Posts by Paula

Hello! I have now posted my screencaps of Ben's scenes from Breakheart Pass. Very enjoyable movie and it has a great Jerry Goldsmith score.

The screencaps do have spoilers though so SPOILER WARNING in case you haven't seen the movie, which is a murder mystery set on a train headed towards a U.S. cavalry fort.

Go here: http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com/

and click on the "Movies" section to get to the screencaps.

I agree, totally wrongheaded! Though I loved Brokeback Mountain. Ernest Borgnine is a living national treasure. Speaking of living national treasures who have been in westerns, the very first person I laid eyes upon after stepping out of the airport shuttle at my hotel for the TCM fest was Eli Wallach! He was standing right there on the sidewalk at the hotel entrance! It took a moment to recognize him -- his appearance is more altered than Borgnine's and he looked quite physically frail although 100 percent alert mentally -- but it was indeed he. I nearly fainted from excitement. A "minder" came along a few moments later and ushered Mr. Wallach into a limo. The TCM fest sure got off to a great start... and then it got better and better. P.S. Woo hoo! I've graduated from "tenderfoot" to "pilgrim." I was watching McLintock on the Western channel tonight and had to smile when John Wayne called someone "pilgrim."

Great news for Henry Fonda fans! (And fans of all the others who worked on the show.)

The Deputy - The Complete Series (1959)
Starring: Henry Fonda, Allen Case, Read Morgan, Betty Lou Keim, Wallace Ford, Phil Tully, Addison Richards, Vito Scotti, Kermit Maynard, Robert Osterloh, Don Heitgerd, Denver Pyle, Clu Gulager, James Coburn, Stacy Keach, Alan Hale Jr., Lee Van Cleef
Director: David Butler, Tay Garnett, Sidney Lanfield
Genre: Television, Western
Year: 1959
Studio: Timeless Media Group
Release Date: October 26, 2010

SYNOPSIS:
Timeless Media Group and NBC Universal are proud to present all 76 episodes of The Deputy starring Henry Fonda and Allen Case.

Marshal Simon Fry (Henry Fonda) is a lawman who will do whatever it takes to keep the peace in Silver City, AZ and Fry’s sometimes reluctant deputy, Clay McCord (Allen Case), is a sharp shooting storekeeper who shuns violence whenever he can, but who is persuaded to step in to help the aging Silver City Marshal (Wallace Ford) when Simon is out of town.

Other recurring roles are played by veteran western actors, Read Morgan, Phil Tully and Addison Richards. Many guest stars join the cast, James Coburn, Stacy Keach, Alan Hale, Jr, Lee Van Cleef and many more. The Deputy was produced by Norman Lear (All in the Family) and features a great jazz guitar score by Jack Marshall.

The American, with George Clooney.

Wonder how he'd look in a cowboy hat and boots.

Thanks, Oliver, I'm glad you liked the page. I'm working on Breakheart Pass right now.

After that I'm going to do the Have Gun, Will Travel episode "A Head of Hair," in which Ben made the first of his three guest appearances on that show. I decided to do that episode after reading Steve Bowie's wonderful description of it in his most recent post to his Classic TV History Blog. Bowie wrote this about Ben:

"Johnson delivers what may be his finest performance prior to the Oscar-winning turn in The Last Picture Show: understated, unadorned, just barely hinting at a deep well of sadness and self-loathing. Imagine that line – 'maybe even me, seven, eight years ago' – in Johnson’s voice and then picture the flicker of a weary smile that goes with it."

Here's the link to Bowie's blog in case anyone didn't see it at my website:

http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/

Hi, Mrs. C... I hear ya! And so far nothing I've seen on dukewayne.com has rankled me. I suspect that people with so-called opposing views who love John Wayne and westerns have way more in common than differences! My hubby and I have lots of conservative friends and we love them dearly, they're all wonderful people. And the people on dukewayne.com all seem to be pretty terrific too.

Back to Ernest Borgnine (who this thread is really about)... one story I remember him telling at the TCM fest was that he spent 10 years in the Navy (I think it was 10 years) and he finally got out of the service, and he went home, and said to his mother, "Now what am I going to do?" and she said, "Be an actor!" So he became an actor and another 10 years later won an Oscar.

Does that include me? I'm a (in tiny voice) a liberal. (Am I the only one on this board?)

I love Ernest Borgnine. I was so thrilled to sit in the row right in front of him during the screening of Jubal (great movie!) at the TCM classic film festival in Hollywood last April. He spoke afterwards and he was great!

I couldn't care less about the politics of my favorite actors. Or my friends -- both online or in the flesh.

Thanks Clancy! I just updated my Ben Johnson page with some new info (including some gleaned off dukewayne.com). http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com

Eventually I plan to scan in and upload the few pieces of Johnson memorabilia I own. One is a magazine article that also has a fabulous full page shot of John Wayne in Hondo.

