Ben Johnson

[JackFavell]

I can see how someone would mistake them. Yakima and Ben look surprisingly alike when at the reins of a horse or stagecoach if you don't get a glimpse of the face closely.

[MissGoddess]

Wasn't there a tv series called "Stony Burke"? Was it based on the same character?

[pvitari]

I'm pretty sure that's Yakima Canutt. Not only the face, but that person looks shorter than Ben.

MissGoddess, there was indeed a series called Stoney Burke and maybe that's where the name came from. :) Fabulous catch! But it didn't have anything to do with the Three Mesquiteers, it was a modern-day rodeo story, with Jack Lord as the titular Stoney, whose one goal in live was to win the bronc rider championship, "The Golden Buckle." The series followed his travels from rodeo to rodeo and all the other places rodeo men hung out, and Stoney frequently found himself helping out someone who, uh, needed his help. You know, like most other wandering TV heroes do. Warren Oates and Bruce Dern played his pals and rodeo hands.

I think this is where Warren Oates met Ben, when Ben appeared in an episode called "Point of Honor." You can find screencaps of his scenes in "Point of Honor" on my webpage in the...

...Wait, hold the phone, the album isn't there. Bizarre -- I remember posting it quite a while back and doing this big write-up about it and posting some screencaps here. Maybe I forgot to actually post the screencaps on my page? Good grief, life is like one long senior moment.









OK, I've just posted those Stoney Burke screencaps. http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com/tvshows. (Scroll down to get to them.)

Also, an article about Stoney Burke: http://www.rememberingjacklord.com/stoneyburke.htm

[pvitari]

It's nice to have time to scan again. ;)

A Hang 'Em High picture for Sunday.

[MissGoddess]

Great shot from Hang Em High! And thanks for the info and screencaps from "Stoney Burke". I can't even imagine Jack Lord in such a role. As a baddie in westerns he was okay, but something about him is somehow so un-country, so urban it seems unreal imagining him as a rodeo rider. A man of many talents, for sure.

[pvitari]

MissGoddess, Stoney Burke has a gritty, realistic ambiance that Jack Lord fits into very well. It's a modern-day show, and much of it is situated in towns and small cities where the rodeos take place and the stories are often set not just in rodeos but bus stations, banks, bars, offices, hotels, streets, and other such locales. Guest characters are not just rodeo men and cowboys but cops, clerks, stock contractors, various government officials and businessmen, etc. And women of various ages and intentions. ;) Sometimes there's a noir-ish or crime drama feel to it, and despite the peppy, western-sounding theme song, the show's score sometimes is cool and jazzy. Except when participating in a rodeo, Stoney is far more likely to be driving a truck than riding a horse. He's an honorable man, but he is also stubborn and ornery and he can get pretty prickly when he's messed with. (And someone is frequently trying to mess with him.) He's that mix of tough and tender that also marked Steve McGarrett in Hawaii Five-O. Stoney Burke was a good show and it's a shame it only lasted a season, but westerns -- even modern-day ones -- were beginning to fade by the early 60s. In a way, it's a good thing, because the show's creator, Leslie Stevens, moved on very quickly and created a TV SF classic, The Outer Limits, which ran from 1963-65. :)

Also, Jack Lord came from an affluent family whose property including a farm, and he grew up riding.

Monday photo...Bob, Bob -- don't go for that bag of gold on the floor!

[JackFavell]

That's a beautiful 'shot'!

[MissGoddess]

I'll have to check it out, thanks Paula!

[pvitari]

I can't resist sharing this photo I just found at the Corbis photo service website.

One of my fantasies has just been fulfilled, to see Ben and Charlie Chaplin in the same photo. Chaplin received an honorary Oscar at the 1972 ceremony, when Ben also won his Oscar, and I've always hoped to find a picture of them together. (I love Chaplin.) Now if only I could find a shot of Ben and Sam Peckinpah and all my photo fantasies will be satisfied. (The third one was to see Ben and John Ford in the same photo... but that one has been taken care of.) :)

Gene Hackman is holding his Oscar for best actor for The French Connection and of course Cloris Leachman is there since she won best supporting actress for The Last Picture Show.

I'm not posting this on the website right now though, I'm saving it for the Oscars 2013. :)

[pvitari]

The War Drums DVD has arrived! The best place to get it is classicmoviesnow. Cheapest and quickest.

The bad news is that the DVD is the old master they had on hand, so it's open matte/fullframe (BLEH) instead of the correct 1:85 widescreen aspect ratio. Also a fair amount of print damage -- specks and lines. And the cover is indeed that ugly horrible cover with the photo of Larry Chance and Lex Barker, which makes you think that Chance is the main character in the movie.

But -- there is good news, and that is, War Drums has never looked so good. Rich colors, lots of detail. The TCM broadcast was nice, but this is even nicer. ;) Definitely worth a purchase, though in my dreams someday we'll have a remastered widescreen version. I'm pretty sure that version will exist only in my dreams, though. ;)

By the way, if this movie is correct, then "AIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!" is the most commonly used word in the Apache language.

Here are three quickie screencaps. I'll be starting a proper screencapping of Ben's scenes in the movie today. ;)

[JackFavell]

Whoa! That's a beautiful looking print.

[pvitari]

I picked out three shots where you don't see the damage -- there are some shots with a lot of lines, etc. But as you can see, nice colors, nice detail! Apart from the aspect ratio thing (and the crappy cover), I was very happy with this DVD.

Just this morning I was corresponding with someone about War Drums (not an SSO person) and he told me that as much as he's dying for a lot of MGM's titles, including Rebel in Town and War Drums, he's not buying them because they're fullscreen versions of widescreen movies. I'd buy a lot more titles (not with Ben, obviously) if they were widescreen too. So with this in mind, I sent another rant to the guy I know at Allied Vaughn (the company that makes all the MOD DVDs, not just MGM, but Warner Archive, Sony, etc.) He's only responsible for making the discs but he talks to the people at the movie companies and can relay concerns to them. I keep on pounding my war drum about MGM's refusal to remaster for widescreen. Those old masters were made in the days of square televisions. TVs have moved on -- and so should MGM!

I still wonder what miracle occurred that Fort Bowie was released in widescreen.

[RedRiver]

I watched STONY BURKE about fifty years ago. Haven't seen it since. I liked Warren Oates.

[pvitari]

I haven't posted that "something special" I mentioned a few days ago because the person who sent it to me wants to redo a scan. As soon as I get the scan, then you'll get to enjoy. :)

Meanwhile, here's an article about Ben in the Spring 2003 issue of Guns of the Old West magazine. A very nice piece, with two minor errors. One, Wild Stallion is not about Indians vs. the cavalry (although that does come into the storyline towards the end of the movie) and two, Ben was born on June 13, not July 13. ;)

You can download bigger (and more readable) size scans at the webpage.

Yes, the picture is this soft and grainy. But I like it. :)

[pvitari]

"Ev'rythin's like a dream in Kansas City/It's better than a magic lantern show!"

:)