1940′s Films | Cowboy Movies

January 9, 2009

The Man from Colorado

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: The Man from Colorado — Wayne @ 10:44 pm

The Man from Colorado is a 1948 American western movie directed by Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford and William Holden.

Plot

Near the end of the American Civil War, Union Colonel Owen Devereaux (Glenn Ford) orders his regiment to open fire on Confederates consisting of about 100 men, though he (and only he) can see that they have signaled their willingness to surrender with a white flag. Afterwards, the colonel hides the white flag under a corpse so that it will not be spotted. However, his best friend and second in command, Captain Del Stewart (William Holden), learns the truth and realizes that the war has unhinged Devereaux’s mind.

Cast

Glenn Ford as Owen Devereaux
William Holden as Del Stewart
Ellen Drew as Caroline Emmett
Ray Collins as ‘Big Ed’ Carter
Edgar Buchanan as Doc Merriam
Jerome Courtland as Johnny Howard
James Millican as Sergeant Jericho Howard
Jim Bannon as Nagel
William Phillips as York

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She Wore a Yellow Ribbon

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon — Wayne @ 10:41 pm

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is a 1949 western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. The film was the second of Ford’s trilogy of films focusing on the US Cavalry, the other two films being Fort Apache (1948) and Rio Grande (1950). With a budget of $1.6 million, the film was one of the most expensive westerns of the time, but became a major hit for RKO and remains a popular classic today.

Known for its breathtaking views of Monument Valley located on the southern border of Utah; the cinematographer, Winton Hoch, won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography. Ford and Hoch based much of the film’s imagery on the paintings and sculptures of Frederic Remington.

Ford demonstrated a number of standard Cavalry procedures in horse management in this and other movies. Strict rotation between walk, trot, and leading the horses made them last as long as possible. They were still no match for the lightly burdened Indian horses for endurance, but US Cavalry horses were fed grain (when available), and this helped even the odds a bit.

The film is named after a song common in the U.S. military, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon”, which is still used today to keep marching cadence. It is a variant of the song “All Around My Hat”.

Plot

On the verge of his retirement, the aging Cavalry Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles (John Wayne) deals with a series of attacks by the Cheyenne following the defeat of George Armstrong Custer. Unwilling to see more lives needlessly taken, Brittles takes it upon himself to try to make peace with Chief Pony That Walks (Chief John Big Tree).

Errors

The movie’s narrator references Pony Express rider’s concerns over George Custer’s defeat. Custer was killed in 1876, whereas the pony express made its last ride fifteen years earlier in 1861 after only a year of service.

Cast

John Wayne Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
Joanne Dru Olivia Dandridge
John Agar 1st Lt. Flint Cohill
Ben Johnson Sgt. Tyree
Harry Carey Jr. 2nd Lt. Ross Penell
Victor McLaglen Sgt. Quincannon
Mildred Natwick Abby Allshard (“Old Iron Pants”}
George O’Brien Maj. Mac Allshard
Arthur Shields Dr. O’Laughlin
Michael Dugan Sgt. Hochbauer

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Yellow Sky

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: Yellow Sky — Wayne @ 10:39 pm

Yellow Sky (1948) is an American western film directed by William A. Wellman. The story is a Western adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. A band of outlaws flee after a bank robbery and encounter an old man and his granddaughter in a ghost town.

Production

The studio purchased W. R. Burnett‘s unpublished novel for $35,000 in November 1947. All drafts of the screenplay were written by Lamar Trotti.

The western commenced a construction crew of over 150 men and women to build a ghost town in the desert near Lone Pine, California, by demolishing a movie set, called “Last Outpost”, that Tom Mix had built in 1923. Exteriors were also filmed at Death Valley National Monument, with the cast and crew living at Furnace Creek Inn and Camp, which was leased from the Pacific Coast Borax Company.

At the time of filming, animal cruelty regulations only permitted horses to be on the set for three hours.

The opening and closing music was taken from Alfred Newman’s score for the Twentieth Century-Fox film Brigham Young (1940), which was also written by Trotti.

