For starters, I want to say that I love all the pictures, warm fan memories, and information collected on this thread. Thank you all for sharing your time and enthusiasm. There is so much here, it’s going to take a while to look it all over.
Having a love of horses that dates back to as early as I can remember, over time I also developed a fascination with the old west and cowboys. Combine that with a love of old movies, and one of my favourite people is Ben Johnson – an actor who was also a 100% cowboy from the crown of his hat to the soles of his boots.
I love the screen image Ben often conveyed – a quiet, friendly man who was brave, honest, and as good a friend as any person could hope for. I derive added enjoyment from seeing him portray this man, because I know that, yes, the real Ben was like this too.
You may have guessed this by now: I would gladly quit my two jobs and be a housewife the rest of my life if I could find a husband like the one Carol Elaine Jones had.
Now, hang on to your hats and get prepared to be shocked. Normally I don’t post the following sort of discourse on message boards (“There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin”), but I think that someone like myself, with moorings similar to Ben’s, shouldn’t be afraid to speak up for both of us on this occasion.
First, I do appreciate how this board’s members don’t seem eager to condemn more conservative actors, as opposed to certain film sites I have visited... I find it highly ironic when people claiming to be tolerant and broadminded (I never claim to match them in broadmindedness and liberality) post really venomous comments about someone (generally long dead) for having held views divergent from theirs.
Conversely, if an actor was far-left (so many are) it doesn’t have to diminish my enjoyment of their screen work, and I don’t feel compelled to post a long rant against them. If someone enjoys watching a particular actor or actress, it’s always nice to hear good things about them, or things that you find good, but enjoyment of their performances shouldn’t be dictated by their off-screen lives.
As a Christian (albeit unchurched) and an obsolete conservative (politically, I’m in the same boat as Linus Van Pelt when asked whether he’d be a Rep. or Dem. – “Are there any openings in the lunatic fringe?”) I disagree that Ben Johnson’s disapproval of homosexuality constitutes a dark side to his character. It’s only a dark side if one believes that an acceptance of homosexuals as being perfectly “normal” is mandatory for all “normal” people. Needless to say, I don’t believe this.
My grandfather, a Christian who has never considered himself a conservative, was both outraged and horrified when his church began accepting modern views on the whole gay issue. His feelings: if gays want to go to church, they should found a new church of their own in which homosexuality isn’t regarded as a sin; not try to remake Christianity to suit them. Ben seems to have had a view similar to this – “gay rights” was not something he or the folks he loved believed in, and by the island remark he was saying gays should have their own separate world, and not try to change the world he knew.
Homosexuality has always been considered a terrible sin in traditional Christianity and Christian societies … which is where old fashioned morality like Ben Johnson’s is rooted.
That all said and the load off my mind, here are my usual light ramblings, even more rambley than usual.
I think the first movie in which I recall seeing (and appreciating) Ben Johnson was
Mighty Joe Young. He was such a contrast to the fast talking Max O’Hara and company; he really stood out (besides being better looking and taller than all the other actors.) The scene where Jill proposes to him is so sweet.
Listen Jill, you can’t go around askin’ guys to go to Africa with you.
I don’t! I’m asking you.
I know that the title character was an excellent stop motion Gorilla named Joe, but to the little girl experiencing her first crush, [Gregg] Johnson was the actual star.
A favourite later role is Pepper in
Chisum (“What are you mumbling about?!”). Did Pepper have a first name? The IMDB lists it as James, but I don’t recall anyone calling him that in the movie.
I see that Ben Johnson did the stunts for
Smoky, starring Fred MacMurray. That’s funny, because whenever I read Smoky, I like to picture Ben as Clint. I love the book (in fact, I’m on a mission to collect all of James’s books, fourteen so far) and I think that it would have been a perfect story for one of Walt Disney’s true-life nature adventures, with Rex Allen narrating (and Ben Johnson as Clint, of course.)
One of Ben’s actual appearances that I’m curious to see is in a two-parter from Disney’s Wonderful World of Color called
Ride a Northbound Horse (1969) I think it must have been an adaption of the Richard Wormser book
Ride a Northbound Horse set in 1870's Texas, and winner of the 1964 Western Spur Award for juvenal fiction. I can’t find any plot descriptions of the TV episodes. Has anyone here seen them?
I understand that Ben Johnson did quite a bit of stunt doubling for fist-fights. He makes a great double for Monte Hale, with things going fast, it’s hard to tell them apart. I have an
Under Western Skies magazine somewhere that mentions Ben and stuntman Fred Graham were something of a “team” when it came to the fights. I guess it helped to have someone who’s style you were familiar with, fewer actual bruises that way. (Ouch.)
I used to subscribe to the
Western Horseman magazine, and I’m 90% certain that in one of the issues an Oklahoma singer was profiled who’s latest CD included a tribute song to Ben Johnson. There has been much hair-pulling on my part in trying to find the issue again so I can order the CD (I would have at the time, but I didn’t have the money.) If the song is right, I can use it for a video tribute to Ben. In case I can’t find and/or use the song, what songs do you all think would be appropriate for Ben? I’ve found a few possibilities, but no sure bets (Unfortunately, I’m very particular when it comes to choosing songs.)
It's odd, because I think most gay people's idea of hell is to accidentally hit on some straight guy unawares. 
