10 clues to movie

[cmvgor]

*2.* Some themes and experiences invite comparison to J.B. Books (The Duke) in *The Shootist*.

Attention from some who admire his rep, some who may want make a rep by challenging him. As

with many ex-cons, he finds few willing to hire him. (20,450)

[cmvgor]

*3.*

"Would you let them draw first?"

 

"Not if there was a chance I'd get beat. The only code I had was to let'em know I was coming."

[frankt65]

The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck?

[cmvgor]

It isn't that excellent Peck opus, but this film puts it's own stamp on some similar themes.

 

*4.* Many will not hire him as soon as they hear his name. But hired to drive a wagonload of

goods to a mine site that seems deserted, he is then gang-jumped and beaten up. This is organized by a man who had been a fellow inmate in prison. He functions well and makes a living a saloon bouncer; loses that job as soon as they learn his real name.

[cmvgor]

...At the point of some 150 Views.

 

*5.* A job turns up that he finds distasteful, but it does pay -- captalizing on his own past. A showman type (a name actor in a rare Western appearance -- hires him for a traveling show

consisting of marksmanship displays. The showman has even acquired the actual pistol with the notched grips that the convict used in the past. He wears a rediculous outfit, and fires in competition with the paying public. Put up six targets for each man; he sometimes misses, but he always outscores the other shooter. Its a living and his name is a draw.

[cmvgor]

*6.* The former star of the pistol show, displaced by the arrival of the name gunman, is a teenager.

He draws faster than anyone has ever seen, he shoots at moving targets and he never misses. But he has never killed. His name is not a draw, and he has become second banana in this odd little corner of showbiz. He is the other person in the conversation in clue #3.

The oldtimer has other points for the youngster about what it was like among real gunfighters in the wild past: "You're so fast they'd all be scared of you. They'd just shoot you in the back."

[cmvgor]

*7.* The old hand has another factoid for the young trickshooter. In the bad old days, no one ever

re-holstered an unloaded pistol. The youngster fails to absorb that one.

[cmvgor]

*8.* The lead actor is right at home in this plot; he starred in a Western series in that "golden age"

in the 50s-60s. The character deals in a level manner with those seeking him out. He faces, unarmed, a former lawman whom he had once faced down. Does not get drawn in, even when the trickshooter tries to pass him a pisto. Does not even carry a sidearm when not actually in his act.

 

Message was edited by: cmvgor

[cmvgor]

*9.* Several times the ex-con crosses paths with a woman, an artist engaged in doing sketches and paintings to help record the changing West. Carefully, they move towards caring deeply for each other. Eyes wide open, they marry. // The young trickshooter meets and tries to deal with an escaped convict, but he has re-holstered an unloaded weapon. The ex-con then subdues the outlaw (unarmed, but he had an element of surprise). He gains credit with the local banker, and

starts toward turning his wife's ramshackle place into a productive ranch. (Getting close to 380

Views.)

[frankt65]

I don't have an inkling, but the way cmv describes it, it's on my must-see list....so much plot!

 

I'll guess The Lawless Breed

[cmvgor]

IF THE SYSTEM WILL LET ME POST THIS TIME:

 

Not *Lawless Breed*

 

*10.* cast role call:

Sampson Posey

Edward Lionheart

Altera 'Alta" Moribus

[cmvgor]

I count 565 Views, 2 replies. IMO, one reason this film is not better known is timing. It came along at a time when the Western was declining in popularity. The star and the female lead were

TV staples rather than big-screen names. The frontier Showman was well-known, but mostly

in another genre. Anyone who can decode a role call can name the film. I'm going to let it set

for a few more hours, then reveal the answer if no one has named the film.

[MilesArcher]

Is it "More Dead Than Alive" with Clint Walker, Vincent Price, and Anne Francis?

[cmvgor]

Bingo!

Miles, I count 810 Views from question to my spotting your answer. I saw it on TV sometime in the 1980s, and had not heard from it since. A couple of weeks back I logged on to the site, refreshed my memory and then found that Amazon has used copies at a price I could live with.

