Renamed, Revised, and Resurrected!

You may have noticed there is a 3-year gap between the previous blog entry and this one.  No, nothing terrible happened; I just put this blog on hold after getting involved with other activities in my new home in Arizona.  But after attending the Western Writers of America Convention in Tucson in June, which was wonderful, I got inspired to start blogging again. 

But I’ve decided to shift the focus a bit and expand the scope of the blog.  Instead of being primarily concerned with finding connections to Alias Smith and Jones in the movies, I’ve decided to post general reviews of movie Westerns, regardless of whether there is an ASJ tie-in or not.  Consequently, some reviews may not mention ASJ at all.

ASJ card in a deck of cards featuring TV Westerns

And there will be more reviews of books related to the Old West, and maybe even the contemporary West, than there were before.  Also, I will blog about places I visit in the West.  Now that I live here, I can do that more often.  I may even just post photographs I take, although it’s more likely you can find them on my Instagram account.

So although the blog will still revolve around movie Westerns, there will be more entries about other aspects of the West.  As a result, I’ve decided to rename the blog to better reflect its purpose.  Just in case the title isn't clear enough, the tagline makes things explicit.  I also revised the earlier posts by cleaning up a lot of the links which were no longer working. 

I’ll try to post once a month, but I make no promises.  When I do post something new, I’ll also announce it on my Instagram, so you might want to follow me there.  Just click here to do that.  I hope you like this “new” blog!

Monte Walsh (2003 Remake)

I shouldn’t have resisted watching this movie for so long!  I hesitated viewing this remake of Monte Walsh because I really enjoyed the original version and didn’t think a made-for-TV show could equal it.  But it did and, in some ways, I liked it even better.

Tom Selleck stars as the eponymous character in this 2003 Monte Walsh.  The opening was completely different here but just as amusing.  It starts off in a town – a title card says Antelope Junction, 1892.  After some hijinks by a couple boys and a practical joke on the lawyer in the town, Monte Walsh and Chet Rawlins (Keith Carradine) are seen riding into town.

After the opening scenes, most of the rest of this Monte Walsh is the same as the 1970 movie.  The plot concerns a group of cowboys in Wyoming who are slowly being forced into new ways of life because the era of “cowboying,” as they put it, is coming to an end.  (Which is, of course, the same reason Heyes and Curry get outta their business.)  The same characters populate this version and it’s interesting to see how different actors play them.

There are a few significant changes in this Monte Walsh.  The first is a long fight scene between the cowboys and a group of railroad men, which I don’t recall from the original film.  Another change revolves around Monte breaking the horse that Shorty (George Eads) tried and failed to do: In this movie, it all happens during the daytime instead of at night. 

I still felt real sorry for the shopkeeper who lost most of his inventory when the horse rampaged through his store.  Likewise, the climactic shootout occurs in the daytime and didn’t take nearly as long.  It was less suspenseful, though, because it didn’t last nearly as long but the accompanying music was just as effective. 

However, the biggest change was the ending – the gunfight wasn’t the end!  In this version, there was an epilogue.  I won’t spoil it by revealing what happens but I will say that it left me with quite a different feeling than my final reaction to the original Monte Walsh.

One thing I really liked about this movie was the cinematography: It almost looked like this Monte Walsh was filmed in Technicolor because the color in the outdoor scenes was very vivid and bright.  All in all, this 117 minute long remake is definitely worth seeing.

The Rough Riders in Arizona Bound & Below the Border

The Rough Riders are the Three Musketeers transplanted to the Old West.  Just as many people nowadays have a romanticized view of America in the late 19th century, and have co-opted the phrase “three musketeers” to signify three friends who stick together through life’s adventures, the Rough Riders were Monogram Pictures idealized version of the trio that saved people from harm.  The Rough Riders in Arizona Bound was the first of eight feature films produced by the studio in the early 1940s.

Arizona Bound packs a lot of action into this black-and-white, 53-minute long movie.  It opens with the main Rough Rider, Buck Jones, sitting outside at his Arizona ranch gazing at the stars and telling his companion how glad he is to have hung up his guns.  The other man doesn’t believe him and is proved right when a telegram comes seeking Buck’s help in Mesa City, where a stagecoach line keeps getting robbed of its gold shipments and US mail.

