Movie star John Wayne and television actor James Arness were Western icons, but their images grew in vastly different directions. Some viewed Wayne as an American hero, while others criticized him for not serving in World War II during the draft. However, Wayne made several classics, such as The Quiet Man and The Searchers, in collaborations with legendary filmmakers like John Ford.
Meanwhile, Arness served during WWII, earning a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. He made a name for himself playing U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, one of the longest-running shows ever to air on television with 20 seasons. He had a much more positive legacy than Wayne left after his death, even though the movie star was once the television actor’s employer before they became good friends.
Nevertheless, Arness was essentially the Wayne of television.
James Arness and John Wayne were underestimated L-r: James Arness...
Meanwhile, Arness served during WWII, earning a Bronze Star Medal and a Purple Heart. He made a name for himself playing U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke, one of the longest-running shows ever to air on television with 20 seasons. He had a much more positive legacy than Wayne left after his death, even though the movie star was once the television actor’s employer before they became good friends.
Nevertheless, Arness was essentially the Wayne of television.
James Arness and John Wayne were underestimated L-r: James Arness...
- 2/22/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Actor James Arness didn’t immediately adapt to the sensational success of Gunsmoke. Many actors coveted the role of U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon, and CBS knew that the show’s success largely relied on the casting decision. Arness ultimately scored the role, but he was so anxious over the pressure that he got an acting coach to help him prepare.
‘Gunsmoke’ actor James Arness started with small roles James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon | CBS via Getty Images
Before Gunsmoke came along, Arness saw a future for himself in motion pictures. Therefore, he decided to chase his Hollywood dreams to the end. The actor landed some roles in films, including 1947’s The Farmer’s Daughter and 1951’s The Thing from Another World, although he was having some difficulty breaking into the scene as a leading man.
Arness worked under contract for legendary Western movie star John Wayne, and the pair became close friends.
‘Gunsmoke’ actor James Arness started with small roles James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon | CBS via Getty Images
Before Gunsmoke came along, Arness saw a future for himself in motion pictures. Therefore, he decided to chase his Hollywood dreams to the end. The actor landed some roles in films, including 1947’s The Farmer’s Daughter and 1951’s The Thing from Another World, although he was having some difficulty breaking into the scene as a leading man.
Arness worked under contract for legendary Western movie star John Wayne, and the pair became close friends.
- 2/10/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Gunsmoke actor James Arness took his career in a direction that he never expected would happen. However, it all worked out in his favor. He made some changes to incorporate the advice that he received early in his career to pursue his profession in Hollywood. Arness was a name that became so closely tied to Gunsmoke that one couldn’t imagine one without the other.
‘Gunsmoke’ actor James Arness initially wanted a movie career James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon | CBS via Getty Images
Arness first tackled an acting career after he was discharged from serving in World War II, where he earned the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the American Campaign Medal, among honorable achievements. He started as a radio announcer for Minneapolis station Wlol in 1945, but he was determined to make a living in Hollywood.
He appeared in some motion pictures, including The Thing from Another World,...
‘Gunsmoke’ actor James Arness initially wanted a movie career James Arness as U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon | CBS via Getty Images
Arness first tackled an acting career after he was discharged from serving in World War II, where he earned the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the American Campaign Medal, among honorable achievements. He started as a radio announcer for Minneapolis station Wlol in 1945, but he was determined to make a living in Hollywood.
He appeared in some motion pictures, including The Thing from Another World,...
- 2/9/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
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Burt Metcalfe, the onetime actor from Canada who served as a producer, director and writer on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way, has died. He was 87.
One of the show’s unsung heroes, Metcalfe died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, his wife of 43 years, actress Jan Jorden announced. (She had a recurring role as Nurse Baker on the series.)
Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in Gidget (1959), appeared on the first season of The Twilight Zone and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride.
Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H‘s 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He...
Burt Metcalfe, the onetime actor from Canada who served as a producer, director and writer on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way, has died. He was 87.
One of the show’s unsung heroes, Metcalfe died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, his wife of 43 years, actress Jan Jorden announced. (She had a recurring role as Nurse Baker on the series.)
Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in Gidget (1959), appeared on the first season of The Twilight Zone and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride.
Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H‘s 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He...
- 7/29/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
I had the pleasure of joining Kevin Jacobsen on his great podcast series "And the Runner Up Is..." for a fourth time. Kevin opted to assign me 1947 when I asked for this decade. So listen in to hear us talk about the following lineup which has two great performances, one coaster nomination, a bullet dodged, and one of my mother's favourites from her childhood.
Joan Crawford, Possessed Susan Hayward, Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman Dorothy McGuire, Gentleman's Agreement Rosalind Russell, Mourning Becomes Electra ★ Loretta Young, The Farmer's Daughter
Which of those performances do you love?...
Joan Crawford, Possessed Susan Hayward, Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman Dorothy McGuire, Gentleman's Agreement Rosalind Russell, Mourning Becomes Electra ★ Loretta Young, The Farmer's Daughter
Which of those performances do you love?...
- 4/14/2022
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Director Ti West’s X is a new love letter to the slasher film genre. This movie within a movie aims to tackle the strict relationship between sex, violence, desire and the rage that manifests when one’s life lacks all of those things. West employs all the tropes involved with pornography and horror and tries to inject personal hints of creativity and originality into the narrative. Will it age well if I watch it again in five years? Probably not. But it provides enough fun and excitement in the current moment to keep audiences engaged.
Wayne (Martin Henderson) is out to make an amateur porn video called The Farmer’s Daughter. He’s looking to take advantage of the market by shooting his own self-financed movie. His film crew consists of a couple, Rj (Owen Campbell) and Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), with actors Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson (Scott Mescudi) and Maxine...
Wayne (Martin Henderson) is out to make an amateur porn video called The Farmer’s Daughter. He’s looking to take advantage of the market by shooting his own self-financed movie. His film crew consists of a couple, Rj (Owen Campbell) and Lorraine (Jenna Ortega), with actors Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), Jackson (Scott Mescudi) and Maxine...
- 3/18/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Ti West made his name directing nimbly paced throwbacks to horror films of old, from his haunted house breakthrough “The House of the Devil” to his found footage film “The Sacrament.” But after directing six horror films in a row, with very few breaks in between, he decided to take some time off to make sure he didn’t start repeating himself.
While on his break from horror filmmaking, during which he directed for TV shows such as “Scream,” and “Tales From the Loop,” he thought about making a pure slasher film, something he hadn’t done before. Trying to find his own unique spin on the subgenre, he decided to make slasher film about people making a film. He wasn’t interested in making an overly meta piece about shooting a horror movie, so he eventually settled on a close counterpoint to his favorite genre: porn.
“Slasher movies have...
While on his break from horror filmmaking, during which he directed for TV shows such as “Scream,” and “Tales From the Loop,” he thought about making a pure slasher film, something he hadn’t done before. Trying to find his own unique spin on the subgenre, he decided to make slasher film about people making a film. He wasn’t interested in making an overly meta piece about shooting a horror movie, so he eventually settled on a close counterpoint to his favorite genre: porn.
“Slasher movies have...
- 3/18/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
An ode to 1970s grindhouse cinema, “X” finds “The House of the Devil” writer-director Ti West back in his wheelhouse, painstakingly recreating the era’s look and feel as well as its exploitative content.
The year is 1979. Six ambitious and enterprising young Houstonians with aspirations of fame, fortune and artistry decide to have a go at making “The Farmer’s Daughter,” a low-budget dirty movie aimed at boosting the cast and crew’s dreams of fame and fortune.
Maxine (Mia Goth), a coked-up stripper working at Bayou Burlesque, thinks this is just the ticket to international stardom. Her boyfriend, Wayne, acts as the archetypically gung-ho executive producer who talks a great game. Though ostensibly influenced by avant-garde cinema and the French New Wave, director R.J. needs to start at the bottom in order to cut his teeth in filmmaking. His girlfriend and boom operator Lorraine is a prude who doesn...
The year is 1979. Six ambitious and enterprising young Houstonians with aspirations of fame, fortune and artistry decide to have a go at making “The Farmer’s Daughter,” a low-budget dirty movie aimed at boosting the cast and crew’s dreams of fame and fortune.
