On this Day in 1950...

One of the all-time great Westerns was released, Winchester 73, starring James Stewart and directed by Anthony Mann. Here's the trailer for the movie:

King Baggot (1879-1948)

Today in 1948 marks the death of actor and director King Baggot, who appeared in over 300 movies beginning in 1909 and directed some 45 films. Among these was William S. Hart's last film Tumbleweeds (1925), which is available for viewing on Youtube:

On this Day in 1973...

Cahill, U.S. Marshal was released, starring John Wayne and directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Here's the opening scene (with Greek subtitles, I think), courtesy of Youtube:

Robert Ryan (1909-1973)

Chicago born, distinguished US actor and long time civil rights campaigner, Robert Ryan served in the United States Marines as a drill instructor (winning a boxing championship) and went on to become a key figure in post WWII American film noir and western productions.Ryan grabbed critical attention for his dynamic performance's as an anti-Semitic bully in the superb Crossfire (1947), as an over-the-hill boxer who refuses to take a fall in The Set-Up (1949) and as a hostile & jaded cop in On Dangerous Ground (1952). Ryan's athletic physique, intense gaze and sharply delivered, authoritarian tones made him an ideal actor for the oily world of the film noir genre, and he contributed solid performances to many noir features, usually as a vile villain. Ryan played a worthy opponent for bounty hunter James Stewart in the Anthony Mann directed western The Naked Spur (1953), he locked horns with an intrepid investigator Spencer Tracy in the suspenseful Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) and starred alongside Harry Belafonte in the grimy, gangster flick Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Plus, the inventive Ryan excelled as the ruthless "John Claggart" in Billy Budd (1962), and two different WWII US generals - firstly in the star filled The Longest Day (1962) and secondly in Battle of the Bulge (1965).For the next eight years prior to his untimely death in 1973, Ryan landed some tremendous roles in a mixture of productions each aided by his high calibre acting skills leaving strong impressions on movie audiences. He was one of the hard men hired to pursue kidnapped Claudia Cardinale in the hard boiled action of The Professionals (1966), a by-the-book army colonel clashing with highly unorthodox army major Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen (1967), and an embittered bounty hunter forced to hunt down old friend William Holden in the violent Sam Peckinpah western classic The Wild Bunch (1969). Ryan's final onscreen performance was in the terrific production of The Iceman Cometh (1973) based on the Eugene O'Neill play and also starring Lee Marvin and Fredric March.Legend has it that Sam Peckinpah clashed very heatedly with Ryan during the making of The Wild Bunch (1969), however Peckinpah eventually backed down when a crew member reminded Sam of Robert Ryan's proficiency with his fists !Primarily a man of pacifist beliefs, Ryan often found it a challenge playing sadistic and racist characters that very much were at odds with his own personal ideals. Additionally, Ryan actively campaigned for improved civil rights, restricting the growth of nuclear weapons and he strongly opposed McCarthyism and its abuse of innocent persons. A gifted, intelligent and powerful actor, Robert Ryan passed away on July 11th, 1973 of lung cancer.

(From IMDB)

On this Day in 1954...

Apache was released, directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters, John McIntire and Charles Bronson. Here's the trailer:

Rod Steiger (1925-2002)

On this day in 2002, Oscar-winning actor Rod Steiger died. He appeared in several Westerns, including Jubal (1956) and Run of the Arrow (1957). The latter is one of my personal favorites with a great cast: Charles Bronson, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Tim McCoy and Olive Carey. There he plays an ex-Confederate who goes off to live with the Sioux and finds his loyalties tested during an Indian war.

On this Day in 1965...

The Glory Guys was released, starring Tom Tryon, Harve Presnell and Senta Berger. The screenplay was written by Sam Peckinpah.

Brandon DeWilde (1942-1972)

Born into a theatrical family, he made a much-acclaimed Broadway debut at the age of nine in "The Member of the Wedding." He was the first child actor to win the Donaldson Award and went on to repeat his role in the film version directed by Fred Zinnemann in 1952. As the blonde, blue-eyed Joey who idolizes the strange gunman (Alan Ladd) in Shane (1953), he stole the picture and was rewarded with an Oscar nomination the following year. He starred in his own television series "Jamie" (1953) during 1953-54 and made his mark as a screen adolescent during the 1960s, playing younger brothers in All Fall Down (1962) and Hud (1963) starring Paul Newman. However, he managed to keep his career building up to his adult status. While en route to visit his wife at a hospital where she had recently undergone surgery, he was killed in a vehicle accident as the camper van he was driving struck a parked truck. He was only thirty years old. (From IMDB) He'll be forever remembered for his last line in the movie Shane (1953):

Cameron Mitchell (1918-1994)

Today also marks the death of veteran character actor Cameron Mitchell, who appeared in countless TV and big-screen Westerns. One of his best appearances was as the jaded sheriff who takes to outlawry in Paul Newman's Hombre (1967).

