It was Robert Nott’s turn to curate our December Western Movie Night this past Sunday and he chose “The Proud Ones” (1956), about a marshal trying to keep order in his town when the first cattle drive arrives. It’s a watchable film in spite of its uneven plotting.
Rogers is remarkable in the lead role. His weathered face shows more about him than any explanation we are given later, but even that is precious little.
Absurd, grotesque, violent, and bizarrely humorous pretty well sums up the 1967 Italian spaghetti Western REQUIESCANT (translated roughly as “May they rest in peace”) that Kirk Ellis chose for our latest Western Night at the Movies get-together.
At our Western Night at the Movies evening last Sunday, it was Johnny D. Boggs’ turn to curate. He brought RIDER OF DEATH VALLEY (aka RIDERS OF THE DESERT), a Tom Mix film from 1932 about greed and its terrible price.
Sweet and lyrical are not terms usually associated with Sam Peckinpah, the man who directed THE WILD BUNCH, the man whom Western author Max Evans called the “Master of Violence.” Most of Peckinpah’s films are violent, one way or another, and most of them depict scenes of bloody mayhem and death. The one exception, though, was JUNIOR BONNER released in 1972. David Morrell chose it for our Western Night at the Movies meeting this past Sunday.