1960 western The Unforgiven coming to Encore Western Channel

[Phil C]

It will be on twice on Sunday, August 24 at 6:45 A.M. and 4:50 P.M. It is a good movie even though not outstanding which is a disappointment considering the great director (John Huston) and great cast it had. I blame that on the writers but it is still worth seeing. It is not to be confused with the great movie of the same title that starred Clint Eastwood.
It was made in color and has lots of beautiful country scenery.
The cast consists of Burt Lancaster as Ben who is the leader of the Zachary, Audry Hepburn as the adoptive daughter of the Zachary, Audie Murphy and Dough McClure (later Trampas in the tv series The Virginian) play Burt's younger brothers and the great silent screen actress Lilian Gish plays the mother. Charles Bickford plays Zeb Rawlins, John Saxon plays Johnny Portugal and Albert Salmi plays Charlie Rawlins. The cast is very good with Audie Murphy holding his own and delivering the best performance of the movie.

If you haven't seen this one don't neglect it. It is a good movie even though not great.

[STANG RED]

You had me hooked when you mentioned the cast, especially Burt Lancaster. I'll watch anything with him in it.
I especially liked him in the few swashbuckler movies he made. The man was an amazing athlete, and could make action scenes look effortless. He did most of his own stunts you know.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by STANG RED
You had me hooked when you mentioned the cast, especially Burt Lancaster. I'll watch anything with him in it.
I especially liked him in the few swashbuckler movies he made. The man was an amazing athlete, and could make action scenes look effortless. He did most of his own stunts you know.

That is true. He was a stuntsman first before a star and was an acrobat. He liked to do most of his stunts but the studio bosses limited him and didn't let him do really dangerous stunts for obvious reasons.

[Phil C]

There are two more Burt Lancaster movies on the same channel tonight. One is Vera Cruz at 8:35 with him and Gary Cooper and another called Lawman starts at midnight and he stars with Lee J. Cobb and Robert Ryan.

[Phil C]

Another good Burt Lancaster western I noticed this same channel is showing is Lawman. It is going to be shown on August 16, 2008 (Sat) at 12:20 P.M. This is one I never got around to seeing but I am not going to miss this one. Burt Lancaster plays Marshall Maddox. Including in the cast is Lee J. Cobb as Vincent Bronson, Robert Ryan as Marshall Cotton Ryan, Robert Duval as Vernon Adams, John McGiver as Sam Bolden and Ralph Waite (later the father in the Waltons) as Jack Decker.

[STANG RED]

What movie was it where he was a high flying trapeze artist in the circus? It's been at least 25 years since I've seen that one, but I remember really liking it at the time.
My favorite though is The Jim Thorpe Story.

[Phil C]

Originally posted by STANG RED
What movie was it where he was a high flying trapeze artist in the circus? It's been at least 25 years since I've seen that one, but I remember really liking it at the time.
My favorite though is The Jim Thorpe Story.

Stang the movie you are thinking about is Trapeze. It was made in 1956 in beautiful color. Including in the cast with Burt is Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobridida as Lola and Katy Jurado as Rosa.

More good news. It is coming on TCM on the very early morning of 8-28-08 (Thursday) at midnight. That is an awkward time probably so you may want to have your recorder set. It has been probably twice as long for me since I have seen it so I am going to set my recorder. I have found that it is wise when recording on TCM to set your recorders for the movie time and the movie after it. I have been burned several times when the movie they were showing was longer than they thought and I missed the last two minutes of it. Also be sure to check your tv guide to be sure I gave you the right time.

TCM has been fairly good at showing this movie fairly often but I haven't got around to watching or recording it.


Enjoy!

[DDBooger]

Phil you should make a poll asking who was the best on-screen cowboy...include Eastwood!

[Phil C]

Originally posted by DDBooger
Phil you should make a poll asking who was the best on-screen cowboy...include Eastwood!

DD speaking of Clint Eastwood his great but super violent western High Plains Drifter made in 1973 is being shown on August 1, 2008 (This Friday morning) at 1 A.M. on TCM. Besides Eastwood the cast includes Billy Curtis as Mordecai and Jack Ging (the former great Oklahoma football player) as Morgan Allen.




SPOILER WARNING! Mainly for those who have seen it.

It has been debated who Clint Eastwood's character really was. Some think it was a ghost while others think it was the Sheriff's brother. In an interview Clint indicated it was the Sheriff's brother and it has been said that the European version makes it clear that this is the case.

[Phil C]

Before I forget on 8-1-08 right after High Plains Drifter they are showing the great Kirk Douglas western called Posse made in 1975. It starts at 3 A.M. It also stars Bruce Dern as the outlaw. Kirk Douglas plays the ambitious marshall who wants to bring Dern in to advance his political career. Douglas is great as usual but Dern is the one that steals this movie in a great performance as the good/bad outlaw.

This is an unusual western and should be seen if you haven't see it before.

[Phil C]

As I have mentioned before when recording TCM it is usually advisable to record the movie after the one you want to record since once in a while they mess up and the movie is longer than they thought and you miss the last few minutes. It is rare that it happens but it is annoying when it does. The Encore Western Channel is excellent in getting the right time periods.