Maxine (Mia Goth), a coked-up stripper working at Bayou Burlesque, thinks this is just the ticket to international stardom. Her boyfriend, Wayne, acts as the archetypically gung-ho executive producer who talks a great game. Though ostensibly influenced by avant-garde cinema and the French New Wave, director R.J. needs to start at the bottom in order to cut his teeth in filmmaking. His girlfriend and boom operator Lorraine is a prude who doesn...
- 3/14/2022
- by Martin Tsai
- The Wrap
After 2016’s Western, In the Valley of Violence, and several years directing episodic TV, Ti West makes a very welcome return to the world of feature horror with X, a ’70s-set picture in which the sort of ambition that has characterized West’s impressive filmography is both evident on screen as well as the subtext driving the film’s characters. The set-up: a ragtag group of filmmakers ensconce themselves in a rented barn outside a foreboding farmhouse straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to make a porno feature, The Farmer’s Daughter. Mia […]
The post Ambition in Filmmaking, Mia Goth’s Dual Role and His Sirkian A24 Prequel: Ti West on His SXSW-Premiering X first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Ambition in Filmmaking, Mia Goth’s Dual Role and His Sirkian A24 Prequel: Ti West on His SXSW-Premiering X first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/14/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
After 2016’s Western, In the Valley of Violence, and several years directing episodic TV, Ti West makes a very welcome return to the world of feature horror with X, a ’70s-set picture in which the sort of ambition that has characterized West’s impressive filmography is both evident on screen as well as the subtext driving the film’s characters. The set-up: a ragtag group of filmmakers ensconce themselves in a rented barn outside a foreboding farmhouse straight out of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to make a porno feature, The Farmer’s Daughter. Mia […]
The post Ambition in Filmmaking, Mia Goth’s Dual Role and His Sirkian A24 Prequel: Ti West on His SXSW-Premiering X first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Ambition in Filmmaking, Mia Goth’s Dual Role and His Sirkian A24 Prequel: Ti West on His SXSW-Premiering X first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/14/2022
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The renegade intensity of Ti West’s “X,” another homage by the “House of the Devil” writer-director to independent cinema’s past, and his first horror film in over a decade, is his willingness to ask: What if a slasher, but with porn? That genre bending — in a rollicking, wicked dark horror comedy about intrepid filmmakers just barely scraping by, the fetishization of youth, and how the weight of aging into a sexless marriage can lead to mayhem — . While West isn’t always operating on the same levels as his influences, his signature flair for tension through simmering slow-burn pacing remains unparalleled.
“X” kicks off on a secluded Texas farm surrounded by local police. The opening scene, framed within a barn, peers outside toward a simple wooden home peeking above the brush landscape. As an incessant buzz of flies swarm, the camera tracks outside revealing a trio of cop cars.
“X” kicks off on a secluded Texas farm surrounded by local police. The opening scene, framed within a barn, peers outside toward a simple wooden home peeking above the brush landscape. As an incessant buzz of flies swarm, the camera tracks outside revealing a trio of cop cars.
- 3/14/2022
- by Robert Daniels
- Indiewire
Review: "The Accused" (1949) Starring Loretta Young And Robert Cummings; Kino Lorber Blu-ray Release
“Murder Or Self Defense?”
By Raymond Benson
This compelling 1949 melodrama—it can’t quite be called film noir due to a lack of many of the traits associated with that cinematic movement—would have a field day in the era of #MeToo. It was made during 1948 (released in January ’49) while the Production Code was still in effect. While it was taboo to say that the protagonist, Dr. Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), is “sexually assaulted” by one of her students at the college where she teaches psychology (it’s obvious that this is what occurs in front of our eyes on the screen), it’s perfectly fine for the investigating homicide detective, Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey), to make harassing sexual innuendos and sexist remarks about the woman he suspects of murder, not only to her face but to all the other men in the room while she’s present. But it...
By Raymond Benson
This compelling 1949 melodrama—it can’t quite be called film noir due to a lack of many of the traits associated with that cinematic movement—would have a field day in the era of #MeToo. It was made during 1948 (released in January ’49) while the Production Code was still in effect. While it was taboo to say that the protagonist, Dr. Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), is “sexually assaulted” by one of her students at the college where she teaches psychology (it’s obvious that this is what occurs in front of our eyes on the screen), it’s perfectly fine for the investigating homicide detective, Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey), to make harassing sexual innuendos and sexist remarks about the woman he suspects of murder, not only to her face but to all the other men in the room while she’s present. But it...
