B-Western lovers are in for a treat with this release of two 1929 silent films starring Tom Tyler, a reigning cowboy movie star during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Continue reading
Tag Archives: Westerns
Tumbleweeds (1925)
For many film lovers, silent era Westerns remain an untapped commodity. And unless you are a devote fan of this genre, the 1925 epic “Tumbleweeds” might be the greatest film that you never saw. An audacious, sprawling, emotional and exhilarating recreation of the 1893 land rush in the Oklahoma Territory’s Cherokee Strip, “Tumbleweeds” is a vibrant combination of history, melodrama, comedy, adventure and the wonderfully distinctive art form of silent movies that vanished once the microphone entered the cinematic equation.
Continue reading
Too Harsh on Horner: A Reappraisal of the Films of Robert J. Horner
Throughout history, the brandishing of “worst film director of all time” has been bandied about so often that it has lost value. One of the more notorious examples is Edward D. Wood, Jr., the powerhouse schlockmeister behind such turgid affairs as Plan 9 from Outer Space and Bride of the Monster. Wood’s films are a tour de force of poor editing, direction, acting and special effects. However, Wood at least gave the impression that he genuinely wanted to produce a quality product.
From the other side of the tracks and a much different time was the little known, but nevertheless intriguing director of “B” western dramas, Robert J. Horner. Horner was a producer and director of cheap horse operas who operated on Hollywood’s “Poverty Row,” a group of independent producers and studios whose primary source of income was made from cheap westerns, horror pictures and mystery films from the silent era until the collapse of the studio system in the mid-1950’s.
Continue reading
The Bootleg Files: Look-Out Sister
BOOTLEG FILES 873: “Look-Out Sister” (1947 musical starring Louis Jordan).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: On public domain labels.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: A lapsed copyright.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Nope, it is doomed to public domain hell.
During the 1940s, singer/songwriter and bandleader Louis Jordan was among the most popular entertainers of the decade. Jordan’s invigorating mix of big band, boogie-woogie and jazz music coupled with his often-amusing lyrics and ebullient performing style resulted in rollicking fun.
Continue reading
On Depression and Westerns
Special guest Article by Leigh Evans Kreuz
They say you never forget your first love.
I’m thirty-eight now and I’ve forgotten a big chunk of my life up until this point. Sometimes, if I’m especially #blessed, the right stimuli and the right amount of THC knock a few things loose. Being born before the turn of the century, I was a kid who, like my parents before me, was raised largely by television. Our story begins during the little slice of my life in which I was often sat behind the arm of a floral patterned sofa, staring in rapt attention at the rabbit-eared television; relic from the time when sets were advertised as being (holy smokes, Batman!) IN COLOR. I happened to be born into a culty Assembly of God church run by a guy who wore Jim Jones sunglasses without a single wit of irony and utilized information control in the guise of “keeping the children safe”.
That meant we weren’t allowed to just watch whatever we wanted because the stuff on TV would send demons through the screen or something. (For further reading and cringing so hard your back cracks read “Turmoil in the Toybox” by Phil Phillips). The selection of “Jesus approved” material was pretty slim for the child of “God and country” 1980s Reaganites.
Western Wednesdays: Trailin’ Trouble (1937)
SYNOPSIS:
Friendly Fields [Ken Maynard] is casually riding along on his white palomino Tarzan when he witnesses a holdup by Blackie Burke [Ken Maynard]. Fields darts out to get a closer look but is stopped by Burke who promptly steals Fields’ hat and rides off.
Fields and his mother [Grace Woods] venture in to town where Fields returns the stolen valuables to the sheriff [Fred Burns] and the rest of the townsfolk ans vows to apprehend Burke. Ma Fields resents her son hauling off to fight the marauder and insists he return home. Being the good son that he is, Fields obliges.
Continue reading
Western Wednesdays: Bronco Billy’s Adventure (1911)
SYNOPSIS:
Lucy (Edna Fisher), the daughter of tavern owner Riley (Arthur Mackley) is seen flirting with her lover (Fred Church). Riley objects to the relationship, forbids the lover from ever seeing Lucy again and vows to kill him if he is ever seen on his property again. Moments later Broncho Billy (Broncho Billy Anderson) arrives at the tavern to take up lodging for the night. Riley and Billy share a drink and practice straight shooting together.
Continue reading