDO.  1953.  84 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Apache Wars.  Directed by John Farrow.  John Wayne is Hondo Lane, Indian scout and gunman.  In 1874, when the peace with the Apache Nation explodes into open rebellion by the Indians, Lane helps a band of farmers and settlers through the hostiles’ territory.  Simple, direct John Wayne western, and one of the most fondly remembered of his ’50s films by Wayne fans.  With:  Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, James Arness.  Notes:  Screenplay by James Edward Grant based on a short story by Louis L’Amour.  Box-office gross:  $4,100,000.

HOPPY SERVES A WRIT.  1943.  67 minutes.  Western.  Hopalong Cassidy.  Directed by George Archainbaud.  When a gang of Oklahoma outlaws rob a Texas stage and take thousands of dollars in new $500 bills.  Hopalong Cassidy, U. S. Marshal makes plans to entice the bandits back across the Texas state line so that Cassidy can serve a warrant on the leader of the hold-up gang.  Like all of the Hopalong Cassidy series, this is a crisp, tightly produced western.  The action is always well paced, the fights choreographed with some reality [there’s an unusually long one in this feature between Boyd’s Hoppy and Jory’s bad guy early in the film’s action].  With:  William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy, Andy Clyde as California, Jay Kirby as Johnny Travesy, Victor Jory as Tom Jordan, George Reeves as Steve Jordan, Jan Christy as Jean Hollister, Bob Mitchum as Rigney, Hal Taliaferro as Greg Jordan, and Forbes Murray as Ben Hollister.  Notes:  Screenplay by Gerald Gerarty from a story by Clarence E. Mulford.  Photographed by Russell Harlan.  Musical Direction by Irvin Talbot.  Footnote on the cast:  George Reeves, who plays the hot-headed young cowboy Steve Jordan, would grow up to become television’s first Superman and Robert Mitchum, one of the bad guys would become Robert Mitchum [here he’s billed as Bob Mitchum].

HOSTILE GUNS.  1967.  91 minutes.  Westerns.  Directed by R. G. Springsteen.  Marshall Gid McCool has the task of escorting prisoners across rough Texas terrain without a lot of help.  One of the prisoners is his fiery ex-lover.  When he can’t find deputies to help with transporting the prisoners he hires a rowdy young cowboy to help with the task.  One of the prisoners’ relatives stalk the transport to free him.  Good cast, fair action in this routine western.  With:  George Montgomery, Yvonne De Carlo, Tab Hunter, Brian Donlevy, John Russell, Leo Gordon, Robert Emhardt, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, James Craig and Richard Arlen.  Notes:  Screenplay by Sloan Nibley and James Edward Grant.  Photography by Lothrop Worth.  Music by Jimmie Haskell.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON.  1963.  165 minutes. <V1131>.  Directed by Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, and John Ford.   Big, sprawling epic about the westward movement.  The film chronicles the overlapping stories of several different families who form part of that calvacade west in the 1840s and 1850s.  With:  Debbie Reynolds, Carroll Baker, James Stewart, George Peppard, Gregory Peck, Robert Preston, Henry Fonda, John Wayne, Harry Morgan, Eli Wallach, Karl Malden, Agnes Moorehead, Russ Tamblyn, Carolyn Jones, and Richard Widmark.  Notes:  Narrated by Spencer Tracy.   Screenplay  by James R. Webb.  The film was nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, story and screenplay, cinematography, art direction, sound, original score, editing, and costume design.  It won three (screenplay by Webb, sound and editing).  The film though released at Christmas of 1962 was nominated for 1963 awards.  Gross: $20,932,883 the top grossing film released in 1962.

HUD.  1963.  112 minutes.  Western Drama.  Novels Into Film.  Paul Newman.  <V229>.  Directed by Martin Ritt. Homer Bannon, a aging rancher in East Texas must contend with the ambitions of his cynical, womanizing, cold-hearted son Hud.  Hud, who is worshipped by his innocent teen-aged nephew Lon has a roving sexual eye and less than sterling conscience in his dealing with women or the ranch.  The old man, ever conscious of keeping faith with the people he does business with, worries about the ethical short cuts he know Hud is capable of.  Homer tries to instill his values in Lon, whose  hero-worship of the hell raising Hud is something he tries to control. Paul Newman as a hell raising Hud gives one of his most enjoyable performances.  His Hud seethes with rage and raw sexual energy.  Patricia Neal, as the mature, sultry housekeeper Alma knows Hud and his type well.  The scenes between the two ooze with carnal zeal.  A very, very good movie.   With: Brandon De Wilde, Melvyn Douglas, and Whit Bissell. Notes:  The film is based on Larry McMurty’s Horseman Pass By.  The film won Academy Awards for best actress (Neal), Supporting actor (Douglas), and Photography (James Wong Howe).  The fine screenplay was written by Harry Frank and Irving Ravetch.  Box-office gross:  $5,000,000. 

 

IN OLD CALIFORNIA.  1942.  88 minutes.  <Western — John Wayne.  Directed by William McGann.  A pharmacist from Boston moves to Sacramento just before the gold rush begins to set up shop.  He is confronted in the beginning by the town’s boss but manages to put the crook on the defensive.  The story then revolves around the hero’s love for the daughter of a big banker (she doesn’t love him) and the saloon girl with a heart of gold (who does love him).  The backdrop changes from town to Sutter’s Mill and the gold rush and the cholera outbreak which inevitably follows.  The dance-hall girl and the pharmacist hero both prove their mettle (even the bad boss mends his ways).  All in all, a pretty entertaining John Wayne opus.  With:  Binnie Barnes, Albert Dekker, Helen Parrish, Patsy Parrish, and Edgar Kennedy.  Notes:  Screenplay by Gertrude Purcell and Frances from an original story by J. Robert Bren.

 

INDIAN UPRISING.  1951.  74 minutes.  Western.  Geronimo.  Indian Wars.  Army Captain Case McCloud captures Geronimo and convinces him to stop his attacks, insuring him that the U.S. will honor its treaty.  Corrupt mining officials upset the peace and precipitate new Indian raids.  Very routine western.   With:  George Montgomery, Audrey Long, Carl Benton Reid, Eugene Iglesias, Jo Baer, Joseph Sawyer, Eddy Waller, Douglas Kennedy, Robert Shayne, Miguel Inclan, Hugh Sanders, Hank Patterson, Robert Griffith, Fay Roope, and Robert Dover..   Notes:    Musical Director Ross Di Maggio.  Photography by Ellis Carter.  Screenplay by Kenneth Gamet and Richard Schayer from a story by Schayer.  Quality of tape is fair — extended play and may go dark on pauses and search functions on some players.  Film was shot in color but some players may not be adaptable because of long play.

 

IOLA’S PROMISE see under D. W. GRIFFITH TRIPLE FEATURE

 

THE IRON ROAD.  1990.  60 minutes.  <V2928>.  Documentary.  Directed by Neal Goodwin.  A segment of the PBS program The American Experience.  “With the discovery of gold in 1849 in the California hills, fortune hunters poured into the western U.S. so fast that, in 1850, California was added to the union as a state.  But the rich and expansive territory of California lay a whole continent away from the existing seat of government and industry in the United States.  Getting to the fabled gold mines of California meant months of dangerous sailing around Cape Horn or traveling 2,000 miles overland across treacherous mountains and deserts inhabited by Indians.  Dynamic forces of social change and growing technology brought about investment in a new mode of transportation, one that offered great promise for connecting the east and vast regions of the west–the railroad.  Here is the story of the completion of the transcontinental railroad which reduced the cross-country trip to just nine and a half days, and meant for the first time that the United States was truly united.  Built during the Reconstruction years following the Civil War, the transcontinental railroad came to symbolize a healing of wounds between the north and south.”  Notes:  Produced and written by Neal Goodwin.  Camera by Goodwin and Doug Shaffer.  Music by Greg Van Dusen.  Narrated by Leif Ancker.  Some of those interviewed include historians Fred Gowans, Albert White Hat, and Thomas Chinn.

 

THE JAYHAWKERS.  1959.  100 minutes.  <V2934>.  Western — Civil War Drama.  Directed by Melvin Frank.  During the Civil War in Kansas, “bloody Kansas” and the Union authorities want to catch the charismatic, ambitious, leader of a marauding band of renegade soldiers.  They recruit another rebellious Kansan to hunt him down, but the men are drawn to one another’s ideals and style.  This is a routine 1950s western drama.  Jeff Chandler, Fess Parker, Nicole Maurey, Henry Silva, Frank DeKova, Don McGowan, Leo Gordon, Shari Lee Bernath, and Jimmy Carter.  Notes:  Written by Frank, Joseph Petracca, Frank Fenton, and A.I. Bezzerides.  Photographed by Loyal Griggs.  Music by Jerome Moross.

 

JEREMIAH JOHNSON.  1972.  107 minutes. Westerns.  <V783>.  Directed by Sydney Pollack.  In the 1850s an ex-soldier becomes a famous mountain trapper.  It is odd seeing Robert Redford as a rugged mountain man.  The story is full of the macho grand standing moviegoers have learned to expect from the pen of John (Conan the Barbarian) Milius, a western with a purpose.   With:  Robert Redford, Will Geer, Josh Albee, Charles Tyner, and Allyn McLerie.  Notes:  Script by John Milius and Edward Anhalt.  Box-office gross:  $21,900,000.

 

JESSE JAMES.  1939.  105 minutes.  Westerns.  Jesse James.  Tyrone Power.  Henry Fonda.  <V1595>.  Directed by Henry King.  One of the earliest romantic presentations of the outlaw James Brothers.  Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda play the notorious Jesse and Frank respectively.  Snow job, typical of the glamorization of western ‘heroes’ of the period.  That aside, it’s an enjoyable, nicely paced film.  Power and Fonda are perfect romantic icons — these guys just couldn’t have been anything but misguided.  With:  Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Henry Hull, Slim Summerville, Brian Donlevy, John Carradine, Donald Meek, and Jane Darwell. Notes:  Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson.

 

JOHNNY GUITAR.  1954.  110 minutes.  Women in the West.  Westerns.  Joan Crawford.  <V1736>.  Directed by Nicholas Ray.  In old Arizona, a woman running a saloon comes into direct conflict with a powerful rancher, also a woman.    Their conflict for power revolving around the coming of the railroad and men, leads to an inevitable final showdown.  No film has had as many suggestive innuendoes made or written about it than this ladies-on-the-range epic.  Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge are the dueling pair and they put on quite a show.  No other two actresses could have pulled this stunt off as well.  The film borders on utter silliness, but the action is solid as are the remaining cast members — Sterling Hayden, Scott Brady, Ward Bond Ben Cooper, Ernest Borgnine, John Carradine, Royal Dano and Paul Fix.  Notes:  Screenplay by Philip Yordan. 

 

JOHNNY RENO.  1965.  83 minutes.  Western.  Directed by R. G. Springsteen.  Dana Andrews is Johnny Reno a tough territorial marshal who’s ambushed by two brothers running away from a lynch mob in a town called Stone Junction.  They’ve been accused of killing and Indian, and the townspeople want to get them caught, tried and hung before the Indians attack.  The town is hiding a secret that Reno must fight through to get after the truth.  Fairly routine western overall.  Andrews was obviously showing signs of age as the rough and tumble hero.  With:  Jane Russell as Nona Williams, Lon Chaney as Sheriff Hodges, John Agar as Ed Tomkins, Lyle Bettger as Jess Yates, Tom Drake as Joe Conners, Richard Arlen as Ned Duggan, Robert Lowery as Jake Reed, Tracy Olsen as Marie Yates.  Notes:  Photographed by Harold Stine.  Russell’s gowns by Edith Head.  Music by Jimmie Haskell.  Screenplay by Steve Fisher from a story by Fisher and Andrew Craddock.

 

JUBAL.  1956.  101 minutes.  Western.  Western Fiction.  Directed by Delmer Daves.  Glenn Ford, Rod Steiger, and Ernest Borgnine Star in this brooding, psycho-western about the troubles of a cowboy befriended a Montana cattle rancher with a beautiful young wife with a roving eye and a top cowhand with a vicious jealous streak.  Revenge, sex, and redemption are all rolled into this unusual western melodrama.  Valerie French, Felicia Farr, Basil Ruysdael, Noah Beery, Jr. Charles Bronson, John Dierkes, Jack Elam, Robert Burton.  Notes:  Screenplay by Russell S. Hughes and Delmer Daves based on a novel by Paul I. Wellman.  Photographed by Charles Lawton, Jr.  Gowns by Jean Louis.  Music composed by David Raksin, conducted by Morris Stoloff. 

 

JUBILEE TRAIL.  1954.  103 minutes.  Western.  Western Fiction.  Popular Fiction.  Directed by Joseph Kane.  Colorful, well acted film adaptation of a popular novel by Gwen Bristow.  The story of Garnet Hale, a beautiful girl married to a young California rancher whose past she learns of only after she travels west with him to meet his brother.  Enroute they become involved with an adventurous chanteuse who is escaping murder charges in New York and Oliver Hale’s best friend Tom Ivins.  A lively entertainment with unique locales and intriguing characterizations.  With:  Vera Ralston, Forrest Tucker, Joan Leslie, John Russell, Ray Middleton, Pat O’Brien, Buddy Baer, Jim Davis Barton MacLane, Richard Webb, martin Garralaga, and Jack Elam.  Notes:  Screenplay by Bruce Manning from the novel by Gwen Bristow.  Photography by Jack Marta.  Music by Victor Young.

 

JUNIOR BONNER.  1972.  100 minutes.  Western.  Steve McQueen.  Sam Peckinpah. <V191>.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Junior Bonner is an aging cowboy fighting the need to stop the hard, rough life on the rodeo circuit.  On a visit to Phoenix and home he must deal with his parents and an embittered brother.  A fine modern western about the ever changing faces of the West and how it leaves some men behind.  With:  Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don Baker, and Ben Johnson.  Notes:  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.

 

KANSAS PACIFIC.  1953.  73 minutes.  Western.  Railroads.  Kansas Territory.  Civil War.  Directed by Ray Nazarro.  The building of the Kansas Pacific railroads during the early days of the Civil War is impeded by guerrilla assaults on the rail lines.  An army engineer is assigned by Winfield Scott to help with getting the stymied Kansas Pacific built.  Competently crafted drama about the building of the transcontinental roads that is well photographed and edited.  The cast is fine, especially the ever solid Sterling Hayden and Clayton Moore as a gunman for the forces working against the roads.  [Moore, for the uninitiated or the very young would gain greater fame on ’50s TV as the original Lone Ranger].  With:  Sterling Hayden, Eve Miller, Barton MacLane, Harry Shannon, Tom Padden, Reed Hadley, Douglas Fowley, Bob Keys, Irving Bacon, Myron Healey, James Griffith, Clayton Moore, and Jonathan Hale.  Notes:  Screenplay by Dan Ullman.  Photographed by Harry Neumann.  Music by Albert Sendery, Musical direction by Marlin Stiles.

 

KANSAS TERRITORY.  1952.  65 minutes.  Western.  Wild Bill Elliott.  Directed by Lewis Collins.  With:  Wild Bill Elliot Stars in this fast paced western about a rancher who returns to Kansas seeking revenge for his brothers killers.  Making the return trip home is doubly dangerous for the cowboy — he still has false charges hanging over his head from the border war days.  The sets for the town of Redding have the look of a frontier town just being built.  The black and white photography seems to place the film in a particular period.  The dialog is straightforward, the action simple.  Not a bad little western.  With:  House Peters, Jr., Peggy Stewart, Lane Bradford, Stan Jolley, Fuzzy Knight, Stan Andrew, Lyle Talbot, Marshall Reed, John Hart.  Notes:  Photography by Ernest Miller.  Music by Raoul Krahushaar.  Story and screenplay by Dan Ullmann.

 

 

LASH LARUE see under individual titles:  BORDER FEUD, GHOST TOWN RENEGADES, STAGE TO MESA CITY.

 

LAST COMMAND.  1955.  110 minutes.  Western.  Jim Bowie.  The Alamo.  Directed by Frank Lloyd.  Directed by.  Sterling Hayden plays Jim Bowie in this well written, intelligent filmization of the Alamo battle.  The film has a touch of realism and quiet passion that few films on the mythic embattled fortress have had.  Republic Pictures produced the film after negotiations with John Wayne, who had yearned to do the film throughout much of his film career, failed [because he didn’t want to do another film with the producer’s mistress [Vera Hruba Ralston], the Republic execs rushed this film into the theaters [without Ralston].  Wayne’s The Alamo would be produced in the early ’60s with a lot more fanfare, but as drama and history, this film is better.  Hayden gives a fine, understated performance as Bowie, whom he plays as a thoughtful, careful man, not given to making rash decision, an act which makes him appear even more heroic.  The rest of the large, and very familiar cast includes Anna Maria Alberghetti as Consuela, Richard Carlson as Colonel Travis, Arthur Hunnicutt as Davy Crockett, Ernest Borgnine, J. Carrol Naish as Santa Ana, Ben Cooper as Jeb, John Russell, Virginia Grey, and Jim Davis.  The ending battle scenes really very, very impressive.  Notes:  Screenplay by Warren Duff from a story by Sy Bartlett.  Music by Max Steiner.  Song Jim Bowie by Sidney Clare and Steiner and sung by Gordon MacRae.  Photography by Jack Marta.

 

LAST OF THE REDMEN.  1947.  79 minutes.  Historical Drama.  Western.  James Fenimore Cooper — adaptations.  French and Indian Wars.  Directed by George Sherman.  Set against the background of the French and Indian wars, the story revolves around the treachery and intrigue around a British effort against forces of Iroquois and French invaders.  The romance between the British general Munro’s beautiful daughter Alice and her escort into the wilds of the Northwest, Major Heywood, plus a rivalry for the major’s attention between Alice and her sister add to the plot.  Well photographed but rather tame adaptation of the colorful classic by Cooper.  There is something antiseptic and completely unrealistic about this particular version of the story.  Buster Crabbe gives an interesting performance as the treacherous Iroquois turncoat Magua.  [Crabbe first gained attention as Star of the serial Flash Gordon and later as Tarzan].  Jon Hall as Major Heywood, Michael O’Shea as Hawk Eye, Evelyn Ankers as Alice Munro, Julie Bishop as Cora Munro, Buster Crabbe as Magua, Rick Vallin as Uncas, Buzz Henry as Davy.  Notes:  Screenplay by Herbert Valmas and George H. Plympton and based on Fenimore Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans.  Photography by Ray Fernstrom and Ira H. Morgan.  Musical direction by Mischa Bakaleinikoff.

 

LAST STAND AT LITTLE BIG HORN.  1992.  60 minutes.  Documentary.  George Armstrong Custer.  Custer’s Last Stand.  Little Big Horn.  “The Battle of the Little Big Horn, known as “Custer’s Last Stand,” has been one of the most frequently depicted moments in American history–and one of the least understood, still shrouded in myth.  The battle has inspired over 1,000 different paintings and works of art, calendar displays, comic books and cereal boxes.  The golden-haired general and his doomed 7th Cavalry have been wiped out by Indians in more than 40 films.  Yet the battle that left no white survivors also left two very different accounts of Little Big Horn:  one white; one Indian.  Using journals, oral accounts and Indian ledger Darwin’s as well as archival and feature films, a Native American novelist and a white filmmaker combine talents to examine this watershed moment in history from two views:  from that of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Crow who had lived on the Great Plains for generations; and from that of the white settlers who pushed west across the continent.  Pulitzer-Prize-winning Native American writer Scott Momaday narrates.”  Notes:  Produced and directed by Paul Stekler.  Written by Stekler and James Welch.  Edited by Michal Goldman.  Narrated by N. Scott Momaday.  Cinematography by Jon Else, Erik Daarstad, Boyd Estus, and Dan Hart.  Music composed and directed by Joseph Mulholland.  Voices:  John Around Him, Michael Balcanoff, Marcel Bull Bear, Ferlin Clark, Birgil Kills Straight, Ronald Glenmore, Gladys Old Mousde, Everette Lone Hill and others.

 

LAW AND JAKE WADE, THE.  1958, 87min.  Western.  V3976.   Directed by John Sturges.  Jake Wade is an ex-badman gone straight (now a lawman) who repays an old debt by helping a former partner escape from the hangman’s noose.  He regrets this act when the ex-partner kidnaps him and his fiancee and take them to find some long buried loot from their old robbing days.  The story has the inevitable conclusion of Wade against the badman.  Straight, no-frills story.  Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark, Patricia Owens, Robert Middleton, Henry Silva, DeForest Kelly, Burt Douglas, Eddie Firestone.  Notes:

 

A LAWLESS STREET.  1955.  78 minutes.  Western.  Randolph Scott.  Directed by Joseph H. Lewis.  Randolph Scott is U.S. Marshal Calem Ware tries to maintain law and order in the town of Medicine Bend.  His efforts run up against the concerted efforts by a group of greedy men to re-open long dormant gold mines.  Ware must also contend with rekindling his feelings for his estranged wife, a San Francisco singer named Tally Dickinson, when she shows up in the town.  When Ware is knocked unconscious in a gun fight, everyone, especially the gang re-opening the mines, thinks he’s dead — they begin a campaign to take over all of the valuable property — from the saloons to big ranches.  Medicine Bend is once again declared a wide open town, run by the outlaws until the marshal proves only to have been badly wounded, not killed.  When he recovers he goes gunning for the ruffians.  Intelligently done, as most of Scott’s films were, but the story is fairly routine.  With:  Angela Lansbury as Tally Dickinson, Warner Anderson, Jean Parker, Wallace Ford, John Emery, James Bell, Ruth Donnelly, Michael Pate, Don Megowan, Jeanette Nolan.  Notes:  Screenplay by Kenneth Gamet from a story by Brad Ward.  Photography by Ray Rennahan.  Music by Paul Sawtell.

