Westerns

[MissGoddess]

Hey everybody---I just saw on tonight's schedule they're airing a pretty good western
starring Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger, The Last Hunt. Don't expect polite
"pretty boy" Taylor in this one. This movie's not on DVD and not often shown.

[movieman1957]

Hi April:

I've seen this one a couple of times. Taylor is not his usual self in this one.

A warning for the film might be in order based on the buffalo hunt that is the basis for the story. The killings are real. They made an annual
thinning of a herd part of the filming.

I didn't enjoy the film the last time as much as the first but it is rare enough that it is worth watching.

[MissGoddess]

Yes, thanks for mentioning how tough that part of th emovie can be to watch---I should have done that. Also,
what happens to Taylor is kind of...stark. As far from "Armand Duval" as can be imagined...

[Lzcutter]

I really enjoyed the line-up of westerns from 1939 last week on TCM though I did miss the wonderful Destry Rides Again.

It has been years since I sat through Union Pacific and once again it reminded me that Joel McCrea was a terrific actor. Barbara Stanwyck's wayward Irish accent bothered me to no end and her character turn towards protecting Dick (Robert Preston) was problematic for me.

But that was nothing compared to how badly directed this film was. By DeMIlle. The script had historical references to Dodge, Ames, Caseman and I never look to DeMille films for historical accuracy but this film is too long by at least twenty minutes. Anthony Quinn gets killed way too soon. The supporting cast, especially Lynne Overman and Akim Tamiroff steal the picture. I felt really bad for Robert Preston having to appear in two films in the same year with Brian Donlevy in light of the experience with Donlevy on the upcoming Beau Geste. Hopefully this one was filmed first.

Dodge City was fun but I had to bail out once Errol became sheriff due to family committments. Directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland, it was loud, noisy and made my wish that Mildred Natwick had been in the cast to give Olivia a good slap across the face and an admonishment to grow up.

Stagecoach only served to remind me that John Ford really was a truly talented director especially compared to DeMille. You want to see a better film on the building of the transcontinental railroad, watch Ford's The Iron Horse which is actually more epic and bit more historically accurate.

DeMille may have been the go-to guy for "epic" film making but Ford ran rings around him when it came to making films.

I hope DeMille winced at the DGA meeting when Ford said, "I'm John Ford, I make westerns." because if he didn't, he should have.

As for Stagecoach, no matter how many times I watch it, it never grows old. Yeah, I know. It's a disaster film but it's the granddaddy of them all. The characters are all well drawn (and Ford will use Andy Devine in much the same way some twenty years later in Liberty Valance.) and the action is jam-packed but not at the expense of the characters. Ford also doesn't draw out the drama the way DeMille did in the last half of Union Pacific.

Thanks TCM for shining a light on some of the westerns of 1939. I really did miss Destry Rides Again mainly for the chemistry of Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. I'd have preferred that over The Oklahoma Kid which is a fun film but Cagney and Bogart really have no business being in that western. Especially in big hats.

It just ain't believable.

[MissGoddess]

I think I may be the only one who thinks UNION PACIFIC was a terrific western. Maybe I was just
in a really good mood. It entertained me thoroughly and I was absolutely captivated by Barbara
Stanwyck's "Molly". She doesn't often do that for me. I always admire and thoroughly like her, but
she comes off too unemotional in general for many of her characters to really captivate me. She was
very loose and warm here and I liked that. I also thought she worked well with Joel McRea's unruffled
and relaxed demeanor.

The movie kept me entertained from start to finish and I was very impressed with the action sequences, which,
to me, never sacrificed emotions. It was long but felt much tighter than many of DeMille's other epics.
And I actually ended up liking Robert Preston's character alot, after starting out hating him.

But as for any comparisons to Ford (especially The Iron Horse), well, you all know how I feel about that.
One was a showman, the other, an artist.

[JackFavell]

Lynn,

Can you explain further about the Donlevy- Preston altercation? I'm afraid I don't know a thing about it....

I am stuck right in the middle on Union Pacific I generally have a very hard time with DeMille pictures, and have only enjoyed a couple of them in a campy way, or for the stars who are in them. However, I thought this was one of the better ones. I really enjoyed it. Aside from running over long, and dragging scenes out for every possible amount of drama to be wrung out of them, It had charming stars (I liked Stanwyck despite her accent) and a decent story, albeit far from accurate. My guess is that DeMille was not interested in unimportant details like accuracy, simply in holding an audience's attention and a socko finish. He really had nothing to say as a director, and my guess is, that had he not been such a self promoter, he would be among the ranks of second tier directors, not first.

I am always surprised at how easy and charming Robert Preston could be, even at that early point, when he always seemed to bite the dust in every picture. I enjoyed him and his smiley voice tremendously. And Joel McCrea - laconic, hard working; he always gives me the impression of someone who has a real job to do....he speaks as if he wished you would go away and just let him get things done. I just love an actor who can spin a line quietly without showing off too much, and McCrea pulls you in with his quiet no nonsense delivery. The supporting roles were filled with some great character actors, and I fear that had Tony Quinn not been killed in the first 5 minutes of the movie, it might have lasted another 20 minutes longer.....

[MissGoddess]

I think where DeMille did show painstaking attention to detail is in sets and costumes. If you pay close
attention, the hours he has his team of researchers put into getting everything authentic looking really
stands out when compared to many other period films. Little things like accessories, furnishings, etc.
are very real looking. He also seems to use a large number of camera set-ups, something I normally
don't pick up on, but the movie seemed brisker to me because of this technique.

