Paul Colt's Blog, page 24
February 6, 2021
Cat Ballou
Catherine ‘Cat’ Ballou (Jane Fonda) comes home to Wolf City, Wyoming to find the future of the family ranch threatened along with the life of her father. On the train coming home she inadvertently aids a cattle rustler Clay Boone (Michael Callan), escape from the law assisted by his ‘Uncle’ Jed (Dwayne Hickman), a drunken preacher.
Arriving home, Cat finds father, Frankie Ballou threatened by hired gun, Tim Strawn (Lee Marvin). Frankie’s only ally is ranch hand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini). With Clay and Jed reluctant partners, Cat takes matters into her own hands, hiring notorious gunfighter, Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin), who turns out to be a besotted has been. When Strawn kills Frankie, Shelleen arrives in time to sing Happy Birthday to the candles at Frankie’s wake.
Cat and her gang rob a train carrying a payroll for the Wolf City Development Corp., the outfit bent on taking the family ranch. Meanwhile Shelleen cleans himself up and kills Strawn. Cat, posing as a prostitute, confronts the brains behind the land grab, accidentally killing him in a struggle. Cat is sentenced to hang. ‘Preacher’ Jed accompanies her to the gallows, where he cuts the rope as she falls into a wagon in which the gang escapes.
The film is narrated by Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole as roving minstrels singing verses to The Ballad of Cat Ballou. Lee Marvin won the best actor Oscar for his dual roles as Shelleen and Strawn. In his acceptance speech, Marvin credited a horse for half the award for one of the best western sight gags of all time in which Shelleen and a cross-legged horse drunkenly lean against the side of a building.
The film is based on the 1956 novel, The Ballad of Cat Ballou by Roy Chanslor. In one of the more egregious examples of a phenomenon I call ‘Crossing the Chasm, the journey from print to film’, Chanslor wrote a serious story, turned into a comedy for the film adaptation.
The American Film Institute listed Cat Ballou at number 10 in its 2008 Top Ten Westerns of All Time. For all the fun, accolades and success the film enjoyed, Fonda left a stain on her body of work for many of us when she cast herself as ‘Hanoi Jane’ in 1972.
Next Week: Major Dundee
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Ride easy,
Paul
Arriving home, Cat finds father, Frankie Ballou threatened by hired gun, Tim Strawn (Lee Marvin). Frankie’s only ally is ranch hand Jackson Two-Bears (Tom Nardini). With Clay and Jed reluctant partners, Cat takes matters into her own hands, hiring notorious gunfighter, Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin), who turns out to be a besotted has been. When Strawn kills Frankie, Shelleen arrives in time to sing Happy Birthday to the candles at Frankie’s wake.
Cat and her gang rob a train carrying a payroll for the Wolf City Development Corp., the outfit bent on taking the family ranch. Meanwhile Shelleen cleans himself up and kills Strawn. Cat, posing as a prostitute, confronts the brains behind the land grab, accidentally killing him in a struggle. Cat is sentenced to hang. ‘Preacher’ Jed accompanies her to the gallows, where he cuts the rope as she falls into a wagon in which the gang escapes.
The film is narrated by Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole as roving minstrels singing verses to The Ballad of Cat Ballou. Lee Marvin won the best actor Oscar for his dual roles as Shelleen and Strawn. In his acceptance speech, Marvin credited a horse for half the award for one of the best western sight gags of all time in which Shelleen and a cross-legged horse drunkenly lean against the side of a building.
The film is based on the 1956 novel, The Ballad of Cat Ballou by Roy Chanslor. In one of the more egregious examples of a phenomenon I call ‘Crossing the Chasm, the journey from print to film’, Chanslor wrote a serious story, turned into a comedy for the film adaptation.
The American Film Institute listed Cat Ballou at number 10 in its 2008 Top Ten Westerns of All Time. For all the fun, accolades and success the film enjoyed, Fonda left a stain on her body of work for many of us when she cast herself as ‘Hanoi Jane’ in 1972.
Next Week: Major Dundee
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 30, 2021
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Bury $200,000 in confederate gold at the end of a ‘treasure map’ littered with dead bodies. Turn a bounty hunter, a Mexican bandit and a mercenary soldier of fortune loose on a quest to recover the gold and you have a Spaghetti Western recipe for murder, mayhem and crisscrossed double crosses. Call it The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The trio, Blondie (Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name), Tuco (Eli Wallach) as the Mexican bandit and Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) as the soldier of fortune, pick up threads of a trail to the gold buried in a grave in a cemetery, but which one? Angel Eyes is hired to kill a man mixed up in the gold heist. That man in turn hires Angel Eyes to kill the man who hired him, giving him the man’s new alias before Angel Eyes kills him. Got that? Meanwhile Blondie captures Tuco and turns him in for the bounty. Bounty collected, Blondie breaks Tuco out of jail. They split the take and make off for the next bounty claim.