 

LAWMAN.  1970.  95 minutes.  Western.  Burt Lancaster.  Directed by Michael Winner.  Burt Lancaster is Marshall Jared Maddox a determined U.S. Marshall who comes after the cattlemen who shot up his town of Bannock, leaving one old shopkeeper murdered.  Though the shooting was accidental, Maddox travels to the town of Sabbath to find the guilty men — he walks into a town obsessed with their sense of order and duty.  The town is dominated by one powerful rancher and his faithful hands.  Maddox’s almost obsessive desire to bring in the guilty party results in many of the men feeling forced to challenge him in a shoot-out.  A film about one man’s relentless pursuit of law at whatever cost and the willful nature that even respectable, generally honest men decide to take when confronted with an indomitable will.  One of Michael Winner’s better films and one of the more literate and quietly effective of the anti-westerns of the late ’60s early ’70s re-tooling of the myth of the American West.  With:  Lee J. Cobb, Robert Ryan, Sheree North, Robert Duvall, Albert Salmi, J. D. Cannon, John McGiver, Joseph Wiseman, Albert Salmi, Richard Jordan, Ralph Waite, John Beck, Robert Emhardt.  Notes:  Written by Gerald Wilson.  Music composed Jerry Fielding.  Photography by Robert Paynter.

 

THE LEGENDARY WEST.  1975.  52 minutes.  Documentary.  Filmmaking — Cowboys and Indians — Old West — Westerns.  <3287>.  This documentary look at the winning of the West, as seen through the eyes of Hollywood and pulp writers is a segment of the American Document Series produced in the 1970s.  It’s an outline of the history of the West in cinema, narrated in an avuncular fashion by Ben Johnson, film cowboy emeritus.  Some excellent footage of early film westerns from early William S. Hart to early John Wayne.  The role of pulp writers such as Ned Buntline in romanticizing the lives of Wild Bill Hickok, Billy the Kid, the Earp Brothers, Geronimo, and Buffalo Bill is also discussed in the program.  Notes:  Executive Produced: Ray Hubbard.  Narrated by Ben Johnson.  Written, Produced and Edited by Stephen Zito and Larry Klein.  Editors include Jane Stubbs, and Milton Sink.  Music by Ralph Berliner.

 

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN.  1972.  124 minutes.  <V3154>.  Western — Judge Roy Bean.  Directed by John Huston.  Paul Newman plays Roy Bean, a Texas cowhand who wanders into a hellish little thieves’ den in West Texas and is brutally attacked, robbed, and left for dead.  A lovely Mexican girl helps revive him and Bean decides, after gaining his revenge against the scum in the bar, to become the “only law West of the Pecos.”   He becomes judge, jury and law and rules the region from his perch in the saloon where he first confronted the criminal element.  This story was done in the early ’40s as William Wyler’s handsome The Westerner with Walter Brennan as Roy Bean and Gary Cooper as his young partner.  This version is a overburdened opus about individuality and the corruption of big business.  The bombast is provided by the script written by macho John Milieus.  With: Jacqueline Bisset, Tab Hunter, John Huston, Stacy Keach, Roddy McDowell, Anthony Perkins, Victoria Principal, Anthony Zerbe, and Ava Gardner as Lily Langtry.  Notes:  Music composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre.  Song Marmalade, Molasses and Honey with lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Bergman and sung by Andy Williams.  Produced by John Foreman.  Screenplay by John Milieus.  Box-office gross – $8,100,000.

 

LIFE OF AN AMERICAN COWBOY see under THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY

 

LIGHT OF THE WESTERN STARS.  1940.  67 minutes.  Western.  Zane Grey.  Directed by Lesley Selander.  A beautiful girl from the East falls for a wild young cowboy, and in the process saves him from a life of crime.  He and a cowboy help bring a dishonest sheriff and some gun runners to justice.  Average western from a Zane Grey story with Russell Hayden, who gained attention initially as a Hopalong Cassidy young sidekick Lucky.  Victor Jory is top billed and this is one of the few films in which he got to play the hero.  With:  Victory Jory, J. Farrell MacDonald, JoAnn Sayes, Noah Beery, Jr., Tom Tyler, Alan Ladd, Eddie Dean.  Notes:  Screenplay by Norman Houston.  Photographed by Russell Harlan.  Musical score by Victor Young.  Note on cast.  Noah Beery, who plays Jory’s Mexican sidekick is more familiar as James Garner’s pops in the popular TV series The Rockford Files.  Beery and Jory made scores of westerns from the early ’40s through the 1960s.  Alan Ladd’s could be easy to miss – he’s that young fella Jory helps in the bar room brawl early on in the picture.  In less than a year after this film Ladd’s role in This Gun For Hire would make him a major Paramount Star.  Print available is just OK.

 

LITTLE BIG HORN.  1951.  86 minutes.  Western.  Little Big Horn Massacre.  Directed by Charles Marquis Warren.  In 1876, as hostile activity increases among the tribes in the Dakota Territory, two calvary officers, in conflict over the wife of one the officers, must lead a troop to join Custer’s forces at Little Big Horn.  The film builds on the tension between the two men and the determined efforts of the officers, against difficult odds, to lead their men to the rescue of the doomed 7th Calvary.  It is clear that director Warren tries hard to emulate the pictorial style of John Ford’s great calvary pictures — especially She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Fort Apache.  What he achieves is a professional effort, well acted, and with an intriguing spin on the Little Big Horn legacy.  Once past the fairly contrived romantic angles the viewer will be fairly well entertained by this realistic and intelligently scripted horse opera.  With:  Lloyd Bridges as Capt. Philip Donlin, John Ireland as Lt. John Haywood, Marie Windsor as Celia Donlin, Jim Davis as Cpl. Doan Moylan, Reed Hadley as Sgt. Major Gierson, Hugh O’Brien as Pvt. Al Dewalt, King Donovan as Pvt. James Corbo, Wally Cassell as Pvt Danny Zecca, Sheb Wooley as Quince, Rodd Redwing as Cpl. Arika, and Richard Emory as Pfc. Mitch Shovels.  Notes:  Screenplay by Charles Marquis Warren and based on a story by Harold Shumate.  Music composed and conducted by Paul Dunlap.  The song On the Little Big Horn was written by Stanley Adams, Maurice Sigler, and Larry Stock from an original arrangement by Ralph Flanagan.  Photography by Ernest W. Miller.  Most of the actors in this film would gain greater fame on TV  –  Bridges [father of Beau and Jeff] on Sea Hunt, Sheb Wooley as one of the trail hands on Rawhide (which was produced by director Warren); Jim Davis [the head of the Ewing clan on Dallas, before his untimely death], and Hugh O’Brien who would portray TV’s Wyatt Earp in the early ’60s.

 

THE LONG RIDERS.  1980.  100 minutes.  Westerns.  Jesse James.  Younger Brothers.  Directed by Walter Hill.  The Frank and Jesse James story is told as Missouri folklore.  This is unquestionably the best western since The Wild Bunch.  Hill presents a film that depicts the lives with something approaching realism — largely by humanizing these men through the romantic mists.  The cast is excellent.  The ploy of using real brothers as the outlaws is a very interesting touch.  Fortunately, the young actors are all quite good.  With James and Stacy Keach as Jesse and Frank James; David, Robert, and Keith Carradine as the Youngers; Randy and Dennis Quaid as the Millers; and Christopher and Nicholas Guest as the Fords.  With:  Pamela Reed as Belle Starr, and Harry Carey, Jr., and Savannah Smith.  Notes:  Music by Ry Cooder.  Screenplay by Bill Bryden, Steven Phillip Smith, Stacy and James Keach.  Photographed by Ric Waite.  Box-office gross:  $6,081,587.

 

LOVE ME TENDER.  1956.  89 minutes.  Western.  Post-Civil War Melodrama.  Elvis Presley.  Directed by Robert D. Webb.  Three brothers return home to Georgia after the Civil War to find unexpected challenges and changes.  The eldest of the brothers finds that his fiancée (who has received word that he has died) has wed his younger brother.  The strain of the homecoming on the family, and other post-war uncertainties were great, and the ghost of the past war come back to haunt the brothers.  This film, Elvis’ debut in movies and it’s a well made action film.  Presley gives an earnest, attractive performance.  With:  Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Elvis Presley, Robert Middleton, William Campbell, Neville Brand, Mildred Dunnock, Bruce Bennett, James Drury, Russ Conway, Ken Clark, Barry Coe.  Notes: Screenplay by Robert Bruckner from a story by Maurice Geraghty.  Music by Lionel Newman.  Photography by Leo Tover.  Songs include Love Me Tender, Let Me, We’re Gonna Move, and Poor Boy sung and written (with Vera Matson) by Elvis Presley.  Box-office gross:  $4,200,000.

 

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN.  1960  126 minutes.  Western.  Steve McQueen.  Yul Brynner.  <V460>.  Directed by John Sturges.  Seven hired guns defend poor Mexican farmers form marauding bandits.  Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Horst Buchholz and James Coburn Star in this big western.  Akira Kurosawa’s magnificent epic Seven Samurai is the obvious source of this action filled film.  Sturges has no intention of doing anything but paying tribute to a masterpiece and offering the public a good western.  He achieved both ends admirably.  The cast was perfectly chosen.  Each actor’s personality is like a signature of what made each of them Stars especially Bronson and McQueen.  McQueen would reap the harvests of superstardom quicker than most of the other actors (Brynner was already certified) but the Bronson persona owes much to his role in this film.  With:  Jorge Martinez, Vladimir Sokoloff, Rosenda Monteros, Whit Bissell, Val Avery, Bing Russell and Robert Wilke.  Notes:  Screenplay by William Roberts.  Photographed by Charles Lang, Jr.  Elmer Bernstein’s musical score is one of the most recognizable in recent memory — it was apotheosized in the Marlboro country ads that once abounded on television.  The score did receive an Oscar nomination and lost out to another familiar theme — that of Exodus.

 

MAJOR DUNDEE.  1965.  122 minutes.  Western.  Charlton Heston.  Sam Peckinpah.  Civil War.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Charlton Heston plays Major Dundee, a career Army man under some kind of cloud, sent to a command P.O.W. outpost in the west late in 1865.  When a troop of his soldiers and a number of civilians are butchered by a renegade Apache chieftain.  The chief has kidnapped the sons of the civilian rancher and Dundee wants badly to go after the killers.  Dundee asks for volunteers among the Confederate prisoners one of whom is a friend he voted to have cashiered from the Union Army before the war.  The determined Dundee follows the band of Indians into the hills of Mexico where they also are confronted by the imperial French forces of Napoleon II in Mexico.  A gritty, hard nosed calvary picture, not necessarily one of Peckinpah’s best, but more than serviceable for fans of the genre.  With:  Richard Harris as Confederate Capt. Tyreen, Senta Berger as Teresa Santiago [a beautiful self-exiled Austrian woman], Jim Hutton as the inexperience Lt. Graham and with James Coburn as Samuel Potts, Michael Anderson, Jr. as Tim Ryan, Mario Adorf as Sgt. Gomez, Brock Peters as Aesop, Warren Oates as C. W. Hadley, Ben Johns as Sgt. Chillium, R. G. Armstrong as Rev. Dahlstrom, L. Q. Jones as Arthur Hadley, Slim Pickens as Wiley, Karl Swenson as Capt. Waller, Michael Pate as Sierra Charrila and Dub Taylor as Priam.  Notes:  Screenplay by Harry Julian Fink and Oscar Saul with Peckinpah.  Photographed by Music by Daniele Amfitheatrof.  Title song by Amfitheatrof with lyrics by Ned Washington and sung by Mitch Miller’s Sing Along Gang.  Photographed by Sam Leavitt.

 

A MAN ALONE.  1955.  96 minutes.  Western.  Directed Ray Milland.  Gunman Wes Steele is forced to cross the desert on foot when his horse goes lame.  On the way, he happens across a stagecoach that has been robbed and its passengers’ killed.  He uses one of the coach horses to get out of the desert into the town of Mesa where he is immediately confronted by a gunman, little knowing that he’s the deputy sheriff.  Steele is quickly suspected of the robbery and murders on sight, precipitating a desperate hunt by the townspeople.  While trying to escape the irate townsmen he overhears the real killers making plans about the money they robbed.  Dusty, moody, introspective western and the directorial debut of Ray Milland who also heads the cast.  There is a cleverly menacing performance by Raymond Burr as the murderous leader of the bank robbers.  The film also boasts a cast of familiar supporting players including Mary Murphy, Ward Bond, Arthur Space, Lee Van Cleef, Alan Hale, Douglas Spencer, Thomas B. Henry, Grandon Rhodes, Martin Garralga, Kim Spalding and Howard J. Negley.  Notes:  Screenplay by John Tucker Battle from a story by Mort Briskin.  Music by Victor Young.  Photography by Lionel Lindon.

 

THE MAN FROM COLORADO.  1948.  99 minutes.  Western.  Paranoia.  Colorado, Post Civil War.  Directed by Henry Levin.  William Holden and Glenn Ford play Del Stewart and Owen Devereaux, close friends from Colorado Territory who fought together in the Union cause.  Devereaux, the colonel of his troop of Colorado volunteers has become almost megalomanical about his authority and control, a mania which leads him to have his soldiers kill Confederate troops who have raised a flag of truce.  His emotional and psychological stress carries over into his life after the war, damaging his friendship with Stewart and his reputation among his ex-soldiers.  This is a fine, brooding western about the disastrous effects of the mayhem on war on a sensitive, intelligent man.  Glenn Ford gives one of his better performances as a man who can not control his paranoia or his hatreds.  Holden is solid as a rock as Stewart, a friend at odds with the loyalty he wants to give his best friend, even though he’s aware of the man’s confused mental state.  With:  Ellen Drew, Ray Collins, Edgar Buchanan, Jerome Courtland, James Millian, Jim Bannon, William ‘Bill’ Phillips.  Notes:  Screenplay by Robert d. Andrews and Ben Maddow from an original story by Borden Chase.  Photography by William Snyder.  Musical Score by George Duning.

 

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.  1955.  104 minutes.  Western.  James Stewart.  Directed by Anthony Mann.  James Stewart is Will Lockhard, a freight hauler who tries to find out who murdered his young brother.  In his efforts to find the killers he crosses paths with a ruthless rancher with a sadistic, bullying son and a sycophantic, ambitious foreman.  Hard-edged, smart western with Stewart giving one of the best performances among his western roles.  With:  Arthur Kennedy as Vic Hansbro, Donald Crisp as Alec Waggoman, Cathy O’Donnell as Barbara Waggoman, Alex Nicol as Dave Waggoman, Aline MacMahon as Kate Canady, Wallace Ford as Charley O’Leary, Jack Elam as Chris Boldt, and John War Eagle as Frank Darrah, James Millican as Tom Quigley, Gregg Barton as Fritz.  Notes:  Screenplay by Philip Yordan and Frank Burt based upon the Saturday Evening Post story by Thomas T. Flynn.  Photographed by Charles B. Lang, Jr.  Music by George Duning and conducted by Morris Stoloff.  Title song by Lester Lee and Ned Washington.  Available on VHS and DVD.

 

MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER.  1982.  104 minutes.  <V2867>.  Western.  Australia.  Directed by George Miller.  In frontier Australia in the 1890s a youth falls in love with the daughter of a ranching baron, who is quite protective of the girl.  She, as strong willed as her father is attracted to the boy.  The boy also worships the chase for wild horses.  During the hunt for these beautiful animals he meets the twin brother of the rancher — a cantakerous horse man who is a legend among the hunters for wild herds.  Kirk Douglas is the Man from Snowy River.  It’s a showy role, the kind he relishes.  The picture is sentimental and handsomely photographed, but it was quite over rated at the time of its release.  It is okay family entertainment.  With:  Jack Thompson, Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton, and Lorraine Bayly.  Notes:  Screenplay John Dixon and Fred Cul Cullen and based on a poem by a. B. (“Banjo”) Paterson.  Music by Bruce Rowland.  Box-office gross:  $10,000,000.

 

THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO.  1953.  79 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Budd Boetticher.  Glenn Ford is John Stroud, the soul survivor of the Mexican assault on the Alamo.  Stroud and several friends drew straws to see who would go to protect their families.  His leaving is seen as an act of cowardice, but his concerns are not to redeem himself in other peoples’ eyes but to avenge the slaughter of his wife and children and the families of his martyred friends.  Budd Boetticher’s style is hard and lean.  The film is like the best of Ford’s westerns, effective, tense, well done.  With:  Julia Adams as Beth Anders, Chill Wills as John Gage, Victory Jory as Jess Wade, Hugh O’Brian as Lt. Lamar, Neville Brand as Dawes, John Day as Cavish, Myra Marsh as Ma Anders, Jeanne Cooper as Kate Lamar, Mark Cavell as Carlos, Edward Norris as Mapes and Guy Williams as Sergeant.  Notes:  Screenplay by Steve Fisher and D. D. Beauchamp based upon a story by Niven Busch and Oliver Crawford.  Photographed by Russell Metty.  Music by Frank Skinner.

 

MAN OF THE FOREST.  1933.  59 minutes.  Western.  Randolph Scott.  Zane Grey.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  Greedy land operator Clint Beasley hires an ex-con to help him wrangle the rich forest property of his arch rival Jim Gaynor [who had served time on charges trumped up by Beasley].  When Gaynor’s status as a convicted felon seems to insure the lost of his property, the plans he makes to sign the property over to his niece Alice are revealed, a plot to kidnap the girl is hatched.  Entertaining entry in the early westerns Zane Grey produced with director Henry Hathaway with Randolph Scott as the Star.  Scott plays Brett Dale, a trapper who helps the owner out of is troubles and the venerable old cowboy Star Harry Carey is the stoic Jim Gaynor.  The rest of the cast includes Buster Crabbe is the edgy young bad guy Yegg,  Barton MacLane is Mulvey, Verna Hillie is Alice Gaynor [Jim’s niece], Noah Beery Sr. is the chief bad guy [Clint Beasley], Guinn “Big Boy” Williams is Big Casino.  Notes:  Screenplay by Jack Cunnigham and Harold Shumate.  Photographed by Ben Reynolds.  Film also goes under the title of Challenge of the Frontier.  There is some stunning black and white photography and excellent location shots.  The cool Scott has a pride of mountain lions as pets — his off-handed handling of scenes with the animals is pure joy.  Nifty, though the relatively poor quality of this print may spoil it for some.

 

MAN OF THE WEST.  1958.  100 minutes.  Western.  Gary Cooper.  Western Fiction.  Directed by Anthony Mann.  Gary Cooper is Link Jones alias Link Tobin, an ex outlaw trying to change.  When a train he’s on is robbed by a brutal gang of killers he discovers that they are led by his crazed old uncle Dock Tobin.  This was one of Cooper’s last major films and opinion is split on how effective it is.  Cooper was 58 at the time the film was made and its clear that he’s much too old for the part he’s playing.  Lee J. Cobb, born 10 years after Cooper, plays Link’s uncle Dock, the vicious old leader of the gang, very broadly.  The film does have a hard psychological edge to it, though the rampant miscasting ultimately makes it less effective than it might have been otherwise.  With:  Julie London, Arthur O’Connell, Jack Lord, John Dehner, Royal Dano, Robert Wilke.  Notes:  Screenplay by Reginald Rose and based on Will C. Brown’s The Border Jumpers.  Photographed by Ernest Haller.  Music by Leigh Harline.  Title song by Bobby Troup.

 

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE.  1962.  122 minutes. Westerns.  John Ford.  John Wayne.  James Stewart.  Lee Marvin.  <V36>.  Directed by John Ford.  In flashback, the story of how one western town was tamed is told.  A young lawyer (?) comes to a town to set up a law practice but finds the locals inclined toward ridiculing his efforts, all except the owner of a restaurant and a local gunman.  The lawyer succeeds in bringing “civilization” to the town when he faces down a notorious killer — but did he kill the man — or did his protector.  This Ford western has gained an incredible reputation since its release.  Critics at the time of the film’s release disdained the fact that the director, for one of the very few times in his westerns, used sets instead of the wide open spaces that he had glorified in previous films.  Some may have noticed something more obvious — Wayne and Stewart were far too old to be playing the characters they played for most of the film’s length.  Nonetheless, this is, for many, the most beloved of all of Ford’s westerns.  With:  Vera Miles, Edmond O’Brien, Lee Marvin, Andy Devine, Woody Strode, Ken Murray, John Qualen, Lee Van Cleef, Carleton Young and John Carradine.  Notes:  Edith Head’s costume designs received an Oscar nomination.

