Ben Johnson

[pvitari]

This is a publicity still from Fort Bowie. A publicity still whose eBay auction ended yesterday and I missed putting a bid on, because I DOZED OFF ON THE COUCH and &*(#)#$+*&#$#*@(% multiple expletive deleteds slept through the end of the auction instead of putting in my bid. So someone else got it and now all we're left with is this pic that the seller had put on eBay. I've got bruises all over my body from slapping myself upside the head and everywhere else. *sigh* I doubt this picture will ever appear again, I've never seen it before so I lost out on this once chance because I didn't have the brains to keep myself awake even knowing the auction was going to end soon.

[JackFavell]

ZOWIE! That's a nice one Paula! I'm so sorry you didn't get your bid in. I've done the same thing before and it's so irritating! I'm just glad you shared the photo of the photo with us. Hot diggity, he's fine in that still. It's amazing that one is so rare, cause it's the best of the Fort Bowie's that I've seen.

[pvitari]

Oh the agony. I assume it will lessen into a dull ache as time goes by. :( I consoled myself by going to a collectibles website and spending far too much money on a Wagon Master publicity still I'd had my eye on for a while, and then a bit more on a Chisum lobby card I found on ebay. The latter was not under Ben's name... often I find stuff by looking under the movie's name. Still, I am grinding my teeth over that lost Fort Bowie still because it's such a great one. I do have bunch of other Fort Bowie stills that I will be scanning/posting eventually.

[JackFavell]

Hey, it's gotta show up again sometime. We can hope!

[pvitari]

"Francis Benjamin Johnson Junior! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times -- don't ride that pony up on the porch!"

"Okay, Ma!"

:) (My imaginary dialogue recreation.) ;)

This photo is in Tom Thurman's wonderful documentary, Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right. :)

[MissGoddess]

Paula, do you know if they're releasing a standard DVD of SHANE in the restored print? I've wanted to see this movie cleaned up for a long time, but don't have a blu player.

[pvitari]

I haven't heard anything about a standard DVD version of the restored Shane -- but they haven't released any details yet about what's going to be on the Blu-ray (like including a standard DVD which some Blu-rays do).

[MissGoddess]

thanks, paula.

[pvitari]

I have started to tackle the Big Kahuna -- The Wild Bunch. Well, Ben's scenes, that is. Of course that's a big chunk of the movie.

Here's one for JackFavell. :)

[pvitari]

I need the opinion of y'all.

Since my Ben Johnson page has become something more than just a place to put screencaps, I was thinking of renaming it the Ben Johnson Fan Page and changing the URL to http://benjohnsonfanpage.shutterfly.com/

It will look exactly like and have the same exact content as the current website -- it's merely a matter of copying everything over, which will be kind of a bore-chore to do, but won't take all that long.

You can go there now... I've copied over the front page and a bit more but there's a lot more to go.

Good idea or should I leave it everything as is, i.e., the Ben Johnson Screencaps Page and not bother to copy everything to the newly-named but otherwise the same site?

[JackFavell]

Paula, I don't know that I would have even noticed if you renamed it. My two cents is, if someone is looking for Ben, they'll find it either way... however, fan page is more accurate, at this point.

Thanks for the Tector finger point! Nice!

Also especially great photo of young Ben... loved your imaginary mother son dialogue!

I guess he grew into his looks later on.... I wonder if he was a bit malnourished at this point? (sorry, mother's instinct coming out in me)

[pvitari]

Nah, he looks like a normal skinny kid who got a lot of exercise. Remember, by age 11 he was supporting himself as a working cowboy. I think in our "extra-cheese world" (to quote Jennifer Hudson in a Weight Watchers ad) we forget how thin most people used to be before fast food and partially hydrogenated corn syrup.

So today's post is only tangentially about Ben. I wrote up a mash note to Tim Holt (and dad Jack and sister Jennifer) and did manage to stick in a bit of Ben stuff since Ben was a family friend. I even got a quote from Shaeffer Holt, Tim's grandson! ;) Go enjoy! (Well, I hope you enjoy.) http://benjohnsonscreencaps.shutterfly.com

[tinker]

Paula

I am not sure that fan page does justice to what you have got on your site because it is so m ucg more than that. Archive or historical record perhaps.

I do know that after I got hooked on Ford films again, particularly Wagon Master finding your site was all my birthdays come at once.


dee

[pvitari]

Aw, Tinker... *sniffle.* That's so sweet. While I think "Ben Johnson Historical Archive Page" would be really cool, I'd also feel like I'm getting a huge swelled head. "Fan Page" is more boring than "Screencaps Page" but it's not just about the screencaps anymore, much as I love doing them. I'm so looking forward to all the releases this spring -- The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Stoney Burke, Have Gun Will Travel and Gunsmoke. :) It's going to be a busy summer, screencapping-wise. :) Which means it's going to be a fun summer. :)

Interesting stuff going on about that Shane Blu-ray and the new restoration matted to 1:66. Film historian Bob Furmanek is burrowing through the archives looking for material about the theatrical premiere of Shane, which was shot in 1:37 but matted to 1:66 for its 1953 release. He writes on the Home Theater Forum that "I'm knee deep in research for a detailed article on SHANE which will finally set the record straight on this issue. I've found some amazing documents that will answer all questions, including some May 1953 quotes from Mr. Stevens himself." This should make for fascinating reading.

-- Paula

[Maricatrin]

"Francis Benjamin Johnson Junior! If I've told you once, I've told you a million times -- don't ride that pony up on the porch!"

"Okay, Ma!"

(My imaginary dialogue recreation.)

This photo is in Tom Thurman's wonderful documentary, Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right.

Hilarious caption, and a great picture!

By the way, it doesn't appear to be on his filmography, but I think I just saw Ben in Marshal of Laredo, doubling for Bill Elliott again...









There's also a nifty scene where Red Ryder steps into his horse's stirrup backwards, while holding his gun on the badguys. Once at a gallop, he mounts the horse in mid-street, but it all happens too fast to get a good screen grab of (presumably) Ben's face. At least I couldn't manage it ...