Saturday Man Movie

Haven't done one of these for a while, since it's getting harder and harder to find clips, but this trailer for Winchester '73 just couldn't be ignored. It's the story of real western man Lin McAdam who wins--the loses--a special 1 in 1000 Model 1873 Winchester rifle. The rifle changes hands several times afterwards, each time bringing death to the man who acquires it.



Made in 1950, this one had a big-budget cast. James Stewart. Rock Hudson. Shelley Winters. Dan Duryea. Charles Drake. Stephen McNally. Will Geer. Jay Flippen. Tony Curtis. James Best...Worth watching just to see all of these folks.

A note I found on Wikipedia lists James Best as the last surviving cast member.

He was the last one. And now he's gone, too.

The entire cast of this movie is dead of old age. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Two Air Force greats: The B-36 Peacemaker and General James Stewart

Here's a clip from the 1955 movie Strategic Air Command, with Jimmy Stewart, himself a real Army Air Force bomber pilot in World War Two and an Air Force Reserve General by the time he retired. Granted, you can only see him for a few seconds in the first cockpit shot, but he's there, as is actor Harry Morgan, who sits with his back to the camera but speaks at 02:45 and 03:04.

And then there's the Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber that was the real star of this movie. Yes, they were real. They really flew. The one in this movie is really flying.

There were 384 of these bombers built, and they were operated by the US Air Force for ten years, from 1949-1959. They required a crew of 15, and they had a range of 10,000 miles. The original idea when they were designed was to be used to bomb Europe from American airfields if England fell, but during the Cold War, they were tasked with dropping the nuclear hammer on Soviet Russia if the need arose. And they were big; three feet longer than today's B-52s and they had a wingspan 45 FEET greater to lift that massive fuel and bomb load and to hold six prop and four jet engines.

The B-36 bombers never dropped nukes on Russia, but they did accidentally drop two of them due to emergencies in training operations, losing one atomic bomb into the Pacific off the coast of British Columbia in 1950, and one hydrogen bomb into the desert outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1957. Whoopsie.

There are five of these aircraft left today. Just five out of three hundred eighty four. Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum has one in Dayton, Ohio. I've seen it. There's another at the Strategic Air Command Museum in Offutt, Nebraska. I've seen that one, too. Both are stored indoors and you can really get up close and personal with them.
A third is at Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona, and a fourth one resides at Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.
A fifth one was bought by military collector Walter Soplata and he's deceased now but the B-36 is reportedly still in pieces in his yard in Newbury, Ohio. The rest were taken out to the Davis-Monthan AFB in the Arizona desert and destroyed.

And the B-36 at Pima barely survived. I found this excellent article on what it took to save that one, with no real help from the Air Force.

The Last B-36 and the people who saved it from destruction.

Here's another clip on the B-36 and the then-new Strategic Air Command.

A great man and a great plane

The dogs and I stumbled across this gem this morning. It's a 1976 short put together by the Douglas Aircraft Company in which a DC-10 pilot, walking around the airport after a flight, finds a DC-3 sitting on the field and climbs aboard for a trip down memory lane.

The pilot is none other than James Stewart, award-winning actor and retired Major General, USAF, who began his military flying in World War Two as a B-24 pilot over Germany. He finished it with a flight as an observer aboard a B-52 over Vietnam 27 years later.

It's twenty minutes well spent, and if you have Amazon Prime, it's free for your big screen as part of a collection called "What were they thinking" that also features a WW2 training film about recognizing the Jap Zero and stars Ronald Reagan. That's where I found it.

And the DC-3...still a great plane today.

On a whim, I looked up the N-number of the one that Stewart sat in in this picture, N157U. Sadly, she crashed on take-off on May 4th, 1985 due to a propeller blade failure which caused the No. 1 engine to tear itself from it's mount. The crew of two and thirty-one passengers survived but N157U was damaged too badly to be salvaged. Damn shame.

