Films and Television.

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      I think there should be a discussion here for this.  It's all fair game.  I'm going to start it off with something way out in left field.

[Captain]

I was finally able to watch some of these old cartoons.  Thank you for posting this link. 

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

          - The Bang Bang Kid -

      This movie is back on youtube at:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8GcUPysC1c

       I hate to sound negative, but it's not very good.  I point it out because it contains elements that could be considered steampunk.  From either 1967, or 1970, it features Tom Bosley and Guy Madison in a spaghetti western with a robot gunfighter that doesn't function very well.  It resembles a mannequin with a Tom Bosley-ish face that moves in a herky-jerky, sped up fashion.  And for some reason, all the dialog has echo.

      Note to anyone who knows their spaghetti westerns:  If the music sounds familiar, it's because the composer, Nico Fidenco, used pretty much the same tune in the movie "Bury Them Deep"  (Also known as "The Last Drops of Blood") from 1968.  (A confusing aspect of spaghetti westerns is the fact that they were released with many different titles in different countries.  I've come across some with as many as four different titles in English alone.)

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      OK, I'm watching the Sartana movies (again), and the second in the "official" series has SEVEN different English language titles.  Wow.  I really like these movies.  I can't call them steampunk, but they do feature unusual weapons, and, as the series progresses, a number of gadgets that definitely put them in the Weird West category for me.

      Odd, or gimmicky weapons are a fairly common feature of spaghetti westerns.  They range from plausible, to totally outlandish.

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      It looks like "The High Chaparral" has been released in the USA on DVD as of last year, and, consequently, all the episodes once available on the net (in English) are gone.  (Season 4 may not be available yet.)  I guess I know something I'll be getting myself for Christmas.

      For reasons I still can't entirely put my finger on, this was/is my favorite western television series.  There was quite a good discussion about it back on the old Steampunk Empire, and one of the more interesting things I learned is that the ranch house still exists as part of Old Tucson Studios, and appears exactly the same as it did in the series.  At least externally.  Inside, it is an empty cavern of bare walls and floors.

      From the show's episode title screen.

[Captain]

We had the chance to visit Old Tucson this past fall. 

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      Here's something I found floating around:

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      I've gotten back into watching spaghetti westerns I can find on the net.  Most I've seen before, some I barely remember, and even a small number that I haven't seen.  This is really good for me, as it's helped me to get back the motivation to recreate some informational posts, and even type up, and also post, a new CR&A story.  Just thought I'd mention it.  And Sartana (the film series character played by Gianni Garko) still rules!  Along with composer Bruno Nicolai!   Heh.

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      The Johnny Ringo TV show.

      This was a pretty good series on ABC, and was even in the top 20 for ratings, but was cancelled after just one season.  The sponsor wasn't interested in westerns anymore.  This show was one of those that featured a 'gimmick' weapon.  In this case a LeMat revolver, or, as the series says, something derived from the LeMat.  It was described as a "seven shooter" because it had a .410 gauge shotgun barrel.  The odd thing is, the real LeMat was an even more unusual, and deadly weapon.  First off, it had NINE rounds in its revolver cylinder, and the shotgun barrel was something between 20, or 18 gauge, much larger than .410, but the writers thought .410 made it sound more powerful.  Dufuses.  The actual gun used in the show was a genuine LeMat converted to fire centerfire primer cartridges.  Dick Powell, then the head of Four Star Productions, was familiar with the weapon, and was apparently responsible for putting it in the show.  He thought the "redefining" of it was just ignorance on the writer's part, but let it go.  The series can be seen here.

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      From "The Outlaw Deputy" (1935) starring Tim McCoy -

      A wanted poster for The Crisco Kid?  I guess these B western film makers were already incorporating little jokes for the viewers with sharp eyes.

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      OK, another "catch", this time from The Wild Wild West:

      Is is just me, or does the steamboat say "Sultana" on it?  If so, this discovery is NOT at all funny.  The Mississippi steamboat Sultana exploded on April 27, 1865 causing 1,168 deaths.  This event still ranks as the worst maritime disaster in the history of the USA.

[Captain]

It does look like SULTANA.  If so I like to think that they were just trying to preserve the fading memory. 

[P. Aloysius Regnad]

      Yeah, it's probably not intended to reference the real Sultana in any way beyond someone's hazy memory of a "famous" riverboat.  Still, I couldn't help pointing it out.