Category: Western Movies

Sir Sean Connery … Cowboy / Part 2

“The West was a place where the improbable happened every day.”
– Louis L’Amour

I’ve always contended that most Movie Stars want to be in a Western at some point in their career.
But for many – especially European Actors – such a dream seemed far fetched. Impossible.
THEN… in the mid 60’s an incredible and unforeseen thing happened:
The Spaghetti Western.
Started by Sergio Leone – and spearheaded by Clint Eastwood‘s Star Power.
the door was flung wide open.And the rage was on. 
Wikipedia: “Over six hundred European Westerns were made between 1960 and 1978.”

Shalako was shot in Almería, Spain.
This explains a lot about the it’s spectacular Cast.

Sean Connery (Scottish) as Moses Zebulon ‘Shalako’ Carlin
Brigitte Bardot (French) as Countess Irina Lazaar
Jack Hawkins (English) as Sir Charles Daggett
Stephen Boyd (Irish) as Bosky Fulton
Peter van Eyck (German) as Baron Frederick von Hallstadt
Honor Blackman (English) as Lady Julia Daggett
Woody Strode (American) as Chato
Eric Sykes (English) as Mako
Alexander Knox (Canadian) as Sen. Henry Clarke
Valerie French (English) as Elena Clarke
Julián Mateos (Spanish) as Rojas
Don “Red” Barry (American)as Buffalo
Rodd Redwing (American) as Chato’s Father

An amazing cross section of Cultural Thespian wannabe Cowboys!

Dig this:
Leone wanted to cast James Coburn for A Fistful of Dollars.
But Coburn was asking $25,000.
Leone couldn’t afford him!!
Clint only wanted $15,000.

The West is history.

Coburn did later Star in a couple of Spaghetti Westerns:
– Duck you sucker/Fistfull of Dynamite – (1971)
and – A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die – (1972)
Not to mention that he Starred in 2 of the greatest Westerns ever made:
– The Magnificent Seven (1960)
and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)

Not bad at all.

Coming up … more on this remarkable Cast.

Sir Sean Connery … Cowboy / Part 1

The lyrics to Farnon’s theme were surprisingly written by British Carry On star Jim Dale and while being rather ‘Tin Pan Alley’ they hopefully don’t detract from Farnon’s excellent score.

Sean Connery made one Western:

Shalako (1968)

Adapted from the novel by the great Western writer Louis L’Amour,
Shalako was part of the Spaghetti Western craze of that time.
Location shooting took place in Almería in southern Spain, particularly in the Tabernas Desert 
which was frequently used in European Westerns during the decade.

Shalako wasn’t a great Western, but it had one outstanding feature:
It’s amazing Star Power, which included:
Sean Connery (Scottish), Brigitte Bardot (French),
Jack Hawkins (English), Steven Boyd (Irish), Eric Sykes (English),
Honor Blackman (English), Woody Strode (American),
Valerie French (not French) and others …

Reviews:Reviews were generally mediocre. But I think this could be one of those movies that fares better with time.
Why? But because of Shalako‘s amazing Cast/Star Power.
Which is pretty well unmatched by most movies made these days,
Because of this I give it a 7 out of 10.

Part 2? I’m going to look at this interesting Cast a bit more.

Blogged down …

I haven’t posted much lately. I have indeed been working on a couple of projects that just won’t come together to my satisfaction. (I always am). And because I don’t like to throw something up on the board I’ve holding them back. One project is called Sir Sean Connery / Cowboy. Sean did make ONE Western. It wasn’t highly rated, but it is still very interesting because it’s spectacular Star Power: Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, “Jack” Hawkins CBE, Stephen Boyd, Honor Blackman, Woody Strode, Eric Sykes, Valerie French, and more. Because of this some movies seem to be more interesting over time than there initial entrance. 
Sean did his usual credible work and was believable in his role
but the film just didn’t find it’s place among Western Classics.
I think it’s still worth a watch though because of it’s wonderful Cast.

Anyway, I’ll be getting something up here soon. 
Thanks for your patience. 

Old Bloggy Rides Again !

OK folks …
As promised I’ve got a new Word Press Theme for my Blog.
It’s called Bloggy. 
Yep, you read that right. Bloggy. 
Kinda suits me.
I’m a bit Bloggy most of the time. 
Anyway, I hope this will cure my recent ills. 
Let me know please. 
Thanks.

