Showing posts with label John Wayne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Wayne. Show all posts

Saturday, November 11, 2023

John Wayne & Louise Brooks Night in Russiaville, Indiana

The Kokomo-Howard County Public Library has announced it will screen the 1938 Louise Brooks film, Overland Stage Raiders, on Sunday, November 12 at 6:00 pm. This rare public screening of Brooks last film will take place at the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library (315 Mesa Dr) in Russiaville, Indiana. More information about this free event can be found HERE.

The announcement on a local TV website, WISHTV.COM (Channel 8), states: 

"Join us for a showing of 1938 release "Overland Stage Raiders," starring John Wayne and Louise Brooks. (Republic Pictures). In honor of Howard County Reads book, "The Chaperone" by Laura Moriarty, we will be showing the movie "Overland Stage Raiders." To honor the two movie stars, dress in your western duds or dress like a roarin' twenties flapper!"


That is an unusual pairing! If you can't attend this event and would like to view this little seen film, please note that it is available on DVD and Blu-ray on amazon.com and other shopping sites.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Saturday, September 3, 2022

Overland Stage Raiders to be shown at the Cherryvale Historical Museum

Louise Brooks last film, Overland Stage Raiders (1938), will be shown on September 3 at the Cherryvale Historical Museum, 215 E. Fourth St., in Cherryvale, Kansas. The a 55-minute western, which stars John Wayne and the Three Mesquiteers, will be shown on the lawn outside the museum beginning at about 7:45 p.m. 



Thursday, April 3, 2014

Overland Stage Raiders, starring John Wayne

To mark the publication of Scott Eyman's terrific new book, John Wayne the Life and Legend (just out from Simon and Schuster), here are a couple of lobby cards from the one film John Wayne and Louise Brooks appeared in together, Overland Stage Raiders. Eyman devotes half-a-page to the 55 minute Western, which was released in 1938.

Though a minor film, its making was a key moment in the career's of both actors. Overland Stage Raiders was the last film Brooks would make. Her 13 year career was over. Wayne, only a year younger, just just getting started: he would soon rocket to stardom in Stagecoach (1939), directed by John Ford. Read more about Eyman's new book at the publisher's website (or check out the previous entry here on the Louise Brooks Society blog).



Wednesday, April 2, 2014

New book: John Wayne the Life and Legend, by Scott Eyman

Scott Eyman, the author of eleven books and the critically acclaimed biographer of Hollywood legends Mary Pickford, Ernst Lubitsch, Cecil B. DeMille, Louis B. Mayer, and John Ford (as well as the author of highly recommended study The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution 1926-1930), has now penned a great big detailed and highly readable biography of John Wayne. Eyman's new book, John Wayne the Life and Legend, is just out from Simon and Schuster. It mines new sources and new material to bring readers the definitive biography of the legendary leading man. Learn more, read more, about this terrific new book at the publisher's website.


According to the publisher, "John Wayne was one of Hollywood’s most famous and most successful actors, but he was more than that. He became a symbol of America itself. He epitomized the Western film, which for many people epitomized America. He identified with conservative political causes from the early 1930s to his death in 1979, making him a hero to one generation of Americans and a villain to another. But unlike fellow actor Ronald Reagan, Wayne had no interest in politics as a career. Like many stars, he altered his life story, claiming to have become an actor almost by accident when in fact he had studied drama and aspired to act for most of his youth. He married three times, all to Latina women, and conducted a lengthy affair with Marlene Dietrich, as unlikely a romantic partner as one could imagine for the Duke. Wayne projected dignity, integrity, and strength in all his films, even when his characters were flawed, and whatever character he played was always prepared to confront injustice in his own way. More than thirty years after his death, he remains the standard by which male stars are judged and an actor whose morally unambiguous films continue to attract sizeable audiences.

Scott Eyman interviewed Wayne, as well as many family members, and he has drawn on previously unpublished reminiscences from friends and associates of the Duke in this biography, as well as documents from his production company that shed light on Wayne’s business affairs. He traces Wayne from his childhood to his stardom in Stagecoach and dozens of films after that. Eyman perceptively analyzes Wayne’s relationship with John Ford, the director with whom he’s most associated and who made some of Wayne’s greatest films, among them She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, and The Searchers. His evaluation of Wayne himself is shrewd: a skilled actor who was reluctant to step outside his comfort zone. Wayne was self-aware; he once said, 'I’ve played the kind of man I’d like to have been'."

This past weekend, director Peter Bogdanovich gave the book a great review in the New York Times. Read his review here.

