i've said before i wish that Barbara Stanwyck's Victoria Barcley could have been more of an action heroine that she was in Cattle Queen Of Montana. i think that was because in the early 60s tv wasn't ready for the action heroine type of leading lady, though Stanwyck's Victoria still got a chance to do some daring stunts.
Cattle Queen is an okay movie that might have been better with a stronger cast. if there is a problem with Stanwyck, she's to young at 47 to play a middle-aged man's daughter, it might have been better to make her the boss right from the start, maybe with a grown up son of her own. so instead of going after her father's killers, it might have been better at the age she was avenging the death of her child (just thinking it might have been better to have a mother son realtionship than a brother Sister one in Forty Guns as well). that said Barbara is terrific as the gun and pants wearing cow-girl, fighting her own battles.
the casting of the other main characters my have been a weak link in the film. IMO Ronald Reagen was a great actor as he showed in the earlier Kings Row, but in 1954 he was seen as a B-movie star, so maybe a stronger actor like Randolph Scott or Joel McRea might have been a more credible leading man for the great lady. also Gene Evans wasn't a grade a villian, but to be fair Jack Elam as his hired gun effectively plays the same type of roles he was playing in Jimmy Stewart westerns in the same period. perhaps a John Mcintire or an Arthur Kennedy might have been a better stronger villian than Evans.
Cattle Queen Of Montana
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moira finnie
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Gee, Stuart, I dunno if the world of 1965-1969 was really culturally unprepared for Barbara Stanwyck, Action Heroine, (after all, in this same period, Yvonne Craig found herself combatting baddies and inspiring adolescent males everywhere as "Batgirl" and Stephanie Powers made her mark as "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E."). Perhaps it wasn't so much sexism or agism that prevented Stanwyck from essaying feats of derring-do on tv, but pragmatism.i've said before i wish that Barbara Stanwyck's Victoria Barcley could have been more of an action heroine that she was in Cattle Queen Of Montana. i think that was because in the early 60s tv wasn't ready for the action heroine type of leading lady, though Stanwyck's Victoria still got a chance to do some daring stunts
I think it was more of a case that the 58 to 62 year old Ms. Stanwyck, who was a tiny, rather fragile looking lady by the time of The Big Valley, probably could've been easily put on the disabled list if they'd allowed her to follow her old trouper instinct and throw herself enthusiastically into those stunts. Granted, she seemed more than willing to do some rather rough looking tumbles, but if she'd been hurt, would audiences really have stayed with the show to see her adult "kids"? Maybe I'm underestimating the charisma of Linda Evans, Richard Long, Lee Majors & Peter Breck.
Despite that snarl and those all leather cowgirl outfits that Ms. S. wore for the role, (not to mention the dearth of imaginative scripts on that show), whenever I've caught a few minutes of the show being rebroadcast in repeats, it pains me to see Babs thrown, tussled and trussed by some malefactors lurking around every boulder on the Barkley spread. Btw, I'm always amused to see that A.I. Bezzerides, who carved out a niche for himself as the working man's voice in movies, contributing to Black Legion, They Drive By Night, Thieves' Highway and On Dangerous Ground was one of the creators of such a bland program. Hope the old guy made a nice pile of dough off this one.
I've seen Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) and I'm afraid it was probably the longest 88 minutes of my life, through no fault of the always game Barbara Stanwyck. I'm saying this as one of those few people who actually admits that I like Ronald Reagan as an actor. Montana's Glacier National Park, one of those glorious spots on the Western map that I'd give my eyeteeth to visit, is probably the only reason I stuck with this one. I don't mean to rain on your parade, but perhaps The Furies, which I haven't seen in dog's years, might be a Stanwyck Western worth catching sometime?
As always, though Stu, thanks for kicking off an idea for a thread. I'm always in awe of the range of your cinematic interests.
