Do you mind a TV movie? Sometimes we run short on theatrical releases, especially after going through 1250 movies in 3 1/2 years. But you can't go wrong with Clint Walker, who starred in two legendary made-for-TV flicks, "Killdozer"and "Scream of the Wolf" (both from 1974), and last night, we found him in another good one called "Yuma"(1971), a Western from Aaron Spelling Productions in which Walker plays "US Marshal Dave Harmon", sent to bring law and order to that Arizona town. From the looks of things, the job won't be easy. Two of the King brothers, "Sam" (Bruce Glover) and "Rol" (Bing Russell), from the King Cattle family, have stolen a stage and are riding into town drunk. They crash the wagon just as Marshal Harmon arrives; his very first order of business is to arrest them. Well, Sam King feels entitled to behave any way he wants, and has a temper to match his attitude. He's used to having his way with previous lawmen. He's like Donald Trump Jr - since his daddy's a big shot a-hole, he figures he can be an a-hole, too, free of charge. And he's been getting away with it; stealing stagecoaches, shooting up the town. That is, until Marshal Harmon shows up. Sam doesn't wanna go to jail, so he draws on the Marshal and Harmon shoots him. Then he locks up brother Rol.
"Wait until Arch hears about this", Rol says. "He'll kill ya." "Arch King" (Morgan Woodward) is the eldest of the King brothers, and he's mighty macho with three dozen ranch hands to back him up. Even Clint Walker will be outnumbered if Arch decides to retaliate.
But there's no trouble at the moment. Rol King seems safely locked away for the night, and Harmon needs a place to stay, so he checks into the Yuma Hotel, recommended to him by Uncle Joe, who runs the general store. After checking in, he has his hands full with a Mexican orphan named "Andres" (Miguel Alejandro), who pulls an unloaded gun on him in an effort to get some dinner. Andres fulfills the Cute Sidekick Kid role. Harmon feeds him and lets him sleep in the jail office.
Late that night, Andres witnesses a break in at the jail. A henchman named "Sanders" (Robert Phillips) and a US Army Captain (John Kerr) liberate Rol King from his cell, then turn around and shoot him in the back, with the Marshal's rifle. This is deliberate attempt to frame Marshal Harmon, and make it look like he executed an escapee in cold blood. The idea is to make Arch King murderously angry, so he'll ride in with his men and kill Marshal Harmon. Then "Nels Decker" (Barry Sullivan), the town bigwig who runs a freight shipping business, will be able to continue his cattle smuggling operation without law enforcement interference.
The way it works is this: The Army has a recent treaty with the local Indians, in which they agree to stay on the Rez and not attack the white man, and in return, the Army brings them a monthly supply of cattle for food, and other necessities. But Decker acts as the middleman; the cattle are dropped off in his care and he's supposed to ship them to the Indians in the desert. But they haven't been delivered for two months, and the tribe is starving as a result. That's because Decker is instead shipping the livestock back east, and making a tidy profit. He's got his henchman Sanders helping him out, the very man who killed Rol King and set it up to look like Marshal Harmon did it. Sanders is in cahoots with the crooked Army Captain White, who's helping Decker cover his tracks, but he balks at being a party to murder. So now, Decker has Sanders rub out the Captain, while Harmon is out meeting with the Indians.
"We hungry!" says their Chief. "We make war if white man not bring beef!" Harmon tries explaining that it's not the Army's or the cattlemen's fault, that someone else is redistributing the herd. When Harmon gets back to Yuma, he has an idea who killed the Captain, as well as Rol King. Sanders sets up a diversion so he and Nels Decker can escape, by setting fire to Uncle Joe's store. While the fire brigade puts it out, as the townsfolk look on, the two bad guys ride out of town. Marshal Harmon goes looking for them in the desert, which leads to the exciting climax. And the Indians still haven't received their beef, and are even more hungry and warlike.
