‘DEAD IN TOMBSTONE’ AND NEW ‘VIRGINIAN’ REVIEWED, PLUS ‘STARDUST COWBOYS’ WINNER!

DEAD IN TOMBSTONE – A Film Review

Danny Trejo

With Red Cavanaugh (Anthony Michael Hall) standing on the gallows, his half-brother Guerro (Danny Trejo) and his gang swoop in, and in a bloody shoot-out, rescue Red.  Then the gang decides to rob the gold-filled vault of a bank in Edendale (the original name of the downtown L.A. area that housed Mack Sennett Studios), and Red, tiring of his brother’s wimpy ‘Let’s not hurt anyone,’ attitude, shoots Guerro to death.  

Mickey Rourke looks like Hell as the Devil

Big surprise, Guerro ends up in Hell, where the Devil (Mickey Rourke) tortures him for a while, then agrees to a deal: Guerro can go back to life for 24 hours, to try and deliver the souls of Red and the other five gang members (i.e., kill them); if he does it, he goes free, and alive.  If not, more eternal torture (the worst kind).

So Guerro returns to the town, re-Christened (the right word?) Tombstone, now run by Red, his gang, and some sassy Brits, and tries to kill the six.  That’s it – end of plot, maybe fifteen minutes in.  From there it’s just killing.  If flashy shoot-outs are enough to satisfy you, then you may enjoy this film.  I found it completely uninvolving, as I didn’t give a damn who got damned and who didn’t.  Danny Trejo is a great screen villain, and I had a momentary twinge of sympathy for him when his brother whacked him.  But it didn’t last long.

Ironically, (and ironically, the word ‘Irony’ uttered by Trejo is the only laugh in the film) except for the early stuff, when the film is so dark it’s hard to make out, most of it is beautifully shot, by Dutch-born director/cinematographer Roel Reine.   Reine and the film’s writers, Brendan Cowles and Shane Kuhn, are specialists in direct-to-home-video sequels to popular franchises – they did SCORPION KING 3 together, as well as the upcoming SEAL TEAM EIGHT: BEHIND ENEMY LINES.  Reine is crazy for weird angles, odd camera placement and multiple camera coverage.  Unfortunately, he’s also crazy for moving camera, whether it reveals anything or not.  Some of the prolonged Hell scenes with Rourke and Trejo in conversation can produce motion sickness, as the cameras spin endlessly around the characters, and the editor cuts randomly from clockwise to counter-clockwise. 

Anthony Michael Hall

Surprisingly (to me) effective is Anthony Michael Hall, the goofy kid from the VACATION/16 CANDLES/WEIRD SCIENCE films, who has matured and developed an unexpected degree of on-screen gravitas, along with leading-man good looks.   Also surprising, not in a good way, is Mickey Rourke, a talented and charismatic actor, whose career had recently revived with THE WRESTLER.  Here he looks fat, his hair hangs limply across his face, and his ‘costuming’ looks like a trench-coat lifted off a homeless man.  And his speeches go on so endlessly and convolutedly that one wonders if they were scripted at all.   

Except for occasional whores, there are no real female characters until Dina Meyer appears far into the picture, seemingly like an afterthought (she has one scene early on, with her soon-to-be-dead lawman husband, but then disappears for over half of the film).  She’s a stunning woman, and if there is nothing particularly interesting or unusual about her role, at least she and Hall play their parts as if they mean it.

Dina Meyer

Produced by Universal for a reported $5,200,000, shot in Bucharest, Romania, on sets built for COLD MOUNTAIN and seen in HATFIELDS & MCCOYS, production designer Christian Niculescu has effectively utilized the unusually long Western street to good visual effect.  The sets and props and costumes and guns are very convincing.  It’s too bad a good look isn’t enough to turn DEAD IN TOMBSTONE into a real movie.  If you do rent this one, make sure you watch the several ‘making of’ shorts.  They’re the best part.

