THREE BAD MEN: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond

Original 14x22 window card for THE SEARCHERS (1956). It features the same art and design as the 27x41 one-sheet poster. From Scott.

LOL, MB, I haven't a clue.......well, have learned some. I am just parroting what Scott gives me for everyone. He has totally put Three Bad Men aside now except for inscribing and autographing the copies he gets. I am dealing with McFarland, his publisher, (found out they are an hour up the mountain from me, LOL!) Also trying to work on a schedule that he will be able to handle for book signings......oh, doing the website for ALL his work also. He has already had Theron, The Black Diamond at his home for constant interviews for two days....started the VERY day he got out of the hospital with the pneumonia bout! He has finished writing up all they taped those two days. Today, he starts interviewing over 100 of Theron's friends, relatives, and musician buddies. Scott is a workaholic.....Lordy, didn't even take ONE day off!

Not sure which pictures I have sent....had a devil of a time with my computer....lost some files, (still crying over that!), but am up and going again. So, hope most of you haven't seen these.

Not sure, but since Ward was epileptic and the service turned him down, he became an Air Raid Warden. I THINK this may be him in his uniform! Anyone know........doesn't look like anything else I have seen him in.

Duke in Corsair from Islands in the Sky.....I just feel the fear those men must have had when the planes flew over and didn't see them!

Ward at 20, sure aged rapidly after that.

Sorry if I repeated photos. Should have that all straightend out now. The books for the reviewers have been mailed, (pretty sure, will find out with a phone call in a bit). At first......all the reviewers were getting PDFs because of the massive increase in postage. However, since I found the publisher was right down the road, and the GM and I have some friends in common, all reviewers in the states are getting books, (Scott couldn't even accomplish that, (pat on the back here, LOL). But, sadly to say, the overseas folks are getting PDFs, (believe it or not, that is what Scott used for the first time ever to review the book and correct errors and make final changes.....no more manuscripts with hand written red ink changes!

So, since it costs McFarland almost $25.00 to ship the book overseas, they would not do it. I am most upset, but at least glad the US folks are getting real books. Scott and I apologize to our oversea reviewers but hope it won't "cloud" your review. They are most important to Scott as I chose the people I thought would do the best jobs and would be the most influential.

Please email me at [email protected] when you get either your book or your PDF so I can mark you off my list.......don't want anyone to get missed.

On the good side for Scott, my friend, John McElwee, who no longer does anything but write his blog for Greenbrier Picture Shows here in NC is looking forward to doing the review as he is a big fan of Scott's books.....they both write from a more scholarly approach, and people from all over the world link to John's blog. Almost every blogger I talked to links to him regularly.

Also, if you have decided NOT to write a review because of the PDF file, please let me know so I can get someone to fill your spot. I have heard from three already who plan to go ahead with it. In fact, the last one or two books they had received came in that form because of the postage increase.

Next post will tell you the least expensive way you can purchase the book. Amazon, after dropping it to $33 from $49, has raised it back up but are sold out...or were a couple of days ago. I am about to do that research so I can give you the best way to buy the book. Also, the best way if you want it inscribed.

Good old USPS. BUT, Fedex wants $110 to ship the book, LOL! And UPS was even higher. Think I will open a shipping company for books overseas. If you send a larger package, the shipping per piece greatly drops!

Well, this should catch up all that I have missed posting these last few days. KEITH

HAPPY 110TH BIRTHDAY WARD BOND, YOU HANDSOME DEVIL YOU! KEITH, YOUR DEVOTED FAN.
Ward in China Doll with Vic Mature.

Yes, I believe so also Irish. Scott's book tells of many of his films that he was one of the major actors early on. Now have more to look for, LOL. That might have been my post on Facebook that you saw.

No, Scott is running it..........I just reminded him of Ward's birthday...he is deep into writing his next book....must have forgotten. I post on Save the Quiet Man Cottage.....Mike Ward's site......and I keep them up to date on Three Bad Men. KEITH

FIRST REVIEW OUT FOR THREE BAD MEN IS FROM A USER. McFarland is late getting the books and PFDs out to the CHOSEN reviewers, so, here is our first short but succinct review of the book:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unprecedented First, April 14, 2013
By
Bart Aikens - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond (Paperback)
John Ford we know. John Wayne we know. Ward Bond we don't know.

Think of Scott Allen Nollen's "Three Bad Men: John Ford, John Wayne, Ward Bond" (McFarland & Company, Inc.) as something unprecedented: Bond's first biography. Think of it in the same breath as a page-turning portrait of a masochistic father figure and his two surrogate sons, one of whom sets the other on fire (that's as much of a spoiler alert as I'll allow).

Throughout his copiously researched volume Nollen implies that the well-examined Ford and Wayne cannot be fully understood apart from their intimate, twisted friendship with Bond, whose equine posterior was transmogrified into an iconic image in many a classic Western.

But don't take my word for it. Read the book now.

My review won't read in quite that manner, but this guy has put the book into a teeninesy nut shell. 5 Stars is right on. But hang on to your hat. You have to READ and THINK when you take this book in hand. Don't care how long you have studied these folks, you will learn lots of new things..and the pictures are some of them, first time. I will read it once more before I post my review. Took 28 years to write. I think it deserves a second reading to get the real gist of it! KEITH Yep, Ward had a larger than normal posterior, but......he is still MY Ward, LOL!

Just talked by phone to the VP of McFarland about the absence of review material. She had me send in my entire list of communication with others there and is investigating. One thing is that their company is one more suited to scholars......not fiction, and their books sell 20 years still after being written, so pre release reviews are not as important as some companies' who have a shorter run time.

She promised me a definitive answer by Thursday, the 18th. I will let everyone know then. KEITH

Rare 11x14 portrait of VICTOR MCLAGLEN in Ford's THE LOST PATROL (1934)

HOORAY! I am very pleased to announce that the first reviewer I chose has posted his review on Scott's book, and I don't think we could have asked for a better one.....he NAILS IT! His name is Colin McGuigan and his blog is called Riding the High Country. He lives in Greece. Here is the review......please let Scott and I know what you think! KEITH

http://livius1.wordpress.com/2…-bond-scott-allen-nollen/

LOL, you waited too long, Paula......at one time they had it in the Twenty dollar range. They keep changing it up and down and a lot of the time they are sold out. Anyway one wanting it, I THINK, should buy it at this price....I think shipping is free now....and only about $8 overseas. If you haven't been following the first review of Colin's........it is now up to over 60 comments on the one blog review, and I think there are comments from 12 or so bloggers. One commenter is a very well known critic, one is a retired TV reporter....there are many very qualified folks. Many people have ordered from Colin's review alone.....some ordered from what they had heard on Save the Quiet Man Cottage, JWMB, and other outlets that we used. I had asked you to review it for us, but....as I know, you were just too busy. But, can't wait to hear what you think about it. Hope you will let us know if you post something. Thanks Keith and Scott

Here is the link to Colin's post with 60 plus comments on it.
http://livius1.wordpress.com/ Riding the High Country

Quote from Paula

Amazon has discounted Three Bad Men down to $35.96... I'm glad I waited a little to buy it so I could get the lower price!

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Ba…-1&keywords=three+bad+men

Edmond O'Brien, JOHN WAYNE and James Stewart in Ford's elegiac Western THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962). Original publicity still.

Well, after 7 days, the comments of Colin's (Riding the High Country) review are winding down. About 12 bloggers and 70 comments....not bad for the first time a blogger did a book review. I chose Colin because I love his writing and his interpretations. He most certainly didn't fail me....quite the contrary, he did a bang up job. Not only did he win some fans for Three Bad Men, (a good many folks ordered their book and got it in two days), but he also made some new regulars for his blog. He just posted on Jimmy Stewart's Bend of the River, which is a favorite of mine. He is one that you should "follow"....never a dull moment at Riding the High Country!
http://livius1.wordpress.com/2…-bond-scott-allen-nollen/

A few days ago, TBM was listed 27th on Amazon's top 100. Isn't there now, but more reviews should be coming out to different readers very soon. Hope to see one here, KEITH