As fans of Louise Brooks know, the actress appeared in one film with John Wayne, Overland Stage Raiders, from 1938. The film, which features a group of characters called the "Three Mesquiteers" (a play on the French "Three Musketeers") is set in the modern-day West, where buses bearing gold shipments to the East are being hijacked. To thwart the bad guys, the Mesquiteers ride their horses and even use an airplane to track the buses and capture the crooks. Brooks has a supporting role in the 55 minute film. Long available on VHS, Overland Stage Raiders was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2012 by Olive films.

The "Three Mesquiteers" was the overall title of a series of 51 B-westerns released by Republic Studios between 1936 and 1943. The films feature characters Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith, Lullaby Joslin, and Rusty Joslin. Over the run of the series, each were played by various B-western stars.

John Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune along with Louise Brooks
Overland Stage Raiders marked Wayne's second appearance in the series. Wayne took over the role of Stony Brooke in 1938, and appeared in eight Mesquiteer films over the course two years. During that time, he was joined by Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith and Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin in six films, while former silent film star Raymond Hatton (who starred alongside Brooks in Now We're in the Air) played Rusty Joslin in two more films. All eight Mesquiteer films featuring Wayne were directed by George Sherman.

Eyman devotes about half-a-page in his new book to Overland Stage Raiders. Eyman writes, "It's a fairly standard Mesquiteer's picture, except for the fact that the leading lady was Louise Brooks, the luminous erotic icon of G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box, who drank and talked her way out of a potentially great career."

Eyman goes on to quote Brooks. "At sunrise one August morning I was driven in a company car to location on the ranch where Republic shot all its westerns. Where was I supposed to go I wondered, after I got out of the car and stood alone in a cloud of dust kicked up by a passing string of horses. . . . Up the road a bunch of cowboys were talking and laughing with two men who had stood slightly apart from them. When the company car honked for them to get off the road, the two men looked around saw me, and came to greet me. One was a cherub, five feet tall carrying a bound smile; the other was a cowboy, six feet four inches tall, wearing a lovely smile. The cherub, who was the director, George Sherman introduced me to the cowboy who was John Wayne ..... Looking up at him I thought, this is no actor but the hero of all mythology miraculously brought to life."

Louise Brooks and John Wayne at the
wrap party for Overland Stage Raiders.
Along with Empty Saddles (1936), an earlier B-Western starring Buck Jones, Overland Stage Raiders is one of the more atypical and least interesting films to feature Brooks. Why did she do it? When asked in later years, Brooks replied that she needed the money. "I felt that I was reaching the end of my career in 1938. . . . the sorely needed $300 salary did little to cheer me up at the prospect of working in a typical Hollywood western whose unreality disgusted me." This prosaic programmer turned out to be the last film Brooks ever made.

At the height of Wayne's popularity in the 1950's and 1960's, a number of his earlier films were reissued, including Overland Stage Raiders. These re-releases were screened in theaters, usually local revival houses, and shown on local television, often as the "afternoon movie." In all likelihood, Overland Stage Raiders marked one of Louise Brooks' very first appearances on American television.


Here is the trailer from the 1950s reissue of Overland Stage Raiders. Unfortunately, it doesn't include any footage of Brooks, as the original 1938 trailer had. At the time, Brooks was largely forgotten and wasn't considered a draw. Likewise, the posters, lobby cards and other promotional materials from the time also left-off Brooks' name.


If you have an interest in John Wayne and like reading film biographies, the Louise Brooks Society highly recommends this new book by Scott Eyman. Wayne started in films during the silent era, and John Wayne the Life and Legend is a detailed, revelatory study of one of the longest lasting careers in Hollywood history. The early notices have been rightly positive.

“Scott Eyman has taken a legend and a statue and given us an odd, decent, muddled but deeply likeable man. That’s what makes this book so readable and so touching.” (David Thomson, author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film and Moments That Made the Movies)

“Drawing deeply on interviews with family and friends, acclaimed biographer Eyman colorfully chronicles Wayne’s life and work. . . . Compulsively readable.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

"A fine show-biz biography, delivering what fans want about the star’s career but probing with uncommon depth into his personality.” (Booklist)

Monday, August 5, 2013

Vintage Hollywood comic books, including Dixie Dugan and Buck Jones, at Digital Comics Museum

The Digital Comics Museum is a wonderful online resource. The site says it is "the best site for downloading FREE public domain Golden Age Comics," and it may well be true. To start downloading, register an account and enjoy reading a great assortment of vintage comic books. The Digital Comics Museum does not charge per download, with the stated goal of the project to archive these comic books online and make them widely available.

There are comic books dating, mostly, from the late 1930s through the early 1960s. Among them are a couple associated with the career of Louise Brooks, as well as many others relating to Hollywood and the movies.