 

MAN WITHOUT A STAR.  1955.  89 minutes.  Western.  Western Fiction.  Kirk Douglas.  Directed by King Vidor.  Kirk Douglas is Dempsey Rae a cowboy riding the rails drifts into a Wyoming ranching town on the verge of a range war.  Very enjoyable western with Douglas giving one of his most magnetic, joyful performances.  As Dempsey Rae he displays his keen way with the funny , sharp witted dialog and his usual physical prowess.  The rest of the cast is quite entertaining too, especially Jeanne Crain as the sexy, ambitious Reed Bowman.  With:  Claire Trevor as Idonee, William Campbell as Jeff Jimson, Richard Boone as Steve Miles, Mara Corday as Moccasin Mary, Myrna Hansen as Tess Cassidy, Jay C. Flippen as Strap Davis, Eddie C. Waller as Tom Cassidy, Sheb Wooley as Latigo, George Wallace as Tom Carter, and Frank Chase as Little Waco.  Notes:  Screenplay by Borden Chase and D. D. Beauchamp based on a novel by Dee Linford.  Photography by Russell Metty.  Music by Joseph Gershenson.  Title song by Arnold Hughes and Frederick Herbert, sung by Frankie Laine.

 

THE MAURADERS.  1957.  60 minutes.  Westerns.  Hopalong Cassidy.  William Boyd.  Directed by George Archainbaud.  William Boyd is Hopalong Cassidy in this episode of his popular western series.  Hoppy and boys meet a beautiful girl and her mother when they take shelter from a storm in an abandoned church in a deserted town.  The mysterious happenings in the church and in the town are cause for and alarm.  When a beam falls in the church just where the girl recently played the church organ, Hoppy becomes suspicious.  The situation only heightens when a gang of rough cowboys show up the next day to give the women trouble, Hoppy and crew come to the rescue.  Like every entry in this series, this is intelligently and professional done.  With:  Andy Clyde as California Carlson, Rand Brooks as Lucky Jenkins, Ian Wolfe as Black, Dorinda Clifton as Susan, Mary Newton as Mrs. Crowell, Harry Cording as Riker, Earle Hodgins as Clerk, and Dick Bailey as Oil Driller.  Notes:  Original screenplay by Charles Belden from characters created by Clarence E. Mulford.  Photography by Mack Stengler.  Music by Ralph Stanley. 

 

MAVERICK.  1994.  127 minutes.  Western Comedy.  Directed by Richard Donner.  Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, James Garner Star in this broadly comic film version of the popular ’60s television series (Garner played the role of Bart Maverick played by Gibson in the film).  It’s remarkably silly, but it has its appeal.  With:  Graham Greene, James Coburn, and Alfred Molina.  Notes:  Photographed by Vilmos Zsigmond.  Music by Randy Newman.  Screenplay by William Goldman, based on the television series created by Roy Huggins.  Box-office gross:  $88,115,267.

 

THE MAVERICK QUEEN.  1955.  90 minutes.  Western.  Barbara Stanwyck.  Zane Grey.  Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid and the Wild Bunch.  Directed by Joseph Kane.  Kit Banion a beautiful, willful and ambitious businesswoman in the Wyoming territory falls in love with Jeff Young, even though she learns that he is an undercover agent for Pinkertons after the notorious Wild Bunch [Whole in the Wall] Gang led by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Kit’s friendly “business” and personal relations with the gang prove to be a way into the gang for Young.  Young’s decision to work in “the maverick queen’s” hotel is seen as a problem by law abiding citizens, all, that is but the beautiful young rancher Lucy Lee.  Nothing special about the picture except the cast which make it a fairly entertaining piece.  With:  Barbara Stanwyck as Kit Banion, Barry Sullivan as Jeff Young, Scott Brady as Sundance, Mary Murphy as Lucy Lee.  Cast includes: Wallace Ford, Howard Petrie, Jim Davis, Emile Meyer, Walter Sande, George Keymas, John Doucette, Taylor Holmes, Pierre Watkin.  Notes:  Screenplay by Kenneth Gamet and DeVallon Scott from Zane Grey’s novel The Maverick Queen.  Photography by Jack Marta.  Music by Victor Young.  Song The Maverick Queen Ned Washington and Young and sung by Joni James.

 

MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER.  1971.  120 minutes.   Westerns.  Directed by Robert Altman.  A stranger calling himself John McCabe finds his way to a small Washington state town called Presbyterian Church.  He immediately seizes the opportunity to set himself in business — he imports a group of whores for the pleasure of the town’s miners and loggers.  As the town grows so does his business.  A beautiful, cockney whore named Constance Miller comes to town and immediately places herself at the head of making McCabe’s small potatoes operation into something a little classier — after some resistance she succeeds.  Big operators from Seattle find that the operation could be of some use to them, but McCabe’s stubbornness turns them off — they decide to send in strong armed ruffians to make the decision for him.  A beautifully odd-ball concoction from Altman.  Altman’s famous use of overlapping dialogue and seemingly random mutterings are perfect for this off-key western drama.  The picture has a ring of authenticity not common in the genre — the look of fear that partially isolated people have when strangers arrive — the commonplaces that settles on everyday things, everyday jokes — a sameness pervades the lives of the films characters that suggests how desperately familiar life was in that time in those kinds of places.  Vilmos Zsigmond’s beautiful photography captures the lushness of great Northwest.  The wintry scenes have a hazy, mellow beauty.  With:  Warren Beatty, Rene Auberjonois, John Schuck, Bert Remsen, Keith Carradine, Julie Christie, William Devane, Corey Fischer, Shelley Duvall, Michael Murphy, and Anthony Holland.  Notes:  Screenplay by Altman and Rian McKay from the novel McCabe by Edmund Naughton.  Music by Leonard Cohen.  Box-office gross: $4,100,000.

 

MCLINTOCK!  1963.  127 minutes.  Comic Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.  Mr. G. W. [for George Washington] McLintock is a big time cattle baron/mine owner/ land owner whose problems include incompetent territorial officials, sodbusters, and his beautiful strong-willed estranged wife, back from the east after several years.  A big boisterous comic western just as noted for the spirited work of O’Hara as for Wayne’s solid work.  The film has almost cult status among Wayne fans, largely because its been so rarely seen.  Whenever representative footage of John Wayne films are shown, at least one of the scenes is the huge fight sequence that Starts between Wayne and character actor Leo Gordon, that begins with the line I won’t, I won’t. . . like hell I won’t!  With:  Maureen O’Hara, Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jack Kruschen, Chill Wills, Jerry Van Dyke, Edgar Buchanan, Bruce Cabot, Perry Lopez, Strother Martin, Gordon Jones, Robert Lowery, Hank Worden, Bob, Steele, and Aissa Wayne.  Notes:  Photography by William H. Clothier.  Music by De Vol.  Title song, Love in the Country is sung by the Limeliters with words and music by Dunham and Frank DeVol.  Screenplay by James Edward Grant.  Produced by Michael Wayne.

 

THE MISSOURI BREAKS.  1976.  126 minutes.  Western.  Marlon Brando.  Jack Nicholson.  Arthur Penn.  Directed by Arthur Penn.  Marlon Brando plays the wildly eccentric gun man Lee Clayton, hired by a cattle magnate to rid his range of rustlers.  When Clayton arrives, he is confronted by the leader of the rustlers, the wily Tom Logan.  The Missouri Breaks is one of the oddest westerns ever made, thanks largely to the grandiosely broad performances of the two legendary stars.  Brando’s Clayton is a murdering panoply of tics and weirdness.  Its a wondrously entertaining, and, off the wall performance and Nicholson does not back off from the challenge.  With:  Randy Quaid as Little Tod, Kathleen Lloyd as Jane Braxton, Frederic Forrest as Cary, Harry Dean Stanton as Calvin, John McLiam as David Braxton, John Ryan as Si, Sam Gilman as hank Rate, Steve Frank and Lonesome Kid, and Richard Bradford as Pete Marker.  Notes:  Written by Thomas McGuane. Cinematography by Michael Butler.  Music by John Williams.

 

THE MISSOURI TRAVELER.  1958.  103 minutes.  Western Drama.  Western Fiction.  Americana.  Orphans.  Directed by Jerry Hopper.  Brandon DeWilde is Byron, a runaway orphan who settles in a little Missouri town dominated by a blunt, crude landowner named by Tobias Brown [played by Lee Marvin in what is certainly one of first roles in which he plays a sympathetic character].  Byron, whose graceful manners makes him much endeared to most of the people in the town, finds Brown, who hires him as a hand, a tough taskmaster.  This tale of early 20th Century American rural life has is slowly paced coming of age story with the youth and the rough hewed Brown coming to terms by film’s end.  Simple, sentimental story  With:  Gary Merrill, Paul Ford, Mary Hosford, Ken Curtis, Cal Tinney, Frank Cady, Mary Field, Kathleen Freeman.  Notes;  Screenplay by Norman Shanon hall from the novel by John Burress.  Photographed by Winton C. Hoch.  Music by Jack Marshall.  Print quality of this tape is fair.

 

MOHAWK.  1956.  80 minutes.  Western.  Colonial America.  Iroquois Nations.  Directed by Kurt Neuman.  A colonial artist from Boston is commissioned to the frontier to paint landscapes for a museum.  He becomes involved with a crisis involving the Iroquois nations, the settlers and French Canadian intrigue.  Intelligently produced and acted colonial melodrama.  With:  Scott Brady, Rita Gam, Neville Brand, Lori Nelson, Alison Hayes, John Hoyt, Rhys Williams, Mae Clark, Ted De Corsia.  Notes:  Photographed by Karl Struss.  Music by Edward L. Alperson, Jr.  Story and screenplay by Maurice Geraghty and Milton Krims.  Michael Pitts’ suggests in his authoritative filmography Western Movies that stock footage from Drums Along the Mohawk was used in some of the film’s scenes.

 

MONTANA BELLE.  1951.  81 minutes.  Westerns.  Belle Starr.  Dalton Gang.  Directed by Allan Dwan.  Jane Russell is Belle Starr and George Brent is Tom Bradfield in this variation on the legend of the Dalton Brothers’ Gang.  Bradfield is a gentlemanly gambler and businessman that the banking interest convince to help them track down the dangerous gang.  He wants to civilize the buxom Belle.  Russell’s Starr is tough, smart, and sexy.  She’s a good shot and shoots straight from the hip in love and business.  Rigged out in a blonde wig and skimpy bar room outfit she sings a teaser of a song called Gilded Lily that about sums up how her side of the story is told here.  Shot in crystal clear black and white, the picture has some excellent local color and marvelous location scenery, Montana Belle is a surprisingly vigorous, entertaining shoot-em-up.  With:  Scott Brady, Forrest Tucker, Andy Devine, Jack Lambert, John Litel, Ray Teal, Rory Mallinson, Roy Barcroft, Holly Bane, and Ned Davenport.  Notes:  Screenplay by Horace McCoy and Norman S. Hall from a story by M. Coates Webster and Howard Welsch.  Photographed by Jack martin.  Music by Nathan Scott.

 

MONTE WALSH.  1970.  100 minutes.  Western.  Lee Marvin.  Directed by William A. Fraker.  In movies, the western as a genre began dying almost immediately after the huge success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  In the revisionist ’60s and ’70s the aim was to re-create the west in a more realistic fashion.  Monte Walsh, The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid, Doc, Will Penny were just a few of the films that showed the cinematic decline of the romanticized, Hollywood west.  These elegies to the independent cowboy mythos, including Monte Walsh, aimed high, while trying to retain some of the action and pace of the traditional western.  Lee Marvin is the fun-loving Monte Walsh, Jeanne Moreau the loving whore, Countess, and Jack Palance the even keeled, intelligent Chet in this handsome looking, but otherwise, only fair film.  With: Jim Davis, Mitch Ryan, Allyn Ann McLerie, G.D. Spradlin, Michael Conrad, and John McLiam.  Notes:  Screenplay by Lukas Heller and David Z. Goodman based on the novel by Jack Schaffer.  Photography by David M. Walsh.  Music by John Barry.  song The Good Times Are Coming with music by Barry and lyrics by Hal David sung by Mama Cass Elliott.

 

MY DARLING CLEMENTINE.  1946.  97 minutes.  Western.  <V1592>.  Directed by John Ford.  One of the most famous and romanticized film adaptations of  the Wyatt Earp myth.  Henry Fonda plays Earp and his brothers are played by Ward Bond (Morgan), Tim Holt (Virgil), and Don Garner (James).  The role of Doc Holliday belongs to Victor Mature and Old Man Clanton is played by Walter Brennan.  Clementine is Cathy Downs and Linda Darnell is Chihuahua.  Mighty impressive western, mighty impressive indeed.  With:  Alan Mowbray, John Ireland and Jane Darwell.  Notes:  Photography by Joseph B. McDonald, Screenplay by Samuel g. Engel and Winston Miller.  Music by Cyril Mockridge.

 

NAKED IN THE SUN.  1957.  88 minutes.  Slave Trade.  Seminole Indians.  Directed by R. John Hugh.  A film about the Seminole Indian Wars in Florida during the 1830s.  Not much more than an cheaply made exploitation piece.  Veteran character actor Barton MacLane gives a mildly entertaining bad performance as the bad guy.  James Craig, Lita Milan, Barton MacLane, Robert Wark, Jim Boles, Dennis Cross, Douglas Wilson, Peter Dearing, Don Eagle, Tony Morris and Eddie Butler.  Notes:  Original story and screenplay by Frank G. Slaughter.  Additional dialogue by R. John Hugh.  Photographed by Charles T. O’Rork.  Music by Laurence Rosenthal.

 

‘NEATH ARIZONA SKIES.  1934.  54 minutes.  <V3197>.  Western — John Wayne.  Directed by Harry Fraser.  The daughter of an itinerant cowboy and Indian woman inherits a fortune in the Oklahoma oil rush.  Bad guys want to abduct the girl and take possession of her property but are thrawthed by the child’s guardian — a cowboy, and the sister of a bank robber.  Routine early John Wayne western.  With: Sheila Terry, Yakima Canutt, Shirley Ricker, George “Gabby” Hayes,  Jack Rockwell, Weston Edwards, Buffalo Bill, Jr. and Phil Keefer.  Notes:  Story and screenplay by Burl Tuttle.  Photographed by Archie Stout.

 

NEVADA SMITH.  1965.  135 minutes.  Western.  Steve McQueen.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  Steve McQueen is Nevada Smith/Max Sand the son of a miner and his Indian wife who were viciously murdered by a gang of thieves after gold they think is hidden by Sand.  The boy grows into a man spending a lifetime tracking the killers wherever they go including the swampy prisons of Louisiana.  This film, based on the life of a character from the tawdry film and book The Carpetbaggers is a prequel and the name Nevada Smith makes for a good title to an action pic.  There is plenty of action in this film — it’s a long violent paean to revenge.  Nothing much redeems it otherwise.  With:  Karl Malden as Tom Fitch, Brian Keith as Jonas Cord, Arthur Kennedy as Bill Bowdre, Suzanne Pleshette as Pilar, Raf Vallone as Father Zaccardi, Janet Margolin as Neesa, Howard Da Silva as the Warden, Pat Hingle as Big Foot, Martin Landau as Jesse Coe, Paul Fix as Sheriff Bonnell, Gene Evans as Sam Sand, Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Elvira McCanles, John Doucette as Uncle Ben McCanles, Val Avery as Buck Mason, Sheldon Allman as Sheriff, and Lyle Bettger as Jack Rudabough.  Notes:  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.  Music by Alfred Newman.  Executive Producer, Joseph E. Levine.  Screen story and Screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the character in Harold Robbins’ The Carpetbaggers.

 

THE NEW LION OF SONORA.  1970.  104 minutes.  Western Drama.  High Chaparral (TV Series).  Directed by Leon Benson.  This feature length segment of one of the last westerns made for television, tells the story  of the Cannon family, big cattle ranchers in Southern Arizona and their relationship with the Montoya family whose vast holdings border the Chaparral on the Mexico side.  When don Sebastian Montoya, the great Padrone of the Montoya’s dies he leaves the vast estates to his profligate younger brother [played by the ageless Gilbert Roland].  Montoya has done this with regrets that his only son, Manolito repeatedly refused to accept the responsibility.  When Don Domingo arrives, a scheming lawyer and rustling gang begin making raids on both Cannon and Montoya herds.  Routine, television western drama.  With:  Leif Erickson as John Cannon, Cameron Mitchell as Buck Cannon, Mark Slade as Billy Blue Cannon, Linda Cristal as Victoria Cannon, Don Collier as Sam Butler, Ted Markland as Reno, Roberto Contreras as Pedro, Rudy Ramos as Wind, and Rodolfo as Acosta as Vasquero.  Notes:  Screenplay by James Schmere and Dan Balluck.  Photographed by Harkness Smith.  Music by Harry Sukman.  Theme by David Rose.

 

THE NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY.  1966.  99 minutes.  Westerns.  Directed by Joseph Pevney.  Ex lawman Big Jim Cole settles on Wyoming territory on a ranch he’s inherited.  Trouble comes in the form a huge marauding black bear and a big time rancher who covets his land.  Picturesque and well done.  Good family feature.  The solid, granite like Clint Walker leads a good cast that includes:  Martha Hyer as Angela Cole Keenan Wynn as Jed Curry, Nancy Kulp as Wilhelmina Peterson, Kevin Brodie as Charlie Cole, Ellen Corby as hazel Squires, Jack Elam as Hank, Ron Ely as Tad Curry, Med Flory as Duke Squires, Leo Gordon as Cass Dowdy, Don Haggerty as Sam Potts, Sammy Jackson as Cal Curry, Victoria Paige Meyerink as Gypsy Cole, Candy Moore as Meg and Regis Toomey as Cotten Benson.  Notes:  Photographed by Harold Lipstein and Loyal Griggs.  Music composed and conducted by Leith Stevens.  Song Angela by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.  Screenplay by Warren Douglas.  The cast includes actors who appeared in other more notable roles on TV — Ellen Corby [the grandmother on The Waltons, Nancy Kulp, the Miss Jane on the Beverly Hillbillies, and Ron Ely [TV’s Tarzan].

 

NORTH TO ALASKA.  1960.  117 minutes.  Comic Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian, and Capucine Star in this big overly boisterous comic western about gold mines and claims jumping in the great Alaska gold fields in the late 19th century.  The film has several big set piece brawls in this picture, each meant to outdo the other for head bashing effect, mostly comic effect.  Overall, Wayne and action fans will probably be mighty, mighty pleased.  Mickey Shaughnessy, Karl Swenson, Joe Sawyer, Kathleen Freeman, John Qualen, and Stanley Adams.  Notes:  Screenplay by John Lee Mahin, Martin Rickin and Claude Binyon based on the play Birthday Gift by Laszlo Fodor from an idea by John Kafka.  Title song sung by Johnny Horton.  Photography by Leon Shamroy.  Songs by Russell Faith, Robert P. Marcucci, and Pete De Angelis.  Musical direction by Lionel Newman.

 

THE OKLAHOMA KID.  1939.  89 minutes.  <V1164>.  Directed by Lloyd Bacon.  The only western James Cagney ever made.  A tough gunfighter clashes with a power-hungry schemer over the way Tulsa should grow.  In large measure Warner’s just took its big city action drama and put them in spurs and saddles.  Cagney plays his cowpoke like he played his energetic thugs and Bogart plays a weasel.  The film is smoothly directed by the competent Bacon and it’s not bad.  With:  Rosemary Lane, Donald Crisp, Harvey Stephen, Hugh Sothern, Charles Middleton, Ward Bond, Edward Pauley, Lew Harvey and John Miljan.  Notes:  Screenplay by Warren Duff, Robert Buckener, and Edward E. Paramore.  Photography by James Wong Howe.  The omnipresent Max Steiner wrote the musical score.

 

THE OKLAHOMAN.  1957.  80 minutes.  Western.  Joel McCrea.  Oklahoma Territory.  Bigotry.  Directed by Francis D. Lyon.  Joel McCrea is Dr. John Brighton, a man traveling west to California until he wife dies giving birth to his daughter.  He decides to settle in the town of Cherokee Wells in the Oklahoma Territory after her death.  The town is dominated by the bullying Dobie brothers, men trying to control the cattle ranches in the Territory.  After a shoot-out between the Dobies and a small rancher, the doctor finds himself entangled with the Dobies.  When oil is discovered on the plains the Dobies become embroiled with the Indians as well as other ranchers.  When one of the Dobies is killed by an Indian rancher the situation explodes.  This film is well written, expertly directed and action western about all of the issues that emerged in the burgeoning Oklahoma Territory late in the 19th century.  Joel McCrea gives one his typically fine, subdued performances as a man of conscience who confronts bigotry and greed head on.  With:  Barbara Hale, Brad Dexter, Gloria Talbott, Verna Felton, Douglas Dick, Michael Pate, Anthony Caruso, Esther Dale, Adam Williams, Ray Teal, Peter Votrian and John Pickard.  Notes:  Written by Daniel B. Ullman.  Music by Hans Salter.  Photographed by Carl Guthrie.  Produced by Walter Mirisch.

 

ONE EYED JACKS.  1961.  141 minutes.  <V199>.  Directed by Marlon Brando.  Two men rob a Mexican bank of a shipment of gold.  When they try to escape one holds off the chasing posse while the other goes after fresh horses.  When the partner left behind is captured he is taken to the Sonora prison where he is brutally treated.  He escapes with a fellow prisoner and forms a gang.  They wind up in Monterey, California where his former partner has become the big man in town — he’s become respectable and become sheriff.  They clash again climaxing in a gunfight.  This most interesting of westerns was the only film directed by Brando and one of his very few westerns.  It has a meandering pace and a fascinating psychological undertone.  The relationship between to two protagonists Rio (Brando) and Dan Longworth (Karl Malden) is a study in generational misconceptions.  The film is beautifully shot, and the camera feasts on the wonders of the beautiful Northern California coast line.  Interesting and entertaining western.  With:  Katy Jura, Pina Pellicer, Slim Pickens, Ben Johnson, Sam Gilman, Larry Duran, Timothy Carey, Miriam Colon, Elisha Cook, Jr., Rodolfo Acosta, and Ray Teal.  Notes:  Screenplay by Guy Trosper and Willingham based on a novel (The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones) by Charles Neider.  Photographed by Charles Lang Jr.  Music by Hugo Friedhofer.  According to Nash and Ross in the Motion Picture Guide, the film cost $6,000,000.  It went over budget partly due to the tons of footage Brando shot.  They also state that Kubrick quit the job because of differences with Brando.  Box-office gross:  $4,300,000.

 

THE OUTLAW.  1941.  126 minutes.  Western.  <V200>.  Directed by Howard Hughes.  Howard Hughes financed and directed this version of the Billy the Kid tale more famous for its exploitation of Jane Russell’s physical assets than as a western.  The film faced censorship problems for several years before it was finally released.  Its just an average western, despite its considerable hype.  Hughes allegedly designed a bra to satisfy his need to insure that Russell’s severely prominent physical endowments had their proper effect.  Though filmed in 1941, censorship problems kept out of theaters until 1947.  With:  Walter Huston and Jack Beutel.  Notes:  Written by Jules Furthman.  Photographed by Gregg Toland.  Box-office gross:  $5,075,000.

 

THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES.  1976.  135 minutes.  Western.  Novels Into Film.  Clint Eastwood.  <V765>.  Directed by Clint Eastwood.  At the end of the Civil War, some Confederate raiders in Missouri turn themselves in to Union troops at the request of their leader.  When they reach the Union camp they discover too late that they’ve been trapped — they been set up for slaughter by vengeful red leg soldiers.  Josey Wales, one of their number and a young friend manage to escape.  They aim to avenge their dead friends by tracking down the killers, one of whom they think is their ex-commander.  Like many other Eastwood films, this western has a high body count.  The story is pat and predictable but Eastwood’s presence as Wales and the pace at which he keeps the action going make this one of the best westerns of the 1970s.  With:  Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke as Laura Lee, Bill McKinney as Terrell, Sam Bottoms as Jamie, John Vernon as Fletcher, Paula Trueman as Grandma Sarah, Sheb Wooley as Cobb, Royal Dano as Ten Spot, Will Sampson as Ten Bears, Woodrow Parfrey as the Carpetbagger, and Geraldine Keams as Little Moonlight.  Notes:  Screenplay by Phil Kaufman and Sonia Chernus. from the novel Gone To Texas by Forrest Carter.  Box-office gross:  $13,500,000.  Cinematography by Bruce Surtees.  Music by Jerry Fielding. 

                 

THE OX-BOW INCIDENT.  1943.  75 minutes.  Western. Henry Fonda.  Anthony Quinn.   <V1890>.  Directed by William Wellman.  In a western town a posse headed by a retired army colonel goes after cattle thieves who murdered the rancher they stole the beeves from.  Enroute they come across a trio of men who have cattle they bought from the rancher.  They have no bill of sale and their pursuers are split over their guilt.  Some want to carry them back to town for the law to deal with.  The majority vote to hang the men on the spot.  When they do, they find out they have hung the wrong men.  This western parable about the stupidity of mob violence is one of the finest American films of the 1940s and among the best westerns ever made.  It is simple and straightforward in presenting Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s fine novel on film.  The points against lynching are made with a minimum of sentimentality.  It is a complex story told with candor and honesty.  The cast is near flawless itself with Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan as pair of young cow-hands who try to save the men’s lives, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn and Francis Ford as the doomed cattlemen, Frank Conroy as the sadistic colonel, William Eythe as the colonel’s desperate son, Harry Davenport as Mr. Davies, Leigh Whipper as Sparks the black preacher and Jane Darwell as a vicious old woman along for the ride.  Notes:  Screenplay by Lamar Trotti.  Photography by Arthur Miller.  Music by Cyril Mockridge.  Academy Award nomination for best picture.

 

PALE RIDER.  1985.  116 minutes.  Western.  <V2193>.  Directed by Clint Eastwood.  The late 1980’s can be called the dark mood period of Clint Eastwood as a director and even actor.  This film a western about a gunman as ministering angel who takes on a cruel mining boss, terrorizing independent pan miners.  It has dark, sinister colors clearly designed for artistic effect, an effort by Eastwood the director to find a visual style.  The same moodiness was evident in his production of TIGHTROPE and was mastered by the time he did BIRD.  Interesting, but probably not what Eastwood western fanatics want to see.  With:  Michael Moriarity, Carrie Snodgress, Christopher Penn, Richard Dysart, Sydney Penny, Richard Kiel, Dough McGrath, and John Russell.  Notes:  Screenplay by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack.  Box-office gross:  $20,800,000.

 

PALEFACE.  1948.  91 minutes.  Comedy/western.  <V1496>.  Directed by Norman Z. McLeod.  A western spoof with Bob Hope as a meek frontier dentist named “Painless” who finds himself helping Calamity Jane fight off bad guys and Indians.  Jane Russell is Calamity.  A hoot and a holler for Hope fans and just about anyone else interested.  With:  Robert Armstrong, Iris Adrian, Robert Watson, Jack Searl, Joseph Vitale, Clem Bevans, Charles Trowbridge and Stanley Andrews..  Notes: The song “Buttons and Bows” won the Oscar for best song of 1948.  Song and music by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.  Screenplay by Frank Tashlin and Edmund Hartmann.  Score by Victor Young.  Photography by Ray Rennahan.

 

PANCHO VILLA.  1972.  90 minutes.  Western.  Pancho Villa.  Directed by Gene Martin.  Telly Savalas plays Villa in this European production about the revolutionary folk hero of early 20th century Mexico.  It has all of the earmarkings of the Spanish produced and filmed westerns that accompanied the spaghetti westerns.  Savalas plays the part like Kojak — his Villa is appropriately crude.  Very silly and quite routine, but the lead actors are an interesting crew and a lot of mugging for the camera is done by most of them.  With:  Clint Walker, Anne Francis, Chuck Connors, Luis Davila, Monica Lindsay.  Notes:  Screenplay by Julian Halevy from a story by Gene Martin.  Photographed by Alejandro Ulloa.  Music by Anton Garcia-Abril, with the song We All End Up the Same at the end credits sung by Telly Savalas Tape is at extended play and of mixed quality may not scan or search.

 

PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID.  1973.  106 minutes.  <V966>.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  A re-telling of the Billy the Kid legend.  Peckinpah focuses on the friendship between the young outlaw and lawman Garrett.  It is an oddly paced western, the least kinetic film that the director would make in this period.  The story lingers on the degree to which Billy and Garrett relationship is a psychological crutch for each.  The film is fascinating as is the cast With James Coburn as Garrett, Kris Kristofferson, as Billy , and Bob Dylan as a sort of wandering balladeer called Alias.  Also with Jason Robards, Rita Coolidge, Emilio Fernandez, Chill Wills, John Beck, Richard Jaeckel, Matt Clark, Jack Elam, Harry Dean Stanton, John Chandler, L.Q. Jones, Elisha Cook and Slim Pickens. Notes:  Screenplay by Rudolph Wurlitzer.  Music by Dylan.  Songs including the sad, tuneful “Heavens Door” also by Dylan.

 

THE PLAINSMAN.  1937.  113 minutes.  Western.  Cecil B. DeMille.  Gary Cooper.  Jean Arthur.  Directed by Cecil B. DeMille.  Gary Cooper is Wild Bill Hickok, Jean Arthur is Calamity Jane and James Ellison is Buffalo Bill in this sweeping opus directed by the legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille.  The film is typical Hollywood heroic mythmaking.  To the script writers’ credit, Cooper’s Hickok is written with an edge — this Hickok is depicted as a man very quick to use killing as the first option to resolving a problem.  With:  Charles Bickford, Helen Burgess, Porter Hall, Victor Varconi, Fred Kohler, Paul Harvey, Notes:  Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Harold Lamb and Lynn Riggs from material compiled by Jeannie MacPherson.  Photography by Victor Milner.  Original Music by George Antheil.  Produced by DeMille.

 

PONY EXPRESS.  1953.  101 minutes.  Western.  Wild Bill Hickok.  William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody.  Pony Express.  Directed by Jerry Hopper.  Charlton Heston is Buffalo Bill Cody and Forrest Tucker is Wild Bill Hickcock in this fast paced western about the cross country mail express created by the two legends to link California with the East at the Start of the Civil War.  The film is sharply directed by Jerry Hopper and Heston and Tucker posture very nicely as the heroes.  Rhonda Fleming plays the cool California lady who discovers she’s on the wrong side of the express, and Jan Sterling is the tomboyish young girl with a crush on Cody.  There is intrigue with ambitious politicians and businessmen and trouble with Indians in this entertaining horse opera.  Notes:  Screenplay by Charles Marquis Warren from the story by Frank Gruber.

 

PONY SOLDIER.  1952.  81 minutes.  Western.  Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  Tyrone Power.  Directed by Joseph M. Newman.  A new officer Royal Canadian frontier officer in 1880s Canada has been assigned the task of rescuing two Americans held as hostages held by Cree warriors escaping U.S. soldiers driving them from the Dakotas.  The officer must convince the chief to ask his people to return to their Reserve land, and that the Canadian government will honestly provide food and justice for the Cree.  Shallow, fairly tame horse opera, with only its setting offering anything of real interest.  With:  Tyrone Power, Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Gomez, Penny Edwards, Robert Horton, Anthony Earl Numkena, Adeline Reynolds, Howard Petrie, Stuart Randall, James Hayward, Frank De Kova, Earl Holliman, Chief Nipo Strongheart.  Notes:  Screenplay by John C. Higgins from a Saturday Evening Post story by Garnett Weston.  Music by Alex North.  Musical direction by Alfred Newman.  Photographed by Harry Jackson.

 

POSSE.  1993.  113 minutes.  Western.  African-American Directors.  Directed by Mario Van Peebles.  Adam Baldwin as Little J., Paul Bartel as Mayor Bigwood, James Bigwood as Walker, Stephen J. Cannell as Jimmy Love,  Laurence Cook, Richard Edson as Deputy Tom, Richard Gant as Doubletree, Pam Grier as Phoebe, Isaac Hayes as Cayle, Robert Hooks as King David, Reginald Hudlin as Reporter #1, Warren Hudling as Reporter #2, Richard Jordan as Sheriff Bates, Big Daddy Kane as Father Time, Sandre Ellis Lafferty as Big Kate, Charles Lane as Weezle, Tiny Lister as Obobo, Tone Loc as Angel, Aaron Neville as the Railroad Singer, Salli Richardson as Lana, Nipsey Russell as Snopes, Woody Strode as the Old Man, Blair Underwood as Carver, Mario Van Peebles as Jessie, Melvin Van Peebles as papa Joe, Reginald Vel Johnson as Preston Van Steele, and Billy Zane as Colonel Graham.  Notes:  Music Supervision by Karyn Rachtman.  Music by Michel Colombier.  Photography by Peter Menzies, Jr.  Written by Sy Richardson and Dario Scardapane. 

 

PURSUED.  1947.  101 minutes.  Western.  Robert Mitchum.  Raoul Walsh.  Directed by Raoul Walsh.  Story:  Jeb Rand is a young man who has recurring nightmares about an incident that took place on his parents’ ranch when he was a child.  He can’t shake the dreams.  His “step-mother, brother and sister” though very loving, seem to hiding something from him.  This is an unusual western, one with dark psychological overtones.  In fact, except for its setting the film is more like a period drama set out among the sage brush.  Robert Mitchum is Jeb, moody, introspective and wondering why he was rescued from that ranch years ago.  The gifted Teresa Wright is his “step-sister” and the woman he loves.  Judith Anderson is very interesting (and very good) as the mother who tries to keep the past from wrecking the home she’s built for her three children.  With:  Dean Jagger, Alan Hale, Harry Carey Jr. and John Rodney.  A unique and very well done western drama.  Note:  Niven Busch wrote the screenplay and the magnificent black and white photography is by the legendary James Wong Howe.

 

RAMROD.  1947.  94 minutes.  Western.  Joel McCrea.  Directed by Andre de Toth.  Atmospheric western about the ambitions of a cattle baron’s beautiful young daughter.  At odds with her father over how he treats the open range and his determination to have her marry a competing rancher, Connie Dickason develops an obsessive desire to defeat her father and her presumed lover.  She uses her will and charm on other men to get her way, wreaking havoc on the range.  Introspective and melodramatic, the film is sparked by the surprisingly charismatic performance of Don DeFore as fun loving gun hand.  Joel McCrea as Dave Nash the hero, is laconic too a degree that’s seems almost catatonic — he less animated than usual.  Veronica Lake, her rocket like career at Paramount over is pretty as Connie Dickason.  With:  Donald Crisp as Jim Crew, Don DeFore as Bill Schell, Preston Foster as Frank Ivey, Arleen Whelan as Rose Leland, Charlie Ruggles as Ben Dickason, Lloyd Bridges as Red Cates, Nestor Piava as Curley, Ray Teal as Ed Burma, Sarah Padden as Mrs. Parks, Housely Stevenson as George Smedley, and Jeff Corey as Dice.  Notes:  Screenplay by Jack Moffitt, Graham Baker and Cecile Kramer from story by Luke Short.  Music composed and conducted by Adolph Deutsch.  Photography by Russell Harlan.  Costumes by Edith Head. 

 

THE RARE BREED.  1966.  97 minutes.  Western.  James Stewart.  Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.  James Stewart, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith Star in this western about a beautiful English woman’s desire to bring her prize Hereford bull to America to sale as a new breed.  She encounters a lot of scoffing from the American cowboys and ranchers encounters until she convinces one of them that its not just a pipe dream.  With:  Juliet Mills as Hilary, Don Galloway as Jamie, David Brian as Ellsworth, Jack Elam as Simons, Ben Johnson as Harter, Harry Carey, Jr. as Mabary, Perry Lopez as Juan, Larry Domasin as Alberto, Silvia Mariona as Conchita and Jimmy O’Hara as Sagamon.  Notes:  Written by Ric Hardman.

 

RAWHIDE.  1951.  86 minutes.  Western.  Tyrone Power.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  A vicious gang takes over a stage company’s way station with plans to rob the overland stage carrying company gold.  The gang, all escaped convicts, is led by a smart, cynical, hard-edged murderer. Tyrone Power plays the young station hand caught held hostage by the gang.  Susan Hayward is a woman with a young child, in a hurry to get to a new life, held at the station against her will.  The two pretend to be married to survive until they get the opportunity to escape.  Rawhide is a tense and tautly directed action piece.  The acting, especially by Hayward and Hugh Marlowe [as the killer] is first rate.  With:  Dean Jagger, Edgar Buchanan, Jack Elam, James Millican, Jeff Corey, Lafe McKee, Si Jenks, Kenneth Tobey, Louis Jean Heydt and George Tobias.  Notes:  Written by Dudley Nichols.  Photography by Milton Krasner.  Music by Sol Kaplan.  song A Rollin’ Stone with Music by Lionel Newman and lyrics by Bob Russell.

 

RAWHIDE.  1959.  52 minutes.  Westerns on Television.  This segment of the popular CBS series entitled Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon was first aired on January 9, 1959 and was the first in the series.  “In the series riveting premiere episode, Gil Favor [the trail boss] and his men share camp with a prison wagon loaded with vicious criminals–including a beautiful woman.  After the prisoners wound their guard in an escape attempt, Gil takes on the responsibility of delivering the wagon’s violent passengers to justice!”  Cast included:  Eric Fleming as Gil Favor, Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates, Sheb Wooley as Pete Nolan, James Murdock as Mushy, Steve Raines as Jim Quince Rocky Shahan as Joe Scarlet, Paul Brinegar as Wishbone as regulars on the series.  Special Guest Star was Terry Moore as Dallas. Notes:  Segment was directed by Richard Whorf.  Story by Curtis Kenyon and teleplay by Fred Freiberger.  Produced by Charles Marquis Warren.  The popular theme song created and composed by Dimitri Tiomkin with lyrics by Ned Washington and immortalized by Frankie Laine.  A.C. Lyle, the series associate producer made a number of feature westerns in the ’60s.

 

RED RIVER.  1948.  125 minutes.  Western. Howard Hawks.  Montgomery Clift. <V541>.  Directed by Howard Hawks.  Tom Dunson, the biggest cattle owner in Texas decides to take his cattle north to Kansas for sale.  He decides that the route to take would be the Chisholm trail.  Dunson’s decision is greeted with some trepidation by his crew but they move on.  On the trail Dunson’s almost monomaniacal desire to get the cattle to market creates tension in the camp.  It also brings him into direct conflict with his foster son, who, with the men’s’ backing forces him off the drive until its complete.  At the end of the trail the confrontation between father and son that everybody had been expecting for years finally happens.  One of the best westerns ever made.  A huge, action-filled horse opera, even a great western.  With:  John Wayne, Montgomery Clift, John Ireland, Ben Johnson, and Joanne Dru.  Notes:  Screenplay by Borden Chase and Charles Schnee.  Photographed by Russell Harlan.  Box-office gross:  $4,506,825.

 

THE RESTLESS BREED.  1958.  81 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Allan Dwan.  A Texas lawyer goes to a mission border town in to avenge the death of his father, a U.S. Secret Service agent, murdered.  The town is run by a marauding gang called Newton’s Raiders.  Scott Brady is the determined hero and Anne Bancroft the beautiful half-breed daughter of a self-ordained preacher he falls in love with (it was her first lead role).  Lots of action and pace to this interesting, well acted western.  With:  Scott Brady as Mitch, Anne Bancroft as Angelita, Jay C. Flippen as Marshall Evans, Rhys Williams as Rev. Simmons, Leo Gordon as Cherokee, Myron Healey, Scott Marlowe as Allan, and Jim Davis as Newton.  Notes:  Music by Edward L. Alperson, Jr.  Photographed by John W. Boyle.  Screenplay by Steve Fisher.

 

THE RETURN OF FRANK JAMES.  1940.  92 minutes.  Western.  Frank James.  Henry Fonda.  Fritz Lang.  Directed by Fritz Lang.  This film about Frank James [Henry Fonda] begins with the death of Jesse [Tyrone Power] at the hands of the Ford brothers [the scene is the last one from the film Jesse James].  Frank has been farming in the Missouri hills under an alias, desirous only of not returning to his former life.  When the governor overturns the guilty verdict on the Fords for the murder of Jesse, Frank goes in hot pursuit of the cowardly brothers.  History it ain’t but is a rip roaring tale with great color photography and beautiful Colorado locales.  Fritz Lang handles all of this colorful nonsense with élan, its a smoothly professional job.  The cast includes — Gene Tierney as Eleanor Stone, Jackie Cooper as Clem, Henry Hull as Major Rufus Cobb, John Carradine as bob Ford, J. Edward Bromberg as George Runyan, Donald Meek as McCoy, Eddie Collins as Station Agent, Georgia Barbier as the judge.  Carradine is a nicely villainous Bob Ford.  Notes:  Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck.  Original Screenplay by Sam Hellman.  Photographed by George Barnes.  Musical direction by David Buttolph.

 

RETURN OF THE BAD MEN.  194-.  87 minutes.  Westerns.  Randolph Scott.  Oklahoma Territory.  Directed by Ray Enright.  Randolph Scott as Vance, Robert Ryan as the Sundance Kid, Anne Jeffreys as Cheyenne, George “Gabby” Hayes as bob Pettit, Jacqueline White as Madge Allen.  With: Steve Brodie as Cole Younger, Richard Powers as Jim Younger and Robert Bray as John Younger, Lex Barker as Emmett Dalton, Walter Reed as Bob Dalton, Michael Harvey  as Grat Dalton, Dean White as Billy the Kid, Robert Armstrong as Wild Bill Doolin, Tom Tyler as Wild Bill Yeager, Lew Harvey as Arkansas Kid, and with Gary Gray, Walter Baldwin, Minna Gombel, Warren Jackson, and Jason Robards as Judge Harper.   Notes:  Screenplay by Charles O’Neal, Jack Natteford and Luci Ward.  Photographed by J. Roy Hunt.  Music by Paul Sawtell.  Produced by Nat Holt.

