It's high time for me to answer our tag, don't you think? (Find it here.)
1. What's the last western you watched?
I watched Saskatchewan (1954) earlier this week, hoping to review it for this event, though I'm not sure I'll manage it. If not, I'll review it next week. It's based on a real event, when Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse led their Sioux warriors into Canada and tried to enlist the help of tribes up there in driving out the white people. Part of the reason I'm probably not going to get this reviewed by the end of the party is because I want to do some research into that event and see how much of the movie was based on history.
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Anyway, the movie is about a whole lot of Mounties led by Thomas O'Rourke (Alan Ladd) as they try to stop their stores of rifles and ammo from falling into Sioux hands. And it's all complicated up by the fact that O'Rourke was raised by one of the Canadian tribes that is now considering joining the Sioux, so he's got a deep interest in all this because he's got family there still (including his adoptive father's other son, played by Jay Silverheels), and some of the other white men think maybe he's not entirely on the side of the Mounties, etc. Plus, there's this woman (Shelley Winters) who's on the run from an American lawman (Hugh O'Brien), and yeah... it's a neat movie, quite different from the "typical" western, and not just because of the Canadian setting. I'm eager to review it more fully.
2. A western of any stripe (happy or tragic) where you were highly satisfied by the ending?
Angel and the Badman (1947) has an ending that I just don't think could be improved on.
3. The funniest western you've seen?
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) leaves me in stitches every time I watch it. A random traveler (James Garner) who's basically just on his way to Australia ends up taking the job as sheriff in a lawless mining town. He's the most unorthodox sheriff you've ever seen, as evidenced by the fact that he makes the town character (Jack Elam) his deputy! Wonderfully funny, loving spoof that has a good plot and holds together well on its own without leaning on its spoofiness to make it work.
4. What similar elements/themes show up in your favorite westerns?
Strangers. Found families. Unexpected love stories. Sacrifice.
Basically, those are all my favorite themes for ANY fiction, but when you put them in a western, they get even better. "Someone new comes to town and everything changes" is my favorite basic plot, and western film takes that and makes it shine in a really special way. Plus, with people moving west from all over the place, and with death and destruction being so prevalent, people had to turn to those around them for help and support and love, which makes "found families" kind of inevitable. Same for unexpected love stories, since you can throw such disparate people together. And sacrifice? Everyone who went West sacrificed something at some point, even if it was only the comfort and security of their old home.
5. Favorite actress who made 1 or more westerns?
Maureen O'Hara, no contest. She's my favorite actress overall, and I love some of her westerns so much! Especially The Rare Breed (1966).
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6. Favorite western hero/sidekick pairing?
John Reid (Armie Hammer) and Tonto (Johnny Depp) in The Lone Ranger (2013) -- I love how they kind of trade off who's the lead and who's the sidekick. My best friend and I see a lot of ourselves in them, too, which makes them especially dear.
7. Scariest villain/antagonist in a Western?
Kind of a toss-up between Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966). They're both sadistic, creepy, horrifyingly awful villains. UGH.
8. Favorite romance in a western?
Cal Wayne (Bobby Darin) and Amy Martin (Emily Banks) in Gunfight in Abilene (1967). They're childhood sweethearts reunited under difficult circumstances who eventually come to understand each other again.
9. Three of your favorite westerns?
1. The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
2. The Lone Ranger (2013)
3. The Magnificent Seven (1960)
10. Share one (or several!) of your favorite quotes from a western.
Here are a few that I quote in everyday life, since that seemed like the best way to narrow this list down :-)
"A man's life can be saved by a mere scrap of information." -- The Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood), A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
"Joe, you just make me feel tired all over. It's bad enough to have to kill a man without having to listen to a whole lot of stupid talk from him first." -- Jason McCullough (James Garner), Support Your Local Sheriff (1969)
"I am not laughing at your wound, but merely its location." -- Don Andrea Baldasar (Alain Delon), Texas Across the River (1966)
"Something very wrong with that horse." -- Tonto (Johnny Depp), The Lone Ranger (2013).
"Let's drift." -- Silas (Michael Fassbender), Slow West (2015).
That's all for today, folks! Don't forget to check out everyone's posts in the link-up thing here. And don't forget that my giveaway ends at the end of tomorrow, so if you haven't entered that yet, better get a move on!
Ooooh, boy. Saskatchewan sounds pretty complex & amazing. I'm looking forward to your review!
