Westerns

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movieman1957
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Re: Westerns

Post by movieman1957 »

And that is fine.

It occurred to me that some people can do that. What makes a Walsh film a Walsh film? What makes a Hathaway film a Hathaway film? With his popularity here what is about Borzage? Maybe I could see traits after knowing the director and his things about other movies but picking out the style and knowing who did it, nope.

That is a discussion for a thread on directors. (not if it is only me though.)
Chris

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ChiO
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Re: Westerns

Post by ChiO »

Two years before the release of ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS - moved to the West - and JOHNNY GUITAR - in a sort of inside-out way - they were mashed together with a heaping portion of any Judy and Mickey come-on-kids-let's-put-on-a-show movie, resulting in TAKE ME TO TOWN (Douglas Sirk 1952), a generally light-hearted melodrama.

Ann Sheridan escapes from a lawman's handcuffs on a train. Philip Reed, her dastardly partner - well, he sees her as a partner and she sees him as the cause of her troubles with the law - escapes separately. She becomes a dancehall girl in the bad Western town. In the nearby good town, the good townsfolk are outraged by the goin' ons in the bad town. In the good town, the widder woman tries to ingratiate herself with the three towheaded boys of the widower logger. They want their pa to get married, but not to her, so off they go to the bad town to find the right woman. They see Ann Sheridan and like what they see. Off she goes with them because, don't you know, she needs to hightail it out of there due to the recent arrival of the lawman hunting for her.

Pa, Sterling Hayden (you just knew his sons would be towheads) comes home from logging and finds her making meat pies for them all. He's not sure this is appropriate, but allows her to stay (One son: Do you think he likes her? Oldest son: Sure. Did you see the way he looked at her meat pies?). The good townsfolk are outraged. You see, not only is she that dancin' lady and living with a widower, he's a logger six days a week and the town's preacher on Sunday.

The townsfolk come around, however, when she has the idea of putting on a show to raise money for building a proper church. But during the show, Reed shows up to drag Sheridan back to a life of crime. Hayden has to use his fists to stop that. And the lawman shows up to haul Reed away, now knowing that Sheridan was only tricked into being a part of the earlier crime. And equilibrium and propriety are restored.

Certainly not the High Art that Sirk would direct later, but certainly more than a big hint of what was to come. Sirk considered it one of his paeans to the simple life, but as in ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, he fills the town with busybodies and gossips who would complicate any attempt at attaining that life, especially that domestic life. Hayden delivers his lines, comic (there are plenty of them) and otherwise, as straight and rigid as the pines he cuts down. And those lines, especially those delivered by or directed toward Sheridan, often would make Mae West blush. This also was Sirk's first movie with cinematographer Russell Metty. Nine more would follow.

Definitely worth seeing as a precursor to the better known Sirk Domestic Melodramas.
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Re: Westerns

Post by MissGoddess »

Never heard of it! Sounds like fun. Hayden + Sheridan + Sirk?? :D
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Re: Westerns

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Ann Sheridan escapes from a lawman's handcuffs on a train.

It's not Lt. Girard, is it?
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movieman1957
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Re: Westerns

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REPRISAL (as seen on Enocre Westerns) is a decent film that stars Guy Madison and Felicia Farr. Set in the always present Columbia backlot it concerns Madison's purchase of a local ranch and how three brothers deal with the other locals and the Indian population in and around the town. The brothers have a knack for killing the Indians but always have a jury ready and willing to acquit them. They run the town.

Madison just wants to live on and work his farm. Farr is embarrassed by the town's treatment of the Indians and when she feels she has a sympathetic ear in Madison she works to get him involved in doing something to help. She manages to fall in love with him and all the while he becomes more involved with the three brothers than he wants to.

A rather odd grouping of the brothers (Michael Pate, Edward Platt and Wayne Mallory) all hate the Indians. All, that is, except one that Pate has the hots for in a big way. (Played by Kathryn Grant.) That creates some tension among them. (according to an imdb listing Madison and Mallory are real brothers.)

It is an interesting take on Indians and how they are generally viewed in films. The one weak spot is when Madison gets in some trouble how it is resolved. It is a bit week but is crucial.

I'll leave one surprise for you that comes out about half way. At about 72 minutes or so it should hold up well.
Chris

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Re: Westerns

Post by RedRiver »

Edward Platt?
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movieman1957
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Re: Westerns

Post by movieman1957 »

"Southwest Passage" stars Rod Cameron, Joanne Dru and John Ireland. Dru and Ireland are a couple who are on the run to California after a bank robbery. There are a few twists here. One involves a cross desert outing on a surveying detail to test the value of camels in cutting miles from such a journey. The other is Ireland poses as a veterinarian to escape. The problem is he doesn't really know anything about it. Dru joins in later posing as someone trying to catch up to a family on the trek. Cameron leads the excursion.

Trying to keep their relationship a secret and get away with the money starts to come between them. Dru comes to see that there is more to life than the money and wants to give it back. Ireland is not so inclined.

