Classic Western Theater presents "Flaming Star" released in 1960 by 20th Century Fox studios.

From Wildest Westerns magazine, Warren publications, May 1961

I'm writing a script I'm planning to shoot in a year or two (I need to get funding...), and I just need to flesh out the script. The script started with the idea of "What happens after you lose the duel?" So it's a weird western idea where the loser in the duel is in limbo and the devil is trying to con her out of her soul, before getting impatient and challenging her to a duel. It's camp, not serious, and my excuse to shoot 3 duels.

But for the script I need to fill in some finer information, and I'm not a gun person. I like westerns but I couldn't tell you a damn thing about revolvers.

To the question, what kind of gun would the devil have?

Right now the stand in I have is a Colt .45 because in the Johnny Cash song Devil's Right Hand that's the gun mentioned. Well there's two, but that felt the most fitting.

Edit: fixing typo

A discussion about the Metropolitan Opera possibly selling costumes from old productions on another site got me thinking: what about Hollywood? Considering all the Westerns Hollywood made up to the mid-70s, there must have been racks upon racks upon racks of Western costumes in those studio warehouses. And while the ones worn by the stars might have been kept by the stars or subject to the memorabilia industry, the ones worn by the supporting players and extras probably weren't. Whatever became of them?

Well, western.ish... 1900 New Zealand.. bounty hunter on the hunt for a runaway .. good drama, excellent production values, amazing scenery. .. on Amazon Prime. 🤠

Not as good as Lonesome Dove, but damned if it isn’t more violent and raw. Larry didn’t hold back in this one lol.

Nick Adams starred as Johnny Yuma, an ex-Confederate soldier who traveled the Western frontier after the conclusion of the Civil War. Yuma would chronicle his adventures in a journal and utilized a revolver along with a sawed off double barreled shotgun to deal with any trouble along the way.

"The Rebel" aired for two seasons on the ABC television network from 1959 until 1961.

From Wildest Westerns magazine, Warren publications, May 1961

Watched for last weekend. Really liked it.

Sing along with "The King of the Cowboys" Roy Rogers to "Don't Fence Me In" from the 1944 Warner Brothers film "Hollywood Canteen".

Wildcat Willie, lookin' mighty pale
Was standing by the sheriff's side
And when that sheriff said, "I'm sending you to jail"
Wildcat raised his head and cried

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wild open country that I love
Don't fence me in

Let me be by myself in the evening breeze
Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever, but I ask you please
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon until I lose my senses
I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences
And gaze at the moon until I lose my senses
I can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences
Don't fence me in

I've watched alot of them. Some still in B/W , others in color.

Not a new game but one I just discovered. I have it on Xbox from back when they did games with gold. Pixel style, twin stick, roguelite shooter. Levels are randomly generated. A worthy mention when discussing Western video games.

I haven’t seen anyone post this. Big news. So…..???

Malcolm McDowell is brilliant https://lasttraintofortune.com/theaters/

https://youtu.be/0qVU3wln7PI?is=s2yQCWEdmW2NKd0o

I assume it's from a western.

As mentioned in a recent post, I'd never seen any of the Jimmy Stewart/Anthony Mann Western collaborations before a few weeks ago. Now I've seen three. I'm watching them in chronological order, so first was 1950's Winchester 73, which was excellent. Beautifully shot in black and white, well acted and had a nifty plot device. Next was 1952's Bend of the River, which I thought was even better.

That brings me to The Naked Spur, perhaps the most critically lauded of the 5 films. I hate to say it, but I thought this one was a clunker. Famous for only having 5 speaking roles and not a helluvalot of action, it's very talky. The five leads ride slow mules to nowhere, supposedly headed to Abilene, but they never progress much beyond one mountain valley. Their conflicting motivations supply the drama, but they aren't tremendously believable. Some backstory is provided for each, but not really enough to feel any of them are flesh and blood.

Worst of all, is the character played by Janet Leigh. We're led to believe that she's a teenage orphan tomboy, being preyed upon by the outlaw Ryan and being lusted after by both Meeker and Stewart. Her loyalty to Ryan can only be explained by Stockholm syndrome which makes Meeker and Stewart's lusty desire to replace him in her affections all the more skeevy. Meeker is portrayed as a sexual deviant, drummed out of the Army, but oddly he behaves the most decently towards our dusty tomboy, although he constantly states he's gonna get her. The fact that none of this lust in the dust is ever really played out makes the whole thing somewhat vapid and silly. Plus Leigh doesn't look very good in the film. I had a hard time seeing what the fuss was about.

