Billy the Kid: the Bob Steele pictures
Bob as Billy We were talking last time about how the Billy the Kid myth, elevated (or resurrected) by the sensational Walter Noble
The blog of a Western fan, for other Western fans
“Each man has a song and this is my song.” (Leonard Cohen)
Bob as Billy We were talking last time about how the Billy the Kid myth, elevated (or resurrected) by the sensational Walter Noble
B-Western Billy To continue our current Billy the Kid thread, we have looked at two big pictures from MGM, in 1930 and 1941,
Billy rides again After the commercial flop (and artistic so-so quality) of Billy the Kid in 1930, which we reviewed last time, so
The first talkie Billy There was a flurry of interest in the career of William Bonney (let’s call him that for the
Ho-hum, but at least it highlights Bass Reeves In the 2010 TV show Justified, Marshal Art Mullen (Nick Searcy), who has a Tombstone
Solid heavy Barton MacLane may be best known as the police lieutenant in The Maltese Falcon, or as a star of I
An entertaining yarn Mountain Killer is the first in a projected series of Western novels, Tales of Tom Mix, featuring everyone’s favorite silent
Little Joe – but not only Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts and Dan Blocker, whose careers we have recently been looking at on this
Hoss Next stop on our current Bonanzarama is Hoss. Like all the lead actors on the show, Dan Blocker is almost entirely identified
Adam Cartwright Since we are on a Bonanza-binge at the moment, and have examined under the microscope the career of Lorne Greene
Pa Lyon Chaim Green, better known to Westernistas, especially Bonanza fans, as Lorne Greene, was pretty Canadian. There were quite a few
Vin Steve McQueen is often thought of as a Western actor and was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in April
The Lone Ranger rides again – in 1938 Francis Hamilton Striker (1903 – 1962), known to one and all as Fran, deserves glory,
A formulaic Mohicans-style ‘Western’ Eighteenth-century tales of conflict with Indians are in many ways not really Westerns at all, or not as
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