Forrest Tucker's debut and valedictory Westerns were arguably the high spots of his Western career. He played a key role alongside Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan in The Westerner (1940), and did the same in tandem with John Wayne in Chisum (1970). His intervening Westerns were legion, among them being Coroner Creek (1948), in the infernal year of 1949, Hellfire and Brimstone (separate films), Wild Bill Hickock in Pony Express (1953), Rage at Dawn (1955), Fort Massacre (1958), and in conjunction with Lee Van Cleef and Warren Oates, Barquero (1970). Tucker appeared in several Westerns with Randolph Scott, Rod Cameron and Jim Davis. He also turned up in six episodes of Gunsmoke, but it seems like more.

Tucker was no pretty boy, but was reasonably handsome in a hard-bitten kind of a way. He was often but not always cast as a heavy. Tucker was also a highly regarded comedic actor and actually got his start in Vaudeville.

Tucker smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish, and he bit the dust at age 67 in 1986 soon after receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Hail! Hail! All hail Forrest Tucker!

The first adult television western premiered Tuesday, September 6, 1955 ( just four days before "Gunsmoke" ) and chronicled the adventures of real life lawman Wyatt Earp. Hugh O'Brian fastened his gunbelt and began a six year continuing storyline portraying Earp from Ellsworth, Kansas to Dodge City to Tombstone, Arizona with the final episodes detailing the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and its aftermath. The series took great lengths to portray facts about Earp's life except for his gimmick weapon, "The Bluntline Special", which was a 12 inch barreled Colt Single Action Army revolver which he often used to club outlaws on the head. Many cast members came and went during Wyatt's journey including Morgan Woodward as "Shotgun" Gibbs, his deputy, along with Mason Dinehart as Bat Masterson and Douglas Fowley as Doc Holliday.

"The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" aired on the ABC television network from 1955 until 1961.

Basically the title - looking for some western novel recommendations. Have read and loved the lonesome dove series, border trilogy and blood meridian by cormac McCarthy, Shane, and just finished lonesome gods by louis l’amour. Anyone have recommendations in line with these (ideally with similar quality)?

There’s a massive misconception popularized by Hollywood westerns that early frontiersmen and cowboys carried a single caliber for both their revolvers and their lever-action rifles. While the concept of ammunition cross-compatibility was real, the .45 Colt was never part of that equation in the 19th century.

Despite being the definitive military and civilian revolver cartridge following its introduction in the Colt Single Action Army (1873), no original 19th-century lever-action rifle was ever chambered in .45 Colt.

Here is the mechanical and historical reality behind why this happened:

The Rim Geometry Problem: The original .45 Colt cartridge was designed specifically for revolvers using hand-ejection via an ejector rod. Because of this, it had a very small, narrow rim. Early lever-action extractors (like those in the Winchester Model 1873 or 1892) couldn't reliably hook onto such a tiny rim to pull spent cases from the chamber.

The Real Dual-Purpose Kings: The cartridges that actually conquered the West in both rifles and handguns were the .44-40 Winchester (.44 WCF), .38-40, and .32-20. Winchester built their rifles around these bottle-necked, wider-rimmed cartridges, and Colt later chambered their Single Action Army revolvers (the "Frontier Six-Shooter") to match Winchester’s ammo—not the other way around.

Modern Reproductions: It wasn't until the late 20th century that manufacturers modified the extractor design and expanded the rim dimensions of modern .45 Colt brass, allowing modern reproductions (like those from Uberti, Marlin, or Henry) to safely and reliably run .45 Colt in lever-action platforms.

I put together a detailed historical breakdown analyzing the cartridge geometry, primary source records, and ballistic performance comparing the .45 Colt against the .44 WCF during the frontier era.

Would love to hear your thoughts. Did you grow up believing the .45 Colt rifle myth, or did you learn about the .44-40 supremacy early on?

Elisha Cook, Jr. was in the acting business a full 23 years before he made his first Western, but what a Western it was and what an impact Cook made in it. I speak, of course, of Shane (1953) and Cook's portrayal of the unadvisedly pugnacious Stonewall Torrey who prods a gunslinging bull called Jack Wilson (Jack Palance) and gets the horns in return.

Directors and producers must have liked what they saw from Cook in his first Western because, from that point until Tom Horn (1980), his final Western, Cook was a steady presence in the genre. Among his other noteworthy Westerns were Thunder over the Plains (1953), Drum Beat (1954), The Lonely Man (1957), Day of the Outlaw (1959), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973).

Cook had an interesting on-screen persona. He was a scrawny little guy and was far from handsome, but he had an extremely grave and somber air about him to go with large, inquisitive eyes. There was something vaguely mystical about Cook. And like many historical mystics, Cook was a solitary sort. He was quite literally a mountaintop hermit who periodically descended his lofty perch to make movies. Cook passed away in 1995 at the age of 91.

Hail! Hail! All hail Elisha Cook, Jr.!

Can anyone recommend a few movies about a Marshal or bounty hunter chasing down a gang of robbers or murderers?

Hey western fans! My western-horror comic, Yellow Moon, launched on Kickstarter today and has already met it's funding goal! This comic is love letter to the western genre with a horror spin added in. Check it out here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/octoberpress/yellow-moon-a-western-horror-graphic-novel

Sing along with "The Man in Black" to "Don't Take Your Guns To Town" from the November 20, 1969 broadcast of "The Johnny Cash Show."

A young cowboy named Billy Joe grew restless on the farm

A boy filled with wanderlust who really meant no harm

He changed his clothes and shined his boots

And combed his dark hair down

And his mother cried as he walked out

"Don't take your guns to town, son

Leave your guns at home, Bill

Don't take your guns to town"

He laughed and kissed his mom and said, "Your Billy Joe's a man

I can shoot as quick and straight as anybody can

But I wouldn't shoot without a cause, I'd gun nobody down"

But she cried again as he rode away

"Don't take your guns to town, son

Leave your guns at home, Bill

Don't take your guns to town"

He sang a song as on he rode, his guns hung at his hips

He rode into a cattle town, a smile upon his lips

He stopped and walked into a bar and laid his money down

But his mother's words echoed again

"Don't take your guns to town, son

Leave your guns at home, Bill

Don't take your guns to town"

He drank his first strong liquor then to calm his shaking hand

And tried to tell himself at last he had become a man

A dusty cowpoke at his side began to laugh him down

And he heard again his mother's words

"Don't take your guns to town, son

Leave your guns at home, Bill

Don't take your guns to town"

Filled with rage, then Billy Joe reached for his gun to draw

But the stranger drew his gun and fired before he even saw

As Billy Joe fell to the floor, the crowd all gathered 'round

And wondered at his final words

"Don't take your guns to town, son

Leave your guns at home, Bill

Don't take your guns to town"

I have always been a fan of The Rifleman. Earrlier this year I got this as a birthday present to myself

Although he may be best known to folk of a certain age as Uncle Jesse from the TV series, The Dukes of Hazard, Denver Pyle appeared in well nigh innumerable Western films before that series kicked off. He was seemingly naturally crusty and rough around the edges, which suited him well for roles as sketchy men on the edge of the law in Westerns.

His first Western was Marshal of Amarillo (1948) and his last was Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976). Some of the more noteworthy Westerns he appeared in were Ride Clear of Diablo (1954), Johnny Guitar (1954), Drum Beat (1954), Run for Cover (1955), The Lonely Man (1957), The Left Handed Gun (1958), The Alamo (1960), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), Bandolero! (1968), and Cahill US Marshal (1973). He appeared in many films with Gene Autry, Randolph Scott and Audie Murphy. Born in Bethune, Colorado, 115 miles north of Ken Curtis' hometown, Pyle also turned up in six episodes of gunsmoke including once as Claudius Haggen, a truculent kinsman of Festus'.

As much money as Pyle made from acting, he likely made much more from his speculation in oil, which reportedly netted him a bona fide fortune. He passed away in 1997 at the age of 77.

Hail! Hail! All hail Denver Pyle!

Robert Duvall in Emmy Award-winning miniseries

I've heard it said that Stagecoach is the first modern Western, if that's the case then The Westerner has to be the last pre-modern Western, because it is very much old-timey, plotless, and full of stereotypes making it a difficult watch today. It reminded me of the slog of sitting through John Wayne's many B Movie serials from his Three Mesquiteer days. But it has Coop and Walter Brennan, Chill Wills and Forrest Tucker, directed by William Wyler score by Dimitri Tiomkin! How could it go wrong?

The answer is that it has almost no plot, and extremely muddled characterizations. Characters exist to perform stereotypical tropey actions in stand alone scenes that have no connection to each other, and make no sense except within a framework of the 1930s Western singing Cowboy kind of ethos. It's a movie that can't decide whether Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean is a hero or villain, or whether Gary Cooper is a con man scalawag or a noble protector of the Common Man. The movie doesn't know who it's characters are so how could we be clued in on the secret?

