gariann Reviews

Paradise Canyon (1935)

Terrific old western with John Wayne super

[8/10 · 30 May 2011]

I agree with all the positive reviews but I do have the original movie and some idiot(s) have removed all the original soundtracks and have substituted some truly ghastly, awful music - all the same for the those '33-'35 Westerns.

My advice? Watch and listen to the real originals on your IMDb/computer and not the rubbish that is being played on Encore/Autry Western station. For fans of the original movie(s) the changes made to the music are absolutely offensive.

The old John Wayne westerns-before STAGECOACH are terribly important because they always pursue the ethical and attempt to do the right thing. Law and order is understood to be clear cut. Whilst we have been in this day and age, encouraged to see all sides of an issue, when evil is clearly defined-which it was in the John Wayne westerns, there was the feeling, that right MUST triumph and if John Wayne was starring, you knew it would be-because it was his mission to ensure that right was the result. Trivial in a career? No! Wayne didn't compromise his values.

Thank heavens he always sought to portray a good guy in his later films as well. He set a great example for us all. Just a footnote: When I attended law school as an older adult, I was the only student to pass a legal ethics class taught by a judge! It was thanks to those principles taught by Wayne, Wild Bill Elliott, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, et. al., that I think gave me that remarkable A!

Annie Oakley (1954–1957)

Probably the first, genuinely fun, early feminist TV show!

[10/10 · 9 December 2007]

This TV show, probably the first of it's kind, demonstrated that a woman despite heavy obligations and responsibilities (little brother, no parents and a ranch to run), could successfully compete in a man's world. Not only could she successfully compete, but she would come through in a major crisis, save lives, behave with genuine courage, dignity and honor, do it cheerfully with good humor and prove extremely useful to the community while being the paradigm role model to an impressionable younger brother.

Where the TV show is a fictionalized account bearing no relationship to the real Annie Oakley, their accomplishments were. They both competed not just successfully but surprisingly and consistently, in what was then regarded as a man's world. The real Annie Oakley (Phoebe Ann Oakley Moses or Mozee or Mozey) was the heroine of the day in her travels through the US and Europe in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show out shooting just about anyone. In a time that antibiotics were non-existent, she suffered through tremendous injury and illness nearly dying on a couple of occasions and demonstrated a rare courage of getting out of bed to ensure that the show went on! Previous to that she had been the support of her family, ensuring that food was on the table every night and in later life quietly worked to support charities and women's rights.

To young girls growing up in the '50's the TV show Annie was the perfect counter balance to the heroics of The Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autrey TV shows. Was it a coincidence she rode a palomino? Doubtful. The writers probably wanted to show as subtly as possible that she could compete with Roy and Dale on her own terms. The genre was the popular wild west-the most successful for many years if the longevity of westerns is a measure. Every week youngsters grew up knowing that America was exemplified by the standards of the Old West, where character was king. Honor, fair play, justice-for-all were the by words on which the TV heroes were modeled. That there was a pistol-packing lady whose character was a match for any of her male counterparts says a good deal about the fabric of the American character and actress Gail Davis made Annie Oakley the cheerful ideal to which all girls aspired. ANNIE OAKLEY was a wonderful TV show!

Stagecoach (1986 TV Movie)

Great movie IF you pretend it wasn't Ford's version

[7/10 · 7 November 2005]

If you liked Silverado-an homage to the old B's with a bit of an edge, this movie is for you. If you are a woman over 45 and want a little romance in your life, this movie is for you. If you think it is a hoot to see some truly great entertainers tying one on in a great old western, this movie is truly for you. (And if you see this review and have also seen the movie...please let me know when Lash LaRue appeared 'cause somewhere I must have gone to replenish the popcorn and missed him-darn it!) What was a hoot was seeing Kris Kristofferson not a day over 50 when this was shot playing Johnny Ringo which, if they were worried about playing it close to the '36 version-would have picked someone two and a half decades younger..., romancing Elizabeth Ashley, not a day over 46, playing a girl of 30. The minute this pairing occurred you knew they weren't trying in the least to cater to the original; they were out to have a lot of fun! And it was. Tony Franciosa was wonderfully hypocritically nasty as the banker; Waylon Jennings was super as the Gambler, Hatfield; and for all the world no one would recognize the gorgeous John Schneider, a Hazzard Duke, as the stage driver Buck without a program.

John Carter Cash, son of June and Johnny even seemed real and both mom and dad were equally convincing. But the tour de force went to Willie Nelson playing Doc Holliday (yet another hint that they weren't trying for the original version). He was so good and believable as the hero of Tombstone...yet every so often had a deer-in-the-headlights look about him...especially when he finds out he is to be an obstetrician! All in all, for sheer entertainment and a lot of fun-especially if you are an aficionado of old westerns-this was a FUN movie!