Last night, in "Apache Chief"(1949), "Chief Big Crow" (Trevor Bardette) has a treaty with the US Army to keep the peace, but his nephew "Black Wolf" (Russell Hayden) is a renegade who hates the white man. When Black Wolf stages an attack on local settlers, his father is killed, so he lies about it to Big Crow and says the settlers attacked first. Black Wolf's henchmen back up his story, but when "Lt. Brown" (Tom Neal) is sent to investigate, he and "Sgt. Nevada" (Fuzzy Knight) find a victim who is still alive, and she tells them before dying that a group of Indians attacked without provocation. Chief Big Crow believes her testimony, because he and "Colonel Martin" (Roy Gordon) of the Cavalry have built up trust though their peace treaty. Big Crow teals his medicine man "Mohaska" (Francis McDonald) : "Colonel Martin knows I never lie." He forces Black Wolf to confess to the attack, but then pleads for his life, and Col. Martin allows Black Wolf to be sentenced by the Apaches. Feeling sorry for him because his father was killed, Big Crow sentences Black Wolf to lashings, then five days of prayer without food on Sacred Mountain.
But while he's up there, his cousin "Young Eagle" (Alan Curtis), Big Crow's son, brings him a knife to hunt for food. "I support you, cousin", Young Eagle tells him, but Black Wolf uses the knife to rob and kill more settlers. He steals a gold watch from a white lady and gives it to "Watona" (Carol Thurston), an Apache girl he fancies, telling her not to show it to anyone, but she is proud of it and wears it around her neck. When Lt. Brown and Sgt. Nevada come upon the latest murdered family, then later find Watona wearing the watch, they force her to tell where she got it. This time, Chief Big Crow promises Col. Martin he will personally turn Black Wolf in, but Black Wolf has other Apaches on his side, and he challenges the leadership of Chief Big Crow. Young Eagle feels guilty for having assisted him and tells his father Big Crow that he will ride to Black Wolf's hideout and trick him into surrendering. But Black Wolf doesn't trust any of the Apaches who agreed with the peace treaty. He kills Chief Big Crow, then lies in wait for Young Eagle.
This one is like a chess game between the wiley Black Wolf and Young Eagle, the proud son who almost falls under his revenge spell. We've seen Russell Hayden as a gunman in a lot of Westerns; earlier in his career he was a smiling Skeeny Keedo. By 1949, he'd turned chunky, but he's tall and very athletic, so he comes across as powerful and menacing as the heartless warrior Black Wolf. Alan Curtis is also good as Young Eagle, though he usually played suave guys in Noirs (and was also Peter Uberroth's uncle).
"Apache Chief" is exceptionally well shot and directed. It was released by Lippert Pictures, an independent outfit one rung above Poverty Row that turned out some good stuff. We've seen several Lippert films, including "Spaceways", "Loan Shark", "Roaring City" and "Western Pacific Agent" (and others). In this movie, Tom Neal and Fuzzy Knight, both big at earlier times in their careers, are used mostly to fill space and deliver plot points. The real battle is Apache vs. Apache, peacemaker versus renegade, and it's a tight one. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Apache Chief", filmed at Corriganville and Walker Ranch. It's highly recommended and the picture is razor sharp. ////
The previous night, we watched "Private Buckaroo"(1942), a musical comedy doubling as a propaganda film for the war effort. It's presented as a revue or a pastiche of vignettes involving a variety of characters as wide in range as Shemp Howard and Elizabeth Holt, one of our favorite Western Sweethearts. How it came to my attention is a little bit of a story because of The Andrews Sisters, who are top billed. This year I've been writing a book (two books in fact, the one in question is a novel), and for a certain chapter I needed some music from the late 1930s, so The Andrews Sisters came to mind. In my research, I discovered that their lead singer Patty lived in Northridge from 1978 to 2013, when she passed away at the age of 94. I thought, "wow!", because The Andrews Sisters are iconic in American music, with hits like "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree", "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and many others. My Mom used to talk about them, and I don't know if they were ever on her radio show (she had Rosemary Clooney on a couple times), but they had hits all throughout the late 30's to the end of the war, and basically their music is synonymous with WW2. The Andrews Sisters are the forerunner of the modern girl group, and so when I found out how close Patty Andrews lived for all those years, I had to drive by her home, which is just a mile and a half from me. Then tonight, I wanted to see one of their movies, so I found "Private Buckaroo."
They do several numbers in it and are just fantastic, not just as singers but as all-around performers. If Patty Andrews came out today, she'd be bigger than Gaga, and the thing is, she already was. Lady G would be the first to agree, and is probably a huge fan herself. The plot, such as it is, mixes real-life personalities with fictional characters and involves a big band singer, "Lon Prentice" (played by crooner Dick Foran), who wants to join the Army but keeps getting turned down for having flat feet. When his bandleader Harry James (playing himself) gets accepted, Prentice tries again and gets in, but asks for special treatment cause he thinks he's a big shot. His drill sergeant is Shemp Howard, who cuts him down to size. There are running jokes, such as when Harry James - at the time considered the world's greatest trumpeter - turns out to be inept with a bugle. And Shemp's girfriend is a tall beanpole of a woman who has a hilarious dinner scene with him. There's a little girl nicknamed The Chief, who hangs around the base, with business schemes up her sleeve. She's the much younger sister of the lovely Elizabeth Holt, who Lon Prentice has his eye on. There are dance sequences featuring an incredible troupe called The Jivin' Jacks and Jills. I had to look them up when the movie was over because they are outstanding, and make the viewing worthwhile all by themselves. It's loosely drawn and has the feel of "let's put on a show", but man, those Andrews Sisters are every bit as great as their reputation, and especially Patty, who was a natural born star. We'll be looking for more from the Sisters, and there's also a song or two by a gal named Helen Forrest, who (according to Wiki) was the #1 big band singer in 1941-42. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Private Buckaroo", but with a very high recommendation for all the above mentioned reasons. The picture is razor sharp. ////
As for my books, I may have mentioned them much earlier in the year but I haven't made regular updates, because to me it's a "put-up-or-shut-up" thing. I know it sounds pretentious to say that you're writing a novel, especially when you aren't a professional writer. Yada-yada, everyone's got a novel coming out, that's why I haven't said much about it. Not that I'm without writing ex-schperience, because I did write the unpublished "What Happened in Northridge", which I thought I did a good job on and which I am still hoping to get published. But these two books, while also involving personal subjects, are coming from a totally different place, both literally and figuratively, and I wanted to get 'em done (and make sure they're halfway decent) before giving out advance publicity. The one thing I was not going to do this time was write either one of them "in public" like I did with "What Happened" on Myspace. I'm almost done with a first draft of both; second and final drafts with take until, I estimate, April of next year. Then I will look at options like self-publishing on Amazon, but it's too early for that cause I know nothing about publishing. What I do know is that I love to write and want to keep doing it, especially after this current experience. When I'm done, I'll have three books to my name and I plan to keep going. I just wanna get 'em done, get 'em out there and get 'em read. And that's all I have to say about that. I'll give another update when the second drafts are almost finished.
That's all I know for tonight. My blogging music is more Amon Duul (I'm hooked! Help me please!), late night I'm still working on "Lohengrin" by Wagner, and I send you Tons of Love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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