|
|
Post by brutalis on Jul 17, 2019 8:08:47 GMT -5
Writing about the West wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Cowboy Code. I 1st heard of this and read about from Gene Autry in making his movies. He demanded that ALL his movies follow this code and promote the better aspects of humanity.
1.The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3. He must always tell the truth.
4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. He must help people in distress.
7. He must be a good worker.
8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation's laws.
10. The Cowboy is a patriot.
This has been "updated" over time and the current version is more like this:
1. Live each day with courage.
2. Take pride in your work.
3. Always finish what you start.
4. Do what has to be done.
5. Be tough, but fair.
6. When you make a promise, keep it.
7. Ride for the brand.
8. Talk less and say more.
9. Remember that some things aren’t for sale.
10. Know where to draw the line.
The World itself would be a much better place if EVERYONE followed these simple guides to living.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Aug 28, 2019 14:08:13 GMT -5
I will say that NOW is a great time for us Western movies and Television series aficionados. On over the air free HD TV there is GRIT-TV the full time Western channel with movies and television shows, MeTV runs a steady block of westerns television shows on Saturdays, Heroes and Icons channel has their morning full of western television shows and Cable television has their own Western channels as well. Alongside these great channels there are tons of movies and television Westerns available on DVD/Blue-ray for purchasing. Lots of the old 1950's matinee movies that were virtually never seen since their theater showings are now turning up on inexpensive collections of bulk movies on DVD. There are even some companies specializing with collecting specific old time shows in whatever form they may still exist in. There is so much available it is almost mind boggling in what to choose from.
The last several years have seen me buying up DVD's of the western movies from the 40's and 50's and 60's that I had heard of and never seen anything other than occasional pictures in books discussing them. Truly splendid fun stuff from the likes of Bob Steele, Tom Mix, Tim McCoy, Tom Tyler, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Tex Ritter, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Harry Carey and others. Warner Bro's has gone to great lengths in cleaning up and restoring the old Monogram Western Cowboy series. You can now enjoy crisp, adventures of Johnny Mack Brown, Tim Holt, Raymond Hatton, Jimmy Wakely, Whip Wilson and their various sidekicks. OnesMedia has collected together 49 films of Charles Starret starring as The Durango Kid for everyone to enjoy. There are the 1st 2 season of the Lone Ranger show to relive your childhood with as well.
Place these wonderful discs of black and white cowboy's beside the major Western movies of John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Jimmy Stewart and their fellow compadre's and you will have more than enough to watch! So saddle up your couch, rocking chair or recliner and sit a spell as you enjoy riding the range in the comfort of your own living room...
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2019 15:08:15 GMT -5
I have been watching a lot of old Western tv shows this summer. There are a lot of tv channels right now with them on.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2019 19:40:36 GMT -5
brutalis and md62 ... I watch GRIT-TV too and I watch Death Valley Days, Wyatt Earp, and Movies too. Mainly for movies ...
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Sept 10, 2019 7:45:34 GMT -5
brutalis and md62 ... I watch GRIT-TV too and I watch Death Valley Days, Wyatt Earp, and Movies too. Mainly for movies ... My morning starts off with 2 episodes of Death Valley Days as I shave and eat and dress for work. Nice short vignettes usually with a bit of morality or history which much of current television lacks. GRIT along with Heroes and Icons and CometTV are the 3 channels my television mostly stays on. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2019 7:49:07 GMT -5
brutalis and md62 ... I watch GRIT-TV too and I watch Death Valley Days, Wyatt Earp, and Movies too. Mainly for movies ... My morning starts off with 2 episodes of Death Valley Days as I shave and eat and dress for work. Nice short vignettes usually with a bit of morality or history which much of current television lacks. GRIT along with Heroes and Icons and CometTV are the 3 channels my television mostly stays on. I usually watch one Death Valley Day show a day ... I watch a lot of Heroes and Icons and Comet TV too! |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Oct 24, 2019 8:31:02 GMT -5
Remembering When How the West was Fun and the West ruled my weekends. Saturday mornings had The Lone Ranger, the Cisco Kid, Fury and Lassie early mornings on TV just before the cartoons began. Saturday afternoons was a 3 hour back to back Western movie theater package on the local affiliate KPHO Channel 5 that ran all of the old black and white B-series westerns like Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry. A few years later the movies went from the black and white oldies to the color movies from Audie Murphy, Randolph Scott, George Montgomery, Gary Cooper and others. Sunday night Prime-Time Movie (usually ABC/NBC) was the big name stars of the day: John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and such.
