Up High – Monument Valley

[from My Photo a Day Adventure blog]

Saturday, November 13, 2021 … Blame it on director, John Ford … his first Monument Valley film, Stagecoach, 1939, would have been enough … but he returned 8 times … 8 more films … color and black & white … 8 more visions of Monument Valley … The celluloid mirage became real on my first journey to the Navajo Nation, Arizona / Utah … and Monument Valley … I’ve returned 4 times …

Navajo horseman … on John Ford’s Point … Monument Valley … June 2, 2004

John Ford’s Point, in the photo above, appears in one of my favorite Ford films, The Searchers, 1956 … John Wayne has been looking for his niece, Debbie / Natalie Wood, for years … the search is almost over … In the near distance below John Ford’s Point … Comanche Chief Scar’s camp … and Debbie … (I lightened the 2 screenshots below, from the much darker “night” scene … begins 1 hour, 48 minutes into the movie) …

John Wayne on John Ford’s Point … Chief Scar’s camp below … The Searchers, 1956

Wider view … John Wayne on John Ford’s Point … Chief Scar’s camp below … The Searchers, 1956

John Ford … directing The Searchers, 1956 … on John Ford’s Point … Chief Scar’s camp below … A good book to read, The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend, 2013, by Glenn Frankel

On John Ford’s Point … Monument Valley … 1995 … April 7, 2019 – About Me Part 2

The Searchers, 1956 … movie poster

Red arrow points to John Ford’s Point … Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Fun with Movie Books

[from My Photo a Day Adventure blog]

June 9, 2021, Wednesday … What I’m Reading … history and movies, all in one … nice to have a stash at hand … the switch this past year, with libraries closed to in-person browsing, led to these purchases … details below …

Teeny Tuxedo says … “I’ve been practicing my dance moves … How ’bout it, West Side guys? … Can I join the gang??” …

• Saw Glenn Frankel discuss his books:
• The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend, 2013  … one of my favorite John Ford films … set me on the trail to Monument Valley, Navajo Nation … 6 times!
• High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic, 2017 … High Noon’s not a favorite, but intrigued to see the Hollywood Blacklist connection

• Saw Peter Fitzgerald’s documentary, West Side Stories, 1996 … great behind-the-scenes footage, interviews (both stage and film) … sadly, has been removed from you-know-where. This led me to:
• West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic, 2020, Richard Barrios, Turner Classic Movies … LOVE the soundtrack … first heard in high school English Lit class, vinyl LP record album (what a terrific teacher, Mr. Somebody, just out of college) … the only weakness of the 1961 film (10 Oscars!), Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer (Maria and Tony)

Ol’ Mose Westerns Cat

[from Perkins and Teeny Tuxedo’s cat adventures blog]

Wednesday, July 25, 2018, 2:30 pm — Teeny … “Hey! … I know this guy! … He’s that guy in The Searchers that says, “Thank ya, kindly!” all the time …” … [This is a publicity photo for Red River, 1948] …

He’s Hank Worden, 1901-1992 … raised on a cattle ranch in Montana, college educated, rodeo saddle bronc rider … recruited (with Tex Ritter) for a bit in the 1931 64-performance Broadway run of Green Grow the Lilacs, by Lynn Riggs, Guild Theatre … (the source of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 Broadway baby, Oklahoma!) …

Cowboys … and cowgirl … Green Grow the Lilacs … Hank Worden (billed as Norton Worden) second from right … opening night credits, Jan. 26, 1931, Internet Broadway Database …

• More Green Grow the Lilacs photos, New York Public Library Digital Collections
• Learn more about Lynn Riggs, who wrote Green Grow the Lilacs … Broadway’s Forgotten Man, by Charles Morrow

After this brief stint on Broadway, Hank moseyed back out west … before ambling into a string of over 200 movie and tv roles, 1935-1991 … Below, Hank’s ol’ Mose Harper scenes, The Searchers, 1956 …

• Hank Worden: Ol’ Mose Knows – by Moira Finnie, April 8, 2009

Happy Trails to You!

Monday, March 25, 2019, 12:25 pm — Kitty’s Happy Trails (to Wyoming) party … It started with a parade …

A librarian moment … Season 1, episode 24, May, 2010 …

5 years later … library mascot! … Brick’s bookmark dance routine … Season 7, episode 2, Sept. 2015 …

 “Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City”– Oklahoma!, 1955

Bend of the River Connection

Bend of the River, 1952 … James Stewart … Mt. Hood, Oregon … July 1951 …

Dad! … Gunnard Pylkki … on location! … but not with Jimmy and the crew … looking at the snow melt, this was after filming …

Mom and Dad went to Bend of the River’s world premiere, Broadway Theatre … Jan. 23, 1952 … across the Columbia River from Vancouver, Washington, in Portland, Oregon … They saw James Stewart and Rock Hudson … not sure how close they were, but they saw ’em! …

What a crowd at the premiere! … tried to spot Mom and Dad in the video below, but no luck …

Dashing Portland policeman, Uncle Hank (far left, aviator glasses), on the scene … Dad’s younger brother … [photo from Jimmy Stewart in Oregon, Feb. 3, 2016]

Plenty of press coverage …

• Broadway Theatre, Portland, Oregon – Cinema Treasures – a bit of history, 1926-1988, and photos

Post started, July 29, 2017

Montana Moon, 1930

Montana Moon, 1930 … Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Cliff Edwards, Benny Ruben … Thanks, Turner Classic Movies, for showing it again! … during my month at Bette Davis’s Butternut Cottage, Sugar Hill, New Hampshire! … July 2016 …

Recording of “The Moon Is Low” …

• Written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed
• Pretty sure it was in The Little Ranger, 1938 – Our Gang short

Moustaches Divine

Tyrone Power … Jesse James, 1939 …

• More, more, more at … Matinée Moustache: Classic Film & Dapper Gents … a tumblog … be sure to look at the archive!

Relatively Speaking

If these two gals weren’t related, they sure should have been!

Diana Hale – My Friend Flicka, 1943

Lucile Gleason – Rhythm on the Range, 1936

Diana Hale, Roddy McDowall – My Friend Flicka, 1943

Lucile Gleason, Bing Crosby – Rhythm on the Range, 1936

[First posted August 24, 2009]

Roy Rogers Riders Club

The Roy Rogers Riders Club began in 1948 … a message to kids in movie theaters …

“You know, boys and girls, the real purpose of the Riders Club is for all of us to get together and become better acquainted. Help each other, especially help prevent any and all kinds of accidents. Do that for me, will ya?

“You know, the best Roy Rogers Riders are the ones who live up to the rules on the back of your membership card.

“Well, sir, right now, Trigger and I have got a few things to take care of in Hollywood, so we’re going to turn this meeting over to the ranch foreman of our club, the manager of this theater.

“I’ll be looking for you at our meeting next week, so be sure to be here. And until then, from Trigger and me, goodbye, good luck, and may the good Lord take a likin’ to ya! See ya next week!”

---

A letter to the “ranch foreman” of the club … “… many more angles can be used in conducting the Club. What I have in mind is good old American ingenuity on the part of you, the Exhibitor.”

Brief history of the Roy Rogers Riders Club, from Ultimate Roy Rogers Collection: Identification & Price Guide, 2001 – (googlebooks – not all pages available)

• See earlier post, Roy, Trigger at the Oregon Centennial, 1959 – June 23 2013 … I was there!!
• Also, Trigger – Smartest Horse in the Movies – June 23, 2013 … my Trigger figurine (where’s Roy?) … a favorite Christmas present, 1959 …
• Archive for the “Roy Rogers” Category – 50 Westerns from the 50s – great blog

Air-Tight David Sharpe

Tossle-haired actor / stuntman, David Sharpe (1910-1980) … Happy Birthday! … February 2 …

Picture this … Turner Classic Movies … September 2006 … 10 years ago! … Air-Tight, 1931 … one of the George Stevens-directed The Boyfriends shorts that day … WHO was that charismatic charmer, doing his own stunts … AND getting the girl? … David Sharpe!!

David Sharpe … What’s the attraction? … Just realized he resembles a certain someone … a favorite … Ramon Novarro … in his early years of dark, tossled hair.

A serendipitous connection … While Ramon starred in Ben-Hur, 1925, David is listed as one of the stuntmen! … See photo of Ramon at bottom of post!

The Boy Friends cast: Grady Sutton, Dorothy Granger, David Sharpe, Gertrude Messinger, Mickey Daniels, Mary Kornman … (He and Gertrude Messinger were married in 1932, briefly.)

