Fighting Caravans (1931)

Fighting Caravans (1931)***

Paramount Pictures
Director: Otto Brower and David Burton

   Fighting Caravans is what I can only describe as a western romantic comedy. It is actually quite fun to watch and even the comic characters do their part for the story (from another Zane Grey novel by the way). Clint Belmet (Gary Copper) is a scout for a wagon train when he gets into some trouble in Independence. To get him out, his friends, old timers Bill and Jim (Ernest Torrence and Tully Marshall), enlist the help of a young traveler Felice (Lili Damita). Once free the train sets off for California and a romance develops between Felice and Clint, but can Felice tame this rugged scout?

Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)

Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)***

Warner Bro. Pictures
Director: Fred Allen

   Ride Him, Cowboy is a film staring Duke, John Wayne's horse; oh and John Wayne is there too. John Drury (Wayne) shows up in town to see Duke being tried for violent behavior. He saves the day by showing the horse can be broken and then helps rid the town of a villain known as "The Hawk" while winning the admiration of the horses owner Ruth Grant (Ruth Hall) all the while suspicious of stern townsman Henry Sims (Frank Hagney). Classic western stuff here with the horse tricks and a lot of running around though Wayne could use a bit more polish (still very early). This film is actually a remake of a silent western called The Unknown Cavalier (1926) but good luck finding a copy of that!

Unforgiven (1992)

Unforgiven (1992)****

Warner Bro. Pictures
Director: Clint Eastwood

   The dialogue at the beginning of Unforgiven really had me wondering why on earth this film makes the top of every list for "Greatest Westerns of All-Time." Since it was so highly rated I kept watching and I am glad I did. This really is a good film. It is however the height of a revisionist western, going so far as literally revising a western dime novel(clever reference to the Duke) in the film! There are no heroes or villains only men doing what they think is right. In a sense though this concept is at the very core of the western. In a lawless frontier, a man is what he makes of himself and how he makes it.
   A couple cowboys in Wyoming have cut up a whore and her friends have put together enough for a bounty. The young "kid schofield" (Jaimz Woolvett) wants to collect and finds retired outlaws William Munny (Clint Eastwood) and Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) to assist him. The one man standing to defend the cowboys is Sheriff Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman). These three do an amazing job and Eastwood really gets it (though if anyone should...). This is True Grit taken to an even grittier and more compelling conclusion. Again the lack of heroes on white horses is palpable and I tend to think these types of westerns are a genre all to themselves but I can see why it won the Academy Award for Best Picture (an honor shared only with Cimarron (1931) and Dances With Wolves (1990) for the genre) and Best Director. A fitting "last western" for Eastwood. Now come to think of it, this is really the Clint Eastwood version of John Wayne's The Shootist.

Dodge City (1939)

Dodge City (1939)****

Warner Bro. Pictures
Director: Michael Curtiz

   I don't want to focus too hard on our early study of talkie westerns so I will try to get in a few "just for fun" films. Dodge City is a truly great western that will hold its own against anything (well maybe not the Duke but you get it). Not only that, Errol Flynn comes out of his swashbuckling tradition to really take you by surprise as to how good he is at being the western hero. Did I mention Olivia de Havilland?
   Having just seen Cimarron, Dodge City really stands out. Whereas the settling of Osage, OK in the former film takes away all excitement, the settling of Dodge City still keeps the viewer engaged. I don't want to give too much away but this is truly classic western stuff, despite the foreign leading role(new for the time in westerns)! There is a great romantic development between Wade Hatton (Errol Flynn) and Abbie Irving (Olivia de Havilland) and the antagonist Jeff Surrett is played by the future western film great Bruce Cabot. In fact, that same year Cabot was up against John Wayne for the lead in John Ford's Stagecoach. Flynn and de Havilland would continue starring together though unfortunately not in the western genre. An amazing script (Robert Buckner) and direction (Michael Curtiz also directed Casablanca!) makes this one of those particularly amazing moments in the history of film.

Cimarron (1931)

Cimarron (1930)**

RKO Radio Pictures
Director: Wesley Ruggles

While you may never have heard of this film, in 1931 it was huge! RKO Radio Pictures put up 1.5 million for this picture, including building an entire town set in Encino, CA. As usual though, the depression kept this big budget movie from turning a profit (remember 1930's The Big Trail) though it was well received. Cimarron was the first film to get more than six Academy Award nominations and took home three (Outstanding Production, Best Writing: Adaptation, and Best Art Direction). The film pairs silent movie great Richard Dix and the newly signed Irene Dunne in this adaptation of Edna Ferber's novel of the same name. Dunne was actually discovered while starring in the theater version of Ferber's Showboat and stared in it's own movie adaptation just a bit earlier in 1930.

Cimarron has all the makings of a great western but ends up being a decent drama. As an analogy for the whole movie, the first scene is an exciting Oklahoma land grab while the last scene is the unveiling of a statue in the city. Cimarron is a taming of the wild west flick that ends up taming the movie-goers excitement. Yancy Cravat (Dix) is a man searching for adventure and takes off from Wichita to the Oklahoma frontier. Being a lover of excitement, he leaves for most of the second half of this movie. We then rely on the strong will of his wife Sabra (Dunne) to carry on in Yancy's absence. Sure there are some questionably stereotypical scenes involving minorities but in general nothing with a hateful spirit. Huge sets and a great script makes it clear why it received such praise at the time, though if you are looking for classic western Cimarron is not for you.

Ahead in 2013...

Looking to 2013, I would like to set out my goals for this blog. First of all, I would like to address the early years of Westerns from 1930-1940. This is the heyday of the B-movie western. When we think of the great technicolor westerns they are all rooted in a western movie tradition developed during this phase. The western film genre has had fluctuating popularity throughout the 20th century and I think it can be seen in the overall quality of films throughout. I will also try to get a few of the earliest silent westerns to see what we can conclude on their influences. In addition, I would like to focus on a director so that we might make some headway in the appreciation of their influence on the genre. I hope we have some exciting reviews this year and learn a lot!
   Yes, there will be a good deal of the ever-present Duke for two major reasons. The first is the accessibility of his films both for me and for you (since hopefully these reviews are leading you to watch more westerns!). The second reason is of course my undying love for John Wayne!
   So there you have it. I feel this should be a good start and as always, I will be open to discussion and direction from readers out there. Is there a film/actor/director/studio you are really interested in?

The Big Trail (1930)

The Big Trail (1930)****

Fox Film Corporation
Director: Raoul Walsh

   Billed as "The most important picture ever produced," The Big Trail is indeed an historic moment in the history of motion pictures. One of the earliest widescreen films, the on-site locations are amazing and combined with the format, one truly feels the significance of this film even 80 years after its creation. That being said, I do have to warn you though the run time is as epic; 2 hours and 5 minutes. Set aside some time to enjoy it though. While Walsh was casting this film he stumbled on a prop guy named Marion "Duke" Morrison. Walsh didn't like the name and went with something a bit more all-American - John Wayne!
   This film has it all! Great performances all around ,though I didn't need the gimmicky cat noises from Pa Bascom (Frederick Burton). This is standard stuff at the time, along with the comic relief of Gus and his mother-in-law. Wayne leads the cast as scout Breck Coleman who is after the men who murdered his friend. In his pursuit, he joins up with one of the first wagons heading into the wild frontier of Oregon. The wagon boss (played by Tyrone Power Sr.) has hired the two men (Ian Keith, Charles Stevens) to help lead the wagons and so Coleman tags along as a scout. There is of course the romantic involvement with a young girl (Marguerite Churchill) so already in 1930 we have the standard western plot highlights. In any case, a must see!