During my recent recover from surgery and subsequent medical...adventures...I discovered an all-westerns all-day channel, StarzEncore Westerns. Recuperating in my favorite recliner I found a couple (more actually, but I'll report on these four) of western movies which I really enjoyed and deserve some recognition.
The Lone Star Trail (1943) - Johnny Mack Brown plays a recently paroled ex-con who returns home vowing to prove his innocence. Tex Ritter is a rather mysterious cowboy with a "bad reputation around here" who just always seem to be in the right place at the right time. Fuzzy Knight provides the comedic sidekick while the Jimmy Wakely Trio serves as the musical entertainment. And, as a preview of future work, a young Bob Mitchum plays one of a quartet of shifty businessmen. A good plot, some pretty good acting for an early western, with just enough comedy and music added to keep things moving this western shows how good some of these early movies could be.
Five Card Stud (1968) - Dean Martin heads a very capable cast in this movie. He plays a professional gambler, who's game of choice is five card stud, who tries but fails to break up a lynching after a late-night game. In the aftermath he leaves town to avoid having to tell on his friends who committed this crime. Roddy McDowell is the spoiled son of a local rancher who instigated the lynching. Yaphet Kotto plays the bartender who saw what happened and follows Martin to Denver to tell him that the members of the poker game/lynching party are being killed mysteriously. Robert Mitchum plays a preacher who shows up in town as the killings are going on. The film plays on the increasing panic in the town as the killings go on while only a very few know what connects the victims. You can make a good guess at the killer, but how and why does he know who to kill? Of course I've always like Martin and Mitchum and in this movie they play off one another very well.
Red River (1988) - No, not the original John Wayne/Montgomery Clift classic, but a made-for-TV version starring James Arness and Bruce Boxleitner. Now most remakes fail to live up to the original but this comes very close. In fact, if it were an original it probably would be considered to be an outstanding western and would receive much more attention. Except for some minor missing scenes at the very beginning and end it follows the original pretty closely. If you can watch it without trying to compare it to the original I think you will enjoy this one.
Stagecoach (1986) - Again, not the original. Nor the very poor 1966 re-make, but rather another made-for-TV version. The strength of this movie is in the stars, namely the Four Horsemen (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings) and the chemistry between them. Aided by John Schneider as the stagecoach driver they provide their own take on the story. Cash plays the marshal Curly, Jennings is the gambler, Kristofferson plays Ringo, and Nelson is the Doctor. But not the drunkard from the original, Nelson puts his own spin on as Doc Holliday. And this perhaps is why this version can stand on it's own, they follow the original story line but make the story their own. And true to their fellowship in the Horsemen as a group, they stick together in going after Luke Plummer in a perhaps more realistic (or at least different) final showdown. Cameos by June Carter Cash, Jessie Colter, David Allan Coe, and Lash LaRue just add a little more. An enjoyable movie, you know where it's going but it's a lot of fun going there.
If you can find them I suggest that you give them a try.
The Lone Star Trail (1943) - Johnny Mack Brown plays a recently paroled ex-con who returns home vowing to prove his innocence. Tex Ritter is a rather mysterious cowboy with a "bad reputation around here" who just always seem to be in the right place at the right time. Fuzzy Knight provides the comedic sidekick while the Jimmy Wakely Trio serves as the musical entertainment. And, as a preview of future work, a young Bob Mitchum plays one of a quartet of shifty businessmen. A good plot, some pretty good acting for an early western, with just enough comedy and music added to keep things moving this western shows how good some of these early movies could be.
Five Card Stud (1968) - Dean Martin heads a very capable cast in this movie. He plays a professional gambler, who's game of choice is five card stud, who tries but fails to break up a lynching after a late-night game. In the aftermath he leaves town to avoid having to tell on his friends who committed this crime. Roddy McDowell is the spoiled son of a local rancher who instigated the lynching. Yaphet Kotto plays the bartender who saw what happened and follows Martin to Denver to tell him that the members of the poker game/lynching party are being killed mysteriously. Robert Mitchum plays a preacher who shows up in town as the killings are going on. The film plays on the increasing panic in the town as the killings go on while only a very few know what connects the victims. You can make a good guess at the killer, but how and why does he know who to kill? Of course I've always like Martin and Mitchum and in this movie they play off one another very well.
Red River (1988) - No, not the original John Wayne/Montgomery Clift classic, but a made-for-TV version starring James Arness and Bruce Boxleitner. Now most remakes fail to live up to the original but this comes very close. In fact, if it were an original it probably would be considered to be an outstanding western and would receive much more attention. Except for some minor missing scenes at the very beginning and end it follows the original pretty closely. If you can watch it without trying to compare it to the original I think you will enjoy this one.
Stagecoach (1986) - Again, not the original. Nor the very poor 1966 re-make, but rather another made-for-TV version. The strength of this movie is in the stars, namely the Four Horsemen (Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Waylon Jennings) and the chemistry between them. Aided by John Schneider as the stagecoach driver they provide their own take on the story. Cash plays the marshal Curly, Jennings is the gambler, Kristofferson plays Ringo, and Nelson is the Doctor. But not the drunkard from the original, Nelson puts his own spin on as Doc Holliday. And this perhaps is why this version can stand on it's own, they follow the original story line but make the story their own. And true to their fellowship in the Horsemen as a group, they stick together in going after Luke Plummer in a perhaps more realistic (or at least different) final showdown. Cameos by June Carter Cash, Jessie Colter, David Allan Coe, and Lash LaRue just add a little more. An enjoyable movie, you know where it's going but it's a lot of fun going there.
If you can find them I suggest that you give them a try.