I was too young to remember Clint Walker from "Cheyenne", the show that made him a star in 1955 (it spun off from "Maverick"), but I liked him in the two aforementioned TV movie classics. He was a giant of a man, 6' 6" with the build of a linebacker. He was also handsome and soft spoken, the strong, silent type with a deep but calm (almost soothing) voice. Interestingly, he was the first famous Clint, born three years before Eastwood, though both men got their first gig in 1955. But Clint Walker was a star before the later-to-be-more famous CE. "Cheyenne" was apparently a huge hit show. Walker stayed almost exclusively in TV, though he was one of "The Dirty Dozen", and was also in "The Ten Commandments". Like Eastwood, he was a man's man all the way, and interestingly again, their birthdays are close: Walker on May 30th, CE the 31st. They both have that Laconic Tall Guy thing happening. Bruce Glover (who plays "Sam King") is Crispin Glover's Dad. Both are adept at playing psychos. "Yuma" is one of the well-paced, minimalist TV movies, 75 minutes long, that were so popular in the 1970s. I can name you a ship-ton of classic TV movies from that era: "The Neon Ceiling", "Bad Ronald", "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark", "Night Drive", many more. "Yuma" is above average, let's give it Two Bigs with a very high recommendation. However, as with most TV movies, the color print has blurred. I don't know if it's because they were shot on video (I don't think so), or just that color blurs more quickly than black and white. But when you watch a made-for-TV flick it's never razor sharp, whereas an 80 year old black and white film that's never been restored can be razor sharp. Go figure. ////
The previous night, again because the well was dry on motion pictures (a temporary condition, we hope), we began a new chapter serial, a sci-fi this time, called "The Monster and the Ape"(1945). At a research lab in Hollywood, "Professor Frank Arnold" (Ralph Morgan) is unveiling his new robot, The Metalogen Man. "Gentleman, the era of labor is over. He can do the work of fifty men." To demonstrate, he has The Metalogen Man lift a one-ton bock of granite. Then, he tears the door off a simulated bank vault. Yes, The Metalogen Man, at least in strength, is very powerful, and can be put to good use indeed. Professor Arnold's small audience applauds, then he leaves with his assistant. Big plans are in the works, but a plot's already been hatched to steal the robot, by the evil "Professor Ernst" (George Macready), and while Prof. Arnold and his assistant are driving, a gorilla pops up in the back seat of their car and headlocks them both unconcho. When they wake up, they're trapped in Prof. Ernst's basement.
Government Agent "Ken Morgan" (Robert Lowery) is called in to investigate, but after arriving at the Chatsworth train station. he too is kidnapped and taken to Ernst's mansion, which has hidden panels and a secret laboratory. Ernst controls the gorilla that does all his dirty work, and he also has two henchmen who act as the gorilla's handlers. Ernst has The Metalogen Man now stored in his lab, but he lacks the remote control interface that will allow him to control the robot. Torture is the only way to obtain it, and he's also got Prof. Arnold's daughter "Babs" (Carole Mathews) held hostage. Ray Corrigan of Corriganville fame plays the deadly gorilla. Willie Best provides comic relief as Prof. Arnold's driver. This one promises to be great: a gorilla vs. a gigantic robot, and so far, one episode in, the punchouts have been kept to a minimum. One of the reasons we took a month-long break from serials is that we got tired of watching endless punchouts. So far, so good on this rare science-fiction serial. It's a long one, five hours in fifteen chapters, and the picture is slightly soft. ////
And that's all for tonight. Whataya think about Trump getting busted for fraud? It looks like the dominoes may be starting to fall. My blogging music is Klaus Schulze "La Vie Electronique Vol. 4", my late night is "Lohengrin" by Wagner. I just finished re-reading Stephen King's "The Stand" (the uncut version, 1200 pages). I first read it in 1978 when it was released, so it's been a 45-year interval. Some of the writing is phenomenal for sure, but man, is it wordy, and there are way too many community meetings. Also, I didn't like the character of Frannie Goldsmith, and I Googled "don't like Frannie Goldsmith" and found that I am not alone in my feelings. The bottom line? An incredible book with some of SK's best writing, but way too long at 1200 pages. The 800 page version was better. Most of all, I like how King's style has developed over the years. His books in the last 20 years are much more pared down. He gets to the point, and can say in 400 pages what used to take him 650. His sentences are more concise than they used to be. /////
Now I'm reading Paul Tremblay's book of short stories, "The Beast You Are". It's awesome like everything he writes.
I hope your week is going well and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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