Once into my teen years it became actual Western style living where I spent Saturdays and Sundays with a deacon from my church who professionally Rodeo'd on the side. He specialized in Barrel Racing and Calf Roping and he owned 3 horses of his own. One for the calf roping and 2 for the barrel racing. So weekends were spent with him learning for cleaning the stalls, walking the horses through their paces and training them before washing/grooming the horses all Saturday long with Sunday afternoons coming in from Church to spend the rest of the day riding the horses in the dry river-bottom a few blocks from my home.
Fast forward to now and my Sunday morning ritual is to pull out one (of tons) of my Western DVD's and fix up breakfast, put on a load or two of laundry while sitting back comfortably enjoying an old western movie. The West has always been a part of my weekend life and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by Slam_Bradley on Oct 24, 2019 9:25:41 GMT -5
Don't recall if I ever posted this...my youngest son has always been involved in shooting. One of his groups was a 4-H "Western Heritage" group. Along with shooting they also learned about period clothing, did some dutch oven cooking and worked on some quilting patterns. The holster he's wearing was made and hand-tooled by my Dad back in the 70s for his single-action .357. My son is sporting a single-action .22.  |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Nov 6, 2019 8:50:13 GMT -5
Oh those glory days of yore when being a Western Cowboy movie star meant you probably had a comic book selling with your name as the title. Just to toss of a random few:
Tom Mix
Hoot Gibson
Tex Ritter
Gene Autry
Roy Rogers
Jimmy Wakely
Buck Jones
Ken Maynard
Monte Hale
Bob Steele
Allan Lane
Bill Elliott
Red Ryder
Whip Wilson
Tim Holt
Johnny Mack Brown
Lash Larue
Hopalong Cassidy
All of these and many more had comic books carrying their names upon them. Name recognition was a big carry over from seeing these cowpokes every Satruday at the movies and then finding adventures with their names on the comic book spinner rack. If you knew the name then it was likely you would put your nickels and dimes to work buying their comic books. This also carried over for historical figures of the west as well. You would find heroes and villains of the west right alongside one another on the racks.
Daniel Boone
Davy Crockett
Jesse James
Billy the Kid
Wyatt Earp
Just about any television series was marketed via comic books for the kids as well.
Lawman
Gunsmoke
The Rifleman
Wagon Train
Laredo
Maverick
Cheyenne
Bat Masterson
Cisco Kid
Lone Ranger
Zorro
Have Gun Will Travel
Then of course the comic book publishers had their own creations.
Rawhide Kid
Two-Gun Kid
Kid Colt
Jonah Hex
Scalphunter
Ringo Kid
Outlaw Kid
Night Rider
Apache Kid
Bat Lash
Red Wolf
These days Western comic books don't seem to sell very well. Jonah Hex from DC has been the lone beacon upon the shelves along with the Lone Ranger. There have been attempts at min-series spotlighting the more well known Marvel and DC cowboys but they all come and go with no lasting impact. There have been attempts to "modernize" the cowboy/western into modern terms like Nomad, Red Wolf, Ghost Rider and such. Yet no creator's have really been able to catapult the western comic book back into a seller that folks want to buy and read regularly. Bill Black's AC Comics for a long time was the sole publisher willing to invest in reprinting the cowboy comics of the past. Such a shame as the western lore is an essential part of the American culture and our history which deserves to being read even today. I really wish that there was new or reprinted stories of those wild and woolly western days to enjoy and teach or instill the "code of the west" to the children of today and the future. At least I can continue to haunt the LCS and internet sellers in the search of continually building my library of well loved trail riders of yore...
|
|
|
|
Post by Warmonger on Nov 6, 2019 9:22:59 GMT -5
Just watched ‘Bone Tomahawk’ on Amazon last night.
