Actually, you were "Mr. Screencaps" for a little while there, but I think that's cleared up now.
It is an unusual role, to say the least, isn't it? Though I think Tyler looked more convincing as a superhero than a lot of other actors who played them in the old movie serials. (He also played the Phantom in a 1943 Columbia serial of that name.)
You didn't??? Incantations just aren't what they used to be...
Now here's a little article about Ben, the "Cowboy of the Month" in the October 1952 issue of Screen Stories magazine. It's a nice little piece but it reads like one of the many articles and blurbs published about him in 1949, when he was John Ford's new hot discovery with major roles in Mighty Joe Young (released August 1949) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (released October 1949). Even the reference to the years he's been married to Carol -- 8 -- would be correct in 1949. But 1952 was two years after the split with Ford and Ben had spent those two years making two B-westerns (Fort Defiance and Wild Stallion), both of which had already been released, and one A-western that wasn't released until 1953 (Shane). In fact, when this article came out, Ben was mourning the recent death of his father in September 1952 and probably thinking already about pursuing a rodeo championship. So whether this piece was on the shelf for a couple of years or not -- I dunno. But here it is resurrected for your enjoyment. :)
P- I love this charming article, it smacks of the real Ben to me. Is it just possible that it had been published before in a different magazine? I find that every once in a while, you get a press release that the studio just pushed out to different venues.
I don't think that exact article was published anywhere else exactly as is, but the information in it, and even the quotes from Ben (especially that "lord help me if they ask me to act" bit) were certainly spread around the movie rags. :) It's just that it makes absolutely no mention of the post-John Ford work Ben had done in the past two years, so I'm really thinking something got recycled here without them bothering to catch up with the current information.
Some time ago JackFavell posted scans of photos from a pictorial about Ben's horseman and roping skills in the May 1949 issue of Night and Day magazine. Another copy of this issue has finally wended its way to me (thank you, ebay!) and since I have access to an oversize scanner, I was able to scan in the two pages in their entirety.
Those are the pics I once made a little animated .gif file of! I don't know if I still have it somewhere, probably in one of my millions of Photobucket images...
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education." -- Will Rogers
Oh god, P, that's pristine! I'm so glad you reprinted it, much much better than I ever could have. That's my favorite article so far about Ben, since it is not publicity stills and actually shows him roping and riding. It's just wonderful! Sorry for gushing, but I dearly love seeing that posted so beautifully.
LOL, I'm so glad you like the scans! You can thank Emory Univ. for having such a nice big scanner available for anyone to use in the library. :) In fact, I'm going back there today to make some more oversized scans -- of John Ford stuff I'm going to send to MissGoddess for her webpage. ;) Plus the pressbook for The Town That Dreaded Sundown, which is mostly copy-ready variants of the movie's hooded man poster in just about every size imaginable. (Anyone else around here old enough to remember what "copy-ready" was?) :) Though wait till you see the suggestions for publicity stunts! Utterly tasteless! :)
There are even bigger versions of that Night and Day article on my Ben page (downloaded from the Memorabilia section) and if anyone wants the super-sized original scans, just send me a private message. :) JackFavell, like you, I was thinking while working on the scans that Ben must have actually enjoyed that interview, since he got to do what he loved best, being a cowboy, rather than talking about the movies.
I'm sure he was happy as long as he could be actually doing something, not just sitting around gabbing about the movies. A man like that has to be busy at work all the time if I'm any judge of character. Hollywood must have been like visiting China for him.
I just love the way he looks in those shots, as happy as a jaybird, whatever that means, and so youthful.
In case I didn't mention it already, the new Blu-ray of Bite the Bullet is gorgeous and a huge improvement over the old DVD. In the essay that comes with the Blu-ray, Julie Kirgo refers to Ben as "the great Ben Johnson." She got that right! ;)
So to celebrate here's a recent acquisition from ebay of a publicity still from the film. No idea who Tommy is! But this came with two other photos autographed to Tommy which are duplicates of non-autographed photos I already have. Either Tommy really was a friend, or someone who kept showing up at movie festivals and got multiple autographs. ;)
Last edited by pvitari on March 30th, 2012, 11:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
One hundred and forty three pages for Ben Johnson! Heck, where else could you find that?
May I say that I had the extreme pleasure of meeting Mr. Johnson back in the 80s in Arizona, and the man, as you might already expect, was so completely free of pretense that he might just as well have been a dirt farmer. He was genuinely appreciative to be recognized, his talents acknowledged, and he signed autographs with the most heartfelt dedications of any celebrity I'd seen. And let me add: That smile he wore was 100% sincere. What a great fella!
JackFavell, I just about jumped out of my seat when I spotted that picture on eBay, I loved it so much. It's from that scene where the organizer of the race mistakes Mister (Ben's character) for the man he hired to bring his prize Arabian to the race (that turns out to be Gene Hackman) and then shoves a newspaper in his face -- which Mister cannot read as he is illiterate. Being greeted effusively, then realizing he's not the expected person is just the latest in a series of disappointments Mister apparently has experienced throughout life (in his first appearance in the film he can't even sell his Civil War war medal to a peddler) -- but he meets each one with a rueful smile and the hope that next time it will be different.
Western Guy -- thanks so much for telling us about meeting Ben and the wonderful person he was. I think that's why there are 143 pages in this thread. :)
Off-topic: They've been filming a movie, A.C.O.D., all week in Decatur, GA and I've been driving past the shoot (which is right on the sidewalk) twice a day to and from work. My gawking finally paid off -- I spotted two of the stars on my drive in this morning: Jane Lynch and Adam Scott. Lynch looked gorgeous and fresh as a daisy in a crisp, tailored black pants suit and Scott was a bit more scruffy in stubble, tee-shirt, pants and beat-up jacket. Unfortunately since I was driving I wasn't able to take a picture or do more than get a good glance, but still -- finally -- I actually saw some celebrities. Atlanta is a hub of movie and TV making these days and the local fishwrapper frequently has bits about who's in town and where they've been spotted. Also good work for local actors (and we have a thriving acting community here, with lots of theaters).