After a brush with fleeing confederate soldiers Tuco captures a man dying of thirst who promises to lead Tuco to the cemetery where the gold is buried. Tuco goes for water leaving Blondie with the dying man. When Tuco returns the man is dead, having told Blondie the name on the grave. Tuco and Blondie are now partners. The partners, posing as confederate soldiers are captured by Union forces and sent to prison camp where Angel Eyes is posing as a Union sergeant. Under torture, Tuco confesses the gold location to Angel Eyes.
Blondie and Tuco escape and the race to the gold is on. Along the way, they are blocked by Union forces guarding a bridge. They blow up the bridge to get by. In the show down at the cemetery, Blondie kills Angel Eyes. He captures Tuco, sets him on his horse with a noose around his neck. He fires a pistol shot to start Tuco swinging and rides off with the gold.
In a couple of interesting incidents to shooting the film, the bridge had to be reconstructed and blown up a second time when the first explosion destroyed all three cameras filming the scene. In the last scene Wallach’s horse bolted at the shot, the noose came free as planned. The horse galloped for a mile with Wallach aboard, hands tied behind his back.
Next Week: Cat Ballou
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
The trio, Blondie (Clint Eastwood as The Man with No Name), Tuco (Eli Wallach) as the Mexican bandit and Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) as the soldier of fortune, pick up threads of a trail to the gold buried in a grave in a cemetery, but which one? Angel Eyes is hired to kill a man mixed up in the gold heist. That man in turn hires Angel Eyes to kill the man who hired him, giving him the man’s new alias before Angel Eyes kills him. Got that? Meanwhile Blondie captures Tuco and turns him in for the bounty. Bounty collected, Blondie breaks Tuco out of jail. They split the take and make off for the next bounty claim.
After a brush with fleeing confederate soldiers Tuco captures a man dying of thirst who promises to lead Tuco to the cemetery where the gold is buried. Tuco goes for water leaving Blondie with the dying man. When Tuco returns the man is dead, having told Blondie the name on the grave. Tuco and Blondie are now partners. The partners, posing as confederate soldiers are captured by Union forces and sent to prison camp where Angel Eyes is posing as a Union sergeant. Under torture, Tuco confesses the gold location to Angel Eyes.
Blondie and Tuco escape and the race to the gold is on. Along the way, they are blocked by Union forces guarding a bridge. They blow up the bridge to get by. In the show down at the cemetery, Blondie kills Angel Eyes. He captures Tuco, sets him on his horse with a noose around his neck. He fires a pistol shot to start Tuco swinging and rides off with the gold.
In a couple of interesting incidents to shooting the film, the bridge had to be reconstructed and blown up a second time when the first explosion destroyed all three cameras filming the scene. In the last scene Wallach’s horse bolted at the shot, the noose came free as planned. The horse galloped for a mile with Wallach aboard, hands tied behind his back.
Next Week: Cat Ballou
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Ride easy,
Paul
January 23, 2021
For a Few Dollars More
Director Sergio Leone knew he’d struck gold. He scripted For a Few Dollars More in nine days.
Notorious killer and bank robber El Indio makes a bloody break out of jail with a plan to rob a bank in El Paso. The killer carries a musical pocket watch, a souvenir taken from a woman who committed suicide as he raped her after killing her husband. A bounty hunter known as Manco (Eastwood) gets wind of the plot and shows up in town. He encounters Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) also a bounty hunter. The two, form a ‘shotgun’ alliance.
Manco joins Indio’s gang over the killer’s suspicions. Indio plans to rob a bank in Santa Cruz. He sends Manco and three men to create a diversion to get the sheriff out of town. Manco kills the bandits and sends for the sheriff. The bank is blown and the safe stolen; but the gang is unable to open it. Manco returns and convinces Indio to hide out Agua Caliente. Mortimer, having anticipated Manco’s double cross is already there. Mortimer offers to crack the stolen safe. He does. Indio locks the loot in a strong box awaiting the split.
Mortimer and Manco crack the strong box, relock it and hide the money before they are caught and beaten. Indio releases them, claiming to know they are bounty hunters. He sends his men after them, reckoning there will be fewer to share in the bank money. One of the gang recognizes the treachery and forces Indio to open the strong box, only to find it empty. Manco and Mortimer return after killing Indio’s gang. Mortimer calls out Indio. Indio challenges him to draw at the end of his musical pocket watch song. As the music ends, it begins again, played by an identical watch Manco has taken from Mortimer. Mortimer kills Indio and reveals himself as the raped woman’s brother. Vengeance complete, he leaves the bounty to Manco, who loads the bodies in a wagon along with the stolen money and drives off.
