Western Movie Rambles

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=FrankGrimes wrote:}{quote}

> I mean the thead got quiet, so maybe some have another movie they want to ramble on!

>

> So long as it's not Ford or Coop.

 

Don't worry!

[JackFavell]

Isn't that the coolest thing? I took some books out of the library, and when I turned to read about Cochise, voila! I was amazed.

 

If you guys want to switch rambles, that's OK I just wanted to post that set of pics.....and.....

 

I couldn't find the scene in Fort Apache where Cochise picks up a handful of dirt and then throws it down. Kirby York mimics these actions at two different points in the film. Kirby has two scenes that are very similar to Cochise's - one where he throws his hat down, and the other in which he is tapping his leg with something, I forget what. I just thought it was interesting that Kirby and Cochise were aligned by their actions.

 

Again, at the end of Fort Apache, just as at the beginning, actions speak louder than words:

 

I find myself torn in the last moments, as to whom I should be watching, Thursday or Collingwood:

 

To me, this moment is remarkable. Not a sound to be heard, no background music, and then maybe just a low rumble - the sound of horses hooves getting louder and louder......

 

The mighty warrior Cochise could wipe out York and his men, but York has acted honorably and Cochise recognizes him:

[MissGoddess]

Oh no no no, Wendy!! Keep it going I just was afraid everyone was done with FA. And your last

series of screencaps is the BEST so far! I just love that you got that GREAT scene with the dust

cloud obscuring Yorke briefly and the way it morphed. Oh my goodness, what a powerful scene.

 

You'll probably find MANY paintings and illustrations that will remind you of a Ford scene.

Remember, he kept a folio of Bierstadt paintings by his bed?

 

The next time I watch this film I have so much to look for!! And EVERY time I watch it I

ALWAYS find something new, just when I think it's been "exhausted" and there is not

possibly anything "new" to be found. Wrong!!

 

This is part of what makes Ford's films so very U-N-I-Q-U-E (spelled out for the hard of

hearing).

[FrankGrimes]

This is part of what makes Ford's films so very U-N-I-Q-U-E (spelled out for the hard of

hearing).

 

Huh?

[MissGoddess]

Huh?

 

[FrankGrimes]

Now THAT'S hilarious!

[JackFavell]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

>

 

 

how do you always do that?

 

I swear, you have the wit of an Algonquin Round Table member.....

[molo14]

MissG,

 

Ha! I agree with Jackie! That photo made my day!

[MissGoddess]

Ha! Thank you but the only way they would have let me near the wits at the Algonquin "round table" is if I were carrying a tray of drinks.

[movieman1957]

If things have slowed down on the current conversation I wanted to put it out here as well (Western Gallery) that Encore Westerns is showing Joel McCrea in "Ramrod." Has anyone seen it? What do you think?

 

I saw it some time ago and while it isn't great I think it sheds a new light on Don DeFore. He plays McCrea's partner. Veronica Lake also stars. She may not be cut out for westerns but she does ok.

 

If not, we'll go back to our regularly scheduled conversation.

[movieman1957]

If things have slowed down on the current conversation I wanted to put it out here as well (Western Gallery) that Encore Westerns is showing Joel McCrea in "Ramrod." Has anyone seen it? What do you think?

 

I saw it some time ago and while it isn't great I think it sheds a new light on Don DeFore. He plays McCrea's partner. Veronica Lake also stars. She may not be cut out for westerns but she does ok.

 

If not, we'll go back to our regularly scheduled conversation.

[MissGoddess]

> {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote}

> If things have slowed down on the current conversation I wanted to put it out here as well (Western Gallery) that Encore Westerns is showing Joel McCrea in "Ramrod." Has anyone seen it? What do you think?

>

> I saw it some time ago and while it isn't great I think it sheds a new light on Don DeFore. He plays McCrea's partner. Veronica Lake also stars. She may not be cut out for westerns but she does ok.

>

> If not, we'll go back to our regularly scheduled conversation.

 

I wrote this in the Gallery thread but it more properly belongs here:

 

I saw RAMROD about a week ago and LOVED it to pieces. This may be my FAVORITE

Veronica Lake performance ever. She's incredible. The relationship between her and her

father is very similar to Stanwyck and Huston in The Furies, except of the two I prefer

Veronica's performance. She honestly had me guessing the entire time what she was up

to, Barbara never leaves you in doubt as to what she's thinking.

 

I think it was a fantastic little western, much better than some and worth seeing for any

western fan. McRea's role was a little on the passive side, he even disappears for a spell,

but it's still interesting.

[JackFavell]

I just watched *The Train Robbers* with John Wayne, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson and Ann Marg-rock..... (sorry. I always want to slip into Flintstones-speak when I think of her). It was an attractive film with appealing stars, produced by Batjac with Michael Wayne getting producing credit. It was written and directed by Burt Kennedy.

