The Silver Screen Oasis

One more from Breakheart Pass.

Screencaps from the new WAC DVD of Corky, finally in its correct Panavision 2:35:1 aspect ratio. These replace some terrible old screencaps I did about three years ago from an "unofficial" DVD. Ben's role is tiny -- a couple of brief scenes as a guy who runs a Nascar racing track and also drives in the races himself. Robert Blake plays a troubled young driver whose life spirals out of control, though he does win at Ben's track. ;) Ben and Blake would have known each other for almost 30 years at this point as Blake, a child star in the 1940s then called Bobby Blake, played "Little Beaver" in more than 20 films in the popular B-western series Red Ryder. Wild Bill Elliott played Bill in 16 of the films from 1944-46 and Bobby was Little Beaver in all 16. Ben was one of Elliott's favorite riding and fight doubles and worked on some of those Red Ryder films too.

Here are some screencaps from Corky.

Yesterday's post... digital art! Donny Brook is a Westerns fans who uses digital tools to turn screencaps into digital paintings... here's one he did of Ben in The Shadow Riders.



For Veterans Day today, Ben in uniform in Fort Bowie.

Wagon Master studio photo -- Ben and Joanne Dru. Sweet! ;)

pvitari wrote:Wagon Master studio photo -- Ben and Joanne Dru. Sweet!

Oooh, a Wagon Master still I've never seen before! So dreamy...

I hadn't seen that Wagon Master still before either so when it popped up on ebay I watched it like a hawk -- strangely, no one else bid on it!

Today's still is from Rebel in Town. The man tied up on the right is John Smith, whom I'm sure you all remember from Laramie. ;)

pvitari wrote:I hadn't seen that Wagon Master still before either so when it popped up on ebay I watched it like a hawk -- strangely, no one else bid on it!

Today's still is from Rebel in Town. The man tied up on the right is John Smith, whom I'm sure you all remember from Laramie.

Oh yes!



And I have on good authority that not all the pain in that whipping scene was simulated. Apparently they used dyed rope for the whip, and J. Carrol Naish really got into the scene. They did several takes, and Smith wasn't too happy about that, or with Naish.

That sounds painful. :)



This is a screencap from the actual movie. The photo I posted earlier today is one of those pictures the cast poses for on the set with a still photographer. There is not a shot exactly like that in the movie, though that scene does take place.

Another one from Rebel in Town.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. This is a modern reproduction photo but I'm not sure how modern. The eBay seller said he was selling off his collection of movie stills which he'd bought over the years and most of them were reproductions. So it could be 20 years old or so, I guess... ;)

Very nice condition.

"That arrow came from the bow of a southern Cheyenne dog soldier."
"What in blazes would the Cheyenne be doing this far south?"
"That ain't my department, sir."

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! The lights are on at the Ben Johnson Fan Page but the hostess has left the building until sometime next week. Up here in New Jersey, it's snowing.

I posted this little pic of Ben in The Shadow Riders at the fan page for everyone to enjoy over the mini-hiatus. Alas, I just have this little online version, not a real 8x10 still. Who knows, maybe it will show up on eBay someday (along with the other stills still missing from my collection).

Hope all is well with you wherever you are!

Finally found time to get back to Ben stuff. Here's a pic of Ben and Sam Peckinpah at the second annual Western Stars/Golden Boot Awards held August 18, 1984. Peckinpah was awarded a Golden Boot that year; Ben had gotten his in 1982 at the first Golden Boot Award ceremony. The original of this is a teensy pic in the program book for the THIRD Western Stars/Golden Boot Awards. ;) So it's kind of grainy since I blew it up a lot with the scanner. :) But still nice! ;)

Wagon Master.

pvitari wrote:Wagon Master.

Oh, so nice!