Next we see the various townspeople introduced; some are good guys, some not, and it’s pretty clear from the beginning who is who in Arizona Bound.  A lot of the action takes place in a saloon and when a preacher enters, he does so with a bang—literally.  He tries to get a man who has crossed him to do a dance but this scene ends differently from the one in The McCreedy Bust: Going, Going, Gone where Kid Curry eventually does a jig, although at one point, the preacher in this movie does say, “They’re getting better every minute.”

This preacher, however, turns out to be another Rough Rider, played by Tim McCoy.  The third member of the trio is played by Raymond Hatton.  Naturally, before Arizona Bound is over, there are several confrontations with the bad guys, deceptions by the good guys to trick the bad guys, good guys who get mistaken for bad guys, and a climactic showdown accompanied by overwrought and melodramatic music typical of movies of this time period.  And, of course, a happy ending with all the loose ends tied up, along with the bad guys.

As the first in a series of Rough Riders movies, Arizona Bound sets the stage very well.  The song opening and closing the movie provides background information.  One feature of this franchise is that the audience doesn’t know at first that the three men are working together, so the explanation in the end scene that explains how they all came together to solve the problem in Mesa City is helpful. The rallying cry, “Looks like here’s where the Rough Riders ride again!” is heard for the first but definitely not the last time.

*     *     *     *     *

If only the condition of the print on the DVD I watched was better!  Rough Riders: Below the Border has a lot of positive features but sound and picture quality were not among them.  Sometimes it was hard to hear what characters were saying and often the picture was blurry or perhaps there was ghosting of images, which made it difficult to completely enjoy the movie.

Rough Riders: Below the Border is a 57-minute black-and-white film from 1942.  It stars Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, and Raymond Hatton, who were famous B-Western stars of the early 20th century.  Although the movie’s duration is approximately the same as that of a TV show, there is so much action happening and so many characters that it seems “bigger” than a TV show.

The movie starts off with a scene of two Mexican women and an American man on a stagecoach, which shortly thereafter gets robbed by bandits.  We also see a sheriff and some townspeople talking, and it appears that something shady is going on although it is hard to tell due to the poor audio quality.  Then there’s a scene of an Anglo man driving a buggy into town, which is named Border City, and it turns out he is there to pick up the ladies; it also turns out he is sweet on the younger one.

Each subsequent scene reveals a little more of what is really going on but Rough Riders: Below the Border takes its time letting the audience know.  Several scenes occur in a saloon and revolve around the swamper.  If after listening to how the Jordan girls (Lisa and Cindy Eilbacher in The Posse That Wouldn’t Quit) described their days on their ranch, including swamping out the place, one wasn’t sure what that meant, the character in this movie makes it abundantly clear.  One scene was similar to the one in The Day They Hanged Kid Curry when Heyes and the Kid were trapped in the cave.  However, in this film, the outcome was quite different.

Interestingly, the Rough Riders, who turn out to be a gang of three lawmen who work undercover, hail from Wyoming, Arizona, and Texas, all places that episodes of Alias Smith and Jones were set in.  There is also a theme song, sung at the beginning of Rough Riders: Below the Border and again at the end, which explains who they are and what they do.

This film is one of a series and there were eight Rough Riders movies.  It’s a shame that the poor quality of the DVD detracted from my enjoyment of the move but since the plot was well-paced, I may seek out the other films anyway.

Monte Walsh (1970 Original)

Monte Walsh is a sad, depressing film interspersed with a few flashes of humor.  It also includes an out-of-place opening theme song sung by Mama Cass and a jarring climax.  With Lee Marvin and Jack Palance starring, the acting is of course great. 

Ted Gehring (Seth in Going, Going, Gone and Jorgensen in 10 Days That Shook Kid Curry) has a small comedic role in the first half of this 1970 movie and it is easy to see how he got the role of Seth as a result.  The movie is based on a book by Jack Shaeffer, who also wrote Shane.

The opening scene of two men riding along, whistling, reminded me of the opening of The Bounty Hunter, although in Monte Walsh they were in a forest, not the canyonlands of the Southwest, and are returning to town after spending the winter in a line shack.  Monte and Chet are partners and when they spot a wolf in the distance, they dismount and Monte prepares to take a shot.  But he hesitates and then launches into a monologue about someone he knew – this scene also reminded me somewhat of the beginning of The Fifth Victim and the banter when Heyes and Curry are tracking the mountain lion.

Then they arrive in town (called Harmony, in a stroke of ironic brilliance) and from there, things slowly and inexorably go downhill.  Monte wants to get a drink but the foreman of the ranch they work for wants to talk to them first.  Chet is all ears but Monte wants a drink.  Chet ultimately persuades him to hear the foreman out. 

This is just the first of many times when things don’t go Monte’s way.  Turns out the ranch they work for was bought out by a big conglomerate.  The foreman offers them jobs but Monte isn’t sure he wants to work for a faceless company; Chet, however, persuades him it’s a good deal.  In Monte Walsh, Chet is the character who sees clearly that their way of life is ending.

Monte is in denial, though, and the reminder of Monte Walsh places him in situations designed to show how he is a relic who doesn’t fit into the new, more modern world around him.  A younger ranch hand boasts about his prowess at breaking horses – something Monte apparently was known for – and there is an on-going conflict between the two men as a result.  In between, Chet settles down and Monte continues his relationship with a prostitute (played by Jeanne Moreau!). 

But nothing ever turns out well for Monte.  Partway through Monte Walsh, the film takes a very dark turn that sends Monte on a vendetta.  The climax is sad and unexpected, made more so by the great music accompanying it, which is far better and more appropriate for the mood of the movie than the theme song.

Filmed partially at Mescal and Empire Ranch in Arizona, Monte Walsh is an existential 106-minute long movie that makes one wonder if the real cowboys of the 19th century knew they were becoming anachronisms.  I didn’t realize it until the end but the drawings in the opening credits sequence were by Charles M. Russell, adding yet another hint of the vanishing way of life Monte represented.

Empire Ranch: Action! in Southern Arizona

The Empire Ranch is just the kind of place Heyes and Curry might have worked at when they couldn’t avoid ranch work.  Located in southern Arizona, about 30 miles from the Mexican border, Empire Ranch was founded in the 1860s on 160 acres as a homestead.  It’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere, which would have suited the ex-outlaws fine, although the small town of Sonoita is nearby.  At the present time, it’s still a working cattle ranch but a foundation administers the site, which is situated on Bureau of Land Management land.

View around Empire Ranch; Biscuit Mountain is in the center

On the first weekend on November, the Empire Ranch Foundation holds its annual “Round Up.”  There are talks about Western, Old West and cowboy life, presentations by and about the people who used to live and work at the ranch, demonstrations of horsemanship and shooting, cowboy entertainment and food, kids’ activities and, my favorite, sessions about the Westerns that were filmed on the ranch.

Entertainment area

You see, Empire Ranch was not just a working cattle ranch, it was also a movie set!  Actually, a few TV series also filmed there: Bonanza, Gunsmoke and The Young Riders.  Some of the movies that I’ve reviewed on this blog filmed scenes there, too, such as 3:10 to Yuma (the original), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Hombre, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and Winchester ’73, to name just a few.  More on this shortly.

Since this was my first time at Empire Ranch, I wanted to see as much as I could.  And even though I spent about five hours there (and another couple hours driving each way to and from, and passed through through Border Control checkpoints because it was so close to Mexico), I still missed out on a couple things.  I wanted to see the Dutch oven cooking demonstration but by the time I got there, they were packing up to leave.  And I completely forgot to get a cup of Arbuckles coffee inside the main ranch house--dang!

Back entrance to main part of the ranch house

But here’s what I did see and do:

There was a demonstration of roping cattle going on when I arrived.  This was in a small arena and a few men on horseback showed how to do it.

I watched for about 15 minutes and then moved on.  I could see why Heyes and Curry might get tired of looking after cattle for days on end.

