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A Country Boy Can Survive

John Wayne and William Holden, great actors. Both men were in a bunch of movies as you all know. Fun to see behind the scenes.

What model Smith does it look like they are shooting?

Hmm,short action hammer and ramp front sight...waitaminute!


Duck!

Looks to be a tapered barreled N frame. With the cop beside Wayne, I'd bet it might be the officer's Model 27 or Model 28.

Looks like a LEO was asked to share his DA with the crew of "The Horse Soldiers".

Think the gun is most likely a M-29 with 6.5-inch barrel. I do not recall the actress. I saw the movie when it appeared, but will need to look up her name. Left-handed? She either knows a lot about guns and recoil of that gun, or she's about to get a rude surprise. Wayne is holding his gun like Custer in a famous painting. Surprised to see that relaxed arm from the Duke. Firing blanks is different than firing live ammo.

William Holden probably knew guns as he hunted in Africa, although I don't think he was as gun-savvy as was Clark Gable. Wayne certainly owned guns, and I think he probably hunted. Roy Rogers sure did. As did Clark Gable. A keen sportsman, he took Grace Kelly on a private hunt after they filmed, "Mogambo." In the movie, he was involved with Ava Gardner, but off-screen, his affair was with Grace. We've seen pics here of Gable's Registered Magnum, which I think had the hammer and trigger modified by King's Gun Works.

There's a good photo of Grace Kelly in the African bush, off the set of, "Mogambo." She's holding a Rigby rifle, probably a .275. Not sure if it was hers or Gable's. Could be a prop, but she did go hunting with the gun-savvy Gable soon after.

I was a little put off by Wayne not wearing a revolver in, "The Horse Soldiers." Been so long since I saw the film that I don't recall if he had saddle holsters. That was formerly the norm, at least until Colt made the .36 Navy revolver. How many of you have seen paintings of George Washington, with his pistols on his saddle? Do you know what saddle holsters looked like that far back?

Good photos. Thanks for posting. It was good to see stars pose with real guns and shoot them. Today, most in Hollywood use them in movies, but are personally anti-gun and know little of firearms. Most actors are blatantly unsafe around guns. I've read that most today do not handle firearms until they've handed the gun just before filming a scene. Many wearing them are wearing replica guns unless the scene calls for shooting. One show shared a lot of data about the guns and replicas with fans on a message board. It was made in Australia, but I bet this applies industry-wide in many cases.

Look at the decoration on the cop's cap. That's a senior man, probably not assigned to the set. That may not be his duty weapon.

Who's the doll?

Constance Towers, plays Helena Cassadine on General Hospital for the last 20 years.

I enlarged the photos and don't see a tapered barrel. And the barrel is too long for the six-inch M-28. Probably 6.5-inch, although I looked closely at the top pic, where I thought it just might be 8.3 inches. But I think 6.5 inch. I've owned both six and 6.5 inch N-frames and that 's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The ramp front sight is a factor. Most longer-barreled M-27's don't have ramp sights.

Look at the gold braid on the cop's cap bill. He is a senior man, and probably wouldn't wear a gun like this at work. It may not be his gun at all. My best guess is that it belonged to Wm. Holden.

Looks like a cold day. Note that both Wayne and Holden seem concerned for the female star's comfort. I don't think they're just flirting.

Too bad the Duke turned down "Dirty Harry".

I still love the fight scene.
"What are rules, Colonel?"
"Just make em up as ya go"

While she is shooting left handed, it looks like she is using her right eye.