THE VIRGINIAN - A Film Review

I remember my initial reaction when I heard that singer Trace Adkins was about to star as THE VIRGINIAN.  Gary Cooper, Joel McCrea, James Drury, and Bill Pullman, all fine, accomplished actors, had already played Owen Wister’s iconic hero.  I wasn’t overly optimistic.  But I am very pleasantly surprised.  This new VIRGINIAN is small, but sincere and surprisingly effective and moving, in no small part due to Adkins’ stoic and sheepishly understated performance.

Trace Adkins

In a day when most Westerns lean towards the cynical edge of the Spaghetti Western, this is a movie that, without self-consciousness or irony, focuses on men with an inflexible code of honour.  Adkins’ Virginian is the most code-controlled man since George Brent’s deadly southern gentleman in 1938’s JEZEBEL (I always thought he stole that picture from Bette Davis and Henry Fonda).   

This is a re-imagined VIRGINIAN, and while much of the core story and conflicts remain, there have been some major changes, not the least of which is placing author Owen Wister, though called Owen Walton (“Goodnight, John-Boy!”), in the story, as a man who has come West to write a novel.  He’s played effectively by Brendan Penny.  They’ve also given the Virginian, who never had an actual name in the novel, or any of the films or TV series, sort of a name – his friends call him ‘South’, which, come to think of it, is even more vague than ‘Virginian’.

Ron Perlman & Trace Adkins

Ron Perlman, who starred in the MAGNIFICENT 7 TV series, is Judge Henry, the Lee J. Cobb role, and is effectively maddening when he won’t listen to the Virginian.  Blonde beauty Victoria Pratt plays Molly West, the school-marm who catches the Virginian’s eye.  She’s good, but not always well-served by the crew.  Her hair sometimes looks odd, and her costumes, while properly in period, and quite attractive, are often jarringly wrong for her character:  she steps off the stagecoach in Medicine Bow in a dress more suited to a saloon-girl than a teacher.  Croation-born Steve Bacic plays Trampas, the Virginian’s most despised enemy (not his pal, as Doug McClure played him in the series), and the filmmakers have followed the Hitchcock rule of making the villain much more charming and attractive than the hero.     

Virginia Pratt & Brendan Penny 

In the Joel McCrea version, the role of the Virginian’s irresponsible best-friend Steve went to Sonny Tufts: probably the best role and best performance of his career.  Caracas-born John Novak plays Steve in this one, and brings an unexpectedly powerful character and performance to it.  Novak is probably the most experienced Western actor of the cast, having appeared on TV in the series HAWKEYE, LONESOME DOVE – THE OUTLAW YEARS, DEAD MAN’S GUN, INTO THE WEST, and the 1997 version of CALL OF THE WILD.

It’s a small film, made for a fraction of what DEAD IN TOMBSTONE cost.  Medicine Bow’s streets are sparsely populated, the few sets and locations are seen frequently, and after some initial sighting of cattle early on, the much-discussed doggies are rarely seen.  But THE VIRGINIAN has a strong story, solid script by Bob Thelke, a talented cast, and able direction by Thomas Makowski.  The producers, NASSER GROUP NORTH, have made two previous Westerns, ANGEL AND THE BADMAN and THE DAWN RIDER, remakes of John Wayne movies which, like THE VIRGINIAN, are in the public domain.  Seems like a smart way to do strongly-plotted films economically.  I’m looking forward to reviewing THE DAWN RIDER shortly.   

‘STARDUST COWBOYS’ CONTEST WINNER ANNOUNCED!

Larry Hanna of Sherman Oaks is the lucky winner of two tickets to see The Stardust Cowboys perform in their first Los Angeles area concert, on Thursday night, March 20^th .  It’s part of the OutWest Concert Series at the Repertory East Playhouse, at 24266 Main Street, Newhall, CA 91321.   The Stardust Cowboys draw their inspiration from the fabled Bob Wills who, with his Texas Playboys, invented Western Swing, that delightful mash-up of cowboy and big band music.  They play a mix of traditional western songs as well as their own originals, and their live shows are full of humor and high energy.

