The Silver Screen Oasis

It wasn't me, Chris, at least it doesn't sound familiar, and I only recently have come to like Glenn Ford. It does sound very interesting to me, is there a well known director?

Sorry, April. I figured if it wasn't Wendy then it probably came up in your conversation with Sir Francis. Save for the three of you there are very few people I look for over at TCM.

movieman1957 wrote:Sorry, April. I figured if it wasn't Wendy then it probably came up in your conversation with Sir Francis. Save for the three of you there are very few people I look for over at TCM.

ditto!

same here!

I heard good things about BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELL. There was something involving Will Geer that impressed my brother.

Save for the three of you there are very few people I look for over at TCM.

Even that doesn't get me over there!

it wasn't bad, but i had low expectations.

Guess I'm one of the few folk who like THE TRAIN ROBBERS. From the anonymous band who follow John Wayne and his team, to the mysterious Ricardo Montalban, and then the great teaming of Ben Johnson and Rod Taylor as two old cowboys who are fast running out of things to do,places to go, both happy to be led by Wayne.
Christopher George finally realising that to win Wayne's respect is what he wants.
Wasn't too happy with Ann Margret as the leading lady.

I, also, enjoyed the contributions of Johnson and Taylor. It's not a bad western. It just doesn't inspire much discussion.

The best parts of some of the banter between the old guys in the cast. I just didn't care for how it took to get to the crux of the film.

This morning I turned on TCM and ended up watching Tension at Table Rock and Tribute to a Bad Man.

Table Rock was VERY enjoyable. I was quite surprised by it, since I am not a particular Richard Egan fan. This movie might make a convert of me! The story was predictable, but it really didn't matter, this is just how you want a movie to be made. The acting was uniformly good, especially little Billy Chapin, who reminded me of Johnny Crawford. The settings and costumes were just right, in fact, everything about the movie was 'just right' - not too hot, not too cold. A perfect morning spent lazily lying in bed watching a movie geared to please. I don't really understand how Cameron Mitchell got to be sheriff of the small town in the first place, but I really didn't think of that at the time. I was too busy staring at Egan and Dorothy Malone who had tons of chemistry. Deforest Kelley made an all too short appearance, Royal Dano as well. Edward Andrews was appropriately slimy as the town businessman who wanted the bad guys to have free reign. In the end, the townspeople and Mitchell stood up for themselves thanks to Egan's example. Maybe THIS is the reply to High Noon, not Rio Bravo.

As for Tribute to a Bad Man, in comparison it seemed like a great movie. It started out beautifully, almost like reading the Jack Schaefer story. It was beautifully filmed (the opening pan across the mountains sort of reminded me of The Sound of Music), and Jimmy Cagney was tremendously believable as cattle baron Rodock. I liked everyone in this film, the young man was properly green, and the villains and townspeople were also well realized.

gasp! I just found out that the young, gorgeous 'girlfriend' to Rodock in the film was IRENE PAPAS! I never knew she was so beautiful! And what a good actress. The story was exceptionally compelling, well written and perfectly cast. There was perfect nuance in the interplay between Cagney, Papas, and the young man.... Both films excelled at the unspoken emotions. Unfortunately, I got a phone call partway through and was unable to see the whole thing. One scene I came in on later was the one where Cagney saves Vic Morrow and takes him back to his mother's house... it was just great, with Cagney telling bad guy Morrow that he was saving him, but that he never wanted to see him again, or he'd kill him. Brilliant! This is definitely a movie I will go back to and watch straight through, it was compelling and pretty to look at. I'd love to know just how it turned out.

I'll join in on favorable feelings toward "Tribute." Maturity sure helped Cagney in his later two westerns. He is everything he couldn't be in "The Oklahoma Kid." Losing the hat helped.

Knowing Papas from "The Guns of Navarone" I knew it was her but she gets to do more here. It's a tough film and VIc Morrow really does well as the spoiled neighbor kid. He just refuses to learn his lesson.

You might check Cagney's "Run For Cover." It was done around the same time. I may not be as strong as "Tribute" but it is another chance to see Cagney out west.

Didn't Cagney himself own horses? I felt his instinctive bond with his horses, as if they were a part of him, that he had been a wild colt himself once...his sadness when they are hurt or killed needlessly is palpable. Cagney was just superb here, one of the best I've seen of his later performances. I'm shocked that people don't mention this movie more. He's 100% there, and you see every emotion on his face.

I'll check out Run for Cover if I can find it, Chris. It's nice to be getting back to westerns again. This one was really beautiful, kind of like Shane, a little different west than the dry arid places you usually see. I just soak in all that beauty like a sponge.

Cagney had a farm in NY and had a few horses.

We haven't had a good long chat on westerns in awhile so it will be nice to talk some more.