pvitari

Jeepers, it worked! *faint* (The above posted after the board once again sent me to the front page when I signed in, rather back to the message thread.) Well, it's been fun communing with ya'll on the TCM board but I can't take any more of this place for a while. TCM -- please try to improve this forum (it would be nice if one could actually EDIT in "preview") and also please give Harry Carey, Jr. his much deserved day on TCM.

Cinemaven has sent me the double-super-secret instructions to how to post a photo. I don't know if this means she has to kill me now or anything, but at least I can post one more of Harry Carey Jr. from 3 Godfathers. I hope. (If I write something, and then click "preview" I can see what I wrote and if the photo works, but if I try to EDIT the preview panel, it won't let me edit anything, so I have to "leave the page" and start all over again. The sheer "brilliance" of the encoding of this board leaves me breathless. Anyway, since I can't really preview it and fix it in preview, here it is... either as a real photo or just more code.

Dear Cinemaven, how in the world do you get that photo to show up? I have tried every code provided and all I get is the code text, not the photo itself. I really appreciate you posting for me since I sure can't figure out how to do it.

You know, I * deleted * that first message and yet it turns up anyway. Using the TCM board for me is about as much fun as taking an ice bath outdoors in the middle of a January blizzard. Are you listening, TCM? I try to reply and I get sent back to the front page of the forum. I can't seem to post photos, no matter what code I use. (If there is an icon to click on to add a photo link, I don't see it.) It won't let me edit (it asks me if I want to leave the page if I try to edit) and it won't delete messages even when I click on "discard." And despite all this, here I am breaking my "stay away from the TCM forum because all it will do is drive you crazy" rule because I do want to tell TCM -- It's time for a Harry Carey Jr. day. In the words of a great starship captain -- "Make it so!"

An enthusiastic second of the motion to give Harry Carey, Jr. his own day on TCM -- and I'd especially love it if they scheduled it for an August Summer Under the Stars slot. He is one of the last of the great cowboy stars and it's high time TCM officially gave him some movie love. <a href='http://postimage.org/' target='_blank'><img src='http://s19.postimage.org/vez7kryhf/TG_283.jpg' border='0' alt="TG#283" /></a><br /><a target='_blank' href='http://postimage.org/'>photo hosting</a><br /><br />

Is TCM ever going to fix the problem where the site takes you back to the homepage when you try to reply to a message and then you have to go search for the thread again, and then it only lets you reply when you hit reply again after finding your way back to the thread? Which is exactly what happened when I decided to reply to your post earlier today about the updates. I don't see this problem mentioned in your list of fixes still to be made. Thanks.

Ben Johnson Film Festival, June 11 http://pawhuskacommunitynews.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/plan-to-attend-the-one-day-ben-johnson-film-festival-june-11-at-the-historic-constantine-theater-in-pawhuska/ Plan to Attend the One-Day Ben Johnson Film Festival June 11 at the historic Constantine Theater in Pawhuska Posted on April 8, 2011 By Roseanne Sutton The Osage County Historical Museum?s Ben Johnson Film Festival will be held for one day only, June 11. Two family-friendly movies starring Ben Johnson will be shown at the historic Constantine Theater in Pawhuska. ?Chisum,? which will be shown at 2 p.m., with costars John Wayne and Forrest Tucker. ?Chisum? is historical fiction loosely based on the Lincoln County War of 1878 in New Mexico territory, said Museum Manager Barbara Pease. Infamous characters as Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are depicted in the film, she added. The evening film, ?Bite the Bullet,? will begin at 7 p.m. In this film, Ben Johnson?s co-stars are: Gene Hackman, Candace Bergen and James Coburn, among others. This film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Sound Mixing and Best Music. The Constantine Theater will open at 1 p.m. so that patrons may meet members of Ben Johnson?s family and view memorabilia on display. Souvenirs and copies of the book ?The Nicest Fella,? a biography about Johnson, will be available for purchase. The author, Richard D. Jensen, hopes to attend and be available to sign autographed copies of the book, which will be on sale for $35 each. Concessions, such as freshly made popcorn, fountain sodas and candy, will be available at very reasonable prices. Tickets for the two-film event, which include one free souvenir per ticket, are $15. Children 12 and under are free, when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. The museum is asking patrons to purchase their tickets in advance, to facilitate planning. A visit to the Constantine Theater is an event in itself. The opportunity to celebrate Pawhuska?s own Ben Johnson should not be missed. This unique film festival will bring to the silver screen two classic movies and give patrons the opportunity meet the Johnson family, and celebrate one of Hollywood?s most talented actors. For more information, call the OCHS Museum at 918-287-9119.

