LONE STAR

Lone Starr rewrites the history of Texas or rather mythologizes it.

Broderick Crowford is a rancher opposed to Texas joining the Union, Clark Gable is for annexation and Ava Gardner is a newspaper editor wondering who is right in this 1952 gem. It was Lionel Barrymore‘s final role, as Andrew Jackson. William Conrad (Cannon) plays a great Frenchman. After a scene of an assault on Congress, he says “You really think Texas is worth all this?”.

Vincent Sherman directs his only western. Borden Chase writes another of his many Westerns.

GUNMAN’S WALK

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Phil Karlson has so much fun shooting running horses in widescreen through glorious landscapes that we do too. I have come to expect this joy of Cinema from his movies. What I did not expect was the depth and poignancy of this family drama. Van Heflin is a father so old school and macho that his sons have to call him Lee instead of Dad. He loves to get drunk, fight and he’s his own law. When dad finally has to face the consequences of his educational choices’, things get real.

Producer Harry Cohn wept when he first saw this 1958 film.

Written by Frank S Nugent, the writer of the Searchers amongst many other scripts for John Ford.

CARIBOU TRAIL

This fun but not essential 1950 Western was shot in British Columbia in rare Cinecolor that make horses, cows and water look better than people (as perhaps it should be). An American cowboy, Randolph Scott, moves to Canada to raise cattle and trouble. Final film appearance of George “Gabby” Hayes, directed by Edwin L. Marin.

DALLAS

 Gary Cooper plays a strong and talkative type in this fun 1950 western. He and Wild Bill Hickok (Reed Hadley) bring just comeuppance to a savage gang of carpetbaggers during Reconstruction, after the civil war.

Ruth Roman acted in a lot of good Noirs and Westerns in the early 50s. In 1956, she and her son barely survived the sinking of the liner SS Andrea Doria.

Directed by Stuart Heisler.

WAR PAINT

Cavalrymen Robert Stack and Peter Graves (way before Airplane!) attempt to bring a peace treaty to a tribe but conspirators abound. After an intense cold open, moral ambiguity, suspens and interesting, complex Natives make for a great B Western. Shot in Death Valley in 1953 by Lesley Selander.

THE UNFORGIVEN

Nothing works in this 1960 John Huston star-studded western. Ludicrous characters, an inept script and an incoherent “message” make for a painful watch. But what sets this movie apart is the preposterous casting of Audrey Hepburn as a rough girl from the Western frontier AND a Plains Kyowa woman. And Audrey, the daughter of Baroness Ella van Heemstra, she just don’t carry like that.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN

This 1950 film has a lot of fans amongst Westerns afficionados. Soldiers of the north and soldiers of the South fraternize to fight the Indians. Explores themes common to many post war movies about soldiering, heroism and the toll of it all. In this film, the cavalry arrives 5 minutes too late.

Directed William Keighley and starring Errol Flynn. It also stars Patrice Wymore who was to become Flynn‘s wife shortly thereafter.

AMBUSH

Has a good ambush at the end.

Robert Taylor, Arlene Dahl and John McIntire; directed by Sam Wood. After a story by Luke Short. 1950.

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