Posts from Gorch in thread „What Was The Last Western You Watched?“

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Well, My Keith, I'm sure you were smiling most of the way through "The Mountain Men". It's very uproarious and one of my favorites. Brian Keith's character is raucous, profane and lovable. The scenery is pretty magnificent as well and I wish it would be released in a widescreen format.
    TCM ran "Sergeant Rutledge" yesterday and I thought I'd watch the first few minutes but ended up for the whole shebang. I could pick up the horse stunts of Bad Chuck and Good Chuck easily. Good Chuck repeated that backwords flip off his horse that he did in "The Alamo" when he charged alone at Travis. Also a great performance by Woody Strode. Too bad Ford allowed overacting from some of his other stock company members.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Keith, if you weren't depressed before your double feature, you must be now.
    Since I've been binging on Have Gun Will Travel, I had a Richard Boone double header and watched A Thunder of Drums and Rio Conchos.
    Now if we both watch The Alamo I can see Boone again and you can see Duke bite the dust yet again.




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Encore Westerns runs two episodes of Have Gun Will Travel every afternoon. Today I had a chance to run a batch of them and was reminded of the number of "stars to be" that were featured, many of whom appeared again together. One had Strother Martin as a whining town official who was murdered by James Coburn (of course, who hasn't killed Strother on film). They both later appeared in the fine Walter Hill Film "Hard Times".
    Charles Bronson showed up to have a fistfight with George Kennedy, both of whom were in "The Dirty Dozen"
    Ron Soble tried to maul Jack Weston with fighting spurs long before "The Cincinnati Kid".


    I always try to identify at least one supporting player in every episode and scan the credits to confirm my guesses - these are about 50 years old, after all, and some of the actors. like Louise Fletcher and Dyan Cannon are very young. My fallback is stuntman/director Harold (Hal) Needham who performed most of the stunt work and was an all purpose Indian lurking in the background.


    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    DVR'd "The Big Sky" last night on TCM. As far as I'm aware, it's never been on DVD or Disc and Turner shows the longer director's cut even though the restored scenes are of lesser quality.
    But hey, Kirk Douglas is terrific in one of his more congenial roles. The scene when his finger is amputated is a classic Hawks' moment (he wanted to do it in Red River, but Wayne didn't think it would be funny. He apologized to Hawks after seeing it done here).
    Arthur Hunnicutt was nominated for best supporting actor for his turn as mountain man Zeb Calloway and Duke stalwarts Hank Worden and Jim Davis are featured. Toss in a great Dimitri Tiomkin score and there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours.


    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Well, it's not quite a western movie, but Retroplex is airing episodes of the 1967 series "Cimarron Strip" which ran 90 minutes, so it's close.
    Anyway, the episode "The Roarer" co-starred Richard Boone as a cavalry sergeant who could out drink, outfight and out talk anyone. Boone must have taken the role because it was hand tailored for him and because he and Whitman had co-starred in "Rio Conchos" a couple years previously. The chemistry between them was palpable.
    As a small bonus, Robert Duvall also was featured.
    There were only 23 episodes made, so I'm guessing it was too expensive for network TV in those days when westerns were waning.
    This deserves a DVD box set. If you have an opportunity to view it, you shouldn't be disappointed.


    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    I performed my yearly March 6 ritual yesterday of arising early and drinking a pot of coffee and watching my laser disc director's cut version of "The Alamo". I has watched it a few months ago, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
    Later, I also watched Disney's Davy Crockett at the Alamo and The Last Command.




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Sort of dislike following my own post, but just watched "Posse From Hell". This is one of Audie Murphy's best films, probably due to the script by Claire Huffaker, who was also responsible for "The Comancheros" and "Rio Conchos".
    Murph performs quite competently and it doesn't hurt the Vic Morrow, Lee Van Cleef, Rudy Acosta, Royal Dano and John Saxon all contribute salty performances.