ReplyDelete"Someone comes to town and everything changes" is a Mood I'm very fond of myself, and I'm employing it most unashamedly in my own Western series. Instead of mysterious men with guns coming to town, it's mysterious women with magic powers coming to town--but still, same principle!
Katie, yes, Saskatchewan is really complicated and cool. But not in a self-important way, you know? I really dig it.
Delete"Someone" coming to town can be a woman or a man. It's so useful.
Very, very useful!
DeleteYou and I have a lot of similar answers! Oh my word, Support Your Local Sheriff is a hoot! I love so to pieces. So many good quotes to choose from!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting! A small question, did my answers to both of your games go through? I know that comments are on moderation, but I used my old computer and it's iffy sometimes so I wasn't sure.
MC, what fun! Yes, Support Your Local Sheriff is splendid. Have you ever seen Texas Across the River? It's another good western comedy, though not as good as SYLS, of course. Nothing is.
DeleteYup, both your answers came through! I'll publish them Saturday, along with the scores and such :-)
I knew it! I knew Gunfight in Abilene would be there.
DeleteYou may find this interesting: Saskatchewan was filmed in Alberta to take advantage of the Rockies. Saskatchewan is mostly prairie, as is Alberta until you run up against the mountains.
Support Your Local Sheriff! works as the world's most perfect, never to be equalled western spoof because the writer Wm. Bowers and director Burt Kennedy also made dramatic westerns. They knew what they were talking about and nothing could be more fun for fans.
Caftan Woman, of COURSE Gunfight in Abilene is here. It's morally imperative to mention it.
DeleteHow interesting that they filmed Saskatchewan in the wrong province! It was originally titled O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted, which is a boring and clunky title, but at least not so misleading!
I read Burt Kennedy's autobiography Hollywood Trail Boss a few years back, and it was so fascinating. He directed 6 episodes of Combat!, including 2 of my most-favorite eps, and so many wonderful westerns. One of the regulars from , Dick Peabody, has a memorable role in Local Sheriff too :-)
Ooh am I looking forward to your review and research of Saskatchewan!
ReplyDeleteSaskatchewan gets a lot of knee-jerk grief/hilarity reaction from Canadians. 'Cause the province of Saskatchewan is...not mountainous. And it's obvious to 90% of Canadians over the age of about 10 that the movie was filmed in and around Banff, our best known national park/mountain resort/tourist trap. It's literally hundreds of kilometres away from Saskatchewan the province.
Although I think there's maybe some sort of explanation in the movie about how the title is meant to refer to "Saskatchewan Territory" instead of a province (which wouldn't have existed yet at the time of the movie anyway.) I don't think there ever was officially a "Saskatchewan Territory" and the movie should really be called "Northwest Territory" if the territory name was what they were trying for. Maybe that title was already taken. And maybe there's an explanation about something about the source of the river Saskatchewan? Which, if you sort of squint and blur the map, might actually make some sense. I don't remember.
But it's sort of like if you filmed a movie in Oregon and named it "Kansas."
*I* know that westerns (and other movies) were regularly filmed in geographically off locations and the industry wasn't picking on Canada particularly in this instance, but a lot of casual film watchers in Canada get ticked by the obvious mismatch between title and location. I mostly find it sort of funny, and then wonder if the movie is any good. I don't remember. I've seen it, but it was quite awhile ago.
And...we're told (or at least I was when I was in school) that the actual history of relations between the NWMP/RCMP and Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse was...especially comparative to their relations with the US government, very peaceful. There is a whole notion of the Canada/US border as "the medicine line," which you still sometimes hear here. Of course the Canadian government's relationships with First Nations has not been perfect, and we did have a few battles between NWMP and First Nations and Metis peoples, and there are still outstanding land claims and unresolved issues of all sorts that need to be worked out between the nations and state.
I vaguely remember being taught that Sitting Bull and his followers, having sought sanctuary in Canada, were asked to leave, didn't have particularly good relations with the First Nations on whose traditional territory they had arrived, and eventually returned to the USA because they were slowly starving, despite stories of some of the NWMP assigned to keep an eye on them sharing their own supplies. (Which might just be glossy NWMP/RCMP propaganda, I dunno.)
Regardless I'm grateful that the movie gave us all an excuse to see Alan Ladd in an (apparently historical suspect but who really cares, Canadians needs to get over ourselves sometimes) RCMP uniform.
