Movieland Page 1

Television in the fifties and early sixties was dominated by western series. Although our little coastal community could only receive one channel for many years so I missed out on such classics as Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, and Wanted: Dead or Alive, I still remember Wagon Train, Bonanza, The Virginian, High Chaparral and The Rifleman. Ward Bond is probably best remembered for his wagon master role but as a close friend of John Wayne he also starred in war classics like "They Were Expendable" and "Operation Pacific". Occasionally, I've even seen him play a villain in older westerns that air on the Western Channel from time to time.

Chuck Connors played an honest hardworking single father on the Rifleman but the role I think was his most memorable was that of the vicious plantation owner Tom Moore in "Roots".

Although western films have become a little scarce and the museum did not have scenes from two of my favorites, The Unforgiven and Quigley Down Under, I enjoyed these scenes from The Searchers, High Noon, Shane, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and Dances with Wolves.
Although John Wayne eventually won an Academy Award for "True Grit", he thought he deserved an Oscar for his performance in "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", another fine film However, this movie, "The Searchers", remains my favorite.

Gary Cooper's role in "High Noon" is probably his most remembered although I enjoyed the film "Sergeant York" more. "High Noon" was later remade into a science fiction thriller called "Outland" with Sean Connery as the lone marshal standing up against a corrupt mining company that was supplying deadly drugs to its workers. The drugs increased the workers productivity level to a frenzy that eventually led to psychosis and fatal lapses in judgment when they would attempt such feats as opening an air lock without wearing a pressurized suit.

Alan Ladd as "Shane". Alan's daughter Cheryl went on to become an actress and producer as well. Although she is often remembered as one of "Charlie's Angels", I like a movie she produced and starred in with Ken Wahl called "Purple Hearts", the story of a doctor and nurse struggling with the brutality of the Vietnam War.

Robert Redford and Paul Newman had a lot of on-screen chemistry in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

Kevin Costner's epic "Dances With Wolves" was breathtaking. I wish Movieland would have recreated the scene of John Dunbar riding toward the Indian encampment carrying an American flag that snapped in the wind. It was very moving and would have been very colorful.

I tend to be a bit sentimental so I also loved his film "The Postman" even though critics panned it as overly long and soppy. My son says people of my (and Costner's) generation still remember a time of optimism and innocence (pre-Vietnam war) so we would more easily identify with The Postman's message. His generation remembers the profiteering of the Reagan years, corporate downsizing, and continuing job insecurity so he says they feel they have a lot less to be nostalgic about. Unfortunately, for Costner, my son's generation attends the theater more than my generation does.

Speaking of Reagan, it still seems a bit strange to watch a President of the United States in an old western although the ability to act definitely serves as an asset for a politician.: More Movieland images:

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	Although John Wayne eventually won an Academy Award for "True Grit", he thought he deserved an Oscar for his performance in "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", another fine film However, this movie, "The Searchers", remains my favorite.
Gary Cooper's role in "High Noon" is probably his most remembered although I enjoyed the film "Sergeant York" more. "High Noon" was later remade into a science fiction thriller called "Outland" with Sean Connery as the lone marshal standing up against a corrupt mining company that was supplying deadly drugs to its workers. The drugs increased the workers productivity level to a frenzy that eventually led to psychosis and fatal lapses in judgment when they would attempt such feats as opening an air lock without wearing a pressurized suit.
	Alan Ladd as "Shane". Alan's daughter Cheryl went on to become an actress and producer as well. Although she is often remembered as one of "Charlie's Angels", I like a movie she produced and starred in with Ken Wahl called "Purple Hearts", the story of a doctor and nurse struggling with the brutality of the Vietnam War.
	Robert Redford and Paul Newman had a lot of on-screen chemistry in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".
Kevin Costner's epic "Dances With Wolves" was breathtaking. I wish Movieland would have recreated the scene of John Dunbar riding toward the Indian encampment carrying an American flag that snapped in the wind. It was very moving and would have been very colorful. I tend to be a bit sentimental so I also loved his film "*The Postman" even though critics panned it as overly long and soppy. My son says people of my (and Costner's) generation still remember a time of optimism and innocence (pre-Vietnam war) so we would more easily identify with The Postman*'s message. His generation remembers the profiteering of the Reagan years, corporate downsizing, and continuing job insecurity so he says they feel they have a lot less to be nostalgic about. Unfortunately, for Costner, my son's generation attends the theater more than my generation does.
	Speaking of Reagan, it still seems a bit strange to watch a President of the United States in an old western although the ability to act definitely serves as an asset for a politician.