Other '30's Scott Notables
Frontier Marshal ’39 became one of Randolph Scott’s more notable films of the ‘30s. The film is a remake of a 1934 film by the same name, both based on Stuart Lake’s fictional ‘biography’ of Wyatt Earp. Frontier Marshal would be remade again in 1946 by John Ford, this time titled the better known, My Darling Clementine. What sets Frontier Marshal apart as notable? Litigation.
Scott is cast as Wyatt Earp with Cesar Romero cast as ‘Doc Halliday.’ No that is not a typo. Doc’s character name was changed to avoid a lawsuit threatened by the Holliday family. Even the film title attracted litigious interest. Lake’s book, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal was so fictionalized as to offend Wyatt’s wife Josephine. (Thought about using her tintype as the Facebook visual, but this is a family friendly post.) Josie sued to force the ’34 film to drop Wyatt’s name from the title. She filed suit to stop the ’39 remake altogether, that suit settled out of court for financial consideration and removal of Wyatt’s name. Lake’s libertine treatment of Earp’s life story proved a financial boon … for lawyers.
Casting too comes in for some ’39 notability. Starting with Romero as Doc, ‘Halliday’ or not. Really? Most definitely no Val Kilmer. Eddy Foy appears among the supporting characters in the film. My books, Friends Call Me Bat and Lunger: The Doc Holliday Story both recount comic Eddie Foy having played Dodge City during Wyatt’s time there. What becomes notable about Foy’s role in the film is the actor who played him. Eddie Foy Jr., his son. Then we have Ward Bond who appeared in all three films, cast as Morgan Earp in Ford’s ’46 version.
While we are on the subject of notable talent, along comes ‘37’s High Wide and Handsome. A musical western for Scott, paired with Dorthy Lamour no less (not based on a novel by the other L’Amour), and Charles Bickford. If you are going to do a musical who better to write and compose than Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern? Variety panned the film for “Hollywood hokum,” if you can imagine that. Hokum aside, The New York Times called it “Richly spectacular” and among “The season’s best we are likely to see on Broadway.”
Sticking with critical acclaim blame we come to Wagon Wheels. A ’34 remake of ‘31’s Fighting Caravans based on a ’29 novel of the same name by (who else?), Zane Grey. Using stock footage from the earlier version, The Times saw “Pallid regret … for what might have been.”
Next Week: Enter the ‘40’s Virginia City
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
Scott is cast as Wyatt Earp with Cesar Romero cast as ‘Doc Halliday.’ No that is not a typo. Doc’s character name was changed to avoid a lawsuit threatened by the Holliday family. Even the film title attracted litigious interest. Lake’s book, Wyatt Earp: Frontier Marshal was so fictionalized as to offend Wyatt’s wife Josephine. (Thought about using her tintype as the Facebook visual, but this is a family friendly post.) Josie sued to force the ’34 film to drop Wyatt’s name from the title. She filed suit to stop the ’39 remake altogether, that suit settled out of court for financial consideration and removal of Wyatt’s name. Lake’s libertine treatment of Earp’s life story proved a financial boon … for lawyers.
Casting too comes in for some ’39 notability. Starting with Romero as Doc, ‘Halliday’ or not. Really? Most definitely no Val Kilmer. Eddy Foy appears among the supporting characters in the film. My books, Friends Call Me Bat and Lunger: The Doc Holliday Story both recount comic Eddie Foy having played Dodge City during Wyatt’s time there. What becomes notable about Foy’s role in the film is the actor who played him. Eddie Foy Jr., his son. Then we have Ward Bond who appeared in all three films, cast as Morgan Earp in Ford’s ’46 version.
While we are on the subject of notable talent, along comes ‘37’s High Wide and Handsome. A musical western for Scott, paired with Dorthy Lamour no less (not based on a novel by the other L’Amour), and Charles Bickford. If you are going to do a musical who better to write and compose than Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern? Variety panned the film for “Hollywood hokum,” if you can imagine that. Hokum aside, The New York Times called it “Richly spectacular” and among “The season’s best we are likely to see on Broadway.”
Sticking with critical acclaim blame we come to Wagon Wheels. A ’34 remake of ‘31’s Fighting Caravans based on a ’29 novel of the same name by (who else?), Zane Grey. Using stock footage from the earlier version, The Times saw “Pallid regret … for what might have been.”
Next Week: Enter the ‘40’s Virginia City
Return to Facebook to comment.
Ride easy,
Paul
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