And I was sort of ironically amused to read that Ladd apparently caught pneumonia while staying in our lovely grand railway hotel in Banff. If anyone could make a mess out of, and have a bad time while, staying in Canada's premier tourist destination, that guy could.
It's a shame.
On a totally unrelated note, I'm surprised by how much love The Lone Ranger is getting this week! Clearly the critics didn't talk to this crowd when they spat on it.
VT, the original title of Saskatchewan was O'Rourke of the Royal Mounted. Or it was switched to that for re-release? It goes by both titles -- I don't recall that anything at all got said in the movie itself about it being a specific province, but a river does figure hugely into the plot, so maybe it's talking about the river? They do talk about a specific fort, and about being close to Montana.
DeleteIt's one of the most sensitive portrayals of Native Americans I've seen, really -- the RCMP is shown to initially be on really great terms with them. It's only when some newcomer officers gum things up by insisting they take the Cree's rifles away because they're afraid they're going to join up with the Sioux. The Cree are the tribe that rescued O'Rourke as a baby, adopted him, and raised him. They are shown as valiant and honorable, and have a cordial relationship with the RCMP and white settlers in general UNTIL these RCMP higher-ups mess things up.
Anyway, like I said, I plan to do a little cursory research before I review the movie. Which holds together really well as a movie, so it may be like some renditions of the gunfight at the OK Corral where we have to say, "That's not how it all happened, but I can enjoy the story anyway."
Poor Alan Ladd -- I didn't know it was pneumonia, just that he got sick, but insisted on continuing filming. He was always very conscious of how many other people's livelihoods were bound up in him being on the job -- which is part of why he often asked to have his friends in his films. George Lewis and Anthony Caruso, for instance, who are both in this. Not sure why the idea of him getting pneumonia would amuse you, even ironically, but whatever.
It's my opinion that the critics misunderstood The Lone Ranger (2013), as did many audiences, primarily because the trailers were all wrong. The trailers presented it as a straight, ordinary western, when it's actually a comedic tall tale told in a mythological way. I'm very sad that people didn't "get" it because we could have had a lovely, quirky series ala Pirates of the Caribbean, but no.
Second try at responding, hopefully I won't accidentally close this window again.
DeleteSometimes I have a sense of humour that others understandably interpret as cruel, although it's not intended to be, and I certainly didn't mean to be disrespectful. Also, I checked my notes and it seems you're right, I must have come up with a diagnosis of pneumonia myself, with extremely little to back that up. Sorry about that. This little thread is serving as an excellent reminder of the virtues of editing and checking one's work!
The Bow River runs through Banff and eventually leads to the Saskatchewan, so that's that mystery perhaps solved. Anyway, again, I look forward to reading your review of Saskatchewan when you're ready!
We can always hope that the next attempt at something like The Lone Ranger goes down better!
VT, oh I *hate* that. I have so been there.
DeleteI didn't think you were being cruel, I just wasn't sure if I was reading your comment incorrectly. I'll have to read up on the production of Saskatchewan before I review it and see if I can dig up more particulars on what he was ill with.
Maybe the river is the answer, then!
That would be so nice. I mean, some westerns that are quirky, like Slow West, get all kinds of critical acclaim, but I think that one was marketed much more accurately.
I love Support Your Local Sheriff also. "I'm just on my way to Australia :P" "I'm sick and tired of these stupid things that keep happening to me!! AND SOMEBODY BETTER DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT SOON!!"
ReplyDeleteCharity, yes, well, you see, "puberty hit her hard. It'll do that, you know."
DeleteMan, no one in my family can show someone a desk without saying, "This my desk, where I do my mayorin' work." And any time we talk about the last person to whole some office or other, we always devolve into, "Our last sheriff was a good organizer. Yellow clear through, but a good organizer!"
*hold
DeleteFun to read your answers. :-D
ReplyDeleteThanks, DKoren :-)
DeleteLoved your answers as always.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your review of Saskatchewan, I do heartily love the ending of Angel and the Badman, and am still glad to be in delightful agreement on The Lone Ranger. ;D (Just need to watch it again to really get those lines down - I think I've seen it twice?)
Heidi, Angel and the Badman just has a sort of effortless and unaffected niceness to it. So good.
DeleteThe Lone Ranger improves with every viewing because it's one of those movies where little details get woven into a complex whole. I've seen it 10 or 12 times, and it still surprises me here and there. And never fails to delight me.