BORDER CABALLERO - FREE FULL FILM

Thanks to the public domain and archive. org, The Tainted Archive presents another full length western for your pleasure - this time Border Cabellero.
Sam Newfield was allegedly mighty fast on his movie-shooting feet, but no-one has ever described him as stylish or creative. This little film could well be the exception.

True, Doc Shaw's endless fulminating is allowed to take up too much screen time, but this is otherwise an admirably well-produced "B" with a surprisingly gritty, realistic feel to it.

By Newfield's humble standards, the direction is extremely gripping and involving, with action vigorously staged with lots of extras and an unusually dark atmosphere deftly, realistically created, despite a routine plot that pits our hero reluctantly against a band of bank bandits.

ARCHIVE STATS

This week The Archive reached a milestone with 40,000 page loads. Couldn't be more delighted about that and here are the stats for the past week.

Weekly Stats Report: 18 May - 24 May 2009
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	267	179	129	133	187	227	186	1,308	187
Unique Visitors	129	105	95	91	121	149	108	798	114
First Time Visitors	94	69	67	68	88	105	81	572	82
Returning Visitors	35	36	28	23	33	44	27	226	32

TUMBLEWEED ROCK - THE KING GOES WEST

Elvis Presley made some dire movies but thankfully his westerns, all three of them, are amongst his better film work. And each of them offered him a chance for some straight acting.

First was Love Me Tender (1956) which starred the magnificent looking young Elvis and during this period Elvis was still aiming to become something of a James Dean(his idol) figure. And although this is his first movie and his acting displays all the signs of a beginner he does take things seriously and turns in a adequate performance.

The film was originally titled, The Fighting Reno Brothers but with the casting of the new teen sensation it was decided to change the title of the movie to allow Elvis to release the soundtrack songs.

When the film was released Time Magazine famously called Elvis both a sausage and a goldfish while the Hollywood Promoter said he was an obscene child. The film did massive business at the box office and fans screamed when the Elvis character died at the end but soon perked up when his ghost was brought back to sing the title track over the end credits.

Elvis' second western, Flaming Star (1960) came at a time that the singer/actor most needed it. A good director in Don Siegal, an intelligent screenplay, only the one song plus the title track. The result was perhaps his best acting performance and a movie that is arguably his all time best. Only King Creole comes close in any case.

Elvis turns in a fine performance in a role originally written for Brando. The King plays Peter, a half-breed Kiowa. Director Siegal was initially horrified with the casting of the rock and roll star but he soon changed his mind. The scene in which Elvis declares his love for a stunned Barbara Edan is absolutely pitch perfect.

The resulting movie is more western than Elvis Presley movie and is as good as many of the oaters made at the time.

Charro (1969) was the last western Elvis would ever make. It was a dream role for him - a totally music free movie with Elvis only being called upon to sign the title track.

Elvis was at home in the dusty clothes and thick beard and he was hoping that the movie, boasting a Italian western feel to it, would be taken as seriously as the Clint Eastwood westerns which were all the rage at the time.

The problem is that the movie came out disjointed and at parts Elvis seems to be sleepwalking. Still it's a decent enough minor western which is at least watchable and doesn't feature any scuba diving, speedway driving, singers.

In many way Elvis' movies mirror his signing - one wonders what could have been if better material had come along. And the story of Elvis Presley is one of the saddest in American show - business.

THE WESTERN RIDES AGAIN

"One of the most vapid and infantile forms of art ever conceived by the brain of a Hollywood film producer." ...Dwight Macdonald, The Miscellany 1929

"The western remains, I suppose, America's distinctive contribution to the film."...Arthur Schlesinger Jr, Show April 1963

"Get off your arses and help out on Wild West Monday on June 1st 2009."...Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin, The Tainted Archive, May 2009


Geographically and historically the concept of "The West" is very loosely defined, when associated with the literary and film genre of the western. With the possible exception of the Eastern Seaboard almost every part of the USA had been called "The West" at some stage in the country's history.

The federal government defines "The West" as including the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. But from the movies and books both Kansas and Nebraska can be added. And maybe Hawaii and Washington should be removed. The West of popular imagination usually contains those areas associated with the final frontiers of American settlement - anything West of the Mississippi River. An area associated with cowboys, Indians, outlaws and lone lawmen.

Amongst the earliest western literature with artistic merit were the works of James Fennimore Cooper, his most famous works being 1826's Last of the Mohicans - though by the true definition of the genre none of the author's works are strictly westerns. The books were set in colonial America and featured the British rule but true westerns are set in independent America.

EZC Judson, writing under the pen name Ned Buntline was an early writer of traditional westerns. He earned himself the nickname of, 'Father of the Dime Novel' and turned Buffalo Bill into a figure of mythic proportions. However the first western with the classic ingredients was Owen Wister's The Virginian in 1902, which largely invented the guidelines that western writers still follow today.



















The names Louis L'amour and Zane Grey have dominated the genre for many years and still do to some extent. But an early European champion of the genre was Karl May with his popular Shatterhand books. He wrote over 60 books but Shatterhand is his most famous character. Indeed Shatterhand was revived by B.J. Holmes in a series of books for the successful UK western house, Black Horse Westerns.

The cinema has always had a love affair with the western and during the silent era there were many hundreds of westerns made. Most of these have been lost to history but there are still some prime examples of early westerns to be sought out by fans.

Some of the most important silent westerns that still exist and can be found on DVD or in many cases for free download from archive.org include:

The Iron Horse (1924) directed by John Ford
The Covered Wagon (1923) directed by James Cruze
Battle of Elderbush Gulch (1914) directed by D W Griffith

In cinematic terms there is little doubt that the Golden Age of the western took place between the years 1940 - 1970. There were many classics before and since but during these years there was never a time when most major studios didn't have at least one western in production.

During the Fifties and Sixties in particular the western also dominated the small screen with many western TV series being aired. Among the most well known are:
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
The Big Country
The Virginian
The Rifleman
Have Gun will Travel
Wyatt Earp
Wanted Dead or Alive

The modern era has also seen many classics of the genre, both on the screen and between the covers - Lonesome Dove, Sons of Texas, Blood Meridian, Tombstone, The Unforgiven to name but a few.

The Western truly is THE GENRE TOO TOUGH TO DIE. Kevin Costner is working on a new western, there are remakes in the works of both True Grit and Butch and Sundance. American greats like Dusty Richards, Larry McMurtry and Elmer Kelton continue to write quality western works. And British western house, Black Horse Westerns are continuing to bring out new western fiction written by writers from all over the world. Among these you will find such loved writers as Lance Howard, B. J. Holmes, Ben Bridges, Jack Giles,Nik Morton, Mathew P. Mayo, Chap O'Keefe, Jim Lawless and newcomers like Terry James and myself, Jack Martin. And this is just a small selection of the writers producing all new traditional westerns under The Black Horse banner. To list them all would take up a post in itself.

Which brings us to WIld West Monday the Third - 1st June 2009 when western fans all over the world will be visiting bookshops or libraries and asking about their western section. If they don't have one we'll request they start stocking the books. Readers outside the UK could request a few Black Horse Western titles.

So come on folks - make sure you all take part and let's make Wild West Monday a trail blazing success.

TARNISHED STAR SHOCK NEWS

Tarnished Star Scandal,

The MP's expense saga worsened today when it was reported that Clive Olano, The MP for Little Larkwolds claimed for a portable duck island, a plasma television, three dozen iced donuts, wages for his golf caddy, flipped his second home so many times it was dizzy, and a copy of Tarnished Star. The MP in question said he would resign but defended his reading matter on the point that it was his WIld West Monday contribution.

The Tarnished Star - buy it now on expenses or otherwise. MP's can request a special invoice in which the book will be listed as stationery.

HERE



Note - non UK readers may need to go HERE for the above piece to make any sense

CLINT EASTWOOD'S ONLY POOR WESTERN

It should have been magnificent - from a screenplay by Elmore Leonard, John Sturges in the director's seat and Clint Eastwood as the star. What could be better? An iconic western director, a western actor who is arguably only second to John Wayne in genre association and a script taken from a man who wrote some brilliant western fiction and yet despite all this the film simply refuses to gell. It's a ponderous western that is quite frankly boring.

Eastwood plays the drunken, unlikeable Joe Kidd who ends up taking the law into his own hands when he goes up against a rotten ranching tycoon played by Robert Duvall. So far so good but it's as if no-one was sure what kind of story they were telling in this Leonesque westerns that may try to emulate the Italian masters' style but ends up alienating and even worse, boring the viewer.

The scene where Eastwood drives a train through a saloon is brilliant but that in itself can not save a truly bad movie. At times the films seems to be taking a philosophical route and comparing the action of Eastwood's character with those of Duvall's and at other times it seems to be aiming to a straight forward action vehicle. As a result this may be the lesser known of Eastwood's westerns.

Elmore Leonard was dismayed at the way his script was mangled and he publicly stated that the fault with the movie was that everyone, Clint included, gave too much power to director Sturges who didn't understand Leonard's story at all. Both Eastwood and Duvall's characters were altered so much that they were unrecognisable from the original script.

It wasn't helped that Sturges was drinking heavily throughout the shoot and for the most part Eastwood was ill - it was thought he had developed an allergy to horses but this later turned out to be, that he was allergic to cats. Clint became so ill that rumours were leaked to the press and filled many gossip columns.

When the film was released, to dismal performances at the box office and even wore critical reception, Eastwood threatened that his days of the western were behind him. Thankfully he didn't stick to this and has since delivered many all time genre classics.

WILD WEST MONDAY GUEST BLOGGER - DAVID CRANMER

David Cranmer's own blog, The Education of a Pulp Writer can be found HERE and together with Elaine Ash he also edits The Beat to a Pulp fiction site which can be found HERE


For Wild West Monday, Dave offers us his thoughts on the movie, Seraphim Falls.


Seraphim Falls

My favorite kind of movie starts with heart-pounding action then goes on to slowly reveal the back story—Seraphim Falls qualifies with its opening chase and follow-up. Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is being hunted by Carver (Liam Neeson) near Ruby Falls circa 1886. He's been wounded, nearly drowns after a plunge over the waterfall and must use a knife and some bullets to start a fire before he freezes to death. Classic edge of your seat suspense and Brosnan's acting is among the best of his career.

We learn that Gideon is an ex-Union captain who has traveled west to escape a brutal past while Carver is a former Confederate, who, for very personal reasons, can't let go of what happened during the war. The back and forth and one-upmanship between these two characters during the course of the film reminds me a little of Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune in Hell in the Pacific.

Neeson, of course, is one of the great actors of our time, and, like Daniel Day Lewis, his characters come to life with the sheer intensity he brings to each role. In Seraphim, the part could have easily been a one-dimensional man hunter type but—though it may not be Shindler or Rob Roy level—Neeson brings forth a multifaceted, in-depth characterization of the conflicted Carver.

My only gripe is the flashback that sets the storyline in motion is a little stagy and the emotional tug they were going for stops short. Still, Seraphim Falls is a first-class western adventure with swift action, fine acting and a moral story that sticks with you long after the final climatic scene.