[rohanaka]

I think I may be the only one who thinks UNION PACIFIC was a terrific western. Maybe I was just
in a really good mood. It entertained me thoroughly

Nope.... NOT the only one. I REALLY enjoyed it.... (and I must not be as hard to please sometimes because I usaully do enjoy DeMille... he must be a "love him or hate him kinda guy) ha. And as far as DeMille vs Ford... of course they don't compare... but that is because they are two completely different sort of story tellers. To me its APPLES (Ford) AND ORANGES (DeMille) ( I say that because Apples are my Favorite...ha. but I feel no guilt if I have an Orange once in a while instead of an apple... because I really LIKE Oranges too. HA.... somehow for me, it always comes back to food. Ha.)

In all honesty, I liked UP probably NOT so much for its "western" value, but just as a story in general. I thought it was very well filmed and I truly enjoyed (loving, then hating, and then loving) Robert Preston... and that is saying a lot because sometimes he is hard to love...ha. It took me a LONG time to warm up to Stanwyck.... but she did win me over as the story went on. And I thought McRea was just great. I liked all the characters (even if some of them WERE somewhat "1939 stereotypical") and I liked the story a lot too.

(MINI SPOILER)And I just KNEW Preston's character would repent SOMEHOW in the end. (But BOY it sure took him long enough...ha) And I thought those special effects with the TRAINWRECKS were TERRIFIC.

My two favorite characters were Leach and Fiesta.... McRea's "enforcers". OH MY GOLLY I loved them. They were a riot. I loved their little oneliners and the way they dealt w/that corrupt banker guy.... it put me in mind of the "boxing lesson" w/ the schoolmaster in How Green Was My Valley... Very entertaining.

So April... I guess we get to SHARE this mountaintop.... ha. It's nice to NOT have to be so alone for a change!! ha.

[Lzcutter]

Can you explain further about the Donlevy- Preston altercation? I'm afraid I don't know a thing about it....

Donlevy played the sadistic Sgt. Markoff in Beau Geste and stayed in character even after the cameras stopped rolling.

Stories from the set tell of Donlevy, remaining in character, and treating everyone like dirt. Ray Milland seems to have born the burnt of it all but everyone fell victim to it.

While staying in character seems to have made Donlevy more memorable in the film and garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, it was not a fun shoot when Donlevy was around.

[JackFavell]

Ahhh. Thanks Lz. I wonder how nice a guy he was n other movies? I love him as a character actor, but wouldn't particularly want to run into any of his characters in real life.....

[klondike]

Can you explain further about the Donlevy- Preston altercation? I'm afraid I don't know a thing about it....

Stories from the set tell of Donlevy, remaining in character, and treating everyone like dirt. Ray Milland seems to have born the burnt of it all but everyone fell victim to it.

While staying in character seems to have made Donlevy more memorable in the film and garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, it was not a fun shoot when Donlevy was around.

I've heard similar rumors/anecdotes/apocrypha about Donlevy's sand-kicking swagger during the shooting of Wake Island, which must have been extremely irritating on so rushed a schedule, given that it was one of the first post-Pearl Harbor/Buy War Bonds films from early in '42.
Come to think of it, Robert Preston co-starred with him in that one, too!
Maybe BD just couldn't stand the cut of Bob's jib!

[JackFavell]

Maybe BD was just a mean SOB ?

I'd love to find a decent biography of him.

[mrsl]

I love westerns, I watch them from John Wayne's early 30's awful things, through the big John Ford epics, through all the little Warner Bros. TV westerns, (like Bronco, Sugarfoot, etc.), to Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven, and on to Robert Duvall's Broken Trail. So, I've seen so many raves from members of this board about My Darling Clementine, that when it was on Saturday afternoon, I settled down to watch with fresh coffee, and two cookies, then promptly about 45 minutes into the movie, I fell asleep.

I ask you, when does the action begin? Where is Victor Mature? Who is Clementine, and when do we meet her? I woke up, literally sitting up with my head on my bent hand (took 20 minutes for my hand to stop tingling), that's how boring it was. In 45 minutes you should know all the players, who's the good guy and the bad guy. I may be wrong on the length of time, but I did wake up for the last 5 minutes for the shootout. I saw Clementine saying goodbye to someone, and watched her, watch him go away on his horse. It should be on again, and I will watch again, I only hope I get something out of it. From raves about other movies, I have found some that I've watched over and over again, so I suspect I missed something, I'm wondering what.

Anne

[MissGoddess]

Anne, MDC just may not be your speed. Not every movie will appeal the same to all. MDC is perhaps the
most unique western ever filmed, and that can be a set-up for turning a lot of people off.

[mrsl]

Miss G: I realize not every movie will appeal to every person. Actually that's why I never recommend a restaurant to anyone. The place I may get the best meal ever, may be the place my friend gets an over cooked steak, or partially raw vegetables, etc. You never know. But I always want to give movies a second chance. Only two times have I been totally disappointed - Citizen Kane, and A Long Day's Journey Into Night. I will never become even barely fond of either of them. It took three viewings for Casablanca and now it's my one of two top favorite movies. So I rarely say 'never again'. I will try it one more time and see what happens. If I can appreciate Gene Autry (and I do), I should be able to see the uniqueness of MDC.

Anne