Roy Rogers (1912-1998)

Today in 1998 marks the death of singing cowboy and all-around nice guy Roy Rogers, born Leonard Slye in Oklahoma. Here's the opening of his 1950's TV show:

Katy Jurado (1924-2002)

Today in 2002 marks the death of actress Katy Jurado, a Mexican actress whose breakthrough role in the U.S. was as Gary Cooper's ex-mistress in High Noon (1952). She also appeared in many other classic Westerns, including One-Eyed Jacks (1961) and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973).

Rex Bell (1903-1962)

Rex Bell (October 16, 1903 – July 4, 1962), born George Francis Beldam, was Lieutenant Governor of Nevada and a western movie star. Rex was born in Chicago and married actress Clara Bow in 1931. They had two sons, Tony Beldon (born 1934, changed name to Rex Anthony Bell, Jr.) and George Beldon, Jr. (born 1938). In 1931, Rex and Clara founded the Walking Box Ranch. In 1944 Bell ran for the United States House of Representatives on the Republican ticket against Democrat Berkeley Bunker. His wife, Clara Bow, attempted suicide to avoid the public spotlight, thus dampening the zeal for Bell's campaign and contributing to the lieutenant governor's loss to Bunker. Bell was the leader of the Nevada state GOP and in 1948 was an alternate to the Republican National Convention. He was also active in the Nevada Chamber of Commerce and Boy Scouts. The ties Bell forged during those years helped him win the lieutenant governor's office in 1954. That year Charles H. Russell, the incumbent GOP governor, also won. In 1958 Democrat Grant Sawyer unseated Russell, but Bell won re-election as lieutenant governor. His final film appearance was a brief cameo as a cowboy in John Huston's film The Misfits (1961), which was shot on location in Nevada. The Rex Bell Elementary School in Las Vegas was named in honor of Bell. His grave is located in Glendale, California's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

(From Wikipedia)

Happy Fourth, From a 1930's Western

Clint Eastwood on What Makes a Good Western

Warren Oates (1928-1982)

Today marks the death of that great character actor Warren Oates (1928-1982) (second from left). Here's from IMDB: American character actor of the 1960s and 1970s whose distinctive style and intensity brought him to offbeat leading roles. Oates was born in a very small Kentucky town and attended high school in Louisville, continuing on to the University of Louisville and military service with the U.S. Marines. In college he became interested in the theatre and in 1954 headed for New York to make his mark as an actor. However, his first real job in television was, as it had been for James Dean before him, testing the contest gags on the game show "Beat the Clock" (1950). He did numerous menial jobs while auditioning, including serving as the hat-check man at the nightclub "21". By 1957 he had begun appearing in live dramas such as "Studio One" (1948), but Oates' rural drawl seemed more fitted for the Westerns that were proliferating on the big screen at the time, so he moved to Hollywood and immediately stared getting steady work as an increasingly prominent supporting player, often as either craven or vicious types. With his role as one of the Hammond brothers in the Sam Peckinpah masterpiece Ride the High Country (1962), Oates found a niche both as an actor and as a colleague of one of the most distinguished and distinctive directors of the period. Peckinpah used Oates repeatedly, and Oates, in large part due to the prominence given him by Peckinpah, became one of those rare character actors whose name and face is as familiar as those of many leading stars. He began to play roles which, while still character parts, were also leads, particularly in cult hits like Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Although never destined to be a traditional leading man, Oates remained one of Hollywood's most valued character players up until his sudden death from a heart attack at the age of 53. His final two films, Tough Enough (1983) and Blue Thunder (1983), filmed back-to-back in early 1982 shortly before his death, were dedicated to his memory.

On this Day in 1968...

The Scalphunters was released, directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis, Telly Savalas and Shelly Winters. Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.

On this Day in 1957...

The Tall T was released, directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, and Maureen O' Sullivan. Wikipedia says of the movie: In 2000, The Tall T was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Neal Hart (1870-1949)

Today also marks the death of 1920's Western star Neal Hart (no relation to William S.), who was reputedly a sheriff out West before pursuing an acting career. In the sound era he featured mainly as a character actor.

Ray Teal (1902-1976)

Most familiar to TV audiences as no-nonsense Sheriff Roy Coffee on the long-running western series "Bonanza" (1959), Ray Teal was one of the most versatile character actors in the business. In his almost 40-year career he played everything from cops to gunfighters to sheriffs to gangsters to a judge at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. He could play a kindly grandfather in one film and a heartless, sadistic killer in the next, and be equally believable in both roles. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, he was a musician who worked his way through college playing the sax in local bands. At UCLA in the 1920s he formed his own band and led it until 1936. He appeared in several films in minor bit parts, and it wasn't until 1938 that he had a somewhat more substantial part, in Western Jamboree (1938). The next year he had a bigger part in the splashy Spencer Tracy adventure 'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) (1940) as one of Rogers' Rangers. He appeared in serials, westerns, crime dramas, costume epics (he even appeared as Little John in The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946)!), war pictures, had a small but memorable part as an anti-Semitic blowhard who gets knocked into a store display by Dana Andrews in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and a bigger and more memorable part as one of Spencer Tracy's fellow judges in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). He also made many appearances on TV, in everything from "The Lone Ranger" (1949) to "Green Acres" (1965). He died of natural causes in 1976.

On this Day in 1959...

Warlock was released, starring Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Richard Widmark, and Dorothy Malone.

Noah Beery, Sr.(1882-1946)

From IMDB: Respected character actor of the silent and early sound period, specializing in cruel villains. The son of Kansas City policeman Noah Webster Beery and Frances Margaret Fitzgerald Beery, Noah Nicholas Beery and his younger brother Wallace Beery both left home in their teens, each seeking a career as a performer. Noah made his stage debut at the age of 16 and worked steadily in the theatre until his early 30s. Following his brother into films, he quickly established himself as a competent player and a familiar heavy in all sorts of films, particularly westerns. He never achieved the great fame of his younger brother, but succeeded in carving a memorable niche for himself in the history of film. His son Noah Beery Jr. became equally familiar as a character actor, though usually in more genial roles.

Gene Evans (1922-1998)

Today marks the death of character actor Gene Evans (1922-1998). Here's his biography from IMDB: Gene Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona, on July 11, 1922, and was raised in Colton, California. He served in the army during World War II as a combat engineer, and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star for bravery in action. He began his acting career there, performing an a theatrical troupe of GIs in Europe. After the war, he went to Hollywood, where he made his film debut in 1947's Under Colorado Skies (1947). The rugged, red-headed character actor was a familiar face in such westerns as Cattle Queen of Montana (1954), The War Wagon (1967), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He also starred in the war films The Steel Helmet (1951) and Fixed Bayonets! (1951) and co-starred with future first lady Nancy Davis (before she became Nancy Reagan) in Donovan's Brain (1953). His other major films include Park Row (1952), Behemoth the Sea Monster (1959), Operation Petticoat (1959) and Walking Tall (1973). He became well known in the 1950s on television, playing the father in "My Friend Flicka" (1956). He remained active in films and television through the 1980s. Evans subsequently retired to a farm near Jackson, Tennessee. He was a popular guest at the Memphis Film Festival for the past decade.

On this Day in 1952...

Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Territory was released, starring Clayton Moore in a pre-Lone Ranger role.

On this Day in 1974...

Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, the highest grossing Western of all time, was released. It is available foe viewing on Youtube:

On this Day in 1973...

The Train Robbers was released, starring John Wayne and Ann Margret. Directed by Burt Kennedy, it was Wayne's last appearance with that great character actor Ben Johnson. The movie is available for viewing on Youtube:

On this Day in 1953...

The Naked Spur was released, the third of director Anthony Mann's six Westerns with James Stewart. Here's the trailer for the movie:

Philip Carey (1925-2009)