Apart from Eastwood’s initial reluctance to do the film, Charles Bronson once again turned Leone down for the lead. That left Eastwood back in the top bill, putting Lee Van Cleef’s career on the map. One interesting production aspect of the Dollars Trilogy, the films were shot silently. Dialog and sound effects were dubbed in post-production.
Next Week: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
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Ride easy,
Paul
Notorious killer and bank robber El Indio makes a bloody break out of jail with a plan to rob a bank in El Paso. The killer carries a musical pocket watch, a souvenir taken from a woman who committed suicide as he raped her after killing her husband. A bounty hunter known as Manco (Eastwood) gets wind of the plot and shows up in town. He encounters Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) also a bounty hunter. The two, form a ‘shotgun’ alliance.
Manco joins Indio’s gang over the killer’s suspicions. Indio plans to rob a bank in Santa Cruz. He sends Manco and three men to create a diversion to get the sheriff out of town. Manco kills the bandits and sends for the sheriff. The bank is blown and the safe stolen; but the gang is unable to open it. Manco returns and convinces Indio to hide out Agua Caliente. Mortimer, having anticipated Manco’s double cross is already there. Mortimer offers to crack the stolen safe. He does. Indio locks the loot in a strong box awaiting the split.
Mortimer and Manco crack the strong box, relock it and hide the money before they are caught and beaten. Indio releases them, claiming to know they are bounty hunters. He sends his men after them, reckoning there will be fewer to share in the bank money. One of the gang recognizes the treachery and forces Indio to open the strong box, only to find it empty. Manco and Mortimer return after killing Indio’s gang. Mortimer calls out Indio. Indio challenges him to draw at the end of his musical pocket watch song. As the music ends, it begins again, played by an identical watch Manco has taken from Mortimer. Mortimer kills Indio and reveals himself as the raped woman’s brother. Vengeance complete, he leaves the bounty to Manco, who loads the bodies in a wagon along with the stolen money and drives off.
Apart from Eastwood’s initial reluctance to do the film, Charles Bronson once again turned Leone down for the lead. That left Eastwood back in the top bill, putting Lee Van Cleef’s career on the map. One interesting production aspect of the Dollars Trilogy, the films were shot silently. Dialog and sound effects were dubbed in post-production.
Next Week: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
January 16, 2021
A Fist Full of Dollars
Would you ever have guessed an Italian ‘Spaghetti Western’ directed by Sergio Leone, with American TV supporting actor, Clint Eastwood, cast as a man with no name, shot in Spain was a recipe for box office success? If you didn’t think so, you’d have been in good company. Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Rory Calhoun, Ty Hardin and James Coburn, among others, all turned down the role of the man with no name. Fortunate for Clint Eastwood and all of us, they did. A Fist Full of Dollars launched the box office phenomenon we call the ‘Dollars Trilogy’.
The ruthless Rojo brothers and Sheriff John Baxter’s family are rivals for control of a dusty little Mexican town, San Miguel. A mysterious stranger hits town, impressing both sides when he guns down four belligerent toughs who confront him. When he learns of the feud, The Stranger sees opportunity. The action, set to an arresting musical score most of us can still hear replayed in our heads, follows from gunfight to gunfight.
Hostilities start with a government gold shipment, stolen by the Rojo’s. The Stranger tricks the brothers and the Baxter’s into a gunfight, while he attempts to make off with the gold. The result is a hostage standoff with the Rojo’s holding Sheriff Baxter’s son and Baxter holding Rojo’s woman courtesy of the Stranger.
Following a hostage exchange, The Stranger frees the woman he returns to her husband. He trashes the Rojo house, making it look like the Baxter’s work. The brothers capture The Stranger and torture him. He escapes, hidden in a coffin. When the Rojo brothers torch the Baxter home and kill the family, The Stranger returns to town. Hiding a steel ‘vest’ under his sarape, the man shoots it out with the Rojo’s, killing them. He rides off as mysteriously as he rode in.
Eastwood played more than the part in creating The
Man with No Name. Leone claimed he needed more than an actor for the role, he needed a mask. Eastwood, he explained had two expressions, “with hat and without”. A non-smoker, Eastwood came up with the cigars, the bitter taste put him in character. He also came up with the Cobra handled Colt and spurs, costuming carry-overs from Rawhide. Leone came up with the serape.