    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Saw another one from the TCM five pack -"Horizons West" - with Robert Ryan, Rock Hudson, James Arness and Dennis Weaver. Was surprised to see Marshall Dillon and Chester Goode in the same movie before Gunsmoke. They didn't even appear in a scene together.
    Anyway, it looked crisp and clean. Three more to go.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Got my "Pillars of the Sky" DVD from TCM today, ripped it open and slam dunked it into the player.
    One great copy - widescreen and remastered as good as can be for that format. Thank God I'll never have to see it panned and scanned again.
    Now I have four more from the collection to look forward to.


    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    TCM ran Howard Hawk's "The Big Sky" and I DVR'd it. I've mentioned this before, but this is great film. Not as good as his "Red River", but right up there behind "Rio Bravo".
    Someone has to restore it and release it on DVD.





    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    TCM ran the remastered version of "The Hanging Tree", which I hadn't seen in decades. I had recalled it was slow but I now realize that it was character development.
    Not bad, but Karl Malden needed to be placed on valium.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Encore Westerns had "Tomahawk", 1951, with Van Heflin, Yvonne DeCarlo, Tom Tully and Rock Hudson on today. It was a poorly executed and fictional account of the Fetterman massacre and included Jim Bridger.
    The battle scenes were lackluster and the same horse falls with different camera angles were rerun on top of one another, but it was new to me, and hell, it was a western.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    The entire six hour blu ray of "Hatfields and McCoys". Had seen it before when it was originally broadcast. but this time I recognized bit players more and appreciated the depth to the story-telling.


    Great Americana. Perfectly acted. Great show!





    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Had an eclectic day yesterday. Saw "The Dawn Rider" for the first time and thought it was great. Some pretty quick male bonding.
    Followed this with John Stuges' "Backlash" which was on a Movie Plex channel. It has been restored but not broadcast in true widescreen format. It should be released in the proper format later this year. At any rate, it was a treat and Donna Reed was a bombshell.
    Ran out the night with a viewing of the "Rio Conchos" DVD. This one is aces all the way and I'd like to nominate it as a Classic Western.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    "Bite the Bullet". Didn't care for this one when I saw it at the theater in its initial release, but since then I have slowly come to realize that I was a shallow idiot.


    This is an elegiac and rousing farewell to the "old west" standards of friendship, respect, self reliance, and independence.


    The cast, with the exception of a shaky Candice Bergen, is magnificent. The Alex North score is world class and the cinematography is even better.


    Ben Johnson and James Coburn merit special mention.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Had a Duke double header. First was "Texas Terror", which I had never seen. I enjoyed watching Wayne but won't see it again.


    Followed up with the Director's Cut of "The Alamo" on laser disc. Always a gratifying experience. Sublime.




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    After a very rewarding but hectic couple days, my son and I saw "Django Unchained" today. I entirely agree with Alamo221's capsule review.
    Some music choices were dead on but others take you right out of the movie. A little self indulgent.




    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Had an urge to see Burt Lancaster in action, so I ran a double feature of "Valdez is Coming" and "The Professionals".
    Valdez is really good, if a bit different, and I love when old Bob Valdez opens his war chest.
    Everyone here has probably seen the Professionals which is basically a two hour testosterone fest set to a rousing music score.



    We deal in lead, friend.

  • What Was The Last Western You Watched?

    Hey May, you must have been watching TCM yesterday for "Deadly Companions". I DVR'ed it and watched it early this morning. It was the first time I had ever seen it widescreen. Good stuff.
    Lady Hawk, I'm so glad you liked "Tombstone". Every actor was spot on, but Val Kilmer was sublime as Doc. Bruce Boughton's music score was as good as his "Silverado" one. Can't believe that this one was thrown away without early screenings for reviewers. It does have a solid cult following and Kurt has all the missing footage in his possession. Here's hoping Goldie gives him some time to restore it.



    We deal in lead, friend.