S-(Src- I) Statesman, Salem. Ore., Sun- June 24, "58
OldWestern
Movies Fade
Into Sunsets
OPEN MONDAY AND FRIDAY 111S TO 9 tM.
OTHEK DAYS 9:30 AJA, TO S:30 tM.
FREE STORE-SIDE PARKING
FOR OVER 1000 CARS.
By tUL MCCUYI
HOLLYWOOD l Bored with
Id Western movies m lelrvuios
arty, matinee or late, late shows?
Tired of watching immaculate
cowboy heroes m big whitt horses
accompanied by rua. loving.
comic sidekicks riding paints-
chase Um Tilliane atop the black
. Mb! Isfflter Mi
ho?
Fed dp with endless salooa fttt
firhU. "m" runs loaded with
tict that many bullet and heroes
wha preler Um company of their
ponies t the pretty heroines?
Thea fret and fume ao more.
Hollywood's eld "bread and but
ter" formula Westerns, so popular
la the taOs and early 40. ar
deader thaa a passe! of rustlers
cut aft at Eagle Pass. Studios are
It cvea making them any more.
Only TV Itself makes a few con
densed 30-minnte replicas, design
- cd mainly lor the kids.
Be-Maa And Keallstic
Today's feature length eadus
cinemas filmed primarily for the
big movie screens, but eventually
headed for TV's smaller ones-are
lush In color, he-man la scope and
realistic la approach.
And (be trend. Hollywood says,
b for mora colorful, rope-raw bio
graphical at flesh and bloodied
frontier heroes. Writers, produc
ers and director! all agree today's
Western is big and tomorrow's will
be evee bigger. , .
Aa example Is "The Searchers.''
, a whopping 12.600.000 Western star
ring John Wayne. Its producer,
aferiaa C. Cooper says:
"Hollywood is definitely after
more realism for Its Westerns.
First, all Indians in pictures were
bad. Tbey were characterized to
bite the dust, and they did. Then
ws showed all Indians as good fel
lows) and white men villains.
Simple Story. Them
"Now we're after realism and
try to show there's good and bad
in everyone. No one's completely
pure."
"Nowadays," says western actor
James Arness, star of television's
"Gunsmoke," "The Cowboy can't
be expected to Just kiss his horse
and fa off Into the sunset leavin'
the little gat waltin' behind. He
has to grab her and they ride oft
together." ; V
Another pitch for the modern
Western Is made by Borden Chase
one of the Industry ' finest writers
whose screen Credits Include "Red
River," "Winchester TJ." "Bend in
the River" and many others. He
observes: .
"The successful Western now is
long on character, narrative and
scenery and short on plot. The
story line is simple, woven around
a simple Wieme. .
ate Trav Karlee
. Chase, a ruddy faced, stocky
maa who looks younger than his
IS 'rears, predicts there will be
more true life stories about actual
people and events. To illustrate,
he named two Universal Interna
tional Westerns starring Audie
Murphy: "The Proud Land," the
, story of Philip Clum, an Indian
agent who captured Ceronimo and
pacified the Indians without a gun;
and his own screen play on the
life of Charles Russet, the great
Western painter.
v Chase, a Brooklyn-born ex-pulp
magazine writer who never rode
horse until he was 40, Is now a
real expert on Western Americana
particularly the. cowboy and his
equipment
But he says H's possible to get
Hon plotty or history happy." As
an example, be points to "bone
Star," In which "I got carried
away with early Texas and all Its
heroes."
. "Don't try to trick the audience,"
he added. "They come in to see a
Western and they don't want a lot
of psychologic si problems tossed
, at them. They want to see action,
and if the story sags now and then.
they can just watch the colorful
: Caa sharing Rentals
Chase says he's glad the B West
ems are gone becsuse the Old
West they depicted was fantasy
"Today's Westerns are more hon
est, more authentic and better
theater."
But this doesn't mean that gun
slinging and jawbusting will van
ish from the screen. Says Harry
Joe Brown, veteran producer for
Columbia nicturen:
"The action-filled Western win
always be around because it lets
the males In the audience live
vicariously while the gals thrill to
deeds of daring by her romantic
knight clad in chaps and spurt
instead of armour, naturally.
Maurice Geraghty, a writer
turned director, even believes the
old stock Western typified by to
day's Gene Autry and Roy Rogers
TV shows will continue to find a
market. He has written dozens for
both stars but now tnends most of
his time directing the "Impact
and "Lassie" television series.
StiU In Fatar
Geraghty Is another firm be-
Lever In telling the ' personal
story instead of the overall "period
01000." The modern Western hsi
the same plot as the formula West
era, he says, but with sn added in-
redient characterization.
All of which doesn't mean that
the old style horse operas will have
one thataway by tomorrow.
takes time for the big splashy
current Westerns to get down
a living room basis.
And in the meantime if Western
TV fans become impatient enough
to drop in at the neighborhood
theater, that win be more than all
right with Hollywood.
Tfcere Are Better
Times and Places
LOFTUS. Eng. INS-The Lof
tus town council was all in favor
of the new highway safety sign,
but suggested that traffic officials
not erect it next to the local ceme
tery. The sign read: "Take care
ad get there."
4 1
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