SPUR AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR ROD MILLER Latigo Brown is a cowboy. A real cowboy, not like those TV and movie cowboys who ride everywhere at a high lope firing off six-shooters and hardly ever come into contact with a cow. But he finds himself lured to Hollywood by a rodeo hero, where he unexpectedly becomes a box-office star. Amidst the glitter and glamour of the movie business, he still harbors resentment for the way he—and other cowboys—are portrayed. Will Latigo Brown swallow his pride and pocket the money? Will the starlets, the luxuries, the acclaim, the big bucks turn his head? Or will the lure of the ranch and rodeo arena and real cowboys overcome all that?
The American West, as we know it, is defined by the movies, and the Western is the oldest film genre. When the movies were born, it was not that long after Promontory Point and the Civil War, so those memories were still there in the minds of the very first movie audiences as they watched The Great Train Robbery. And the myth-making is as important as the brutal truths of history. As the reporter tells Jimmy Stewart in Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." Rendered in rare, evocative tones reminiscent of Edward Sheriff Curtis's immortal photographs, Western Portraits provides readers with a collection of stylized portraits that capture the allure and mystique of the Old West, complete with authentic costuming, weaponry and settings. From the epic feature film to the TV series and serial, this coffee table book will put the story of character actors and the significance of their memorable roles into an entertaining perspective. The subjects include such popular, recognizable actors as Karl Malden, David Carradine, Denver Pyle, R. G. Armstrong, L. Q. Jones, Horst Buchholz, Henry Silva, Ruta Lee, Morgan Woodward, Bo Hopkins, Clu Gulager and 72 others. The market for this book will include lovers of classic cinema, Western history aficionados, writers, scholars and collectors of nostalgia and fine art photography. It will awaken movie memories in people's hearts, introduce others to the amazing work of these acting artists and serve as a record of the best of the Hollywood Western. THE PHOTOGRAPHS: R. G. Armstrong, John Beck, Crispian Belfrage, Bruce Boxleitner, Tom Bower, Horst Buchholz, R. D. Call, John "Bud" Cardos, David Carradine, Robert Carradine, Johnny Crawford, Rick Dano, Michael Dante, Robert Davi, Bruce Davison, Lee de Broux, Fred Dryer, Robert Evans, Ed Faulkner, Al Fleming, Robert Forster, Rosemary Forsyth, Gray Frederickson, Max Gail, Bruce Glover, Billy Green Bush, Clu Gulager, Buddy Hackett, George Hamilton, Gregory Harrison, Richard Harrison, Richard Herd, Louis Herthum, Darby Hinton, Bo Hopkins, John Dennis Johnston, L. Q. Jones, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Terry Kiser, Jeff Kober, Paul Koslo, Marty Kove, Art LaFleur, Ruta Lee, Ken Luckey, Barbara Luna, Karl Malden, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Monte Markham, Ken Medlock, Dick Miller, Chris Mulkey, Jan Murray, Louis Nye, Hugh O'Brian, Michael Par , Michael Parks, Denver Pyle, Richard Roundtree, Peter Mark Richman, Jorge Rivero, Stefanie Powers, Mitchell Ryan, John Savage, John Schneider, Jacqueline Scott, Henry Silva, Tom Sizemore, Paul L. Smith, William Smith, Phil Spangenberger, Bo Svenson, Tim Thomerson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Jesse Vint, Hunter von Leer, Kateri Walker, Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, Lana Wood, Robert Wood, Morgan Woodward, Rob Word, Harris Yulin; with photographs in book's back section of Steve Carver, C. Courtney Joyner, Robert Zinner, Danny Chuchian
The so-called biker bad boys have come a long way from the silver screen's typecast, tough-guy image, and cultural historian Bill Osgerby dispels these stereotypes.
For many years, movie audiences have carried on a love affair with the American West, believing Westerns are escapist entertainment of the best kind, harkening back to the days of the frontier. This work compares the reality of the Old West to its portrayal in movies, taking an historical approach to its consideration of the cowboys, Indians, gunmen, lawmen and others who populated the Old West in real life and on the silver screen. Starting with the Westerns of the early 1900s, it follows the evolution in look, style, and content as the films matured from short vignettes of good-versus-bad into modern plots.
Texas Jack: America’s First Cowboy Star is a biography of John B. “Texas Jack” Omohundro, the first well-known cowboy in America. A Confederate scout and spy from Virginia, Jack left for Texas within weeks of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. In Texas, he became first a cowboy and then a trail boss, jobs that would inform the rest of his life. Jack lead cattle on the Chisholm and Goodnight-Loving trails to New Mexico, California, Kansas and Nebraska. In 1868 he met James B. “Wild Bill” Hickok in Kansas and then William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody in Nebraska at the end of the first major cattle drive to North Platte. Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill became friends, and soon the scout and the cowboy became the subjects of a series of dime novels written by Ned Buntline.
Actors, writers, directors and producers who helped define the genre offer unique insight about western movies from the early talkies to the present. Interviewed here are Glenn Ford, Warren Oates, Virginia Mayo, Andrew V. McLaglen, Harry Carey, Jr., Julie Adams, A.C. Lyles, Burt Kennedy, Edward Faulkner, Aldo Sambrell, Jack Elam, Andrew J. Fenady, and Elmore Leonard. Movies they discuss include Red River, The Searchers, 3:10 to Yuma, High Noon, Bend of the River, Rio Bravo, The Wild Bunch, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, among many others.
Movies and books have romanticized the life of the cowboy. To most, the heroes of countless Westerns fall into one of three categories: the strong, silent, asexual deliverer of damsels in distress; the slick and gaudy guitar-strummer; and the virile, violent drifter. In truth, real cowboys had little in common with the fictionalized characters of literature and the silver screen. The "reel" cowboys of yesteryear are recalled in Part One of this work. The make-believe West of Gene Autry, Buck Jones, Harry Carey, and many others is contrasted with the real American West. Part Two discusses the many movies based on the writings of Western writers. The works of Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, Max Brand, Luke Short, Ernest Haycox and many others have been transformed to the silver screen, often with great success. Next examined are the movies based upon three writers of the great Northwest: James Oliver Curwood, Jack London and Rex Beach. A concluding section looks at cinema cowboys on the so-called "sawdust trail." Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Jack Hoxie were among those reel cowboys who performed in circuses and Wild West shows.
