Jeff Arnold’s West

The blog of a Western fan, for other Western fans

“Each man has a song and this is my song.” (Leonard Cohen)

Cormac McCarthy

  I was saddened to hear of the death of Cormac McCarthy, in my view one of America’s greatest ever writers. According to his publishers,

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Conagher (TNT, 1991)

  Sam Elliott’s favorite role   I think you have to give credit to Turner for some of the made-for-television pictures produced in the 1990s.

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Rough Riders (TNT, 1997)

  Pretty well done   As Jeff Shaara, author of the enjoyable The Old Lion: A Novel of Theodore Roosevelt, says in a conversation with

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1883 (Paramount+, 2021)

  We’ve kinda seen it all before   Americans do so love the ‘family saga’. Long tales of the adventures of different generations of a

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Dogs in Westerns

  Doggone it   We shall now pause (or dare I say paws) in our study of the Westerns of our favorite actors (see under

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Barbarosa (Universal, 1982)

  Willie’s first Western   The first lustrum of the 1980s was a wasteland for the Western movie, Cimino’s monumental flop Heaven’s Gate having almost

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Rio Diablo (CBS TV, 1993)

  The Gambler gets ruthless   There is a whole sub-genre of country-singer Westerns, featuring among others Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Kenny Rogers, Travis Tritt

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Bar-20 by Clarence E Mulford

  The original Hopalong Cassidy   Clarence Mulford (1883 – 1956) is best remembered for his Hopalong Cassidy character, which he created in 1904 with

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RKO Pictures: the Westerns

  From Cimarron to The Big Sky   RKO had been one of the major Hollywood studios but after eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes took control

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Warner Brothers: the Westerns

  Warner Westerns We’re looking at different studios’ contributions to our noble genre. In 1953, as an example, Warner Bros released 28 pictures, six of

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MGM: the Westerns

  The studios and the Western   We’ve looked, in our The Westerns of… series, at the series of oaters made by many directors, producers,

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Wyoming (Republic, 1947)

  Anti-Shane   For most of the history of the Western movie, the range war has been a central theme. Big ranchers using thousands of

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