Ben Johnson

[pvitari]

Never mind -- that's not Ben. I found some frames of this guy sitting his horse while Ben's leg is clearly in sight on the left side. Ben IS in this scene, though -- he's playing (that is, pretending to play) the accordion during the short dance sequence to "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin' " when the party-goers arrive at Aunt Eller's place.


You can see Ben with the accordion immediately to the right of the white column that Laurey (Shirley Jones) is holding.


Now he's on the left kind of dancing along with the accordion. ;)


Sitting down with the accordion. ;)


Now standing up with his hand on the shoulder of the girl in the blue dress.


I think this is Ben -- hard to tell. Note he has taken hold of the reins of the team next to him. This shot is only in the Todd A-O version, not the Cinemascope one. It's a shot of the cowboys spurring their horses and wagon teams to ride along with Curley and Laurey as they depart after the trial. The standard DVD version of the Todd A-O print is in really bad shape. I'm really looking forward to seeing the restored Todd A-O version at the TCM festival on Thursday.

[pvitari]

Oklahoma! publicity pic -- there's Ben "playing" the accordion in the middle of the picture. ;)

[pvitari]

TCM festival or bust! So here's one final picture from Oklahoma! which I plan to be enjoying tonight on the big screen. :) This is a still taken during the filming of the movie's final scene when newleyweds Curley and Laurey depart -- in a surrey with the fringe on top, of course. :)

[pvitari]

The new restoration of the Todd A-O version of Oklahoma! was absolutely phenomenal. Can't wait for the Blu-ray though that will probably come up short compared to the screening on the giant screen at the TCL Chinese (I feel sad typing "TCL Chinese" instead of "Graumann's Chinese"). I wish 20th Century-Fox would release the restoration in theaters this spring so everyone could see it the way it was meant to be seen.

While watching the new restoration, I noticed another shot with Ben. He's the cowboy seated at left with the group by the tree in the far background. (This screencap is from the Cinemascope version of the film.)

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I love this still -- it actually shows Ben while roping! In the movie (Slim Carter) he's roping a chair to entertain the little kid played by Tim Hovey. Julie Adams looks on.

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John Wayne movies all this week at the Ben page since TCM is having a big John Wayne marathon all this week. :)

This is from The Undefeated. But WHAT is that thing hanging down from the top of the photo??? Stray microphone or other piece of equipment? Or maybe a flying saucer flew overhead just as the photographer snapped the pic. :)

OK, I know one of you is a big Roman Gabriel fan but I can't remember who. :) But I hope you enjoy this picture too. :)

[rerun]

I love all the Ben Johnson news. I knew him briefly. Super nice guy. But am confused. I just read on another thread
that Ben said Wild Bill Elliott was not much of a rider! I leased Bill's ranch for a time and he was there almost all the time
with his furniture making and he also kept several stalls for himself. I was always impressed with his horsemanship for a star!
He rode many cutting horses and rode them very well. Not easy to do well. So . . . . I wonder if Ben was talking about someone else?
Of course I realize there is a big difference between riding as a trained horseman and riding like a cowboy as they wanted you to do in films. The most criticism I ever had in films was I looked too good on a horse and that was my schooling to do so. They had to teach me at Republic to ride with my hands out in front of me with the elbows flapping . . . you know, more like the early cowboys style. At first I could hardly believe they were serious but they were! Hahahah

[pvitari]

Hi, rerun, you bring up something that has also mystified me for a while. I have read a number of interviews (not just one) where Ben said that about Bill Elliott -- that he (Ben) basically taught him (Elliott) to ride and he was never much of a rider. I was also confused by this, and I contacted Gene Blottner, author of Wild Bill Elliott: A Complete Filmography, and he confirmed that Elliott was indeed a very good horseman and had grown up around horses. I'm not a rider myself but Wild Bill on film always looked like an accomplished rider to me. So I think this is going to have to remain a mystery, as Ben would never lie about anyone. Either he was mistaken on which actor he was talking about or there was some aspect to Elliott's riding he didn't like. I don't think we're going to be able to solve this one.

That's funny about you having to make yourself ride "early cowboys style" on film! ;) Have you ever read Diana Cary Serra's book Hollywood Posse? It's a fascinating book about the first generation of riding stuntmen, most of whom got into movies when work on the ranches dried up in the first years of the 20th century. Diana Cary Serra was a child star herself in silent films, as Baby Peggy, but after a few years of stardom she grew up and her career evaporated. Her dad was a well-known member of the Hollywood posse, Jack Montgomery and she grew up knowing all those old-time movie stuntmen and riders.

P.S. That is so cool that you knew Wild Bill. I love his movies. By the way, the Warner Archive Collection recently released a set of the five hard-boiled DETECTIVE movies he made for Allied Artists, in case you're interested in seeing a different side of a favorite screen cowboy. http://shop.warnerarchive.com/product/b ... rom=Search

Today's picture is also from The Undefeated. :)

[rerun]

Interesting! Also a little known fact. When Boyd Magers of Western Clippings magazine reviewed my book (Fall Girl: My Life as a Western Stunt Double) he said he had never heard that Bill Elliott made furniture. I assured him that he was every bit as good as George Montgomery in his wood work and finishing. I have gone with him looking for old glass to use in cabinets and one antique dealer said he could not tell the difference between Bill's work and the real antiques. He was absolutely astounding in his wood work and had a very nice shop at his ranch in Chatsworth. And, by the way, a wonderful, wonderful gentleman all the way.

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As soon as you wrote that Bill Elliott made furniture, I thought of George Montgomery! He also painted and sculpted. A very talented man.

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seatin ... -f_382970/

Two pics from Chisum today.

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One more from Chisum.

[rerun]

As soon as you wrote that Bill Elliott made furniture, I thought of George Montgomery! He also painted and sculpted. A very talented man.

http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/seatin ... -f_382970/

Two pics from Chisum today.

George Montgomery made museum quality furniture as did Bill Elliott. Montgomery's piece travel all over the US to various
museums on display and often can be seen at Museum in Palm Springs. Elliott was every bit as good.

[pvitari]

Gee, they just can't be satisfied giving great performances on film... they have to spend their off-hours making museum quality furniture! Actors. :) People like Bill Elliott and George Montgomery do more in a day than I'll ever do in my life. :)

Well, I do scan. Here's one from She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. :) By the way, I did a little redesign on the Ben page. I was really frustrated with the small size of photos on the front page, and since nobody had left a comment in months, I moved the guestbook to its own separate page, and the same with the links. So now I can post bigger size scans to that front page. Shutterfly's design is still very early 2000s and I wish they'd update their templates, but considering how much I pay for their services (zero), I am not complaining. :)

Look at those guys. Aren't they beautiful?

[pvitari]

I've started posting screencaps from Fort Apache over in the Fort Apache thread in the Westerns forum... have a look if you're a Fort Apache fan! :)

Ben in costume and makeup doubling for Henry Fonda

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*teeth knashing* Shutterfly has messed around with its uploading function and so it's going to take longer than expected to upload the Fort Apache screencaps to the Ben page. Why do they always make these changes that make things worse instead of better? WHY?? WHY???????? Hopefully I can get 'er done by Tuesday. Wednesday latest. Meanwhile check out the screencaps in the Fort Apache thread in the Westerns folders.

So today's post is a pic from Corky, a 1972 movie starring Robert Blake in which Ben made a brief appearance as a racetrack owner and driver. You can tell it's 1972 -- look at the sideburns! ;)

This is actually a brand new print I had made from a vintage transparency.