Just to name two (and we all know the theme song lyrics to both) ...
The Rebel ...
Posted on 06/10/2011 8:30:08 AM PDT by stillafreemind
Movies that will be shown:
Sprinkled among the episodes of "Gunsmoke" are some movies that James Arness made. Some he starred in, and some, like "Too Many Rivers to Cross", he had roles that gave credence to why he is such a western legend. The following movies will be shown during Encore Western Channel's tribute to James Arness.
Wyoming Mail
Too Many Rivers to Cross (with Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker) Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
Gunsmoke: The Last Apache
Gunsmoke: To the Last Man
(Excerpt) Read more at associatedcontent.com ...
He would be thrilled that they are giving him a weekend tribute!
TCM aired “Them!” last night. A classic.
Last night on AMC they had on Battleground where he had a small part followed by THEM! in which he had a large role. Of course James Whitmore had larger role in the first and equally large in the second.
Oh baby...I watched THEM! last night too! I’ve seen that movie “Too Many Rivers to Cross” before..I can’t wait to see it again! It stars Robert Taylor, but Taylor and Arness are just great in this.
The Gunsmoke movies (made after the Gunsmoke TV series ended) air fairly frequently on Encore Westerns. They pick up with Matt Dillon as having retired to ranching, and has a daughter. Fairly well-made movies.
At least we have re-runs. My favs are Gun Smoke, Bonanza and the Andy Griffith show. All these shows had a very strong message which is good for kids to have drilled into their little heads. What kind of message do kids get on tv or films today? Pretty sad. Oh, and Green Acres, too. That was a hoot and still very funny even now.
I never saw the after series TV movies. Darn...I’ll have to tvo Arness and hope.
He had a daughter?!!! What was the backstory? I don’t imagine it was Kitty...she was a wonderful character, but pretty old by the time the show ended. Let me guess, some widow from back east that had a daughter, that was killed by Indians...then he adopted the girl. That sounds like a Gunsmoke kinda story.
In the regular Gunsmoke..Matt got amnesia and a rancher woman took care of him. They almost got married..but of course he got his memory back. Think this was a follow-up on that.
Kitty does appear in the "Return to Dodge" movie.
STILL pissed off that they killed James Whitmore, when he was clearly the male lead.
I have never know the identity of the poor sap that Matt Dillon gunned down every week in the opening of “Gunsmoke”. He was a weekly loser.
On a personal note, “Gunsmoke” premired the night before I was born, so I missed that. Great series. I have seen the intro that John Wayne did for GS. James Arness seemed to tower over Wayne who was no lightweight himself at 6’-4”.
RIP Matt.
Them! is such a great movie. It has all the earmarks of a campy sci fi thriller from the 50’s (exclamation mark notwithstanding!) but it really is a great show.
John Wayne and Jim Arness were close to the same size, IIRC. As for the guy gunned down in the show’s opening, I seem to recall there were 5-6 different versions of that scene filmed over the life of the show. I think each one had a different actor. I remember reading that online some time ago.
Then, you missed most of the Western era on TV (at least first hand). Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Wagon Train were likely the most popular, followed by Maverick, and Have Gun-Will Travel. But there were dozens of others aired weekly. It was all a kid my age (born in ‘43) could want. Now, that was TV.
This is a little off the subject, but the night I was born they first aired the Honeymooners episode in which Alice said, “I call you KILLER because you SLAY me!”
I was 2 hours old at the time, had to miss it...
If you're talking about height, Eastwood is 6'4", IIRC.
Anything you want to know about TV Westerns.
Anything you want to know about B-Western movies, stars and supporting actors.
Heh, heh, I first saw Gunsmoke in 1958 after two years in Japan with no TV at all. But that opening fast draw scene had me puzzled; the bad guy fires first, then Matt Dillon. I thought it was going to be like the final scene in McKenna’s Gold where you wait to see which one keels over first. Learned only later the bad guy shot first and missed so the sheriff had no choice but to kill him. Then I was thinking, “Don’t holster your gun! Make sure he’s dead first!”
A great show. A great actor. To be missed.
seems like he started in THE THING
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