 

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY.  1962.  93 minutes.  Westerns.  Joel McCrea. Randolph Scott. Lucien Ballard.  Sam Peckinpah.  <V1613>.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Two aging cowboys both ex-lawmen hire on to transport a gold shipment.  One man is true to his beliefs in law and justice, the other one has some doubts.  They both end up working for the good of things.   This western is like a fine, smooth wine, perfectly age.  It is about the possibilities of friendship and trust, and about genuine honor.  Possibly the finest western of the last 30 years.  This film marked the last peak in the careers of Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea as cowboy heroes.  It was Scott’s last film.  It also signaled the rise of young director Sam Peckinpah.  With:  Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan, Jone Jackson, James Drury, and Warren Oates.  Notes:  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY.  1962.  93 minutes.  Westerns.  Joel McCrea. Randolph Scott. Lucien Ballard.  Sam Peckinpah.  <V1613>.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Two aging cowboys both ex-lawmen hire on to transport a gold shipment.  One man is true to his beliefs in law and justice, the other one has some doubts.  They both end up working for the good of things.   This western is like a fine, smooth wine, perfectly age.  It is about the possibilities of friendship and trust, and about genuine honor.  Possibly the finest western of the last 30 years.  This film marked the last peak in the careers of Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea as cowboy heroes.  It was Scott’s last film.  It also signaled the rise of young director Sam Peckinpah.  With:  Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan, Jone Jackson, James Drury, and Warren Oates.  Notes:  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.

 

RIDE THE MAN DOWN.  1953.  90 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Joseph Kane.  When cattle baron Phil Evarts dies in 1892, his great ranch Hatchet, becomes the target of his greedy neighbors.  His young foreman Will Ballard fights off the hired guns and lands claim the other cattle lords bring in to create trouble for Hatchet.  Ballard’s problems also include romantic trouble with his ambitious fiancée Lottie and with Celia Evarts [the heiress to Hatchet] and her fiancé Sam.  Intelligent, well made, well directed and very well acted western melodrama.  With:  Brian Donlevy as Bide Marriner, Rod Cameron as Will, Ella Raines as Celia Evarts, Forrest Tucker as Sam, Barbara Britton as Lottie Priest, J. Carrol Naish as the Sheriff.  Supporting cast also includes:  Chill Wills, Jim Davis, Taylor Holmes, James Bell, Paul Fix, Al Caudebec, Roydon Clark, Roy Barcroft, Douglas Kennedy, Chris Pin Martin, Jack LaRue, and Claire Carleton.  Notes:  Screenplay by Mary McCall, Jr., base on a Saturday Evening Post story by Luke Short.  Photographed by Jack Marta.  Music by Ned Freeman.

 

RIDE THE WIND.  1966.  100 minutes.  Western.  Pony Express.  Bonanza [cast of].  Directed by William Witney.  Little Joe Cartwright, son of the rancher Ben Cartwright, is caught up with the mystique and adventure of the new Pony Express, joins the touted courier service against his fathers wishes.  When Joe is captured by fierce Paiute Indians and held for ransom, the vainglorious owner of the Virginia city office refuses to make a trade releasing Joe, he becomes a foe of the Cartwrights.  Well done, with lots of action.  With:  Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, Victor Jory, Rod Cameron, Tom Lowell, DeForest Kelley, Warren Vanders, Stewart Moss.  Notes:  Photographed by William F. Whitley and Haskell Boggs.  Written by Paul Schneider. 

 

RIDIN’ ON A RAINBOW.  1941.  76 minutes.  Western.  Gene Autry.  Directed by Lew Landers.  Gene Autry, the singing cowboy, Stars in this film about a group of cattlemen who, after a successful cattle drive put their money in a bank that’s been marked for robbery.  The robbers have enlisted the help of a despondent Showboat performer.  Tuneful and full of the action expected in an Autry film.  Most of the action takes place on the showboat and Autry shares a lot of screen time with :  Smiley Burnette, Mary Lee, Carol Adams, Ferris Taylor, Georgia Caine, Byron Foulger, Ralf Harolde and Jimmy Conlin.  Notes:  Screenplay by Bradford Ropes and Doris Malloy.  Photographed by William Nobles.  Songs include the title tune and the classic Bury Me on the Lone Prairie.  Print is fair.

 

RIO BRAVO.  1959.  141 minutes.  John Wayne.  Jules Furthman.  Dean Martin.  Howard Hawks.  <V2175>.  Directed by Howard Hawks.  Any similarity between the plot of this film and Rio Lobo  El Dorado, and couple of other Howard Hawks westerns was probably intended.  Hawks re-tooled this story at least twice and it has been copied as a formula any number of times.  John Wayne is a sheriff trying to ward off a gang of gun men with just the help of a drunken deputy, a crippled deputy and a young man just feeling his oats.  Lots of action, plenty of pace by one of Hollywood’s master craftsmen late in his career.  With:  Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Ward Bond, Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez Walter Brennan, and Ricky Nelson. Notes: Screenplay by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett from a story by Barbara Hawks McCampbell.  Photography by Russell Harlan.  Music by Dimitri Tiomkin.  It is written that Hawks was so annoyed with the sanctification of the sheriff in High Noon, that a top lawman would plead for help from the townspeople that he looked for a story that would knock that notion on its end.  Box-office gross:  $5,570,000.

 

RIO CONCHOS.  1964.  107 minutes.  <V2156>.  Directed by Gordon Douglas.  2000 Spencer rifles have been stolen from the Army.  A crew of calvary is sent to get them before they end up in the hands of the Apache.  The trail leads to an ex-Confederate major with a scheme for continuing to fight the war.  Above average western, not typical of most of the decades standard fare.  It is also notable as the debut film for football Star Jim Brown.   With:  Richard Boone, Stuart Whitman, Tony Franciosa, Jim Brown, Wende Wagner, House Peters, Jr., Edmond O’Brien, Timothy Carey, Vito Scotti, and Barry Kelly.

 

RIO GRANDE.  1950.  105 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  John Ford.  Directed by John Ford.  A Calvary officer posted in the Apache Territory is confronted with meeting his estranged son and wife after over 15 years of separation. He must resolve problems with hostile, warring Apache and the emotional considerations of his suddenly reunited family.  Like all of the Calvary films John Ford produced with John Wayne as Star [they include She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and Fort Apache, this film is beautifully shot in black and white on wonderfully pristine Monument Valley locations.  It’s a fairly simple story about how one family re-unites after bearly surviving the strains of separation created by the Civil War but it is also Ford’s rendering of the winning of the West in the wake of that war as well.  With:  John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Ben Johnson, Victor McLaglen, Claude Jarman, Jr., Harry Carey, Jr., Chill Wills, J. Carrol Naish, Grant Withers and the Sons of the Pioneers.  Notes:  Screenplay by James Kevin McGuinness from a Saturday Evening Post story by James Warner Bellah.  Produced by Ford and Merian C. Cooper.  Music by Victor Young.  Songs by Stan Jones [My Girl is Purple, Footsore Cavalry and Yellow Stripes].  Photography by Bert Glennon.

 

RIO LOBO.  1970.  103 minutes.  Westerns.  John Wayne.  Howard Hawks.  Directed by Howard Hawks.  During the late stages of the Civil War a Union pay train is raided by Confederate soldiers resulting in the death of a young officer closely related to the Colonel McNally, leader of the Union troop.  When the war is over, McNally tracks down the insider on the Union command who betrayed them.  John Wayne as Col. McNally, Jorge Rivero as Pierre Cordona, Jennifer O’Neil as Shasta Delaney, Jack Elam as Philips, Christopher Mitchum as Sgt. Tuscarora, Sherry Lansing as Amelita, Victor French as Ketcham, Susana Dosamantes as Maria Carmen, David Huddleston as Dr. Jones, Mike Henry as Sheriff Hendricks, Bill Williams as Sheriff Pat Cronin, Jim Davis as Deputy.  Notes:  Music by Jerry Goldsmith.  Written by Burton Wohl and Leigh Brackett.  Photographed by William H. Clothier.

 

RIVER OF NO RETURN.  1954.  91 minutes.  Western.  Marilyn Monroe.  Robert Mitchum.  Directed by Otto Preminger.  Robert Mitchum is Matt Calder and Marilyn Monroe is Kay in this famous western, the only one to be directed by Otto Preminger.  A Movietone newsreel about Marilyn’s life, produced after her suicide, precedes the feature as does a trailer for the film.  The story is that of a widpAlso with:  Tommy Rettig, Rory Calhoun, Murvyn Vye, Douglas Spencer.  Notes:  Screenplay by Frank Fenton from a story by Louis Lantz.  Music by Cyril J. Mockridge.  Musical Direction by Lionel Newman.  Photographed in Canada’s Banff and Jasper Nation Parks by Joseph La Shelle.  Songs with Lyrics by Ken Darby and Music by Lionel Newman.

 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN MYSTERY see THE FIGHTING WESTERNER

 

ROOSTER COGBURN.  1975.  108 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Katharine Hepburn.  Directed by Stuart Millar.  John Wayne reprises his Oscar winning role as the cantankerous old drunken Deputy Marshall Rooster Cogburn who more than meets his match in Eula Goodnight, a bible thumping missionary played by Katharine Hepburn [which one could easily call a reprise of her role from The African Queen].  The two meet when Eula looks to avenge the murder of her father by a brutal gang of border ruffians in the wake of the Civil War.  The legends butt heads for the first time in this comic opus which owes more than a little With:  Richard Jordan, John McIntire, Anthony Zerbe, Paul Koslo, Richard Romicito, Tommy Lee, Strother Martin, Lane Smith, Ion Lormer, Jack Colvin, Warren Vanders.  Notes: Screenplay by Martin Julien suggested by the character Rooster Cogburn from the novel True Grit by Charles Portis.  Music by Laurence Rosenthal.  Photographed by Harry Stradling, Jr.  Produced by Hal B. Wallis.

 

RUSTLERS’ VALLEY.  1937.  61 minutes.  Westerns.  William Body [Hopalong Cassidy].  Directed by Nate Watt.  William Boyd is Hoppy in this early western in the popular series.  Rustlers’ Valley, like many of the earliest Cassidy films is competently done but without the confident professionalism of the later entries in the series.  The series often employed top grade talent in the early phases of their careers on both sides of the camera.  Lee J. Cobb is one of the bad guys in this film and the photography is by Russell Harlan.  With George “Gabby” Hayes as Windy Halliday, Russell Hayden as Lucky Jenkins, Muriel Evans as Agnes Randall, Morrison Ankrum as Randall Glenn, John Beach as Sheriff Boulton, Lee J. Cobb as Cal Howard, Oscar Apfel as Clem Crawford, and Ted Adams as Taggart.  Notes:  Written by Harry O. Hoyt.  Cinematography by Russell Harlan

 

SALOME, WHERE SHE DANCED.  1945.  90 minutes.  Western.  Historical Melodrama.  Directed by Charles Lamont.  A beautiful ballerina, forced to leave Europe because she’s thought to be a spy, moves to American West.  She has a decidedly different kind effect on the folks in her new environment.  Silly mostly [imagine a sword duel in a San Francisco opera house between a Prussian aristocrat and a young Virginia hotspur in buckskins] though Yvonne De Carlo, as the beautiful intriguer Salome, is both beautiful and charming.  With:  Rod Cameron as Jim, David Bruce as Cleve, Walter Slezak as Demitrioff, Albert Dekker as von Boehm, Marjorie Rambeau as Madame Europe, J. Edward Bromberg as Professor Max, Abner Biberman as Dr. Ling, John Litel as Gen. Lee, Kurt Katch, Arthur Hohl as Bartender, and Nestor Paiva as Panetela.  Notes:  Screenplay by Laurence Stallings.  Quality of the tape is very poor.  At extended

 

SAN ANTONIO.  1946.  107 minutes.  Western.  Errol Flynn.  Directed by David Butler.  An ex-Texas lawman, recovering from a brutal beating in Mexico, decides to return to San Antonio to fight the gambler who leads a big cattle rustling ring.  This Errol Flynn film is colorful and fairly entertaining with lots of gunplay and intrigue.  With:  Alexis Smith, S.Z. “Cuddles” Sakall, Victor Francen, Florence Bates, John Litel, Paul Kelly, Robert Shayne, John Alvin, Monte Blue, Robert Barrat, Pedro De Cordova and Tom Tyler.  Notes:  Original Screenplay by Alan LeMay and W.R. Burnett.  Photography by Bert Glennon.  Song Some Sunday Morning with lyrics by Ted Kohler and music by Ray Heindorf and M.K Jerome.  Music by Max Steiner.

 

THE SCALPHUNTERS.  1968.  100 minutes.  Comedy/Action Western.  Burt Lancaster.  Ossie Davis.   Directed by Sydney Pollack.  Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, Ossie Davis, Dabney Coleman, Paul Picerni, Dan Vadis, Armando Silvestre, Nick Cravat.  Notes:  Photography by Duke Callaghan and Richard Moore.  Music by Elmer Bernstein.  Written by William Norton.

 

THE SEARCHERS.  1956.  minutes.  Western.  Kidnapping.  John Wayne.  John Ford.  Bigotry.  <V68>.  Directed by John Ford.  Many critics call this the greatest of John Ford’s westerns.  The story of a man’s search for a niece captured by Indians.  One of Ford’s last film shot on location.  The film has a lot of sweep and physical grandeur, however, the monomaniacal search by Wayne’s Ethan Edwards may be disturbing to some — the man is filled with an implacable hatred.  With: Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood, Vera Miles, John Qualen, and Ward Bond.  Notes:  Adapted from a novel by Alan LeMay.  Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent.  Music by Max Steiner.  This film is the favorite Ford western of many of the young directors who came into films during the 1970s.

 

SERGEANT RUTLEDGE.  1960.  112 minutes.  Western.  Buffalo Soldiers.  9th and 10th Calvary.  African-Americans in the Military, 19th Century.  John Ford.  Directed by John Ford.  A black enlisted Calvary officer is falsely charged with rape and murder.  When bound over for courts martial the true nature of the man is revealed.  A fine, well acted melodrama about racial hatred, bigotry, heroism.  Woody Strode gives a proud, intelligent performance as Sergeant Rutledge as do Jeffrey Hunter [as his defense attorney, Lt. Cantrell] and  Constance Towers as Lt. Cantrell’s fiancée.  The story is retold in flashback from witnesses at the trial — witnesses whose recall of events are colored by their particular biases.  The film is stunningly photographed.  With:  Billie Burke, Juano Hernandez, Willis Bouchey, Carleton Young, Judson Pratt.  Notes:  Written by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck.  Photographed by Bert Glennon.  Music by Howard Jackson.  song Captain Buffalo by Mack David and Jerry Livingston.  Produced by Willis Goldbeck and Patrick Ford.

 

SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD.  1955.  103 minutes.  Western.  Romantic Melodrama.  Old California.  Directed by Robert D. Webb.  A tale of Old California circa 1796 when the Spanish regime begins to realize the value of California to Spain.  The film depicts the rapacity and ambitions of early settlers.  When Don Gaspar, is appointed military commander of an expedition into California, from the beginning of the expedition, he is at odds with the devoted priest assigned to the expedition, Father Junipero.  The two mean, however, do have a grudging respect for one another.  Interesting look at a period of American history not often covered by films.  The story is plodding though the action is adequately staged.  There is some excellent scenery, very attractively photographed by Lucien Ballard.  It’s more a tale of discovery and exploration than genre.  With:  Richard Egan, Anthony Quinn, Michael Rennie, Jeffrey Hunter, Rita Moreno, Eduardo Noriega, Leslie Bradley, John Doucette, Victor Juncos, Julio Vallareal.  Notes:  Screenplay by Richard L. Breen and John C. Higgins.  Additional dialogue by Joseph Petracca from a novel by Isabelle Gibson Ziegler.  Music by Hugo Friedhofer, conducted by Lionel Newman.  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.  Jeffrey Hunter is almost unidentifiable as a young native warrior.  Rita Moreno is quite lovely as an native girl who falls in love with the young adjutant [Richard Egan] to the military governor [Quinn].

 

SHANE.  1953.  118 minutes.  Western.  George Stevens.  Alan Ladd.  Jean Arthur.  <V29>.  Directed by George Stevens.  In many eyes the greatest western ever made.  A mysterious stranger shows up on the ranch belonging to Jean Arthur and Van Heflin.  They are small ranchers who are among a group of landowners who have come in direct conflict with a brutal cattle baron and his henchmen.  Shane, is the stranger who works as a hired hand but encourages the small ranchers to develop backbone to fight the force used against them.  The film climaxes with a gunfight with the memorable scene of Shane’s departure.  Alan Ladd is the stoic hero, Jack Palance the villain and Brandon De Wilde the hero worshipping boy.  This film has an almost mythical celebrity among movie goers of several generations.  It is consistently regarded, with High Noon and The Searchers, the pinnacle of what a western should be.  Is it’s reputation justifiable?  For many fans of westerns the quiet, almost ponderous feel of Shane deadens their concept of what a western should be.  Adherents of the film will argue that its story transcends the genre.  Whatever side of the argument one stands on, this film probably figures in most western film lovers’ minds. Notes:  Academy Award nominations for best picture, direction, and screenplay (A. B. Guthrie, Jr.).  Loyal Griggs’ stunning photography did win an Oscar.  Box-office gross:  $9,000,000.

 

THE SHOOTING.  1966.  82 minutes.  <V2751>.  Western.  Directed by Monte Hellman.  Early Jack Nicholson film.  This western has a genuinely realistic and austere look and feel and in many regards is quite fascinating.  It’s story seems to revolve around a mysterious woman’s need for revenge, but nothing is laid out simply or lucidly.  The young filmmakers involved in the project, including Nicholson, Hellman and Adrien Joyce, the scripter go seem to get what they aimed for, but that will not suit western film devotees.  The film is, ultimately, very static — a viewer made find himself too conscious of the films length, a problem for a movie just 82 minutes long.  Worth a try for the adventurous or for anyone who wants to see a very young Jack Nicholson.  With:  Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, and Warren Oates.  Perkins’ part is hard to describe and she plays as a prissy, college girl might.  Nicholson plays a punk gunfighter named Billy Spear and Oates ex-bounty hunter Will Gashade.  The film is shot in excellent color and director Hellman makes excellent use of the camera, color and his striking outdoor locales. With:  B.J. Merholz, Guy El Tsobie, and Charles Eastman.  Notes: Screenplay by Adrien Joyce.  Co-produced by Nicholson and Hellman.  Photographed by Gregory Sandor.  Music by Richard Markowitz.

 

THE SHOOTIST.  1976.  100 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Don Siegel.  James Stewart.   <V204>.  Directed by Don Siegel.  A living tribute to John Wayne.  A western about a famous lawman dying of cancer.  This is a quiet, dignified elegy to the living legend of the Duke, nothing more, nothing less.  A must see for Wayne fans.  With:  James Stewart, Ron Howard, Lauren Bacall, Richard Boone, Sheree North, Scatman Crothers, Hugh O’Brien, Richard Lenz and Harry Morgan.  Notes:  Screenplay by Miles Hood Swarthout and Scott Hale. Photographed by Bruce Surtees.  Music by Elmer Bernstein.  Box-office gross:  $5,987,000.

 

SILVER RIVER.  1948.  110 minutes.  Western.  Errol Flynn.  Novels Into Film.  Directed by Raoul Walsh.  Errol Flynn is Mike McComb a Union officer cashiered from the Army after Gettysburg for burning a million dollars of Union payroll to keep it out of the hands of Confederate calvary.  The courts martial makes McComb an embittered, cynical man whose reach for power in the silver fields of Nevada threatens everything he has and everything he loves including the wife of a mining partner.  This tale of westward expansion and growth, love and revenge, and the politics of the burgeoning west is well written, quick paced and handsome to watch.  Walsh has coaxed a fairly good performance from the ever popular Flynn and in Ann Sheridan as the determined and beautiful Georgia Moore he has one of the best and most underrated actresses of the movies.  Thomas Mitchell as John Plato Beck gives one of his best performances as a once brilliant lawyer revived by his friendship with  McComb.  Fun, actionful western.  Mike McComb,  Bruce Bennett as Stanley Moore, Tom Dandrea as “Pistol” Porter, Barton MacLane as “Banjo” Sweeney, Monte Blue as “Buck” Chevigee, Jonathan Hale as Major Spencer, Alan Bridge as Slade and Arthur Space as Major Ross.  Notes:  Stephen Longstreet and Harriet Frank, Jr. from a novel by Stephen Longstreet.  Music by Max Steiner.  Musical direction by Leo F. Forbstein.  Photography by Sid Hickox.