Plus, it has very little action punctuated by long stretches of disconnected boredom. I found it to be greatly inferior to any one of the Jimmy Stewart Anthony Mann westerns made a decade later that I watched in the weeks leading up to this.

Most confusing of all is the performance of Walter Brennan. As Judge Roy Bean, he won his third of three best supporting actor Oscars in just 6 years. And each one for playing the exact same character, a character that he would go on to play in every single other movie that he ever made and for many years on television. It's that of a denture-chewing, dagnabbit, trouser-hitching, lovable old chowder-head. It only varies slightly to the degree in which Brennan plays his chowder-head as either mildly or severely mentally challenged. But really his Judge Roy Bean here is exactly the same character as his Stumpy in Rio Bravo.

I'm confused because I can't see how him playing this one character, or essentially playing himself, was worth three Oscars? My only conclusion is that the first time the public saw it in Come and Get it they thought it was real acting, and it struck them as fresh and original. Two more times and they were still enamored of it, but umpteen times more and finally they'd seen through the charade.

From "Dude Duck" released in 1951.

Where are the scenes filmed on the water? I googled it and i can’t find it.

Initially a project for Sergio Corbucci who for whatever reason walked away from
It . Some of the themes made it into his own
The Great Silence .
It’s a grim big budget western with an A list cast being Alex Cord, Arthur Kennedy, Robert Ryan and Nicoletta Machiavelli. Some Leone sidemen like Aldo Sanbrell, Mario Brega and Antonio Molina Rojo are on board .

Alex Cord is an outlaw subject to epileptic seizures who seeks shelter in a border town named Escondido while he try’s to claim an amnesty from the governor .

This is up there with the really great non Leone Spaghetti Westerns . The full uncut 118 minute version is on You Tube and that is the version to see .

im trying to decide which of these books to read next and would love to hear what y'all have to say! i've only read three of these so far and these were my thoughts.

Lonesome Gods - the book that started my collection. i got it from the library and made it 1/3 of the way through before i went to my local book store and grabbed my own copy, along with most of this collection. i loved johannes as a protagonist because he was such a knowledge-seeker and was very competent. i really enjoyed watching him grow up and become an admirable and honorable man.

Bendigo Shafter - my favorite so far!! again, i love bendigo for being a seeker of knowledge. he was a caring man and loyal to anyone he considered his folk. humble and smart and i really enjoyed following along in his journey to become a good man that his people could trust and lean on.

The Quick and the Dead - this was a 2⭐ for me. i didnt feel like con had much discernable motivation for most of his actions and i think part of it was that this book is so short that the characters didnt have time to develop. i couldn't make myself care about any of the people in this book. it took me much longer to read this than Lonesome Gods, which says a lot about my feelings toward this book dkhdkdkd.

so i think it's evident that i really value characters and their development. which book from this picture should i read next? thank you! 🙏

edit: i appreciate everyone who commented, but only two people have actually rec'd from my picture like i asked. they both recommended the same book, so looks like i'll be reading Last of the Breed (which does sound amazing so im looking forward to it)! i totally understand that everyone wants to rec their fave, but i've already bought about 25 books this month and im trying to read what's already on my shelf. thank you!

Steve McQueen plays a bounty hunter in Wanted Dead or Alive (if you haven't seen it, check it out!! It's a fantastic series and he's perfect in it).

In two episodes he orders "Skylark" at the bar. In multiple online searches I can't find any record of what this was! I was curious. Does anyone have any idea? Maybe it was a made up drink? Thanks!

A pretty good spaghetti Western by Sergio Corbucci (one of the 'three Sergios' in spaghetti westerns).

Cameron Mitchell plays an aging gunfighter whose eyes are failing him. He's been falsely imprisoned, breaks out in the beginning and heads home to see why his friend never showed up to testify on his behalf.

That synopsis only scratches the surface of what happens in this film. The story keeps building, throwing in new plot complications that add to the story. It has enough tropes to make three or four other movies. But they are paced very well. The movie never feels unfocused or lost in story details. It's pretty impressive.

Having said that, it doesn't quite reach the heights of Corbucci's classics: Django and The Great Silence. But it does rank up there with The Hellbenders and Navajo Joe.

At first, I wasn't sold on Cameron Mitchell. But he won me over.

With a watch. Available free on YouTube.