Adaptations and remakes

The success of the film spawned a radio adaptation starring Peck and hosted by director William A. Wellman which was broadcast on Screen Directors’ Playhouse on NBC Radio on July 15, 1949.

The film was remade in 1967 as The Jackals. Filmed in South Africa by producer-director Robert D. Webb, The Jackals starred Robert Gunner, Diana Iverson and, as the old man, Vincent Price. The film, however, was never given a theatrical release, but was shown on television.

Cast

Gregory Peck as James ‘Stretch’ Dawson
Anne Baxter as Constance Mae or ‘Mike’
Richard Widmark as Dude
Robert Arthur as Bull Run
John Russell as Lengthy
Harry Morgan as Half Pint
James Barton as Grandpa
Charles Kemper as Walrus

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Fort Apache

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: Fort Apache — Wayne @ 10:36 pm

Fort Apache is a 1948 western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director’s “cavalry trilogy” and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both starring Wayne. The story, which screenwriter James Warner Bellah based loosely on George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn, as well as the Fetterman Massacre of 1866, was one of the first to present an authentic and sympathetic view of the Native Americans involved in the battle (Apache in the film, Sioux in the real battles).

The film was awarded the Best Director and Best Cinematography awards by the Locarno International Film Festival of Locarno, Switzerland.

Production

Some exteriors for the film were shot in Monument Valley, Utah. The exteriors involving the fort itself and the renegade Indian agent’s trading post were filmed at Corriganville, which is now a park in Simi Valley, California.

Plot summary

After the end of the American Civil War, the veteran, well-respected Captain Kirby York (John Wayne) is expected by the regimental personnel of Fort Apache, an isolated U.S. cavalry post, to replace the outgoing commander. York had commanded his own regiment during the Civil War and was well-qualified to assume permanent command. To their surprise and disappointment, the command of the regiment was given to Lieutenant Colonel Owen Thursday (Henry Fonda). Thursday, a West Pointer, was a General during the Civil War. Despite his Civil War combat record, Lieutenant Colonel Thursday lacks experience to deal with the Indians he is expected to watch, and is a very arrogant officer and martinet.

Accompanying widower Thursday is his daughter, Philadelphia (Shirley Temple). She becomes attracted to Second Lieutenant Michael Shannon O’Rourke (John Agar), the son of Sergeant Major Michael O’Rourke (Ward Bond). The elder O’Rourke had won the Medal of Honor, entitling his son to enter West Point and become an officer. However, the class-conscious Thursday forbids his daughter to see someone he does not consider a gentleman, despite the fact that Sergeant Major O’Rourke had served during the Civil War as a Major with the Irish Brigade and went on to earn the Medal of Honor for his bravery under fire.

When there is unrest among the Indians, led by Cochise (Miguel Inclan), Thursday ignores York’s advice to treat the natives with honor and that the problems are caused by corrupt Indian agents. His arrogant behavior drives the Indians to rise up. Eager for glory and recognition, Thursday orders his regiment into battle on Cochise’s terms, despite York’s urgent warnings.

By deliberately misinterpreting his orders York spares the younger O’Rourke from battle. However, Thursday’s entire command is wiped out. Thursday himself survives but then returns to die with the last of his men. Cochise spares York’s detachment because he knows York to be an honorable man.

Subsequently, now-Lieutenant Colonel Kirby York commands the regiment. Meeting with correspondents introduces Lt. O’Rourke, now married to Thursday’s daughter, who is the mother of his son – Michael Thursday York O’Rourke. A reporter asks Colonel York if he has seen the famous painting depicting “Thursday’s Charge.” York, about to command a new and arduous campaign to bring in the Apaches, says it is completely accurate and then reminds the reporters that the soldiers will never be forgotten as long as the regiment lives.

