Last night was without a doubt one of the all-timers as far as 60 minute Westerns are concerned. As promised, we gave Bob Steele another shot and he and the filmmakers delivered big time in "Young Blood"(1932). Lookin' like a kid again, Bob's even called The Kid in this movie. He's a stage robber, the leader of a gang of four, and as the movie opens, he's divvying up the loot from the gang's latest heist. He reprimands the other three bandits over a bag of jewelry. "You boys know I don't cotton to stealing from ladies!" He plans to give it back, and the honchos aren't pleased. They're older, bigger and grizzlier than The Kid, but he's the fastest gun as usual, so there's nothing they can do about it. Meanwhile, down on Main Street in town, a dozen of the local citizens are waiting in anticipation for the stage. They're standing in front of the opera house because the beautiful and exotic "Countess Lola Montaine" (Naomi Judge) is due at any minute. She's a European diva who's set for a run of shows (though we never get to see her perform), but when she arrives, the crowd is disappointed after she confronts the Sheriff. "I am disgusted to be in America! Eet eez nothing but robbers and thieves!" She's complaining about being robbed of her jewels, which is what we saw The Kid reproaching his men for at the beginning. The Countess berates the Sheriff for doing nothing about it, and......is it who I think it is?...could it be?.......oh my goodness it is, and can you even believe it? The Sheriff is Charles King!
Let that sink in for a minute before we continue. (the sheriff is charles king......)
I have to take an aside to say that, at this point, having seen Charles King in around 35 movies (less than a tenth of his output), I have to conclude that he's the greatest movie star of all-time, as far as representation of Hollywood is concerned. Here's what it comes down to: name me a movie that would not benefit from the presence of Charles King. I mean any movie. "2001?" Yes, it's incredible as-is. But put Charles King in there, and it would be even greater, no question. "The Exorcist?" "Andrei Rublev?" Same deal. Any movie with Charles King is better than any movie without him. So that settles that, case closed.
I mean, he's the freaking Sheriff here. And, he's thinner than you've ever seen him, clean shaven (except for a trim moustache). He's even wearing clean clothes! And he, of all people, gets to romance the Countess, who has a lot more than opera on her mind. But then, when she goes into the Pony Express office to mail a letter, she takes one look at sweet "Gail Winters" (Helen Foster) behind the counter, and decides she likes Gail even more than Charles King. She asks Gail to come over to the hotel for a visit (if you get my meaning), and this is some serious pre-Code innuendo that is barely couched. You're watching, going "holy smokes! This movie was made 90 years ago"! Gail is excited to get an invitation from the Countess, but then the manager of the Pony Express, who's been overhearing the conversation with his eyes about to pop from his head, comes over and says, "I wouldn't visit her if I were you. You know how the town ladies gossip." And there is a town lady who's straight out of Blazing Saddles! I swear, Mel Brooks must've seen this movie.
Well anyhow, The Kid enters the office right as Gail is talking about "visiting" the Countess. He doesn't like it, because he's had his eye on Gail too, and now he has female competition. He repeats what the manager told her, that the town ladies will gossip. "You don't want that kind of reputation," he says. And Gail stands up to him! This is one of the most frank pre-Code scenes we've ever seen. She tells The Kid, "who are you to decide who I should see?" Finally, he has to use another tack, by convincing Gail that its not the same-sex relationship that's the problem, but that the Countess is a user. "She'll hang you out to dry and move on." Wow! All that and Charles King, too.
By now, King, as the Sheriff, is getting a lot of grief from both the townsfolk and the other gang members (of which he is one), each of whom want him to do something about the other side. But of course, because he's Charles King, he's only looking out for himself. He tries a half-measure, to get the gang and the citizens off his back, by jailing The Kid when he demands the Countess's jewels from King at gunpoint.
King finally tries to force himself on the Countess after he finds out she's been romancing The Kid. To defend herself, she picks up a letter opener and.....I can't tell you what happens.
But she has a sweet little monkey as a sidekick, who provides a plot twist that will seal King's fate. Bob Steele learns the hard way that crime doesn't pay, but he's all smiles all the way through, and lookin' as junior high school as ever.
Besides being racy, this is the ultimate Charles King movie so far, and if he doesn't get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, then we are going to personally go down there and install one ourselves.
"Young Blood" takes pre-Code boldness to a level not before seen, and has Bob Steele playing a bad guy who wants to be a good guy and Charles King as a bad guy pretending to be a good guy. There are so many plot twists that I can't even remember them all. There's Blazing Saddles moments throughout, and old biddies at the opera house. This movie is a classic and it gets our highest rating of Two Gigantic Thumbs Up. Yes indeed, it's no joke. It's still a 60 minute Western so don't go looking for art, but with the ingredients already mentioned, you'd be a fool to miss out. "Young Blood" is a must-see, and the picture is very good. ////
The previous night, we watched Johnny Mack Brown in a historical Western entitled "Deep in the Heart of Texas"(1942), the story of the Lone Star State's effort to rejoin the Union after the Civil War. The Federal Gubment has agreed to let Texas rejoin if the wealthiest landowners, who've been holding out for an independent Republic, will sign oaths of alligience to the U.S. Many of the smaller ranchers are in favor of this; their cause is championed by a newspaperman who editorializes against "Colonel Malloy" (William Farnum), the self-appointed "governor" of the land barons. Malloy wants the editor hanged, but a local cowboy named "Jim Mallory" (JMB) comes to his rescue, with his sidekick "Happy" (Fuzzy Knight). Malloy's henchmen arrest Jim and Happy, and say "you'll have to face sentencing by the Governor." Jim says "go ahead and take us", and when they arrive at Malloy's mansion on the backlot of Universal Studios, he says "hi, Dad". Malloy is Jim Mallory's father.
Jim tries to tell his Dad that the right thing is to get Texas back in the union, but Malloy says no. "I've built this Republic with my own two hands. We don't want the federal government telling us what we can do." But Jim has seen the negative side of his father's actions. The ranchers union is suppressed and heavily taxed. Their only voice is the newspaper editor, but now Malloy wants him dead. Malloy is grateful to have his son back in his life (he thought he was killed in the Civil War), and he appoints Jim as head of "National Affairs", sort of a Second-In-Command. The appointment angers "Sam Franklin" (Roy Brent), the honcho who built up the Republic with him. Franklin threatens to force Malloy out. To appease him, Malloy has his henchmen destroy the editor's printing press. Now Jim is definitely sided against his Dad, but also trying to free him from the influence of Franklin and the landholders.
Ample time is spent with Fuzzy Knight, and a character named "Sgt. Idaho" (the great Harry Woods in a comic role), who works for Malloy as an enforcer and wears an F-Troop uniform. Idaho is big and dumb, and he loves to hear love songs. Once he finds out Fuzzy can sing, he won't stop badgering him to do so. He even pays off Fuzzy's bar debt of fifty clams, so that Fuzzy will have to sing for him till doomsday. Tex Ritter has a supporting role as the agent who fights for the ranchers. He gets a lot of screentime, and opposes Johnny Mack at first, when Johnny is supporting his Dad. But eventually, they join forces to stop Sam Franklin, who is trying to dethrone Mr. Malloy and keep Texas from re-joining the union. It's a patriotic film at a time the country needed it most, in 1942, and at the end, when Malloy is in crisis, he asks Johnny Mack to recite with him the Pledge of Allegiance. Tim Holt's sister Jennifer has a role as the daughter of the newspaper editor, and you also get a bit part from Budd Buster. Tex Ritter sings the title song, with help from The Jimmy Wakely Trio. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Deep in the Heart of Texas". As usual, Johnny Mack Brown gives you a well-developed story. This is one of the later Westerns he made for Universal, so production values are better than usual, and the picture is very good. Highly recommended! Watch both movies for a great double-bill. ////
That's all I know for tonight. I'm listening to Caravan's "If I Could Do It Again", and I'm super excited that the new King's X will finally see the light of day on September 2nd, three and a half years after it was recorded, and 14 years since their last album. It came out when George W. Bush was President! I hope your week is going well, and I send you Tons of Love, as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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