“Acrobatic Sharpe was a stunt man before becoming a Boy Friend. After leaving the series, he resumed stunt work, appearing in numerous Westerns at Republic Studios. He became a fighter pilot during World War II, then returned to Hollywood, continuing to perform stunts until shortly before his death in 1980.” — Turner Classic Movies

David Sharpe, King of the Royal Mounted, 1940, doubling Allan “Rocky” Lane, bulldogs stuntman Duke Taylor … His early tumbling skills (US National Tumbling Championship in 1925) paid off in his stunt career … Click photo to enlarge …

Ramon Novarro as Judah Ben-Hur, Ben-Hur, 1925 … looking dramatically like David Sharpe … who was an uncredited stuntman on the film … (Buster Gallagher is listed as Ramon’s stunt double.)

• “Appeared in over 4,500 films, while working for every studio in Hollywood … Sharpe told film historian Mark Hall, “When Shana Alexander interviewed me for Life magazine in 1952, she gave up after 4,000. At one time or another, I’ve worked for every studio in Hollywood, for almost every director, with most of the actors and actresses.””
• “Doubled Tony Curtis, Marlon Brando, Alan Ladd, Tyrone Power, John Derek and both Douglas Fairbanks and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.” … (I’ll have to take a closer look at Tony Curtis’s scenes in The Vikings, 1958!)
• “Ranks with Yakima Canutt as Hollywood’s premier stuntman.”

Scottish Wool & Movies Cat

Thursday, September 10, 2015, 12:13 am — Perk’s finely tuned orange tabby cat ears …

What’s she watching so intensely? … (Lawrence of Arabia poster in background … “Winner of 7 Academy Awards”) …

Hey, don’t bother me! … This is a cliffhanger scene between James Stewart and Ralph Meeker! … The Naked Spur, 1953 …

Perk knows comfy quality when she feels it … the woolen throw I got for Mom in Edinburgh, Scotland, 1993 … Perk’s taking advantage of its temporary location …

• See Perkins and Teeny Tuxedo’s blog for more of their adventures, cinematic and otherwise

Shirley Temple – John Agar Wedding

July 2015 … Shirley Temple is Turner Classic Movie’s Star of the Month … To celebrate, here’s a post from August 2009:

THIS must be why I’ve always been a Shirley Temple aficionada!

On Sept. 19, 1945, Mom just happened to be in the right place at the right time, outside the Los Angeles Wilshire Methodist Church where 17-year-old Shirley Temple was marrying John Agar.

“A crowd of 5,000 which started assembling at 3 o’clock this afternoon gathered outside the church. Following the brief ceremony the young couple escaped through the throng to a waiting automobile.” – New York Times, Sept. 20, 1945, p. 25

Things are mighty quiet now. Notice how the palm tree to the right of the door has skyrocketed since 1945? Wilshire United Methodist Church, 4350 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA

The reception was held at Shirley’s family home, Brentwood, CA.

Unfortunately for Mom, the crowd outside the church wasn’t invited to the reception. Not known to be a party-crasher, she missed her chance and will have to make do with these photos …

Alas, fairy tales are short-lived when they cross the threshold of reality. In 1950 Shirley and John divorced. (Above, Shirley & a pal, Pie Covered Wagon, 1932)

In the interim, they acted together in Fort Apache, 1948, the first of John Ford’s Monument Valley “cavalry trilogy.” John went solo in the second of the trilogy, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, 1949.

Our plucky Shirley tried her valiant thespian best, but she’d lost her natural ease in front of the camera.

(Left) When the cameras stopped rolling, we see this wonderfully candid glimpse of the real Shirley, not “acting”, but herself, the true “sparkle”!

[First posted August 18, 2009]

Whee! Apache Trails!