Today marks the death of character actor and occasional leading man Philip Carey, who appeared in several Westerns during the course of his career. Here's what IMDB has to say about him: Tall, blond and ruggedly handsome Philip Carey started out as a standard 1950s film actor of rugged westerns, war stories and crime yarns but didn't achieve full-fledged stardom until well past age 50 when he joined the daytime line-up as ornery Texas tycoon Asa Buchanan on the popular soap "One Life to Live" (1968) in 1979. He lived pretty much out of the saddle after that, enjoying the patriarchal role for nearly three decades.He was born with the rather unrugged name of Eugene Carey on July 15, 1925, in Hackensack, New Jersey. He grew up on Long Island and served with the Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War. He attended (briefly) New York's Mohawk University and studied drama at the University of Miami where he met his college sweetheart, Maureen Peppler. They married in 1949 and went on to have three children: Linda, Jeffrey and Lisa Ann.The 6'4" actor impressed a talent scout with his brawny good looks while doing the summer stock play, "Over 21" in New England, and he was offered a contract with Warner Bros. Billed as Philip Carey, he didn't waste any time toiling in bit parts, making his film debut billed fifth in the John Wayne submarine war drama Operation Pacific (1951). Phil could cut a good figure in military regalia and also showed strong stuff in film noir. A most capable co-star, he tended to be upstaged, however, by either a strong female or male star or by the action at hand. He was paired up with Frank Lovejoy in the McCarthy-era I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951), and Steve Cochran in the prison tale Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison (1951). Warner Bros. star Joan Crawford was practically the whole movie in the film noir This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) co-starring an equally overlooked David Brian and Dennis Morgan; Calamity Jane (1953) was a vehicle for Doris Day; and he donned his familiar cavalry duds in the background of Gary Cooper in the Civil War western Springfield Rifle (1952).In 1953, Carey left Warner Bros. and signed up with Columbia Pictures where he was, more than not, billed as "Phil Carey," but he struggled with the same rather bland, rugged mold again as the stoic soldier or police captain. He found plenty of work, however, and some as the top-billed star, but he felt stuck in the "B"-level grind. He battled the Sioux in The Nebraskan (1953); played a former gang member of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid who has to clear his name in Wyoming Renegades (1954); was a brute force to be reckoned with in They Rode West (1954); and had one of his standard movie roles (as an officer) in a better quality movie, Columbia's Pushover (1954), which spent more time promoting the debut of its starlet Kim Novak as the new Marilyn Monroe. Overshadowed by James Cagney and Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts (1955) and by Van Heflin, young Joanne Woodward (in her movie debut) and villain Raymond Burr in the western Count Three and Pray (1955), Phil turned more and more to TV in the late '50s. A man of action, he took on the role of Canadian-born Lt. Michael Rhodes on the series "Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers" (1956) alongside Warren Stevens. He eventually left Columbia studios to do a stint (albeit relatively short) playing Raymond Chandler's unflappable detective "Philip Marlowe" (1959). Most of the 60s and 70s, other than a few now-forgotten film adventures such as Black Gold (1962), The Great Sioux Massacre (1965) and Three Guns for Texas (1968), were spent either saddling up as a guest star on "The Rifleman" (1958), "Bronco" (1958), "The Virginian" (1962) and "Gunsmoke" (1955) or hard-nosing it on such crime series as "77 Sunset Strip" (1958), "Ironside" (1967), "McCloud" (1970), "Banacek" (1972) and "Felony Squad" (1966). He also played the regular role of a stern captain in the Texas Rangers western series "Laredo" (1965).Phil was a spokesperson for Granny Goose potato chips commercials, and his deep voice served him well for many seasons as narrator of the nature documentary series "Untamed World" (1967). One of his best-remembered TV guest appearances, however, was a change-of-pace role on the comedy "All in the Family" (1971) in which he played a vital, strapping blue-collar pal of Archie Bunker's whose manly man just happened to be a proud, astereotypical homosexual. His hilarious confrontational scene with a dumbfounded Archie in Kelsey's bar remains a classic.Phil's brief regular role in the daytime soap "Bright Promise" (1969) in 1972 was just a practice drill for the regular role he would play in 1979 as Texas oilman Asa Buchanan in "One Life to Live" (1968). His popularity soared as the moneybags manipulator you loved to hate. Residing in Manhattan for quite some time as a result of the New York-based show, he played the role for decades until diagnosed with lung cancer in January of 2006. Forced to undergo chemotherapy, he officially left the serial altogether in May of 2007, and his character "died" peacefully off-screen a few months later.Divorced from his first wife, Phil married a much younger lady, Colleen Welch, in 1976 and has two children by her, daughter Shannon (born 1980) and son Sean (born 1983). Phil lost his battle with cancer on February 6, 2009, at the age of 88.

Guy Madison (1922-1996)

On this day actor Guy Madison died. Handsome American leading man who stumbled into a film career and became a television star and hero to the Baby Boom generation. As a young man, he worked as a telephone lineman, but entered the Coast Guard at the beginning of the Second World War. While on liberty one weekend in Hollywood, he attended a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast and was spotted in the audience by an assistant to Henry Willson, an executive for David O. Selznick . Selznick wanted an unknown sailor to play a small but prominent part in Since You Went Away (1944), and promptly signed Robert Moseley to a contract. Selznick and Willson concocted the screen name Guy Madison (the "guy" girls would like to meet, and Madison from a passing Dolly Madison cake wagon). Madison filmed his one scene on a weekend pass and returned to duty. The film's release brought thousands of fan letters for the film's lonely, strikingly handsome young sailor, and at war's end, Madison returned to find himself a star-in-the-making. Despite an initial amateurishness to his acting, Madison grew as a performer, studying and working in theatre. He played leads in a series of programmers before being cast as legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok in the TV series of the same name. He played Hickok on TV and radio for much of the 1950s, and many of the TV episodes were strung together and released as feature films. Madison managed to squeeze in some more adult-oriented roles during his off-time from the series, but much of this work was also in Westerns. After the Hickok series ended, Madison found work scarce in the U.S. and traveled to Europe where he became a popular star of Italian Westerns and German adventure films. In the 1970s, he returned to the U.S., but appeared mainly in cameo roles. Physical ailments limited his work in latter years, and he died from emphysema in 1996. His first wife was actress Gail Russell.

(From IMDB)

Dean Jagger (1903-1991)

Today marks the death of character actor Dean Jagger, who appeared in several Westerns throughout his career. One of his prominent Western roles was as Brigham Young in the 1940 movie of the same name.

On this Day in 1989...

The minseries Lonesome Dove premiered on television, based ion Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. The series was nominated for twelve emmys and won seven.

