In Harm's Way -- May 27, 2024

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Happy Memorial Day, everyone. I thought this was a good day to write about Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way, which was the last big World War Two epic shot in black and white. It starred John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal and a host of others. Critics didn't like the movie and Kirk Douglas thought the special effects in the final battle were amateurish, but I enjoyed. It starts in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor and shows how the US Navy adjusted to war. I assume that Saul Bass designed the poster.

Hoot Gibson -- The Greatest of All Outdoor Stars -- December 11, 2023

Motion Picture News, 08-December-1923

"Three Knockouts in a Row!" Cowboy star Hoot Gibson was on a hot streak. 

Motion Picture News, 22-December-1923

Looking for material for Hoot Gibson, Universal bought an original story by Johnston McCulley, who wrote The Mark of Zorro. The movie may have been Ride for Your Life.

Motion Picture News, 22-December-1923

Fred Thomson (no relation) had a diverse career. While attending the Princeton Theological Seminary, he earned the Amateur Athletic Union's All-Around Champion trophy in 1910, 1911 and 1913. After being ordained as a Presbyterian minister, he joined the Army and served as a chaplain during World War One. He went into the movie business after he married director and screenwriter Frances Marion. In time, he became a major western star. Sadly, he died of Tetanus in 1928.

I was surprised to see the name Monogram. This Monogram apparently had no relation to the famous B-movie studio of the 1930s.

Motion Picture News, 15-December-1923

Jack Hoxie was a real cowboy and rodeo performer who became a big star in the early 1920s. The Red Warning was directed by Bob Bradbury. 

Motion Picture News, 29-December-1923

Yakima Canutt (not "Yakime") was a rodeo champion. The Riddle Rider was a Universal serial that starred William Desmond and Eileen Sedgwick. He had a long career as a stuntman and a stunt director. Canutt and his buddy John Wayne are often credited with developing the art of stunt fist fighting. 

Lady From Louisiana -- March 1, 2022

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Happy Mardi Gras, everyone. Lady From Louisiana, a 1941 Republic movie, starred John Wayne and Ona Munson. Set in New Orleans in the 1890s, the movie included elaborate Mardi Gras scenes. Bernard Vorhaus directed.

Ed Asner, RIP -- August 30, 2021

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Actor and activist Ed Asner has died. I remember when I first saw the Mary Tyler Moore show that he played a stereotypical gruff, angry man. Over time, the character grew and showed he had a heart, while still being gruff. I was amazed when the Lou Grant show spun off as a drama. I could not think of another example where a situation comedy had spun off a drama. He was a good enough actor to make the transition. 

 The whole family loved Up. 

Asner served in the Army during the Korean War. He was always interested in politics, serving twice as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. He later fought the merger with AFTRA. He spoke of clashing with John Wayne during the production of Howard Hawks' El Dorado.

Maureen O'Hara 100 -- August 17, 2020

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Beautiful colleen Maureen O'Hara was born 100 years ago today, on 17-August-1920.  She was in a lot of good movies, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame and all sorts of John Ford movies.  My father watched The Quiet Man every time it was on television. She lived to be 95, passing on in 2015. 

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John Ford 125 -- February 1, 2019

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Director John Ford was born 125 years ago today, on 01-February-1894.  He came to Hollywood in 1914 to work with his brother, who was an actor, a writer and a director.

John Ford became a director and worked from 1917 in the silent era to 1966 in the era of sound and television.  During World War II, he made documentaries for the Navy and ran the photographic section of the Office of Strategic Services.

Moving Picture World, 11-August-1917

John Ford directed many movies with his friend Harry Carey.  

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John Ford gave Harry's son, Harry, Jr, his start as an actor.

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Ford worked at Fox and then 20th Century-Fox for many years.  He directed films like Judge Priest with Will Rogers.

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Ford was born in America to Irish immigrants.  Ireland and Irish culture frequently made its way into his movies.  The Plough and the Stars was based on a play by Sean O'Casey, which was set during the 1916 Easter Rising.

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John Ford adapted John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath into a 1940 movie.  Ford won an Academy Award as Best Director and Jane Darwell won as Best Supporting Actress.

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John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara were friends of John Ford.  He directed many movies with them separate and together.  The most famous, which my father watched every time it was on television, was The Quiet Man, which was shot on location in Ireland.

Flame of the Barbary Coast -- April 18, 2018

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Today is the 112th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

John Wayne played Duke, a cowboy who came to San Francisco, visited the Barbary Coast, and fell in love with Flaxen, played by Ann Dvorak and got fleeced by gambler Tito Morelli, played by Joseph Schildkraut.  Seeking revenge, Duke went home and learned how to gamble and how to spot cheaters from his friend Wolf, played by William Frawley.  Duke returned to the Barbary Coast and won a pile of money, which he used to open a new joint on the Coast.  Duke tried to get Flaxen and Tito fought him until the earthquake and fire destroyed both of their gambling houses.   The special effects were not very impressive, which is unusual for a Republic movie.

Graumans Chinese -- John Wayne -- January 5, 2018

In July, 2012 we paid a return visit to Hollywood and Grauman's Chinese Theater.  Sid Grauman was a San Francisco showman who came to Los Angeles and built three major houses, the Million Dollar, the Egyptian, and the Chinese. The theater has hosted many film premieres, but is most famous for the hand and footprints (and hoofprints and nose prints and other types of prints) in the forecourt.

John Wayne left his hand and cowboy boot prints in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese on 25-January-1950. Wayne had a long career and led film stars in yearly box office returns for many years.  I enjoy movies from every period of his career, from The Big Trail to the Mascot serials to the Lone Star westerns to the Three Mesquiteers to Stagecoach to the John Ford cavalry films to the war films right up to The Shootist. 

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Glen Campbell, RIP -- August 10, 2017

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Glen Campbell died.  I remember his television show when I was a kid.  My dad liked country and western, and Glen Campbell often turned up on the radio.  I have several of his songs that get stuck in my head.  I later learned that he had been a member of the Wrecking Crew, which backed nearly everything recorded in Southern California. 

Some years ago, he announced that he had Alzheimer's disease and would do a final tour.  This helped people to be more aware of the disease.

He was good in True Grit with John Wayne.

In Harm's Way -- December 7, 2015

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74 years ago a sneak attack by forces of the Japanese Empire sank much of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in the territory of Hawaii. The Japanese Empire came to regret doing this.
Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way was the last big World War Two epic shot in black and white.  It starred John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal and a host of others.  Critics didn't like the movie and Kirk Douglas thought the special effects in the final battle were amateurish, but I enjoyed.  It starts in Hawaii before Pearl Harbor and shows how the US Navy adjusted to war.  I assume that Saul Bass designed the poster.