 

SILVERADO.  1985.  132 minutes.  Western. <V957>.  Directed by Lawrence Kasdan.  Stylish, entertaining big western in the traditional mold.  Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Kevin Costner, and Danny Glover are the good guys.  Brian Dennehy, Jeff Goldblum and among the bad guys.  With:  Linda Hunt, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese,  Joe Seneca, Rust Meyers, Lynn Whitfield, and Tom Brown.  Notes:  Screenplay by Mark and Lawrence Kasdan.  Music by Bruce Broughton.  The films sound and score received Oscar nominations.  Photographed by John Bailey.  Box-office gross: $17,172,654.

 

SKIN GAME.  1971.  102 minutes.  <V1059>.  Western Comedy.  Directed by Paul Bogart.  James Garner and Lou Gossett play a couple of con men roaming the Kansas-Nebraska territory with a sure fire scam.  Garner plays a hard pressed slave owner who must sale his faithful servant Gossett to raise money.  Using soft soap and wiles the two cross the territory making suckers out of every slave buyer imaginable.  The scam goes fine until they run into a more determined slaver (Edward Asner).  This comedy works solely because the comic skills and screen camaraderie between Garner and Gossett is so good.  They in effect, turn this slight film into a pleasing buddy comedy.  With:  Susan Clark, Brenda Sykes, Edward Asner, Andrew Duggan, Neva Patterson, George Tyne, Royal Dana, Pat O’Malley, Joel Fluellen, Napoleon Whiting, Juanita Moore, and Don Clark.  Notes:  Screenplay by Pierre Marton based on a story by Richard Alan Simmons.  Music by David Shire.  Photographed by Fred Koenekamp.

 

SLAUGHTER TRAIL.  1951.  78 minutes.  Western.  Indian Uprisings.  Directed by Irving Allen.  Three stage coach robbers create an desperate situation for the commander of a small western fort, when they kill a member of the peaceful Navajo tribe in the territory.  This is a fairly routine western with some excellent black and white location shots.  The film seems physically constrained, despite the splendid locales, possibly because RKO couldn’t give the film an A budget treatment.  Though about standard length for many westerns of the period, it seems almost too concisely produced.  The film’s narrative is largely strung together by a singing narration that some may find annoying.  With:  Brian Donlevy, Gig Young, Virginia Grey, Andy Devine, Robert Hutton and Terry Gilkyson.  Notes:  Screenplay by Sid Kuller.  Musical Direction by Darrell Clark.  Songs by Terry Gilkyson..  Photographed by Jack Greenhalgh.

 

SOLDIER BLUE.  1970.  87 minutes.  Western.  <V16>.  Directed by Ralph Nelson.  Violent western drama about an Indian massacre. The filmmakers apparently were aiming to use this film as a parable about the war in Vietnam.  It fails miserably.  SOLDIER BLUE is not a good western or metaphor and the depiction of the Indian massacres seem just gratuitous and cruel.  With:  Candice Bergman, Peter Strauss, Donald Pleasance, John Anderson, Jorge Rivero, Dana Elcar and James Hampton.

 

SON OF THE MORNING STAR.  1991.  183 minutes.  <V3108>.  Western.  George Armstrong Custer.  Battle of Little Big Horn.  Directed by Mike Robe.  This made of television western drama is basted on Evan Connell’s excellent revisionist biography of General George Armstrong Custer.  The story is of the events that led to the infamous Battle of Little Big Horn and “Custer’s Last Stand.”  The film is well produced and acted especially by Gary Cole as Custer.  Events are presented as the narrative memories of two women, Mrs. Custer and a young Indian woman who witnesses many of the events.  Rosanna Arquette plays Mrs. Custer — she plays her as a much more ambitious, clever woman than most film presentations do.  The voice of Buffy Sainte Marie is that of Kate Bighead, the Indian woman — at times the expressive emotionalism in her readings are annoying — she already knows too well how it all ultimately ends.  Overall the program attempts bravely to be objective.  With:  Dean Stockwell as Phil Sheridan.Nick Ramus as Crazy Horse, David Straitharn as Captain Benteen, Rodney A. Grant as U.S Grant and Terry O’Quinn as General Terry. Also with: Stanley Anderson, Ed Blatchford, George Dickerson, Tom O’Brien, Robert Schenkkan, Notes:  Teleplay by Mellisa Mathison.  Photographed by Kees Van Oostrum.  Music by Craig Safan.

 

SOUTH OF ST. LOUIS.  1949.  88 minutes.  Western.  Joel McCrea.  Civil War Action Drama.  Directed by Ray Enright. Kip Davis, a Texas cattleman and his best friends Lee and Charlie split up at the Start of the Civil War after their cattle ranch is destroyed by Union guerrilla raiders.  The men soon find themselves embroiled in movement of contraband arms competing with the same guerrilla bands.  Alexis Smith, Zachary Scott, Dorothy Malone, Douglas Kennedy, Alan Hale, Victory Jory, Bob Steele, Art Smith.  Notes:  Written by Zachary Gold and James R. Webb.  Photography by Karl Freund.  Music by Max Steiner.  The song Too Much Love by Ray Hendorf and Ralph Blane.

 

THE SPOILERS.  1942.  84 minutes.  Western.  Gold mining, Alaska.  Directed by Ray Enright.  Marlene Dietrich is the beautiful owner of a gold rush saloon in 1890’s Alaska and, Randolph Scott plays the heel and John Wayne the good guy in this actionful period melodrama about gold fever.  It’s a romantic film, a cross between Dietrich’s DESTRY RIDES AGAIN and the John Wayne’s later NORTH TO ALASKA.  This Rex Beach western story was made into a film in various guises a number of times.  With:  Margaret Lindsay, Harry Carey, Richard Barthelmess, George Cleland, Samuel S. Hinds.  Note:  Screenplay by Lawrence Hazard and Tom Reed.  Photography by Milton Krasner.  Musical direction by Charles Previn.  Music Score by H. J. Salter.  Produced by Frank Lloyd.

 

STAGE TO MESA CITY.  1947.  52 minutes.  Western.  Lash LaRue.  Directed by Ray Taylor.  “Lash” LaRue and Al “Fuzzy” St. John Star in this entry in the popular ’40s western series.  The stage line to Mesa City is being robbed pretty methodically.  Has the line been robbed by somebody interested in stealing the potentially rich U.S. mail contract from the owner of the line.  Lash and Fuzzy are on sent as investigating marshals on the case.  As sharp and crisp as any of the other entries in this entertaining series.  With:  Jennifer Hold, George Chesebro, Brad Slaven, Marshall Reed, Terry Frost, Carl Mathews, Bob Woodward, Steve Clark, Frank Ellis, Lee Morgan.  Notes:  Original Screenplay by Joseph F. Poland.  Photography by James Browne.  Music by James Greene.

 

STAGECOACH.  1939.  99 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  John Ford.  American Movies.   Directed by John Ford.  John Ford’s westerns are the source, the veritable wellspring, from which the genre, as we know it, sprung, and Stagecoach is the prototype of nearly every western story.  Ford gave the genre its sense of style and helped solidify the mythology of the West.  The story is simple in Stagecoach is simple enough – a stage coach filled with a group of people, each attempting to escape from something in each of their pasts, or searching for a way to begin afresh find themselves threatened by an outbreak among the Indian tribes on the coach’s route.  On the road, the driver picks up The Ringo Kid, a young cowboy on the run from the law after a gunfight.  The coach is trying to make the run from Tonto, New Mexico to a way station in Lordsburg before they are attacked by the maurading Indians.  Ford and screenwriter Dudley Nichols filled his coach with a fascinating collection of characters who would each become a quintessential movie western types – Claire Trevor [top billed] as the dance hall girl run out of Tonto by the outraged moral guardians of the town; Thomas Mitchell as Doc Boone [a man who hides his cynicism behind a thick haze of drink]; Hatfield a gambler with a past who assumes the role of protector [a Doc Holliday type character played smoothly by John Carradine] Lucy Mallory the pretty, and very pregnant wife of a young cavalry officer stationed in Lordsburg; Henry Gatewood a pompous business man who turns out to be a banker who has embezzled the funds from his own bank; and Donald Meek in one of his many roles a nervous whiskey drummer.  The stage is being driven by the redoubtable Andy Devine as Buck who has crusty Sheriff Curly Wilcox [George Bancroft] along riding as shotgun.  This group of troubled outcasts and misfits must somehow overcome nature, deadly Indian attacks, and the prejudices and perceptions of one another to survive.  Stagecoach is not only a great western, but a magnificent film, by a Hollywood director just beginning to work at his peak.  Beautifully photographed in Monument Valley [which Ford would use as his outdoor backdrop to great effect in many of his later works] and with a finely honed story and screenplay by Dudley Nichols, Stagecoach is also an exciting and extremely entertaining movie.  With:  Louise Platt as Lucy Mallory, Berton Churchill as Henry Gatewood, Tim Holt as Lt. Blanchard, Francis Ford as Billy Pickett, Chris Pin-Martin as Chris, Elvira Ross as Yakima [Chris’ Wife], and Brenda Fowler as Mrs. Gatewood.  Notes:  Academy Award nominations for picture, score, editing [Dorothy Spencer and Otho Lovering], direction, art direction [Alexander Toluboff], cinematography [Bert Glennon], The film won awards for musical score [John M. Leopold, Leo Shuken, Richard Hageman,] and for best supporting actor [Thomas Mitchell].  Other awards and honors include New York Film Critics best picture, 1939; National Board of Review nomination for best picture, 1939; AFI 100 Greatest Films; National Film Registry [1998].

 

STAGECOACH TO DENVER.  1946.  54 minutes.  Western.  Red Ryder Series.  Directed by R. G. Springsteen.  Allan “Rocky” Lane Stars as the Red Ryder in this compact, interesting western about intrigue surrounding valuable land in Colorado Territory and the emergence of a new stage line for Elkhorn to Denver.  The stage is forced off the road with the Land Commissioner aboard, so is a young orphaned boy whose being sent to Denver.  The Commissioner is killed and the boys seriously injured.  Rocky and his young Indian sidekick go to work to figure out whose behind all of the incidents.  With:  Martha Wentworth, Peggy Stewart, Roy Barcroft, Emmett Lynn, Ted Adams, Edmund Cobb, and Tom Chatterton, Bobbie Hyatt, George Chesbro, Ed Cassity, And Wheaton Chambers.  Notes:  Photography by Edgar Lyons.  Musical Direction by Mort Clickman.  Screenplay by Earle Snell

 

SUSANNAH OF THE MOUNTIES.  1939.  79 minutes.  Drama with Music.  Shirley Temple.  Randolph Scott.  Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  Westerns.  Directed by William A. Seiter.  Shirley Temple as Susannah Sheldon, Randolph Scott as Monty/Inspector Angus Montague, Margaret Lockwood as Vicky Standing, Martin Good Rider as J. Farrell MacDonald, as Pat O’Hannegan, Maurice Moscovich as Chief Big Eagle, Moroni Olsen as Supt. Andrew Standing, Victor Jory as Wolf Pelt, and Lester Matthews as Harlan Chambers.  Notes:  Screenplay by Robert Ellis and Helen Logan from a story by Fidel la Barba and Walter Ferris.  Based on the book by Muriel Denison.  Photography by Arthur Miller.  Associate Producer, Kenneth MacGowan.  Musical Direction by Louis Silvers.

 

TALL IN THE SADDLE.  1944.  87 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by Edwin L. Marin.  John Wayne gives one of his most assured and relaxed performances in this western about the attempt to rob him and a cousin of their rightful property.  The film has a cool, quick pace and good performances, especially by Ward Bond as a crooked judge and one of the funniest performances by grizzled veteran second fiddle “Gabby” Hayes.  The story has Wayne trying to find out who killed his Uncle and why.  Matters are complicated by the arrival of his beautiful cousin and her domineering aunt.  It’s part western detective and all enjoyable.  With:  Ella Raines, Audrey Long, Elisabeth Risdon, Don Douglas Paul Fix, Russell Wade, Emory Parnell, Raymond Hatton, Harry Woods.  Notes:  Screenplay by Michael Hogan and Paul P. Fix from an original story by Gordon Ray Young.  Photography by Robert de Grasse.  Music by Roy Webb.

 

THE TALL MEN.  1955.  122 minutes.  Western.  Clark Gable. Western Fiction.  Directed by Raoul Walsh.  Ben and Clint Allison, ex-Confederate soldiers trying their luck in Montana territory.  They meet cattle baron Nathan Stark when they try to rob him.  Stark convinces them to join him in bringing a big herd of Texas cattle to the beef Starved Montana Territory.  Epic scale western with grandiose intentions.  Lots of action with Clark Gable as Ben Allison and Robert Ryan as Stark vying for the attentions of Jane Russell as Nella, a gutsy mountain woman.  One unique touch — the cattle crew for the drive north are all Mexican.  With:  Cameron Mitchell, Juan Garcia, Harry Shannon, Emile Meyer, Stevan Darrell.  Notes:  Screenplay by Sydney Boehm and Frank Nugent from the novel by Clay Fisher.  Music by Victor Young.  Photography by Leo Tover.

 

TEN WANTED MEN.  1954.  80 minutes.  Westerns.  Randolph Scott.  Randolph Scott is John Stewart, Arizona rancher who asks his brother, an Ohio lawyer to come west to help him bring law and order to the town.  Wick Campbell, a jealous, ambitious fellow rancher brings in hired guns to wreck this new law and order, and to take over the ranches in the territory.  Chock full of action, this is typical Scott fare — lean, well paced.  Jocelyn Brando is Corrine Marshall, Richard Boone is Wick Campbell.  With:  Alfonso Bedoya, Donna Martell, Skip Homeier, Clem Bevans, Minor Watson, Lee Van Cleef, Dennis Weaver, Lester Matthews, Leo Gordon, and Tom Powers.  Notes:  Screenplay by Kenneth Gamet from a story by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr.  Photography by Wilfrid M. Cline.  Musical Score by Paul Sawtell.

 

TENDER MERCIES.  1983.  92 minutes.  <V628>.  Directed by Bruce Beresford.  A down and out country and western singer becomes the hired hand, and later husband to the owner of a West Texas motel.  A movie about redemption in love and life.  A spare, laconic piece of Americana dominated by the spare, laconic performance of Robert Duvall.  Duvall has made a career of under acting, especially since this film.  Good for what it is.  With: Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley, Ellen Barkin, Allan Hubbard, Lenny von Dohlen, Paul Gleason, Michael Crabtree, and Norman Bennett.  Notes:  Screenplay by Horton Foote.  Photographed by Russell Boyd.  Academy Awards for Duvall and Foote.  Music by Austin Roberts, Bobby Hart, Robert Duvall, Lefty Frizzell and others.  Oscars nominations for best pictures and director.

 

THE TERROR OF TINY TOWN.  1938.  63 minutes.  Western.  Midgets.  Directed by Sam Newfield.  A curiosity piece with midgets playing all of the key roles.  A pair of feuding ranchers’ fight over cattle and land is being manipulated by the foreman of one of the men.  The other rancher’s son foils the shenanigans of the foreman after a fair amount of intrigue and miscommunication with his father’s rival’s niece.  Interesting, but silly, silly, silly.  Just a gimmick by the producers.  With:  Billy Curtis as The Hero, Yvonne Moray as The Girl, Little Billy as the Villain, John Bambury as the Ranch Owner, Bill Plat as the Rich Uncle, Joseph Herbst as the Sheriff, Charles Becker as The Cook, Nita Krebs as The Vampire, and George Ministeri as The Blacksmith.  Notes:  Original Screen play by Fred Myton.  Photography by Mack Stengler.

 

THE TEXANS.  1938.  93 minutes.  Westerns.  Reconstruction.  Randolph Scott.  Directed by James Hogan.  Kirk Jordan, a return veteran of the Confederate army returns to Texas to find it deep in the throes of the Reconstruction.  The state is filled with corrupt Reconstruction politicians who are scamming the cattle ranchers of their land.  Jordan falls in love with Ivy Preston, the willful and beautiful heiress to a big ranch and 10000 calves all of which she wants to use to give support to the romantic chimera of continued Southern resistance by her fiancé, Alan Sanford.  This movie is made on scale as big as Texas itself.  There’s lots of action — Indian raids, cattle stampedes, brush fires — plus a cast that includes Randolph Scott as the stalwart hero, Kirk Jordan and the pretty, perky Joan Bennett as Ivy Preston.  Toss in veteran hams May Robson as Granna Preston, Walter Brennan as Chuckawalla with  Robert Cummings as Alan Sanford, Raymond Hatton as Cal Tuttle, Robert Barrat as Isaiah Middlebrack, Harvey Stephens as Lt. David Nichols and you’ve got a hellava entertaining mix.  Notes:  Screenplay by Bertram Millhauser, Paul Sloane and William Wister Haines based on a story by Emerson Hough.  Musical direction by Boris Morros.  Songs include I’ll Come to the Wedding by Frank Loesser.  Photography by Theodor Sparkuhl.

 

TEXAS.  1941.  94 minutes.  Western.  William Holden.  Directed by George Marshall.  Two young Confederate Civil War veterans are footloose in Kansas after the war when they decide it’s time to go to Texas.  Best of friends, they eventually fall for the same girl and fight on different sides in the Texas cattle wars.  This is a fine, funny, western bolstered by the performances of a very young William Holden as Dan Thomas a good/bad boy with a chip on his soldier, Edgar Buchanan’s role as Doc Thorpe, a wily corrupt dentist; and Claire Trevor as Mike, the feisty daughter of a rancher; and Glenn Ford who is young and fresh as Tod Ramsey [not the stolid, wooden Star he would become].  There are a lot of nice tricks and turns in this ingenious, extremely enjoyable oater.  With:  George Bancroft as Windy Miller, Edgar Buchanan as Doc Thorpe, Don Beddoe as Sheriff, Andrew Tombes as Tennessee, Addison Richards as Dusty Lashan and Willard Robertson as Wilson.  Notes:  Screenplay by Horace McCoy, Lewis Meltzer, and Michael Blankfort from a story by Meltzer and Blankfort.  Photography by George Meehan.  Musical Direction by M.W. Stoloff.

 

TEXAS LADY.  1956.  86 minutes.  Western.  Claudette Colbert.  Directed by Tim Whelan.  Claudette Colbert is the beautiful Prudence Webb, a lady gambler who inherits a Texas newspaper.  The town, run by two big time ranchers, find her an ambitious, intelligent advocate for the community at-large.  Prudence uses her wit and wiles to battle the corrupt cattle barons for the hearts and minds of the town.  Mediocre western graced by the Star presence of Colbert in one of her very last roles.  With:  Barry Sullivan, Gregory Walcott, Ray Collins, Walter Sande.  Notes:  Photographed by Ray Rennahan.  Music by Paul Sawtell.  Screenplay by Horace McCoy.  The print we have available is only in fair condition.

 

THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN…1970.  123 minutes.  Comedy.  Western.  Henry Fonda.  Joseph L. Mankiewicz.  Kirk Douglas.  <V893>.  Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.  A satire of the old west.  Paris Pittman, a ruthless outlaw with “the smile of a prince and the soul of a snake” buries the loot he stole from a rich rancher.  When the depressed victim of the robbery visits the local whorehouse for kind solicitations he recognizes the leader of the robbers.  He is arrested and sent to the toughest prison in the territory, where he becomes a cherished compadre for his cell mates  — they  are eager to help him escape to get his cache of $500,000, and so is the warden (for totally altruistic reasons of course)  Cynical western, almost too hip for its own good.  It does have good moments, and the presence of Henry Fonda playing against type.  Kirk Douglas always makes things interesting.  With:  Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith, Lee Grant, John Randolph, Arthur O’Connell, Claudia McNeil, Alan Hale, Jr., Victor French, C.K. Yang, and Bert Freed.  Notes:  Screenplay by David Newman and Robert Benton.  Photographed by Harry Stradling, Jr.  Music by Charles Strouse..  Title song by Strouse and Lee Adams, sung by Trini Lopez. 

 

THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON.  1942.  140 minutes.  Western.  Raoul Walsh.  Errol Flynn.  George Armstrong Custer.  Battle of Little Big Horn.   Directed by Raoul Walsh.  The life and times of General George Armstrong Custer as seen through the eyes of Warner Brother’s script writers in the early years of World War II.  It would have been impossible and unreasonable to debunk even the most unconventional hero, like Custer.  This Custer is prettified beyond recognition — he is just a rebellious gallant who cares for his men and the Indians.  He even leaves a dying message.   Preposterous history  but enjoyable as horse opera.    With:  Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Charley Grapewin, Gene Lockhart, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Ridges, John Litel, Walter Hampden, Sydney Greenstreet, Regis Toomey, and Hattie McDaniel.  Notes:  Original screenplay by Wally Kline and Aeneas MacKenzie.  Music by Max Steiner.