Thursday, April 30, 2015, 12:50 am — Lloyd Nolan in possibly his one and only Western … Apache Trails, 1942 … Wearing appropriate black to signify his villainy … Below, William Lundigan, Donna Reed, Ann Ayars, Lloyd Nolan …

These screenshots from the trailer are too good to ignore …

That Strawberry Roan

Wednesday, April 29, 2015, 11:40 pm — Old Fooler (his character’s name), the horse star of The Rounders, 1965, Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford … and the 1966, ABC tv series (only 17 episodes … which I studiously watched back then!) … Ron Hart, Patrick Wayne … Below, tv series opening credits …

Paid such close attention because he was a blaze-face strawberry roan, almost like my Lucky Lady (she had more white) … Got her summer 1963. A horse trader that Grandpa Ahola knew (Mr. Heidegger?) stopped at their Hockinson farm … Knew I was looking for a horse … She came down the ramp of  the highbed truck … 2 1/2 years old … straight from an Indian reservation in Eastern Washington … Hand-woven, flat twine halter. A small, dark, old-fashioned Western saddle, high pommel and cantle was part of the deal, $175 total … Below, 1965? … 17th Lane house, Olympia …

Scar Ist Deutsch?!

November 24, 2014 — The Searchers, 1956 … my favorite Western … I’ve seen it a million times … Inspired me to go to Monument Valley 6 times … After all these years, I finally looked up the actor who played Scar … Henry Brandon … German … His parents emigrated to the US shortly after he was born …

Mohawk, 1956

November 23, 2014 — SO bad I couldn’t stop watching! – recycled tons of wonderful Drums Along the Mohawk, 1939, outdoor footage. Stuck in between were dull, bland sound stage scenes … One wagon train scene was like an excursion in Disneyland with animatronic Indians standing in groups in the trees along the trail …

“An artist working in a remote army post is juggling the storekeeper’s daughter, his fiancé newly arrived from the east, and the Indian Chief’s daughter.” … Guess who’s who?

Strong in the wilderness … Rita Gam, Onida … with stylish leather trousers … Sidney Lumet‘s first wife … The exotic Rita is really Rita McKay from Pittsburgh …

Could that be? … Yes, it is … Mae Clarke (grapefruited in the face by Cagney) … Minikah… Onida’s (Rita Gam’s) mother …

Aargh! … The closing song leaves MUCH to be desired …. “Love plays the strings of my banjo … Ba-ba-ba-ba-bum” … “Ba-ba-ba-ba-bum” is the refrain, heard over and over … This isn’t Tex Ritter singing High Noon’s “Do Not Forsake Me O My Darlin’,” 1952 … If you’ve a hankerin’, Mohawk is on YouTube … Fast forward to the end for the song …

Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert … Drums Along the Mohawk, 1939 … They’re smiling now, but they won’t be, once they learn about all the outdoor action scenes that ended up in Mohawk …

Birthday Trails

November 8, 2014 — Happy Birthday Trails to Roy Rogers … November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998 …

• See earlier post, Roy, Trigger at the Oregon Centennial, 1959 – June 23 2013 … I was there!!
• Also, Trigger – Smartest Horse in the Movies – June 23, 2013 … my Trigger figurine (where’s Roy?) … a favorite Christmas present, 1959 …

Dadgumit!

November 3, 2014 — In real life, he was an intelligent, well groomed and articulate man, but cast as a grizzled codger who sputtered phrases like “consarn it,” “yer durn tootin,” “dadgumit,” “durn persnickety female,” and “young whippersnapper.” … Who is it? … Gabby Hayes, 1885-1969!

Transcribing my 1977 list of Likes, Dislikes, Quotes, & Miscellanea … there he was on the 4th page, a major like, even if his last name is misspelled …

Gabby was the best gol’durn sidekick a feller could have … most frequently with Roy Rogers, 41 teamings from 1939-1946 … Below, Sunset in El Dorado, 1945 …

He consorted with a high-class feller, name of Gary Cooper … The Plainsman, 1936 … James Ellison on left …

Hey, kids! … Let’s all go to the Gabby Hayes Ranch! … 1952-1953 … Funny thing, twern’t out West at all … but back in East Jewett, New York … Gabby was a New York born and raised feller … Now, that’s gol’durn good actin’, I tell ya!

Left- Gabby and his wife, Olive, were married 1914-1957 …  Right- George Hayes, before he was Gabby … and before the beard …

Takin’ us out with a song in 1946 … Gabby was a regular on radio’s The Roy Rogers Show …

But wait … there’s more! …dagnabbit! Yes siree, Bob!

• In the 1950s, Gabby had his own NBC TV program, appropriately titled THE GABBY HAYES SHOW, in which he’d introduce/moderate old B westerns that were cut down to about a half-hour length.  Gabby’s show was nominated for an Emmy award in 1952, but the winner was the BEANY AND CECIL show.
• Circa 1954, Gabby also did a stint as the host of THE HOWDY DOODY TV show (when Buffalo Bob Smith was recuperating from a heart attack).  Hayes even had his own comic book series.
• See Saddle Pals & Sidekicks – George Francis Hayes for more info and links
• And don’t forget my Gabby Hayes board in Pinterest!