The challenge was to name the band leader other than Bob Wills, who was also called The King of Western Swing, and who used to be a movie stand-in for Roy Rogers!  The answer, as Larry Hanna and many others knew, was Spade Cooley, who was one of the most successful stars in the early days of L.A. television. 

Spade Cooley

If you’re not lucky enough to be Larry Hanna, you can buy tickets for $20 by calling OutWest at 661-255-7087. This concert is part of the OutWest series -- in case you haven’t noticed, we have a new sponsor here at the Round-up, the OutWest Western Boutique and Cultural Center in Newhall – just go to the top left corner of the Round-up, click their logo, and you’ll be magically transported to their wonderful store.  The doors open at 7 p.m., and the concert begins at 8, and Bobbi Jean Bell, purveyor of OutWest, tells me that Newhall is having their 3^rd Thursday of the month block party, SENSES (as in delighting the same), so you might want to arrive early for dinner from the food trucks, live music – and to find parking.   Bobbi also tells me that if you’re coming to the concert, you might want to dress up!  SCTV will be filming the show, and you just may be on TV! 

WEDNESDAY’S ‘COWBOY LUNCH @ AUTRY’ CELEBRATES GREAT WOMEN OF THE WEST!

Li'l Rob Word met Duke Wayne on the set of THE SEARCHERS

These 3^rd Wednesday of the month events at the Autry have become hugely popular since Western filmmaker and authority Rob Word began them half a year ago.  This month’s topic is a celebration of the Great Women of the West in film.  As always, the event, which starts at 12:30, is free – although you’ve got to buy your own lunch – and is followed by ‘A Word on Film’, with Rob Word leading a discussion among his guests, actors and other industry people associated with the topic.  Rob never announces his guests in advance, but he always comes through with an interesting and talented group – previous luncheons have been attended by Hugh O’Brien, Johnny Crawford, Bruce Boxleitner and many others.  Don’t get there at the last minute – as these events have grown in popularity over the last few months, latecomers have had to be turned away.  January’s salute to the 24^th anniversary of LONESOME DOVE, and February’s celebration of the HOW THE WEST WAS WON TV series both packed the house to the rafters.  Below is a clip from the LONESOME DOVE program, with actor Barry Corbin discussing being directed by Tommy Lee Jones in the soon to be released Western THE HOMESMAN.

MORRICONE INJURS BACK – CONCERTS POSTPONED ‘TIL JUNE

What was to be Maestro Ennio Morricone’s first concert Los Angeles, planned for March 20^th at the NOKIA THEATRE has been postponed until June 15^th.  Surgery to repair a slipped disc necessitated the delay.  Morricone, the 85 year old composer of over 500 scores, who gained fame for his soundtracks to Sergio Leone westerns, issued the following statement: “It deeply saddens me to have to postpone this concert.  I am very much looking forward to my first Los Angeles performance.  Hollywood has been instrumental in bringing my work to American audiences, and my 2007 performance in New York was one of the high points of my career to date.  I’m grateful and sorry to my fans for having to delay this show.  I look forward to seeing you in June.”  Ticketholders will have the same seats in June as they were to have on March 20^th.  Morricone’s New York City concert has also been postponed. 

TODAY’S PAPERBACK BOOK SHOW

William F. Nolan & George Clayton Jackson

Had a good time today at the annual Paperback Book Show at the Glendale Pacific.  My favorite find was a pair of 1960s reprints of Dime Novels (actually nickel novels) from the turn of the century, one featuring Buffalo Bill, the other with Young Wild West, as well stories about Pawnee Bill, and the James Brothers – fake history at its most exciting!  Among the authors signing their books were Twilight Zone contributors William F. Nolan and George Clayton Jackson, and The Waltons creator Earl Hamner. 

Earl Hamner

GREAT BOSSY WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN WEST!

In case you haven’t heard, the ‘word police’ have recently decided that we can no longer describe any girl as ‘bossy’, since it will hurt her self-esteem, and inhibit her attempts to be as pushy as a boy, I thought, before the word disappears forever from our lexicon, we should revisit the great bossy ladies of the American West, particularly the Western Movie.   After all, in the words of the immortal Zane Grey, “Where I was raised a woman’s word was law.  I ain’t quite outgrowed that yet.”  Here are the first four entries of a continuing series.  Please send me your suggestions for bossy gals who deserve inclusion.

#1 BARBARA STANWYCK – Whether as Victoria Barkley in THE BIG VALLEY, THE MAVERICK QUEEN, CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA, all the way back to ANNIE OAKLEY, you never had to ask twice where you stood with her.  Actually, you didn’t have to ask at all.

#2 – JOAN CRAWFORDJ – JOHNNY GUITAR!  While Mercedes McCambridge sits on the sidelines gnashing her teeth, Joan grabs Sterling Hayden and Scott Brady by the short-hairs and smacks them together for 110 minutes!

#3 – GRACE KELLY – in HIGH NOON!  Bossiness at its most gorgeous and infuriating.  As onetime lawman Gary Cooper says, “Don’t ever marry a Quaker – she’ll have you running a store!”

#4 – DALE EVANS – she was Queen of the West, and she ruled the coffee shop in Mineral City with an iron hand.  But with suave, debonair Pat Brady to deal with, would anything but uber- bossiness get the job done?

THAT'S A WRAP!

That's all, folks, until next week, when I'll have a first look at DOC HOLLIDAY'S REVENGE, and an interview with Western writer C. Courtney Joyner for you.

Happy trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright March 2014 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

ROUND-UP TO BE FEATURED ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES!

(Updated April 1st -- see SILENT SOCIETY)

I spent Monday afternoon on top of a mountain in Griffith Park, one of three Western fanatics being interviewed for a TCM featurette. It was great fun to discuss which films I consider to be the great Westerns, and the significance of the genre. The crew had spent the earlier part of the day filming at the Autry Museum. At around 2:30 p.m. a Park Ranger unlocked the gates so we could drive up the mountain, steering around a large rattlesnake. On the way down around 5:30 p.m. I spotted a large deer grazing, and throughout the afternoon hawks circled overhead. Also interviewed that day were make-up artist and Western film historian Michael F. Blake (whose father, Larry Blake, has a memorable role as the bartender in HIGH NOON), and DAEIDA MAGAZINE publisher David Ybarra. The film is scheduled to air in June to coincide with a singing cowboy festival.

EDDIE BRANDT DIES AT 90

Eddie Brandt, the man whose North Hollywood store, Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee, has been a unique film resource and unofficial studio archive since the 1960s, died at the age of 90 on February 20th. In a town that routinely bulk-erases its own history, the Saturday Matinee is the last bastion of film information, posters, stills, and especially videotapes and DVDs.

But Eddie was much more than a man with an encyclopedic knowledge of American film, particularly the Western. He was also a successful musician, songwriter and composer. He wrote Rock & Roll Wedding for Nat King Cole, and had a major success with There’s No Place Like Hawaii. He also wrote Let’s Have A Heart To Heart Talk, to be sung by Huntz Hall in the Bowery Boys film BLUES BUSTERS.

Eddie’s son Donovan Brandt recalls, “He started with Spike Jones in ’47. My dad and Spike (co-wrote) CARMEN MURDERED, (the famous parody of Bizet’s Carmen), and a bunch of other songs that are more popular than that. Later on, my dad wrote Spike’s television show, and still wrote songs.” A self-taught pianist, Eddie occasionally played with Spike Jones and His City Slickers on stage and TV. “Then Spike got emphysema real bad, (retired), and after that my dad moved over to the Spade Cooley Show. He wrote Spade’s show, and I only have two episodes of it on tape, but I happen to have one which has my dad’s first wife, (singer Ruthie James). Then Spade went to jail for manslaughter. My dad worked with Stan Freeberg and Paul Frees, and he was in Stan’s garage when they made the first Beany and Cecil hand-puppet shows. He helped write those.”

Later Brandt wrote some of the POPEYE cartoons of the 1960s, then moved to Hanna-Barbera, where he wrote cartoon shows like THE IMPOSSIBLES, and created FRANKENSTEIN JUNIOR. It was there that he met and married his second wife, Claire, who was an animator and in-betweener. They started their North Hollywood thrift shop, which evolved into the Saturday Matinee. There are dozens of ‘The Films of…’ books, and in the acknowledgments, Eddie Brandt’s is always thanked for providing rare stills. As Eddie explained it to me some years ago, his store was a place for guys to hang out and talk about the kind of movies guys like – westerns and serials and horror films and comedies. Everyone is welcome in the store, and they carry an astonishingly wide range of movies, but it’s still very much a ‘guy’ store in terms of atmosphere. Every important studio and production company has an account there. You can frequently see well-known actors, directors and writers doing research, and often renting their own films, when they don’t have their own copies.
Eddie’s particular favorites were Westerns, and Donovan explained how his father got to know many of his screen idols in the 1970s. “Well, we sold memorabilia, and a lot of these guys had nothing on themselves. I mean, Gene Autry bought posters from my dad. He owned real estate, radio stations, television stations, major league baseball teams – but not his own posters. And if Gene with all his money didn’t have that stuff, you can bet Eddie Dean didn’t, Johnny Mack Brown didn’t, Bob Steele and Tim McCoy didn’t.” Eddie converted his back-yard to a screening-room, and the stars came. Donovan recalls, “I got to meet Bob Steele, Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Iron Eyes Cody.” Col. Tim McCoy wouldn’t let him handle his single-action Colt, “…but I got to touch it. Got to meet Lash LaRue, seen many whip-tricks when I was just a wee kid. He was a skilled technician, let me tell you.”

Donovan and his mother Claire have run the store for a number of years now. Brandt is also survived by four daughters – Kelly, Tracy, Holiday and Heidi – another son, Eric, and four grandchildren.

(Photos, top to bottom -- HOLLYWOOD SIGN IN THE HILLS; TCM crew setting up; 1976 photo of musicians Johnny Bond, Ken Griffis, Bob Nolan and Eddie Brandt; crowd at the Paperback Show; Buck Jones Big Little Book; POKER ACCORDING TO MARVERICK; Rainbow Over Texas poster; Hills of Utah poster; Chief Lean Wolf of the Gros Ventres; Chief Mad Bear of the Lower Yanktonas Sioux)

HOLLYWOOD SHOW AT BURBANK MARRIOTT

Yes, their last show was just over a month ago, but on Saturday and Sunday, April 2nd and 3rd, the Burbank Airport Marriott at 2500 North Hollywood Way in Burbank will host The Hollywood Show, a great place to meet stars, get autographs and all manner of collectibles. This time around it’s kinda slim pickings for Western fans. But there’ll be one of the sagebrush screen’s finest villains, Morgan Woodward (to read our interview with Morgan CLICK HERE), and Academy Award winner Martin Landau, who was delightful as Chief Walks Stooped-Over,a.k.a. 'Sky Eyes', a.k.a. Symbol of Good Faith in John Sturges’ wonderful Western comedy THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL, and terrifying in NEVADA SMITH. This event is fun, but it’s not cheap – admission is twenty clams for one day, thirty-five for both, and having something signed will usually cost $20 and up.

PAPERBACK SHOW PACKS ‘EM IN

The 32nd Annual Paperback Collectors’ Show and Sale, held this past Sunday at the Valley Inn in Mission Hills, was a rousing success. Black Ace Books honcho and show host Tom Lesser confirms that admissions are up. “It’s very good, good attendance, and it seems like a lot of interest in the show.” As I’ve noted before, this is an event where authors sign their books for free. There were hundreds of Western books for sale, but unfortunately, no Western authors were signing. “We used to have some, but they’re deceased. Gordon Shirreffs (RIO BRAVO) was one.” In addition to filling in some gaps in my Luke Short collection, my best finds were a Big Little Book: BUCK JONES AND THE KILLERS OF CROOKED BUTTE, and POKER ACCORDING TO MAVERICK. Not bad at all for two bucks each (the Big Little Book was missing its spine).

ROY RIDES RANGE AT RFD-TV

Thursday afternoon, March 31st, at 2:30 p.m. Western time, you can catch RAINBOW OVER TEXAS (1946), featuring Roy, Dale, Gabby, the Sons of the Pioneers, and the great heavy Sheldon Leonard in a tale based on a Max Brand story. Incredibly, the lovely Dale tries to pass for a man! She’d never have fooled me! On Saturday, April 2nd, at 9:00 a.m. Western times, repeating Thursday at 2:30p.m., it’s BELLS OF CORONADO (1950), written by Sloan Nibley, directed by William Whitney, and starring Roy, Dale, Pat Brady, and the Riders of The Purple Sage. Keep your eyes peeled for Rex Lease, once a Western leading man who plays the shipping-company foreman.

FREE MATINEE DOUBLE-FEATURE AT THE AUTRY

On Saturday, April 2nd, from noon ‘til 2 p.m., catch the double-bill of Gene Autry in SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES (Rep. 1937), with Smiley Burnette. It’s directed by the great Joe Kane, and features not only the title song but Vitamine D and Down In The Land of Zulu (!). Paired with it is HILLS OF UTAH (Col.1951), with Pat Buttram, directed by John English, and featuring, in time for Easter, Here Comes Peter Cottontail. I like that the Autry has been double-billing an early Republic with a later Columbia, to give the viewer an idea of how Gene’s pictures changed over the years. The movies are free with your museum admission. And don’t forget, next Saturday it’s THE MAGNIFICENT 7 on the big screen in the Wells Fargo Theatre at 1:30 p.m.!

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permenant galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE.

SILENT SOCIETY CELEBRATES 25 YEARS SATURDAY APRIL 2ND!

To mark their 25th anniversary, the Silent Society will have an all-day celebration, featuring the most popular leading ladies of the silent screen. At 1:30 it's THE INNOCENCE OF RUTH with Viola Dana, at 2:30 THE VEILED ADVENTURE with Constance Talmadge, at 4:00 THE FORBIDDEN CITY with Norma Talmadge. After the dinner break, at 7:00 it's A DASH THROUGH THE CLOUDS with Mabel Normand, and at 7:45 it's Colleen Moore in ELLA CINDERS. All the prints are 16mm, and all movies will have a live musical accompaniment by Michael Mortilla. Okay, I know none of these are Westerns, but the Silent Society shows more silent Westerns than anyone else! Tickets for the public are $15 for all day, or $10 per movie. For members it's $10 all day or $5 per movie. It's at the Lasky-DeMille Barn -- read about it below. For more information, CLICK HERE.

HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM

Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywood western, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave., L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children.

WELLS FARGO HISTORY MUSEUM

This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street, L.A. CA.


FREE WESTERNS ON YOUR COMPUTER AT HULU

A staggering number of western TV episodes and movies are available, entirely free, for viewing on your computer at HULU. You do have to sit through the commercials, but that seems like a small price to pay. The series available -- often several entire seasons to choose from -- include THE RIFLEMAN, THE CISCO KID, THE LONE RANGER, BAT MASTERSON, THE BIG VALLEY, ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, and one I missed from 2003 called PEACEMAKERS starring Tom Berenger. Because they are linked up with the TV LAND website, you can also see BONANZA and GUNSMOKE episodes, but only the ones that are running on the network that week.

The features include a dozen Zane Grey adaptations, and many or most of the others are public domain features. To visit HULU on their western page, CLICK HERE.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run DANIEL BOONE at 1:00 p.m., and two episodes of THE RIFLEMAN from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.. On Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. it's THE RIFLEMAN again, followed at 2:30 by BAT MASTERSON. And unlike many stations in the re-run business, they run the shows in the original airing order. There's an afternoon movie on weekdays at noon, often a western, and they show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic.

Well, pardners, that’s it for this week!

Happy Trails,

Henry (certified TCM Western authority!)

All contents copyright March 2011 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved