things in westerns that drive me nuts

[Warden Callaway]

Were there other characters in that movie?

[Tom Bullweed]

According to court records, Doc Holliday fired the scattergun that he was carrying in Tombstone in Oct 1881 twice, believing it failed to fired the first time. He said that he threw the gun down in disgust and pulled his revolver.

 

Duke Wayne did not die in Shepard of the Hills (1941).

 

My biggest beef is movies that show western settlers who fought a 'civil war' and left known homes to venture west who, though out numbering the baddies many to few, huddled in fear: High Noon, Firecreek, Pale Rider, High Plains Drifter and Silverado come to mind.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

The movie is "The Frisco Kid".

Harrison Ford pulls out a SXS and cocks the hammers.

The sound effect is that of a lever action rifle.

 

"Modern" times; same thing happened in a Longmire episode - believe #3, first season. Might've been #4...

[royal barnes sass #5792]

I don't believe Jimmy Stewart died in The Far Country. I don't remember him dying in any of his westerns.

 

Some wore belts but there were no loops in the cowboy era. Sodbusters often wore them.

 

I believe the count on Costner's pistols is 12. He talks about it in an interview. He fires the first pistol 6 times then draws the second and empties it. The drawing of the second pistol wound up on the cutting room floor. He was furious but it was too late by the time he saw the final product. He stated that he knew people would remember his multi shot pistol more than they remembered anything else and he was right. The pistols are easy to tell apart. The holster pistol is a 7 1/2" and the one stuck in his belt is 5 1/2". I'm not a real Costner fan but I think he tried to do this one right.

 

Now, I'm still confused on how Doc Holliday managed to squeeze three shots out of a double but it is Hollywood.

 

Lastly, some people spend too much time looking for mistakes and not enough time enjoying the movies for what they are. Simply entertainment.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

I don't believe Jimmy Stewart died in The Far Country. I don't remember him dying in any of his westerns.

Well, I just re-watched it and sure enough, Jimmy is not dead at the end of The Far Country. Walter Brennan is, his girl is, and he's got at least three bullets in him, and he's acting real weak and ringing his own bell as the movie ends. Guess you can call it either way, but I still did not hold out much hope for him.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Silver Dollar Drifter]

Most westerns are entertainment, not remakes of history. Do I want all the real life details in a picture show? No. Why do we shoot cowboy styles/ because it is fun. Who are our heroes? Most of them have serious flaws, & many are now dead too. Enjoy shooting today for what we have & try to portect what we have.

[Pulp, SASS#28319]

"Hell to Pay" had a cap and ball reloading scene. Not much else, but it did have that!

[Arcadia Outlaw, SASS 71385]

Just about every tv show & movies have to show the pump action shotgun being pumped in one scene then pumped again for the next scene, just stupid and way over done, as well as the lever action rifles in westerns.

 

Matt Dillion would turn his back on prisoners he was transporting, he also always had the huge coffee pots hidden along the trail so he would not have to carry one with him.

 

For the most part I ignore most stuff or just laugh about it and try to enjoy the stories.

 

 

AO

[Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022]

Actually TP was a huge market by the 1850's. The myth of the Sears catalog by the 1 holer is that.

Belts were used quite normally as suspenders were dangerous and a liability when fighting a cow when one is wrestling it into position to be branded. There is a lot of myth about belts- loops etc. often belts were worn without loops, not as decoation, butas safety and practicality. Let's not forget , that 90% of what we "know" about the old west is based on Hollywood, and the "writers of western novels. Do some searching on old west photos, some digging.

[Packrat Ron]

They may not be perfect, or historically accurate, but I would rather watch any of them than the "reality" shows that are now!

 

James Stewart died in:

 

The Shopworn Angel

Malaya

The Glenn Miller Story

How the West Was Won

Bandolero!

Right of Way

[Madd Mike #8595]

wranglers

 

 

lol

just kididng folks

its entertainment

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

As to reloading a cap and ball revolver on film, Jeff Daniels did it as LTC Chamberlain in "Gettysburg." This was sometime during the Little Round Top engagement which made his true life character famous.

[Shorty Jack Hammer]

Nothing really it's all good entertaining fun

[Warden Callaway]

How about shooting hats off? Or the obligatory shooting the gun out of the hand trick? What's tricky is that the bullets don't go on and hit the people or horses standing behind them.

 

And do you think there was ever a stagecoach robbery where the bandits deliberately waited for the coach to pass and then chase it down?

[Billy Bristol]

It's Hollywood !

 

Even in the more modern cop shows you see 20 or 30 shots out of handgun with no reloading. Or hundreds of shots out of a machine gun at someone standing out in the opening and not getting hit.

 

I see it all the time but overlook it if the plot and actors are good. There will always be things not seen as they end up on the cutting room floor to make the movie short enough or more interesting. Some even get good scenes cut when shown on TV. I have seen good movies cut so bad for commercials that the movie wasn't even worth watching.

[Prairie Dawg, SASS #50329]

On the flip side........

 

I was watching Two Mules for Sister Sara the other night and Clint was actually using a '73.

 

Always assumed to was a '92.

 

I was pleasantly surprised.

 

And, if I recall correctly, in The Man From Laramie, Aline MacMahon's character, Kate Canady, uses a Henry rifle.

 

--Dawg

[rippin kid]

Last night a "Fist Full of Dollars" was on. In one scene the Mexican dude is shooting a machine gun that looked to be from WW1. Kills about 50 guys but not one of them gets a shot off and not one horse gets kills.

 

How did Clint cut the steel breast plate? He also healed up quickly.

[Curley Fryes]

Try Googling "cowboys in the 1800s." There are lots of pants with belts.

Or, look at the following Webpage. https://www.google.com/search?q=cowboys+in+the+1800s&hl=en&qscrl=1&rlz=1T4SNNT_enUS390US390&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=9WFdUueMCOeaiAKRwIGQAw&sqi=2&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=644#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=GpjI1NJKlUKURM%3A%3Bo-_mIfE7id48KM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.theinitialjourney.com%252FImages%252Flifeissues%252Fcowboys2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.theinitialjourney.com%252Flifeissues%252Flife_cowboys.html%3B172%3B250

I'm really gettin' confused now. According to my reenactor insurance company, belt loops are not period and you cannot wear pants that have them. Maybe it's just their preference. Anywho, I believe ya Allie. Maybe I'll send some of those pics to my insurance co.

[Curley Fryes]

One thing I do notice in some westerns is that there in Arizona in August and they're not sweatin'

[Chili Ron]

Howdy,

As I have said from time to time, these movies were made long before home video and freeze frame.

They were made to entertain on Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

 

My two favorites are JW shooting a left hand Winchester running from a gang of bad guys and

any time a car squeals tires on a dirt road.

And Id still like to know how to melt silver into bullets over a campfire.

Best

CR

ps-I just figure they don't show guns being reloaded.....

[Attica Jack #23953]

In spaghetti westerns, always a ricochet, even if fired in the air. The bad guy uses his pistol to start a dynamite fuse, the good guy comes and uses his pistol to shoot the fuse out. Tom Selleck movies seen to use period correct firearms.

[Warden Callaway]

Sam Elliott in Conagher used what I think was a Smith & Wesson Russian and a Winchester 73.

 

What gets me is seeing how they guns in the old movies. Take in Savage Sam, Bud Searcy carried a Sharps 50. I'd tend to think it was an original as I've not known replicas to be around then.

[royal barnes sass #5792]

Sam Elliott in Conagher used what I think was a Smith & Wesson Russian and a Winchester 73.

 

What gets me is seeing how they guns in the old movies. Take in Savage Sam, Bud Searcy carried a Sharps 50. I'd tend to think it was an original as I've not known replicas to be around then.

One of the little touches in Conagher is when he gets shot in the back. You see him react just before you hear the shot which would be correct.

[Madd Mike #8595]

nothing really

like has already been said

a poor western beats a non-reality ----- reality show per near any day

folks if you understand camera angles, camera size and camera persons

even reality shows are not that real

hands down, no joke

[Red Hooker]

....I believe the count on Costner's pistols is 12. He talks about it in an interview. He fires the first pistol 6 times then draws the second and empties it. The drawing of the second pistol wound up on the cutting room floor. .......

 

Now, I'm still confused on how Doc Holliday managed to squeeze three shots out of a double but it is Hollywood.......

 

 

 

Same thing- bad editing.

[Cat Brules]

....I believe the count on Costner's pistols is 12. He talks about it in an interview. He fires the first pistol 6 times then draws the second and empties it. The drawing of the second pistol wound up on the cutting room floor. .......

 

I believe I recall seeing an intrview wtih K. Costner where he admits his character fired 9 rounds from his revolver. He stated that he thought it was so cool that he left it in. As I said earlier, when I see that sort of thing, it is detracting and annoying.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

"I believe the count on Costner's pistols is 12. He talks about it in an interview. He fires the first pistol 6 times then draws the second and empties it. The drawing of the second pistol wound up on the cutting room floor. He was furious but it was too late by the time he saw the final product. He stated that he knew people would remember his multi shot pistol more than they remembered anything else and he was right. The pistols are easy to tell apart. The holster pistol is a 7 1/2" and the one stuck in his belt is 5 1/2". I'm not a real Costner fan but I think he tried to do this one right."

 

 

Not exactly. If he really tried to do it right, the number of shots would have been 10.

[Warden Callaway]

I always enjoy seeing all the town's people crisscrossing the street in panic when a shootout was about to start. Wouldn't you think they would naturally find cover on the side of the street they were on? I figured there must have been a union or guild to represent extras that crisscross the street in panic.

[royal barnes sass #5792]

"I believe the count on Costner's pistols is 12. He talks about it in an interview. He fires the first pistol 6 times then draws the second and empties it. The drawing of the second pistol wound up on the cutting room floor. He was furious but it was too late by the time he saw the final product. He stated that he knew people would remember his multi shot pistol more than they remembered anything else and he was right. The pistols are easy to tell apart. The holster pistol is a 7 1/2" and the one stuck in his belt is 5 1/2". I'm not a real Costner fan but I think he tried to do this one right."

 

 

Not exactly. If he really tried to do it right, the number of shots would have been 10.

Do you really think any one in his right mind would knowingly enter a gunfight without all chambers loaded? As the Duke said, "If you think you're gonna need six then load Six". Sound advice.

[Sgt. John Campbell, SASS #58165]

If anybody bothered to pay attention, Costner loaded the 6th round in both pistols right before the fight, when Duvall handed him the cigar and chocolate.

[Noz]

I'm one of those anal types that like period correct. To the point, Allie Mo and Anvil Al. Here is an excerpt from a History of Belts on Wikipedia.

 

"In modern times, men started wearing belts in the 1920s, as trouser waists fell to a lower line. Before the 1920s, belts served mostly a decorative purpose, and were associated with the military. Moreover, prior to that trousers did not even have belt loops. The first recorded use of belt loops on trousers is 1922, when a jean company added them. ^[1] Today it is common for men to wear a belt with their trousers."

Wikipedia? You've got to be kidding me. There is no poorer reference for any subject.

[Mad Dog McGee]

Appaloosa!!!!!!!! Was a great movie,,,, BUT I hated seeing Ed Harris's six gun with STAG grips !!!!!! As far as I can tell and all the photos of guns that I've seen, they did not make grips out of stag, only for knives. Why I don't know , but the only grip material that I've seen used was wood, hard rubber, mother of pearl, ivory and metal. If anyone finds a photo of stag grips on a revolver before the early cowboy movies I'd love to see it. I think that Hollywood came up with that one .

However they do look nice though.

[Curly Red Ryder]

And have you noticed that the heroes or single cowboys always leave the ranch for the town, 30 miles away,at noon and arrives to the town only a few minuts after leaving the ranch, sun is still high in the sky? And the same for backing from town to ranch in the late night after loooooong drinks

 

I know that Quarter horses are the faster horses but only for a short distance,not for miles and miles!!

[Palindrome, SASS #54445]

And then there's the anatomical placement of gunshots. Somehow people (good guys) can take shots that are clearly in the lung or the major vessel bundles and survive without vascular surgery, chest tubes and an ICU. You see liver shots, spleen shots and shots that have to hit the kidneys. John Wayne had a bullet lodged near his low spine that affected his hand and arm-I guess he was wired completely differently than the rest of us. Byron took a shot at point blank range in the abdomen from Charlie in 3:10 to Yuma. The bullet remained within reach of the veterinarian's forceps. He must have used a lighter load than some of us do. Happily, Byron recovered within a day or so. Bad guys, however, die instantly from any contact with lead (unless, of course, they are going to wake up and get one more chance at the hero before he notices them at the last second). Bottom Line-who cares, it's fun to watch.

[Go West]

At the end of the movie, the good guy throws down his gun, never to pick up one again.

Very few movies show guns getting cleaned and if you do, it's just a dry brush. What happened with the water, Ballistol or Frog Lube?

.