Pete Morrison (1890-1973)

On this day in 1973, acrtor Pete Morrison passed away. IMDB has this to say about him: American cowboy star of silent pictures. He studied science in school but dropped out to pursue a rodeo career. With some success, he was asked to appear in a number of film shorts, all before his eighteenth birthday. He worked for The American Film Manufacturing Company, but was soon signed by Universal Pictures and appeared in Western serials and short features there. He took some time away from movies to travel the country in a Wild West Show, then returned and did numerous Westerns for Triangle and Universal. He agreed to make a series of pictures in Central and South America, but eventually returned to Universal. With the arrival of sound pictures, he shifted into supporting roles before retiring from the screen in 1935, at the age of 45. He died in Los Angeles thirty-eight years later.

On this Day in 1943...

The Outlaw was released, the movie that made Jane Russell a star. Wikipedia has this to say about the movie: Although the movie was completed in 1941, it was released to only a limited showing two years later. It did not see a general release until 1946. The delay was a result of Hughes defying the Hays Code, which set the standard of morally acceptable content in motion pictures. By showcasing Russell's breasts in both the movie and the poster artwork, The Outlaw became very controversial. In 1941, while filming The Outlaw, Hughes felt that the camera did not do justice to Jane Russell's large bust. He employed his engineering skills to design a new cantilevered underwire bra to emphasize her assets. Hughes added rods of curved structural steel that were sewn into the brassiere below each breast. The rods were connected to the bra's shoulder straps. The arrangement allowed the breasts to be pulled upward and made it possible to move the shoulder straps away from the neck. The design allowed for any amount of bosom to be freely exposed. The emphasis on her breasts proved too much for the Hollywood Production Code Administration, which ordered cuts to the film. To obtain the Boards' required Seal of Approval, Hughes reluctantly removed about 40 feet, or a half-minute, of footage that featured Russell's bosom. He still had problems getting the film distributed, so he schemed to create a public outcry for his film to be banned. The resulting controversy generated enough interest to get The Outlaw into the theaters for one week in 1943, before being withdrawn due to objections by the Code censors. When the film was finally released in 1946, it was a box office hit.

On this Day in 1955...

Many Rivers to Cross, starring Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker, was released. Taylor plays a trapper in 1790's Kentucky. Victor McLaglen plays Parker's father, and Alan Hale, Jr., of Gilligan's Island fame, has a supporting role.

Jay C. Flippen (1899-1971)

Today in 1871 marks the death of character actor Jay C. Flippen (seen above on the right), who appeared in numerous A-list Westerns throurout the 1950's. Here's what IMDB has to say about him: Jay C. Flippen could probably be characterized these days as one of those distinctive faces you know but whose name escapes you while viewing old 50s and 60s movies and TV. His distinctive bulldog mug, beetle brows, bulky features, and silver-white hair were ideally suited for crimers and rugged adventure, while his background in vaudeville and minstrel shows helped him obtain roles in occasional fluffy slapstick and light musical comedy. Flippen was already a veteran performer on radio and the Broadway stage by the time he focused on film. He could be counted on to provide his patented gruff and bluster in many an actioneer whether playing a sheriff, prison warden, military high-ranker, bartender, or farmer. Moreover, his characters supported James Stewart in several of his standard vehicles, including Winchester '73 (1950), Bend of the River (1952), Thunder Bay (1953), The Far Country (1954), Strategic Air Command (1955), The Restless Breed (1957), Night Passage (1957), and Firecreek (1968). Dogged by illness but determined in later years, he continued his career in a wheelchair following a leg amputation. He was married for 25 years to screenwriter Ruth Brooks Flippen, whose work included a couple of Gidget movies. He died at age 72 of an aneurysm caused by a swollen artery.

On this Day in 1958...

Fort Bowie was released starring Ben Johnson and Kent Taylor. Best known for his supporting roles, this was one of Johnson's few leading roles. Here he plays a cavalry officer sent on a suicide mission against the Apache by his commanding officer, who thinks Johnson is having an affair with his wife. It's a minor Western, but as Johnson did with so many roles, he brings a real dignity to this one.

Stuart Whitman (1928- )

Today marks the birthday of character actor and occasional leading man Stuart Whitman. Western fans will recognize him from his roles in movies like The Comancheros (1961) and Rio Conchos (1964). He also starred as Marshal Jim Crown in the 1967-68 series Cimarron Strip.

On this Day in 1918...

Blue Blazes Rawden was released, starring William S. Hart and Maude George. In the movie Hart plays a kumberjack who kills a man over a woman. Hart is usually associated with the cowboy role, but every once in a while he ventured into othe roles like that of policeman, gangster, Native American, and even Aztec prince.

On this Day in 1941...

Western Union was released, directed by Fritz Lang. In a period replete with B-Westerns, the movie is an epic in the style of The Plainsman (1936) and Union Pacific (1939). Starring Robert Young and Randolph Scott, the story concerns the laying of the telegrapfh line. Young gets top billing, but it's good to see Scott here in one of his early Western roles. In the late 1950's, he and director Budd Boetticher would bring the B-Western to new heights with classics like Seven Men From Now (1956), Ride Lonesome (1959), and Comanche Station (1960).