Next Week: For A Few Dollars More
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
The ruthless Rojo brothers and Sheriff John Baxter’s family are rivals for control of a dusty little Mexican town, San Miguel. A mysterious stranger hits town, impressing both sides when he guns down four belligerent toughs who confront him. When he learns of the feud, The Stranger sees opportunity. The action, set to an arresting musical score most of us can still hear replayed in our heads, follows from gunfight to gunfight.
Hostilities start with a government gold shipment, stolen by the Rojo’s. The Stranger tricks the brothers and the Baxter’s into a gunfight, while he attempts to make off with the gold. The result is a hostage standoff with the Rojo’s holding Sheriff Baxter’s son and Baxter holding Rojo’s woman courtesy of the Stranger.
Following a hostage exchange, The Stranger frees the woman he returns to her husband. He trashes the Rojo house, making it look like the Baxter’s work. The brothers capture The Stranger and torture him. He escapes, hidden in a coffin. When the Rojo brothers torch the Baxter home and kill the family, The Stranger returns to town. Hiding a steel ‘vest’ under his sarape, the man shoots it out with the Rojo’s, killing them. He rides off as mysteriously as he rode in.
Eastwood played more than the part in creating The
Man with No Name. Leone claimed he needed more than an actor for the role, he needed a mask. Eastwood, he explained had two expressions, “with hat and without”. A non-smoker, Eastwood came up with the cigars, the bitter taste put him in character. He also came up with the Cobra handled Colt and spurs, costuming carry-overs from Rawhide. Leone came up with the serape.
Next Week: For A Few Dollars More
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Ride easy,
Paul
January 9, 2021
Lonely are the Brave
Lonely are the Brave is a 1962 film starring Kirk Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Matthau and Michael Kane. It is based on an Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy. Douglas read the book and convinced Universal Pictures to make the film, casting him in the lead. It became Douglas’s favorite film.
Cowboy Jack Burns (Douglas) wants nothing more than wide open spaces and his horse Whiskey. He wants no part of the modern times he is sentenced to live in. He rides into an unnamed town in New Mexico, crossing a road challenging traffic on horseback. His old friend Paul Bondi (Kane) is in jail for having assisted illegal immigrants (in the ‘60’s, imagine that.) He visits Bondi’s wife, Jerry (Rowlands) and determines to break Paul out of jail by getting himself arrested.
A bar fight later, Burns is arrested. When he is about to be released for his minor offense, he punches out a cop to get himself really arrested. In jail he encounters Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez (George Kennedy) who gets his jollies abusing Bondi. Jack defends Bondi, marking himself for Gutierrez wrath. The deputy hauls Burns out of his cell in the night for a beating.
Returned to his cell, he tries to persuade Bondi to break out of Jail with him. Paul’s time is nearly up. He has family obligations to get back to. He’s not interested in becoming a fugitive. Burns saws his way out of jail with hack saw blades stashed in his boot. He collects his horse and supplies from Jerry and heads for Mexico.
Sheriff Morey Johnson (Matthau) organizes a posse in pursuit of Burns. He learns Burns is a Korean War veteran decorated for valor. Jack undertakes a harrowing climb into the mountains. Pursuit is relentless when a helicopter is called in. Jack shoots down the chopper and escapes a confrontation with Gutierrez. The chase ends when Jack and Whiskey are hit by a truck, crossing a busy highway. Whiskey is killed. Jack is taken away in an ambulance. The Sheriff refuses to identify him. Progress, in the end, you can’t escape it.
Next Week: A Fist Full of Dollars
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Ride easy,
Paul
Cowboy Jack Burns (Douglas) wants nothing more than wide open spaces and his horse Whiskey. He wants no part of the modern times he is sentenced to live in. He rides into an unnamed town in New Mexico, crossing a road challenging traffic on horseback. His old friend Paul Bondi (Kane) is in jail for having assisted illegal immigrants (in the ‘60’s, imagine that.) He visits Bondi’s wife, Jerry (Rowlands) and determines to break Paul out of jail by getting himself arrested.
A bar fight later, Burns is arrested. When he is about to be released for his minor offense, he punches out a cop to get himself really arrested. In jail he encounters Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez (George Kennedy) who gets his jollies abusing Bondi. Jack defends Bondi, marking himself for Gutierrez wrath. The deputy hauls Burns out of his cell in the night for a beating.
Returned to his cell, he tries to persuade Bondi to break out of Jail with him. Paul’s time is nearly up. He has family obligations to get back to. He’s not interested in becoming a fugitive. Burns saws his way out of jail with hack saw blades stashed in his boot. He collects his horse and supplies from Jerry and heads for Mexico.