Saturday Man Movie

In the 1962 movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, tenderfoot lawyer Ransome Stoddard, played by James Stewart, runs afoul of the local desperado bully, Liberty Valance played by Lee Marvin. Determined to stick it out, he eventually buys a gun to protect himself but has no idea how to use it. Here, gunfighter Tom Donophon played by John Wayne offers him a bit of instruction.



It's a great movie with an all-star cast. Valance's two henchmen are played by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Van_Cleef and Strother Martin. Donophon's right hand man was played by Woody Strode, a then-famous athlete-turned-actor. Other stars of the day such as Andy Devine, Edmund O'Brien, John Carradine and Denver Pyle can be seen in this one, too, along with a then-hot Vera Miles as the lady that Donophon pursued but Stoddard won.

And here's the epic gunfight from the showdown between Stoddard and Valance.



I won't spoil a great movie by giving too much away, but if you haven't seen it, you need to.

Aloft and away...and Warbirds!

Saturday morning, I dropped my dear mother off at the airport for her trip home. For some reason, she didn't care for a Cessna ride back to Michigan. Just as well though, because the weather's not looking at all conducive for a return flight over any of the next few days. However, Saturday's weather was great, and in the process of planning an intended Michigan flight, I found out about an event a couple of flying hours away that warranted a trip. So...

Off we go, on a heading of 335 degrees.

Half the fun of going somewhere is the trip itself. You never know what you'll see below you. Like here, in Berkley Springs, WV. It's the world's largest reel-to-reel tape player!

Or maybe it's just a water treatment plant. But it got my attention.

And then there's the Sideling Hill cut where I-68 chops through the mountain ridge just west of Hancock, MD.

Windmills galore northwest of Bedford, PA.

And the airport at Johnstown, PA, named after that slug John Murtha, unindicted conspirator from the ABSCAM scandal and basher of US Marines in Iraq. He's also famous for abusing his power in Congress to steer hundreds of millions of dollars to this formerly tiny airport that no one was using.

It is a nice airport, but almost no one uses it while the entire country gets taxed to pay for it, including a subsidy for every one of the few people who do use it.

But their Air Traffic Controllers were nice as they picked me up and gave me flight following all the way to my destination, which came in handy as the airspace around my destination was full on this day. They were giving me constant warnings of other aircraft in my immediate vicinity, none of which I could actually spot. At one time, there were four others within four miles of me and I couldn't see any of them. So I just turned on all my flashy blinky stuff, hoping that they could see me, and then I shed some altitude since they were all in the 4,000-6,000 foot range. My destination pattern altitude was 2,400 feet, so a drop to 3,000 gave me a little more separation from the others.

So I flew past this neat man-made lake...

And I joined the busy pattern at Indiana County, PA's Jimmy Stewart Airport.

I was actually in the pattern with a T-6 Texan and a Stearman bi-plane. How cool is that?

There were others too, though. The airport was hosting an open house and everyone was flying in or flying around.

I came around, lined up nice despite a stiff crosswind breeze, and slid in for a nice landing...or at least a nice one until I passed an opening between the hangars where the breeze was funneling through. The wind caught me in my flare and I dropped down onto one wheel and started skidding for the field lights before I got it straightened out with an application of power that brought the nose around and took me past the turn-off point as a bonus. And naturally, there were only a couple hundred plane-watchers sitting there along the runway to watch me land like a complete prat. I taxied back in from the far turn-off and since the guy in the orange STAFF shirt wasn't giving me any direction at all, I just coasted down to the end of a row of airplanes and parked myself on the grass. Then I walked back past all of the plane watchers, trying not to make eye contact after that landing.

But then a Pitts biplane came down and the same wind caught him. He bounced half way down the field and the audience broke out with fresh chuckles and snide comments; I was apparently forgotten. (But I can only imagine how they sounded when I screeched past all kittywumpus.) Then a T-6 made a less-than-stellar landing and I started to feel better. It wasn't just me. And the hell with these people; I still flew in here. Most of them likely didn't.
So I walked on, head held high, and went to see the planes.