 

THE THREE GODFATHERS.  1948.  103 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by John Ford.  Three cowboys rob the bank in Welcome, Arizona and are forced to take off across the desert hotly pursued by Sheriff Buck Sweet.  In the rugged terrain they come across a pregnant woman on an abandoned wagon, dying and about to give birth.  They swear to get the child to safety.  Beautifully photographed ,and, like all of John Ford’s pictures of this period, shot on location, this film represents the best and worse of Ford — spectacular scenery, first rate action sequences mixed with a great deal of sentimentality.  John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey, Jr.  Ward Bond, Mae Marsh, Mildred Natwick, Jane Darwell, Guy Kibbee, Dorothy Ford, Ben Johnson, Charles Halton, Hank Worden, Jack Pennick and Fred Libby.  Notes:  Musical Score by Richard Hageman.  Screenplay by Laurence Stallings and Frank S. Nugent from the story by Peter B. Kyne.  Photographed by Winton Hoch.  Dedicated to one of the movies’ quintessential cowboy Stars, Harry Carey, the film is also was the first role for Carey’s son Harry Jr.

 

THREE TEXAS STEERS.  1939.  59 minutes.  Westerns.  Three Mesquiteers.  John Wayne.  Directed by George Sherman.  Part of a Republic series entitled John Wayne:  Matinee Double Feature No 2.  John Wayne is Stony Brooke, Roy Corrigan is Tucson Smith, and Max Terhune is Lullaby Joslin, known as the 3 Mesquiteers, in this actionful entry in the Republic Western Mesquiteers series.  The Mesquiteers come to aid of a beautiful circus owner who’s having trouble with a ranch she’s inherited.  Pleasant enough entertainment.  With:  Carole Landis as Nancy Evans, Ralph Graves as George Ward, Roscoe Ates as the Sheriff, Collette Lyons as Lillian, Billy Curtis as Hercules, Ted Adams as Steve, Stanley Blystone as Rankin, David Sharpe as Tony.  Notes:  Written by Betty Burbridge and Stanley Roberts.  Cinematography by Ernest Miller.  Music by William Lava.

 

THREE VIOLENT PEOPLE.  1956.  100 minutes.  Westerns.  Post-Civil War Drama.  Charlton Heston.  Directed by Steve Sekely.  Charlton Heston is Colt Saunders, a stubborn powerful Texas cattle baron who meets and falls in love with a beautiful  woman named Lorna Hunter [Anne Baxter] without knowing her real past.  Saunders also is at war with the greedy, land-grabbing carpetbaggers trying to get all of the Texas land they can and with his wild younger brother Cinch Saunders [Tom Tryon].  Cinch, who had left the ranch in a rage returns at the same time Colt brings Lorna to the ranch.  The film’s dramatic tension emerges from these emotional conflicts.  Heston and Tryon are a good fit as brothers at odds with each other and their turbulent past, and Baxter delivers her usual professional work.  The supporting cast including the venerable Gilbert Roland as Innocencio friend and foreman of Saunders, Forrest Tucker as able, Bruce Bennett as Harrison, Elaine Stritch as Ruby LaSalle, Barton MacLane, and peter Hanson as Lt. Marr.  Robert Blake [who had been a child actor in the ‘40s and early ‘50s before gaining fame as TVs Baretta] is one of Roland’s five sons as is Jamie Farr [billed under his Hispanic name of Jameel Farah [Klinger on TVs M*A*S*H].  Notes:

 

THUNDER PASS.  1954.  76 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Frank McDonald.  Army Captain Storm and his patrol find themselves deep inside the hostile territory of the Kiowa and Comanche tribes.  The captain is approached by the leader of the warriors and given 48 hours to leave their territory.  They try to help scattered settlers leave the territory as well, little realizing an ambush awaits them.  Fair western with an interesting plot.  With:  Dane Clark Andy Devine, Dorothy Patrick, Raymond Burr, Charles Fredericks, Mary Ellen Kay, John Carradine, Raymond Hatton, Nestor Paiva, Tom Hubbard, Rick Vallin, Tommy Cook, Paul McGuire, Elizabeth Harrower and William Wilkerson.   Notes:  Screenplay by Tom Hubbard and Fred Eggers from a story by George Van Marter.   Photographed by John Martin.  Music by Edward J. Kay.

 

THE THUNDERING HERD.  1933.  58 minutes.  Western.  Randolph Scott.  Zane Grey.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  Also known as Buffalo Stampede.  Randolph Scott plays a young buffalo hunter who fights a rapacious gang of hide thieves that have incited the plains tribes to warfare with their reckless killing of the buffalo herds.  The Indians go on the warpath to put an end to the wanton slaughter.  Scenic, fairly gamy, brutish kind of western from the Zane Grey/ Henry Hathaway/ Randolph Scott Paramount team of the early ’30s.  The film has a crude kind of energy and realism.  Scott, Beery, and Frederic give first rate performances.  Beery and Federici are a dangerous, frightening pair.  With:  Randolph Scott, Judith Allen, Buster Crabbe, Monte Blue, Harry Carey, Raymond Hatton, Noah Beery, and Blanche Friderici, Barton MacLane.  Notes:  Screenplay by Jack Cunningham.  Continuity by Mary Flannery.  Photographed by Ben Reynolds.

 

THE TIN STAR.  1957.  93 minutes.  Western.  <V1540>.  Directed by Anthony Mann.  About the confrontation between a lawman-turned-bounty hunter and a novice sheriff.  Dramatic western written by veteran screenwriter Dudley Nichols.  There is nothing especially memorable about THE TIN STAR.    With:  Henry Fonda, Anthony Perkins, Betsy Palmer, Michel Ray, Neville Brand, John McIntire, and Lee Van Cleef.

 

TOM HORN.  1980.  90 minutes.  Western.  <V69>.  Directed by William Wiard.  One of Steve McQueen’s last films.  Fact based story about a Wyoming cowboy who allows himself to be hung for a murder he did not commit.  This is a fairly melancholy western.  McQueen is a bounty hunter who is tried and convicted of murder, while a range war was going on.  Not up to the usual quality of an actioner by the film’s star.  With:  Linda Evans, Richard Farnsworth, Billy Green Bush, Elisha Cook and Slim Pickens.  Notes:  Screenplay by Thomas McGuane and Bid Shrake.  Box-office gross:  $4,400,000.

 

TOMBSTONE.  1993.  130 minutes.  Western.  Wyatt Earp.  Directed George P. Cosmatos.  Kurt Russell is Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer, Doc Holiday in this decidedly “retro” western.  It has what westerns have not had in a long time — bad guys who are clearly bad guys and good guys who are romantic icons with faults, but heroes none-the-less.  The film has a rapturous kind of violence, more killings per capita than any other film made in the ’90s to date, but the blood give a valid, significant charge to the film’s action.  Russell is a stout, taciturn, Earp  played in the classic hero mode a la Cooper or Heston [who has a cameo role as rancher named Hooker].  Sam Elliot is the ramrod stiff Virgil and Bill Pullman a naive, hopeful Morgan Earp.  The bad guys are a good collection of vibrant, charismatic actors Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo and Powers Booth as the grinningly murderous Curly Bill.  The performance of the movie is Val Kilmer’s elegantly witty Doc Holiday.  It is a surprisingly good, clever piece of acting for a western.  With:  Jason Priestly, Michael Rooker, Stephen Lang, Dana Delany, Joanna Pacula, Jon Tenney, Billy Zand.  Notes:  Music by Bruce Broughton.  Photography by William A. Fraker.  Screenplay by Kevin Jarre.  Box-office gross:  $51,436,450.

 

THE TRAIN ROBBERS.  1972.  92 minutes.  American Movies.  Western.  John Wayne.  Directed by Burt Kennedy.  A beautiful young widow hires an ex-Army veteran to help her recover a half million dollars stolen by her husband in a train heist.  She wants to recover the money to clear her husband’s name, and her hired guns want to collect the $50,000 reward.  Just as eager to recover the money are her husband’s ex-partner and his gang.  The film is beautifully shot by veteran cinematographer William H. Clothier, otherwise, its passable entertainment, in the jocular vein often exploited by director Burt Kennedy.  One can already see the beginning of the canonization of Duke Wayne’s image in this film, a process that would reach its peak with Don Siegel’s The Shootist.  With:  John Wayne as Lane, Ann Margret as Mrs. Lowe, Rod Taylor as Grady, Ben Johnson as Jesse, Christopher George as Calhoun, Bobby Vinton as Ben Young, Jerry Gatlin as Sam Turner, Ricardo Montalban as the Pinkerton Man.  Notes:  Written by Kennedy.  Photographed by William H. Clothier.  Music by Dominic Frontiere.

 

TRUE GRIT.  1969.  128 minutes.  Western.  <V848>.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  A best seller about a crusty old lawman made into a hugely successful film, one that produced a best acting Oscar role for the legendary John Wayne.  With:  Kim Darby, Robert Duvall, Glen Campbell, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin, Jeff Corey and Jeremy Slate.  Notes:  Screenplay based on the novel by Charles Portis.  Oscar nominations include best song (the title song) by Don Black and Elmer Bernstein.  Score by Bernstein.

 

TUMBLEWEEDS.  1925.  89 minutes.  Silent.  Western.  Cherokee Strip.  Oklahoma.  William S. Hart.  Directed by King Baggott.  In 1939, William S. Hart, the first great western film star, re-released this film, his last, as a salute to the passing of the west represented by the ceding of the Cherokee lands to homesteaders and farmers.  He disparages the “Sooners” until he meets and falls in love with beauty and her young brother in on the rush.  Hart (who had been a cowboy himself), had also been a stage actor before becoming a screen star, and its evident in this poetically hammy intro.  This was his farewell to the screen and its a beauty.  William S. Hart.  Barbara Bedford.   With Lucien Littlefield, Gordon Russell, Richard R. Neill, Jack Murphy, James Gordon, George Marion, Gertrude Claire, and Lillian Leighton.  Notes:  Story by Hal G. Evarts.  Adaptation by C. Gardner Sullivan.  Original Piano Score by William Perry.  Restored by Karl Malkames.

 

TWO RODE TOGETHER.  1961.  109 minutes.  Western.  <V1492>.  Directed by John Ford.  Western about the efforts of an officer and a lawman’s attempt to rescue captives form Comanches.  A traditional western with James Stewart and Richard Widmark.  Routine late Ford.    Also with:  Andy Devine, Shirley Jones, Linda Cristal, John McIntire, Anna Lee, Woody Strode, and Ted Knight. Notes:  Screenplay by Frank Nugent based on a book by Will Clark Comanche Captives.

 

UNFORGIVEN.  1992.  131 minutes.  Western.  Clint Eastwood.  Directed by Clint Eastwood.  When a whore is disfigured by a couple of cowboys, her friends in the whore house want revenge.  They announce that they have a bounty for the men who will wreak that revenge.  A myopic young cowboy seeks the help of an ex-gunman and his best friend, both retired to ranching or farming with varied success.  They confront the bad men but must also deal with the sheriff of the town where the whores live — a tough, smart, ruthless man who wants his kind of order kept regardless of the price.  This is Clint Eastwood’s “masterpiece” the film that has once again revived the film western genre and bolstered Eastwood’s place as a film maker and actor.  It’s a fine film, some may say an overrated film.  It begins almost as a revisionist western, slightly comic in tone, but builds into a most interesting study of violence and violent man, by a man whose whole career in films has been in the western or action genre.  The rest of the cast —  Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Jaimz Woolvett, Saul Rubinek, Frances Fisher, and Anna Thomson are quite excellent.  Photographed by Jack N. Green.  Written by David Webb Peoples.  Academy Awards for best picture and direction and best supporting actor (Hackman).  Academy Award nominations for actor (Eastwood), original screenplay, sound.  Box-office gross:  $75,335,134.

 

VERA CRUZ.  1954.  94 minutes.  <V2997>.  Western.  Directed by Robert Aldrich.  Gary Cooper plays a Confederate Civil War veteran works his way to Mexico in search of a chance to collect enough money to restore his property in his war ravaged home.  He meets a gang of roughs led by Burt Lancaster.  They form a nebulous alliance, and want to sell their considerable fighting skills to whichever side pays the most.  The French forces of the Emperor Maximilian have hired them for an escort job that looks simple but is in fact an attempt to ship a large store of gold out of the country to raise troops for Maximilian.  Intrigue, counter-intrigue and danger abound.  It all ends with the right man gaining the upper hand and the right cause being served.  This is one the top western films of the 1950’s but it has some very unpleasant spots.  There is a tinge of racism in the way the Mexicans are treated, especially the women.  In one scene Sarita Montiel, as a firebrand young woman working secretly for the Revolutionist and Juarez is surrounded by part of Lancaster’s wild gang with intentions that are clear and unpleasant.  Such scenes and sentiments form an ugly undercurrent throughout the film.  Still, it is full of action and pace.  With:  Denise Darcel, Cesar Romero, George Macready, Ernest Borgnine, Sarita Montiel.  Notes:  Screenplay by Roland Kibbee and James R. Webb from a Borden Chase story.  Photographed by Ernest Lazslo.  Music by Hugo Friedhofer.  Box-office gross:  $4,556,755.

 

VIRGINIA CITY.  1940.  121 minutes.  Western.  Civil War in the West.  Directed by Michael Curtiz.  A Union officer escapes from a formidable Confederate prison just as the commandant of the prison is sent to Virginia City, Nevada to bring much needed silver from the Comstock mines held by Southern sympathizers.  In Virginia City the two men vie for the silver and the hand of a beautiful girl.  Well paced and entertaining western action with:  Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh, Alan Hale, Guin (Big Boy) Williams, John Litel, Douglass Dumbrille, and Moroni Olsen.  Notes:  Original screenplay by Robert Buckner.  Music by Max Steiner.

 

THE VIRGINIAN.  1929.  92 minutes.  Western Fiction.  Gary Cooper.  Owen Wister.    <V1569>.  Directed by Victor Fleming.  “Smile when you call me that,” is a line forever associated with Owen Wister’s classic western The Virginian.  When those words were spoken by a lanky college educated cowboy named Gary Cooper a legendary star was born.  Cooper plays the cowboy with a great deal of pride in his past and his sense of honor.  This is a fairly dated, inert western now but one can see why this movie made Cooper a star.  With:  Walter Huston as Trampas, Mary Brian as Molly, Richard Arlen as Steve, and with Chester Conklin, Eugene Pallette and E.H. Calvert.  Notes:  Dialog by Edward E. Paramore.  Adaptation of Owen’s book by Harry Estabrook.  Photographed by J. Roy Hunt.

 

WAGONMASTER.  1950.  85 minutes.  Western.  John Ford.  Directed by John Ford.  Story:  A group of Mormons form a wagon train to travel across the Midwest to Utah when they have been forced to leave yet another settlement.  They hire two young horse traders to help guide the settlers across rugged terrain.  This Ford film tells a simple but vivid story of determination and courage of settlers.  Ford deliberately chose not to use John Wayne or another big stars for his leads but opted for character actors he’d used often before — Ben Johnson and Ward Bond.  This is a really fine western with a clean, smooth narrative and the usual pictorial splendor and spaciousness that one expects of the best John Ford films.  With:  Harry Cary Jr., Joanne Dru, Charles Kemper, Jane Darwell, Alan Mowbray, Ruth Clifford, Russell Simpson, Kathleen O’Malley, James Arness, Movita Castaneda, and Jim Thorpe.  Notes:  Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent and Patrick Ford.  Photographed by Bert Glennon.  The songs in the film Song of the Wagon Master, Chuck-A-Walla Swing etc. are sung by the Sons of the Pioneers.

 

THE WAR WAGON.  1967.  101 minutes.  Western.  John Wayne.  Kirk Douglas.  Directed by Burt Kennedy.  Taw Jackson is a rancher who has had his name and reputation tarnished by an unprincipled rival who robbed his gold claim, plans a heist to get his revenge on the cattle baron.  He puts together a motley crew including a gunman, a wild young drunk and a crazy Indian for an assault on the “war wagon” a heavily guarded armed wagon hauling $500,000 in gold.  Burt Kennedy’s specialty, the smart alecky, tongue-in-cheek western actioner reached its apex during the late ’60s with this film.  With:  John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Howard Keel, Robert Walker, Keenan Wynn, Bruce Cabot, Joanna Barnes, Valora Noland, Bruce Dern, Gene Evans, Terry Wilson, Don Collier, Sheb Wooley, Ann McCrea and Hal Needham.  Notes:  Photographed by William R. Clothier.  Music composed and conducted by Dimitri Tiomkin.  Ballad of the War Wagon with music by Tiomkin and lyrics by Ned Washington.

 

WARLOCK.  1959.  122 minutes.  Western.  Henry Fonda.  Richard Widmark.  Western Fiction.  Directed by Edward Dmytryk.  A town, in need of a tough lawman, hires a notorious regulator and his henchman to clean up their town.  The “first” citizens of the town of Warlock welcome the man at first, but, as they gain confidence, they turn on the sheriff and his companion.  Henry Fonda, Richard Widmark, and Anthony Quinn leads an impressive cast in this complex, thoughtful western about a west ever changing and moving forward.  The film is rich in texture and style with its power and tensions focused fully on the relationship between the key characters handled with subtlety and skill.  With:  Dorothy Malone, Dolores Michaels, Wallace Ford, Tom Drake, Richard Arlen, De Forrest Kelley, Regis Toomey, Vaughn Taylor, Don Beddoe, Whit Bissell, Frank Gorshin and Bartlett Robinson.  Notes:  Screenplay by Robert Alan Authur from the novel by Oakley Hall. Music by Leigh Harline, conducted by Lionel Newman.  Photography by Joe MacDonald.

 

THE WAY WEST.  1995.  360 minutes. [In four 90 minutes parts]  Documentary.  The Settling of the American West.  Manifest Destiny.  U.S. History – 1840-1890.  Directed by Rick Burns.  A segment of the PBS series THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.

 

• Westward, The Course of Empire Takes its Way, 1845-1864 – chronicles the colorful and frantic opening decades of expansion, from the 1840’s down through the Civil War.  Fewer than twenty thousand white Americans lived west of the Mississippi River in 1845 – when the pioneer movement and then the gold Rush sent hundreds of thousands of Americans rushing west across the continent to California and Oregon.  That fateful burst of expansion transformed the destiny of the continent and turned the world of Native Americans upside down.  As key technological innovations like the telegraph began to bring the sprawling nation together, the conflict between Native Americans and whites increased.  The ever-quickening pace of expansion led to a series of bloody confrontations between Native Americans and whites, culminating in the Minnesota Uprising of 1862 and, two years later, the massacre at Sand Creek.
• Part II — The Approach of Civilization (1865 to 1869) – examines the extraordinary four-year period immediately following the Civil War, when the restless, war-weary nation took up the task of conquering the West with renewed fury and speed.  year by year, railroads, penetrated ever farther out onto the Great Plains, threatening to destroy the last buffalo ranges of native American groups, like the Lakota and Cheyenne.  In response, tribes across the Great Plains began to mount a furious counter-offensive against the white invaders, and, as the did, a handful of key western figures – Custer, Crazy Horse, Cody, Red Cloud and Sitting Bull – began to come to the fore.  In 1868, with the triumph of Red Cloud and Crazy  Horse over the U.S. Army on the Boseman Trail, and 1869, when the two ends of the transcontinental railroad finally joined up a Promontory Point in Utah – the fate of Native Americans across the West was sealed.
• Part III — The War for the Black Hills 1870-1876 – follows the dramatic sequence of events that led up the battle of the Little Big Horn in June of 1876.  As buffalo by the million were exterminated from the Great Plains, and as new railroads cut ever more deeply into the Indians’ dwindling domain, some Native Americans, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull among them, remained determined to hold on at all costs to their old way of life.  By 1873, overbuilding on the Northern Pacific Railroad brought on nationwide financial panic and depression — and spurred the United States to invade the Lakotas’ sacred Black Hills in search of gold.  That treaty violation, together with the systematic extermination of the buffalo, sparked outrage among the Lakota and Cheyenne, and by 1875 the stage was set for a cataclysmic showdown between the United States Army and the tribes of the Northern Plains.
• Part IV — Ghost Dance, 1877-1893 – chronicles the mammoth crackdown on native American tribes that occurred in the wake of the battle of the Little Big Horn, the rise of the heartbreaking Ghost Dance religion, and the last terrible massacre at Wounded Knee.  By the turn of the century, Americans could se that what was “wild” about the West had been largely lost and won.  But long before the frontier had closed, they were turning it all into fantasy and myth – clinging not the past, but to the image of a future they had once seen.
• Notes:  Narrated by Russell Baker.  Edited by Bruce Shaw and Li-‘Shin Yu.  Cinematography by Allen Moore and Buddy Squires.  Music by Brian Keane.  Featuring the voices of:  Philip Bosco, J.D. Cannon, Rodney Grant, Graham Greene, Frances McDormand, Matthew Modine, George Plimpton, Sheila Tousey, John Trudell, Eli Wallach.