There is plenty of action with the Indians and the camels play an important part in the film. Guinn Williams has plenty of cowboy philosophy to dispense and Joanne doesn't mind getting dirty. It's not a great print but there is plenty of good scenery to enjoy. At 82 minutes it is a quick run. While it hardly qualifies as a memorable western it is another in a long list of films that are entertaining enough to watch. Probably about **1/2 out of four.

I saw it from Comcast OnDemand. No telling where else anyone may find it.
Chris

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Re: Westerns

Post by movieman1957 »

I unknowingly spent the day with director Lesley Selander yesterday.

The morning was spent watching him with Randolph Scott in the rather routine "Tall Man Riding." Scott comes back to town to confront the man who whipped his back into a jigsaw puzzle years before. That man owns the town and everyone in it. The catch is the man never really correctly registered his ranch. It didn't help that Scott and his daughter (Dorothy Malone) were once an item. Pretty routine. Not much depth to anyone. Some nice stunt work during the land rush portion of the movie. You won't miss much.

Later that evening I saw Peter Graves star in "Fort Yuma." Even less satisfying than the Scott picture. The cavalry and Indians have a disagreement after some lunatic shoots down an Indian chief coming to the fort for a peaceful meeting. Stereotypes and often bad dialogue run rampant through the picture. At the heart of it Graves is in love with Indian girl whose brother is a scout for the Army. Just to make things interesting (not really) they take along a missionary woman. She and the Apache scout develop a fondness for each other. You can miss this one.

Hopefully, I will stumble on Selander's better works.
Chris

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Re: Westerns

Post by RedRiver »

I have TALL MAN RIDING on a disc with two other Scott vehicles. No, it's not one of the great westerns. But three movies for ten dollars? Deal!
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Re: Westerns

Post by movieman1957 »

Agreed!
Chris

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Re: Westerns

Post by mrsl »

.
Although Tall Man Riding is not one of Scotts' best, I still like just about anything he did. I did however, write a comment on it about a year ago, and I recall my main objection to it was the fact that throughout the movie, Dorothy Malone is either hitting him (with hand or riding crop), berating him for something that was not his fault, or telling him she never wanted to see him again, while on the other hand, Peggy Castle was helping him when he go shot, when Dorothy cut him with the crop, getting him a horse when he needed it, and helping him back to health after getting beat up or shot or something, yet at the end, he still rides off with Malone, once again proving how witty men are (ha-ha- :P :P :roll: :lol: ).

By the way, I have 4 Scott movies, and 4 James Stewart movies on two discs from Walmart for $5.00 each. I keep telling you guys to check the $5.00 bins for movies at Walmart.
Anne


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movieman1957
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Re: Westerns

Post by movieman1957 »

I check them when I am there but they seldom turn up these discs for me.

As far as the movie goes I was surprised when he ended up with Dorothy. Peggy seemed a better fit.
Chris

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Re: Westerns

Post by RedRiver »

This movie is memorable to me in a personal sense. When I bought it, I was staying with friends, due to financial hardship. My friends were nice people, but with an unhealthy lifestyle. So while they were getting wasted and acting like complete idiots upstairs, I was in the basement watching Randolph Scott! I wouldn't trade places with them for anything.
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Re: Westerns

Post by RedRiver »

Most people wouldn't be excited about this, but we classic fans are a rare breed. 4 DVD set, $5.00. THE TEXAS RANGERS. THE LAWLESS BREED. CANYON PASSAGE. KANSAS RAIDERS. Thank you, Target!

I've always like Fred MacMurray in "Rangers." A small, unpretentious adventure, very entertaining. "Canyon" is a Jacques Tourneur film according to the fine print. I don't remember seeing it before, but they had me at Tourneur! "Lawless" features Rock Hudson in a Raoul Walsh project. "Kansas" is an Audie Murphy vehicle. Three movies I haven't seen. One I'll gladly watch again. Beat that for five dollars!
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Re: Westerns

Post by RedRiver »

So...(referring to my previous post)

It is no surprise that the best of the four westerns is the black and white entry from the 1930s. THE TEXAS RANGERS is tight, dramatic, character oriented. It's an old-fashioned movie. That works for me! What did surprise me is the Tourneur film. Knowing the creative director, I expected more of CANYON PASSAGE. The first half is lifeless. The relationships didn't excite me, and I never thought I'd say that about Susan Hayward! Once the Indians get mean and nasty, it's a whole different movie. A better one. I don't mean my statement to be ethnically insensitive. I can't think of another way to say it.

THE LAWLESS BREED is OK. It's hard to believe John Wesley Hardin was simply misunderstood, and only killed in self defense. But Rock Hudson is charming, John McIntyre grizzly and gruff, and Julia Adams must have been typecast as THE BODY! No Black Lagoon swimsuits in the old west. But she's seen first in a dance hall outfit, later in bloomers, and almost never wearing a dress!

If Hardin is depicted as a squeaky clean outlaw, Audie Murphy's Jesse James is almost a saint. Riding with Quantrill until he becomes disillusioned with his marauding ways, reacting solely to the mistreatment of his family by Union troops. Nonetheless, I enjoyed these KANSAS RAIDERS. The historical connection is interesting. Issues of right and wrong are respectfully presented. Brian Donlevy as Quantrill achieves an intriguing balance between ruthless and resigned. All in all, it's not bad!
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