Released on August 31, 1946, The Big Sleep stars Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in one of classic Hollywood’s most famous film noirs.
Murder, mystery — and one famously complicated plot! Here are three fun facts about The Big Sleep…
1. Even Raymond Chandler Couldn’t Solve the Mystery!
Did You Know? According to director Howard Hawks, he and Humphrey Bogart couldn’t figure out who killed chauffeur Owen Taylor — so they asked author Raymond Chandler. Chandler reportedly admitted that he didn’t know either!
2. The Film Was Finished — Then Changed a Year Later
Did You Know?The Big Sleep was originally completed in early 1945, but additional scenes and retakes were filmed nearly a year later. The changes gave Bogart and Bacall more screen time together, and the revised version became the film released in 1946.
3. That Famous Horse-Racing Scene Wasn’t in the Original Version!
Did You Know? Bogart and Bacall’s famously suggestive horse-racing conversation wasn’t in the original 1945 version of The Big Sleep. The scene was added during the 1946 changes to give the pair more of the flirtatious chemistry audiences had loved in To Have and Have Not.
It’s hard to believe it, but it’s time for a preview of the
36th Lone Pine Film Festival!
This year’s festival takes place in Lone Pine, California, from
October 8th through 11th, 2026.
Countless movies were filmed in the Alabama Hills outside
Lone Pine, and Lone Pine is also the home of the Museum of Western Film
History.
The 2026 festival theme is “Mixing the Herd – A Corral of
Movie Genres.” There’s a little bit of
everything on the schedule at this year’s festival!
As always, the festival celebrates Westerns in general and
movies filmed in Lone Pine in particular; as hinted by the festival theme, this
year also features a particularly diverse lineup, including sci-fi and crime films,
silents, and comedies along with traditional Westerns.
Classic Westerns filmed in Lone Pine’s Alabama Hills which
will be shown at this year’s festival include:
*A restoration of Frontier Days (1934) starring Bill
Cody
*The Hopalong Cassidy film Renegade Trail (1939),
which includes a glimpse of the “Hoppy Cabin” outside Lone Pine
*Rawhide (1951) starring Tyrone Power and Susan
Hayward
*7 Men From Now (1956) starring Randolph Scott, Gail
Russell, and Lee Marvin
Additional classic-era Westerns to be screened include:
*The silent Hoot Gibson film The Texas Streak (1926),
with live musical accompaniment by J.C. Munns
*Spoilers of the Forest (1957), starring Rod Cameron;
his son Tony will be on hand to introduce a restoration of the film.
*The Proud Rebel (1956) with costar David Ladd on
hand to discuss the film and his father, the movie’s star, Alan Ladd
Another very interesting restoration to be shown this year
is Army Girl (1938), which filmed in several Lone Pine locations. The movie, which stars Preston Foster and
Madge Evans, was Republic Pictures’ most expensive film to that point in
company history. It received three Oscar
nominations, including for Best Cinematography.
One of the most notable scenes in Army Girl involves
a tank going over a stone wall. That wall, seen in this photo, still exists in
the Alabama Hills and can be seen on one of this year’s movie location tours.
Army Girl Wall
“Newer” movies to be shown this year include Sunset
(1988), which will be introduced by costar Mariel Hemingway. Sunset features Bruce Willis and James
Garner as cowboy star Tom Mix and real-life law enforcement legend Wyatt Earp.
Also on the schedule will be Road House (1989),
introduced by costar Kelly Lynch. Lynch
will also be presenting The Oyler House (2014), a documentary about her
Lone Pine home, which was designed by famed architect Richard Neutra. It’s a wonderful chance to learn about a
unique piece of Lone Pine history.
Films with unusual Western settings screening at this year’s
festival include:
*7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) with Tony Randall
*Valley of the Gwangi (1969) with James Franciscus
*Shanghai Noon (2000) starring Jackie Chan.
These fun films help illustrate the expansive nature of the
Western genre.
As always, there will be location tours for some of the
films listed above, including Rawhide. Below is a shot of Tyrone Power
and Susan Hayward filming Rawhide in the Alabama Hills.
Tyrone Power and Susan Hayward filming Rawhide in the Alabama Hills.
Additional 2026 location tour themes will include a sunrise
photography tour, a tour of the Bar 20 ranch, Gene Autry and Lone Ranger
locations, the serial Jungle Raiders (1945), and unique Lone Pine
locations such as the Mobius Ravine and Owens River.
There are also tours focused on photographer Ansel Adams’
legendary work in Lone Pine and at Manzanar.
The Manzanar National Historic Site is approximately 10 miles north of
Lone Pine on Highway 395.
There are also three horseback
movie location tours guided by my husband Doug. Below is a photo from one of his past tours.
Additional festival activities include the annual opening
night barbecue and closing campfire, the Sunday afternoon celebrity parade on
Main Street, and a nondenominational “Cowboy Church” service at Spainhower
Anchor Ranch.
Scheduled 2026 festival guests not already mentioned above include Diamond Farnsworth, Wyatt McCrea, Rudy Ramos, Darby Hinton, Alan K. Rode, Marc Wanamaker, C. Courtney Joyner, and Jay Dee Witney.
It’s going to be another wonderful year at the Lone Pine
Film Festival, and I hope some of my readers will join us!
I invite anyone interested in visiting the film
festival – or learning more about Lone Pine’s significant movie history — to
check out my past Western RoundUp columns on this subject which are linked
below.
The Lone Pine photographs accompanying this article are from the author’s personal collection.
…
– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
Double the Barbara Steele adds layers to the horror of ‘The Long Hair of Death’
The Long Hair of Death is a movie title that sparks
the imagination.
How will it fulfill the glorious promise of its title? Perhaps
as a variation of Medusa with exceedingly long snakes for hair? Or a darker
version of Rapunzel where lethal tresses wrap so tightly around a person, they squeeze
them to death? Think of those visuals!
No, nothing like that. While the 1964 Italian horror film has
an abundance of long hair, it isn’t used in the way my overactive imagination
envisioned it. Instead, it speaks to the women of the Karnstein family – mother
Adele and her daughters Helen and Lisabeth – whose beauty is magnified by their
gorgeous long, black hair.
By playing two roles, Barbara Steele doubles the appeal of The Long Hair of Death.
That’s not to say there isn’t any “hair horror,” however.
A particularly effective scene finds a character who is confused over what’s
real or a dream, is jolted – along with the viewer – to see he is clutching a
fistful of hair. It is a chilling moment of the highest level.
Much of the terror is found in its barbaric 15th century setting and the assortment of horror elements that come with it: witchcraft, curses, murder, a giant castle with scary hidden passageways, and wicked men who forcibly take whatever – or whomever – they desire.
