WESTERN CHRISTMAS TV TIPS, PLUS STAGECOACH – THE TEXAS JACK STORY, REVIEWED!

BEST OF THE CHRISTMAS TV WEST!

Three of our favorite networks – INSP, ME-TV and GET-TV – are celebrating Christmas by airing Christmas-themed Western episodes.  Here’s the list, and all the times are Western, so adjust your viewing accordingly. 

Christmas Eve, December 24^th, at

7 a.m. – INSP -  EBENEZER – a 1997 TV-movie Western version of Dicken’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, starring Jack Palance as Scrooge, co-starring Ricky Schroder

9:15 a.m. – GET-TV – THE TALL MAN – BILLY’S BABY (1960), starring Clu Gulager as Billy the kid, and Barry Sullivan as Pat Garrett

9:55 a.m. – GET-TV – YANCY DERRINGER – OLD DIXIE (1958), starring Jock Mahoney and X Brands.

10:30 a.m. – GET-TV – RESTLESS GUN – THE CHILD (1957), starring John Payne

11:10 a.m. – GET-TV – RESTLESS GUN – A BELL FOR SANTO DOMINGO (1958) starring John Payne

11:45 a.m. – GET-TV – CIMARRON CITY – CIMARRON HOLIDAY (1958) starring George Montgomery

12:00 noon – ME-TV – THE BIG VALLEY – JUDGEMENT IN HEAVEN (1965)

1:00 p.m. – ME-TV – GUNSMOKE – P.S. – MURRY CHRISTMAS (1971)

2:00 p.m. – ME-TV – BONANZA – GABRIELLE (1961) 

3:00 p.m. – ME-TV – RAWHIDE – 25 SANTA CLAUSES (1961), guest-starring Ed Wynn

4:00 p.m. – ME-TV – WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE – 8 CENT REWARD (1958), guest-starring Jay North

4:00 p.m. – GET-TV – MIRACLE IN THE WILDERNESS (1991), TV-movie starring Kris Kristofferson and Kim Cattrall

4:30 p.m.  – ME-TV – WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE – NO TRAIL BACK (1959)

6:00 p.m. – GET-TV – THE CHRISTMAS STALLION (1992) contemporary Western TV-movie, set in Wales, starring Daniel J. Travanti and Lynette Davies

10:20 p.m. – GET-TV – MIRACLE IN THE WILDERNESS (1991), TV-movie starring Kris Kristofferson and Kim Cattrall

December 25^th – Christmas Day

5:00 p.m. – INSP - EBENEZER – a 1997 TV-movie Western version of Dicken’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, starring Jack Palance as Scrooge, co-starring Ricky Schroder

7:00 p.m. – INSP – 3 GODFATHERS (1948) – the John Ford Classic, starring John Wayne, Pedro Amendariz, and Harry Carey Jr. (obviously not a TV episode, but a great Christmas movie)

AMC will be showing some great, non-Christmas John Wayne and Clint Eastwood Westerns all-day Christmas Day.

STAGECOACH – THE TEXAS JACK STORY -- A Film Review

After years of quietly refining his acting skills laboring in cinema’s boondocks, taking small roles in big shows, and big parts in films that go largely unseen, with STAGECOACH : THE TEXAS JACK STORY, Trace Adkins emerges as something we haven’t seen in more than twenty years: a genuine new B-Western star.  Despite his Country Music stardom, Trace would not have been a leading man in the days of the original crossover stars like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.  His grim countenance would have earned him the parts played by Glenn Strange.   As scruffy as Willy Nelson, and as massively menacing as Ron Perlman, Adkins seems to have stepped out of a Matthew Brady photograph and onto the screen.  But his gruff, quiet, shoot-from-the-hip confidence and camera appeal is the stuff of movie stardom.

In STAGECOACH he plays genuine highwayman Nathaniel Reed, alias ‘Texas Jack’ Reed, whose gang robbed many a stagecoach and train in the Indian Territory during the 1880s and ‘90s, and who lived longer than any of his contemporaries, surviving halfway into the 20^th century, dying an evangelist in 1950.

Making their getaway

The story begins with a stage hold-up pulled by Reed and his partners, including Sid Dalton (Judd Nelson, of ‘Brat Pack’ fame) and Frank Bell (Claude Duhamel, the demonic Anton Stice in last year’s WESTERN RELIGION). All goes efficiently, and no one gets hurt.  That is, until shotgun guard Calhoun (Kim Coates of SONS OF ANARCHY) takes shots at the fleeing bandits.  Reed returns fire, and Calhoun goes down.

Abruptly six years have passed.  The gang members have parted ways, and Reed, no longer an outlaw,  is now happily married to Laura Lee (Michelle Harrison), and facing more mundane concerns like paying his mortgage when his livery business has slowed down.  Without warning or welcome, Frank Bell appears to tip Reed that a deadly man is on their trail: Calhoun, the shotgun guard who lost an eye in the earlier robbery, is now a U.S. Marshall, with a personal vendetta against Reed and his gang: he’s already killed one of their accomplices, and is on Reed’s trail.