 

Thank goodness for the nice landscape shots, stars and decent score, because I found myself waiting all through the movie for something to happen. In fact, it took me a long time to figure out the title of the movie - which is sort of confusing. It was old fashioned, but this was not necessarily a good thing. The script was trite, not to mention derivative. You could see the influence of a whole host of other later westerns here, but it just felt like a rehash, rather than an hommage. I really felt like the best idea came at the end.....when Ann Margret takes off on the train.....I would have liked to see the movie take this plot twist and run with it.... rather than the long buildup beforehand and the Butch Cassidy chase by an unknown pursuer. That part fell quite flat for me.

 

Wayne had a couple of really good scenes, and Ben Johnson was charming, but I felt that poor Rod Taylor was completely wasted as the third buddy - when Ben tells Ann that Rod drives everyone crazy with his antics, I was surprised, because Rod's character had been so poorly defined up to that point. In fact, he was hardly there at all. Bobby Vinton and Christopher George were OK, but they could've been ditched with no real damage done. Somehow, they made me think of Dobe Carey and Ben Johnson himself in their younger days... except Christopher George looks about as western as Herman Munster....

 

The movie tried to be all things to all people - they should have left out the younger characters, let the men be men, and given them a little dangerousness - they are all so danged nice, that the plot twists were given away before the movie got started.

 

I was quite disappointed in Ann Margret here. Perhaps it is not her fault, she has the same problem as Rod Taylor - her character is not defined. All of a sudden she is supposed to show interest in Wayne, in a sort of rip off of Angie Dickinson in Rio Bravo, but she hasn't got the spark Angie has. There was no reason behind that curiosity. And she has an impossibly bad drunk scene - I was embarrassed watching her slur her words and fall all over herself in front of Wayne. The movie was just dull enough that I found myself thinking about why she wore her hair down instead of up, and whether it was extensions.....

 

All in all it was a pleasant couple hours, but I kept wondering what if they had done this or that differently ....... if Ann Margret had played all the men against one another, and then run off halfway through, turning the chase around, it might have been more fun.

[Arkadin]

> {quote:title=MissGoddess wrote:}{quote}

> > {quote:title=movieman1957 wrote:}{quote}

> > If things have slowed down on the current conversation I wanted to put it out here as well (Western Gallery) that Encore Westerns is showing Joel McCrea in "Ramrod." Has anyone seen it? What do you think?

> >

> > I saw it some time ago and while it isn't great I think it sheds a new light on Don DeFore. He plays McCrea's partner. Veronica Lake also stars. She may not be cut out for westerns but she does ok.

> >

> > If not, we'll go back to our regularly scheduled conversation.

>

> I wrote this in the Gallery thread but it more properly belongs here:

>

> I saw RAMROD about a week ago and LOVED it to pieces. This may be my FAVORITE

> Veronica Lake performance ever. She's incredible. The relationship between her and her

> father is very similar to Stanwyck and Huston in The Furies, except of the two I prefer

> Veronica's performance. She honestly had me guessing the entire time what she was up

> to, Barbara never leaves you in doubt as to what she's thinking.

>

> I think it was a fantastic little western, much better than some and worth seeing for any

> western fan. McRea's role was a little on the passive side, he even disappears for a spell,

> but it's still interesting.

 

 

I'll have to check this one out. Thanks for the tip, guys.

 

[rohanaka]

The Train Robbers

 

Hiya Jackie.... that is one that I (for some reason) have never bothered to notice. It has been on before and I just seem willing to pass it by (I am not a bank robbery/ train robbery/ etc etc kinda fan....) so I just have never checked it out. Sounds like it might be good for a pass the time sort of thing.... but not a top choice. Maybe others who have seen it will chime in.

 

Ann Marg-rock..... (sorry. I always want to slip into Flintstones-speak when I think of her)

 

HA!!! I do the same thing w/ Cary Granite.. I mean Grant... ha.

[JackFavell]

I am not a bank robbery/ train robbery/ etc etc kinda fan....

 

This movie may just be for you, because as far as I could tell, there is no train robbery in the whole thing! I couldn't tell if the title referred to something that happened in the past, before the movie started, or if it was something that happened after the end of the movie (I actually prefer to think about it this way).

 

I did get some nice pics of Ben from this movie, so it was worth watching! The movie is pretty easygoing, so it isn't horrible, it just could've been much better. Here is the movie the way I saw it (i.e. *Starring Ben Johnson* with a few other performers) :

 

[movieman1957]

It is not one of the better Wayne efforts but if you catch and have some time to spare....

[rohanaka]

Here is the movie the way I saw it (i.e. Starring Ben Johnson with a few other performers)

 

It's all in the perspective.... ha. :-)

[clore]

THE TRAIN ROBBERS really shows what a director can add to a screenplay. This one was done by Burt Kennedy who had written a number of Boetticher classics. It's an understatement to say that Budd was better than Burt.