Cast

John Wayne Capt. Kirby York
Henry Fonda Lt. Col. Owen Thursday
Ward Bond Sgt. Major O’Rourke
Shirley Temple Philadelphia Thursday
John Agar Lt. Michael “Mickey” O’Rourke
Dick Foran Sgt. Quincannon
Pedro Armendariz Sgt. Beaufort
Miguel Inclan Cochise

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The Vigilante

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: The Vigilante — Wayne @ 10:34 pm

The Vigilante (1947) was the 33rd serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based on the comic book cowboy, The Vigilante, who first appeared in Action Comics, and was starred by Ralph Byrd, well known for his central role in the Dick Tracy serials. It was his last ever serial appearance.

This serial makes the Vigilante one of the first live action adaptations of a DC Comics character, beating Superman by one year although Batman had already made an appearance with his own serial in 1943 (also from Columbia).

Plot

The Vigilante, a masked government agent, is assigned to investigate the case of the “100 Tears of Blood”, a cursed string of rare blood red pearls sought by a gang led by the unknown X-1 that may have been smuggled into the country.

Greg Sanders (Saunders in the comics), in his civilian guise as an actor, is filming a western on George Pierce’s ranch. Pierce is a wealthy rancher and nightclub owner. When the Prince Hamil arrives to the ranch, he gives a horse each to Saunders, Pierce, Captain Reilly, Tex Collier and Betty Winslow. But an outlaw gang soon attacks, attempting to steal all five horses. It turns out that each horse has twenty of the pearls hidden in their shoes (five in each) in secret compartments. Edging closer, Sanders learn that a prince’s servant stole the diamonds from his master and smuggled them in on the horses with the intention of passing them on to X-1.

Production

The Vigilante was originally a comic book character whose first appearance was in Action Comics (Issue #42, November 1941). He was a singing-cowboy radio performer who doubled as a motorcycle-riding crime-fighter along with a pre-teen Chinese boy, Stuff the Chinatown Kid, as his answer to Batman’s Robin, although Stuff ran a lot more errands than Robin, since they did not have a butler like Alfred.

In the serial version, Stuff became a white, draft-age sidekick played by George Offerman Jr., which fit with the costume changes that Columbia tagged The Vigilante character with a snappy-brim fedora and a Montgomery Ward catalog, white Gene Autry-style shirt, instead of the large flat-brimmed hat and double-button blue shirt he wore in the comic books. The nose-chin covering bandana is about all that survived the comic book to screen transfer. They also changed Greg Sanders, the Vigilante’s alter-ego, from a radio troubador to a western film actor and miscast Ralph Byrd in the role as the masked government agent.

Director Wallace Fox makes a cameo appearance as the director filming Greg Sanders’ movie at George Pierce’s ranch.

Cast

Ralph Byrd as Greg Sanders/The Vigilante
Ramsay Ames as Betty Winslow, rodeo star
Lyle Talbot as George Pierce
George Offerman Jr. as Stuff, The Vigilante’s sidekick
Robert Barron as Prince Hamil, dignitary of Aravania. Barron was wrongly listed on-screen as Prince Hassan but referred to as Hamil.
Hugh Prosser as Captain Reilly, highway patrol officer
Jack Ingram as Silver/henchman X-2
Eddie Parker as Doc/henchman X-3
Tiny Brauer as Thorne/henchman X-9

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Jesse James Rides Again

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: Jesse James Rides Again — Wayne @ 10:33 pm

Jesse James Rides Again (1947) is a Republic film serial.

Production

Jesse James Rides Again was budgeted at $149,967 although the final negative cost was $180,497 (a $30,530, or 20.4%, overspend).

It was filmed between 10 January and 5 February 1947. The serial’s production number was 1696.

This was one of only four 13-chapter serials to be released by Republic. Three of the four were released in 1947, the only original serials released in that year. The fourth serial of the year was a re-release of the 15-chapter, 1941 serial Jungle Girl. This marked the first time Republic had re-released a serial to add to their first run serial releases^.

