We figured it was time to have a place to talk about Steve’s latest video subjects that do not have an UMR page.
(Visited 1,785 times)
Ranking Movies Since 2011
We figured it was time to have a place to talk about Steve’s latest video subjects that do not have an UMR page.
HI STEVE: Thanks for the feedback. Good stuff on Tarantino/Fonda/Stewart and Eastwood.
Some write-ups suggest that Clint’s Pale Rider is a reworking of Laddie’s Shane. Eastwood seems to have been abnother of those guys like Tracy and McQueen who was especially status- conscious.
Although he and Burt Reynolds were close friends, apparently when Burt and he made City Heat together in 1984 not only did Clint insist on top billing but he also adamantly refused Burt’s request to at least be named first on just the cast lists.
Maybe Clint thought that with his own name appearing first everywhere else Burt beng first on the cast lists would read like The Work Horse’s co-star links columns where for example somebody like Walter Brennan or Thelma Ritter is quite likely to be mentioned before Ladd or Glenn Ford and the likes of The Thin Woman/Sir Maurice aka Michael Caine and Bruce Willis are ALWAYS listed even if they are in a minor role or just a non-role as Brucie was in Split.
Indeed the only other time that Clint accepted less tha 1st billing was to Kevin Costner in 1993’s A Perfect World though I have no idea why Clint made that consession in Kev’s case. Anyway keep safe.
BEST STILLS IN STEVE’s 1968 WESTERNS VIDEO
1/Journey to Shiloh
2/Shalako
3/Blue
4/Day of Evil Gun
5/Bandolero
6/2 for 5 Card Stud
7/Firecreek
8/Stalking Moon with Royal Dano looking as glamourous as ever -a fluttering of feminine hearts can be heard from among Steve’s viewers! The film by critics at the time was noted for the near-silence from the two leads Royal Dano and Eva Marie Saint who barely spoke throughout a long and lonely joint-trek in the film’s plot.
9/2 for Pancho Villa
10/The Scalphunters
11/2 for Professional Gun
12/2 for Will Penny
13/Hang em High
14/ALL for Once upon a Time in the North – great closing montage.
Overall very classy video – 2 views by me so far.
BEST POSTERS IN STEVE 1968 WESTERNS VIDEO [99% rated]
1/ALL for Shalako – in fact magnificent
2/2 for Blue
3/ALL for Day of Evil Gun
4/ALL for Bandolero – this is the final Stewart western that I would recommend to anyone: the remainders wer not up to much in my view
5/ALL for 5 Card Stud
6/ALL for Firecreek “The town of losers”.
7/Foreign Language one for Stalking Moon
8/ALL for Django
9/The Smile that Kills
10/ALL for Scalphunters. Burt and co-star Shelley were off-screen lovers in a romantic triangle that involved The Great Mumbler
11/Both for A Professional Gun
12/Foreign Language one for Will Penny
13/A Man called Gannon.
14/T he Great Silence. Lead actor Jean-Louis Trintignant was original choice for Brando role in later 1972 Last Tango in Manchester.
15/All for Once Upon a Time in the North. There are some magical visuals here – well done STEVE
STEVE I meant to say last time that your 1967 video reminded me that Bobby Darin made movies and he made 13 of them in fact. His 1967 Gunfight in Abilene is a remake of 1956’s Showdown at Abilene starring Jock Mahoney, from 1960-63 one of the many screen’s Tarzans.
Anything about Bobby invokes nostalgic memories as many of his hit records [especially the one mentioned below] were playing in all the duke boxes of our military canteens when I was in the Royal Air Force in the early 1960s.
Peter Finch made a 1961 political movie called No Love for Johnnie. Unfortunately for poor Mr Darin on Cogerson it is a case of No Love for Bobby.
Makin’ eyes at all the guys
While you dance with me
I must be blind to love your kind
’cause it’s so plain to see.
There’d be sorrow tomorrow. Sorrow tomorrow.
Havin’ fun with anyone
Livin’ for today
My achin’ heart is torn apart
I just can’t live that way.
There’d be sorrow tomorrow. Sorrow tomorrow.
[Sorrow Tomorrow 1962 sung by Bobby Darin]
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, generous rating (ooh), info and song lyrics, always appreciated. Happy you liked the posters, stills and lobby cards.
We’re coming up to the end of the 1960s, the spaghetti western did have an effect on Hollywood, Clint Eastwood’s ‘Hang em High’ emulated the style and violence of the Italian cowboys, music too. High Plains Drifter (1973) re-invented The Man With No Name as a mysterious gunfighter back from the dead looking for revenge.
Quentin Tarantino is a huge fan of Spaghetti Westerns and ‘Django Unchained’ was a tribute to the films he grew up watching on video tape. Ennio Morricone scored Tarantino’s next western ‘The Hateful Eight’ and won his only Oscar for that film.
Will Penny was the top rated American western of 1968. Charlton Heston has mentioned that it was one of his personal favorites.
One film scored 10 out of 10 from my sources and it was Once Upon a Time in the West. And three scored 9 out of 10.
My Video Top 5 –
Once Upon a Time in the West 9.05
The Great Silence 7.5
Will Penny 7.5
The Mercenary 7.4
Hang ‘Em High 7.0
The UMR Critics Top 5 –
Once Upon a Time in the West 9.0
Hang ‘Em High 7.7
Will Penny 7.6
The Scalphunters 7.1
Guns for San Sebastian 6.4
According to IMDB Henry Fonda played a villain for the first time in a theatrical film in ‘Firecreek’ which was followed by his more famous child-killing villain ‘Frank’ in Once Upon a Time in the West, the same year.
Firecreek was one of only two films in which long-time friends Henry Fonda and James Stewart worked together. The other was The Cheyenne Social Club (1970). Both appeared in How the West Was Won (1962) as fur trappers who were friends but they did not appear in the same scenes.
1/In Part 2 of my post I say I am listing 15 entries whereas it went on to 18. I had meant to keep the list at 15 but couldn’t hold the line – that’s how much I get carried away with many of Steve’s visuals!
2/in part 3, I list Audie Murphy’s 1969 A Time for Dying instead of the 1967 A Time for Killing [aka The Long Ride Home] of Charlie Bill Stuart [aka Glenn Ford]. I often confuse them. Apologies.
A Time for Dying, a western, was in fact Audie Murphy’s final film [and the only one that he ever produced] but it never got a widespread cinematic release as the major studios were not interested in it. In it Audie gives himself the supporting role of Jesse James and one studio executive explaining his rejection said “Not enough of Audie in it” [and it runs for just 67 minutes, short for even a B movie].
That A Time for Dying film was directed by Audie’s great real-life pal Bud Boetticher cut no ice with the studios so 1967’s 40 Guns to Apache Pass which Steve covers in his 1967 video is Audie’s final mainstream cinematic release.