Ben Johnson

[pvitari]

Another still from Will Penny, with Charlton Heston.

Not exactly "Ben from the Back" but his face is turned away from the camera. :)

[pvitari]

Looking for a good read? :) The Decatur, GA Book Festival is taking place this weekend just a hop, skip and jump down the road, so today's post at the Ben page is about one of Ben's favorite novels, The Cowboy and the Cossack by western author and screenwriter Clair Huffaker. It was originally published in 1973 and right away there was interest in filming it, but the project never came about. Probably too difficult to shoot during the waning days of the Soviet Union an epic tale of a cattle drive by American cowboys and Russian Cossacks through Siberia, not to mention the humongeous budget this would have required. The book was bought back into print in 2012 by Nancy Pearl as part of her "Book Lust Rediscovery" series and is available in paperback, e-book and audiobook. According to an essay by Kirkeby's daughter at Nancy's website (http://www.nancypearl.com/?p=1224), every stuntman in Hollywood was drooling to work on a movie version of the book, which has one spectacular action sequence after another. Ben actually was part-owner of the movie rights and tried to get the project going in the late 80s but it just didn't happen.:( He would have been perfect to play Shad the tough trail boss, though by the late 80s he would have been too old. But a Ben from the 1960s or early 70s -- perfect casting! He would have gotten another Oscar nomination, I'm sure.

Anyway, go to the webpage to read all about it. http://benjohnsonfanpage.shutterfly.com

The cover of the 2012 "Book Lust Rediscovery" edition.

[MissGoddess]

Hmmm...that actually sounds like the kind of book my mother would love to read. I may get her a copy.

[pvitari]

I'm going to post soon screencaps of the Have Gun-Will Travel episode "The Fifth Bullet." This is the episode where Paladin escorts a man, John Bartlett (Ben) home after 8 years in prison, a sentence Paladin blames himself for. He had promised Bartlett a fair trial but he didn't get it and was convicted of murder, though Bartlett says it was self-defense. The father of the two brothers Bartlett shot has died but left Bartlett a frightening inheritance: five bullets. Five men try to kill Bartlett during the episode but two of them used the same bullet, so is there a fifth gunman out there? We are left wondering.

Here are some screencaps, more to come.

First batch.





























This actor is Shug Fisher, a member of the Ford stock company, and also an accomplished musician and composer who also had frequently appeared on screen doing a comic stuttering persona. But here he's a more normal character, a former inmate who remembers a kindness Bartlett showed him in prison and repays that kindness with the aid of his shotgun.

[pvitari]

Second bath... I mean batch.

































And one for JackFavell. ;)


More to come.

[tinker]

Thank you Paula.

I wish they had showed more of the bath


dee

[pvitari]

I knew if any of these screencaps would get a comment, it would be one of the ones from the bath. :) :) :)

[JackFavell]

Shapely ankle...

[pvitari]

Here are the rest of the "Fifth Bullet" screencaps. They should all be up on the webpage sometime tomorrow (Sept. 4). Sorry things have been slow, I caught yet another cold over the Labor Day weekend.

Third Batch









Dorothy Dells, who plays Emmy Bartlett














She is kicking him in the shins for riding in fast and scaring her chickens. ;)


















---->

[pvitari]

Fourth batch







I love this shot. Bartlett is looking at the sleeping son he just met for the first time earlier that day and thinking it might end any moment as gunmen hired to kill him are lurking nearby.
































The End :)

[pvitari]

I'm doing some pictures from Breakheart Pass today and over the weekend. Here are the first two. Some of these fit into the "Ben from the Back" -- or side, or hidden under his hat -- category. :)



This one's autographed! ;)

[pvitari]

Ben from the back... and on his face, playing dead. Or is it his double? Can't tell. :) Anyway, sorry for the spoiler if you haven't seen Breakheart Pass -- which you should, it's a great Western action-mystery movie. :)

[pvitari]

Another Breakheart Pass photo. :)

[pvitari]

Here's the last Breakheart Pass photo.

[pvitari]

Another Ben from the back photo, this time from Hustle. ;)