On this Day in 1957...

Gun for a Coward was released, starring Fred MacMurray, Jeffrey Hunter and Dean Stockwell.

John McIntire (1907-1991)

On this day in 1991 passed one of the most recognizable faces (and voices) in the Western, character actor John McIntire. He took over the lead in TV's Wagon Train after Ward Bond died. One of my favorite McIntrire appearances is from Anthony Mann's 1950 classic Winchester 73, in which he played an Indian trader. (He comes in below at 4:3o):

Tim McCoy (1891-1978)

One of the great stars of early American Westerns. McCoy was the son of an Irish soldier who later became police chief of Saginaw, Michigan, where McCoy was born. He attended St. Ignatius College in Chicago and after seeing a Wild West show there, left school and found work on a Wyoming ranch. He became an expert horseman and roper and developed a keen knowledge of the ways and languages of the Indian tribes in the area. He competed in numerous rodeos, then enlisted in the U.S. Army when America entered the First World War. He was commissioned and rose to the rank of colonel, eventually being posted as Adjutant General of Wyoming, a position he held until 1921. Resigning from the Army, he returned to ranching and concurrently served as territorial Indian agent. In 1922, he was asked by the head of Famous Players-Lasky, Jesse L. Lasky, to provide Indian extras for the Western extravaganza, The Covered Wagon (1923). He brought hundreds of Indians to Hollywood and served as technical advisor on the film. After touring the country and Europe with the Indians as publicity, McCoy returned to Hollywood and used his connections to obtain further work in the movies, both as a technical advisor and as an actor. MGM speedily signed him to a contract to star in a series of Westerns and McCoy rapidly rose to stardom, making scores of Westerns and occasional non-Westerns .. In 1935, he left Hollywood, first to tour with the Ringling Brothers Circus and then with his own Wild West show. He returned to films in 1940, in a series teaming him with Buck Jones and Raymond Hatton, but World War II and Jones's death in 1942 ended the project. McCoy returned to the Army for the war and served with the Army Air Corps in Europe, winning several decorations. He retired from the army and from films after the war, but emerged in the late 1940s for a few more films and some television work. He married Danish writer Inga Arvad and spent his later years as a retired gentleman rancher, occasionally touring with his own Wild West show. He died in 1978 at the age of 86.
(From IMDB)

Here's a trailer for his 1932 movie Two-Fisted Law, featuring a young John Wayne:

Alan Ladd (1913-1964)

Today in 1964 marks the passing of Alan Ladd, who will be forever remembered by Western fans for his performance in George Stevens' 1953 classic Shane. Here's the ending, courtesy of Youtube:

On this Day in 1950...

The movie Montana was released, starring Errol Flynn. For the first and only time in his career, Flynn plays an Australian, a sheepherder making his way in cattle country. This was Flynn's second to lat Western, and it's a bit sad to watch, because a lot of the magic and the charm from the earlier movies is gone. By this time, Flynn was also drinking more heavily, and the effect on his physique is evident. Nevertheless, I would say that any Errol Flynn is better than no Errol Flynn, and here's an excerpt from the movie:

John Davis Chandler (1937- )

On this day in 1937, character actor John Davis Chandler was born. Western fans will recognize Chandler for his supporting roles in three of Sam Peckinpah's films: Ride the High Country (1962), Major Dundee (1965), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). IMDB says of Chandler: " Short and stocky, with fair hair, piercing blue eyes, a pale complexion and a nasal, whiny voice, Chandler specialized in portraying mean, neurotic and dangerous villains." He was particularly good in a brief scene in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) as a bounty hunter looking for Clint Eastwood (He's seen here at 7:51):

Claude Akins (1926-1994)

Broad-shouldered and beefy Claude Akins had wavy black hair, a deep booming voice and was equally adept at playing sneering cowardly villains as he was at portraying hard-nosed cops. The son of a police officer, Akins never seemed short of work and appeared in nearly 100 films and 180+ TV episodes in a career spanning over 40 years. He originally attended Northwestern University, and went on to serve with the US Army Signal Corps in World War II in Burma and the Phillipines. Upon returning, he reignited his interest in art and drama and first appeared in front of the camera in 1953 in From Here to Eternity (1953). He quickly began notching up roles in such TV shows as "Dragnet" (1951), "My Friend Flicka" (1956), "Gunsmoke" (1955) and "Zane Grey Theater" (1956). He also turned in several strong cinematic performances, such as gunfighter Joe Burdette in the landmark western Rio Bravo (1959), Mack in the excellent The Defiant Ones (1958), Sgt. Kolwicz in Merrill's Marauders (1962) and Earl Sylvester in the gripping The Killers (1964). In the early 1970s Akins turned up in several supernatural TV films playing "no-nonsense" sheriffs in both The Night Stalker (1972) (TV) and The Norliss Tapes (1973) (TV), and was unrecognizable underneath his simian make-up as war-mongering Gen. Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). Akins continued starring in films and TV right up until the time of his death from cancer in 1994. By all reports a very gregarious, likable and friendly person off screen, Akins was married for over 40 years to Theresa "Pie" Fairfield, and had three children, Claude Marion Jr., Michele & Wendy.


