Ben Johnson

Discussion of the actors, directors and film-makers who 'made it all happen'
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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Kino Lorber Studio Classics will release Breakheart Pass on Blu-ray (and also on DVD) on August 12.

And the annual appearance of this flyer. ;) The steer roping on Saturday is in honor of Ben, Sr.

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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I posted two additional pictures of Ben from that party with Nudie Cohn over at the Ben page -- you'll have to go there to see them. They're not my pictures, they're scans provided by a Facebook acquaintance named Joyce. One is a really big picture of just Ben looking very serious with a drink in his hand. ;) Definitely worth a click over to see. ;) http://benjohnsonfanpage.shutterfly.com
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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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More DVD news. Twilight Time has announced that Sam Peckinpah's "Noon Wine" -- a dramatization of the Katherine Anne Porter novella for the TV series ABC Stage 67 -- will be included as a standard definition extra on their upcoming Blu-ray of Peckinpah's The Killer Elite, to be released September 9. "Noon Wine" was originally broadcast on November 23, 1967 and has rarely been seen since. It has never been released in any home video format and only one print suitable for transfer to DVD exists. It is housed at the Los Angeles branch of The Paley Center for Media. Only 3,000 copies will be pressed and they can be purchased only through Screen Archives.

Ben has one scene in "Noon Wine," playing a kindly sheriff. The show was filmed in color and presumably the DVD will be in color too, and of much better quality than this screencap I made from a really awful "unofficial" DVD. :)

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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This photo has an interesting history. :)

This is a publicity picture for The Getaway. It's autographed to Ira Kramer, the nephew of Irving and Paula Klaw, who founded Movie Star News, a legendary New York City shop originally founded as a bookstore in 1939. The Klaws found that movie stills and lobby cards was a more profitable business, and that cheesecake photos and films were especially popular. Eventually they began producing and selling their own striptease and "fetish" photos and films, most famously of Bettie Page. Movie Star News recently closed down and nephew Ira Kramer sold off the store's vast inventory, including this photo which ended up on eBay. http://bigstory.ap.org/photo/ira-kramer-1

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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I found this 1988 catalog from Dixie Gun Works on ebay. This edition of the company's catalog has a picture of Ben on the cover (this particular copy is rather beat up, alas) and a letter "signed" by Ben on the inside cover, but you can tell from the fake-folksy writing with the dropped "g's" that it probably written by the company's marketing director. :) I've seen small examples of Ben's writing and his grammar, punctuation and syntax are excellent standard English.

Dixie Gun Works (http://dixiegunworks.com) sells antique and replica blackpowder (muzzle-loading) firearms, replacement parts and anything else you'd need for your antique/replica gun collection. Their current catalog has over 10,000 items! Although I'm not a gun collector myself, I have to say that I was quite fascinated with the items offered for sale and spent some time leafing through looking at this and that. I can imagine the anticipation a real gun collector would have for such a big catalog -- the way I used to feel when Sears catalogs came in the mail when I was a kid, or the Scholastic Book Club catalog. (Anyone remember those?) :)

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Happy 96th birthday to Ben. ;) Here's a school portrait of the birthday boy....

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Happy Father's Day! ;) In honor of Ben's dad, today's post at the Ben page is the program for the 1956 Ben Johnson (Sr.) Memorial Steer Roping, held every year in Pawhuska usually on the Saturday before Father's Day. Below are some of the more interesting pages from the program but you can see (and download) the entire program from here: https://benjohnsonfanpage.shutterfly.com/print/924

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Is this picture amazing or what? Ben and both his sisters, plus Mary Ann's little girl Ann -- who I met for about five minutes in 2011 when I went to Pawhuska for the Ben Johnson Film Festival. She has adult children of her own now. :)
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The winner of the steer roping was Clark McEntire, who is a three-time world rodeo champion. At the time his little daughter was just a bit over a year old. She grew up to be kind of famous herself. Her name is Reba. ;)
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Johnny Western -- what a baby face! ;) Ben and Johnny were friends -- Ben sponsored him for the Screen Actors Guild and paid his entry free of $200 in 1957. Johnny acted with Ben in the 1958 film Fort Bowie.
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Also, this is my new webpage banner photo. Note that Ben, Jr. is wearing what appears to be a ballcap, not a cowboy hat! That's Ben Sr. waving his hat in the air at the top of the photo. This is from the program from the 1981 Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping but I'm saving the entire program for next year's Father's Day, so you'll have to wait. ;)

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Another candid from One-Eyed Jacks. That's Ben on the left. The young lady is Lisa Lu, whose already tiny part got cut down to basically an extra role.

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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The August 1950 issue of Photoplay magazine. This issue included a question about Ben in the "Readers Inc." letters column, as well as a picture and mention of Ben (and Harry Carey, Jr.) in an article entitled "Choose Your Star" in which the photos and brief profiles of "rising personalities" are published and the readers can vote on the young actor and actress they most think will achieve stardom.

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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More Ben from the back! He and James Drury get it on, fists-wise, in Ten Who Dared.

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Plus snipe pasted to the back of the photo.

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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More Ben and James Drury fisticuffs. ;)

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Another one from Ten Who Dared.

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Not done yet with Ten Who Dared. :)

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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More Ten Who Dared this week.

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pvitari
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Re: Ben Johnson

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Ten Who Dared again. ;) With snipe.

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