There was this fantastic T-6.

And this one was the one fling around, offering rides.

There was a B-25 here, too.

It was an "H" model, with the 75mm gun up front in addition to six .50 machine guns.

There was a C-46.

There was some Eastern-Bloc L-29 jet action.

And the one that I came to see--The Boeing PT-17 Stearman.

They were selling rides on this one. I came to give that a whack because I'm kinda toying with the idea of buying one and I wanted to see if I could handle it's rudder pedals. I told them that I'd love to pay for a ride ($$$!) but only if I could try my hand at maneuvering it both on the ground and in the air. Not surprisingly, they weren't terribly keen on the idea at first, and when they saw the steel foot, it was pretty much: "Have a nice day and enjoy the rest of the displays." Oh well. Can't blame a guy for trying. (The B-25 guys wouldn't let me fly theirs, either. But no harm in asking, right?)

But then I found this one.

It's much nicer than the other one. (Osh Kosh award winner, 2012) And it's owners, Mike and Andy, spent a ton of time talking to me about Stearmans, including the one that I'm mulling. Turns out they know it and give it a thumbs up. And they let me get up close and personal with this one.

Front cockpit:

Rear cockpit:

Nifty gas gauge.

Yeah, I'm thinking I can learn to fly this.

There were other "normal" planes here, too.

A Decathalon:

An Ercoupe:

A Piper Cub:

I saw planes, ate way too much delicious and unhealthy carnival-type food, and then I went inside the FBO and they graciously loaned me this nice truck so that I could go into town for a bit.

Being a pilot has it's perks at times, and the use of airport crew vehicles is sometimes one of them.

I drove into downtown Indiana to make a pilgrimage to this place:

I mean, who doesn't love Jimmy Stewart? And this is his home town.

All too soon though, it was time to go. So I thanked the nice airport people for the use of their truck, did a quick pre-flight, and lined up to take off.

Going back, I could have just reversed my course up, but the day was too nice. I knew where I was, and I knew where home was, so I just set out to explore. Here's a nuke plant.

Here's a nifty river valley that just begs to be flown through. (Over, actually. I did not run the canyon, tempting as it was.)

Johnstown, PA from the west.

And a really nice-looking golf course. Miss ya, Pop.

I flew back over mountain ridges, farms, towns and forests and just had a ball.

Finally I got back home, and because the tower was closed and the field empty, my landing was perfect. (Sigh...someday there will be a witness to one of those.)

It was a great day. I went to bed tired but happy.

Saturday Man Movie

In the 1953 classic Bend of the River, reformed border raider Glyn McLyntock, played by James Stewart, is leading a group taking food and other supplies to a settlement that will starve without it.

Alas, he's double-crossed by his hired men, including a young Henry Morgan, and his friend, Emerson Cole, played by Arthur Kennedy. Here, Kennedy saves him from being killed and sends him on his way, taking the food to sell to a mining camp willing to pay much more for it.
Cole's going to regret that before too much longer. Unarmed, alone and on foot, McLyntock is going to get that wagon train back. Just you watch.

Saturday Western

In 1957's Night Passage, James Stewart and Audie Murphy play against each other as brothers gone down different paths. It's also one of the movies that casts war hero Audie Murphy as a villain. Aside from that, it's noteworthy for giving Stewart a chance to play the accordion and sing. Stewart was a real accordion player since his days as a World War Two bomber pilot in England.

It's been a long time since Hollywood's had real men like those two starring in it's pictures.

Saturday Man Movie

I know. I fell away from doing these when I went traveling a few months back. Truth be told, it was getting tougher to find video clips that I hadn't already shown.

But I found this one, from the 1955 movie Strategic Air Command, with Jimmy Stewart, himself a real Army Air Force bomber pilot in World War Two and an Air Force Reserve General by the time he retired. Granted, you can only see him for a few seconds in the first cockpit shot, but he's there, as is recently deceased actor Harry Morgan, who sits with his back to the camera but speaks at 02:45 and 03:04.