 

The basic set up is similar to RIDE LONESOME or COMANCHE STATION. We get a peripatetic group of types, shots of them riding, shots of them camping down for the night, and a lot of hero worshippng of John Wayne. As much as I like the Duke, it got a little nauseating.

 

But there's no real tension here, Wayne and company are being followed, not only by a gang out to recover the loot, but also by some mysterious rider who seems to be leftover from Kennedy's previous western HANNIE CAULDER. There it was Stephen Boyd, here it's Ricardo Montalban.

 

However the previous film had three memorable villains in Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin. Had Kennedy combined the villains of one with the heroes of the other, he might have had one real good western. Instead,we get two half-baked ones.

 

I will say though that THE TRAIN ROBBERS looks like the return of John Ford compared to Dukes next, CAHILL: US MARSHALL. To me, that one is the worst western from the Duke since his days at Lone Star.

 

Message was edited by: clore

[HollywoodGolightly]

> {quote:title=Arkadin wrote:}{quote}

> I'll have to check this one out. Thanks for the tip, guys.

>

>

 

I take it you're also a Veronica Lake fan? I am hoping to watch Ramrod soon, as well.

[CineMaven]

Clippity cloppity, clippity cloppity...

 

I've been wandering (like Jimmy Stewart & Kim Novak in "Vertigo.")

 

But just in case you tell me that I've wandered onto the wrong forum, I'm in the right place. I've wandered into these here parts to just give you gals and cowpokes a heads up that on the Encore Westerns channel (ch. 256 for us Time Warner Cable folks in the duded up East) they will be showing many John Wayne movies of his from the slim trim Duke of the 30's starting at 2:00 in the am. (Holy Horse Crap, that's NOW and I've got to get up in the morning.

 

But if you want to see him with more meat on his bones, you can start at:

 

11:05 AM In Old Chicago (1942)

 

12:40 PM Dakota (1945)

 

2:10 PM Angel & the Bad Man (1947) (With the beautiful & ethereal Gail Russell...like I had to tell you)

 

4:00 PM North to Alaska (1960) (With the beautiful & sexy Capucine)

 

6:00 PM The Comancheros (1961) (With the beautiful & swarthy Stuart Whitman)

 

8:00PM Chisum (1970) (With the beautiful & manly Ben Johnson).

 

Me? Oh, I'll be giving the beautiful & radiant Frances Dee a whirl in "HAPPY LAND" (on Fox Movie Channel at six this morning). Ya see TCM...we might watch another channel, but we come here to talk about it.

 

I shall return to the netherworld of noir and wait for Victor Mature and Richard Conte in "Cry of the City." Oh, there's a great love scene between Conte and (the beautiful & powerful) Hope Emerson in this movie. Well the love scene is done NOIR style

 

Happy viewing.

[MissGoddess]

Hi Jackie, Ro, Clore & MovieManChris! The Train Robbers is pretty low on my list of

westerns. I never cuold figure out what was going on and no, I don't remember any train robbery

either, lol.

 

I can't even recall much what Rod Taylor did, either, and THAT says something.

 

Well, howdy, stranger! Thank you for alerting us about the salute to the Duke, MissMaven!

I've been watching the tributes by his celebrity fans running in between the movies for the

last week or so and today, too, of course.

 

I keep getting all those "city" noirs mixed up: While the City Sleeps, Cry of the City,

The Naked City, etc...I think I've seen them all but confuse the titles.

[clore]

I remember seeing John Wayne and Ann-Margret on The Tonight Show right around this time of year in 1972. I remember that specifically as they were talking about Wayne just becoming a senior citizen and today marks 102 years since his birth. Wayne was talking about the film, but did say he thought it had a stupid title.

 

The only thing that I can recall about Rod Taylor's part is his telling Ben Johnson about a visit to a cathouse where he ended up just playing cards all night. I guess that was to tell us that he was getting old, but since he was younger than Duke, what does that imply? That Duke was older than God?

 

Duke does tell Ann-Margret "I've got a saddle older than you are."

 

The script was so bereft of new ideas that even Wayne's character name (Lane) and Ann-Margret's (Mrs. Lowe) are recycled from HONDO. Kennedy also used "Mrs. Lowe" also in COMANCHE STATION.

 

Message was edited by: clore

[JackFavell]

clore -

 

I agree with you about the movie, it's not very good, and the hero worship is a little thick, but I have to say that Wayne still could do a lot with the little he was given. I actually respect him just a wee bit more, acting-wise after seeing this movie, because he manages a couple of really fine scenes in spite of everything.

[MissGoddess]

So much _stupidity_ here on these wacky boards today, it's impossible to post. Here is

a photo of Ben and Ann-Margret which may be from the set of The Train Robbers: