
Tom Mix and Pancho Villa, novel by Clifford Irving
An entertaining yarn Clifford Irving (1930 – 2017) became especially famous in the early 1970s when he was about to publish a life
The blog of a Western fan, for other Western fans
“Each man has a song and this is my song.” (Leonard Cohen)
An entertaining yarn Clifford Irving (1930 – 2017) became especially famous in the early 1970s when he was about to publish a life
Mediocre Nevada Smith was a Joseph Levine production for Embassy (director Henry Hathaway and star Steve McQueen also got producer credits) and was
Casting pearls Yesterday we put together our Hollywood project for a great Western – click here for that. It’s going to be written
Jeff’s ideal Western When I was writing about smoothie bad guy Lyle Bettger the other day, I concluded by saying that I
Best as crooked saloon man in a frock coat We were talking the other day about Western blond badman David Brian and how
Not riveting The White Squaw was another Western produced by Wallace MacDonald. MacDonald started as an actor and had first appeared in
Solid, but… Producer partners Howard W Koch and Aubrey Schenck worked together on 35 feature films, starting with the Anthony Mann-directed noir
Vin ordinaire Gunfire at Indian Gap was a Western made in Republic’s widescreen process Naturama, introduced in 1956, which the studio hoped would
RG Robert Golden Armstrong, usually known by his initials, was at his best in our genre as a violent character. He once said,
Monogram goes upmarket Walter Mirisch and his brothers became hotshot Hollywood producers in the 1960s. The Mirisch Company won the Academy Award for
Stuntmeister Of all the many stuntmen whose contribution was invaluable to the Western, Yakima Canutt is probably the most famous. The amazing under-the-coach
Another in our occasional series of articles on Western cinematographers Master of light and shade The visual, how a
Really quite bad Back in 2014 I reviewed a dismally bad 1956 Johnny Carpenter movie I Killed Wild Bill Hickok (click the link
Hard work I wrote a bit about John or Johnny Carpenter (1914 – 2003) back in 2014 when reviewing his dismally bad
Paint it black What is noir? What noir really is can be difficult to pin down. You kind of know a
Good cast Vaughn Monroe was a successful band leader, trumpeter and vocalist with an RCA Victor recording contract who was a major
Swashbuckling in old California We were saying the other day, in our review of one such picture, that there was a little
Howdy, blog-pards You might be interested to know the most popular posts on Jeff Arnold’s West at the moment: Indians don’t attack
Carriages and crinolines There’s a whole little sub-genre of Westerns set in the Deep South, often with an antebellum setting and with
Not bad A nice little 77-minute black & white Bel-Air B-Western, shot in six days on a minimal budget with an unstellar cast,
In front of the lens and behind it It might seem strange to do an article in our The Westerns of… series on
Nice noirish B-Western After his success in High Noon, as the 1950s progressed, Lloyd Bridges, about whom we were taking the other
A good Short story Producer producerNat Holt (1893 – 1971) was best known for making Westerns, first under contract at RKO, then freelancing
Just about a Western Most of the Westerns Clark Gable did weren’t really Westerns at all. The Call of the Wild, Boom Town,
Underrated 60s Western Taggart is a rather overlooked Western. For example, Brian Garfield, in his fine 1980s guide Western Films, dismisses it in
One of our favorite bad guys The bad guys are a key part of the Western genre and a good bad guy
Sam’s favorite Sam Peckinpah’s masterpiece was The Wild Bunch in 1969, though some might prefer his Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
A really good Western actor For me, Lloyd Bridges meant Sea Hunt, a series to which I was addicted as a boy, back
An early Coop Western resurfaces I have always been a huge admirer of Gary Cooper. In fact I think he was the
Top heavy One of my favorite Western heavies of all was Robert J Wilke (1914 – 1989). As henchman he ranks right
Peck Invincible In Only the Valiant, also known by its working title Fort Invincible, Gregory Peck plays Captain Richard Lance, Dick to
Another in our occasional series on Western cinematographers Edward Cronjager ASC (1904 –1960) was in my view one of the most talented of
Definitely worth a look Redskin is a most interesting film and it certainly repays a watch. One reason for this is
Flesh tones It is sometimes said that The Wizard of Oz was the first color film. It wasn’t, of course. Early ‘pre-cinematographic’
As you may have noticed, Jeff Arnold’s West has undergone a bit of a revamp. On the home page, and without having
Solid, but uninspired and uninspiring This version of Law and Order was a color remake of the fine 1932 film of the same
Flynn said he was “a rich man’s Roy Rogers” All Errol Flynn’s feature Westerns have been reviewed on this blog individually, so
Errol Flynn bids adieu to our noble genre Rocky Mountain was Errol Flynn’s last Western feature. Flynn was one of the most
Range war Errol Flynn, who had first reluctantly donned a Stetson and gunbelt in Dodge City in 1939, not at all sure
Ho-hum Border Shootout, also known as Law at Randado, was a TV Western of moderate interest because it was based on a
Late Glenn Ford Day of the Evil Gun is a tough but essentially poor late-60s Western. Thank goodness it had Glenn Ford
Dated but not bad Paramount’s Zane Grey’s ‘The Light of Western Stars’ came out in 1940. It’s in the public domain, by the
Love me tender, Love me true, All my dreams fulfill The other day we reviewed RKO’s Rage at Dawn (click the link
INDEX Film titles that begin with numbers, like 3 Godfathers, 4 for Texas or 5 Card Stud, are listed in numerical order at the
Edgar takes the lead The Silver Star is, on one level, just another short black & white oater produced on a very
Randy foils the Reno gang Rage at Dawn was one of four Westerns Randolph Scott made in 1955 (the others were Ten Wanted
Absurd as biopic but a lot of fun Kit Carson (1809 – 1868) – click here for our essay on him –
Not a dud but it never sparks Red Canyon was a Universal Western of the late 1940s. It had some plus points. It
One of the greatest Robert Ryan was one the very best Western actors. He appeared in eighteen features, between 1940
Ryan on the small screen That fine actor Robert Ryan appeared in 18 feature Westerns, between 1940 and 1971, and we’ll soon be
Fine Western noir At the end of the 1940s, noir Westerns were all the rage. Raoul Walsh had directed various hard-edged non-Western pictures
Probably the worst Texas Rangers movie Hollywood had always been inspired by the Texas Rangers. They were the American Mounties, valiant heroes who
McIntire Many people will remember the great Western character actor John McIntire from TV. When Ward Bond died, McIntire took over command of
Deeply silly but a lot of fun The black & white Universal Westerns of the 1940s were often pretty silly, but they usually
Dino When Gaetano Crocetti, a barber from the Abruzzo, Italy, and his wife Angela had a baby boy in 1917, whom they christened
Poor Continuing our season of Dean Martin Westerns, today an early-70s picture he did which was a return for him to the sub-genre
A whodunit set in the American West Next in our season of Dean Martin Westerns is one he made for Hal Wallis
Mediocre Bandolero! (you always feel producers or studios added the exclamation points to titles when the movies were lackluster in an attempt
A lot of fun In 1965 John Wayne was recovering from quite a drastic cancer operation. Surgeons removed a lung and two
How a Western should be As part of our continuing Dinorama, our season of Dean Martin’s Westerns, we’d better take a look at