And then there's the Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber that was the real star of this movie. Yes, they were real. They really flew. The one in this movie is really flying.

There were 384 of these bombers built, and they were operated by the US Air Force for ten years, from 1949-1959. They required a crew of 15, and they had a range of 10,000 miles. The original idea when they were designed was to be used to bomb Europe from American airfields if England fell, but during the Cold War, they were tasked with dropping the nuclear hammer on Soviet Russia if the need arose.

The B-36 bombers never dropped nukes on Russia, but they did accidentally drop two of them due to emergencies in training operations, losing one atomic bomb into the Pacific off the coast of British Columbia in 1950, and one hydrogen bomb into the desert outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1957. Whoopsie.

There are five of these aircraft left today. Just five out of three hundred eighty four. Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum has one in Dayton, Ohio. I've seen it. There's another at the Strategic Air Command Museum in Offutt, Nebraska. I've seen that one, too. Both are stored indoors and you can really get up close and personal with them.
A third is at Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona, and a fourth one resides at Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California.
A fifth one was bought by military collector Walter Soplata and is still in pieces in his yard in Newbury, Ohio.

Here's another clip on the B-36 and the then-new Strategic Air Command.


And here's James Stewart talking about his real-life military exploits. A modest man, he didn't speak of these days very often, but he flew 20 combat missions as pilot in command of a B-24 Liberator bomber.

Saturday Morning Western

In this clip from 1962's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, villain Valance, played by Lee Marvin, messes with James Stewart but incurs the wrath of John Wayne.

This movie also starred Lee Van Cleef, Denver Pyle, John Carradine and Andy Devine. Seldom have such greats shared the screen in the same flick. They really don't make 'em like this one any more.

Saturday Western (man movie)

Today we revisit James Stewart, as legendary (and unusual) lawman, Thomas Destry jr.

And that blonde firecracker...Marlene Dietrich. Rawr!

Saturday Morning Man Movie

In the 1953 classic Bend of the River, reformed border raider Glyn McLyntock, played by James Stewart, is leading a group taking food and other supplies to a settlement that will starve without it.

Alas, he's double-crossed by his hired men, including a young Henry Morgan, and his friend, Emerson Cole, played by Arthur Kennedy. Here, Kennedy saves him from being killed and sends him on his way, taking the food to sell to a mining camp willing to pay much more for it.
Cole's going to regret that before too much longer. Unarmed, alone and on foot, McLyntock is going to get that wagon train back. Just you watch.

Saturday Morning Man Movie

In this clip from The Cheyenne Social Club, James Stewart, a staunch Republican in real life, explains things to Democrat Henry Fonda.

Duelling Destrys

What a great day for Cowboy movies.

This morning, AMC was running Destry Rides Again followed immediately by Destry. Both, of course, were the same story. The first was made in 1939 and starred James Stewart in the title role, and the second was done in 1954 and starred war hero-turned-actor Audie Murphy in the Destry role. Both were directed by George Marshall, and both were--and are--great movies.

The story deals with a rough-and-tumble town run by a rich and powerful bad guy. When the Sheriff disappears, the crooked mayor appoints the town drunk as Sheriff, figuring that he'll stay out of everyone's way. But the old drunk used to ride with frontier lawman legend Tom Destry back in the old days. That Destry--a fast and feared gunfighter--is dead, but he has a son, Tom Jr., played by Stewart and Murphy, who comes to town to help clean it up. But when Destry Jr. gets to town, the people are shocked and amused to find out that he doesn't even carry a gun! He quickly becomes the butt of a lot of jokes before the people start to realize that he doesn't need one.

In the first movie, Stewart has a great female lead in Marlene Dietrich. Murphy, fifteen years later, doesn't do too much worse when he gets paired off with Mari Blanchard, another big star from the 50's and 60's. But Dietrich definitely nailed the role, in my opinion.

