Last night's Western was "The Man from Guntown"(1935), one of the best Tim McCoy films we've seen. As it opens, lawyer "Eric Gillis" (Robert McKenzie) is trying to persuade "Ruth McArthur" (Billie Seward) to sell her Dad's ranch. Dad has recently died, and there's no way to save it from going bust, Gillis says, because the dam Dad began building will never be completed now. His contract with the water company has been voided, the construction workers are owed money; better to sell out for pennies on the dollar to town big shot "Henry DeLong" (Wheeler Oakman), who's standing by with a deed for Ruth to sign. He's even willing to give her a $2500 cash bonus. "It's either this or lose the ranch and get nothing", Gillis tells her. Ruth thinks about it but then says, "My brother is coming to visit, to take care of Dad's affairs. I'd like to wait and see what he has to say." Gillis says, "Okay, but I wouldn't wait too long. Henry here is offering the best deal you're likely to get."
Of course, Gillis and DeLong are in cahoots to steal the ranch out from under Ruth McArthur. When they leave, DeLong goes back to his saloon and tells his top henchman "Slater" (Jack Rockwell) to ride out to the gulch and wait for Ruth's brother to pass by. "But don't let him arrive, if you know what I mean." They don't want the brother interfering when they figure Ruth can be easily buffaloed.
Well, by this time, her brother "Alan" (Rex Lease) is indeed on his way to visit. But all the way through Placerita Canyon, he's been followed and shot at - twice! - by the slit-eyed Slater. Somehow he's still alive, and lucky for him, when Slater returns for a third try the next day, good old Tim McCoy just happens to be riding through the canyon. Since he's always the fastest gun, he shoots Slater's pistol from out of his hand, when Slater tries to kill Alan McArthur. However, Slater recovers and fires another shot. This time Alan is struck and he dies. Slater rides away, figuring he got the job done. He killed Ruth McArthur's brother, just as he was sent out to do. At the shooting site, the Sheriff rides up and arrests Tim McCoy for Alan's murder. Tim tries to tell him about the hitman Slater, but he can't present any evidence. "All I know is that you're the one standing here with the body," the Sheriff tells him. "Sorry but I've gotta take you in." By the time they get to the jail though, Tim convinces the Sheriff to give him a chance. "Set me free for two weeks, and if I can't find the real killer, I'll come back and surrender for a crime I didn't commit." The Sheriff takes Tim at his word, and now he's off in search of Slater, and whoever he might be working for.
The first thing Tim does is to ride out to Guntown, to tell Ruth McArthur that her brother is dead, and that he is the man who was with him when he was killed. He also plans to tell her that he knows who the killer is, but when he knocks on her door, the screenwriter switches us to the old "can't bring himself to tell her" mode. Ruth answers when Tim knocks, immediately thinks he's her brother - who of course she hasn't seen since she was a tyke (and thus has no idea what he looks like) - and Tim, overwhelmed by her happiness at seeing who she thinks is her "brother", can't bring himself to tell her that he isn't him. And so, in the Old Switcheroo he assumes the role of "brother" in an instant. "Why, uh......yes. I am your brother Alan. I am so glad to be back home. Now tell me about our Dad." In this way he can learn the family history.
Well, at any rate, Ruth's "Aunt Sarah" (Eva McKenzie) finds out that Tim's faking it, but instead of getting angry, she encourages him to continue the charade . "You need to help her save this ranch. Then you can tell her the truth." Aunt Sarah's a toughie. She stands up to the dam workers who're demanding their pay, some of whom are secretly working for the crook DeLong. The whole Dam Thing (ha!) hinges on who gets the water company contract.
Back at his saloon, DeLong is now teed-off at Slater the jut-jawed henchman: "Can't you do anything right? I sent you out to kill Ruth McArthur's brother! Now he's here in town. If he convinces her not to sell that ranch, it's coming out of your hide." Slater tries to tell DeLong that he did in fact kill Alan. "That guy at her house? I don't know who he is, but he isn't her brother. I'm tellin' ya I shot him back at the gulch, like ya told me. Last I saw, the Sheriff was blaming it on that guy, the one who's now claiming to be her brother. But he ain't! I'm telling you the gol-durn truth!" DeLong gives Slater one last chance to get the job done, but by this time, with Ruth's help, Tim has figured out that Gillis the lawyer is behind the ranch scam. It's only a matter of time till he gets to DeLong.
Many times, as I've noted, in the course of watching a 60 minute Western, you can miss a plot point if you aren't paying extremely close attention, because unlike in longer films and A-list pictures with well-rounded scripts, where major points are repeated or driven home in various ways, the 60 minute Western screenwriter has sometimes only one sentence of dialogue, spoken quickly by a single character, to expose what has happened in the plot. So, if your attention wanders for even ten or twenty seconds in a given film, you may end up wondering why a henchman has suddenly turned traitor, for instance, or why the Sheriff has a new suspect in the gold robberies. You have to pay very close attention in 60 minute Westerns, and even then, there are sometimes plots that sound like they were written "on the spot" (which I've read was sometimes the case). All of this is to say that, with "The Man from Guntown", the opposite is true. The script has the A-list quality of plot-points being repeated and developed, so you're never in danger of falling out of the loop. This is a rare thing in a 60 minuter, which is why I point it out. It allows you to relax a little as you enjoy the film, and it's why the movie has a 6.7 rating over at IMDB. Having said all of this, "The Man from Guntown" still gets the standard Two Big Thumbs Up, instead of Two Huge or Two Gigantic because those ratings represent a higher cinematic ideal, but it also earns a very high recommendation because it's as good as 60 Minute Westerns get. And it's got Colonel Tim McCoy (who should've been bigger than John Wayne), and the beautiful Billie Seward, a new Western Sweetheart. See it and you won't go wrong. ////
The previous night, we watched Ken Maynard in "Whirlwind Horseman"(1938), which begins with Ken and his sidekick "Happy" (Bill Griffith) riding through the Garden of the Gods, when they hear shots. A gang of bandits are chasing a rancher and his foreman who is driving their wagon. The foreman is killed, but Ken and Happy rescue the rancher, whose name is "Jim Radford" (Joseph Girard). Radford then hires the pair to protect him and his sweet daughter "Peggy" (Joan Barclay) against future attacks, but a monkey wrench is thrown into the plan when the robber gang kidnaps Happy. Ken can't locate him, and at first suspects Radford of double crossing him, and staging the killing of his foreman. It turns out that there's a gold mine beneath his property, but is he running the gang (headed up by Glenn Strange) in an attempt to throw off prospectors or any corporate entities (railroads, etc) who might try to claim the land?
That's what Ken thinks, but then he meets "Cherokee" (Budd Buster, hooray!), an old prospector from the area. Cherokee tries to tell Ken that it isn't gold beneath the Radford Ranch, but oil. "Y'know....black gold." Ken doesn't know about the Glenn Strange gang, that they're organized, he only knows them as a bunch of hoodlums who hang out in town. But they know about the oil (pronounced aerl), and are working in secret for Ritter, the town big shot. Peggy, Jim Radford's daughter, has to convince Ken that her Dad isn't behind the oil scheme, but he won't believe it until he can find his old pal Happy. "Whirlwind Horseman" is another solid entry in the Ken Maynard canon, but for two Maynards in a row now, his horse Tarzan isn't given anything to do. Because we had come to expect (and appreciate!) all the tricks he can do, the absence of same was a little disappointing. Still Two Big Thumbs Up, however, because - two names: Ken Maynard and Joan Barclay. That's all you need to know, even without a strong role for Tarzan. "Whirlwind Horseman" is recommended and the picture is very good. ////
And that's all I know. The Elvis book has me watching a lot of early rock videos. Elvis live in the '50s was incredible. Besides the music, watch his moves. He was moonwalking before Michael, and doing the splits before James Brown. Elvis invented the whole darn shebang (though of course I still say Glenn Miller was the precursor to rock n' roll). But then watch Bill Haley on the Ed Simian Show, a year earlier than Elvis. He doesn't have the image, but "Rock Around the Clock" is the more propulsive song. It also has the first shred guitar solo, by Fran Beecher, a precursor to Ritchie Blackmore. Then there's Gene Vincent, who's got the Elvis voice and moves, but he's doing the Black Leather Thing before anyone, and in that way he influenced The Beatles. Ritchie backed Gene Vincent on his 1963 tour. Then there's Buddy Holly, who invented the guitar-based rock band. Buddy wrote his own songs before anyone, every song had a hook, and he invented the Texas rock n roll sound, which was appropriated by the early Beatles. Listen to the twang in a lot of their pre-Rabbi Saul songs. Then there's Eddie Cochran, who invented the cool, nonchalant Guitar Slinger role. He was ten years ahead of his time with hard rock when he died. All of these guys were The Fathers of Rock & Roll, and of course Little Richard, Chuck Berry and The Killer, Jerry Lee Lewis, who Ritchie also backed. I need to do some research on Bill Haley, but from what I've read, he was - at first - a country musician, which might explain why he never had any rock hits after the big one. And that's my Youtube music list for tonight. And Charles Ives' "Concord Sonata".
I hope you have a nice weekend, and I send you Tons of Love as always!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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