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Archive for December, 2025

Sat down this morning with a cup of coffee, a slice of mincemeat pie and a big chunk of the book this blog’s named after, 50 Westerns From The 50s. And with the year coming to an end, it kinda made sense to let y’all know what’s going on with this thing.

Started working on 50 Westerns From The 50s in August of 2009. This blog cranked up a couple months later. I had absolutely no idea that 16 years later, I’d still be working on this thing. Embarrassing.

But it’s getting close. Every chapter’s been written; some are more written than others. Have more than the prescribed 50 Westerns, giving me the chance to ditch some things that don’t make the grade. There are a handful of things needing more research, and I’m still trying to track down a better copy of one film.

There’s a target publishing date, but I’m not gonna share it just yet. Missed enough of them already. I’ve put all my other writing things on hold till this one’s done. Juggling three movie books and a rather lame attempt at a novel doesn’t move anything along too quickly.

Thank you for your patience along the way. I hope it’ll be worth the wait.

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Here’s wishing you and yours all the joys of the season — and lots of Westerns!

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After a way-too-long hiatus, here’s the fifth episode of The Carbon Arc Podcast. This time, Western author Scott McCrea (writer of the Ezra Flint series, among others) and I discuss and contrast (and profess our love of) the 1936 version of 3 Godfathers, directed by Richard Boleslawski, and the 1948 John Ford version starring John Wayne.

These are terrific movies to watch around the holidays. And they were a lot of fun to talk about.

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Marie Windsor
(December 11, 1919 – December 10, 2000)


My favorite actress, the lovely Marie Windsor, was born 106 years ago today.

Emily Marie Bertelsen was born in Utah and went to Brigham Young University. She headed for Hollywood in 1939 and studied acting at Maria Ouspenskaya’s school. Around this time, she started using the name Marie Windsor.

Marie worked on radio, was a telephone operator and did lots of bit parts before getting a really good role in Force Of Evil (1948) with John Garfield. A string of noirs and Westerns followed: Hellfire (1949), The Fighting Kentuckian (1949), The Showdown (1950), The Sniper (1952), The Narrow Margin (1952, on its way to Blu-Ray), The Bounty Hunter (1954), Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy (1955), The Killing (1956), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) and The Outfit (1973). She was on TV in shows like Cheyenne, Maverick, Perry Mason, Rawhide, Batman and Adam-12.

Not that this ad for Utah Tailoring Mills plugs Hellfire.

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On May 31, 1958, the Trail Drive-In in Sarasota, Florida, got creative and booked a “Big Western Show” featuring six pictures with “Gun” in the title. Their resulting “Gun Roundup” offers up a pretty solid night of 50s Westerns:

The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953)
Directed by Andre de Toth
Starring Randolph Scott, Claire Trevor, Joan Weldon, George Macready, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine

Top Gun (1955)
Directed by Ray Nazarro
Starring Sterling Hayden, William Bishop, Karin Booth, James Millican, Regis Toomey, Hugh Sanders, John Dehner, Rod Taylor

Gunslinger (1956)
Directed by Roger Corman
Starring Beverly Garland, John Ireland, Allison Hayes

Gun The Man Down (1956)
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring James Arness, Angie Dickinson, Emile Meyer, Robert J. Wilke, Harry Carey, Jr., Don Megowan

That’s six hours well spent. Would’ve loved to have been there! (By the way, you can recreate this bill with your DVD and Blu-Ray collection!)

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