RIP Cowboy actor Dale Robertson

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Dale Robertson, an Oklahoma-born actor who specialized in cowboy and western roles in the movies and TV, has died at the age of 89.

I remember him best as the star of the old TV western "Tales of Wells Fargo," from 1957 through 1962.

The obit on CNN states:

The role of a cowboy was not a stretch for Robertson, who grew up on an Oklahoma horse ranch. He and his wife raised horses in Oklahoma until moving to a San Diego suburb last summer, Susan Robertson said. 

Robertson never sought formal acting training, based on advice that he should keep his own personality, according to his biography. 

In the 1966 TV series "Iron Horse," Robertson played a character who won a railway in a high-stakes poker game. 

He hosted, along with Ronald Reagan, episodes of "Death Valley Days" during the 1960s.
Film roles, also mostly Westerns, included "Devil's Canyon," "Sitting Bull," and "Dakota Incident."

Italy -- A Western Film Festival in Orvieto!

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I can't believe it -- found out that there is going to be a western movie festival this May in Orvieto, the beautiful hill town in central Italy near which I have a house and spend a good chunk of the year.

Western Festival Orvieto will take place May 11, 12 and 13. The program of films to be shown is not yet online, but there is a guest list that includes big names such as Bud Spencer and Franco Nero.

The Guardian Honors Gene Autry

The Guardian newspaper in the UK has paid tribute to Gene Autry, noting the date November 15, 1934, when Autry (already a radio star) became cinema's first Singing Cowboy  as Number 7 in its series of the "50 key events in the history of world and folk music."

In 1934, he made his silver-screen debut in a B-western called In Old Santa Fe, the first of his 93 films. ... In 1939, he visited the UK with his horse, Champion, and while he was really a Hollywood creation, he brought the songs of the range to the world.

Interesting and useful blog about European Western Movies

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Hey -- I just came across the blog Westerns... all'Italiana -- which dedicated to "the preservation, investigation and all things related to European films and personnel involved with the western genre."

Great stuff! (I just snagged from it in my previous post the interview with Gojko Mitic.)

Movies -- What is a Western? Off geographic topic, but great film series on the Western

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

What is a Western? The Autry National Center in Los Angeles is hosting a great-looking film series on the Western that will explore the development of the movie genre, locating it in the broader social and cultural context and linking it to other pop culture genres.

What is a Western? Film Series

The Autry National Center announces the creation of a new film series that explores how movies have both mirrored and influenced larger social and cultural issues in the American West. It will challenge popular notions of what a Western is by showcasing various genres that can arguably be considered Western. All films will be tied to the Autry’s collection and current exhibitions, providing the audience a unique perspective on the objects and artifacts as they are viewed through an interpretive cinematic lens. Jeffrey Richardson, Associate Curator of Western History and Popular Culture, will offer key insights into each film before and after the screenings.
Other genres will include film noir, focusing on industrialization and urbanization in the mid-20th century; beach films from the 1950s and ‘60s, highlighting the youth revolution and social changes; urban police films from the 1970s and ‘80s, exploring the movement away from traditional Westerns in rural settings to urban locations; and space films, which incorporate the same conventions of traditional Westerns and launch them into outer space.

Western Movie Favorites

By Ruth Ellen Gruber



American National Public Radio (NPR) runs a "western starter kit for the movie-going tenderfoot" -- a list of key western movies selected by correspondent Bob Mondello.

I settled on five films representing different styles — Shane (1953), a classic traditional Western; The Searchers (1956), John Ford's complex epic about the treatment of Native Americans; The Wild Bunch (1969), Sam Peckinpah's revisionist Vietnam-era look at violence; Blazing Saddles (1974), Mel Brooks' romp through Western clichés; and Unforgiven (1992), a Clint Eastwood riff on disillusioned old-timers that's often referred to as a eulogy for the movie Western.

Listeners were asked to add their favorites..... Me? I would add The Frisco Kid, Limonade Joe -- and maybe a Winnetou movie....and a Gene Autry or two....