COTTON PICKIN'
1 In your opinion, Cotton Smith, who are the ten best horsemen among the movie cowboys, past and present? Some could ride well; some benefited from good editors and even better stuntmen. Here are my picks for the guys who really ride.
1. Ben Johnson
2. Wild Bill Elliott
3. Roy Rogers
4. Sam Elliott
5. Tom Mix
6. Tom Selleck
7. William S. Hart
8. Steve McQueen
9. Monte Hale
10. Joel McCrae
Do you agree? Who do you think was the best horseman?
2 What were your fifteen favorite television western series? Lots of good entertainment -- even when they weren’t particularly close to reality. Maybe that’s what made them so much fun. Here my favorites.
1. Have Gun - Will Travel
2. Wanted: Dead or Alive
3. Bonanza
4. Maverick
5. Cheyenne
6. Gunsmoke
7. Cimarron Strip
8. Lawman
9. Guns of Will Sonnett
10. Rawhide
11. High Chaparral
12. Lazarus Man
13. Young Riders
14. The Tall Man
15. Bronco
Do you agree? What was your favorite show?
3 What are your fifteen favorite Western movies? That’s tough to do, because the minute you do it, you think of a handful more you really liked. Ask me tomorrow and this list would likely change.
1. Red River
2. Magnificent Seven
3. My Darling Clementine
4. Shane
5. Stagecoach
6. The Searchers
7. The Outlaw Josey Wales
8. The Plainsman
9. Lonesome Dove
10. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
11. Dances With Wolves
12. Bend in the River
13. Duel in the Sun
14. Rio Grande
15. Tombstone
Do you agree? What is your favorite Western movie?
4 In your opinion, Cotton Smith, who were the fifteen greatest Western movie villains? Some fabulous performances over the years by lots of great actors. I’ll take these fifteen for my “best bad men.”
1. Roy Barcroft as “Big Bill Lambert” in Stagecoach to Denver and the chief baddy (brains heavy) in a hundred other Republic Pictures
2. Henry Fonda as “Frank” in Once Upon a Time in the West
3. Jack Palance as “Jack Wilson” in Shane
4. Eli Wallach as “Calvera” in The Magnificent Seven
5. Lee Marvin as “Liberty Valance” in Who Shot Liberty Valance
6. Lee Van Cleef as “Setenza” in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
7. Dan Duryea as “Waco Johnny Dean” in Winchester ‘73
8. Michael Biehn as “Johnny Ringo” in Tombstone
9. Karl Malden as “Tom Fitch” in Nevada Smith
10. Richard Boone as “John Fain” in Big Jake
11. Frederick Forrest as “Blue Duck” in Lonesome Dove
12. Walter Huston as “Trampas” in The Virginian
13. John Russell as “Marshal Stockburn” in Pale Rider
14. Brian Dennehy as “Sheriff Cobb” in Silverado
15. Lyle Betiger as “Decker” in Destry Rides Again
Do you agree? Who’s your favorite “bad guy”?
5 In your opinion, Cotton Smith, who were the ten most deadly gunfighters? That’s a fascinating question. According to the research I’ve done over the years, I’ll go with these.
1. Jim “Preacher” Miller
2. John Wesley Hardin
3. Bill Longley
4. Wild Bill Hickok
5. John King Fisher
6. Harvey Logan (“Kid Curry”)
7. Billy the Kid Bonney
8. John Selman
9. Cullen Baker
10. Ben Thompson
Do you agree? Who would you add? _____________
6 What are your ten favorite John Wayne movies? Hey, I’ll take the Duke in anything. In my opinion, he should have won an Oscar for his roles in Red River, The Searchers and Rio Grande. Not to mention True Grit. I’ll go with these.
1. Red River
2. Rio Grande
3. Rio Bravo
4. Hondo
5. Big Jake
6. Angel and the Badman
7. McClintock
8. Stagecoach
9. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
10. The Searchers
Do you agree? What is your favorite?
7 What are your fifteen favorite Western songs? Does Dixie count? There aren’t many I don’t like but I’ll go with these.
1. Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds
2. Goodbye Old Paint
3. Strawberry Roan
4. Back in the Saddle Again
5. Streets of Laredo
6.Along the Navaho Trail
7. Cattle Call
8. Comanche Moon (Mike Blakley)
9. Grandpaw (W. C. Jameson)
10. My Rifle, Pony and Me
11. Cool Water
12. El Paso
13. Waltz Across Texas
14. The Colorado Trail
15. Cotton-Eyed Joe (Of course)
Do you agree? What is your favorite?
8 What are your ten favorite Roy Rogers’ movies? I grew up wanting to be the King of the Cowboys. Here’s my top ten and don’t bother me with observations about B-Westerns not being “real”. Who cares? They are to enjoy for what they are.
1. Bells of Rosarita
2. Trail of Robin Hood
3. Roll on Texas Moon
4. My Pal Trigger
5. Don’t Fence Me In
6. The Yellow Rose of Texas
7. The Cowboy and the Senorita
8. Bells of San Angelo
9. Under California Stars
10. Along the Navajo Trail
Do you agree? What is your favorite?
9 In your opinion, which ten movie cowboys rode the best horses? There have been some mighty fine horseflesh on celluloid but I’ll go with these great animals.
1. Randolph Scott’s Stardust, a handsome sorrel
2. Rex Allen’s Ko Ko, a dark palomino with white man and tail
3. Wild Bill Elliott’s black Morgan,Thunder (as “Red Ryder). He also rode a great black-and-white paint horse, Sonny. In his breakthrough appearance in the “Wild Bill Hickok” movie serials (where Gordon Nance got part of his eventual star name, “Will Bill,” he rode the famous paint horse, Dice. Most experts believe Alan “Rocky” Lane’s Black Jack was actually Will Bill Elliott’s Thunder after Will Bill quit playing Red Ryder.
4. Roy Rogers’ Trigger, “the smartest horse in the movies”
5. Gene Autry’s Champion -- another handsome sorrel
6. Tom Mix’s Tony -- “His wonder horse” -- a dark sorrel with a white diamond on its forehead and nearly perfect white stockings
7. John Wayne -- A black & white Appaloosa named Cochise in “El Dorado”
8. Ben Johnson -- His own bay in many movies
9. Clint Eastwood -- A stunning gray horse in “Pale Rider”
10. Lone Ranger’s Silver -- Of course, actually it was several different horses, but whose counting?
Do you agree? What horse is your favorite?
10 What were the ten best “Jesse James” movies? At last count, there were thirty-some movies featuring this infamous Missouri outlaw. I like these ten the best of the bunch -- as movies, and, not necessarily, for their historical accuracy.
1. The Long Riders -- James Keach as Jesse
2. The Great Northfield Raid --Robert Duval as Jesse
3. Kansas Raiders -- Audie Murphy as Jesse
4. Jesse James -- Tyrone Power as Jesse
5. Jesse James at Bay -- Roy Rogers
6. The Great Missouri Raid -- MacDonald Carey as Jesse
7. Kansas Raiders -- Audie Murphy as Jesse
8. The Great Jesse James Raid -- William Parker as Jesse
9. Hell’s Crossroads --Henry Brandon as Jesse
10. Days of Jesse James -- Donald Barry as Jesse
Do you agree? What is your favorite?
11 What are the twenty-five best Western paintings? Like everyone else, I love the works of Frederic Remington and Charlie Russell but there are others who deserve consideration as well. I’ll list these for now. Tomorrow, we’ll see.
1. In Without Knocking -- Charlie Russell
2. A Dash for the Timber -- Frederic Remington
3. The Fall of the Cowboy -- Frederic Remington
4. Close Call -- W. R. Leigh
5. Riders of the Dawn -- Frank Tenney Johnson
6. Cuffs and Calluses -- Buck McCain
7. Bronc to Breakfast -- Charlie Russell
8. Stampeded by Lightning -- Frederic Remington
9. The Cowboy -- Frederic Remington
10. A Taint in the Wind -- Frederic Remington
11. The Home Ranch -- Thomas Fakens
12. Hunting Wild Horses -- William Ranney
13. The Ore Wagon -- N. C. Wyeth
14. Smoky -- Will James
15. The Wild Bunch -- Ivan Albright
16. Fight for the Water Hole -- Frederick Remington
17. Tight Dally and a Loose Latigo -- Charlie Russell
18. The Pay Stage -- N. C. Wyeth
20. Men of the Open Range -- Charlie Russell
21. Superior Sunrise -- Bill Schenck
22. Hostiles -- Frank C. McCarthy
23. Leading the Charge -- Frank C. McCarthy
24. Wild Horse Hunters -- Charlie Russell
25. When Horses Talk War, There’s Small Chance for Peace -- Charlie Russell
Do you agree? What is your favorite?