The Silver Screen Oasis

I'm not a big fan of Joanne Dru....BUT.....
Her role was as an Eastern, moneyed princess, who had no experience of the West. She was a shallow and vain young girl who had always manipulated one man against another for no other reason, other than she could. As an actress, given a less than pleasant character to portray, she nailed it. She became the character, in all her less than perfect traits. We may not like the character, but why trash the actress?

Ok, I'll go sit down now...

These two NEED each other. A day that didn't start off with them ribbing each other would just not be a good day.

Quincannon, Mac and Nathan are life-long friends. They all three met when they were young and had just joined the Army and have been friends ever since.

Quincannon and Nathan fought together in the Civil War. They were good drinking buddies but Nathan stopped drinking when his wife and daughters died. He hasn't had a drink since but he doesn't begrudge Quincannon his.

In fact, Nathan goes to the extreme of getting Quincannon locked in the brig so that he won't be in danger towards the end of the movie.

And some more. Alas, these will be the last SWAYR pics for a while. I'm interrupting SWAYR to do some Halloween projects I hope you will all like, plus there's a quickie Ben movie I want to do. That Ben Johnson Screencaps page is a hungry beast. :) But once that's done, back to SWAYR. :)

I love the way the top of the flagpole is haloed in the sunlight


My hero. :)

OH! That one of Ben and John Wayne is beeeyootiful! Yes, it's perfect because Tyree, to me, anyway, is the real successor to Brittles.

And my favorite parts of SWAYR (besides Ben riding)are the shots of the Native Americans - they are majestic and just plain gorgeous, color wise.

OH! That one of Ben and John Wayne is beeeyootiful! Yes, it's perfect because Tyree, to me, anyway, is the real successor to Brittles.

GMTA yet again or "Hey! Get out of my head!" -- Because as I was screencapping that scene all I could think of was how Ford placed Brittles and Tyree into such close proximity and how that indicated that very thing. And I picked that first screencap of them together specifically to post because I thought it best expressed that. Quincannon is Brittles' sparring partner; Tyree is his younger self.

(I chose the second one of them together because of Ben's beautiful smile.) ;)

There are so many gorgeous longshots of the landscape that it's hard to choose which ones to post. :) All I can say is, every single frame of this movie looks like a painting.

I have some favorite caps that I took - one of Ben on the mountaintop waving his hat in the air, and one of Ben moseying along a brick red precipice with his head down. I also really love the Indian march, and the lone braves on the hilltops. What can I say? I like Ben and I like mountaintops. I think what I really like are huge vistas - ones looking upward or downward appeal to me. I don't know why, I have terrible fear of heights in real life. Maybe that's why I like it when the filmmaker climbs up for me.
I also like almost any of the scenes in any film where a man is alone with nature - on a mountain, on the plains... but Ford is the best at capturing the nobility of a man poised on his horse, looking.

I have some favorite caps that I took - one of Ben on the mountaintop waving his hat in the air,

Oh, I LOVE that scene! I did several screencaps of it. I'll upload them tonight.

There are some great shots of Ben doubling for John Wayne in Angel in the Badman where you see him far off in the distance galloping along a ridge. I think I posted one to the Ben thread some time ago.

Haven't gotten to the brick precipice one yet and sadly it will have to wait... but it will happen eventually. :)

Here are those snaps of Tyree waving his hat:










And a few more gorgeous landscapes:






Couldn't resist one more of Brittles and Tyree.

Aaaah, gorgeous! Thanks, P!

I watched Ford Cavalry Trilogy last year, I'll be the first to admit that westerns aren't completely my cup of tea but I can appreciate a good one. I enjoyed all the trilogy but the other two made a bigger impression on me despite SWAYR being filmed in the reddish tones of technicolour. I do think all the films prove to detractors that John Wayne can act, very well it seems.

Our wireless router died last night and hubby had to go to the Apple store this morning to get a new one, which is why my Halloween treats aren't up yet, but they will be tonight. Meanwhile, here are some samples from the latest batch of SWAYR screencaps. Every one of them a painting on celluloid.















The landscape of the human face is just as beautiful as the majestic handiwork of Mother Nature... IMHO


I love the composition of this scene


And now Ben's big scene -- just a few snaps from an amazing sequence full of gorgeous shots, though it really needs to be seen on your TV (or better, in a theater), not just in stills. :)












Instead of that very familiar shot of Ben and Steel leaping over the chasm, I chose this one of Steel rearing as Ben turns him around. (That is Steel that Ben is riding, isn't it?)

What a feast for the eyes, Paula! Thanks for the great Ben pics, though all of them are wonderful. I especially love the splash of red.

I love John Wayne's face. ;) Anybody who says to me he couldn't act -- them's fighting words! and I'll meet you out in the alley back of the bar.

The irony of John Ford shooting Ben's riding so beautifully (and so many movies overall with horses) is that Ford himself could barely ride. This from Scott Eyman's "Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford":

"Also, Ford was, as everybody who later worked for him knew, a terrible rider. 'He looked like a sack of walnuts on a horse,' said Ben Johnson."

:)