Moira-thanks for the complement
taking another western Comanche Territory one could well believe Maureen O'Hara's fight scenes in that. here was a girl who could take care of herself. i to haven't seen the Furies in a long time. (i was just thinking to that 58 to 62 isn't that old in todays world and modern day actresses of that age group, like Linda Thorson and Joanna Lumley, could still to the phyisical stuff. Jean Arthur wasn't the strongest looking woman, but she was convincing as a gun wearing tomboy in Arizona, only i didn't like the end where she allowed her leading man William Holden to fight her own battles, whereas before she would have stood up for herself
even though they were action heroines in the 60s like you said Stephanie Powers in TGFRU, I still felt they were damsel in distress roles. i remember Tyne Daly saying Police Woman paved the way for Cagney And Lacey, but in almost every episode she was rescued by Earl Holliman in the story's climax. Cagney And Lacey broke new ground as did Betty Thomas' Lucy Bates in Hill Street Blues. after a few episodes of wearing a skirt and sitting behind a desk, Lucy was put in pants and on to the street doing every thing the guys did. i was disappointed as Cagney And Lacey progressed the producers and writers seemed to weaken the character of Sharon Gless' Christine, who was in the early episodes a bit of a toughie. in fact Lorretta Swit in movie terms was an early action heroine in the movie version of GAL (she won all her fight scenes, whereas Lacey appeared the weakest phyiscally of the two), showing Cagney as a woman who could take care of herself. Meg Foster i believe was actually axed from the series because her Cagney was to butch, but that was how the character was originally written, so i thought her hard done by. Sharon was great early on, but in one of the later episodes when she was raped i couldn't get my head around it. Cagney would have near killed a guy that tried to do that, or so i thought.
in Britain even with The Avengers, a show i loved, that the violence was a little unreal. when Steed fought it was fists, but when the same guys fought Cathy, Emma, Tara and Purdy they reverted to martial arts. also you rarely so the girls take a punch or a bang on the head. it was usually cloriform that was used to knock them out.
taking another western Comanche Territory one could well believe Maureen O'Hara's fight scenes in that. here was a girl who could take care of herself. i to haven't seen the Furies in a long time. (i was just thinking to that 58 to 62 isn't that old in todays world and modern day actresses of that age group, like Linda Thorson and Joanna Lumley, could still to the phyisical stuff. Jean Arthur wasn't the strongest looking woman, but she was convincing as a gun wearing tomboy in Arizona, only i didn't like the end where she allowed her leading man William Holden to fight her own battles, whereas before she would have stood up for herself
even though they were action heroines in the 60s like you said Stephanie Powers in TGFRU, I still felt they were damsel in distress roles. i remember Tyne Daly saying Police Woman paved the way for Cagney And Lacey, but in almost every episode she was rescued by Earl Holliman in the story's climax. Cagney And Lacey broke new ground as did Betty Thomas' Lucy Bates in Hill Street Blues. after a few episodes of wearing a skirt and sitting behind a desk, Lucy was put in pants and on to the street doing every thing the guys did. i was disappointed as Cagney And Lacey progressed the producers and writers seemed to weaken the character of Sharon Gless' Christine, who was in the early episodes a bit of a toughie. in fact Lorretta Swit in movie terms was an early action heroine in the movie version of GAL (she won all her fight scenes, whereas Lacey appeared the weakest phyiscally of the two), showing Cagney as a woman who could take care of herself. Meg Foster i believe was actually axed from the series because her Cagney was to butch, but that was how the character was originally written, so i thought her hard done by. Sharon was great early on, but in one of the later episodes when she was raped i couldn't get my head around it. Cagney would have near killed a guy that tried to do that, or so i thought.
in Britain even with The Avengers, a show i loved, that the violence was a little unreal. when Steed fought it was fists, but when the same guys fought Cathy, Emma, Tara and Purdy they reverted to martial arts. also you rarely so the girls take a punch or a bang on the head. it was usually cloriform that was used to knock them out.