I had a very interesting discussion with a rancher about cattle brands.  I learned that rustling is still a problem here!  I also learned that all Arizona-registered brands can be searched on the Arizona Department of Agriculture website and when someone wants to design a new brand, the state has to investigate and make sure it isn’t similar to one already in use.  It costs $75 to register a brand and the process takes a couple months.  And I learned that although fancy brands look nice, simpler ones are better because they are easier to see clearly and to make.  The rancher, Mr. Shock, had a table with various branding tools as well as other tools used for ranching.

Display of ranching tools

Another thing I learned from him is which particular tool ranchers prefer to use when castrating bulls.  But ‘nuff said on that!

Most of my time was spent learning about the movies that were filmed at Empire Ranch.  One talk was by two stuntmen, Rodd Wolff and Bunker De France.  This was fascinating!

Rodd Wolff on left, Bunker De France on right

They told stories about the movies they worked on and the actors and directors they worked with, including John Wayne, Paul Newman, and Jack Elam (Boot Coby in Bad Night in Big Butte).  They also discussed how some stunts were done and the safety measures they took to prevent injury.

Harness used when a stuntman had to fall off a horse

Another talk was by Marty Freese, who is the historian at Old Tucson Studios.  What a great job that must be!  He showed lobby cards of movies filmed at Empire Ranch, starting with the earliest movie, and discussed them in chronological order.  The landscape surrounding the ranch is not the same as Tucson because the elevation is around 5,000 feet; it looks more like high desert or prairie than the Sonoran desert with its cacti.  So movies could film at Old Tucson Studios and then go out to Empire Ranch and it would look very different.  But, just like at Old Tucson, there was a mountain called Biscuit Mountain (see the photograph at the top of this post) by the locals that often featured in the background of movies shot at Empire Ranch.

The third movie-related talk I attended was the one I was most eager to hear.  That’s because it was five men discussing the work they did on Westerns.  Rodd Wolff and Bunker De France participated as did Bob Shelton, along with Marty Freese who moderated.  The other participant was, drum roll please: Don Collier -- Mr. Tompkins in The Young Riders!

Don Collier

He was also in High Chaparral and mentioned that show’s upcoming convention next March in Tucson.  It was really cool to hear him discuss his career, although with four other people on the podium, he didn’t have all that much speaking time in the one hour slotted for this “Cowboy Conversation,” as these talks were called.

Mr. Collier didn’t talk about The Young Riders but afterwards, I went up and told him I was a fan (though I like ASJ more) and asked him about his time on the show.  He said he really enjoyed working with all those young actors, as he put it.  I also asked him what his favorite episode was and...can you guess?  It was the Season 2 episode called Pride and Prejudice; the one when Tompkins’ wife and daughter are “rescued” from the Indians who abducted them years ago.  That was one of my favorite episodes, too!

The last talk I heard was by John Larkin, an expert on the guns of the Old West.  He had a large collection of hand guns, rifles and shotguns and explained the history of many of them.  I saw a Winchester ’73, a Colt Peacemaker, a Schofield (Heyes’ weapon of choice: Wow!) and pistols used by Bill Hickok, though I’m not sure if they were authentic or replicas.

Mr. Larkin and maybe a Winchester '73

One thing Mr. Larkin said stood out for me: Gun belts of the sort that Heyes and Curry wore weren’t used in actual fact because it was awkward and too time-consuming to reach around and pull out a bullet from a belt like that, especially when doing it quickly.  Instead, men just kept their bullets loose in small leather pouches.

Time was running out so I walked quickly through the exhibit in the main house that told the story of Empire Ranch.  I spent a few minutes chatting with several writers who had tables set up inside to promote their books, all of which dealt with the West in one way or another.

Two of the several authors promoting their books about the West

Then I took a quick walk down to the beginning of the Heritage Discovery Trail, a scenic path that goes to, well, I'm not sure because I didn’t follow it.

Gate at start of Heritage Discovery Trail

By then it was getting late and I didn’t want to drive back along isolated roads by myself in the dark.  Like Curry and Heyes, I wanted a warm meal and a nice bed at the end of a long but very enjoyable day! 

 

Related Links:

 

History of Empire Ranch

General information about Empire Ranch

List of movies filmed at Empire Ranch