 

THE WEST.  An epic multiple segment film by Stephen Ives produced for PBS by Ken Burns about the American West in 11 separate programs:

 

• Episode I – The People.  82 minutes  Documentary.  American History, 19^th Century.  The American West.  “From the beginnings of time, the West has been a land of myth.  The original Native American inhabitants linked their creation stories to the majestic mountains, searing deserts and silent forest.  To Europeans such as Cabeza de Vaca and Coronado, the West was a wilderness to be conquered—filled with boundless treasure, souls to save or defeat, and new horizons to explore.  Nearly a hundred years before the American Revolution, the Pueblo people of the Southwest rose up against their European masters and drove the Spanish from their lands.  Then, with America’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1804, Lewis and Clark set off to find the fabled Northwest Passage, as a confident young nation prepared for its own epic march across the West.”   Among those interviewed:  N. Scott Momaday [writer], T. H. Watkins [Historian], J. S. Holliday [Historian], Richard White [Historian], Jo Allyn Archambault [Anthropologist], Allen Pinkham [Nez Perce]. 
• Episode II – Empire Upon the Trails.  84 minutes  “In the early 1800s, no one knew who would control the seemingly infinite spaces of the West.  But hopeful Americans began moving there nevertheless, and the individual trails they followed eventually merged into the single path of ‘Manifest Destiny.’  Mountain men, such as the legendary Joe Meek, found more adventure than profits as they scoured the uncharted Rockies for furs.  Missionaries such as Narcissa Whitman left the safety and friendship of home to travel west for a self-assured quest to “save” a race of people who never considered themselves lost.  In Mexican Texas, Sam Houston seized the chance of a lifetime and carved out his own, independent republic. And the Virginia family of Henry Sager, accustomed to following the restless dream of better times over the next horizon, set out on the Oregon Trail—then nearly destroyed itself struggling to reach the continent’s farthest shore.”  Notes:  Among those interviewed:  Richard White [Historian], Fred Gowans [Historian],  N. Scott Momaday [writer], Charlotte Black Elk [Lakota], Richard Santos [Historian], Patricia Nelson Limerick [Historian], Ann Richards [former Governor of Texas], Mylie Lawyer [Nez Perce], Julie Roy Jeffrey [Historian], Ralph Yarborough [former U.S. Senator], Dayton Duncan [writer], Terry Tempest Williams [writer],
• Episode III – The Speck of the Future.  84 minutes  “In 1848, a sawmill worker named James Marshall reached down into the streambed of the American River in California—and came up with he future of the West in the palm of his hand.  He had discovered gold.  During the next year alone, in one of the most astounding human stampedes in history, more than 50,000 fortune-seekers would swarm into the Sierra Nevada in a headlong scramble for riches.  Wild mining camps with names such as Whiskey Diggings, Grizzly Flat and You Bet would spring up—and then disappear—with each new strike of riches. And a once-sleepy village on a magnificent bay would change overnight into the thriving, international city of San Francisco, where a shrewd Mormon shopkeeper would become the gold rush’s first millionaire.  It was a rambunctious, singularly American time, and it would change the West forever. Among those interviewed:  J. S. Holiday [historian], T.H. Watkins [historian], Richard White [historian], Dayton Duncan [writer], Jack Chen [Historian], Ronald Takaki [Historian], Yvan Labéjof [actor].
• Episode IV – Death Runs Riot.  84 minutes  “The West always symbolized hope and new beginnings.  But in the 1850s, as more American pioneers poured west, they brought with them the nation’s oldest, most divisive issue—slavery. And the rough frontier would supply the sparks that would ignite the Civil War.  Indians would be dragged into “the white man’s war,” while the besieged Mormons would commit the worst massacre of innocent pioneers in American history.  A brave Mexican-American rancher would declare his own republic in southern Texas and become ““he Robin Hood of the Rio Grande.”  A young writer named Sam Clemens would escape the bloodshed of the East to find adventure and opportunity in Nevada’s bustling silver camps, where he would transform himself into Mark Twain.  And, as the bitter Civil War drew to a close, celebrated Union heroes such as George Armstrong Custer and William Tecumseh Sherman would use the tactics which had defeated the South against the Native Americans of the West.”  Among those interviewed:  Dayton Duncan [writer], Patricia Nelson Limerick [Historian], Martin Ridge [Historian], Stewart L. Udall [Former Secretary of the Interior], Ricardo Romo [Historian], Alvin Josephy [Historian], Henrietta Mann [Southern Cheyenne], Ben Nighthorse Campbell [United States Senator].
• Episode V – The Grandest Enterprise Under God.  84 minutes.  “After the Civil War reunited the North and the South, Americans set out with a new energy and optimism to finally unite the country East and West.  They embarked on one of the greatest technological achievements of the age, to conquer the forbidding mountains, harsh deserts and awesome distances by building the first transcontinental railroad.  Railroads soon transformed the West, bringing in landless European peasants and poor but determined families whose most fervent dream was a farm they could call their own.  Cowpokes such as Teddy Blue Abbott would ride dusty cattle trails to deliver herds of longhorns to boisterous railheads such as Dodge and Abilene, while buffalo hunters such as Frank Mayer would drive a magnificent animal that symbolized the West to the brink of extinction.”  Among those interviewed:  T.H. Watkins [Historian], Marc Reisner [writer], Jack Chen [Historian], Ronald Takaki [Historian]. Terry Tempest Williams [writer], Roger Welsch [folklorist], Ann Richards [former Governor of Texas].
• Episode VI.  Fight No More Forever.  85 minutes.  “By the 1870s, there were only a few pockets of resistance against the nation’s push to conquer the West.  On the Great Plains, Sitting Bull followed his mystical visions and urged his Lakota people to fight rather than surrender their sacred Black Hills and traditional way of life.   On a hot summer day at the Little Bighorn, they would defeat another warrior equally sure of his own invincibility—George Armstrong Custer.  But Custer’s Last Stand would also become, in effect, the last stand of the Sioux as a free people.  In Utah, the Mormon patriarch Brigham young, who had led his people to sanctuary in the desert, would be forced to choose between saving his church or sacrificing his spiritual son.  Farther west, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, who struggled for decades to remain a peace with the Americans, would find himself helping to lead one of the most extraordinary military campaigns in American history.”  Notes:  Among those interviewed:  N. Scott Momaday [writer], Stephen Ambrose [Historian], Jo Allyn Archambault [Anthropologist], Stewart L. Udall [former Secretary of the Interior].
• Episode VII – The Geography of Hope.  84 minutes.  “By the late 1870s, the American conquest of the West was nearly complete.  In one decade, with native Americans effectively confined to reservations, some four-and-a-half million new settlers would arrive to stake their claim to the future.  Homesteaders proudly built their homes of prairie sod, then battled drought and hard times to keep them.  Pap Singleton, an ex-slave from Tennessee, became the era’s “Black Moses,” leading his people to the free soil of Kansas.  A frail New York politician transformed himself into a rugged North Dakota rancher, and eventually, president of the United States.  And as Americans tried to “tame” the West, the nation’s greatest showman, Buffalo Bill Cody, instead offered adoring crowds his enthusiastic version of a “Wild West”—heroic, glorious, romantic, and most of all mythic.”  Notes:  Among those interviewed:  Richard White [Historian], Bertha Calloway (Curator], Bill Gwaltney [Historian], Stewart Udall [former Secretary of the Interior], Marc Reisner [writer], Roger Welsch [Folklorist], Ronald Takaki [Historian], Rudolfo Anaya [Historian], Mildred Cleghorn [Fort Sill Apache], Mary Armstrong [Southern California].
• Episode VIII – Ghost Dance.  58 minutes.  “By the late 1880s, Americans were astounded by the changes they had brought to the West.  Mining towns such as Butte, Montana were now full-fledged industrial cities, magnets of opportunity to workers from around the world but also places where the landscape itself was under assault.  Defeated militarily, Native Americans throughout the region now flocked to the call of a Paiute mystic, who offered the illusionary hope that the lost world of the buffalo could be brought back by a Ghost Dance.  But its promises would be trampled in the snow and blood of Wounded Knee.  In place of the great Native American cultures which once dominated the Plains was a new culture, epitomized by the Oklahoma Land Rush, in which 100,00 eager settlers lined up for a mad dash to stake out a farm and a future.”  Among those interviewed:  Ann Richards [former Governor of Texas], Charlotte Black Elk [Lakota], T. H. Watkins [Historian], David Emmons [Historian], N. Scott Momaday [writer], Robert M Utley [Historian], David Love [Geologist].
• Episode IX – One Sky Above Us.  62 minutes.  “As the 20^th century neared, Americans celebrated with the World Columbian Exposition, where they were told that the frontier had closed—symbolized by one state proudly displaying an entire herd of buffalo, stuffed.  But in the real West, for every frontier story that ended, another one began.  Some Native Americans waged a struggle to hold onto their traditions in the midst of rapid, overwhelming change, while others chose to lean the white man’s ways, hoping to help their families and their tribe.  In California, the emerging metropolis of Los Angeles waged yet another battle to control the arid region’s most precious commodity—water.  By the time the new century was underway, much had changed in the West. But the West continue to be what it had always been—a landscape of the imagination, the reservoir of our shared hopes, dreams, and aspirations, a place of both conflict and infinite possibility, and an enduring symbol ineffably, unquestionably American.  Among those interviewed:  Richard White [Historian], T. H. Watkins.[Historian], Marc Reisner [writer].Rudolfo Anaya [writer], Ricardo Romo [Historian].

 

Notes:  Written by Geoffrey C. Ward and Dayton Duncan.  Produced by Ives with Jody Abramson and Michael Kantor.  Senior Producer, Ken Burns.  Supervising Editor, Paul Barnes.  Edited by Richard Hankin, Michael Levine and others.  Narrated by Peter Coyote.  Voices include Philip Bosco, Tantoo Cardinal, Peter Gallagher, Murphy Guyer, Russell Means, Jimmy Smits,  Eli Wallach, Jason Robards, George Plimpton, John Lithgow, Julie Harris, Blythe Danner, Charlie McDowell, Amy Madigan, Pamela Reed, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Prosky, August Schellenberg, Fred Ward, Ralph Waite,  Derek Jacobi, Keith Carradine, Arthur Miller, Adam Arkin, Ossie Davis, George Aguilar, and Miguel Sandoval.  Music by Matthias Gohl.  Photography by Buddy Squires.

 

WESTERN UNION.  1942.  95 minutes.  Western.  Fritz Lang.  Randolph Scott.  Directed by Fritz Lang.  The building of the great trans-continental telegraph lines is the theme of this big, handsomely produced western.  Randolph Scott is Vance Shaw a Kansan whose brother and friends have Confederate leanings.  They pretend to be Confederate raiders to rob and loot.  They make every effort to stop the lines from being built, thus connecting the country by the click of a telegrapher’s.  The story revolves around the Shaw’s dedication to the builders of the lines and his beautiful sister.  He must make a hard choice in the end — for good over evil.  With:  Robert Young as Richard Blake, Dean Jagger as Edward Creighton, Virginia Gilmore as Sue Creighton, John Carradine as Doc Murdock, Slim Summerville as Herman, Chill Wills as Homer, Barton MacLane as Jake Slade, Russell Hicks as the Governor.  Notes:  Screenplay by Robert Carson.  Photography by Edward Cronjager and Allen M. Davey.

 

THE WESTERNER.  1940.  100 minutes.  Gary Cooper.  Westerns.  Judge Roy Bean.  Walter Brennan.  William Wyler.  <V773>.  Directed by William Wyler.  Walter Brennan won his third of three consecutive Academy Awards for his performance as Judge Roy Bean in this western about West Texas in the 1880s and 1890s.  Really fine — simply told no nonsense western about the infamous practitioner of frontier justice with an all consuming infatuation for the popular singer Lily Langtry..  Walter Brennan is a perfect Bean, cantankerous, wily and willful.   With:  Gary Cooper, Doris Davenport, Fred Stone, Paul Hurst, Charles Halton, Tom Tyler, Trevor Bardette,  and Dana Andrews.

 

WHEN THE WEST WAS YOUNG.  1932.  63 minutes.  Western.  Randolph Scott.  Zane Grey.  Directed by Henry Hathaway.  Randolph Scott is a surveyor hired to do work by a rancher waging a battle against an unscrupulous competitor. Interesting mostly because it is early work by Hathaway and Scott.  Routine otherwise.  With:  Sally Blane, J. Farrel MacDonald, David Landau, Gordon Westcott, Guinn Williams Vincent Barnett.  This was the first in a series of westerns combining Scott with director Hathaway based on Zane Grey’s work [it was Hathaway’s first time at the director’s helm].  Notes:  Screenplay by Harold Shumate and Frank Partos from a novel by Zane Grey.  Photographed by Archie Stout.

 

WILD BILL.  1995.  98 minutes.  Western.  Wild Bill Hickok.  Calamity Jane.  Directed by Walter Hill.  Jeff Bridges gives a fascinating, vivid performance as Wild Bill Hickok in this equally enthralling film directed by the erratically gifted Walter Hill.  The film both re-iterates the myths of Hickok and de-mystifies the man.  Hickok is accurately depicted as a reckless kind of killer — he is heroically brutal and mean spirited.  It’s Bridges’s task to make this killer’s image live and breath and he succeeds remarkably.  The rest of the cast are like a chorus used to present the varying reflections on the hero’s existence.  Each of them re-creates their own particular image of Wild Bill.  It’s an intricate, delicate ruse that Hill pulls off with élan.  With:  Ellen Barkin, John Hurt, Diane Lane, Keith Carradine, Chrisina Applegate, Bruce Dern, James Gammon, David Arquette, Marjoe Gortner.  Notes:  Produced by Richard D. and Lili Fini Zanuck.  Screenplay by Hill based on Thomas Babe’s play Fathers and Sons and Pete Dexter’s Deadwood.  Photographed by Lloyd Ahern.  Music by Van Dyke Parks.

 

THE WILD BUNCH.  1969.  145 minutes.  Western.  Sam Peckinpah.  William Holden.  Robert Ryan.  <V22>.  Directed by Sam Peckinpah.  Sam Peckinpah’s western about a group of aging professional soldiers-of-fortune and their dealings with an army of renegade Mexican revolutionary bandits.  This is Peckinpah’s masterpiece one of the greatest westerns ever made and maybe the best American film of the 1960s.  What is appealing about THE WILD BUNCH is its taking the western myths and giving them a vigorous last look.  The film does not make saints of its heroes.  They are purely professional criminals, extremely competent at what they do but who are also smart enough to see that  20th century is making their lives obsolete.  Wild Bunch is also about the nature of honor among thieves, the almost unconscious understanding that this group of strong, tough men have an instinctive feel for.  The violence in The Wild Bunch is poetic license.  The slow-motion action, the ballet of bodies from indiscriminately fired weapons is not real in any possible sense.  What they offer instead is the magic of heroic macho fantasy — the indestructibility of those of us who played at cowboys and Indians.  If we die, it must be a hard slow wonderful death like the tough guys in The Wild Bunch.  With:  William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sancehz, Ben Johnson, Emilio Fernandez, Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Albert Dekker, Bo Hopkins, Dub Taylor, and Alfonso Arau.  Notes:  Screenplay by Walon Green and Peckinpah.  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.  Music by Jerry Fielding.  Box office gross: $5,300,000.  Other westerns from 1969 include Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here, and Shalako.

 

THE WILD WESTERNERS.  1962.  70 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Oscar Rudolph.  Montana Territory, 1870s, a U.S. Marshall is sent to investigate gold shipment robberies in Virginia City.  A key suspect may be the crooked sheriff of Virginia City.  The story revolves around the outbreak of Sioux hostilities and the gold robberies and the marshals romance with a beautiful red head.  O.K. horse opera.  With:  James Philbrook as U.S. Marshall Jim McDowell, Nancy Kovack as Rose Sharon, Duane Eddy as Chet Fallon, Guy Mitchell as Sheriff Plummer, Hugh Sanders, Elisabeth MacRae, Nestor, Paiva, Harry Lauter.  Notes:  Written by Gerald Drayson Adams.  Photographed by Gordon Avil.  Title song by Duane Eddy and Lee Hazelwood.  Produced by Sam Katzman.  Videotape is at extended play — searching and pausing not likely on some machines.

 

WILL PENNY.  1967.  109 minutes.  Western.  Charlton Heston.  Directed by Tom Gries.  Will Penny is a tough, aging cowboy left footloose to scrap for work after his last cattle drive.  He and two buddies run into a cutthroat band of scavengers while looking for work as ranch hands.  When Will takes up with a woman and her young son stranded while traveling to the Oregon Territory, he finds himself falling in love for the first time — the idea of a family appeals to him.  The return of the murderous clan of scavengers all but puts an end to his dream.  One of the first of the revisionist westerns of the ’60s.  Charlton Heston as Will Penny is an intelligent, hard working but illiterate cowboy with a code and sense of honor that some of his compadres don’t have.  The film is about the passing of the old west, the west of open ranges and honorable men.  In its de-mythologizing of the romanticized west, it recreates new myths — the myth of the soulful anti-hero.  Its up to the filmgoer to determine which mythos is preferable.  With:  Joan Hackett as Catherine Allen, Donald Pleasence as Preacher Quint, Bruce Dern as Rafe Quint, Ben Johnson as Alex, Slim Pickens as Ike Wellerstein, Clifton James as Catron, Lee Majors as Blue, G. D. Spradlin as Anse Howard, William Schallert as Dr. Fraker, Anthony Zerbe as Dutchy and Jon Francis as Horace Greeley Allen.  Notes:  Written by Gries.  Photographed by Lucien Ballard.  Music by David Raskin.

 

WINCHESTER ’73.  1950.  82 minutes.  Western.  James Stewart.  Indian Wars, 1876.  Directed by Anthony Mann.  Cowpoke Len McAdam’s search for the man who killed his father leads him to Wyatt Earp’s Dodge City where he beats the killer in a shooting contest, winning a Winchester rifle as a prize.  The prized weapon at the story’s center, when stolen, is passed from hand-to-hand before finally being returned to its rightful owner.  The film’s story takes place with the country’s centennial year and the Indian wars in the wake of Sitting Bull’s victory over Custer as background.  Winchester ’73 is full of energy and wit.  The cast is a wonderfully entertaining and professional troop and the screenwriters have served up a intelligent, spirited script and story.  One of director Anthony Mann’s best efforts.  With:  James Stewart as Len McAdam, Shelley Winters as Lola Manners, Dan Duryea as Waco Johnny Dean, Stephen McNally as Dutch Henry Brown, Millard Mitchell as High Spade, Charles Drake as Steve Miller, John McIntire as John Lamont, Will Geer, Jay C. Flippen as Sgt. Wilkes, Rock Hudson as Young Bull, John Alexander as Jack Riker, Steve Brodie as Wesley, James Millican, Tony Curtis as Doan [billed as Anthony Curtis], Ray Teal James Best as Crater, and Chief Yowlachie.  Notes:  Screenplay by Robert L. Richards and Borden Chase from a story by Stewart N. Lake.  Photographed by William Daniels.  Musical direction by Joseph Gershenson.  Produced by Aaron Rosenberg.

 

WYATT EARP.  1994.  190 minutes.  Epic Western.  Directed by Lawrence Kasdan.  Kevin Costner is Wyatt Earp in this second film of the life of the legendary lawman and politician.  Costner and Kasdan aim for epic biography here.  The film is over three hours long and some may find it especially long at times.  Unlike the visceral and decidedly more entertaining Tombstone (with Kurt Russell as Earp and Val Kilmer as Holliday), this film aims for depth that, ultimately, forces it to move much too slowly for the fans of westerns.  With:  Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday, Gene Hackman as Nicholas Earp, Linden Ashby as Morgan Earp, Jeff Fahey as Ike Clanton, Joanna Going as Josie Marcus, Mark Harmon as Johnny Behan, Michael Madsen as Virgil Earp, Catherine O’Hara as Allie Earp, Bill Pullman as Ed Masterson, Isabella Rossellini as Big Nose Kate, Tom Sizemore as Bat Masterson, JoBeth Williams as Bessie Earp, Mare Winningham as Mattie Blaylock and Adam Baldwin as Tom McLaury.  Notes:  Screenplay by Don Gordon and Kasdan.  Photography by Owen Roizman.  Music by James Newton Howard.

 

YUMA.  1971.  73 minutes.  Western.  Directed by Ted Post.  Sheriff Dave Harmon tries to bring law and order to the town of Yuma.  He gets resistance from opportunistic businessmen, the commander of the calvary outpost, and feuding cattlemen.  Competently staged western Starring big, calm Clint Walker.  With:  Barry Sullivan as Nels Decker, Edgar Buchanan as Mules McNeil, Kathryn Hays as Julie Williams, Morgan Woodward as Arch King, Peter Mark Richman as Major Lucas, John Kerr as Captain White, Neil Russell as Kol King, Bruce Glover as Sam King, Robert Phillips as Sanders, Rudy Diaz as Cabaddo, and Miguel Alejandro as Andres.  Notes:  Produced by Aaron Spelling.  Written by Charles Wallace.  Photographed by John Stephens.  Music by