Murphy did benefit from one other rising star in his version. The minor but important character of Jack Larson was played by a very young Alan Hale jr., a frequent bit player in old westerns later to become immortalized as The Skipper on Gilligan's Island.

I liked being able to watch the two films back-to-back because it gave me the opportunity to compare the actors' performances against their peers playing the same roles in the same story. It was easy for me to prefer Dietrich playing Frenchy over Blanchard's portrayal of Brandy (different names, but same "bad girl" character otherwise) but Stewart v. Murphy....Wow. Tough call there. Both are favorites of mine.

I watched the first one while eating breakfast and playing with Lagniappe, and then I drove to the gym to work out while the second one was on. I caught most of that one while on the treadmill, thus ensuring that I got MY workout in while Destry solved the murder of the missing sheriff and cleaned up the town.

As for my pick of the better Destry character...as much as I like Audie Murphy in those old westerns, I have to give the nod to Stewart in this particular role.

But hey--don't take my word for it. watch 'em both yourself and tell me who you like better. It's not like it'll kill you to watch the same movie twice with different actors in each version. It's a good tale that moves along fast and you'll never be bored.

I'll state in closing--as I have before--that both of these movies starred real war heros. Jimmy Stewart was an Army Air Corps bomber pilot over Germany--he enlisted even though he didn't have to because he felt that it was his duty as an American. Likewise, Alan Hale joined the Coast Guard and served in the Pacific Theater.

Audie Murphy wasn't an actor before the war, but his military credentials as America's most decorated combat veteran are beyond dispute.

It's a damned shame that Hollywood took such a sharp left turn between those days and now. Back then, many of the silver screen's best and brightest rushed off to serve. Nowadays, we're stuck with punks like George Clooney and Sean Penn who are more than willing to pocket big buck pretending to be soldiers on screen but who not only refuse to serve like more talented and patriotic actors did in the 1940's, but openly criticize our military and our Commander-in-Chief during a time of war, and in the case of traitors like Penn, provide actual aide and comfort to our enemies.

Saturday? Yee-hah!

Snow shovelling aside, it's still Saturday at the Lair, and that means Cowboy movies on TV. I try not to watch much TV during the week unless there's something good on the History Channel, but on Saturdays I indulge in the westerns on AMC. This morning's pick was North Passage, a 1957 classic starring James Stewart and Audie Murphy. I never tire of watching Stewart stand up to the old west bad guys, even when one of those bad guys is Murphy, someone that I'm used to rooting for as the hero. And one of the fun things about these old westerns is seeing who else got cast in bit parts. Lots of people that we came to know in later shows and movies often had small parts in these old westerns and the one that caught my eye in this one was Hugh Beaumont, who played the railroad tycoon's right hand man. Beaumont is of course much better known as Ward Cleaver from the "Leave it to Beaver" series and it was cracking me up to watch him being a cowboy. Another one of my favorite actors to watch for is James Best. We allknow him as Roscoe P. Coletrane from the Dukes of Hazzard show, but Best actually starred in many old westerns, usually in smaller roles, which is too bad, because he was usually pretty good.

But perhaps one of the strangest actors to star in a western was Oliver Hardy, who played Willie Paine, sidekick to John Wayne's John Breen in The Fighting Kentuckian (1949). Hardy, half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy (I realize that many today have no idea who they were...) was actually a good friend of John Wayne and Wayne asked him to take the role. It's worth watching just to see him play a semi-straight role (he's still comedy relief) but it's also a great one for watching John Wayne shooting and punching the bad guys and saving the day.

Yep, I gotta have my old westerns on Saturdays now. It's a highlight of my week, which would be pathetic if they weren't truly some of the best stuff on TV. They beat that crap put out by Hollywood today hands down. Put into contest with him over water rights or the girl, John Wayne would kick Jack Bauer's ass any day.

Now my only regret is that I'd never discovered Audie Murphy as a western star when I used to work out at Arlington National Cemetery. I saw his grave every day, and while I appreciated him as the war hero that he was, I was totally ignorant of his acting abilities.