Halina Zalewska also plays two roles in The Long Hair of Death. At left, she is Adele, a mother being unfairly burned to death. She appears later as her now-adult daughter, Lisabeth, who has been forced to marry the Count’s ruthless son, Kurt.
The best reason to watch is Barbara Steele who plays two roles, doubling the reasons to watch: Helen and a visitor named Mary. (Her hair is magnificent, BTW.) Also performing double duty is Polish actress Halina Zalewska as Adele and later the adult version of her daughter Lisabeth. Their performances are necessary in making the film ultimately work especially because it doesn’t always.
It’s an uneven movie that is too long at times, then frazzled
at others. The version I watched is dubbed, which makes it look cheaper than
its low budget. The fast-paced opening throws the viewer right into the action,
which is good, but then it languishes after making its point about the evilness
of certain characters when it should move on and, dare I say, get to the good
stuff.
Helen (Barbara Steele) pleads with Count Humboldt (Giuliano Raffaelli) to save her mother, unaware he is behind what’s happening.
The Long Hair of Death (I Lunghi Capelli Della Morte) opens with Helen frantically searching for Count Humboldt to save her mother, Adele, who is accused of being a witch. Helen doesn’t know he ordered her mother’s death for refusing his advances. He has no intention of saving Adele, only of forcing himself on Helen. Outside the castle, little Lisabeth watches her mother being burned alive much to the sick pleasure of the count’s son Kurt (played by Italian actor George Ardisson).
Creepy Kurt (George Ardisson) stands near the child Lisabeth, who he will force to marry him in just a few years. As Lisabeth cries over her mother’s death, she strokes her long black hair in a gesture she repeats throughout the movieh.
As she is dying, Adele vows to haunt the elder count and his
family and promises a plague across the land. It’s a wonderful set up for the
rest of the film, isn’t it? As a plague ravishes the area, the count unravels
and murders again to hide his sins.
Years pass and Lisabeth grows up in the castle mourning the
deaths of her mother and sister. She has allies in the maid Grimaldi and a
priest who have been by her side for years. She needs their help as creepy Kurt
lusts for her. It’s unsettling to watch this guy, whose angelic beauty is
belied by his evil soul, threaten Lisabeth. He not only craves her, but also his
father’s power, wealth and kingdom. He’ll do anything to have it all.
And like his father, Kurt will never be satisfied. He spent
years waiting for Lisabeth to become a woman but falls in lust at first sight when
a mysterious dark-haired beauty arrives (also played by Steele). He is deaf and
blind to the warning bells that this woman looks eerily like someone he used to
know. But we see the resemblance.
Her name is Mary and though she initially fights off Kurt’s
advances – “adultery is punishable by death,” she reminds him – the two quickly
“rendezvous” on a regular basis with Lisabeth all but forgotten.
Despite the support of Mary (one of two roles played by Barbara Steele), Kurt (George Ardisson) starts to fall apart under the strain of his evil deeds.
Thus, the film springs to life with the possibility of where
the story is going. The tension increases to the point where I was sitting on
the edge of my couch. (That’s my measurement of a good horror film.) Kurt is consumed by his lust for Mary and his
need to get Lisabeth out of the way while also descending into the same type of
paranoid madness that destroyed his father. Underscoring the intensity is the
ominous music of composer Carlo Rustichelli. As the film progresses, the already
eerie score often scales down to an unnerving, two-note motif.
At first, Mary’s familiar face makes it feel obvious where
the story will go. But her actions sow doubt since she’s all-in with hunky Kurt
no matter what he does. So, what’s really going on here? Who is an innocent?
And who deserves punishment? Will the Karnstein women have their revenge? This uncertainty
and the mounting dread kept me engrossed until the satisfying finale.
This may not be one of Barbara Steele’s best-known films, but she is luminescent in it. It was the second of two movies she made for director Antonio Margheriti (Castle of Blood was the first), who suffered unfair comparisons to Mario Bava. Taken on its own, The Long Hair of Death is a moody and satisfying Italian Gothic horror film.
Toni Ruberto, born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., is an editor and writer at
The Buffalo News. She shares her love for classic movies in her blog, Watching Forever and is a member
and board chair of the Classic
Movie Blog Association. Toni was the president of the former Buffalo
chapter of TCM Backlot and led the offshoot group, Buffalo Classic Movie Buffs.
She is proud to have put Buffalo and its glorious old movie palaces in the
spotlight as the inaugural winner of the TCM in Your Hometown contest. You can
find Toni on Twitter at @toniruberto or on Bluesky at @watchingforever.bsky.social
Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November
12, 1929, to Margaret Majer Kelly and John Kelly Sr. in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and was the third of their four children. Her father owned a
brickwork contracting company and won three Olympic gold medals for sculling.
Though he lost his run for Mayor of Philadelphia, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt appointed him as National Director of Physical Fitness. Kelly’s
mother, Margaret, worked as a model and taught physical education to the
University of Pennsylvania. She was also the first woman to coach athletics at
the University of Pennsylvania. After Margaret married, she focused on being a
homemaker, though she remained active in civic life.
Kelly
received her elementary education at Saint Bridget’s School in East Falls and
later attended Ravenhill Academy, a Catholic girls’ school. During her school
years, she participated in local theater productions, charity fashion shows,
and dance programs. At age twelve, she appeared in a community theater
production of Don’t Feed the Animals, an early indication of her growing
interest in acting.
In
1947, Kelly graduated from the Stevens School in the nearby Chestnut Hill
neighborhood. Her yearbook predicted that she would become ‘a famous star of
stage and screen,’ a forecast that would soon prove remarkably accurate.
Although she was rejected by Bennington College, largely because of weak
mathematics scores, she remained determined to pursue a professional acting
career despite her parents’ reservations. Her father, in particular, strongly
disapproved of acting as a profession and initially viewed it as an unsuitable
career path for his daughter.
After
graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1949, she began her
professional career in New York City, appearing in theatrical productions,
commercials, and live television dramas. At a time when television was rapidly
expanding as a medium, Kelly became a familiar presence on American screens
through her appearances in dozens of live broadcasts.
Her
first film appearance, a small role in Fourteen Hours (1951), did not
immediately make Undeterred, Kelly moved to New York City and enrolled at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she refined her acting skills while
supporting herself through modeling work. She signed with the Walter Thornton
Model Agency and soon appeared in advertisements and magazine features. After
graduating in 1949, she began building her reputation through stage productions
and live television performances, setting the stage for her rapid rise to
stardom in Hollywood.
Her
breakthrough came with High Noon (1952), in which she played Amy Fowler
Kane, the young Quaker bride of Gary Cooper’s marshal. Although some critics
later viewed the role as restrained, the film became a classic of American
cinema and introduced Kelly to a much wider audience.
Grace Kelly, High Noon
Mogambo
(1953)
brought Kelly even greater attention. Filmed in Africa and directed by John
Ford, the adventure drama placed Kelly alongside two established stars, Clark
Gable and Ava Gardner. Her performance as Linda Nordley earned her a Golden
Globe Award and her first Academy Award nomination. The role also helped
establish the qualities that would define much of her screen image: composure,
refinement, intelligence, and emotional reserve.
By
1954, Kelly had entered the most productive and acclaimed period of her career.
That year alone, she appeared in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Bridges
at Toko-Ri, The Country Girl, and Green Fire. The range of these
performances demonstrated her ability to move between suspense, drama, romance,
and psychological complexity. Her work in The Country Girl was
especially important because it challenged the assumption that Kelly’s appeal
rested only on beauty and elegance. In the film, she portrayed a weary and
emotionally burdened wife, a role that required restraint, vulnerability, and
dramatic depth. The performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Kelly’s
collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock became some of the most influential of her
career. In Dial M for Murder, she played Margot Wendice, a woman trapped
in a carefully plotted murder scheme. In Rear Window, she portrayed Lisa
Fremont, a sophisticated fashion consultant whose intelligence and courage
become central to the film’s suspense. In To Catch a Thief, she starred
opposite Cary Grant in a glamorous Riviera mystery that remains closely
associated with her public image. Hitchcock’s films helped shape the popular
idea of Kelly as cool, elegant, and mysterious, while also giving her
opportunities to play characters with wit, agency, and emotional complexity.
Kelly
met Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1955 while attending the Cannes Film
Festival. Their meeting, arranged as part of a photo opportunity at the
Prince’s Palace, soon led to a courtship that attracted intense public
interest. The couple married in April 1956 in both civil and religious
ceremonies in Monaco. The wedding was widely covered by international media and
watched by millions, becoming one of the most prominent public events of the
decade.
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III Wedding
Upon
her marriage, Kelly retired from acting at the age of twenty-six and assumed
the title Princess Grace of Monaco. Her transition from Hollywood star to
European princess was closely followed by the press, but she sought to define
her new role through public service, cultural leadership, and family life. She
and Prince Rainier had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert II, and
Princess Stephanie.
As
Princess of Monaco, Grace became involved in a range of charitable, cultural,
and civic initiatives. She served as president of the Monaco Red Cross and
supported organizations dedicated to children, families, the arts, and
humanitarian causes. In 1964, she established the Princess Grace Foundation in
Monaco to support local artisans and cultural work. She also founded AMADE
Mondiale, an organization focused on protecting children and promoting their
well-being around the world.
Although
Kelly did not return fully to acting, she maintained a connection to the arts.
She participated in poetry readings, narrated documentaries, and supported
cultural institutions in Monaco. Her final film-related work included narration
for The Children of Theatre Street (1977), a documentary that was
nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Her continued
association with the arts helped reinforce her identity as both a former
performer and a patron of creativity.
On
September 13, 1982, Princess Grace suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while driving
near Monaco. Her car left the road and crashed down a mountainside. She was
taken to Monaco Hospital with severe injuries and died the following day,
September 14, 1982, at the age of 52. Her death prompted widespread mourning in
Monaco, the United States, and around the world.
Princess
Grace was buried in Monaco’s Saint Nicholas Cathedral. Prince Rainier, who
never remarried, was later buried beside her following his death in 2005.
In
the years after her death, her family and admirers continued to preserve her
memory through charitable, cultural, and artistic initiatives. Her son, Prince
Albert II, helped establish the Princess Grace Awards in 1984 to recognize
emerging artists in theater, dance, and film.
Grace
Kelly’s legacy remains unusually wide-ranging. In cinema, she is remembered as
one of the most distinctive actresses of the 1950s and a defining figure in
Alfred Hitchcock’s body of work. In fashion, she remains an enduring symbol of
polished, understated elegance. The Hermès Kelly bag, named after her, became
one of the most recognizable luxury accessories in the world. In philanthropy, many
institutions associated with her name continue to support artists, children,
families, and cultural organizations.
In
1984, Rainer dedicated a rose garden in Monaco’s Fontvieille district in
Kelly’s memory. The hybrid tea rose named Rosa Princesse de Monaco was named
after her. There is also a statue of her in the garden.
Grace Kelly statue, Monaco
An
additional statue of Kelly stands in Monte Carlo.
Grace Kelly statue, Monte Carlo
In
2012, Kelly and Rainier were honored with a monument in Yoshkar-Ola, Russia.
Yoshkar-Ola monument to Grace Kelly and Kelly and Prince Rainier
Ranier championed the Grace Irish Library in Monaco,
sharing Ireland’s literary culture with the population. It contains Kelly’s
personal collection of over 9,000 books and sheet music.
The Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco
In
turn, in 2023, Kelly’s son, Prince Albert II, was present for the dedication of
another statue of Kelly. The statue is located near the Seven-Arch Viaduct in
Newport, County Mayo, Ireland.
Grace Kelly statue, Ireland
In
1984, Rainier gifted a bust of Kelly to the National Portrait Gallery in
Washington, D.C.
The
Prince’s Palace of Monaco remains the residence of the Sovereign Prince of
Monaco, located at Place du Palai princier, Monaco.
Palace of Monaco
Avenue
Princesse Grace in Monaco is dubbed “the most expensive street in the world”
and named for her.
Boulevard
Princesse Grace de Monaco is also named for her, with a memorial located at 71
Bd Princesse Grâce de Monaco, 06230 Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.
She
has also been celebrated with postage stamps as well as commemorative coins and
currency.
There
are numerous hotels and suites named after or inspired by Kelly, including the
Hotel Bel-Air (Los Angeles, California), the Ritz-Carlton Hotel de la Paix
(Geneva, Switzerland), the InterContinental Carlton Cannes Hotel (Cannes,
France), and the Shelbourne Hotel (Dublin, Ireland). She was a frequent
long-term guest at the Hotel Bel-Air.
Grace’s
childhood home was marked as a historical landmark with marker in front of it.
The home stands at 3901 Henry Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
3901 Henry Ave., Philadelphia, PA
In the 1950s, Kelly resided at the Lanai Apartments at
1285 Sweetzer Ave., Apt. 46, West Hollywood, California.
Lanai Apartments, CA
Kelly has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,
honoring her work in motion pictures. It is located at 6329 Hollywood Blvd.,
Los Angeles, California.
Grace Kelly’s Walk of Fame Star
In 2009, she was honored with a plaque on the Rodeo
Drive Walk of Style, recognizing her contributions to style and fashion.
In 2021, the Princess Grace Foundation—USA launched
Grace de Monaco, a luxury brand. All proceeds go directly to the foundation to
fund new talent in theater, dance, and film.
Her wedding dress, maid of honor dress, and flower
girl dresses are preserved at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, though rarely on
display. It is located at 2600 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
She has also been celebrated through various doll iterations, inspired by her personal life and professional career.
Annette Bochenek, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 60 years since Star Trek first
invited television audiences to boldly go where no one had gone before. Six
decades, countless strange new worlds and one enormous pop-culture legacy
later, the It Came From Texas Film Festival is celebrating that
milestone with a very special day devoted to all things Star Trek.
On Saturday, September 12, 2026, Garland Cultural Arts and the It Came From Texas Film Festival will present Boldly Going to Garland: Celebrating 60 Years of Star Trek, an all-day celebration taking place at two locations in Downtown Garland, Texas: the historic Plaza Theatre and the Garland Central Library.
At the heart of the celebration are the films and television episodes themselves, with big-screen screenings at the Plaza Theatre, plus Captain’s Conversations, trivia, costume contests, and more.
And just a short walk away, the Garland Central Library will offer its own full slate of Star Trek activities — all free and open to the public. From exhibits and collectibles to fan films, workshops — including Klingon 101 and Make Your Own Tribble — and other interactive activities, the Library will give fans even more ways to explore the Star Trek universe throughout the day.
At the Plaza Theatre: Star Trek on the
Big Screen
One of the day’s highlights will give fans the opportunity to experience
the story of one of Star Trek‘s most memorable villains as one
continuous adventure.
The Plaza will screen the classic 1967 Star Trek: The Original Series
episode “Space Seed,” which introduced Khan Noonien Singh, followed by
its legendary cinematic sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(1982).
Dr. Christopher González,
Professor and Chair of English at Southern Methodist University, will join the
festival for Captain’s Log: Diversity in
the Federation. González will discuss Star Trek‘s groundbreaking commitment to diversity beginning
with the original 1966 series and explore how representation has continued to
evolve across the franchise. His discussion will provide context for “Space
Seed” and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Also screening at the Plaza Theatre will be J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) — with special guest Academy Award-winning makeup artist Barney Burman.
During Captain’s
Log: Creating New Worlds, Burman will take audiences behind the scenes
of the film and into the creation of its unforgettable aliens and characters.
His work on Star Trek earned him the
Academy Award for Best Makeup — the first,
and to date only, Oscar won by the Star
Trek franchise.
Burman’s own history with Star Trek began much earlier. A third-generation makeup
artist, he started his career working in his father’s makeup effects lab on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
(1984). He even had a small role in the film as a bar alien, although
the scene was cut down in the final edit. He went on to work on films and
television series including The X-Files,
Galaxy Quest, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean, Planet
of the Apes, Big Fish, The Ring, Mission: Impossible III and Tropic Thunder.
Both Captain’s Conversations will be moderated
by Nancy Churnin, former Dallas Morning News theater critic,
acclaimed children’s author and lifelong Star
Trek fan.
At the Garland Central Library — FREE
and Open to the Public
The Garland Central Library will expand the day’s Star Trek
celebration with its own lineup of activities — all free and open to the
public.
From 10 AM to 6 PM, fans can explore exhibits, art and
collectibles, browse vendors, enjoy music, watch fan films and blooper reels,
and participate in workshops and hands-on activities.
Want to make your own Captain’s Log? Paint a Combadge? Create your own
Tribble to take home? Brush up on your Klingon? Those are among the
activities planned for the Library throughout the day.
A Texas Connection to the Final
Frontier
And, appropriately enough for the It Came From Texas Film Festival,
Star Trek has had a Lone Star connection from the very beginning.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso, Texas — and Garland
even has its very own Star Trek Lane.
As Festival Director Kelly Kitchens explains:
“I love that the final frontier and the Lone Star State have always
shared the same flight plan—and giving the It Came From Texas Film Festival
every reason to make this galactic celebration its own in Garland.”
Boldly Going to Garland: The Details
Saturday, September 12, 2026
Plaza Theatre
521 W. State Street
Garland, Texas 10 AM – 10 PM
The Plaza Theatre will feature the Star Trek screenings, Captain’s Conversations, trivia, costume contests and more.
Day Pass: $55 plus fees. Availability is limited.
Garland Central Library
625 Austin Street
Garland, Texas 10 AM – 6 PM
The Library will feature exhibits, art and collectibles, vendors, music,
fan films, blooper reels, workshops and interactive activities.
Library events are FREE and open to the public.
The festival notes that the full schedule is still being finalized,
with additional details to come.
For the latest festival schedule and information, visit GarlandArts.com.
Tickets for the Plaza Theatre are available now through Prekindle.
So dust off your Starfleet uniform, polish your communicator and set a
course for Garland, Texas…
During the 1900s and 1910s there was one genre
of American film that skyrocketed in popularity, becoming more prevalent than
at any other time since. No, it wasn’t the western, or even the slapstick
comedy–although those aren’t bad guesses–but the Civil War film.
The Drummer Girl of Vicksburg (1913).
This is profound when we consider that the
conflict of North versus South had taken place only a few decades before the
motion picture cameras started rolling. More than a few of the white-haired
theater patrons had personal memories of the war, while their children and
grandchildren had grown up with exciting stories of gunfire and cannons from
days gone by. And since cinema was such a young art form, those exciting battle
stories from the pages of history could finally, for the first time, be
portrayed at full scale.
The Old Man and Jim (1911).
Historically, the timing was right for such a
genre. Nowadays it’s easy to forget not just the terrible bloodshed of the
Civil War, but the lingering bitterness and sorrow that lasted years after it
had ended. While the United States did stay united, it wasn’t until the 1880s
that both Union and Confederate soldiers were agreeing to march together in
commemorative parades. Key anniversaries were often observed by praising the
sacrifices of both North and South, and the “Lost Cause” mythos slowly became commonplace.
While it’s an obscure event today, it seems that the Spanish-American war was a
big turning point. It was the first time the one-time “boys in blue and the
boys in grey,” so to speak, were fighting side by side in a common cause.
The late 1900s saw the rise of the Civil War
film right around the time of two other popular genres, the Western and the
“Indian film” (which often portrayed American Indians more sympathetically than
we’d assume). 1908 seemed to have been a turning point. In the book The
Transformation of Cinema: 1907-1915, historian Eileen Bowser noted that
there were around a dozen copyrighted Civil War films in 1908 (these would’ve
been quite short, ten minutes or less on average). 1909 recorded twice as many,
1910 thirty-two, and 1911 had around seventy-five. This isn’t surprising when
we learn that 1911 was the first year Americans started observing the 50th
anniversary of the Civil War. Interest in that era of history was at a peak
from 1911-1915, complete with large celebrations and new monuments.
The 1913 reunion at Gettysburg.
Selig, Vitagraph, Biograph, Kalem and Ince
were some of the prominent motion picture companies who recognized the draw to
Civil War films early on. They capitalized on the 50th anniversary
celebrations, the exciting spectacle of battle reenactments (Thomas Ince‘s
studio especially was well-equipped with vast amounts of land for these scenes)
and the plentiful opportunities for drama. Directors often focused on real
historical events, “family honor” tales or bittersweet stories of brothers
being pitted against one another. Biograph’s The House With Closed Shutters (1910)
was a Poe-like tale of a mother who locks her son away in her house after he
refuses to go to war. Pathé’s Abraham Lincoln’s Clemency (1910) showed
the Great Emancipator granting a pardon to a young sentry who falls asleep
while on duty. Kalem would release a number of short spectacles like The
Drummer Girl of Vicksburg (1911) and “Fighting Dan” McCool (1912)
using actual cannons and plenty of gunfire smoke. It wasn’t uncommon for actual
Civil War cannons to show up in these early films, as they were still plentiful
at the time. And since many studios were on the East coast, they sometimes
filmed right on the actual historic battlegrounds.
“Fighting Dan” McCool (1912).
Both Union and Confederate points of view were
represented in various films, although initially Union-based stories were more
common. This was partly due to practicality–the South had fewer film exchanges
and distributors in the nickelodeon era, so filmmakers were more focussed on
pleasing northern audiences. It was also partly due to the war still being a
sensitive subject. In 1909 an exhibitor wrote to the magazine Moving Picture
World about the Kalem film The Escape from Andersonville (1909),
which centered its story around a Confederate prison camp: “It is attracting
attention and will continue to do so as long as exhibited in the South, as it
touches too close to old sores not yet entirely healed.” In its review of the
Biograph drama Swords and Hearts (1911), the World commented:
“One of the scenario problems of the day is to write a Civil War story that
will not offend that considerable population south of Mason and Dixon’s line.”
After Southern exhibitors started commenting
about the lack of exciting Confederate stories, studios started focusing more
on the Confederate point of view and quickly found they had broad appeal. From
about 1911 onwards, there were more stories with Southern protagonists than
vice versa, often told from a “Lost Cause” type of framework.
The Coward (1915).
Studios also started competing to create
bigger and bigger spectacles. Ince’s The Battle of Gettysburg (1913) was
five reels long and released to coincide with Gettysburg’s 50th anniversary.
Francis Ford’s The Battle of Bull Run (1913) ran about 40 minutes long
and reportedly spent a then-whopping $19,000 on its battle scenes. This trend
would peak with D.W. Griffith’s multi-hour blockbuster The Birth of a Nation
(1915), the scale of which no one had ever seen before. Controversial today
for its depiction of African-Americans and the KKK (it even roused some
controversy at the time), at the time it was the ultimate depiction of the
Civil War and took audiences by storm.
The Battle of Bull Run (1913).
The Civil War would continue to be fertile ground for film stories in the years to come, most famously in Buster Keaton’s milestone comedy feature The General (1926). When we study these many early films, especially from the years leading up to 1915, it’s easy to theorize that they served more than just spectacle or romanticization. In a sense, they very well may have helped America come to terms with the conflict and its lingering wounds.
Lea Stans is a born-and-raised Minnesotan with a degree in English and an obsessive interest in the silent film era (which she largely blames on Buster Keaton). In addition to blogging about her passion at her site Silent-ology, she is a columnist for the Silent Film Quarterly and has also written for The Keaton Chronicle.
Next to film noir, my favorite era of filmmaking is pre-Code
– and it’s no wonder that I’m so fond of these pictures – so many of them served
up plots that would have made near-perfect film noirs. In my Noir Nook for July
2026, I took a look at five pre-Codes with shadowy, noir-like stories and
characters. This month, I’m concluding my two-part series with another five
features with early ‘30s pedigrees but 1950s vibes – check ‘em out!
Two Seconds (1932)
J. Carroll Naish and Edward G. Robinson
This don’t-miss feature stars Edward G. Robinson as John
Allen, an everyman skyscraper worker who, at the film’s start, is about to get
grilled in the state’s electric chair. Literally. We learn early on the meaning
of the title – the prison doctor reveals that Allen’s body will be paralyzed
after the electric current is turned, but his brain function will continue for
two seconds, or “long enough for him to relive his whole life.” And the film
gives us access to those two seconds, in the form of an extended flashback that
shows us exactly what Allen did in order to find himself in this ignoble
predicament.
In addition to employing the use of the flashback – a staple
of film noir – the picture operates under an ever-present cloud of inescapable misfortune;
after all, what could be more noir-like than the knowledge that our hero (or,
anti-hero, if you will) is going to die in the final reel? The noir-ness of it all is also served up in
the form of a femme fatale – a taxi dancer (Vivienne Osborne) who uses her
feminine wiles to lead poor, dumb John down the path to ruination. Pure noir.
The Story of Temple Drake (1933)
Miriam Hopkins and Jack La Rue
This is one of the few pre-Codes that I’ve never really
wanted to see more than once. I mean, it is so icky that I practically wanted
to take a shower after I saw it. Miriam Hopkins plays the title role, the
granddaughter of a small-town Mississippi judge, whose syrupy sweet drawl and
refined manners belie a hot-blooded nature and a penchant for mendacity. We
learn early on that Temple has rejected the marriage proposal of an upstanding
local attorney, Stephen Benbow (William Gargan), and while her grandfather insists
that she is a “good girl,” he also observes that he would “feel better about
Temple if [he] knew she had someone steady and reliable like [Stephen] to take
care of her.”
The film’s plot is rather labyrinthine (another trait that
is sometimes common to film noir), but notwithstanding its disturbing,
unsettling tone, it’s not as noir-like as Temple herself. In turning down
Stephen’s second proposal, Temple tells him that she is the problem, not he –
that she’s “no good . . . it’s something inside” her; it’s an admission that’s
reminiscent of several noir femmes, including Annie Laurie Starr (Peggy
Cummins) of Gun Crazy (1949), and Born to Kill’s Helen Brent
(Claire Trevor), who were both fully aware of their shadowy personas and were
unable to avoid their inevitable ends.
Blood Money (1933)
Frances Dee
This underrated film features a performance by the habitually
sweet Frances Dee that you have to see to believe. She plays Elaine Talbart, a
spoiled, reckless, adventure-seeking socialite, who’s got more than a touch of
sociopathy in her soul – not to mention larceny and nymphomania. When we first
meet Elaine, she’s recently been arrested for grand theft and pays a visit to bail
bondsman Bill Bailey (George Bancroft), giving him a $6,000 diamond ring as
collateral so he’ll post her $1,500 bail and secure her release from jail while
she awaits trial. After Elaine accepts Bailey’s offer to take her home, she
swipes a cigarette lighter (inscribed by prizefighter Jack Dempsey) from his
desk; when Bailey later sees her using the lighter, she looks at him with an
impish grin and says, “So what?” She’s a piece of work, I’m telling you – and
this introduction doesn’t even scratch the surface. Incidentally, Bailey is no
bastion of virtue – he’s as crooked as San Francisco’s Lombard Street and as
corrupt as a two-headed coin.
One of the most noir-like aspects of Blood Money is the
fact that there are no clear heroes – almost every character is at least tinged
– if not soaked – with danger, dishonesty, or depravity (or perhaps all three),
and their lives intersect in a collision course to disaster. Nightclub owner
Ruby Darling (Judith Anderson in her big screen debut) is the most honorable of
the group, but her brother, Drury (Chick Chandler) is a reckless career
criminal, and Ruby is in love with Bailey, who falls for Elaine, who’s
attracted to the menace that Drury represents. An atmosphere of doom surrounds
this quartet, as – in true noir fashion – one bad decision after another
guarantees no good end.
Midnight Mary (1933)
Ricardo Cortez and Loretta Young
This feature opens as the title character – played by
Loretta Young – is on trial for murder and awaiting the jury’s verdict. Like we
saw in Two Seconds, a flashback lasting nearly the length of the film
shows Mary’s journey from an impoverished childhood, through confinement in
juvenile detention (for a crime, incidentally, that she didn’t commit), and her
eventual involvement with a group of petty criminals led by the charming but
deadly Leo Darcy (Ricardo Cortez).
It’s Mary’s relationship with Leo that provides the film
with its noirish aura. Leo initially provides a port in a storm for Mary,
offering her food and shelter when she’s close to starvation and unable to find
work. She even willingly takes part in his illegal activities – at first. Later,
Mary manages to extricate herself from Leo’s criminal exploits, but fate keeps
sticking out a foot to trip her up, and she’s unable to resist the gravitational
force that keeps pulling her back into Leo’s orbit. The movie ends with a
decidedly un-noir-like happy ending, but the road taken to get there has enough
darkness to satisfy any noir fan.
Heat Lightning (1934)
Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, and Ann Dvorak
Coming in at the tail end of the pre-Code era is this
first-rate feature starring Aline MacMahon and Ann Dvorak as sisters who run a service
station and auto camp in the Arizona desert. The younger sister, Myra (Dvorak),
is unhappy with her isolated surroundings and is (a little too) eager to grow
up, while Olga (MacMahon) is sensible and hard-working, but harbors a long-held
secret past. That past comes back to haunt her when two criminals on the lam
from the law show up on the gas station’s doorstep.
Heat Lightning is chock-full of noirish plot points,
characters, and decisions, not least of which is the air of impending jeopardy.
One of the criminals – Jeff (Lyle Talbot) – is skittish and paranoid, and the
other, George (Preston Foster) – who was romantically involved with Olga years
before – exudes a sensation of suppressed violence. Olga is tormented by the
dual conflict caused by her rebellious kid sister and the sudden re-emergence
of George in her life. And the atmosphere of tension and uncertainty is
compounded by the oppressive desert heat, the threat of an electrical storm,
and a trio of stranded travelers staying at the auto camp. It’s a perfect set-up
for the shadowy presence that inhabits the world of film noir.
——–
Can you think of any other pre-Codes with noir-like plots? Leave a comment and let me know!
…
– Karen Burroughs Hannsberry for Classic Movie Hub
Karen Burroughs Hannsberry is the author of the Shadows and Satin blog, which focuses on movies and performers from the film noir and pre-Code eras, and the editor-in-chief of The Dark Pages, a bimonthly newsletter devoted to all things film noir. Karen is also the author of two books on film noir – Femme Noir: The Bad Girls of Film and Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir. You can follow Karen on Twitter at @TheDarkPages. If you’re interested in learning more about Karen’s books, you can read more about them on amazon here:
I’m always
impressed at just how many Frankenstein movies Universal turned out between
1931 and 1948, and I’m also deeply entertained by the studio’s mix and match
approach to making those pictures where its stars were concerned. It might not
make for the best cinematic art, but it does make for a lot of fun if you’re a
certain kind of classic monster movie fan. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
(1943) is the fifth of eight Universal pictures in the Frankenstein family
sequence, this time featuring Ilona Massey as the granddaughter of the original
monster maker and daughter of the ill-fated Ludwig from the previous entry, The
Ghost of Frankenstein (1942). Bela Lugosi, who had previously played the
conniving henchman Ygor, here assumes the role of the monster, which makes more
sense if you know that Ygor had schemed to get his own brain implanted into the
creature in the 1942 film. Despite the title, however, Frankenstein Meets
the Wolf Man is much more a direct sequel to The Wolf Man (1941)
than anything else, and its appeal derives mainly from the continuing struggles
of unwilling werewolf Larry Talbot, once again played with great sincerity by
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Bela Lugosi plays Frankenstein’s monster in this sequel, while Lon Chaney Jr. reprises his role as werewolf Larry Talbot.
Supposedly
killed by his own father at the end of The Wolf Man, Larry Talbot is
accidentally revived when thieves break into his tomb during a full moon. He
winds up in a hospital in Cardiff, where Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles) takes
him for a psychiatric case, but when he escapes and leaves a trail of corpses,
Mannering pursues him across Europe. Larry reunites with his old friend, Maleva
(Maria Ouspenskaya), the mother of the werewolf who originally bit him, and the
two of them travel to Vasaria with the hope that Dr. Frankenstein’s scientific
discoveries can help Larry finally find peace in death. Instead, they meet Elsa
Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), who has no wish to see her family’s horrific
legacy continued, even though Dr. Mannering soon becomes fascinated by the
experiments that give the monster his power.
Larry, in his werewolf form, discovers the monster frozen in ice beneath the ruins of the Frankenstein castle.
It’s both
great and tragic to see Larry Talbot back in action in this sequel, which is
set four years after the events of The Wolf Man. The original movie
seemed to give Larry the death and closure he needed, but of course the werewolf
proved too useful a character for the expanded cast of Universal monsters, so Larry
is back and now on a perpetual quest to find a way to die. The werewolf’s
longing for death becomes something of a trope thanks to Universal’s
resurrection of Larry, and it’s put to particularly good use in the 1987 cult
classic, Monster Squad, although the afflicted protagonist in An
American Werewolf in London (1981) is less eager to embrace his victims’
encouragement to commit suicide. Larry’s everyman quality makes him an
especially sympathetic monster because he’s just a normal guy who has been
robbed of his humanity and mortality through no fault of his own. Chaney plays
Larry with absolute sincerity, and our response to him is enhanced by the
gravitas embodied by tiny Maria Ouspenskaya as Maleva. She treats him as a
substitute for her lost son and does her best to care for him as they search
for a way to end his torment. I find the scenes with the two of them very
moving, and I wish the picture had given them a few more, especially in the
third act.
Dr. Mannering (Patric Knowles), Elsa Frankenstein (Ilona Massey), and Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) visit Larry and the monster in the castle ruins.
Outside of
the actual story, the most interesting thing about this installment is the way
it shuffles players from the previous films into new roles, creating a
fascinating sort of multiverse for the observant viewer. Chaney had played the
monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein, and apparently there had been a plan
to have him play both Larry and the monster in this picture, but instead we
have Lugosi switching from the Ygor role to the iconic creature. Lionel Atwill first
played Inspector Krogh in Son of Frankenstein (1939), but he plays
different characters each time in The Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein (1944), and House of
Dracula (1945). Patric Knowles, who played Frank Andrews in The Wolf Man,
this time plays Dr. Kettering and once again wins the attention of the leading
lady (with Elsa Frankenstein played here by Ilona Massey but previously
portrayed in TheGhost of Frankenstein by Evelyn Ankers, who had
played the love interest in The Wolf Man!). Dwight Frye, best remembered
today as Renfield in the 1931 Dracula but also the original Dr.
Frankenstein’s henchman, Fritz, in Frankenstein (1931) and a second
lackey, Karl, in Bride of Frankenstein (1935), reappears as a perfectly
ordinary villager in Vasaria. Sadly, it would be Frye’s final appearance, for
he died of a heart attack in 1943 at the age of 44. While the casting choices
were probably just efficient for Universal, they give each installment of the
series an eerie sense of déjà vu because we really have seen these faces
and situations before, with each new generation of the Frankenstein family
playing out a looping arc of terror and tragedy. Over the course of the series,
we also get the opportunity to see Boris Karloff’s original take on the monster
recreated or revised by Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, and, starting with House
of Frankenstein, Glenn Strange. While it’s not as flexible a role as
something like Dracula, it’s still interesting to see how each successive actor
brings a little of his own personal style to the monster, with Lugosi’s version
in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man occasionally casting some very
devious eye rolls that hint at the malevolent nature of Ygor’s brain still at
work in the creature’s skull.
Although Elsa warns him against it, Dr. Mannering becomes intrigued by the idea of restoring the monster to full strength.
You’ll have no trouble finding other Frankenstein or werewolf movies to watch, but for more from director Roy William Neill, you might try some of his many Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone, or his final film, Black Angel (1946). Screenwriter Curt Siodmak, brother of director Robert Siodmak, penned both The Wolf Man and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, which might help to explain its heavy focus on Larry Talbot. For more of the tiny but powerful Maria Ouspenskaya, see her Oscar nominated performances in Dodsworth (1936) and Love Affair (1939), or look for her in The Mortal Storm (1940), The Man I Married (1940), or Dance, Girl, Dance (1940). Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man originated the trend for bringing multiple monsters together in a picture, so in some ways we have it to thank – or blame – for the Dark Universe land at the Epic Universe theme park and modern horror movies like Freddy vs. Jason (2003) and Alien vs. Predator (2004), as well as The Munsters TV series and the short-lived 1980 cartoon show, Drak Pack.
Ronald Ralph Schell was born on December 23, 1931, in Richmond,
California, to David and Marguerite Schell. His father worked as a stock checker
at an automobile industry plant and later worked for a naval supply center. His
mother was a waitress and saleswoman at Macy’s.
After graduating from Richmond High School, where he was reportedly a
class clown and frequently expelled, he served four years in the United States
Air Force, achieving the rank of airman first class before pursuing a career in
entertainment. In 1958, he graduated from San Francisco State College.
Schell first gained national attention with a memorable appearance on the
May 28, 1959, episode of You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx.
During the program, Schell impressed audiences with a rapid-fire routine of
beatnik-inspired jive talk, showcasing the energetic comedic style that would
become his trademark.
Before becoming a familiar face on television, Schell developed his
stand-up act at the legendary hungry i in San Francisco, California, a renowned
launching pad for comedians during the late 1950s and early 1960s. His
association with the club placed him among a generation of performers who
helped define the era’s emerging nightclub comedy scene. He also introduced The
Kingston Trio at the beginning of their 1962 album College Concert,
serving as the opening act for the performance.
Schell reached the height of his early television fame when he joined the
cast of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. as Private Duke Slater, Gomer Pyle’s best
friend and fellow Marine. His easygoing personality and comedic timing made
Slater one of the show’s most popular supporting characters.
Jim Nabors, Ronnie Schell and Frank Sutton, in Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.
After three seasons, Schell left the series to star in his own sitcom, Good
Morning, World, playing disc jockey Dave Lewis alongside Goldie Hawn and
other television favorites. When that series ended, Schell returned to Gomer
Pyle, U.S.M.C. for its fifth and final season. During his return, his
character had been promoted to corporal and took on a more mature role as a
mediator between Gomer (played by Jim Nabors) and the demanding Sergeant Carter
(portrayed by Frank Sutton).
Schell married Janet Rodeberg in 1968, and the couple had two sons, Gregory
and Chris Schell.
Throughout his career, Schell became one of television’s most
recognizable character actors, appearing as a guest star on dozens of popular
programs, including The Andy Griffith Show, The Patty Duke Show, The Golden
Girls, The Love Boat, Happy Days, Sanford and Son, Emergency!, Mork &
Mindy, and Charlie’s Angels.
His longevity and steady presence in entertainment led to the
affectionate nickname “America’s Slowest Rising Comedian,” a playful
acknowledgment of his decades-long climb to success.
Beyond live-action television, Schell contributed his voice to several
animated projects. He portrayed Jason in Battle of the Planets and
provided the voice for the hockey puck-shaped character in Peter Puck, which
aired during televised NHL games in the 1970s.
Schell was also a familiar presence in commercials, including memorable
campaigns for Pacific Southwest Airlines and Shakey’s Pizza. His comedic
personality made him especially effective in advertising, where his warmth and
timing connected with audiences.
In later years, Schell continued performing. In 2007, he toured with the
cabaret production 5 Star Revue alongside Gary Collins, Mary Ann Mobley,
Ruta Lee, and Steve Rossi. He also starred in the 2009 Off-Broadway production Don’t
Leave It All to Your Children!, a comedy and musical revue celebrating the
experiences of aging baby boomers.
In 2019, Schell served as comedy advisor to Richard Dreyfuss for the
Netflix film The Last Laugh, continuing to share his expertise and
decades of experience in entertainment.
Schell passed away on June 12, 2026, at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 94 after being hospitalized for a
fall. He was the last surviving cast member of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Today, there are
several points of relevance in relation to Schell’s life and career.
In 1940, his family
lived at 1009 Barrett Ave., Richmond, California. This home has since been
razed.
In 1950, he resided
at 345 S. Anita Ave., Los Angeles, California, which remains.
345 S. Anita Ave., Los Angeles, CA
He later resided at
4042 Sapphire Dr., Encino, California, which also stands. Schell was named an
honorary mayor of Encino.
4042 Sapphire Dr., Encino, CA
Schell also resided
at 11344 Chenault St., Los Angeles, California, which stands.
Annette Bochenek, Ph.D., is a film historian, professor, and avid scholar of Hollywood’s Golden Age. She manages the “Hometowns to Hollywood” blog, in which she profiles her trips to the hometowns of classic Hollywood stars. She has also been featured on the popular classic film-oriented television network, Turner Classic Movies. A regular columnist for Classic Movie Hub, her articles have appeared in TCM Backlot, Silent Film Quarterly, Nostalgia Digest, The Dark Pages Film Noir Newsletter, and Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine.
Barbara Stanwyck is a favorite of many classic film fans,
myself included.
Over the years I’ve reviewed a few of her films here after
seeing them for the first time: The
Furies (1950), The
Violent Men (1955), and Forty
Guns (1957).
The Maverick Queen (1956)
One of the Stanwyck Westerns which had eluded me until now
was The Maverick Queen (1956), which had a VHS release but to my
knowledge has not come out on DVD in the United States.
The movie has turned up in the past on Turner Classic Movies,
but in a frankly poor print, so I’ve held off watching it, hoping for the day
when a better viewing experience would be possible. I’m happy to report that
day has now arrived thanks to Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Stanwyck stars as Kit Bannion, owner of the Maverick Queen
saloon, who is mixed up with outlaws including Butch Cassidy (Howard Petrie)
and the Sundance Kid (Scott Brady). Her fortune has depended cattle rustling
and stealing.
Stanwyck’s Forty Guns costar, Barry Sullivan –
previously reviewed here in the terrific Audie Murphy film Seven
Ways From Sundown (1950) – plays a stranger in town, Jeff Young.
Kit, fending off Sundance’s threatening romantic claim, is
attracted to Jeff and hires him as a dealer.
She believes he’s Jeff Younger of the Younger gang of outlaws, but he
might not be exactly who he seems to be.
For instance, why did Jeff stop Sundance and a group of
outlaws from robbing the cattle herd owned by pretty Lucy Lee (Mary Murphy)
just before he arrived in town?
Jeff does join Butch and Sundance for a train robbery, which
leads to unexpected developments…
Those who associate Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
chiefly with the 1969 movie may be a bit surprised to see them turn up in a
‘50s Western, but of course they were based on real people and turned up in
films well ahead of 1969. In fact, I
stopped at Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home in Utah during a 2022 road trip. It was
about a half hour outside Marysvale, where I visited the final
resting place of actress Marie Windsor.
Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home in Utah
The Maverick Queen screenplay by Kenneth Gamet and DeVallon Scott was based on a Zane Grey novel, and it’s quite good. Ironically I had heard buzz over the years that The Maverick Queen was a weak film in Stanwyck’s career, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover I liked it very much.
I found The Maverick Queen better scripted and more
interesting than the typical “outlaws” film, which isn’t my favorite Western
subgenre. In fact, I would go so far as
to say I enjoyed it more than Stanwyck’s much better-known and highly regarded The
Furies. I’m not saying The Maverick Queen is a better film, but I
had more fun watching it.
No, The Maverick Queen isn’t a classic, but it does
fall in the category many of us call a “darn good Western.” It has a good story, is well cast, and was
energetically directed by Joe Kane, who also produced; it runs a well-paced 92
minutes.
Perhaps most importantly the film features extensive
location shooting in Colorado, which really makes the movie; it’s beautiful to
look at.
The movie was filmed by Jack Marta in Republic Pictures’
color and widescreen processes, Trucolor and Naturama. The movie has thus
looked terrible in many faded pan-and-scan prints. Kino Lorber presents a 4K
scan of the original 35mm camera negative, and it looks fantastic.
Scott Brady, Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan
Red-haired Stanwyck plays a woman who has succeeded in a
man’s world by attaching herself to criminal enterprises. Though Stanwyck famously played at least one
more villainous character in her career, there’s very little admirable about
Kit, so it seems likely from the outset that her feelings for Jeff are doomed.
Barry Sullivan, Barbara Stanwyck
Stanwyck’s character may be a crook but the actress is, of
course, always highly watchable, and unsurprisingly she makes the part
interesting and somewhat sympathetic.
The theme of Kit making her way in the world on the wrong
side of the law contrasts nicely with Murphy’s young cattlewoman Lucy, who is
working to make a go of her late father’s ranch; life is also challenging for her,
but she is making far different choices from Kit’s and ultimately will likely
succeed in both business and life because of it.
Mary Murphy, Barry Sullivan, Barbara Stanwyck
Murphy, incidentally, was in one of my favorite Westerns,
A Man Alone (1955), which I wrote about in a column on “Unexpected
Western Leads.” She was something of a chameleon, in terms of her physical
appearance, and looks rather different in each film despite the fact they were
released only a year apart.
I admit to having a bit of a crush on Sullivan, who is very
appealing here as the mysterious stranger in town. Although his motivations aren’t initially
clear, I shared Lucy’s faith that there must be an explanation for his
inexplicable behavior.
Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan
Brady, who impresses here as a rugged, vicious Sundance,
played the similarly named but more handsome “Dancin’ Kid” in Johnny Guitar
(1954). You don’t want to mess with his
Sundance; Brady’s fierce portrayal conjures mental associations with his
real-life scarier brother, Lawrence Tierney.
Scott Brady
The rest of the cast is top-notch, starting with Jim Davis,
whose character’s brief appearance quite late in the film is inconvenient for
Jeff, to say the least.
Wallace Ford plays Lucy’s ornery cook, who proves to be not
what he seems, and the cast is rounded out with familiar faces such as Emile
Meyer, Walter Sande, John Doucette, Pierre Watkin, Taylor Holmes, and Tristram
Coffin.
Mary Murphy, Scott Brady, Wallace Ford
The film’s musical score was by the great Victor Young, who
very sadly died shortly after this film’s release. The title song is sung by Joni James.
Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray extras consist of a commentary track by
Dwayne Epstein plus a gallery of five trailers for other films available from
Kino Lorber.
Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan
I found The Maverick Queen to be a pleasantly entertaining surprise, and I doubt it will ever look better than on this Blu-ray release, which I recommend.
The color Utah photographs accompanying this article are from the author’s personal collection.
Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.
…
– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub
Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns. She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals. Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.
