Ben Johnson
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JackFavell
- Posts: 11926
- Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am
Re: Ben Johnson
Autographed 20 years ago today. Roper Apparel co-sponsored Ben's Pro-Celebrity Rodeos and he posed for a number of photos endorsing their brand.
Re: Ben Johnson
I think it was Harry Carey Jr. (I could be wrong) who said Ben always looked like a million dollars.
Re: Ben Johnson
I'm pretty sure it was, also. He just had a sense of pride that shows through in his bearing, didn't he? Not vain, just self confident. sigh.
Re: Ben Johnson - The Town that Feared . .
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The Town that Feared Sundown
Since this was on at 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, I knew it was going to be some kind of scary thing, but I give my all for Ben. He doesn't come in until about 20 minutes into the movie and I was beginning to fear that he was going to be the killer, but instead he ended up being the soft spoken, stalwart, best of the best Texas ranger Captain J. D. Morales. The 1976 movie is based on a true, yet unsolved case of a serial killer who terrified the town of Texarcana in 1946. Before they stopped and gave up, they had 9 states police departments and state police involved in the search. The guy attacked couples usually in parked cars, and killed the man first, then tortured the girl. One couple survived, and one single woman survived but they never were able to find a clue of any kind. Sadly one thing this jerk did was tie the girl to a tree and literally bite her back. Today, with DNA testing available he would be caught in days probably, but this was 1946, and the movie was made in 1976, so that sort of stuff wasn't even common knowledge yet. So, our Ben was brought in from Dallas and even after years of working on the case, he continued in private after he retired.
The plot was a good one and if they kept the blood-lust out of it, this could be a fine thriller with a good studio and some money behind it. Andrew Prine, who is a pretty good actor was Ben's right hand man with a couple of unknowns playing the other roles, but all of them did good jobs. The problem is lack of location shooting, camerawork, and lighting. Ben was great to watch as usual.
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The Town that Feared Sundown
Since this was on at 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, I knew it was going to be some kind of scary thing, but I give my all for Ben. He doesn't come in until about 20 minutes into the movie and I was beginning to fear that he was going to be the killer, but instead he ended up being the soft spoken, stalwart, best of the best Texas ranger Captain J. D. Morales. The 1976 movie is based on a true, yet unsolved case of a serial killer who terrified the town of Texarcana in 1946. Before they stopped and gave up, they had 9 states police departments and state police involved in the search. The guy attacked couples usually in parked cars, and killed the man first, then tortured the girl. One couple survived, and one single woman survived but they never were able to find a clue of any kind. Sadly one thing this jerk did was tie the girl to a tree and literally bite her back. Today, with DNA testing available he would be caught in days probably, but this was 1946, and the movie was made in 1976, so that sort of stuff wasn't even common knowledge yet. So, our Ben was brought in from Dallas and even after years of working on the case, he continued in private after he retired.
The plot was a good one and if they kept the blood-lust out of it, this could be a fine thriller with a good studio and some money behind it. Andrew Prine, who is a pretty good actor was Ben's right hand man with a couple of unknowns playing the other roles, but all of them did good jobs. The problem is lack of location shooting, camerawork, and lighting. Ben was great to watch as usual.
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Anne
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Re: Ben Johnson
This is the second time TCM has shown The Town That Dreaded Sundown -- they first aired it in January. We had a brief discussion about it at that time.
Director Charles B. Pierce, was a pioneer in the rise of the low-budget, independent, regional exploitation film, that region being the south. His films, starting with The Legend of Boggy Creek (which was also based on true-life events), were seminal works in the rise of the Southern horror film. The Town That Dreaded Sundown, for all its stiltedness and jarring shifts in tone, is something of a minor classic -- it is quite the spooky film especially in the segments showing the attacks of the serial killer and catches a bit of post-war anxiety -- and Pierce was very smart to bring in pros like Ben and Andrew Prine to give some polish to his rough-hewn work. Pierce may have been hampered by low budgets and genre expectations but he was an artist with a personal vision -- I think he was a humanist with an absurdist tilt -- and you can see his legacy in films today. As one example, David Fincher's Zodiac is a direct descendant of The Town That Dreaded Sundown, though its tone is far more unrelentingly grim.
By the way, The Town That Dreaded Sundown was filmed on location in and around Texarkana. However, due no doubt to budget constraints, the hair, makeup and costumes, especially of the women, frequently look much more 70s than 1940s. They did bring in a lot of period cars though. :) Probably the location shoot was one reason why Ben agreed to do it. He avoided working in Hollywood as much as possible.
I'm afraid the blood-lust as you put it was an integral requirement for this movie as it was meant for the folks who loved low-budget exploitation films. You can bet it showed at drive-ins all through the south and southwest.
Ben must have enjoyed working with Pierce, because the next year he starred in Pierce's western "epic" (I put "epic" in quotes because its reach far exceeds its grasp, if you know what I mean) Gray Eagle.
MGM holds the rights to The Town That Dreaded Sundown and the film buffs are still waiting for them to release it as part of their MGM Limited Edition Collection DVD program. Folks at Home Theater Forum usually include it in lists of titles they keep posting of films they wish MGM would release.
Director Charles B. Pierce, was a pioneer in the rise of the low-budget, independent, regional exploitation film, that region being the south. His films, starting with The Legend of Boggy Creek (which was also based on true-life events), were seminal works in the rise of the Southern horror film. The Town That Dreaded Sundown, for all its stiltedness and jarring shifts in tone, is something of a minor classic -- it is quite the spooky film especially in the segments showing the attacks of the serial killer and catches a bit of post-war anxiety -- and Pierce was very smart to bring in pros like Ben and Andrew Prine to give some polish to his rough-hewn work. Pierce may have been hampered by low budgets and genre expectations but he was an artist with a personal vision -- I think he was a humanist with an absurdist tilt -- and you can see his legacy in films today. As one example, David Fincher's Zodiac is a direct descendant of The Town That Dreaded Sundown, though its tone is far more unrelentingly grim.
By the way, The Town That Dreaded Sundown was filmed on location in and around Texarkana. However, due no doubt to budget constraints, the hair, makeup and costumes, especially of the women, frequently look much more 70s than 1940s. They did bring in a lot of period cars though. :) Probably the location shoot was one reason why Ben agreed to do it. He avoided working in Hollywood as much as possible.
I'm afraid the blood-lust as you put it was an integral requirement for this movie as it was meant for the folks who loved low-budget exploitation films. You can bet it showed at drive-ins all through the south and southwest.
Ben must have enjoyed working with Pierce, because the next year he starred in Pierce's western "epic" (I put "epic" in quotes because its reach far exceeds its grasp, if you know what I mean) Gray Eagle.
MGM holds the rights to The Town That Dreaded Sundown and the film buffs are still waiting for them to release it as part of their MGM Limited Edition Collection DVD program. Folks at Home Theater Forum usually include it in lists of titles they keep posting of films they wish MGM would release.
Re: Ben Johnson
And now, another example of fashionplate Ben posing for Roper. :)
I posted this cover for Southern Horseman last year but I thought it would be fun to post it again here since it is also for Roper:
He did other pics for Roper though the only one I've been able to find is this thumbnail. I'd sure love to see this in a big version!
I posted this cover for Southern Horseman last year but I thought it would be fun to post it again here since it is also for Roper:
He did other pics for Roper though the only one I've been able to find is this thumbnail. I'd sure love to see this in a big version!
Re: Ben Johnson
Well, dang, exactly one year ago today I was in Ben's hometown of Pawhuska, OK for the first Ben Johnson film festival. Hopefully it won't be the last one. ;( I'm still keeping my fingers crossed they do it again this year -- but no announcement yet.
So I'm getting all nostalgic about the trip at the website today -- changed the banner photo to the banner of the Pawhuska Journal Capital newspaper on June 8, 2011 with a small pic of Ben and a line about an article on the festival. The article is now in the "Newspaper Articles" folder. And here too.
So I'm getting all nostalgic about the trip at the website today -- changed the banner photo to the banner of the Pawhuska Journal Capital newspaper on June 8, 2011 with a small pic of Ben and a line about an article on the festival. The article is now in the "Newspaper Articles" folder. And here too.
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MissGoddess
- Posts: 5072
- Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
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Re: Ben Johnson
Paula, I'm sure you've posted this already but I didn't recollect seeing it before. It's Harry Carey, jr. reminiscing about Ben in 2007 in Lone Pine:
[youtube][/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
Re: Ben Johnson
Hmmm, I'm not sure I have a link to that one though I do recall seeing it before on youtube. I'll check and if it's not there, I'll add it. Thanks!
Today's post is an article about Pawhuska from the Autumn 1997 issue of Persimmon Hill magazine. This edition of Persimmon Hill was a "Native American Issue" which "celebrates the impact of Native American traditions and culture on western history," so there is particular mention in the article about the contributions of Native Americans to Pawhuska and Osage County. The issue was published in conjunction with an exhibition at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage museum on Navajo weaving.
Tomorrow is Ben's birthday and I have something to celebrate which I think you all will like. :)
Here's the article.
Today's post is an article about Pawhuska from the Autumn 1997 issue of Persimmon Hill magazine. This edition of Persimmon Hill was a "Native American Issue" which "celebrates the impact of Native American traditions and culture on western history," so there is particular mention in the article about the contributions of Native Americans to Pawhuska and Osage County. The issue was published in conjunction with an exhibition at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage museum on Navajo weaving.
Tomorrow is Ben's birthday and I have something to celebrate which I think you all will like. :)
Here's the article.
Re: Ben Johnson
It's Ben's birthday today! (June 13) Happy 94th to Ben. To celebrate, here's a photo I love. It's in Sam Shaw's Brando: In the Camera Eye, which has hundreds of photos taken by Shaw on the sets of Brando's movies, especially One-Eyed Jacks. Shaw also wrote commentary for the photos. He was a long-time friend of Brando's and the book is his (Shaw's) tribute to him. Toby at the 50 Westerns of the '50s blog mentioned this book to me and that there was a photo of Ben in it. That's some picture!
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MissGoddess
- Posts: 5072
- Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
- Contact:
Re: Ben Johnson
what a great picture! it reminds me of one of the scenes in wagon master.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
-- Will Rogers
Re: Ben Johnson
he was a handsome devil with that beard and 'stache 
Happy Birthday Mr. Johnson....sigh.....
Happy Birthday Mr. Johnson....sigh.....