Last night we saw Ann Savage again, in another Western,"Saddles and Sagebrush"(1943). Russell Hayden stars as "Lucky Randall", the new gunslinger in town. Local land baron "Krag Savin" (William Wright), the town crook, sees Lucky in a fight and tries to hire him as a henchman. But Lucky is a White Hat, not a Black Hat like most quick-draw specialists in the movies. He witnesses Savin shoot an old man in cold blood and wants nothing to do with him. The old man is "Lafe Parker", owner of the Parker ranch. He's come to town to confront Savin for stealing all the cattle grazing land. Lucky Randall sides with Parker and his daughter Ann (Ann Savage). This puts him at odds with Savin, who sends his thugs out to kill Lucky. Meanwhile, Lucky sends a telegram to the county assessor's office, requesting documentation of ownership of all the land Savin has stolen. Savin hears about this, and knows that the documents will prove he's a thief. All the land he holds was taken by force, which was often the way in the Old West.
Savin sends his men out to stop the Wells Fargo stage that is carrying the land ownership documents. They kill the driver and steal the mailbag, but Lucky hears about it and calls on his ranch hand friends, who happen to be Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. They arrive to help Lucky stop Savin, and on the way they sing a couple of swingin' tunes. Wills was known as the King of Western Swing, and I believe I wrote about him and his band before, likely a couple of years ago when we were watching a lot of George O'Brien movies. I'll just state it again, even if you don't like country music (which I am not a fan of), I guarantee you'll like Western Swing, especially as it's performed by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. Their songs have melody and harmony to spare, and could even be called, in my opinion, precursors to the music of Van Halen and the Beach Boys. Yeah, that may be stretching it, but give a listen and you'll agree. In pop, which both VH and the Beach Boys were, melody and harmony are everything (not riffs or shredding), and three or four part vocal harmonies are the icing on the cake. Bob Wills and his band make the harmonies sound effortless, which led to the Four Freshman, which led to the Beach Boys, which led to Van Halen. Point made. (yeah, I know it's still a stretch)
Great comic relief is supplied by Lucky's sidekick "Cannonball" (Dub Taylor), and the whole thing looks great. There's a fantastic Western set at the Columbia Studios lot, and all the other outdoor locations were filmed in Santa Clarita. "Saddles and Sagebrush" has the production values of a major Western, though at 52 minutes, it barely qualifies as a feature film by our standards (I think we said 49 minutes is the cut-off). Ann Savage is all-the-way sweet and innocent here, in Doting Daughter mode, and I think we like her best like this, even though she made her mark playing Evil Incarnate. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Saddles and Sagebrush". It's a Saturday Afternoon Matinee Western of the very best kind. It's highly recommended (a must-see for Ann Savage fans), and the picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night we found a sci-fi called "The Flight That Disappeared"(1961), which was billed in the IMDB synopsis as an alien abduction flick. That turned out to be inaccurate, but it was still doggone good despite having the production values of a TV show. "Tom Endicott" (Craig Hill) and "Marcia Paxton" (Paula Raymond) are seated together on the plane, one of the last propeller airliners (a DC-8) still flying. In the air, they make small talk, as do the other passengers. There's a physicist on board, "Dr. Carl Morris" (Dayton Lummis), the inventor of a weapon called the Beta Bomb. He's scheduled for a conference in Washington DC, to discuss it's potential use. Morris says it must never be used, except for defense, but the elderly gentleman seated across the aisle implores him to drop it on the Soviet Union. This is one of those Cold War/Red Scare paranoia plots. Endicott and Paxton come clean with one another and admit their real identities. He's a rocket scientist, shes a mathematician. It turns out they're working on the same project as Dr. Morris, but it's all compartmentalized. The three of them wonder if they're headed for the same conference, but it's top secret so they wont know til they get there.
But then, something happens in the cockpit. As the plane is climbing above a storm, the pilot finds he can't level off. The climb continues out of his control. Soon they're at 30,000 feet, then 40,000, unheard of for a prop plane. The pilots and the passengers need oxygen. They top out at over 50,000 feet, and everyone aboard passes out.......except for the three scientists who are involved with the Beta Bomb.
Finally, the airplane comes to land in the clouds, and the Shakespearian voice of "The Examiner" (Greg Morton) is heard. He's kind of like a spiritual Central Scrutinizer, who tries the three in a Neutral Zone court of law (it exists Beyond Time), for crimes against humanity. "We who have not yet been born are jeopardized by the weapon you have invented". The scientists are sentenced to remain in limbo for All Eternity by the workshirt-wearing Examiner. But then Tom Endicott spies the airplane, resting on a rocky plain within the clouds. The trio make their escape, but then........there's a plot twist that caused me to upgrade my verdict from Two Solid Thumbs Up to Two Bigs. You'll see why. Even though, as many reviewers have noted, it's similar to an episode of "The Twilight Zone", I still recommend "The Flight That Disappeared" for the depth of it's script and that plot twist at the end. The picture is razor sharp. ////
Well, as Kurt Warner once said, "how about them Rams?" I'm glad I didn't watch the game because it would've given me a heart attack. I've detailed my problems with watching the big games of beloved sports teams and have likened my situation to that of Jerry West, who used to leave The Forum and drive around during close Laker playoff games. But I'm glad we made it to the Super Bowl, which I always watch regardless of the health risks, haha. This one promises to be a classic, with Joe "Cool" Burrow leading the opposition. The Bengals are in their first Super Bowl in 32 years.
It'll be a great game, and this time I can't lose no matter which team wins. My parents were from Cincinnati, and I've always had a soft spot for their teams (I'm a huge Reds fan), but of course the Rams are my favorite sports team, period. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this one. That's all I know for now.
I send you Tons of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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