If you’ve watched a lot of B-Westerns from the 1930s and ’40s, you’ve probably seen Hal Taliaferro a dozen times. If you watch primarily “A” pictures, you might remember him in the role of buckskin-clad trail hand “Old Leather” in Red River (1948), half hidden behind Buffalo Bill-esque hair and beard. And even if you don’t know the name or the face, you might recognize him by his voice—he had one of the most distinctive and recognizable speaking voices in old movies. The first time I watched Dark Command (1940), in which he had a bit part as a townsman, I couldn’t spot him in a crowd scene but knew he was there somewhere because I knew the voice.

Like many actors, he performed under a screen name. Two different screen names, in fact. But unlike a lot of regulars in Western movies, Taliaferro was a genuine Westerner himself, born into a ranching family and working as a cowboy in his youth before he headed for Hollywood. And the story behind his second and probably most familiar screen name goes back to some entertaining tales from his family’s early days ranching in Montana in the 1880s. [Read more…]

It’s Legends of Western Cinema Week again! This yearly blog event hosted by Hamlette’s Soliloquy, Along the Brandywine, and Meanwhile, in Rivendell is always great fun, and I’m excited about this year’s edition! The questions in the kick-off tag are great ones, and I have at least one post coming later in the week that I really enjoyed putting together (maybe more than one post; I don’t know yet!). To get things underway, here’s my answers to the tag:

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1) Western movies or western TV shows?

Both to a degree, but I tend to think of TV shows as being a little lighter on plot (perhaps because of shorter running times) and on historical authenticity.

2) Funny westerns or dramatic westerns?

Dramatic, as in not purely comedy, probably has the edge here percentage-wise, but I like a story that’s leavened with good humor instead of being starkly dramatic the whole time.

3) Westerns that focus on loners or westerns that focus on families?

I’ve never been a big fan of the trope about the lonely, haunted drifter or gunfighter who’s fated never to find a home…but I do enjoy stories of a footloose character engaging with a family or community and becoming a part of it in some way. I guess you could say I like both, but I particularly appreciate a quality Western built around a family, especially an intact nuclear family, because they’re relatively rarer.

4) Male-centric westerns or female-centric westerns?

Either or both, honestly. This applies to stories I read and stories I write, too: it’s not the first thing I think about. I think it’s entirely natural that a large number of Westerns focus on men due to the nature of the setting—and yes, once in a while I may get the impulse to take in a story about a frontier woman instead, just for a change from the usual (as you might feel the hankering for a city story instead of a country one, or a 1900s story instead of an 1800s or vice versa) but whether a story centers around a man or woman is never the driving principle behind what I choose to read or watch.

5) 1930s to 1960s westerns or 1970s to 2020s westerns?

1930s-1960s, almost entirely. My answer to question No. 7 explains a lot of this, I think.

6) Westerns that take place in America or westerns that take place internationally?

Almost 100% of the Westerns I read and watch are American, but the one exception is the brilliant The Man From Snowy River (1982). I saw it for the first time last year and it shot immediately to a place among my favorite Western movies.

7) Family-friendly Westerns or edgier Westerns?

Well, my tastes and principles in general means that most movies I watch are “family-friendly,” and that’s a big reason I watch mostly older movies. However, I do appreciate a serious and powerful story, and I’m a firm believer in the idea that a creative artist can use the tools of their trade to tell a story with mature themes in a way that we call “clean.”

8) Straightforward good guy or conflicted hero?

I tend to prefer the straightforward good guy—not somebody unnaturally perfect, just a decent upstanding human being.

9) Historically accurate Westerns or Westerns that aren’t afraid to take some creative liberties?

The more I read and study about the West, the more I find historical inaccuracies in old movies and shows jarring on me—it makes me feel like such a wet-blanket, but I can’t help it. On the other hand, I do feel that older films often have certain qualities that later ones claiming realism are lacking…I have a bunch of thoughts on this topic that I might try and put into a blog post, whether during this week or another time. But put it this way: a Western movie that’s well-made and entertaining and historically accurate will score big points with me!

10) Bittersweet or happily-ever-after endings?

I’m a happy-endings girl. I can accept a bittersweet ending every once in a while if it’s just right—if it’s right for the story and if it strikes the right chord with my tastes—but in general I prefer a happy or at least satisfying end.

Check back later this week for my next Western post!