Best damn western since ‘Unforgiven’.
Kurt Russell was awesome. Slow burn (which I appreciate), but the last 20-30 minutes are brutal. It takes a lot to shock me in a movie at this point in terms of violence. But my mouth was hanging open during one scene in particular.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Nov 6, 2019 10:53:44 GMT -5
Just watched ‘Bone Tomahawk’ on Amazon last night. Best damn western since ‘Unforgiven’. Kurt Russell was awesome. Slow burn (which I appreciate), but the last 20-30 minutes are brutal. It takes a lot to shock me in a movie at this point in terms of violence. But my mouth was hanging open during one scene in particular. Kurt really seems to enjoy Westerns and immerse himself in characters. Hope to see him doing more western movies, especially as he ages and weathers into the look of the tired and sun baked westerner who has endured a hard lifetime fraught with peril and danger! |
|
|
|
Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 6, 2019 20:05:04 GMT -5
Just watched ‘Bone Tomahawk’ on Amazon last night. Best damn western since ‘Unforgiven’. Kurt Russell was awesome. Slow burn (which I appreciate), but the last 20-30 minutes are brutal. It takes a lot to shock me in a movie at this point in terms of violence. But my mouth was hanging open during one scene in particular. I can easily imagine which one. That was the scariest and most disturbing film I’ve seen in at least a decade (and maybe ever). Great stuff. It even had a whole lot of details not mandated by the plot that made it all the richer: the marital tension between the mayor and his wife, for example (and it’s clear that she’s the one running things). It made these characters look very real, and the drama more relatable. I’d watch it again in a minute if it weren’t for fear of sleeping poorly for a while! |
|
|
|
Post by Warmonger on Nov 7, 2019 21:00:35 GMT -5
Just watched ‘Bone Tomahawk’ on Amazon last night. Best damn western since ‘Unforgiven’. Kurt Russell was awesome. Slow burn (which I appreciate), but the last 20-30 minutes are brutal. It takes a lot to shock me in a movie at this point in terms of violence. But my mouth was hanging open during one scene in particular. I can easily imagine which one. That was the scariest and most disturbing film I’ve seen in at least a decade (and maybe ever). Great stuff. It even had a whole lot of details not mandated by the plot that made it all the richer: the marital tension between the mayor and his wife, for example (and it’s clear that she’s the one running things). It made these characters look very real, and the drama more relatable. I’d watch it again in a minute if it weren’t for fear of sleeping poorly for a while! This And on a sidenote, Richard Jenkins as Chicory is a dead ringer for Chester from Gunsmoke with 40 years added to him lol. Was as if two different western universes collided. |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Dec 5, 2019 8:53:01 GMT -5
Another aspect of the WEST can be found in Western novels. As a teen, my grandfather had a back bed room where he stores brown paper grocery bags full of used novels. He would go around every Saturday afternoon and pick them up for 20-50 cents and fill up a bag to take home and read over the week. His preference was for old mens spy/action/adventure like Mack Bolan, the Destroyer and others of that type. His other favorite was old western novels. So whenever I would stay with them on a Friday night and Saturday to help mow the lawn and paint trees or repair their wooden fence I would dig through those bags in search of reading material.
One of the series I "borrowed" from grandpa remains in my hands to this day and is still a favorite read. In the mid to late 50's William Ard, using the pseudonym Jonas Ward began writing a series of novels about a cowpoke better known just by his last name: Buchanan! I had seen the Randolph Scott movie many times on the local Saturday western movie marathons so while perusing the brown bags I instantly recognized the book titles as being something I might like. And I was correct! Buchanan is a likable drifter going from town to town finding adventure ( or trouble as it is usually called) wherever he roams. Amply capable and fast with his fists as his guns, he and friends go around righting wrongs and generally helping out the little guy.
There were only 6 novels from Ward before his death but another 19 books in the series continued under his "house name" by other writers up until 1986. I can't remember how many of those novels my grandfather allowed me taking home but I never did return them as I read those over and over and eventually began searching out more of the books over the years. I currently have around 15 out of the 25 book series and am still seeking them out to this day. There is a subtle humor and jovial attitude to this series that has made it one of my most favorite reads right along REH and ERB.
But the western novel bug had struck me as a teen and I have never stopped picking up used western novels at used book stores, any thrift stores, yard sales and now online shops and Amazon. I quickly hooked onto William W. Johnstone (currently 444 books and more being written under his "author name" since his death) and otheres like Max Brand, Zane Grey, Louis L;Amour, Dusty Richards (many of his series revolve around Arizona locations), Elmer Kelton, Frank Bonham, Peter Brandvoldt, Ralph Compton, Frank Gruber, Will Henry, Robert E. Howard, Terry C. Johnstone, Charles King, Elmore Leonard, Larry McMurtry, Frederick Nolan, Richard S. Wheeler, Owen Wister and many others. Many carry an authentic "taste" of the west as it was and is today while others were pure wild action in a western atmosphere and yet they all entertain and deliver fun.
So if you are looking for western thrills and action, the novels continue in being a great source for those wanting to ride their sofa into the sunset rather than busting a bronc and saddling up for real.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Dec 26, 2019 9:17:40 GMT -5
So I mentioned in another thread I have quite a few DVD's from the 1940's and 1950's. Specifically the Warner Bro's archive collection's of Tim Holt (4 volumes) and the RKO Monogram Cowboy collections (9 volumes) along with 2 DVD sets of George O'Brien westerns and 2 collections of the COMPLETE Durango Kid along with multiple 50 movie sets filled with other B movie western heroes. These old timers of the west can be either really great or really poor,depending upon the company (how much $$ invested) and upon the star. They were usually cranked out and filmed entirely within a week at times (some look it more than others) as the demand for these low budgeted films was immense. They were family and child friendly entertainment providing thrills and excitement which were easily filmed upon the back lots and surrounding mountain properties of California that studios owned. You would normally see the same sights and many of the same actors within the movies and many of the stories were even re-purposed with minor alterations to accommodate not being sued.
While I adore the big A movie stars and the big budget Westerns, I have a special love and admiration for all of these B Western movie stars and serials. They really are a window into the past for when these films were created. No big budgets, no special effects and lots of times literally tossed together overnight. But they all have a charm and respect of what they were doing and providing to the world of viewers. They were never meant to be accurate historically or perfect in any way. They were films solely intent upon taking kids and adults into another world for escaping the pain and suffering of daily existence (many during war time) we all endure. They also helped to provide a strong sense of moral ethics and code of living we could all do with today. These movies were always about the good guy(s) defeating the bad guy(s) and usually getting the girl in the end. Evil never wins, Good always prevails and the town or ranch or cattle or family or girlfriend is saved. Give me a simple movie like this over the dreary and depressing overly expensive and convoluted movies of today which leave you confused or weary after viewing and the fans spend days, months or years trying to figure it what they saw.
These are the movies I grew up with on Saturday afternoons and read about in books and comics. There is something unique and special in these simpler stories which inspired the fans rather than confusing them. Growing up in the west I knew the joys of how to saddle a horse up and go riding where city kids might not otherwise have such an opportunity. I spent summers in the Pine filled mountains north of Phoenix learning of hiking, fishing, hunting and respect for nature from my grandfather. All these activities were things I looked forward to simply from watching as a child all of these B western movies of the 40's and 50's. And a glorious time it was and now I can sit back relaxing with these movies on DVD now as an adult to recapture those days of youth...
|
|
