James Arness starred as lawman Marshall Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke" for an incredible run of 20 seasons from 1955-1975. Until "The Simpsons" surpassed it in 2018, the epic series dramatizing the American West was the longest running television show in history. Originally, John Wayne was offered the role but turned it down because he had no interest in committing to a weekly TV series. If he had accepted the part, it's incredibly unlikely the series would have ever run that long, and more TV movies of "Gunsmoke" probably would have hit the airwaves instead.
During the first couple of years of "Gunsmoke," filming took place at the legendary Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio, one of the premiere Western movie towns of the 1950s with multiple locations and a working train helping to fill in for the real Dodge City. Arness received a Walk of Western Stars award presented to him at Melody...
During the first couple of years of "Gunsmoke," filming took place at the legendary Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio, one of the premiere Western movie towns of the 1950s with multiple locations and a working train helping to fill in for the real Dodge City. Arness received a Walk of Western Stars award presented to him at Melody...
- 3/18/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
Movie star John Wayne had dedicated fans who hated seeing any deaths surrounding the characters he played. He held an image that represented America to many moviegoers, making it hard for some to stomach watching his characters die. Nevertheless, Wayne had 8 character deaths out of his large filmography totaling over 200 motion pictures, not including 1955’s The Sea Chase, which left his character’s fate unknown.
‘Reap the Wild Wind’ (1942) L-r: Paulette Goddard as Loxi Claiborne and John Wayne as Captain Jack Stuart | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
Cecil B. DeMille’s Reap the Wild Wind is set in the 1840s, when a group of salvagers go from profiting off shipwrecks to to causing them. All those in the American South consider King Cutler (Raymond Massey) the most dangerous, who sets his eyes on the ships of the wealthy Devereaux Company, Captain Jack Stuart (Wayne), and the company’s lawyer,...
‘Reap the Wild Wind’ (1942) L-r: Paulette Goddard as Loxi Claiborne and John Wayne as Captain Jack Stuart | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images
Cecil B. DeMille’s Reap the Wild Wind is set in the 1840s, when a group of salvagers go from profiting off shipwrecks to to causing them. All those in the American South consider King Cutler (Raymond Massey) the most dangerous, who sets his eyes on the ships of the wealthy Devereaux Company, Captain Jack Stuart (Wayne), and the company’s lawyer,...
- 2/15/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Marlon Brando had few if any hits in the 1960s, but this wartime spy picture is a not-bad thriller with some tense moments. Both Brando and Yul Brynner have been blackmailed into a risky mission as spy and sea captain; they’re more than a little disillusioned to find themselves transporting a boatload of Nazis and political prisoners headed back to Germany. Persecuted victim Janet Margolin is beyond caring — she’s a victim on a voyage of the damned.
Morituri
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1965 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / The Saboteur, Code Name Morituri / Street Date May 21, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95
Starring: Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Janet Margolin, Trevor Howard, Martin Benrath, Hans Christian Blech, Wally Cox, William Redfield.
Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Daniel Taradash from a novel by Werner Jörg Lüddecke
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Directed by Bernhard Wicki
The dark, dank, morally murky...
Morituri
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1965 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 123 min. / The Saboteur, Code Name Morituri / Street Date May 21, 2019 / Available from Twilight Time Movies / 29.95
Starring: Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Janet Margolin, Trevor Howard, Martin Benrath, Hans Christian Blech, Wally Cox, William Redfield.
Cinematography: Conrad Hall
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Daniel Taradash from a novel by Werner Jörg Lüddecke
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Directed by Bernhard Wicki
The dark, dank, morally murky...
- 6/25/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
With just six weeks left for 2018, Gold Derby celebrates over 40 celebrities and entertainers who died in the past 12 months. Tour our photo gallery above as we feature tributes to 25 losses from this year so far.
Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes, died on November 12 at age 95. For Marvel Comics and later many films and TV programs, his characters included Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and the Avengers.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died on October 15 at age 65. He and Bill Gates helped start the microcomputer revolution in the mid-1970s by creating the world’s largest PC software company.
Burt Reynolds died on September 6 at age 82 in Florida. He was an Oscar nominee for “Boogie Nights” and an Emmy winner for “Evening Shade.” He was one of the top box office stars of the 1970s with movies such as “Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “The Longest Yard,...
Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes, died on November 12 at age 95. For Marvel Comics and later many films and TV programs, his characters included Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and the Avengers.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen died on October 15 at age 65. He and Bill Gates helped start the microcomputer revolution in the mid-1970s by creating the world’s largest PC software company.
Burt Reynolds died on September 6 at age 82 in Florida. He was an Oscar nominee for “Boogie Nights” and an Emmy winner for “Evening Shade.” He was one of the top box office stars of the 1970s with movies such as “Deliverance,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “The Longest Yard,...
- 11/15/2018
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
by Nathaniel R
Tab at the beach in the early '50sApologies that we didn't say our goodbyes to one of Hollywood's best hunks, Tab Hunter, in a timelier fashion.
Tab's real name was Arthur Kelm but back in the studio days almost everyone got a catchier name to boost their celebrity appeal... and you can't really beat Tab Hunter for a memorable name, can you? (Sometimes we wonder why actors don't do that now. Benedict Cumberbatch as a stage name and so many actors use their real names even if their real name is long and hyphenated and hard to imagine on a marquee!).
Though born in New York his sun-kissed blonde beauty was a perfect fit for sunny California and Hollywood and he rose through the ranks quickly in films. Despite a few well regarded performances peppered throughout his career he was never considered a particularly strong actor...
Tab at the beach in the early '50sApologies that we didn't say our goodbyes to one of Hollywood's best hunks, Tab Hunter, in a timelier fashion.
Tab's real name was Arthur Kelm but back in the studio days almost everyone got a catchier name to boost their celebrity appeal... and you can't really beat Tab Hunter for a memorable name, can you? (Sometimes we wonder why actors don't do that now. Benedict Cumberbatch as a stage name and so many actors use their real names even if their real name is long and hyphenated and hard to imagine on a marquee!).
Though born in New York his sun-kissed blonde beauty was a perfect fit for sunny California and Hollywood and he rose through the ranks quickly in films. Despite a few well regarded performances peppered throughout his career he was never considered a particularly strong actor...
- 7/11/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Tab Hunter, the 1950s epitome of the blond Hollywood heartthrob and teen icon pin-up, whose career included early A-list fare like Damn Yankees! and Battle Cry to later (much later) cult classics Polyester, Lust in the Dust, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and authorship of a memoir in part describing his life as a closeted gay movie star, has died. He was 86.
Hunter came out as gay with his 2005 autobiography Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star – later the basis for Jeffrey Schwarz’ 2015 Netflix documentary Tab Hunter Confidential – clearing up longstanding Hollywood rumors that. Since his ’80s resurgence in the John Waters and Paul Bartel films costarring Divine, Hunter had relaxed into a more self-amused, even self-deprecating attitude about the vast chasm between the man born Arthur Gelien in 1931 and the teen idol manufactured and rechristened Tab Hunter by Henry Willson, the agent behind such creatively named Hollywood hunks as Rock Hudson,...
Hunter came out as gay with his 2005 autobiography Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star – later the basis for Jeffrey Schwarz’ 2015 Netflix documentary Tab Hunter Confidential – clearing up longstanding Hollywood rumors that. Since his ’80s resurgence in the John Waters and Paul Bartel films costarring Divine, Hunter had relaxed into a more self-amused, even self-deprecating attitude about the vast chasm between the man born Arthur Gelien in 1931 and the teen idol manufactured and rechristened Tab Hunter by Henry Willson, the agent behind such creatively named Hollywood hunks as Rock Hudson,...
- 7/9/2018
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
John Wayne plays a German sea captain in a film that goes out of its way to create a favorable image of our former enemy, with hardly a Nazi flag or even a German accent in sight. Wayne and his co-star Lana Turner are as Teutonic as Blondie and Dagwood, yet the film works as a basic adventure – we like the charismatic star, and the sea chase format guarantees extra interest.
The Sea Chase
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: John Wayne, Lana Turner, David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, Tab Hunter, James Arness, Richard Davalos, John Qualen, Paul Fix, Alan Hale Jr., Peter Whitney, Claude Akins, John Doucette, Tudor Owen, Adam Williams.
Cinematography: William Clothier
Film Editors: William Ziegler, Owen Marks
Original Music: Roy Webb
Written by James Warner Bellah, John Twist from a novel by Andrew Geer
Produced and Directed...
The Sea Chase
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: John Wayne, Lana Turner, David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, Tab Hunter, James Arness, Richard Davalos, John Qualen, Paul Fix, Alan Hale Jr., Peter Whitney, Claude Akins, John Doucette, Tudor Owen, Adam Williams.
Cinematography: William Clothier
Film Editors: William Ziegler, Owen Marks
Original Music: Roy Webb
Written by James Warner Bellah, John Twist from a novel by Andrew Geer
Produced and Directed...
- 7/18/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Now At A Reduced Price! Only $61.00 Through Amazon...Original Price Was $149.00- Free Shipping For Prime Members.
Time to put up your Dukes! (DVDs, that is!)
DVD Collection Of 40 Warner And Parmount Films Is Largest John Wayne Box Set Ever
Includes Hours Of Special Features And Remarkable Memorabilia
Amazon Buyers Get Exclusive Wayne Belt Buckle
Here is the original press release from when the set was originally made available:
To commemorate one of America’s most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20. The spring release, just in time for Father’s Day gift-giving, will contain 38 discs with 40 Wayne films (full list below), including The Searchers, once called one of the most influential movies in American history[1] and the film for which Wayne won his Best Actor Academy Award®, True Grit (1969). The collection...
Time to put up your Dukes! (DVDs, that is!)
DVD Collection Of 40 Warner And Parmount Films Is Largest John Wayne Box Set Ever
Includes Hours Of Special Features And Remarkable Memorabilia
Amazon Buyers Get Exclusive Wayne Belt Buckle
Here is the original press release from when the set was originally made available:
To commemorate one of America’s most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20. The spring release, just in time for Father’s Day gift-giving, will contain 38 discs with 40 Wayne films (full list below), including The Searchers, once called one of the most influential movies in American history[1] and the film for which Wayne won his Best Actor Academy Award®, True Grit (1969). The collection...
- 12/18/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Amazon's best-selling titled "John Wayne: The Epic Collection" is on sale this week at an astounding 54% off. That means you save $80 on this massive DVD collector's set that includes 38 of the Duke's classic movies. Also included are bonus collectibles and a Duke belt buckle available exclusively through this Amazon deal.
Below is the original press release from Warner Home Video pertaining to the set's debut on Father's Day.
Burbank, Calif., February 24, 2014 -- To commemorate one of America’s most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20. The spring release, just in time for Father’s Day gift-giving ($149.98 Srp), will contain 38 discs with 40 Wayne films (full list below), including The Searchers, once called one of the most influential movies in American history[1] and the film for which Wayne won his Best Actor Academy...
Below is the original press release from Warner Home Video pertaining to the set's debut on Father's Day.
Burbank, Calif., February 24, 2014 -- To commemorate one of America’s most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20. The spring release, just in time for Father’s Day gift-giving ($149.98 Srp), will contain 38 discs with 40 Wayne films (full list below), including The Searchers, once called one of the most influential movies in American history[1] and the film for which Wayne won his Best Actor Academy...
- 9/22/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
There is no studio that times their releases more perfectly than Warner Bros. Around the end-of-year holidays there will be gift sets for films like “Elf” and “Willy Wonka.” Near Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, you can expect gift-appropriate releases.
And, of course, they always bring out the war movies and Westerns for Father’s Day in June. This year’s gift idea is a beauty, a massive 40-film, career-spanning set of films starring the legendary John Wayne. From 1932’s “Big Stampede” to 1976’s “The Shootist,” there’s a bit of everything for Wayne fans in here, but more for those who like war movies and Westerns.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
We don’t need to go through them all but highlights include “Rio Bravo,” “El Dorado,” “The Searchers,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “True Grit,” “How the West Was Won,” “Fort Apache,” “Donovan’s Reef,” and “Hatari!” Some Wayne...
And, of course, they always bring out the war movies and Westerns for Father’s Day in June. This year’s gift idea is a beauty, a massive 40-film, career-spanning set of films starring the legendary John Wayne. From 1932’s “Big Stampede” to 1976’s “The Shootist,” there’s a bit of everything for Wayne fans in here, but more for those who like war movies and Westerns.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
We don’t need to go through them all but highlights include “Rio Bravo,” “El Dorado,” “The Searchers,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “True Grit,” “How the West Was Won,” “Fort Apache,” “Donovan’s Reef,” and “Hatari!” Some Wayne...
- 6/3/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
If you don't have travel plans for Memorial Day weekend, get cozy on the couch (and set your DVR) because there are plenty of fun marathons happening.
Need to catch up on Season 1 of "Longmire" before the Season 2 premiere Monday, May 27? Want to re-live "Veronica Mars" Season 1? How about watching the entire series of "Arrested Development" (and reading our re-watch posts) before the new season is out on Netflix?
Here is all your Memorial Day weekend programming, all times Eastern.
Friday, May 24
A&E: "Storage Wars" marathon, 3 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day
Animal: "Finding Bigfoot" marathon, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., "Invasion" premiere and new episode, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Bravo: "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" marathon, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., "Millionaire Matchmaker" marathon, 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day
Chiller: "The Twilight Zone" marathon, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Discovery: "Sons of Guns" marathon,...
Need to catch up on Season 1 of "Longmire" before the Season 2 premiere Monday, May 27? Want to re-live "Veronica Mars" Season 1? How about watching the entire series of "Arrested Development" (and reading our re-watch posts) before the new season is out on Netflix?
Here is all your Memorial Day weekend programming, all times Eastern.
Friday, May 24
A&E: "Storage Wars" marathon, 3 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day
Animal: "Finding Bigfoot" marathon, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., "Invasion" premiere and new episode, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Bravo: "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" marathon, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., "Millionaire Matchmaker" marathon, 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day
Chiller: "The Twilight Zone" marathon, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Discovery: "Sons of Guns" marathon,...
- 5/24/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Us actor known for playing Marshal Matt Dillon in the popular TV series Gunsmoke
James Arness, who has died aged 88, may not have been the biggest film star ever, but he was certainly one of the tallest, at 6ft 7in. His height and large bulk made a lasting impression in his role of Us Marshal Matt Dillon in the television western series Gunsmoke, which Arness played for 20 years.
As the poker-faced, taciturn marshal of Dodge City who works to preserve law and order on the western frontier in the 1870s, Arness, in medium-close shots, often had to perform standing in a hole, or else other actors stood on boxes so their faces could be in frame. His height was also a factor in his casting in the title role of The Thing from Another World (1951), also known as The Thing, which gave impetus to his career.
Arness himself found the...
James Arness, who has died aged 88, may not have been the biggest film star ever, but he was certainly one of the tallest, at 6ft 7in. His height and large bulk made a lasting impression in his role of Us Marshal Matt Dillon in the television western series Gunsmoke, which Arness played for 20 years.
As the poker-faced, taciturn marshal of Dodge City who works to preserve law and order on the western frontier in the 1870s, Arness, in medium-close shots, often had to perform standing in a hole, or else other actors stood on boxes so their faces could be in frame. His height was also a factor in his casting in the title role of The Thing from Another World (1951), also known as The Thing, which gave impetus to his career.
Arness himself found the...
- 6/6/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
See that pretty boy up there? Does he remind you of anyone? Better yet, do you even know who he is? I do, because...well, he's a pretty boy and I make it my business to keep up with the pretty boys. And men. And women. My life is very full, but never too full for beauty -- we're supposed to stop and smell the roses but if it's the middle of winter and there are no roses, we must amuse ourselves with pretty pictures.
Anyway, I'm sure there was a point to all this. Oh yes, famously related people we don't know are related. While doing my very important Pajiba research, I often stumble upon little tidbits that surprise me. Sometimes it's porn, sometimes not; some things can be shared and others... For instance, when I searched for an image on that actor in the header pic, there were plenty of naked posterior shots.
Anyway, I'm sure there was a point to all this. Oh yes, famously related people we don't know are related. While doing my very important Pajiba research, I often stumble upon little tidbits that surprise me. Sometimes it's porn, sometimes not; some things can be shared and others... For instance, when I searched for an image on that actor in the header pic, there were plenty of naked posterior shots.
- 2/9/2011
- by Cindy Davis
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