Claude Duhamel

Moments later, Calhoun arrives and all Hell breaks loose, in an exciting room-to-room gun battle that leaves Reed alive, but with nothing to live for.  Soon he’s back in business with Frank and Sid, robbing stages and staying a step ahead of the dementedly driven Calhoun, although a showdown is, of course, inevitable.  There’s plenty of action when called for, but it’s the real kind, not the CGI’d nonsense – the gunshots frequently sound like actual gunshots.  Director Terry Miles, who previously helmed the Westerns THE DAWN RIDER (2012) and LONESOME DOVE CHURCH (2014), brings a genuineness from his actors, and a sense of brooding, panic and sometimes despair, which one doesn’t usually get in a Western, but is highly appropriate to the story. 

The dialogue in the script by Dan Benamor and Matt Williams has a naturalness that helps us buy the characters, and unusually, allows what would normally be throw-away characters to shine.  When was the last time you saw a likable young banker in a Western?   The one sour note in the film is the character of psychopathic female bounty hunter Bonnie Mudd (Helena Marie), who works for the U.S. Marshall (!), and despite Ms. Marie’s best efforts, seems to have stepped into the wrong movie.  

Judd Nelson

Produced by Jack, Jacob and Joseph Nasser, STAGECOACH, like their DAWN RIDER and LONESOME DOVE CHURCH, and their surprisingly effective version of THE VIRGINIAN (2014), in which Adkins also had the title role, is filmed in Canada, and takes full advantage of the lush greenery and other visual values.   Their films are low-budget, but rather than being threadbare, they are self-contained and intimate, avoiding busy towns and containing few extraneous characters.  The art direction and costuming is not self-consciously elaborate, but is correct and attractively photographed. 

The strong performances by the criminal triad of Adkins, Nelson, and Duhamel, and their nemesis, Coates, are the core of this action-packed but thoughtful Western.  STAGECOACH – THE TEXAS JACK STORY is from Cinedigm, who brought you TRADED, starring Michael Pere, Kris Kristofferson and Trace Adkins earlier this year.  STAGECOACH – THE TEXAS JACK STORY is available on Amazon, iTunes, and other streaming services, as well as DVD.

NOMINATIONS ARE IN FOR 'WESTWORLD' AND 'HELL OR HIGH WATER'

It's the start of the dreaded 'Award Season' in 'The Industry', and the good news is, WESTWORLD and HELL OR HIGH WATER are getting the attention they deserve.   The Critics Choice Awards were already announced, honoring WESTWORLD's Evan Rachel Wood as Best Actress in a Drama Series, and Thandie Newton as Best Supporting Actress.  The Writers Guild announced their TV nominations, and WESTWORLD was nominated for Best Drama and Best New Series.  

Evan Rachel Wood

The Foreign Press Association announced their Golden Globe nominations, HELL OR HIGH WATER is nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama.  Jeff Bridges is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Taylor Sheridan is nominated for Best Screenplay.  Bridges has been Oscar and Globe nominated six times each, and won both in 2009 for CRAZY AT HEART.  WESTWORLD is nominated for Best Television Seris - Drama.  Evan Rachel Wood is nominated for Best Actress, and Thandie Newton for Best Supporting.  

Thandie Newton

The SCREEN ACTORS GUILD has nominated Thandie Newton not for supporting, but for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor for WESTWORLD.  Jeff Bridges is nominated for his HELL OR HIGH WATER supporting. Additionally, WESTWORLD is nominated for a S.A.G. Award for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble.  And WESTWORLD’s entire featured cast is nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.  In case you’re wondering who some of them are, here are the names:   

BEN BARNES / Logan
INGRID BOLSØ BERDAL / Armistice
ED HARRIS / Man in Black
LUKE HEMSWORTH / Ashley Stubbs
ANTHONY HOPKINS / Dr. Robert Ford
SIDSE BABETT KNUDSEN / Theresa Cullen
JAMES MARSDEN / Teddy Flood
LEONARDO NAM / Felix Lutz
THANDIE NEWTON / Maeve Millay
TALULAH RILEY / Angela
RODRIGO SANTORO / Hector Escaton
ANGELA SARAFYAN / Clementine Pennyfeather
JIMMI SIMPSON / William
PTOLEMY SLOCUM / Sylvester
EVAN RACHEL WOOD / Dolores Abernathy
SHANNON WOODWARD / Elsie Hughes
JEFFREY WRIGHT / Bernard Lowe

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

It's been officially Christmas Eve and the first day of Chanukah  Eve for an hour and a half, and I'm setting the DVR, then hitting the hay.  I hope you find what you want in your stocking, and I hope 2017 is an improvement on your 2016.  And I thank you for your continued support of my writing in The Round-up and True West,  

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright December 2016 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved