HELL ON WHEELS Season 2 Is Almost Here!

On Sunday, August 12^th, HELL ON WHEELS, AMC’s blockbuster Western series will return for a second ten episode season.  The series continues to revolve around a group of  people engaged in building the transcontinental railroad, and ‘Hell On Wheels’ refers to the portable town that follows along the tracks, servicing the workers.  The central figure from season one was former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount), and the ‘cover’ of his railroad job as a means to track down and kill the Union soldiers who murdered his wife and son, a story that was concluded with the end of the season.

While I have promised AMC not to reveal too much (not wanting to have Colm Meany send Common to ‘handle’ the situation), I can safely say that everyone who didn’t die in season one is back for season two, although there have been changes.  Cullen Bohannon is back, but no longer works for the railroad, and Mr. Durant (Colm Meany).  The Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl), last seen being tarred and feathered, has returned, and is again with the railroad, but working in a far different capacity. 

Elam Ferguson (Common) is working his way up in the railroad, but his romance with Eva (Robin McLeavy) has derailed.  Lily Bell (Dominique McElligot), beautiful widow of the railroad’s original surveyor, is determined to keep in the game.  Reverend Cole’s (Tom Noonan) daughter Ruth (Kasha Kropinski – allowed to look much more attractive this season) continues to be drawn to Cheyenne Christian convert Joseph Black Moon (Eddie Spears).   And the increasingly cocky Irish McGinnes brothers (Phil Burke and Ben Esler) are determined to subvert railroad construction to their own goals. 

In addition to their frequent nemesises, the Indians trying to discourage the relentless progress of the iron horse, the railroaders are faced with a new enemy: train robbers!  The first episode of the new season, ‘Viva La Mexico,’ written by the series creators, Tony and Joe Gayton, is a particularly strong entry to return with, well-directed by David Von Ancken.  Gustavo Santaolalla’s theme music has deservedly been nominated for an Emmy.  Marvin Rush continues as cinematographer on the most strikingly filmed series on television, and it’s completely inexplicable to me that his work last season wasn’t Emmy-nominated, ditto the Laytons’ writing.       

Here’s a teaser trailer to get you in the mood.

AN INTERVIEW WITH ONE OF JOHN WAYNE’S ‘COWBOYS’ – NICOLAS BEAUVY

Actor/director/writer and general wunderkind Mark Rydell had gone from directing GUNSMOKE to the D.H. Lawrence story THE FOX, to the good-naturedly nutty Steve McQueen period starrer THE REIVERS, and would soon go on to do the wonderful CINDERELLA LIBERTY and later the triple Oscar winner ON GOLDEN POND.  But in 1972 he had optioned – with the approval of his mother – a not-yet-published novel, THE COWBOYS, by William Dale Jennings. 

Rydell did not want John Wayne in the lead, but eventually the powers at Warner Brothers, and Duke himself, convinced the left-leaning director.  Although overshadowed by TRUE GRIT, Wayne’s Oscar winner, and THE SHOOTIST, his last, THE COWBOYS is certainly the equal of those fine films, and Wayne told director Rydell that it was his own favorite performance.  

John Wayne plays a cattleman who loses his crew to a local gold strike, and must hire schoolboys to move his herd.  As he tells the boys, drawing a rough map on the classroom blackboard, “Here’s the Double O.  This is Belle Fourche.  In between is four hundred miles of the meanest country in the west.”  The cast includes Roscoe Lee Brown, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Slim Pickens, and eleven boys from about twelve to sixteen, about half of them professional actors, and the other half professional rodeo riders. 

One of the professional actors was Nicolas Beauvy.  Nicolas had played King Arthur as a boy in CAMELOT, Trampas (Doug McClure) as a boy in a VIRGINIAN episode, and appeared with Gregory Peck in the Western SHOOT OUT, and an episode of BONANZA.  In THE COWBOYS, Nicolas plays Dan, the cowboy with glasses.  (In some of the promotional material his character is called ‘Four Eyes,’ but no one in the movie ever calls him that.)

All the young actors have plenty to do, and acquit themselves well, but Nicolas’ role is one of the most demanding.  In addition to all of the riding and roping, (SPOILER ALERT!) Dan is the boy kidnapped from the others by Bruce Dern, terrorized and damned near drowned.  He keeps the secret from Wayne and the others that they’re being followed.  And he has the trauma and guilt of losing a friend when the other boy tries to retrieve Dan’s dropped glasses, and ends up killed in a stampede.

As part of the National Day of The Cowboy festivities, Belle Fourche, South Dakota is celebrating with their CRAZY DAYS, Friday the 27^th and Saturday the 28^th.  And since it’s also the 40^th anniversary of the release of THE COWBOYS, it was announced that there would be a screening, attended by several of the boys from the cast.  I caught up with Nicolas, now a successful real estate agent in Pacific Palisades (“I got out of acting when I was 21 years old,”), before he headed to South Dakota.  I asked him who else was attending.

NICOLAS BEAUVY: Al Barker Jr. (Fats), Steven Hudis (Charlie Schwartz), and Sean Kelly (Stuttering Bob); I know they’ll definitely be there.  They’re picking up on the name Belle Feurche because that’s the name we used in the movie, but we did not shoot in South Dakota.  My understanding is that some of the kids – like Al Barker Jr. – have been back there six or seven times.  They’ve asked me to go in the past but it just hadn’t worked out with my schedule; but this year it did, and I’m excited to go back! 

HENRY PARKE: Where did you actually shoot?

N: We shot two months in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  And one month in Durango, Colorado.  And one month on the sound stages of Warner Brothers. 

H: How did you get the part of Dan?

N: Well, as a working actor – I was an actor from age six – you went out for the interview, and we had seven or eight callbacks.  And they probably interviewed a thousand kids.  Then they narrow it down to five hundred, to one hundred, to fifty -  that’s how they typically do these things.  And I was the one they chose, so I got very lucky. 

H: How old were you?

N: Thirteen. 

H: Then you were very well aware who John Wayne was at that time. 

N: Absolutely. Oh, it was wonderful!  He was a father-figure on the set.  Very nice.  A little bit reserved, but I had some nice scenes with him.  We had a good time. 

H: What memories do you have of other actor in the show?

N: Bruce Dern!  Bruce Dern was the gentleman that I did a lot of scenes with; he played the bad guy, and he and I had a real good rapport.  In fact, I was a real big sports fan and so was he, so even after the movie was finished, he’d invite me to a few Lakers games – we saw a few basketball games in Los Angeles.  He was a great guy.

H: How about Robert Carradine?

N: All the kids get along with everyone.  Robert Carradine was a little older than me, so he wasn’t hangin’ with me or anything.  He was 18, 19 when he did that movie – maybe twenty.  But he got along with everybody.  A Martinez the same way.  Good guy.

H: And Colleen Dewhurst? 

N: You know I really didn’t have any scenes with Colleen Dewhurst.  I got along with her very nicely, and we did talk a lot off the set.  And she’s the one who happened to recommend me, along with Mark Rydell, to George C. Scott; she was married, of course, to Scott.  Because the film I did right after THE COWBOYS was RAGE (directed by and starring Scott). 

H: What did you think of director Mark Rydell?

N: Wonderful director; worked beautifully with all the kids.  A pleasure to work with.  Just was a class, class man. 

H: You had a wonderful script by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., who also wrote HUD, HOMBRE and NORMA RAE..

N: Yes – great people worked on that movie.  John Williams did the music.  And Robert Surtees did the cinematography; two heavyweights there.

H: In 1972, now it’s clear in hind-sight that this was getting to be the end of the Western cycle for a while, but I don’t think that anyone sensed it then.  Were Westerns something special to you, or was it just another acting job?

N: Oh no; it’s very special, because you’re twelve or thirteen years old.  Other roles you’re just playing a normal kid in everyday life.  But here we are playing cowboys, and we get to wear cowboy outfits, and ride horses, and have guns in our holster.  It was a dream: it was living a dream. 

H: How much preparation time was there?

N: I want to say, if my memory’s correct, about four to six weeks.  We would go to a little stable in Burbank, and we would practice three hours every day after school; on the weekends about six, seven hours. 

H: And what did they have you practicing?

N: Just riding; riding a horse, holding a rope while you’re riding, just riding.  Just making us look as comfortable and natural and experienced as we could look. 

Nicolas Beauvy today

We’ll have more about Nicolas’ acting career in the near future.

LOS ENCINOS MARKS SALVATION WITH LIVING HISTORY CELEBRATION

On Sunday, July 15^th, the Docents of Los Encinos Park in Encino celebrated their one-year reprieve with a living history day.  On the list of seventy parks slated for closure due to lack of funds, they were saved when an anonymous donor gave the park $150,000, their annual operating budget.  They celebrated with cake and punch, and a day of old-fashioned games, tours of the Rancho buildings, demonstrations of blacksmithing, music and other activities. 

With the attraction of its natural spring, which brings many breeds of ducks, geese and other birds on their migrations, it has seen human settlement for thousands of years, first with the Tongva people; it was taken over by the San Fernando Mission in 1797, and has passed through many hands since then – you can read about it’s rich history here: http://historicparks.org/data/park-history

Howard Harrelson, a docent who made a PSA for the park, was shooting interview ‘sound-bites’ at the event.  He told me, “I’m working on a ‘school tour’ video.  As you know, an anonymous donor donated enough money to keep the park open for this year.   But we want to get school groups and field trips here to the park, to keep it alive, and open, and green.”   Los Encinos has a Living History Day on the third Sunday of every month.     

R.G. ARMSTRONG DIES AT 95

Birmingham, Alabama-born character actor Robert Golden Armstrong has died at his home in Studio City, California.  An imposing figure, he played frequently in crime and horror stories, but is best remembered for his Western characters, especially preachers with feet of clay.  He was long associated with director Sam Peckinpah, who cast him in THE SHARPSHOOTER (1956), an episode of ZANE GREY THEATRE which would be a pilot for THE RIFLEMAN.  Peckinpah subsequently directed R.G. in two RIFLEMAN episodes, a WESTERNER episode, then RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, MAJOR DUNDEE, THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE and PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID.  He also starred with John Wayne in Howard Hawks’ EL DORADO.  With nearly 200 screen credits, his last Western and second-to-last screen performance was in the TV movie PURGATORY (1999).  Services are pending.    

Well pardners, that's a wrap for tonight!  Have a great week!

Happy trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright July 2012 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

ANOTHER WESTERN - SORT OF - IN PRODUCTION

Updated 2/12/2010

UPDATE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY WEEKEND!!!
MEET ERNEST BORGNINE!

The Oscar-winning best actor for Marty, best-loved by many of us for The Wild Bunch, will be autographing pictures at the Hollywood Show, Saturday Feb. 13th and Sunday Feb. 14th at the Marriott Hotel in Burbank. The address is 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank 91505. Also attending will be Bronco star Ty Hardin; TV's Wyatt Earp, Hugh O'Brien; The Outlaw star Jane Russell; Chisum and Bandolero star Andrew Prine; last of the Bonanza regulars (in later seasons) Mitch Vogel; dancer and 7 Brides for 7 Brothers star Russ Tamblyn; and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, who's starred in several spaghetti westerns. There also tons of non-western actors who will attend. If you've never attended an autograph show, they can be a lot of fun, but be warned, they are not cheap. Admission is $20 a day or $35 for both days, and actors will usually charge from $20-$30 for the pictures they provide and sign. They'll also sign pictures, posters or books that you bring, but they'll charge for that as well. There are also a dozen or more memorabilia dealers selling their wares at the show. The show is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. If you want a complete guest line-up, click here. If you go to that link, purchase your ticket on-line, and use the Coupon code: VALENTINE, you should get $5 off.
Also, don't forget there's a free screening at the Autry Saturday night -- check out their website for details. And on Monday, Presidents Day, admission to the Autry is free for children!
Updated 2/9/2010
Let me get my apology in first before any more people correct me: John Wayne won his Oscar for True Grit (1969), not The Shootist (1976).
If the Donner Party episode of American Experience is still making the PBS rounds, it's worth seeing, though often hard to take. Here's something I learned from it: Louis Keysberg was the only survivor who talked openly about being a cannibal. In 1851 he moved to Sacramento and opened a successful restaurant (insert your own tasteless joke here).

IN PRODUCTION:
COWBOYS & ALIENS
Based on a popular graphic novel (also known as a comic-book to the less insecure) by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg,the one-line pitch for the DreamWorks production is: "In Silver City, Arizona, Apache Indians and Western settlers must lay their differences aside when an alien space ship crash lands in their city." The 'mysterious gun-slinger' will be played by 007 star Daniel Craig, after Robert Downey Jr. ankled, due to schedule conflicts. The lovely Olivia Wilde, of House and Alpha Dog(2006) fame, will co-star. Jon Favreau, who wrote Swingers (1996) and directed Iron Man I & II (2008 and not yet), will direct from a script by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote the two Transformers movies (2007, 2009) and Star Trek (2009), and Damon Lindelof of TV's Lost. The picture already 'boasts' ten - count 'em - ten producers, including Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Steven Speilberg and is set for a July 29, 2011 release.

6 GUNS
As I detailed in last week's blog, this first western from The Asylum is set for a March 30, 2010 direct-to-video release. If you'd like to see a trailer for the movie, as well as some stills, click here.

TRUE GRIT
No word yet on whether Paramount and the Coen brothers have selected a girl to play the role of Mattie Ross, for the film which is going to camera in the spring. They took the unusual step of holding an open call, asking for girls to send in home videos. The notice says, in part, "Fourteen year old Mattie is a simple, tough as nails, young woman in post-Civil War Arkansas. Her steely nerves and straightforward manner are often surprising to those she meets. She possessed plenty of true grit and determination. Enough so that she insists on going with 2 marshals to hunt down the killer of her father. We are looking for a girl who's tough, strong and tells it like it is." Applicants that they like will hear from the studio by February 15th. If you'd like to check out the reactions of a writer who has read the shooting script, click here.

AROUND TOWN:

AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER
Saturday, Feb. 13, 2:00-3:00 p.m., for you lovers of western fine art, in the Wells Fargo Theater, John Geraghty, Special Advisor and originator of the Autry's Masters of the American West Exhibition and Sale, will speak in detail about several paintings featured in this year's exhibition, including works by Howard Terpning, Mian Situ and Morgan Weistling. Doors open at 1:30. Admission is free with your paid admission to the Autry, which is an absolute must-see itself. For more info, click here. AUTRY UPDATE ON 2/9/2010 -- I just received word of a free movie screening on Saturday night, free admission for kids on President's Day, and other stuff that might be of interest. Click here for details.

COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART - MOVIE SCREENINGS
THE ESSENTIAL CLINT EASTWOOD
LACMA is presenting a retrospective of Eastwood movies, many directed by, and all starring the man with no name. Lots of good stuff, but I can't imagine how they could have omitted his first as a director, Play Misty For Me (1971) Here are the westerns they're showing this week.
Saturday, Feb. 13, 7:00 p.m., The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) D:Clint Eastwood, W:Philip Kaufman and Sonia Chernus, starring Eastwood, Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, John Vernon, and Clint's old co-star from Rawhide, Sheb Wooley.
Saturday, Feb. 13, 9:25 p.m., Pale Rider (1985) D:Clint Eastwood, W:Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack, starring Eastwood, Michael Moriarty and Carrie Snodgress.

ON THE TUBE

WESTERN MOVIE ON TV
Note: AMC=American Movie Classics, FMC=Fox Movie Channel, TCM=Turner Classic Movies. All times given are Pacific Standard Time.

Monday 2/8
TCM
8:30 a.m. - The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) Bernard Herrman's score won the Oscar, and Walter Huston as 'Mr. Scratch' was nominated, in the Stephen Vincent Benet story of a farmer who sells his soul for a good harvest. With Edward Arnold, James Craig, and the lovely Simone Simon. D:William Dieterle.
FMC
11:00 a.m. - The Proud Ones (1956) D:Robert D. Webb, W:Edmund H. North, Joseph Petracca, starring Robert Ryan, Virginia Mayo, Jeffrey Hunter.

Tuesday 2/9
FMC
6:00 a.m. - The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) One of the best of the dark ones, directed by William Wellman from Larmar Trotti's adaptation of Walter Van Tilburg Clark's novel. When we see so many bloated movies, it's amazing what pros can do with 75 taut minutes. Stars Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and a ton of familiar faces, most of whom you'll want to smash with a rock before it's over.
TCM
11:30 p.m. - Tender Mercies (1983) Bruce Beresford directs Horton Foote's brilliant story and screenplay about an alcoholic country singer, played wonderfully by Robert Duvall. With Tess Harper, Ellen Barkin and Wilford Brimley.

Wedneday 2/10
FMC
8:15 a.m. - The Mark Of Zorro (1940) A delight! Rouben Mamoulian directs John Taintor Foote's adaptation of the Johnston McCulley story. Ty Power, Basil Rathbone, Linda Darnell et al have great fun, and the audience has even more.

Thursday 2/11
TCM
6:15 a.m. Juarez (1939) D:William Dieterle, W:John Huston, Aeneas MacKenzie, Wolfgang Reinhardt, from a book and a play. Paul Muni plays Juarez, with Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, and Claude Rains as Napoleon III!
FMC
8:00 a.m. - The Big Trail (1930) Raoul Walsh directed John Wayne in his first lead in this epic from Hal G. Evarts' story, and good as it was, it was a box-office disappointment, sending the Duke to do leads in Bs until Stagecoach (1939). Beautiful telling of the story of a wagon train, with Marguerite Churchill, El Brendel, Ty Power Sr., with uncredited early roles by Ward Bond and Iron Eyes Cody. Shot in 35 MM by Lucien Andriot, and 70MM by Arthur Edeson -- I don't know which version they show.

Friday 2/12
FMC
8:00 a.m. - O. Henry's Full House (1952) A collection of five O. Henry short stories directed by five directors: Henry Hathaway, Henry King, Henry Koster, Jean Negulesco, and doing the western segment, The Ransom of Red Chief, Howard Hawks. Writing this one segement, uncredited, were Ben Hecht, Nunnally Johnson and Charles Lederer! Starring Fed Allen and Oscar Levant as the kidnappers, and Rin Tin Tin star Lee Aaker as the 'victim', narrated by John Steinbeck!

Saturday 2/13
AMC
6:30 a.m. - The Culpepper Cattle Company (1972) Directed by Dick Richards from his own story, scripted by Gregory Prentiss and Eric Bercovici. Young Gary Grimes talks a trail boss, Billy Green Bush, into taking him on a cattle drive. With Luke Askew, Bo Hopkins, Charles Martin Smith and Matt Clark -- how many westerns is Matt Clark in, anyway? As many as Gabby Hayes?

8:45 a.m. - The Last Wagon (1956) Directed by the great historical filmmaker Delmer Daves, which he co-scripted with James Edward Grant. The wagin-train survivors of an Apache attack must turn to 'Commanche Todd' Richard Widmark for help. With Tommy 'Lassie' Rettig and Nick Adams.

That's all for now! If you'd like to take a look at my website, and see what sort of things I write, please click here. I'd appreciate any commets you have about this blog, and suggestions about what should be included. You can e-mail at swansongmail@sbcglobal.net, or leave comments in the box below. IF THERE ISN'T A BOX BELOW, THEN CLICK ON THE WORD 'COMMENTS' UNDER THE LINE, AND A BOX SHOULD APPEAR. In future postings I'll have information about TV series that are currently running, plus radio shows and podcasts! Happy trails!

Henry

Headin' For The First Round-up

Over the past few months I've attended the 40th Anniversary screening of The Wild Bunch at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown L.A., a pre-release showing of Wyatt Earp from the PBS documentary series American Experience at the Autry Museum, and a double-bill of The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid at the Billy Wilder Theatre in Westwood. All events were well-attended, even the Earp, which took place during a brief lull in a series of rain-storms. But it occured to me that I found all of these events as a matter of dumb luck -- I missed several Jesse James and Billy the Kid-themed screenings at the Wilder, and today I missed a Clint Eastwood documentary at the County Museum of Art. So I've decided to try and build a resource, a blog where fellow western-movie fans can go to find out what screenings are taking place, what programs are running on TV, what series are coming out on DVD. And maybe most importantly -- because westerns are not dead -- what new westerns are in production and soon to be released!

I plan to update the blog every weekend, so you can check it and find out what interesting events are coming up in the week ahead. I'm located in Los Angeles, and that's where I know what's going on, but I want this blog to be a resource for folks around the country and around the world -- and for that I'll need your help. E-mail me at swansongmail@sbcglobal.net, and let me know what events are happening where you are that should be included. I need to know what museums, revival houses and other venues should be on our radar. I also need your comments -- if you watch a program or attend an event that we've mentioned, let's have your reactions.

IN PRODUCTION:

True Grit -- Brothers Ethan and Joel Coen, who brought us No Country For Old Men, 2007's Best Picture Oscar winner, are tackling the Charles Portis novel that Henry Hathaway first filmed in 1969. Playing U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, one of John Wayne's best-loved performances, will be Jeff Bridges, who's currently starring in Crazy Heart. Matt Damon will play La Boeuf, the Texas Ranger that Glen Campbell portrayed, but no word yet on who'll be Mattie Ross, the Kim Darby role. Josh Brolin is also in the cast. Bridges will be the third actor to play Cogburn. Wayne did it again, opposite Katherine Hepburn in 1975's Rooster Cogburn, a western haircut on The African Queen, and Warren Oates played the part in 1978's TV movie, True Grit: A Further Adventure. The new True Grit is scheduled for a Christmas Day, 2010 release. True Grit (1969) plays on TCM Friday, Feb. 5th at 8pm, Pacific time.