Heaven forbid that you click on that little quote icon at the top of the page and that would actually work for quotes! Guess I'll check in again in a few more weeks.

Jeez, I HATE this TCM board, I can't even do quotes... JackFavell wrote: I also agree that Ben's character deserves a better death scene - To judge by that Life magazine article about One-Eyed Jacks I uploaded to my website, they did film a much bigger death scene for Bob, i.e, he was hung by a mob -- but obviously that was left on the cutting room floor, so all we see is Bob shot as he leaves the bank. We don't even really see him die. In my head, Bob lived on to rob and pillage another day.

Sorry, just replying now because I rarely look at the TCM boards as my computer and the TCM boards do not get along and it's a pain in the neck to read them and even more of a pain to respond or post. Anyway, yes, I have seen The Rare Breed through -- several times -- but I don't think Ben was doing any more doubling work in 1964. But maybe I'll pull it out again and see. The last official doubling/stunt work job that I know of for Ben was in Oklahoma (1955). Now I will go read this big One-Eyed Jacks discussion.

Anyone know which movie Ben Johnson doubled for Jimmy Stewart? Ben used to include Stewart when he talked about the stars he had doubled for. I've scrutinized the IMDB filmographies without finding anything, except for of course The Rare Breed -- but that was in 1964, long after Ben's days as a stuntman and as far as I know his performance in it was limited to the opening auction scene. In fact, Stewart was fighting in WWII during most of the years Ben, classified as 4-F due to flat feet and poorly healed injuries from cowboy and stunt work, worked as a stuntman. But if anyone knows the answer, I'd love to know it.

It's always fun to see Ben on TV, isn't it?

Did someone say Fort Bowie?

> {quote:title=JackFavell wrote:}{quote} > I had already mentioned that part in my previous post, or I would have used it as an example. Sorry, I didn't see it. Let's chalk it up to GMTA... we both spotted and loved the same thing. More on Cinecolor at the Widescreen Museum (one of my favorite websites): http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/oldcolor/cinecolor2.htm

Not just gliding into the saddle, but jumping OFF it while the horse is still in motion. I've seen him do that in a bunch of movies, and there's a particularly good example of it right at the end of Fort Defiance, when Ben's wife gets off the stagecoach and Miss Julie asks him if that's his wife. He looks around, sees her, and starts riding fast towards her. Even though it's in longshot, you can easily see him leap off as the horse is still going, and embracing his wife. (Wonder who that lucky actress was.) Part of me wishes they had done that in a closer shot, but there's something touching about seeing it from a distance. The Fred Astaire of riders, indeed.

New favorite Ben moment: Near the beginning of the movie, Ben ropes the skittish horse that almost tramples Peter Graves. Then he runs up to the horse, grabs the rope around its neck, pulls it, and *makes a second loop that becomes a bridle that he slips over the horse's nose.* How DOES he do that? I'm sure it's a simple thing for a horseman but to my non-horseperson eyes, it looks like magic.

*grumble* Some day I will figure out why the website returns me to the home page when I first attempt to reply, then lets me reply on the second attempt. Anyway... I have Fort Defiance on the DVR and I can make copies -- that is, as soon as I get my new DVR recorder set up. So Miss Goddess, I'll send you a private message next week and we can arrange to get you a copy. Re the color issues: Fort Defiance was filmed in Cinecolor. Here's a brief description of the process: Cinecolor was originally a two-color process designed as a cheap alternative to pricey Eastmancolor. Cinecolor release prints had two emulsion layers, each directly adhered to both sides of the film base. In appearance, it was essentially like the long-abandoned two-strip Technicolor, but employed opposite hues. CineColor was mostly used for cheaper movies. Many lowbudget Westerns came out in CineColor, and films from lowercase 'studios' like Allied Artists, who did not want to go to the more expensive (and sometimes big-studio controlled) labs. ***** The "two-strip Technicolor" appearance of the film was obvious -- everything seemed to be either brickish red or teal-ish blue/green. Notice how the flesh tones barely differed from the color of the earth and rocks. Even blacks (like Ben's hat) had a greenish tinge. Everyone's blue jeans looked more aqua than blue. The fading in and out could be due to a number of things, but even Cinecolor (which was better than Eastmancolor which degraded extremely quickly) wasn't as stable as Technicolor. That said, other than the problems with the color, it was beautifully shot, by cinematographer Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons, Night of the Hunter, Three Faces of Eve). As for the movie itself... it started out as Ben nirvana (at least for this Ben Johnson fan). There was much for a Ben fan to love -- the riding, the roping, the decorating the Christmas tree for his wife, the ambiguous situation he found himself in liking the brother of the man he blamed for his own brother's death -- but in the second half the movie got away from his character and focused more on the Tallon brothers, and even discounting my own prejudice for Ben, this change in focus was frustrating. We started out with one character and then it shifted to another. It was like we were supposed to have one more scene with Ben that somehow got lost on the cutting room floor. I did like that neither Ben nor Johnny were completely black and white and the biggest "mushhead" turned out to be Johnny. (Anyone start thinking Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when he dashed out the door at the end?) But Ned, although a sweet guy and played very well by Peter Graves-- was just a tad too angelic and thus too much of a cliche. He and "Miss Julie" sure took up awfully quickly -- seemed more plot maneuvering than a believable reality. Overall, a very enjoyable film that has a few flaws that keeps it from transcending its B status.

Ben Johnson said that after he got to Hollywood, as soon as they told him the amount of his pay they couldn't drive him back to Oklahoma with a club. Yes, some sexual tension there in Tall in the Saddle.

Whatever the supporting actors -- it wasn't enough!

There is an excellent account of Sam Peckinpah's involvement with One-Eyed Jacks in David Weddle's biography, "If They Move, Kill 'Em!" Per Weddle, Frank Rosenberg was a good friend of Sam's and Sam thought highly of him. Frank brought the material to Sam and they had a great time working on it together, and then working with Brando. It was a very heady time for Sam, who was still making a living writing television scripts. It was also Brando's idea to hire Kubrick to direct -- Kubrick was hot stuff from The Killing and Paths of Glory -- and it was also Kubrick's idea to bring in his own writers. Sam was off the picture. Of course Kubrick eventually went his own way too and Brando took over as director. With Brando involved not just as star and producer through his Pennebaker company, I doubt there was much Rosenberg could do. Nick Redman's account of the One-Eyed Jacks production history at kritzerland (http://www.kritzerland.com/KL_Jacks_Notes.pdf) has the same story. I know it sucks that Sam got fired but that is Hollywood for you, and anyway, he had the last laugh, as 15 years later he reworked the material into a much better film, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Peckinpah felt that Brando's mistake was making the Billy the Kid figure into a hero when in reality Billy was "a juvenile delinquent." Sam did not meet Ben Johnson while working on the One-Eyed Jacks script; he was gone before Ben got the role. But the film itself did bring Ben to Sam's attention and we know what a great collaboration arose out of that.

Also, I'll bet that the ritual beating and hand maiming is inspired by The Man From Laramie. Poor SS Oasis. Still down and out.

Bob is like Dad Longworth's id. Or Dad without the suit, the badge and the marriage to a proper Mexican-American widow. There's no "respectable" B.S. about him. He is who he is and he's not going to disguise himself in a suit and a sheriff's badge so he can get off on tormenting people * legally. * He despises authority too much for that kind of hypocrisy, whereas Dad thrives on it. His "own interests" are generally very bad ones. I can't see him doing any act of kindness just for the sake of it, though I do think he had no interest in actually killing anyone during the bank robbery, he just wanted the money. So is this an homage to My Darling Clementine?

This re-direction thing is going to drive me nuts! Now that that's off my chest, since SS Oasis is still down, I'll post here that I just uploaded 1,175 screencaps of Ben's scenes in One-Eyed Jacks to my website. Just go to http://benjohnscreencaps.shutterfly.com and click on the "Movies" section and you'll see my write-up after which you'll find the screencaps. I love Bob Amory -- he's such a deliciously nasty snake!

What's going on with the SS Oasis boards? They've been down for over a day.

No, not getting logged out... just re-directed. *sigh* Then I come back here and I can reply. Weird.