http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/blackthorn.jpg I never thought I would praise a film that violates history as much as this one does, but .... watched Blackthorn the other day. The film doesn't need to use the mythology of Butch and Sundance to give it a grounding, because the st...

A nice blog on CORONER CREEK:

http://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com/2 ... -1948.html

Richard

I've been watching a whole herd of Tim Holt's RKO westerns, thanks to the Warner Archive, which has released 20 of them (half of total B-westerns Holt made RKO) in two collections, the Tim Holt Western Classics Collection, vols. 1 and 2. Hopefully the rest are on the way soon. ... I've been thinkin...

I didn't discover the collaborations between director Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott until the 1990s, when their films started to air regularly on TCM and then on the Westerns Channel. The best of them are written by Burt Kennedy. His scripts are terse, lean, and minimalist, with stoic flinty c...

Luke Short. The name of a real-life frontier gambler and occasional peace officer whose way with cards and guns gave birth to several biographies and endless legends. He didn't live long enough (1854-1893) to attempt screenplays, but talented novelist Frederick Dilley Glidden assumed his name to pe...

If I had a million dollars I would save this film: http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/TheAlamo1960one-sheet.jpg http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/TheAlamo1960half-sheet.jpg http://i1035.photobucket.com/albums/a432/Richard--W/TheAlamo1960--UArerelease1967.jpg Richard

Check this out: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/robertharris/harris032009.html From what I've been reading at various blogs, film preservationist Robert A. Harris is concerned that the full-length version (192 minutes) of The Alamo will not be saved. He is only allowed to accept corporate don...

I just bought John Wayne's The Alamo (Paramount, 1960) on laser disc. It's the only complete version, lasting 3 hours and 13 minutes. It also has a documentary at the end. After the laser disc was released, the negatives were improperly stored, and the film is ruined. So there will never be a DVD or...

On the other hand, don't you think that the hairy actor Mike Henry had a more close physical resemblance to an "ape man"? I'm fine with Mike Henry's casting. Yes he was a good choice to play Tarzan. But I don't think much of the films he was put in. And what about George of the Jungle wit...

Random thoughts: Modern times with modern technology undermines the conditions that make Tarzan possible, and believable. Vast distances, unexplored regions, isolated cultures and backward civilizations, the delay in communications -- Tarzan needs these things to be Tarzan. The late 19th century and...

Does anyone know if there is a proper release of this title somewhere? Australia or Asia, perhaps? Columbia reportedly spent $9,000,000 to make March Or Die , which was a HUGE budget back in 1970s. The film was trimmed of footage just before release. The theatrical release was 104 minutes. It failed...

Let's not overlook James Caan's performance as an older Marlowe in Poodle Springs (1998), the made-for-HBO film directed by Bob Rafelson and written by playwright Tom Stoppard. It's quite memorable, a real labor of love that is unfairly overlooked. Caan mines the dimensions of the character effortle...

Has anyone seen a proper DVD release outside the USA? Fred Shepisi's towering giant among westerns has only been released in a cut, pan & scan edition by LionsGate in the USA, although it has been broadcast widescreen, anamorphic, and uncut on cable and satellite. I want the widescreen film NOW...

Posturing an actor and composing him in ways that show dignity and strength, or in ways that just favor him, used to be a director's job, but it's not what the Coens do. I disagree with that statement - sounds too much like a distended generalization; I'll bet Frances McDormand would disagree as we...

I feel this passing. I first saw Susannah York the ingenue in theatrical re-releases of Tom Jones and A Man For All Seasons , and she remains my favorite Jane Eyre (1970). The way she kneels beside George C. Scott's knee, expecting judgment but defying it, submissive yet rebellious, needing affecti...