6 Guns -- From The Asylum (no, I'm not being cute -- it's the actual company name) comes the story of a young woman who enlists the aid of a bounty hunter to teach her to be a gunfighter, so she can hunt down the men who killed her family. Sounds a little like a 'girl-power' version of Nevada Smith (1966), or a re-tooling of the Raquel Welch starrer Hannie Caulder (1971). The direct-to-video release stars Sage Mears and Barry Van Dyke, who was a regular with his father, Dick Van Dyke, in the Diagnosis: Murder series, and is directed by Dick's grandson, Shane Van Dyke (and a director named 'Shane' certainly should be making westerns). Also top-billed is Greg Evigon, star of the series BJ and the Bear (1979-1981). 6 Guns should reach your video shelf March 30, 2010.

ON THE TUBE

NEW STUFF: Wyatt Earp is the newest episode of the PBS documentary series, American Experience, and presents a convincing telling of the life of one of the west's most controversial figures. It's startling to imagine that a man who is today generally revered was so worried about his reputation that he begged William S. Hart to play him on film, and set the record straight. In addition to the commentary by several historians, the beautiful background footage is a cut above what you generally get in documentaries -- the slow-motion gunfire during the O.K. Corral sequence was so purty I kept rewinding and watching it again. Check your local PBS affiliate for airdates. Also check out an episode from some seasons back, The Donner Party, which is also currently playing.

WESTERN MOVIES ON TV 2/1 - 2/7
Note - All listings are Pacific Standard Time. TCM = Turner Classic Movies, FMC = Fox Movie Channel, AMC = American Movie Classics

Tuesday 2/2
FMC
10:00 a.m. - Broken Arrow (1950) James Stewart, Jeff Chandler, D:Delmer Daves, W:Albert Maltz(another writer's name may be one the credits -- Maltz was blacklisted and had someone 'front' for him)
12:00 p.m. - The Undefeated (1969) John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr.,D:Andrew McLaglen, W:James Lee Barrett
TCM
12:30 p.m. - Billy The Kid (1941) Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy, D:David Miller, W:Gene Fowler. (Robert Taylor's 1st western!)
FMC
2:00 p.m. - Bandolero! (1968) James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch, Harry Carey Jr., Jock Mahoney, Don 'Red' Barry, Roy Barcroft, D:Andrew McLaglen, W:James Lee Barrett (If you want to see an incredible list on stuntmen, check out the listing on IMDB)

Wednesday 2/3
TCM
5:45 a.m. - Viva Villa! (1934) Wallace Beery, Fay Wray, Leo Carillo, D:Jack Conway, W:Ben Hecht (This one has uncredited help on direction and script by Howard Hawks and Wild Bill Wellman. Stu Erwin's part was being played by Lee Tracy, but during production, Tracy got drunk and urinated off a balcony onto a Mexican military parade -- they had to rush him out of the country!)

Thursday 2/4
FMC
2:00 p.m. - Flaming Star (1960)Elvis Presley, Steve Forrest, Barbara Eden, L.Q. Jones, D:Don Seigel, W:Clair Huffaker, Nunnally Johnson

Friday 2/5
TCM
2:45 p.m. - Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Earl Holliman, Dennis Hopper, D:John Sturges, W:Leon Uris
5:00 p.m. - True Grit (1969) John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin, D:Henry Hathaway, W:Margeurite Roberts
7:15 pm - The Shootist (1976) John Wayne, James Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, Richard Boone, John Carradine, Henry Morgan, D:Don Siegel, W:Miles Wood Swarthout, Scott Hale. (John Wayne earned his Oscar for this one)

Saturday 2/6
TCM
1:30 a.m. - Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, D:John Sturges, W:Millard Kaufman
FMC
6:00 a.m. - Call Of The Wild (1935) Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie, Buck, D:William Wellman, W:Gene Fowler - from Jack London's novel. (Great stuff, and Gable at his best - no wonder Loretta got impregnated by him on the shoot!)
TCM
6:30 a.m. - How The West Was Won (1962) James Stewart, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, D:John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall, W:James Webb, from his series of LIFE Magazine articles.
9:30 a.m. - The Magnificent Seven (1960) Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, Horst Buchholtz, Eli Wallach, D:John Sturges, W:William Roberts.
11:45 a.m. - Maverick (1994) Mel Gibson, James Garner, Jodie Foster, D:Richard Donner, W:William Goldman from the Roy Huggins series. (Fun, and countless cameos by cowboy actors and country music stars.

That's all for today, but in my next post I'll be adding more info about westerns on TV, radio, podcasts and more! Let me hear from you!

Henry