My hubby created this for me. I love it. It has nothing to do wit( western gals, saloon owners or film but I don’t care. I came up with these 3 gals to showcase in last week’s movie picks from Wandering Through The Shelves but decided to keep these gals for this week. I hope you will enjoy my picks.
1. JOHNNY GUITAR-1954
Wacko! This is one batshit crazy film but I love it even with wacko Joan Crawford. It's actually a feminist film in my opinion because the men are the eye candy especially the one where Crawford, a saloon owner and her jealous rival, Mercedes Mcambridge are vying for this man. There is some deep hatred between the 2 women resulting in a stand off between the 2 just like men. Be hind the scenes, Joan was not happy that Mercedes got an ovation from the film crew after a scene Mercedes just did so Joan made sure Mercedes’s life would be more difficult. In fact, Mercedes was certain that her career took a nosedive right after making this film and she blamed Joan for trying to kill her career. Joan could have done this..I wouldn’t put it past her.
2. THE FAR COUNTRY- 1954
Jimmy Stewart plays a man who is basically a loner except for his best friend, Walter Brennan and Jimmy’s accordion. They decide to take their herd of cows to the Yukon but not before running afoul of the so-called law that is as crooked as they come. In with the mix is the beautiful Ruth Roman( a truly underrated actress) who is in cahoots with the baddie but has the hots for James. She ends up running a saloon in the town making sure to undercut the food establishment run by sweet people including French Canadian Corinne Calvert who also has fallen for Jimmy. Ruth, even though she is a baddie, she is not all that bad and knows how to run a saloon. This was filmed in Canada including the famous glacier, that I was on a few years back and, boy, has it receded big time.
3. THE MAVERICK QUEEN-1956
Barbara Stanwyck has played in a few westerns and is one strong lady that I love. In this film she is the owner of a saloon but also helps the hole in the wall gang…yup Butch and Sundance. There is a man that comes into her world who wants to be part of the bad boys but Sundance sees green when he witnesses sparks fly between this man and Stanwyck and wants this new man dead. It’s a fun romp and I can easily watch this again.
What strong women can you think of?
That was smart to select Westerns. I would've been stumped to select something more recent.
ReplyDeleteI thought of Erin Brokavich but I like these strong gals
DeleteWhat a wonderfully fun theme Birgit! LOVE it!!
ReplyDeleteJohnny Guitar is one strange, fascinating picture. So stylized which makes it all the more memorable. I'm sure you are aware of the outright hatred going on between Joan and Mercedes during the shoot which makes it an even better watch.
I'm a huge Ruth Roman fan and agree she is seriously underappreciated! It's been a while since I've watched Far Country but I do like it quite a bit.
Barbara Stanwyck loved the Western genre and it was a bit of a salvation for her as the years went by. She only made a very few during her major star years but leaned on them in the 50's and of course found great success with The Big Valley on television. Maverick Queen is a decent one of hers though nowhere near approaching her best films.
My first thought was also Johnny Guitar! Then Silverado, a film I love, but Linda Hunt’s Stella while fully in charge of the saloon in the movie doesn’t own it. I did manage to come up with these though.
Frontier Gal (1945)-Lorena Dumont (a ravishing Yvonne DeCarlo) owns and is the star attraction of her own saloon in the town of Red Gulch. Drifter Jonathan Hart (Rod Cameron) wanders in and immediately gets into a brawl with Blackie (Sheldon Leonard) and his gang. Lorena tells Jonathan she doesn't allow fighting in her place, the sparks fly and before you know it a shotgun wedding ensues, but then Jonathan is sent to prison by Blackie. Six years later Jonathan returns to be faced with the prospect of instant fatherhood and coping with the ultra-independent Lorena. Played more for laughs, think The Taming of the Shrew on the range!
Outlaw Women (1952)-Noir queen Marie Windsor owns and runs a saloon/gambling hall in a town controlled by entirely by women! Trouble arrives when male bandits seek to rob them. Not the greatest movie but some elements are very progressive for the time and Marie is fab of course.
One Desire (1955)- White Palace saloon owner Tacey Cromwell (Anne Baxter) follows her lover Clint Saunders (Rock Hudson) and Clint's little brother Nugget (Barry Curtis) to seek their fortunes in the Colorado silver mines. Once arrived in the new town rich senator’s daughter Judith Watrous (a deliciously venal Julie Adams), sets Clint up in business and sets her cap for him. Through devious methods Judith rips the kids (Nugget and the young orphan Seeley (Natalie Wood) who they have taken in) from her hands and drives Tacey from town. She returns to the saloon life and after years pass during which Clint has married the outwardly nice, inwardly vicious Judith, Tacey, flush with cash, returns to town determined to build a grand saloon, The Pink Palace, directly across the street from their home and exact her revenge all leading to a fiery highly enjoyable denouncement.
Oh yes, those 2 gals hated each other and I do believe Mercedes when she claimed she had a hard time finding work due to Crawford getting her blackmailed.
DeleteI know you love Ruth Roman and so do I. I need to see more of her films. I'm glad she survived the Andrea Dorea. Barbara was great in other pictures like Double Indemnity and Ball of Fire but this one just suited my theme.
I haven't seen any of your picks but an I want to especially the Yvonne DeCarlo film.
Yvonne's film is fun but One Desire is my favorite of the three. It's also the one I've seen the most since it was a regular feature of the "Movie of the Week" program on channel 17 (a UHF station when such things existed!) that ran when I was a kid where they showed the same film three times a day for a week-something along the lines of 11AM, 3:30PM & 11PM-so if you loved the film you could wallow in it multiple times. More even than All About Eve I associate this film and "Three Violent People"-another one they showed frequently-with Anne Baxter. "One Desire" is also the film Natalie Wood made directly before Rebel Without a Cause.
DeleteAlways happy to hear someone else is a Ruth Roman fan!! I know you've seen Strangers on a Train (great film though it's really not the best showcase for her) here are the five I think show her to her best advantage.
Five Steps to Danger (1956)
The Bottom of the Bottle (1956)
Lightning Strikes Twice (1951)-This one costars Mercedes McCambridge!
Three Secrets (1950)
Joe MacBeth (1955)
That’s a lovely cheerful header to your post!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it? Michael created it for me.
DeleteYeah, knowing Joan Crawford, I can totally see her tanking Mercedes' career just because she could. I have not seen any of those, but that's not surprising as I tend to shy away from westerns.
ReplyDeleteI love Westerns. Crawford was one nasty person with some major hang ups.
DeleteIn my 1990 Western Movie Guide, here's what I said about...
ReplyDelete'JOHNNY GUITAR' (1954; grade: C) Lots of neat, snappy dialogue, too bad it's *ALL* cliche. Interesting, bizarre sets (the casino is a Frank Lloyd Wright design) and weird, attractive color. And that's all for the positive aspects of this movie.
'THE FAR COUNTRY' (1955; grade: B) A bit mannered and overly dramatic in places, but generally entertaining with some truly spectacular mountain scenery.
What came to my mind first was not a movie but a one-hour episode of 'Alias Smith And Jones' titled 'SIX STRANGERS AT APACHE SPRINGS'. This is a sadly forgotten TV series that, in my opinion, was - hands down! - the greatest Western in the history of television (until Pete Duel committed suicide). Carmen Matthews plays the rugged saloon owner. Seven years later, in 1978, I was in a M*A*S*H scene with her (episode: Lil) but, unfortunately, I did not know who she was at the time nor that she had appeared in my all-time favorite Western TV series.
~ D-FensDogG
Well, duh, another category that remembrance of such movies comes to mind, but no actual names that I can rattle off. I've only seen your 2nd pick, but I didn't retain all that much of it. I know I liked it at the time.
ReplyDeleteHope you can stop by my latest BOTB match.
Lee
Hi Birgit - Your hubby's header is a delight ... really lovely. I was thinking about Hedy Lamarr - amazing actress, inventor and lady! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteJimmy Stewart was a good actor. I think I'd enjoy seeing THE FAR COUNTRY.
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with these three, but sounds like they all have strong female characters. Love the header.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Unfortunately, any male eye candy figures are either dead or in their 90s or 100s. :(
ReplyDeleteI'm 0 for 3 with your picks, but if it was a TV theme, I'd pick Westworld!
ReplyDeleteGreat picks, Birgit. I'm so clueless, I hadn't heard of any of these. For a woman to own and operate a saloon, now that takes balls.
ReplyDeleteLove and laughs to you.