Ordered it, saw it twice before putting it to use here. Walker is (like with Cheyenne Bodie) towering, laconic and full of commen sense. Price gives a droll performance as the showman who knows a class act when he sees one. There's a slam-bang ending that I want spoil for anyone who wants to track it down.

 

Miles, your thread.

[MilesArcher]

I don't often dabble in this thread because it takes a lot of preparation, so maybe someone will get this in just a few clues and save me some work.

 

Clue no. 1 This movie is based on a true incident, although Hollywood apparently took a few liberties. During war time a group of soldiers is hand picked to infiltrate the enemy's territory. They disguise themselves as civilians, knowing that if they get caught out of uniform, they could be executed as spies. Their job is to disrupt the enemy's supply system by any means possible. This includes destroying telegraph lines, bridges, and railroad tracks.

[cmvgor]

*13 Rue Madeleine* ??

[MilesArcher]

No, not 13 Rue Madeline

 

Clue No. 2

 

The soldier spies steal a train and plan to take it over a bridge, then destroy the bridge behind them. They didn't figure on the persistence of the train's conductor, who pursues them alone until he can get some military help. He, and the patrol he picks up, commandeer another train and the chase is on.

[cmvgor]

*Von Ryan's Express* ??

[MilesArcher]

No. Not Von Ryan's Express.

 

 

Clue No. 3

 

This movie was made in the fities and starred an actor who was riding a wave of popularity from a role that he had played on TV a few times. This movie was a remake of sorts of a film that had been made many years earlier. This fifties film was much more historically accurate.

[MilesArcher]

Clue No. 4

 

Back to the story. The soldier spies do everything they can to delay the pursuing train. They release a boxcar and send it back down the track. The enemy patrol has to back their train onto a siding to let the boxcar go by. The spies throw furniture and other objects onto the tracks. They set some logs on fire on the tracks. All of these tactics work for a while, but they eventually run out of coal and are force to flee on foot.

 

More guesses will generate more clues. And by the way, it's not a World War II story.

[fredbaetz]

"The Great Locomotive Chase" with Fess Parker and Jeffery Hunter?

Wasn't this a remake to a certain degree of Buster Keatons "The General"

[MilesArcher]

You got it, Fred. Fess Parker had just become a pop culture icon with the Davy Crockett series on TV. Jeff York, who had played Mike Fink in the Crockett shows, played his right hand man in this one. It was a true story of Union spies, led my Major James Andrews, who stole a train and led their pursuers on a wild chase. Jeffrey Hunter played the southern conductor, William Fuller, who chased the train on foot and by handcar until he could get some help. In the real incident, Andrews and his men were hung as spies. The became posthumous recipients of the first Congressional Medals Of Honor. Now here's something that most people do not know. When you think of civil war movies, everyone thinks of "Gone With The Wind". There is a tie-in of sorts with this incident. After the war, William Fuller, the courageous conductor, lived in Atlanta. He had a daughter, Annie Laurie Fuller. When Annie grew up she married Atlanta architect and historian Wilbur Kurtz. Annie and Wilbur became friends with Margaret Mitchell, the author of GWTW. When David Selznick was scheduling the shooting of GWTW, Margaret Mitchell suggested that he hire Wilbur Kurtz as a technical adviser. Wilbur and Annie lived in Hollywood when the picture was being made. Wilbur kept a diary of the movie shoot and Annie took lots of pictures. They were published in an Atlanta newspaper in episodic form. So, as the late Paul

Harvey used to say, Now You Know The Rest Of The Story!

 

Fred, Buster Keaton's masterpiece, "The General", was based on the same incident. The thread is yours.

 

Message was edited by: MilesArcher

[fredbaetz]

If anyone had something ready to go, then you're welcome to jump in....

[DownGoesFrazier]

Clue #1---An architect

[DownGoesFrazier]

Clue #2---Two-timing his wife