Sheriff Morey Johnson (Matthau) organizes a posse in pursuit of Burns. He learns Burns is a Korean War veteran decorated for valor. Jack undertakes a harrowing climb into the mountains. Pursuit is relentless when a helicopter is called in. Jack shoots down the chopper and escapes a confrontation with Gutierrez. The chase ends when Jack and Whiskey are hit by a truck, crossing a busy highway. Whiskey is killed. Jack is taken away in an ambulance. The Sheriff refuses to identify him. Progress, in the end, you can’t escape it.
Next Week: A Fist Full of Dollars
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Ride easy,
Paul
January 2, 2021
Ride the High Country
Released in 1962, Ride the High Country, starred Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea and Mariette Hartley with Edgar Buchanan and James Drury.
With only one trail through the Sierra Nevada between the Coarsegold mining camp and the town of Hornitos, shipping gold was risky business, prompting would-be shippers to hire aging former lawman, Steve Judd (McCrea). Judd hires former partner Gil Westrum (Scott) and Westrum’s sidekick young Heck Longtree to help guard the shipment. The shipment promises a prize too rich for Gil and Heck to overlook.
On the trail up to the mining camp Judd, Gil and Heck spend the night at Joshua Knudsen’s farm also home to comely farmer’s daughter, Elsa (Hartley). Next morning Judd and his men are joined on the ride to the mine by Elsa, who declares she can no longer abide her abusive father and will marry her miner fiancé.
Elsa’s fiancé, Billy Hammond (Drury) turns out to be a drunk with four brothers anxious to ‘share’ Billy’s bride. Judd, Gil and Heck pick up their gold shipment, rescue Elsa from her betrothed and head down the mountain. That night, camped on the trail, Gil and Heck attempt to make off with the gold. Judd stops them at gunpoint. Gil surrenders rather than shoot it out with his old friend. Judd is forced to reconsider his prisoner’s arrest when the Hammond brothers show up after the girl. Two are killed in the shootout. Three escape.
The next night, Gil slips out of camp, returning to the scene of the gunfight he gets a gun and a horse, with gold still on his mind. Judd, Heck, Elsa and the gold make it back to the Knudsen farm where the Hammond brothers await with Elsa’s father already dead. Judd and Heck are wounded in a gunfight with the Hammonds. Gil rides in to assist his old friend and the Hammonds are killed. Judd sustains a mortal wound. Gil promises to uphold Judd’s honor and deliver the shipment, allowing Judd to die in peace.
Ride the High Country enjoyed critical acclaim and box office disappointment. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Next Week: Lonely are the Brave
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
With only one trail through the Sierra Nevada between the Coarsegold mining camp and the town of Hornitos, shipping gold was risky business, prompting would-be shippers to hire aging former lawman, Steve Judd (McCrea). Judd hires former partner Gil Westrum (Scott) and Westrum’s sidekick young Heck Longtree to help guard the shipment. The shipment promises a prize too rich for Gil and Heck to overlook.
On the trail up to the mining camp Judd, Gil and Heck spend the night at Joshua Knudsen’s farm also home to comely farmer’s daughter, Elsa (Hartley). Next morning Judd and his men are joined on the ride to the mine by Elsa, who declares she can no longer abide her abusive father and will marry her miner fiancé.
Elsa’s fiancé, Billy Hammond (Drury) turns out to be a drunk with four brothers anxious to ‘share’ Billy’s bride. Judd, Gil and Heck pick up their gold shipment, rescue Elsa from her betrothed and head down the mountain. That night, camped on the trail, Gil and Heck attempt to make off with the gold. Judd stops them at gunpoint. Gil surrenders rather than shoot it out with his old friend. Judd is forced to reconsider his prisoner’s arrest when the Hammond brothers show up after the girl. Two are killed in the shootout. Three escape.
The next night, Gil slips out of camp, returning to the scene of the gunfight he gets a gun and a horse, with gold still on his mind. Judd, Heck, Elsa and the gold make it back to the Knudsen farm where the Hammond brothers await with Elsa’s father already dead. Judd and Heck are wounded in a gunfight with the Hammonds. Gil rides in to assist his old friend and the Hammonds are killed. Judd sustains a mortal wound. Gil promises to uphold Judd’s honor and deliver the shipment, allowing Judd to die in peace.
Ride the High Country enjoyed critical acclaim and box office disappointment. The film is preserved in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.
Next Week: Lonely are the Brave
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Ride easy,
Paul
December 26, 2020
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
Produced by Paramont Pictures and Directed by John Ford, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starred John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin and Edmund O’Brien. The film is a retrospective of events that occurred twenty-five years before the film opens. Senator Ranse Stoddard (Stewart) and his wife Hallie (Miles) return to the small frontier town of Shinebone to attend the funeral of local rancher Tom Doniphon (Wayne). A reporter asks the senator, why? Stoddard tells his story.