Crash Corrigan

October 6, 2014 — The Painted Stallion, 1937, Republic serial … Ray ‘Crash’ Corrigan … and …?

Glorious Coop

September 19, 2014 — “Don’t speak … No … Don’t speak …” … Gary Cooper was made for silent films …

Didn’t realize, until now, that he was in about 40 silents, credited and uncredited, before his first official talkie, The Virginian, 1929.

“Don’t speak … ”  my favorite scene from Bullets Over Broadway, 1994 … Dianne Wiest to John Cusack … a lovely photo, but not the actual scene … Watch the real “Don’t speak” on YouTube …

“No, no, don’t speak. Don’t speak. Please don’t speak. Please don’t speak. No. No. No.” …

Dianne Wiest won her second Supporting Actress Oscar  … Her first was another Woody Allen film, Hannah and Her Sisters, 1986.

Woody Allen … I was ALWAYS at a movie theater for the latest Woody Allen, late 1970s to early 1990s …

You Laugh at Lupe’s Love?

September 19, 2014 — Gary Cooper and Lupe Velez made one film together, The Wolf Song, 1929 … beginning a tempestuous 3-year relationship …

“Velez’s tempestuous liaison with Gary Cooper drove the tall, handsome, slim actor to lose 40 pounds and suffer a nervous breakdown. Their three-year relationship was marked by brawls and rages, yet they would have married, if not for the vehement disapproval of  Cooper’s mother. Finally, when Gary was boarding the Twentieth Century train to Chicago, vengeful Lupe arrived, pulled a gun and shot several times at her lover, narrowly missing his head. Cooper dove into the car and Velez quickly stormed out of the station, swearing at her lack of marksmanship and escaping arrest.” – “Lupe Velez,” Steve Starr, The Entertainment Magazine, 2006

“Lupe Velez returns to Los Angeles from an eastern trip and falls into the arms of Gary Cooper.” – 1929

• See previous post, Johnny Weissmuller – by Hurrell, Decembert 19, 2013 – for photos of Lupe and Weissmuller, her only husband, 1933-1939.

The Wolf Song … “He is about to bathe in the river just before going to a dance with Lupe Velez.”  – NitrateVille, April 12, 2011

Hud-acious

September 18, 2014 — … And on another western note … Paul Newman, Patricia Neal … Hud, 1963 …

Eugene, Western Style

September 18, 2014 — The majority of Eugene Pallette’s roles were city-suited gents … even white tie … The Lady Eve, 1941, with Barbara Stanwyck …

Then there were the rougher, western roles … just right for the Eugene who got away to the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon …

Fighting Caravans, 1931 … press photo … (starring a young man named Gary Cooper)

Left – Gun Smoke, 1931, Louise Fazenda   …   Right – Dude Ranch, 1932, Stuart Erwin …

Wild Girl, 1932 … Left – Joan Bennett … Right – Ralph Bellamy, Sequoia National Park

Ride, Kelly, Ride, 1941 … race horse trainer …

Leaning Towers

September 16, 2014 — Leo Gordon and James Garner between takes … Maverick tv series … Leo appeared several times as Big Mike McComb, 1957-1959 …

Saturday, July 26, 9:30 am — Two days after cable tv came back into my life (for TCM, of course!) … there was Leo in the 3rd episode of Maverick, “According to Hoyle,” October 6, 1957 … Encore Westerns’ full day in remembrance of James Garner …  Took a few pics with my little red Canon to capture the moment …

Leo and stalwart 1930s-1940s character actress,  Esther Dale (1885-1961) …

Pays to read the credits! … Budd Boetticher directed the first three episodes, including this one! … Budd Boetticher … director of my favorite Randolph Scott Western, The Tall T … which premiered earlier that year, April 2, 1957 …

• See previous post, Leo Gordon, 1922-2000 – July 5, 2014

Scene Stealer

September 2, 2014 — 1880’s … Randolph Scott rides into town … hiding in a back street … a 1950s car!

The Tall T, 1957 … my favorite Budd Boetticher, Randolph Scott western …