Stunts

Tom Steele as Jesse James (doubling Clayton Moore)
Dale Van Sickel as Frank Lawton/James Clark (doubling Roy Barcroft & Tristram Coffin)

Special Effects

Special effects created by the Lydecker brothers.

Release

Theatrical

Jesse James Rides Again’s official release date is 2 August 1947, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

The serial was re-released on 28 March 1955 between the first runs of Panther Girl of the Kongo and King of the Carnival.

Cast

Clayton Moore as Jesse James
Linda Stirling as Ann Bolton. It was during filming of this serial that Linda Stirling met her future husband Sloane Nibley.^[2]
Roy Barcroft as Frank Lawton
John Compton as Steve Lane
Tristram Coffin as James Clark
Tom London as Sam Bolton
Holly Bane as Tim
Edmund Cobb as Farmer Wilkie

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Angel and the Badman

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: Angel and the Badman — Wayne @ 10:30 pm

Angel and the Badman is a 1947 black and white Western film, starring John Wayne and Gail Russell, which examines the ability of a shootist to renounce violence. This film, which was the first one Wayne produced as well as starred in, was a radical departure for this genre at the time it was released.

Plot Synopsis

The notorious shootist and womanizer Quirt Evans’ horse collapses as he passes a Quaker family’s home. Quirt has been wounded and the kindly family takes him in and nurses him back to health against the advice of others.

The handsome Evans quickly attracts the affections of their beautiful but sheltered daughter, Penelope. He develops an affection for the family but his troubled past follows him there, both outlaws and the law.

Evans falls for Penelope and begins to assimilate her pacifist lifestyle. However, the tug of his old ways is very strong and so he vacillates back and forth. He is finally forced to examine his character after his violent actions bring harm to an innocent person.

This movie is the point of departure for two other successful “fish out of water” movies, the 1985 “Witness” starring Harrison Ford and the 2003 “The Outsider” starring Tim Daly and Naomi Watts, both of which have a similar story line.

It was filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona and is available on DVD.

Stick Figure Theater, a feature on Liquid Television, made a stick figure version of the bar scene from the movie.

Cast

John Wayne – Quirt Evans
Gail Russell – Penelope Worth
Harry Carey – McClintock
Bruce Cabot – Laredo Stevens
Irene Rich – Mrs. Worth
Lee Dixon – Randy McCall
Stephen Grant – Johnny Worth
Tom Powers – Dr. Mangram
Paul Hurst – Frederick Carson
Olin Howland – Bradley (billed as Olin Howlin)
John Halloran – Thomas Worth

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My Darling Clementine

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: My Darling Clementine — Wayne @ 10:28 pm

My Darling Clementine (1946) is a western film, directed by John Ford, and based on the story of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral between the Earp brothers and the Clanton gang. It features an ensemble cast including Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan, and others.

The movie was adapted by Samuel G. Engel, Sam Hellman, and Winston Miller from the book Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal by Stuart N. Lake. The title derives from the folk song “Oh My Darling, Clementine”, which is sung in the movie. Whole scenes from an earlier version, produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, 1939′s Frontier Marshal, directed by Alan Dwan, were reshot by Ford for this remake.

In 1991, this film was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Plot

In 1881 the Earp brothers, Wyatt, James, Morgan and Virgil, are driving cattle to California when they cross the Clanton family led by the “Old Man”. Told of a nearby town, Tombstone, the older brothers ride in, leaving the youngest brother James to watch over the cattle. The Earps quickly find Tombstone a lawless town. When they return to their camp, they find the cattle rustled and James dead.