As young lawyer, Stoddard’s stagecoach is robbed by Liberty Valance (Marvin) and his gang. Stoddard resists and is beaten near death. Doniphon finds Stoddard and takes him to Shinbone, where Hallie, the woman Doniphon is courting, takes over Stoddard’s care. As Stoddard recovers, he learns Valance terrorizes the small town. Only Doniphon will face him.
The lawyer in Stoddard sees the need for law and order and determines to open a law practice in Shinbone. The move places him in conflict with Valance. Doniphon warns Stoddard, the only law Liberty Valance understands is a gun. Stoddard realizes he may have to back his law and order with force. He buys a gun and attempts to learn to use it. Hallie, who has come to care for more than Stoddard’s old injuries, knows Stoddard is no match for Liberty. She pleads with Doniphon to talk sense to him. Tom begins to wonder what is going on between the two.
Stoddard is chosen to represent Shinbone at a territorial meeting on statehood. Big cattle interests hire Valance to protect their open range and stop it. Valance challenges Stoddard. The lawyer goes out to face him. In a stunning twist Stoddard fires first. Valance is killed.
At the statehood conference Stoddard is chosen to represent the territory in Washington. He is reluctant, having killed a man in a gunfight. Doniphon takes him aside and tells him he killed Valance from an ally across the street. Stoddard marries Hallie and goes on to a brilliant political career as the man who shot Liberty Valance.
The film returns to the reporter who realizes Stoddard is clearing the record. He tears up his notes with the line, “This is the west, sir. When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Next Week: Ride the High Country
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
As young lawyer, Stoddard’s stagecoach is robbed by Liberty Valance (Marvin) and his gang. Stoddard resists and is beaten near death. Doniphon finds Stoddard and takes him to Shinbone, where Hallie, the woman Doniphon is courting, takes over Stoddard’s care. As Stoddard recovers, he learns Valance terrorizes the small town. Only Doniphon will face him.
The lawyer in Stoddard sees the need for law and order and determines to open a law practice in Shinbone. The move places him in conflict with Valance. Doniphon warns Stoddard, the only law Liberty Valance understands is a gun. Stoddard realizes he may have to back his law and order with force. He buys a gun and attempts to learn to use it. Hallie, who has come to care for more than Stoddard’s old injuries, knows Stoddard is no match for Liberty. She pleads with Doniphon to talk sense to him. Tom begins to wonder what is going on between the two.
Stoddard is chosen to represent Shinbone at a territorial meeting on statehood. Big cattle interests hire Valance to protect their open range and stop it. Valance challenges Stoddard. The lawyer goes out to face him. In a stunning twist Stoddard fires first. Valance is killed.
At the statehood conference Stoddard is chosen to represent the territory in Washington. He is reluctant, having killed a man in a gunfight. Doniphon takes him aside and tells him he killed Valance from an ally across the street. Stoddard marries Hallie and goes on to a brilliant political career as the man who shot Liberty Valance.
The film returns to the reporter who realizes Stoddard is clearing the record. He tears up his notes with the line, “This is the west, sir. When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Next Week: Ride the High Country
Return to Facebook to comment
Ride easy,
Paul
December 19, 2020
The Magnificent Seven (60)
The Magnificent Seven stars Yul Brenner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn and Horst Buchholz. One of the characters inspired a character in my Great Western Detective League Series. I’ll send a signed copy of one of those books to the first two people who correctly identify the film character and my book character.
Mexican bandit Calvera (Wallach) and his gang terrorize a poor Mexican village. The villagers determine to fight back, pooling what little they have of value, three cross the border to buy guns. They encounter gunfighters Chris Adams (Brenner) and Vin Tanner (McQueen). Adams convinces them to hire competent gunmen to face Calvera. He helps them recruit Tanner, Chris’s friend Harry Luck (Dexter), Bernardo O’Reilly (Bronson), deadly knife-master Britt (Coburn), washed up gun Lee (Vaughn) and eventually wanna-be gunfighter Chico (Buchholz).
The Seven cut down their first encounter with three of Calvera’s men. They arm and train the villagers, fortifying the village with defensive entrapments to ward off the bandits assault. Calvera attacks the village and is surprised by a stout defense. He takes heavy losses and is run off. The villagers believe they have won. In celebration the professionals warm to the villagers.
Chico sneaks into Calvera’s camp and returns with news, the bandits are coming back. The Seven determine to mount a preemptive strike on the bandits’ camp. They return to the village to find Calvera and his men. Calvera disarms The Seven and orders them to leave. They are escorted back to the border, where their guns are returned and they are turned loose.
Rather than leave, The Seven return to the village. They slip into town. They finish Calvera and his men in the gunfight that follows. Harry, Bernardo, Brit and Lee are all killed. Chris, Vin and Chico survive. Chris and Vin ride off. Chico’s heart has been claimed, he remains.
Critic reviews were mixed. The film’s music score became a popular classic. Sequels include Return of the Seven (’66), Guns of the Magnificent Seven (’69) and The Magnificent Seven Ride (’72). The original is preserved in The United States Library of Congress, National Film Registry.
Next Week: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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Ride easy,
Paul
Mexican bandit Calvera (Wallach) and his gang terrorize a poor Mexican village. The villagers determine to fight back, pooling what little they have of value, three cross the border to buy guns. They encounter gunfighters Chris Adams (Brenner) and Vin Tanner (McQueen). Adams convinces them to hire competent gunmen to face Calvera. He helps them recruit Tanner, Chris’s friend Harry Luck (Dexter), Bernardo O’Reilly (Bronson), deadly knife-master Britt (Coburn), washed up gun Lee (Vaughn) and eventually wanna-be gunfighter Chico (Buchholz).
The Seven cut down their first encounter with three of Calvera’s men. They arm and train the villagers, fortifying the village with defensive entrapments to ward off the bandits assault. Calvera attacks the village and is surprised by a stout defense. He takes heavy losses and is run off. The villagers believe they have won. In celebration the professionals warm to the villagers.
Chico sneaks into Calvera’s camp and returns with news, the bandits are coming back. The Seven determine to mount a preemptive strike on the bandits’ camp. They return to the village to find Calvera and his men. Calvera disarms The Seven and orders them to leave. They are escorted back to the border, where their guns are returned and they are turned loose.
Rather than leave, The Seven return to the village. They slip into town. They finish Calvera and his men in the gunfight that follows. Harry, Bernardo, Brit and Lee are all killed. Chris, Vin and Chico survive. Chris and Vin ride off. Chico’s heart has been claimed, he remains.
Critic reviews were mixed. The film’s music score became a popular classic. Sequels include Return of the Seven (’66), Guns of the Magnificent Seven (’69) and The Magnificent Seven Ride (’72). The original is preserved in The United States Library of Congress, National Film Registry.
Next Week: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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Ride easy,
Paul
December 12, 2020
The Alamo
John Wayne decided the only way to get The Alamo made according to his vision, was to produce and direct himself. The investor group he led insisted the film be made in Texas and that Wayne, a box office guarantee, play a leading role. He cast himself as Davy Crockett, heading an all-star cast that included Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon, Linda Crystal, Chill Wills, Ken Curtis, Richard Boone and Denver Pyle.
Texas is fighting for independence from Mexico. They face numerically superior, regular army forces under the command of Generalissimo Santa Anna. Sam Houston (Boone) needs time to raise a volunteer army. He orders Lieutenant Colonel William Travis (Harvey) to defend the Alamo, a mission positioned to blunt Santa Anna’s advance. Travis is joined by Jim Bowie (Widmark) and a band of Texican volunteers. Legendary Davy Crockett (Wayne) leads a band of Tennessee volunteers to the Texan’s standard. Regular army commander Travis and Texican Bowie clash from the outset. Crockett is thrust into patching the cracks.
Santa Anna lays siege to the mission. He offers ‘terms’ of surrender. Travis responds, touching off a cannon. Santa Anna assaults the mission. His forces take heavy losses and fall back. The Texicans sortie by night to successfully spike Mexican cannon. Travis is promised a relief column under the command of Colonel James Fannin to break the siege. All is lost when he learns Fannin and his command have been slaughtered. With the outcome no longer in doubt, Travis offers Bowie and Crockett’s volunteers the option to leave. Both refuse.
Santa Anna mounts an all-out assault. They breach the mission walls, overwhelming the defenders. Travis falls, followed by a wounded Bowie. Crockett, mortally wounded, takes a match to the powder magazine, inflicting series set-back in the guise of Santa Anna’s victory.
The film was shot on a Texas ranch. The set, hailed as one of the most authentic sets ever made, featured a three-quarter scale replica of the actual mission. The film about broke even at the box office owning to high production costs. Critically the film received mixed reviews. Historians panned the dramatization for lack of authenticity.
Next Week: The Magnificent Seven (’60)
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Ride easy,
Paul
Texas is fighting for independence from Mexico. They face numerically superior, regular army forces under the command of Generalissimo Santa Anna. Sam Houston (Boone) needs time to raise a volunteer army. He orders Lieutenant Colonel William Travis (Harvey) to defend the Alamo, a mission positioned to blunt Santa Anna’s advance. Travis is joined by Jim Bowie (Widmark) and a band of Texican volunteers. Legendary Davy Crockett (Wayne) leads a band of Tennessee volunteers to the Texan’s standard. Regular army commander Travis and Texican Bowie clash from the outset. Crockett is thrust into patching the cracks.