That went more quickly than expected. The One-Eyed Jacks screencaps (all 1,175 of them) are now up at http://benjohnscreencaps.shutterfly.com. Just click on the "Movies" section and you'll see my write-up after which you'll find the screencaps. I always welcome corrections to any mistakes you find on my webpage and all screencaps are available for -- well, doing whatever you'd like with them. I love Bob Amory -- he's such a deliciously nasty snake!

Hi! Yes, indeed, my DVD of One-Eyed Jacks is widescreen. That is to say, it's non-anamorphic widescreen, i.e., not enhanced for widescreen televisions. It actually looks... not entirely awful on my television. The one you want is from Front Row Features. If it doesn't have this cover, it's not the one you want.

Here is a link to the Home Theater Forum thread where Richard reported on his comparison of all the versions out there:

http://www.hometheaterforum.co…vd-of-one-eyed-jacks-1961

I'm almost done with my screencapping of Ben's scenes and I may even have them posted to my website today.

Hi, EthanEdwards, I have added the "Pals" forum on Ben to my webpage. Thanks for suggesting it!

Two favorite John Wayne movie encounters:

1. Quite a few years ago, the Fox Theatre in Atlanta (one of those wonderful 1920s theaters that survived various demolition attempts) screened a 35mm print of Stagecoach on its enormous screen. I was in the formative stage of my John Wayne fandom. When the movie arrived at that famous amazing first shot of The Ringo Kid in the desert, I gasped. Wow! Suddenly I truly understood why John Wayne was such a huge star. Nothing like seeing a movie like that on a big screen, in a dark theater. (Though I'm thrilled to have it on the Criterion blu-ray disc.)

2. Last April I attended the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, and one of the many delights of that festival was seeing The Big Trail on the big screen. I have the DVD but again, the best way to see an epic like that is in the theater. Everyone there had a great time.

(Not exactly John Wayne, but close enough.)
3. I got to sit in the row right in front of the great Ernest Borgnine at a screening of a restored print of Jubal (starring Glenn Ford) at the TCM festival. Another thrill! Afterwards he talked about his life in the movies. The man is in his 90s but you'd never know it. He seems as hale and hearty as he has always been.

The Duke in 3 Godfathers.

Hi, Maverick and everyone. Great to be here! It was a pleasure reading over the entire discussion on Ben. Yes, he sure was the real deal.

I'd like to stick up a bit for the Richard Jensen bio. Yes, a lot of it is taken from previously published articles and interviews, and other books (like Harry Carey Jr.'s Company of Heroes) and a great big chunk of the bio is a reprint of Ben's IMDB listing. It's not a work of great scholarship. But... I like having the IMDB listing in hardcopy like that; it's convenient for checking on things while watching movies. Also, the section on Ben's Oklahoma roots, and his family, especially his rodeo champion and ranch manager father Ben Sr., is fascinating reading. I haven't seen a detailed description of Ben's childhood and early youth like that anywhere else, plus I love the family photos. And Jensen has a pithy way of summing up a movie or an event quickly, and describing a person's faults (like Sam Peckinpah's) while also acknowledging his talents and good qualities. The section on Ben's years as a stuntman has been helpful to me for identifying some of Ben's stuntwork so I could screencap it for my website. The bio is in serious need of a good line editor though. Typos abound.

As an initial biography of Ben, Jensen's book is a decent enough start. There is another bio out there waiting to be written, probably by an academic or historian who also would have a readable writing style, and I hope it's published while I'm still around to read it.

Screencap, anyone? From my current project, One-Eyed Jacks. It's sad that the last movie filmed in Vistavision is represented so poorly on DVD, but a fellow at Home Theater Forum looked at all *19* DVD versions and determined that the (now out of print) one from Front Row Entertainment was the best. Which isn't saying much. But that's the one I am using for screencaps.

Hi, everyone, I just joined! I LOVE John Wayne, John Ford, westerns (well, all movies but that definitely includes westerns), Anthony Mann and... etc. My two most favorite western stars after the Duke are William S. Hart and Ben Johnson. In fact, I love Ben Johnson so much I made a webpage for him and I hope you all visit. It's at http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com. I plan to hang out at the Pals of the Saddle forum for Ben but also looking forward to contributing to the other threads here too.

Hi, everyone, I just joined! I LOVE John Wayne, John Ford, westerns (well, all movies but that definitely includes westerns), Anthony Mann and... etc. My two most favorite western stars after the Duke are William S. Hart and Ben Johnson. In fact, I love Ben Johnson so much I made a webpage for him and I hope you all visit. It's at http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com. I plan to hang out at the Pals of the Saddle forum for Ben but also looking forward to contributing to the other threads here too.