Seeking vengeance, Wyatt returns to Tombstone and takes the open job of town marshall, meeting with the local powers, Doc Holliday and the Clantons, again and again in order to find out who was responsible. In the meantime, a young woman from Boston named Clementine Carter arrives in town…

Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther lauded the film and wrote, “Let’s be specific about this: The eminent director, John Ford, is a man who has a way with a Western like nobody in the picture trade. Seven years ago his classic Stagecoach snuggled very close to fine art in this genre. And now, by George, he’s almost matched it with My Darling Clementine…But even with standard Western fiction—and that’s what the script has enjoined—Mr. Ford can evoke fine sensations and curiously-captivating moods. From the moment that Wyatt and his brothers are discovered on the wide and dusty range, trailing a herd of cattle to a far-off promised land, a tone of pictorial authority is struck—and it is held. Every scene, every shot is the product of a keen and sensitive eye—an eye which has deep comprehension of the beauty of rugged people and a rugged world.”^[2]

The staff at Variety magazine wrote of the film, “Trademark of John Ford’s direction is clearly stamped on the film with its shadowy lights, softly contrasted moods and measured pace, but a tendency is discernible towards stylization for stylization’s sake. At several points, the pic comes to a dead stop to let Ford go gunning for some arty effect.”

Cast

Henry Fonda as Wyatt Earp
Linda Darnell as Chihuahua
Victor Mature as Dr. John ‘Doc’ Holliday
Cathy Downs as Clementine Carter
Walter Brennan as Old Man Clanton
Tim Holt as Virgil Earp
Ward Bond as Morgan Earp
Alan Mowbray as Granville Thorndyke
John Ireland as Billy Clanton
Roy Roberts as Mayor
Jane Darwell as Kate Nelson
Grant Withers as Ike Clanton
J. Farrell MacDonald as Mac the barman

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Bad Bascomb

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: Bad Bascomb — Wayne @ 10:26 pm

Bad Bascomb is a 1946 western film starring Wallace Beery and Margaret O’Brien. The movie was directed by S. Sylvan Simon.

Plot

“Bad” Bascomb (Beery) is wanted by the law. He and another thief find themselves inadvertently part of a Mormon wagon train heading to Utah. To escape the law, they pretend to be helpful, and Bascomb becomes fond of an admiring little girl played by O’Brien. Beery eventually distances himself from the other thief and saves the wagon train from an attack by Indians, before being taken captive by the law at the end of the movie.

Cast

Wallace Beery as Zed Bascomb
Margaret O’Brien as Emmy
Marjorie Main as Abbie Hanks
J. Carrol Naish as Bart Ramsey
Frances Rafferty as Dora McCabe
Marshall Thompson as Jimmy Holden
Henry O’Neill as Governor Winton

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Abilene Town

Filed under: 1940's Films — Tags: Abilene Town — Wayne @ 10:25 pm

Abilene Town was a 1946 western film directed by Edwin L. Marin. The film starred Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak, Lloyd Bridges, Rhonda Fleming, and Edgar Buchanan.

The movie was set in the Old West years immediately following the Civil War, in the cattle town of Abilene, Kansas.

Plot

In the years following the Civil War, Kansas is in the middle of a difficult time. Homesteaders are moving into the west, trying to start new lives, and are going head to head against cattlemen who have been settled in that territory for years. In Abilene, one of the biggest cattle towns of the west, the town is on the brink of a confrontation between the cattlemen and the homesteaders.

Marshall Dan Mitchell (Randolph Scott), who is the law in Abilene, has the job of keeping the peace between the two groups. For a long time, the town had been divided, with the cattlemen and cowboys having one end of town to themselves, while townspeople occupied the other end. Mitchell liked it this way, it made things easier for him, and kept problems from arising between the two factions. However, when homesteaders decide to lay stakes in the cowboys end of town, that balance is upset, and leads to a deadly showdown.

The leader of the homesteaders is Henry Dreiser (Lloyd Bridges), a young man with good common sense, and the local sheriff is Bravo Trimble (Edgar Buchanan), a lawman who would rather play cards than be involved in any confrontation. Mitchell not only has the difficult job of juggling the upcoming confrontation, but also his love life.

Cast

Randolph Scott, Marshall Dan Mitchell
Edgar Buchanan, Sheriff Bravo Trimble
Lloyd Bridges, Henry Deiser
Ann Dvorak, Rita
Rhonda Fleming, Sherry Balder
Helen Boyce, Big Annie
Howard Freeman, Ed Balder

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