Santa Anna lays siege to the mission. He offers ‘terms’ of surrender. Travis responds, touching off a cannon. Santa Anna assaults the mission. His forces take heavy losses and fall back. The Texicans sortie by night to successfully spike Mexican cannon. Travis is promised a relief column under the command of Colonel James Fannin to break the siege. All is lost when he learns Fannin and his command have been slaughtered. With the outcome no longer in doubt, Travis offers Bowie and Crockett’s volunteers the option to leave. Both refuse.
Santa Anna mounts an all-out assault. They breach the mission walls, overwhelming the defenders. Travis falls, followed by a wounded Bowie. Crockett, mortally wounded, takes a match to the powder magazine, inflicting series set-back in the guise of Santa Anna’s victory.
The film was shot on a Texas ranch. The set, hailed as one of the most authentic sets ever made, featured a three-quarter scale replica of the actual mission. The film about broke even at the box office owning to high production costs. Critically the film received mixed reviews. Historians panned the dramatization for lack of authenticity.
Next Week: The Magnificent Seven (’60)
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Ride easy,
Paul
December 5, 2020
3:10 Reprise (2007)
The remake stars Russell Crowe as Ben Wade and Christian Bale as Dan. The screen play credits Halsted Welles along with Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. The remake, directed by James Mangold, is based on the classic movie rather than Leonard’s story.
Changes to the screen play felt like they were made for the sake of making changes. The stage robbed in the opening is armored and heavily defended, including a Gatling gun. A Civil War legacy comes out that has no precedent in either Leonard’s story or the original Welles screen play. A chase scene through a railroad tunnel construction site with a Chinese labor force is historically, geographically, and logically obscure.
Much of the drama in the hotel scenes where Wade plays on Dan’s fears is squandered by introducing some of it into the trail ride to Contention. Spreading it out over an extended period of time dilutes the drama and intensity of the original film. Part of that is Crowe’s Wade versus Ford’s. Russell Crowe is the cool, cocky tough guy. Ford is more subtle, calculating and manipulative. Christian Bale lacked Van Heflin’s depth in dealing with his demons.
The showdown gun walk to the train is well done down to the climax. Wade and Dan forge the odd partnership that allows them to reach the train where Wade’s gang confronts them. All Wade has to do is step aside and Dan is a dead man. Instead Wade grabs a gun and kills his own men. (Really?) Dan’s fourteen-year-old son appears and gets the drop on Wade. (Really?). Good thing they started with Welles screen play. They should have stayed with it.
Comedic redemption comes in the last ten seconds. As the train pulls out for Yuma, Ben Wade can be heard to whistle. His horse bolts from the hitch rack and gallops after the train. Ben Wade has broken out of Yuma prison before. Best western sight gag since Lee Marvin’s drunk horse in Cat Ballou.
Next Week: The Alamo
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Ride easy,
Paul
Changes to the screen play felt like they were made for the sake of making changes. The stage robbed in the opening is armored and heavily defended, including a Gatling gun. A Civil War legacy comes out that has no precedent in either Leonard’s story or the original Welles screen play. A chase scene through a railroad tunnel construction site with a Chinese labor force is historically, geographically, and logically obscure.
Much of the drama in the hotel scenes where Wade plays on Dan’s fears is squandered by introducing some of it into the trail ride to Contention. Spreading it out over an extended period of time dilutes the drama and intensity of the original film. Part of that is Crowe’s Wade versus Ford’s. Russell Crowe is the cool, cocky tough guy. Ford is more subtle, calculating and manipulative. Christian Bale lacked Van Heflin’s depth in dealing with his demons.
The showdown gun walk to the train is well done down to the climax. Wade and Dan forge the odd partnership that allows them to reach the train where Wade’s gang confronts them. All Wade has to do is step aside and Dan is a dead man. Instead Wade grabs a gun and kills his own men. (Really?) Dan’s fourteen-year-old son appears and gets the drop on Wade. (Really?). Good thing they started with Welles screen play. They should have stayed with it.
Comedic redemption comes in the last ten seconds. As the train pulls out for Yuma, Ben Wade can be heard to whistle. His horse bolts from the hitch rack and gallops after the train. Ben Wade has broken out of Yuma prison before. Best western sight gag since Lee Marvin’s drunk horse in Cat Ballou.
Next Week: The Alamo
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Ride easy,
Paul
