Western RoundUp: Western Film Book Library – Part 9

Western Film Book Library – Part 9

It’s
time for another survey of books on Western movies!

This month’s column is prompted in large part by the publication of an important new book, The Cavalry Trilogy: John Ford, John Wayne, and the Making of Three Classic Westerns by Michael F. Blake.

Blake, the son of character actor Larry Blake, is himself a noted movie makeup artist and film historian whose earlier works include books on Lon Chaney and Code of Honor: The Making of Three Great American Westerns. In this new book, a 292-page paperback from Rowman & Littlefield’s TwoDot Books, Blake brings together extensive new research on the making of Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950).

This
engagingly written book features numerous photos I’d never seen before, along
with an impressive three dozen pages of footnotes. Given that the second two
films in the trilogy are among my all-time favorite movies and that I’ve
visited their locations in Monument Valley and Moab, I found this “deep
dive” into the making of the movies an extremely enjoyable and informative
reading experience, filled with new-to-me stories.

Above,
my photo of author Blake (center) with Patrick Wayne and Rob Word at a 75th
anniversary screening of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon at the
October 2024 Lone Pine Film Festival.

While
I’m on the topic of Michael Blake, I have not yet read Code of Honor,
but I recently realized it was in the film book collection I inherited when my
father passed away last year. I look forward to reading it soon and expect
great things, given my enjoyment of The Cavalry Trilogy.

Code of
Honor is a 260-page paperback on the filming of High
Noon (1952), Shane (1953), and The Searchers (1956).
I can say it contains some remarkable photographs; my favorite is of John
Qualen, Natalie Wood, and Olive Carey filming the final scene of The
Searchers (1956). Code of Honor was published in 2003
by Taylor Trade Publishing.

Switching from books on “A” Westerns to the stars of “B” Westerns, I made a fantastic discovery in The Fabulous Holts by Buck Rainey. Rainey, who passed away in 2009, also wrote Shoot-Em-Ups, which I discussed here earlier this year, and Sweethearts of the Sage, which I discussed in a 2023 column. The Fabulous Holts covers the lives and films of Western actors Jack Holt and his children Tim and Jennifer.

I first
learned of the Holt book from the back cover of another of Rainey’s books, and
thanks to a kind friend’s assistance I found an affordable copy on eBay. It’s a
215-page book originally published in 1976 by Western Film Collector Press.

The book
has relatively small print and is packed with information, including detailed
biographies of the family and close looks at their films. The author personally
interviewed both Jennifer and Tim; Tim passed away before the book’s
publication, but his widow provided family photographs to the author. Other
photos in the book were from Jennifer’s collection.

Along with the late David Rothel’s book Tim Holt, which I discussed here in my November 2019 column, The Fabulous Holts is an absolute “must” for fans of this acting family.

I’ve been interested in Dale Evans and Roy Rogers, on and off screen, since I met Dale as a child at the Lighthouse Christian Bookstore in Long Beach, California. Dale was signing her 1971 book Dale: My Personal Picture Album, and I was in awe, as I often watched afternoon TV reruns of The Roy Rogers Show; she was one of the first celebrities I ever met in person. Her book filled with stories and photos of her large family fascinated me, and I went on to read several other books by Dale.

Queen of the West: The Life and Times of Dale Evans, was written by Theresa Kaminski and published by Rowan & Littlefield’s Lyons Press imprint in 2022. I just picked it up in a sale this year and found it a very “readable” and insightful book. It’s extensively researched, with over 50 pages of footnotes, and also had the advantage of being fact-checked by Dale’s oldest stepdaughter, Cheryl Rogers Barnett.

This is a good place to also mention the very enjoyable memoirs written by Cheryl, Cowboy Princess: Life With My Parents, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans and Cowboy Princess Rides Again.

I’ve been fortunate to meet Cheryl on multiple occasions at
the Lone Pine Film Festival, where she’s a regular guest. Her books are
charming stories of growing up in Hollywood as part of the large Rogers family;
she’s also honest about some of the struggles she faced as a teen, loving yet
clashing with her stepmother Dale. She continues to be a wonderful historian
and ambassador for the Rogers family.

As I’ve mentioned here in the past, I’ve always had a
particular interest in actress Julie Adams as I appeared on stage with her in a
bit role in a theatrical production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in
the late ’70s. Adams got her start in movies appearing in low-budget Lippert
Pictures Westerns, a couple of which I’ve written about in past columns. As her
career developed she starred in numerous Universal Pictures Westerns, as well
as appearing in TV Westerns such as Maverick, Cheyenne, and The
Rifleman.

Adams published the charming memoir The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections From the Black Lagoon in 2011. It was cowritten with her son Mitchell Danton, who was also the son of actor Ray Danton. It’s a marvelous book, with 263 heavy, glossy pages and dozens of photos from her personal collection.

Above, a montage of color posters for Adams’ films which
are seen inside the cover, along with a set of photos from one of my all-time
favorite Westerns, Bend of the River (1952). The book includes
many fun anecdotes, including how she learned moviemaking while shooting
several Lippert Westerns simultaneously!

For even more ideas on books on Western movies, please visit my lists from July 2019, November 2019, May 2020, January 2021, July 2021, August 2022, May 2023, and April 2024.

…

– Laura Grieve for Classic Movie Hub

Laura can be found at her blog, Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings, where she’s been writing about movies since 2005, and on Twitter at @LaurasMiscMovie. A lifelong film fan, Laura loves the classics including Disney, Film Noir, Musicals, and Westerns.  She regularly covers Southern California classic film festivals.  Laura will scribe on all things western at the ‘Western RoundUp’ for CMH.