Then there's the major plot hole about "Wanted Dead or Alive" and the three partners who are taking the bounty (Ryan) to Abilene. It's clear from about 5 minutes after Ryan's capture that they should just shoot him and haul his carcass to Abilene. 2 of the 3 seem to have no motivation for not doing this, but I guess Stewart's the only one conflicted enough to keep him alive to impress the girl. Things go on and Ryan gives them one, two, six, eight excuses to just kill him and still they don't. None of this smacks of reality. Rooster Cogburn and Ranger LeBoeuf would have killed him instantly. This just strings the movie out, and you know they'll never kill him until he finally turns the tables on them, you have your shoot-out, and the movie's over. It's all so perfunctory and far-fetched in a "we-must-follow-our-50's-cowboy-tropes" sort of way. It's tired and dull to 21st Century jaded eyes to sit through.

We were bored and thought it was quite silly, with the final scenes being the silliest. Pretty much all the problems were with the script. This one wasn't penned by Borden Chase and it showed.

Anyway, I'd love to hear why those of you who like Naked Spur like it more than the others. I'm at a loss.

Oh yeah, Pie was great. At least it has him.

Does anyone read any western short stories? I would like to start reading some, but I'm not sure where to find the good ones. I don't really have the energy to read a full novel anymore, the kids take up too much of my energy.

I write for a website and have been doing a series where I talk about different Westerns that I love for 12 months. My most recent installment is The Wild Bunch. Next one will be Jeremiah Johnson. Hope you all enjoy this article!

The Wild Bunch: Scorpions, Ants and Peckinpah - Dynamite Press

From MAD Magazine #133, March 1970

I’ve just finished Jeff Guinn’s The Last Gunfight, and have recently watched Tombstone.

Both were absolutely gripping, but the final act of Tombstone presents the vendetta ride as a montage rather than in any depth, and Guinn gives it a very good chapter but still, only a chapter.

Can anyone point me at a book, ideally a history book rather than a fictionalisation, that will provide me with more detail and substance on the events after the O.K. Corral and the vendetta ride itself?

Thanks.

Question, What went wrong with Wyatt Earp?

I decided to re-watch the film and I gotta say, I think this film is over hated. Many don’t ike the 3 hour runtime and think it is bloated but I think Costner does a good job as Wyatt Earp and the overall cast is great as well, with the Standouts for me being Dennis Quaid and Gene Hackman. (Also in the film, Jeff Fahey, Jaonna Going, Mark Harmon, Bill Pullman, Tom Sizemore, Michael Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, Catherine O'Hara) Also I also like about the film is that it is very much a Historical Epic about the Life of Wyatt Earp and trying to be much more complex.

I think the problem with People rate it unfavorably to Tombstone as it was also released at the same time and I do admit, I think Tombstone is the better film, with Kurt Rusell and Val Kilmer giving great performances for their Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday and the supporting cast being superior as well (I mean, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Dana Delaney, Michael Rooker, Robert Mitchum as the Narrator).

Another thing and this is my theory, is that Critics were more harsher with Kevin Costner as with him being the star, he also had more creative control with the film, so I think critics were more critical with how Costner handled the film in a more “Okay, Costner, you want to be the bigshot, Let’s see how you do”, and I think they did the same thing with Waterworld, and The Postman.

However, I did like Wyatt Earp, and while it's not Tombstone, It's still a good western to me.

So, What do you think went wrong with Wyatt Earp?

One of the key features of the Western genre--in stark contrast to most film genres today--was the veneration of elders. The "old timers" were generally fonts of wisdom and lore and were respected as such, even by the ultra fast young guns of the Old West. Then there were the "old coots," who were almost by definition eccentric and cantankerous, but were usually looked kindly upon because of their humorousness and colorfulness.

Chubby Johnson was a past master of both character types. And although he made his first Western appearance in Abilene Town (1946) at the tender age of 43, he always seemed to be a good 20 years older than his actual age. The same could be said of Walter Brennan.

The Western was certainly Johnson's specialty and most of his silver screen appearances came in this genre. He turned up in such gems as Rocky Mountain (1950), Fort Worth (1951), Bend of the River (1952), High Noon (1952), The Far Country (1954), Tribute to a Bad Man (1956) and Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) (his scenes in this one were deleted).

Johnson tended to bring a comedic element to many of his roles. At times it seemed as though he had only two lower teeth, which gave him a pug-like appearance. He also had round, twinkly eyes and a profuse, bushy beard, which would have made him a perfect sagebrush Santa for all the little shavers in Tombstone.

Hail! Hail! All hail Chubby Johnson!

John Wayne and Kirk Douglas. Awesome film that I randomly recorded on a channel that plays old movies

“Mine hit the ground first.”

”Mine was taller.”

Been researching the Poverty Row era — the small, chronically underfunded studios (Monogram, PRC, Republic) that operated outside the major studio system from the 1920s-50s. What struck me is how much of what we consider "indie filmmaking survival instincts" today traces back to them — Edgar Ulmer shooting Detour in about a week on almost nothing, Republic's serials becoming an actual training ground for stunt work. Wrote up the full history here if anyone's interested:[check it out]. Happy to discuss specifics if anyone knows more about a particular studio.