Saturday 1 February 2014

The golden age of "American generic westerns" Part 2


 John Wayne the king of American generic westerns (AGW)

You either love his acting or hate it. Basically, he was always the same type of character in whatever film he played. Here he is in the overrated Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo.


Angie Dickinson as Feathers, Dean Martin as Dude , Ricky Nelson as Colorado Ryan, John Wayne as Sheriff John T. Chance from Rio Bravo.


 Angie Dickinson as Feathers in: what seems to be elastic nylon Pantyhose (?), which was in fact, invented some 50-60 years later; the very 1960's looking body and in high heels of the same style.



 The real New York vaudeville dancer from the end of the 19th century, in white tights and a very uncomfortable looking corset. By the modern standards for dancers, she would have been considered slightly overweight.
 





An "AGW" that shifted the bar: "The man who shot Liberty Valance"

Unlike the"Rio Bravo" movie for which I don't care too much, "The man who shot Liberty Valance" has so many qualities I consider it a true gem of the trade. A brilliant play of all the main characters. Probably the best was Lee Marvin as an unscrupulous, tough villain aiming for a career in politics.






A dandy cowboy villain Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance, with a Colt revolver in his right hand and a whip in his left one.
The Colt Single Action Army — also known as the Single Action Army, SAA, Model P, Peacemaker, M1873, and Colt .45 , or known as "The Gun That Won the West". It certainly won most of the AGW fights.

John Wayne in his typical outfit, practically a good guy's uniform for any AGW.

Some of the best moments in the film was taking the same shot from the two angles. Featuring the view of different witnesses of the same gunfight.

Tarantino cleverly reused the trick in his "Pulp fiction", the only one of his movies I really cared for.