The Digital Comics Museum has a couple of issues of the Dixie Dugan comic book. As fans of Brooks will recall, the actress was the inspiration for this long-running comic strip / comic book character. The early incarnation of the strip, circa 1930, featured a look-alike character, scenes set in the entertainment world, and even a few panels lifted directly from film stills. Follow this link to see these later-day Dixie Dugan comics - http://www.digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=244

The Digital Comics Museum also includes a half-dozen issues of a Buck Jones comic book. As fans of Brooks will also recall, Brooks was featured in Empty Saddles, a 1936 Western starring Jones. He started in the silent era, a remained major star throughout the 1930s. Sadly, Jones was one of the 492 victims of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts, dying two days after the November 28th blaze. For years, legend held that Jones's fatal injuries were the result of his going back into the burning building to save victims, but it is now known that he was one of many trapped in the fire. Follow this link to see the Buck Jones comics, which date from the early 1950s, a number of years after Jones' death - http://www.digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=632

And speaking of Western films featuring Louise Brooks, the Digital Comics Museum also has issues of John Wayne Adventure Comics. As fans of the actress will recall, Brooks was featured in an early John Wayne film, Overland Stage Raiders (1938). These comics date, I think, from the early 1950s.

The Digital Comics Museum has numerous other Hollywood-related comic books from the 1940s and 1950s, some of which harken back to the silent and early sound era.

They have runs of Johhny Mack Brown, Bill Boyd Western, Motion Picture Comics, Tom Mix Western, Hollywood Diary, Hollywood Secrets, Abbott and Costello Comics, Three Stooges, Famous Stars, and others. And of course there are many non movie or celebrity related comics.

But wait, there is more! The Digital Comics Museum also has very early issues of Little Nemo (circa 1906 - the year Brooks was born) and Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang (from the early 1920s). As fans of the actress will also recall, Brooks appeared in the cover of this humor journal in the late 1920s.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Overland Stage Raiders coming on DVD

Good news: the Louise Brooks film, Overland Stage Raiders (1938), will be released on DVD and BluRay on October 2 by Olive Films. This marks the first time Brooks' last film has been released on disc. The film had previously been issued on VHS in 1997.

Here is what the Olive Films website has to say: "The Three Mesquiteers was the umbrella title for a series of fifty-one B-westerns released between 1936 and 1943. The films featured the characters Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin or Rusty Joslin as the threesome; played by many B-western stars of that era. In 1938, John Wayne took over for Robert Livingston as Stony Brooke and starred in eight Mesquiteers films between 1938 and 1939, he was joined by Ray Corrigan as Tucson Smith and Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin for the first six and Raymond Hatton as Rusty Joslin for the last two… all eight films were directed by George Sherman (Big Jake). John Ford’s Stagecoach was perfectly sandwiched between the eight films and John Wayne portrayal of the outlaw gunfighter made him a superstar and ended Wayne’s Stony Brooke run… Livingston was rehired as Brooke and went on to make fourteen more Mesquiteers films and for an incredible total of twenty-nine. Overland Stage Raiders (the second of eight Wayne Mesquiteers films) co-stars silent film icon, Louise Brooks (in her final performance) and Anthony Marsh as siblings who partner up with the three amigos to save their struggling airline, standing in their way is an evil business man and his band of outlaws."

More on this new release once it is out.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

John Wayne's West: In Music and Poster Art

A follow-up to the previous blog . . . . Late last year, Bear Family Records released a massive and rather expensive 11 disc set called John Wayne's West: In Music and Poster Art. Though Bear Family (who are known for issuing large retrospective collections) is an European company, the set is available in the United States. The amazon.com listing for the set can be found here. (There's also one currently for sale on eBay.)


This impressive set includes the soundtrack music to John Wayne's numerous westerns (he made a lot of them), including all the title songs by the original artists as well as songs inspired by the movies. Also included is a 464-page LP-sized book with a biography by historian Richard W. Bann, and reproductions of hundreds of western movie posters as well as stills and lobby cards. A bonus DVD contains trailers and exclusive 'behind-the-scenes' footage.

I don't count myself a John Wayne fan. But what caught my eye, or rather my ear, about this set is the inclusion of a single track among the 10 audio discs. Track 51 on disc 8 is the orchestral sequence from Overland Stage Raiders, the 1938 B-western John Wayne made with Louise Brooks. That film was Brooks' last.



The Louise Brooks Society would be interested in finding out to what degree Overland Stage Raiders is represented in the book included in this set. And, if any Louise Brooks / John Wayne fans want to spring for a copy of John Wayne's West: In Music and Poster Art for the LBS archives . . . . well then, step right up partner.
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