- 11/12/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Heather Menzies-Urich who played Louisa von Trapp in the iconic film, "The Sound of Music," is dead. Heather was 15-years-old when she was cast as Louisa von Trapp in the film which has become an all-time movie classic, which won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture. The actress died on Christmas Eve, surrounded by family. Her son, Ryan Urich, tells TMZ, "She was an actress, a ballerina and loved living her life to the fullest. She was not in any pain but,...
- 12/25/2017
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
As a new year dawns, a tribute to those we've lost in the year now ending is merited ... and in 2012, those sad milestones have encompassed some of the most popular personalities in television history.
Andy Griffith: The actor-producer who put Mayberry on the map forever will be remembered as one of television's most genial personalities, also extending to his run as wily lawyer Matlock.
Dick Clark: The number of music stars who owe at least part of their success to the "American Bandstand" maestro is incalculable. Thanks to him, people also enjoy "New Year's Rockin' Eve," receive American Music Awards and have a greater appreciation of bloopers. Here's a "so long" salute to you, Dick.
Larry Hagman: The truly unfortunate irony of the veteran actor's recent death is that he was just starting his second round of "Dallas" success as master schemer J.R. Ewing. He'll also...
Andy Griffith: The actor-producer who put Mayberry on the map forever will be remembered as one of television's most genial personalities, also extending to his run as wily lawyer Matlock.
Dick Clark: The number of music stars who owe at least part of their success to the "American Bandstand" maestro is incalculable. Thanks to him, people also enjoy "New Year's Rockin' Eve," receive American Music Awards and have a greater appreciation of bloopers. Here's a "so long" salute to you, Dick.
Larry Hagman: The truly unfortunate irony of the veteran actor's recent death is that he was just starting his second round of "Dallas" success as master schemer J.R. Ewing. He'll also...
- 12/31/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
American TV and film actor whose repertoire ran from Shakespeare to Star Trek
It may well be that the American actor William Windom, who has died aged 88 of congestive heart failure, appeared as a guest star in more TV series than anyone else in the history of the medium. While quantity is not necessarily an adjunct of quality, Windom made it so.
The character actor's career on television spanned seven decades, from his debut as a fiery Tybalt in a Philco Television Playhouse production of Romeo and Juliet (1949) to an episode of Star Trek: New Voyages (2004) in which he recreated the role of the unbalanced Commodore Matt Decker. Decker was first seen in one of the series's best chapters, The Doomsday Machine (1967), and it was enough to sanctify Windom in the eyes of Trekkies. The role had been written for Robert Ryan, but Windom's powerful portrayal made any possible comparisons redundant.
It may well be that the American actor William Windom, who has died aged 88 of congestive heart failure, appeared as a guest star in more TV series than anyone else in the history of the medium. While quantity is not necessarily an adjunct of quality, Windom made it so.
The character actor's career on television spanned seven decades, from his debut as a fiery Tybalt in a Philco Television Playhouse production of Romeo and Juliet (1949) to an episode of Star Trek: New Voyages (2004) in which he recreated the role of the unbalanced Commodore Matt Decker. Decker was first seen in one of the series's best chapters, The Doomsday Machine (1967), and it was enough to sanctify Windom in the eyes of Trekkies. The role had been written for Robert Ryan, but Windom's powerful portrayal made any possible comparisons redundant.
- 8/23/2012
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Rest in peace, William Windom. The television actor, who received an Emmy Award for his work in My World and Welcome to It and is well-known for his roles on Star Trek and Murder, She Wrote, died in his California home from congestive heart failure on Thursday, according to the New York Times. Windom was 88. During his early years, Windom joined the army and served as a paratrooper in World War II. He later attended the University of Kentucky, among several other higher-education institutions, and decided to pursue acting. Windom also appeared on episodes of The Twilight Zone and the '60s comedy series The Farmer's Daughter, where he played a Minnesota congressman, a position served...
- 8/20/2012
- E! Online
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