Ol’ Betsy …

Looks like I’ll have to put ol’ Betsy down. 

She’s been really good for me over the years, but now it seems her times has come.

I’ve been getting feedback that there’s problems with my blog. Some folks can’t see the comments or the Like button they say. Also I’ve been having a heck of a time getting ANY videos to work properly. Furthermore the Indicator that used tell me that somebody had commented isn’t working.

My WP blog Theme called Bueno is out of date. It’s been discarded by WP and is not used and is unavailable. I’ve persisted with it because it’s worked fine up till now. But I recently had to update my account because I ran outta room here. Combined with Jetpack things just aren’t working quite right. SO I guess I have to update to a newer Theme. I experimented with this a while ago and couldn’t find one that worked for me. But … 

Hope to get things operating properly soon. 

Thank You.

Googled Sedona / Cathedral Rock


ilusion-from-guitarra-del-fuegoc2a9-by-johannes-linstead.For Cindy 
https://cindybruchman.com/2020/09/02/1-shot-wednesday-sunrise-sunset/#respond

From Google Maps

3 Days in Banff … Day 1


On the Road to Find Out / Cat Stevens

Heading out … Mountains HO!

Into the Foothills. …

Cascade Mountain.

At the bottom of the Falls you might be able to spot 3 tiny people.

Heading for our digs …

Our digs.

GREETINGS!

Heated pools.

Heading out …


Ghost Riders in the Sky / Craig Duncan

Going to Banff for 3 days. (not my idea). But Banff is quiet right now. (I’m told). Cuz of Covid. Nobody is travelling except us Albertans. Had to cancel 2 holidays we had planned previously – one to Tofino on Vancouver Island – and the other to Newfoundland (which has shuttered itself up tighter than Alcatraz). So it’s been a weird year all the way around.

After Banff we come back here – then head out again – to the stomping grounds of my youth – out Drumheller way and other places around Central Alberta. There’s plenty to see and do around here – no need to go to foreign empires. This should be very interesting (for me at least). And it all seems like some kind of closure – full circle. Maybe it is. 

We’ll be taking a ton of photos and I’ll toss some up on this board. 

I hope you are all getting by OK with all that has happened  (and we ain’t ‘out of the woods yet’) It’s going to take longer than we all hoped – unless they really do come up with some kind of vaccine? Who knows? Some folks probably think things will then go back to ‘normal’. But I don’t. This has changed the world. “Going forward” is the catchphrase of the day. 

See you there. 

Getting Out …. Split Rock Park

“Confluence Park”??!
Why sure … it’s right next to Effluence Creek.
Never let a beaurocrat name anything.
I can assure you that 90% of the people around here call this
Split Rock Park.

There she is … reclining in the meadow.

Evidently it didn’t roll here by itself.
But was discarded like a pebble from a passing Glacier.

I’m told that “Split Rock” was once part of Mount Edith Cavell
in Jasper National Park.
That’s about 210 miles away.

No estimate how long it took to get here – or how huge that Glacier musta’ been.
But I’m sure you could have beat it in a foot race.

You might recall my recent posts on our trip to Jasper National Park
where we hiked up to Mount Edith Cavell.
I never noticed any rocks missing.

I figure Buffalo used to rub themselves on Split Rock before us White folks showed up.
And shot them.

See? I told ya there was interesting stuff on the prairie.

Split Rock Park.

Getting Out …. Nose Creek Park


Starting a New Life / Van Morrison

A bit of a gloomy day on the prairie. 

This way? or thataway?

A prairie landscape.

Some folks might think there’s nothing to do or see on the prairie,
but as a kid I lived out there and it has its own kind of wonder.

Coyotes in area. Well … it is the prairies.
Keep an eye on your dog.

There’s plenty of sandstone in Alberta. 
There was once an ocean here.

Rest point and plaque.

A prairie coulee. 
Only marred by the encroaching city.

Small wonders.

Nose Creek

The fool on the hill.

Coming: Split Rock Park

Getting Out … the American Avocet

Rose had spotted some American Avocets in a marsh wetland near by.
We head over to snap some photos.

There’s they are!

Don’t recall ever seeing this bird before.

Beautiful! These birds are called Stilts. (because of their long legs).
The black and white one is called a Black Necked Stilt.
The other is the American Avocet.

Black Necked Stilt and Blue Winged Teal

 

%d bloggers like this: