The Deadly Companions

[moira finnie]

Dead Man's Gun also runs on the Encore Western Channel around 7pm (ET) on Saturdays too. Some 17 episodes of the series were produced by Henry "The Fonz" Winkler--but it bears no resemblance to Happy Days. It is instead one of the few very well done anthology stories in the last 25 years.


FYI, Stone,
I met Robert B. Parker several times when I was living and working in Boston. He was a larger-than-life fellow who may not have smoked, but he drew inspiration from his beloved Joan, Raymond Chandler, scotch, and fine food, as well as the drive to write well. Passing away at the age of 77 at his writing desk is not a tragedy in my book either. I never had the privilege of taking any writing courses he taught at Northeastern, but they are legendary among those who knew him at that university. I recommend the film made from Parker's novel, Appaloosa (2008) with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson. It's a tough but good Western with few frills.

[Western Guy]

Thanks so much for this info, Moira. Robert Parker is definitely an inspiration to me in my own Western writings and it is neat how I am now writing westerns for Parker's former publishing company. That my books may have the same impact as his fiction, well we shall see . . . but I'm honored that Berkley looks favorably upon the stories I have submitted.

I own the DVD of Appaloosa . . . I find it an okay film but not exactly true to the Parker source. Don't know why the producers did not retain the book characters' names.

Bottom line, Moira: Darn, I envy you for having known Parker. There have only been the three cowboy gents: Parker, Leonard and Louis whom I wish I would have met. Know all sorts of movie actors/actresses but virtually no writers.

[mrsl]

Western Guy:

I always liked western movies, I never read more than one or two Zane Gray novels though, but I use my DVR constantly for the Western Channel on Encore, and recently having been in the hospital, and watching all the seasonal Christmas movies available, I find myself missing my westerns and can't go to bed until I've tuned in at least one hour long episode of Gunsmoke or two episodes of Lawman or Mister Dillon. The day doesn't seem complete until I've had my 'fix' of Matt or Dan cleaning up Dodge or Laramie. On lz cutters' advice I watched one season of Deadwood, but, like you, I found the language a little too hard core and the characters so unlikable. The show itself was done with great acting and writing/direction, but I didn't believe language was quite as volatile as portrayed. I've been within hearing of many mens' conversations when they were unaware a woman was hearing, and most men don't really feel that need to prove their toughness with language as seemed being shown. And probably needless to say, I don't feel it necessary to actually see blood spurting or limbs flying off as is done in today's westerns (and most violent movies). My imagination does that quite well, thank you.
.

[moira finnie]

Bottom line, Moira: Darn, I envy you for having known Parker. There have only been the three cowboy gents: Parker, Leonard and Louis whom I wish I would have met. Know all sorts of movie actors/actresses but virtually no writers.

I think Parker had a streak of the theatrical in him. He liked to speak in public at the library, Faneuil Hall and a private university club where I worked for a decade, so you couldn't swing a cat without running into the guy sooner or later. I wish you could have met him too.

[Western Guy]

Oh yeah, Moira. My two biggest regrets on my career path are never having met Parker or Louis L'Amour. Yeah, I know the two were great tellers of tall tales but they must have been the height of entertainment.

Anne: Boy, I suppose I have a strong Cathloic leaning in my preferences when it comes to Westerns. Because of what I'd heard about DEADWOOD, just could not bring myself to watch episodes. Must go back to when my talks with John Agar inspired me to write my first frontier fiction. He was strongly opposed to the graphic presentation of violence and vulgar language. There definitely is some violence presented in my books but I hope these incidents are not looked upon as gratuitous but integral to the plot, which is how they were intended.

[ChiO]

Johnny Depp's DEAD MAN -- but, wow, what a terrible film!

You're killin' me here, WG. Another of my faves.

So it goes.

[Western Guy]

Wekk ChiO, no offense pardner but to each his own. I will concede that I enjoyed seeing Big Bob Mitchum in his final film role but the film just missed the mark for me. Too, shall we say avant garde.

[charliechaplinfan]

I did like Deadwood, although I admit to watching it because Chris wanted to watch them, I don't like bad language and I don't particularly like violence onscreen unless it can be justified and they were violent times, I wasn't the best judge of whether the language and violence were overdone or not but it had plenty of drama.

[Western Guy]

As I work on my latest Western novel I see so many places where I could insert a strong expletive for effect -- but darn it, I just can't. To me, it feels so out of line with the genre. Violence, yes, of course, after all we are dealing with a lawless frontier, but just can't come to grip with cowboys using such vulgar language.

[RedRiver]

A neighbor was talking about Tarantino and his counterparts, saying the language and the violence ruin the movies for her. PULP FICTION is a fine movie. So is LA CONFIDENTIAL. But the lady has a point. Four letter words and excessive violence don't necessarily make art. They can be incorporated into something worthwhile. But they're not key ingredients. If people think the aforementioned are great crime dramas, they should watch the work of John Huston and Raoul Walsh. The only F-word is FALCON!

[Western Guy]

Gosh RedRiver, here is where I make what may come across as a contradictory statement. I particularly don't care for cuss words, but I can understand and appreciate their useage in pictures like PULP FICTION, RESEVOIR DOGS, SCARFACE, GOODFELLAS, CASINO, etc. That's how these characters would speak. In fact, to watch the edited version of any of these flicks is to laugh. Contemporary gangsters use rough language and I can accept that for overall realism, even if at times I find I squirm. But I just find swearing to any great degree completely out of line with Westerns. There remains IMO a certain purity in oaters that I don't like to see compromised. Certainly such language does not enhance the storyline any.

[JackFavell]

Deadwood almost put me off with the language, but underlying it was a very interesting story and I was fascinated with the women characters and how they were treated. I think the language and violence were an integral part of the series, forcing us to realize how very hard life was back then, and when anyone was able to rise above it all and make something of their lives it really seemed like a hell of a climb. Pardon my bad word!

[RedRiver]

Western Guy, I agree with you. Realism is an important element to a story. I like Tarantino's work, the novels of Elmore Leonard, plays by David Mamet. But how's this for a brain scrambler? ASPHALT JUNGLE is about the same lifestyle. No bad language, no graphic violence. Yet it's a better movie! Maybe a little dramatic license is a good thing.

[JackFavell]

I do agree, I am quite the prude generally speaking, but with Deadwood it was a different kind of thing, like The Wild Bunch with violence, I felt the language was there for a reason, to sicken us with it. But it was a pay channel as well, so you knew you were getting adult drama, in fact, for a long time that was the reason for HBO, and there is an time and a place for adult shows. Right now I have a very hard time with night time sitcoms, which are dropping the B word and making really graphic jokes while kids are still awake to see it and hear it.

[Western Guy]

Boy, RedRiver, that can be a tough call. I suppose given the limited permissiveness of the time we accept a film such as the wonderful THE ASPHALT JUNGLE for what it is - and I agree wholeheartedly. I love the movie and shudder at what would happen were it to be remade today. Heck, the movie retains its power without having to delve into exploitation. And you know something, personally I prefer my movies to limit extreme language - and graphic violence. Look back on THE GODFATHER - heck, outside of the Italian useage of a swear phrase, dialogue speaking, the picture is almost as clean as LITTLE CAESAR.

One of my favorite movies is Mamet's GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, a brilliant piece of cinema. I love this movie but think it really would not lose any of its effectiveness if the language was toned down. Regardless, I can accept it without cringing, though I know because of its language my wife will never watch it.