(From IMDB)

Randolph Scott (1898-1987)

Today is Randolph Scott's birthday, and the following is from IMDB:

Handsome leading man who developed into one of Hollywood's greatest and most popular western stars. Born to George and Lucy Crane Scott during a visit to Virginia, Scott was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology but, after being injured playing football, transferred to the University of North Carolina, from which he graduated with a degree in textile engineering and manufacturing. He discovered acting and went to California, where he met Howard Hughes, who obtained an audition for him for Cecil B. DeMille's Dynamite (1929), a role which went instead to Joel McCrea. He was hired to coach Gary Cooper in a Virginia dialect for The Virginian (1929) and played a bit part in the film. Paramount scouts saw him in a play and offered him a contract. He moved rapidly into leading roles at Paramount, although his easy-going charm was not enough to indicate the tremendous success that would come to him later. He was a pleasant figure in comedies, dramas and the occasional adventure, but it was not until he began focusing on westerns in the late 1940s that he reached his greatest stardom. His screen persona altered into that of a stoic, craggy, and uncompromising figure, a tough, hard-bitten man seemingly unconnected to the light comedy lead he had been in the 1930s. He became one of the top box office stars of the 1950s and, in the westerns of Budd Boetticher especially, a critically important figure in the western as an art form. Following a critically acclaimed, less-heroic-than-usual role in one of the classics of the genre, Ride the High Country (1962), Scott retired from films. A multimillionaire as a result of canny investments, Scott spent his remaining years playing golf and avoiding film industry affairs. He died in 1987 survived by his second wife, Patricia, and his two children, Christopher and Sandra. He is buried in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here's a nice tribute from Youtube:

Alan Hale (1892-1950)

Today marks the passing of one of the great character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Alan Hale, Sr. (1892-1950). His Westerns include Dodge City (1939) and Santa Fe Trail (1940) with Errol Flynn. (He and Flynn made thrirteen films together.) Imdb has the following to say about him:

Alan Hale decided on a film career after his attempt at becoming an opera singer didn't pan out. He quickly became much in demand as a supporting actor, starred in several films for Cecil B. DeMille and directed others for him. With the advent of sound Hale played leads in a few films, but soon settled down into a career as one of the busiest character actors in the business. He was one of the featured members of what became known as the "Warner Brothers Stock Co.", a corps of character actors and actresses who appeared in scores of Warner Bros. films of the 1930s and 1940s. Hale's best known role is probably in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), one of several films he made with his friend Errol Flynn, in which he played Little John, a role he played in two other films - Robin Hood (1922) and Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950).

On this Day in 1928...

On this day in 1928, Pioneer Scout, starring Fred Thomson, was released. IMDB has this to say about Thomson, who was one of the biggest Western stars of the 1920's:



All but forgotten today, Fred Thomson was a silent movie westerner who at one time rivaled 1920s heroes Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson in popularity. Unlike the early, myth-inducing demise of a Rudolph Valentino or Jean Harlow, Fred's untimely death of tetanus prevented the actor, who was at one time billed "The World's Greatest Western Star," from creating a durable Hollywood legacy. Christened Frederick Clifton Thomson, he was born in Pasadena, California, in 1890 and proved a natural athlete, playing football at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and then at Princeton Theological Seminary, and breaking all sorts of various records while a student. Initially interested in the ministry, he became a pastor in both Washington, DC, and in Los Angeles, and subsequently married his college sweetheart, Gail Jepson, in 1913. Following her tragic death of tuberculosis in 1916, he left his fellowship and enlisted in the military.During his duty as a serviceman, he served as a technical adviser for the film Johanna Enlists (1918), a Mary Pickford war feature. It was through Pickford that he met his second wife, pioneer screenwriter/director Frances Marion. They married in 1919 following his WWI overseas duty as an Army chaplain. Initially interested in directing, he ended up standing in front of the camera for one of Frances' films Just Around the Corner (1921) when an actor failed to show up for a shoot. The movie was a hit, and the handsome, highly appealing Fred was signed. Following a co-starring role in another Pickford movie, The Love Light (1921), which was also directed and written by Frances, Fred was off and running with his own action serial The Eagle's Talons (1923), in which he performed his own stunts. Over the years, he provided heroics in such oaters as The Dangerous Coward (1924), Ridin' the Wind (1925), The Lone Hand Texan (1924) and the title role in Lone Hand Saunders (1926). Towards the end of his career, he was seen playing the legendary Jesse James and Kit Carson. With his cowboy reputation solidified alongside faithful horse Silver King, Fred became the No. 2 box office star for 1926 and 1927.In 1928, the unthinkable happened. Fred, who was in his movie prime at age 38, was just making his the transition into talkies. He apparently broke the skin of his foot stepping on a nail while working at his stables. Contracting tetanus, which the doctors initially misdiagnosed, he died in Los Angeles on Christmas Day in 1928. His wife and two young sons survived him.

Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959)

Today in 1959 marks the passing for director and producer Cecil B. DeMille. Among his Westerns are The Plainsman (1936), Union Pacific (1939), and Northwest Mounted Police (1940). Here’s an excerpt from his first Western, The Squaw Man (which he remade in 1918 and 1931):

Broncho Billy Anderson (1880-1971)

“Broncho Billy” Anderson was the stage name of Gilbert Maxwell Aronson, America’s first cowboy movie star. Anderson pioneered the genre that eventually produced stars such as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Roy Rogers, Buck Jones, and Tom Mix. Anderson also worked behind the camera as a director and producer and developed production techniques still in use today. He was awarded a special Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1958.
Max Aronson was born in 1880 in Little Rock (Pulaski County). His parents were Henry, a traveling salesman, and Esther Aronson. The Aronsons had seven children. Most of the children were born in Texas, but Max was born in Arkansas. Aronson moved to Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) in the 1890s to work for his brother in law, Louis Roth, who had married Aronson’s sister, Gertrude, and who worked as a cotton broker. He left Arkansas around the turn of the century for New York, where he became involved with the old Vitagraph Company, a theatrical group. From 1900 until 1926, Aronson produced, directed, or appeared in more than 600 motion pictures—everything from the one reelers, movies that consisted of approximately 400 feet of film, to full-length motion pictures that consisted of approximately 2,000 feet of film, produced later in his career. By 1902, Aronson was in New York and, in 1903, was cast in Edwin S. Porter’s film, The Great Train Robbery,a classic silent western. In his early films, he played various roles under the name G. M. Anderson, as in the movie Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman for Vitagraph in 1904, the first film Anderson directed. In 1907, Anderson moved to Chicago to produce films. There, he developed the idea that the public would pay to see good western movies, and the era of “cowboy” films, that is, films based on marketing the name of the cowboy, began. For a short time, he produced films in Colorado, but William Selig, an early movie producer for whom Anderson was working, could not see the advantage of western scenery in their releases. Anderson’s contribution was to develop the western film and the techniques he devised, including the “long shot,” “medium shot,” “close up,” and “reestablishment scene,” have become standard techniques present even in modern westerns. Back in Chicago, Anderson partnered with George K. Spoor, a theatrical booking agent. The two of them established Essanay Studios in 1907, the name being derived from a phonetic spelling of their initials, S and A. Anderson married Molly Louise Schabbleman in 1908, and the couple had one child, Maxine.
From 1908 to 1915, Anderson made 375 westerns. The most famous of these was the Broncho Billy series. Anderson read a story in the Saturday Evening Post about a character called Broncho Billy. He liked the idea of a series character and developed Broncho Billy into a franchise of films which were extremely popular with the American public. Anderson established a studio at Niles, California, in 1912, where he turned out a two-reel Broncho Billy story approximately every two weeks. The films cost approximately $800 per movie to produce, and each grossed approximately $50,000. The Essanay Studios were in their heyday. Many legendary Hollywood stars worked at Essanay—Francis X. Bushman, one of the leading stars of his day, Gloria Swanson, and Charlie Chaplin. Anderson signed Chaplin for the unheard of salary of $1,250 per week, plus a bonus of $10,000, but neither Spoor nor Chaplin were happy with the arrangement. Spoor was shocked by the salary, and Chaplin was not happy with either the Chicago or Niles studios and their regimented way of mass-producing films. At Niles, Anderson and Chaplin appeared together in Chaplin’s thirty-eighth film, The Champion, released in March of 1915, the only film in which the two stars appeared together. The Bushman, Chaplin, and Anderson movies produced substantial profits for Essanay, but the studio began to experience problems. First, Chaplin was hired away by Mutual for $10,000 a week and a $150,000 signing bonus. Then, Anderson began to realize that the public was demanding more than simple two-reelers. He approached Spoor about producing longer, more involved features. Spoor did not want to incur more expense for longer productions, so Anderson eventually sold his interest in Essanay in 1916. The separation contract stipulated that Anderson could not engage in motion picture production for two years and that the Broncho Billy character would remain property of Essanay. For all practical purposes, Anderson retired. Essanay finally dropped out of the film production business. In 1918, Anderson attempted producing westerns again, but the public had new heroes on the silver screen, and the franchise ceased. In 1958, Anderson was awarded an honorary Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his contribution to the development of motion pictures as entertainment. He lived in quiet retirement for most of his remaining years but surfaced again in the publicity of receiving his honorary Oscar. He died in Pasadena, California, on January 20, 1971, of a heart attack.
(From the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History)