Bit of a
change-up … I usually post on Sunday evenings as that’s my only safe “me time” when
I’m not mowing, yanking, sweeping, raking, watering or doin’ the family
thing. Speaking of which, tomorrow is
Father’s Day, at least here in the U.S. of A, so I thought I’d do a quick post tonight
since tomorrow portends to be busy for all of us.
Another
change-up: I was going to blog about my time in Kansas City, but was pre-empted
by sad news.
The sad news
is that Mona Freeman died this past week.
Borrowing
from Wikipedia, “Freeman was a model while in high school, and after becoming
the first "Miss Subways" of the New York City transit system,
eventually signed a movie contract with Howard Hughes. Her contract was later
sold to Paramount Pictures. Her first film appearance was in the 1944 film Till
We Meet Again. She became a popular teenage movie star. After a series of roles
as a pretty, naive teenager she complained of being typecast. As an adult, her
career slowed and she appeared in mostly B-movies, though one exception was her
role in the film noir Angel Face (1952). Also in 1952, she was called a
"vest pocket Venus" by sculptor Yucca Salamunich because her
proportions were the same as those of the Venus de Milo but three-quarter size.
Freeman's appearances in films ended in the 1950s but she continued to work in
television. Among her appearances were seven guest roles on The United States
Steel Hour from 1960–1962 and three on Perry Mason, all of them roles as
Mason's client: Jane Wardman in the 1962 episode, "The Case of the Lurid
Letter", Rosanne Ambrose in the 1964 episode, "The Case of the
Illicit Illusion", and Ellen Payne in the 1965 episode, "The Case of
the 12th Wildcat", with Perry himself portrayed as the title character by
Ellen.”
More
importantly, she starred the 1957 western Dragoon Wells Massacre.
I tried to
get my hands on a copy of the film, but apparently it’s out of print, so to
speak, so I can’t really dive into the details of the blonde vs. brunette
struggle between the two ladies.
Here’s how
one blog site describes the movie:
"If you've
seen "Dragoon Wells Massacre" on the TV schedule and decided to give
it a miss because it sounds familiar it is understandable. To be honest having
seen it regularly show up I kept on giving it a miss because the story of a
cavalry man and a group of people trying to head through Indian Territory
sounds a bit unoriginal. But you should watch it because while the set up to
"Dragoon Wells Massacre" is familiar what unfolds isn't and this
movie ends up an entertaining elaboration on the good guys stuck in Indian
Territory storyline.
A prison
wagon, a stage coach and an Indian trader all find themselves in the same place
at the same time, that place is Indian Territory where the Indians are on the
war path. With Capt. Matt Riordan a survivor of an Indian attack, taking the
lead they group together to try and get to safety but their journey is full of
danger as the Indians track them, picking them off one by one.
Now
typically as their numbers drop as one by one another one dies we get down to a
small group, completely out numbered and with little chance of surviving,
leading to a moment of heroics befitting this sort of western. But the real
interest to this variation of the good guys in Indian Territory is the dynamics
of the group because we have various relationships. Capt' Matt's former
girlfriend happens to be travelling on the stage, yes what a coincidence but
also on the stage is the sexy Mara Fay who takes a fancy to Capt. Matt which
leads to jealousy between the women. Then there are the two prisoners Link and
Tiogo who Ann doesn't trust but they continually prove themselves decent, often
misjudged as they protect the group from Indian attacks. And there are more
relationships and interactions which go on, allowing the characters to grow and
change as the journey progresses.
Part of the
reason why the change in characters and their interactions end up interesting
is in the good casting. Who better than the less than handsome Jack Elam to
play a misjudged criminal, whose looks make the women on edge. And Barry
Sullivan oozes confidence as fellow criminal Link, playing a character who
appears to have escaped death on a few occasions and is happy to ride his luck,
both when it comes to Indians but also women. And talking of the women Mona
Freeman as the jealous Ann and Katy Jurado as the fiery Mara are more than
token beauties, they even have quite an impressive catfight. Even those in
minor roles, those who will end up being picked off are just as good even in
their limited screen time.
 |
| http://www.mediafire.com/watch/omgcminh6yfgdf1/Dragoon_Wells_Massacre.wmv |
What this
all boils down to is that "Dragoon Wells Massacre" may look like a
run of the mill 50s western but it is more interesting than the norm. Nice
embellishments to the story and characters that are more than one dimension
make it entertaining from start to finish even when the start is a little too
corny."
Sounds pretty
good, huh?
Happy Father’s
Day!
