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CIMARRON STRIP (1967-1968) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

CIMARRON STRIP (1967-1968) – Here’s another seasonal post for Frontierado, which is observed this year on Friday, August 1st. Cimarron Strip was the stretch of land also called the Oklahoma Panhandle. Stuart Whitman starred as U.S. Marshal Jim Crown, assigned to tame the nearly lawless region in the late 1880s.   

This program’s 23 episodes ran 90 minutes each with commercials, just like The Virginian and the first season of Wagon Train. Jill Townsend played Dulcey Coopersmith, Marshal Crown’s love interest and Percy Herbert was Deputy Marshal MacGregor. Karl Swenson played Doc Kihlgren.

STANDOUT EPISODES:   

THE BATTLE GROUND – A range war breaks out in the Cimarron Strip after the government cancels leases on land owned by cattlemen. Those ranchers clash violently with farmers and settlers with Marshal Jim Crown caught in the middle as he tries to end the war before a massacre occurs. Telly Savalas himself guest stars, along with Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Richard Farnsworth and R.G. Armstrong.  

JOURNEY TO A HANGING – Ace Coffin (Henry Silva), the leader of the Coffin Gang, kills a subordinate member of his gang before escaping from Cimarron’s jail. A fellow inmate called Screamer (John Saxon) witnesses the deed and wants the reward on Coffin’s head. Marshal Jim Crown warily accepts the man on his posse going after Ace. Both Crown and Coffin face potential mutinies from their own men. Shug Fisher and Margarita Cordova guest star. Continue reading

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BODIE, CA – OLD WEST GOLD RUSH SITE TURNED GHOST TOWN

The Frontierado Holiday falls on Friday, August 1st this year, so here’s another seasonal post.

BODIE, CALIFORNIA – Gold was discovered there in 1859 by William (or Waterman) S. Bodey, the man that the subsequent town would be named for despite the spelling error made by a sign painter. For nearly twenty years, Bodie produced less gold than similar sites out west.

In fact, two companies would go bust while trying to make gold mining in Bodie profitable. However, in 1876 the Standard Company hit a very rich gold ore deposit, transforming the place into a proper Boom Town by 1878.

Even more precious metal finds in that year resulted in even more people flocking to the area and in 1879 the population of Bodie was estimated at nearly 10,000, with over 2,000 buildings. September of 1879 found the notorious female gambler/ gunslinger Eleanore “Madame” Dumont in town. She killed herself after being wiped out by one last losing streak after years of ups and downs. Continue reading

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GHOULIES (1984) ON THE TEXAS 27 FILM VAULT

Ghoulies

In the middle 1980s, way down on Level 31, we had The Texas 27 Film Vault. Before Joel and Mike, we had Randy and Richard. (I make a point of opening my T27FV posts with similar reminders because it cuts down on furious reactions from people who don’t pay attention to the broadcast dates and accuse Randy and Richard of ripping off MST3K even though their show came first.) 

In honor of the FORTIETH anniversary of this forgotten 1985-1987 cult show Balladeer’s Blog has been posting about parts of the program’s history. This time I’ll examine the final movie presented and mocked by the machine-gun toting Randy and Richard and their colleagues in the Film Vault Corps – “the few, the proud, the sarcastic”.  

Randy Clower and Richard Malmos of The Texas 27 Film Vault (both lower right) featured in a Movie Host article with Stella from Saturday Night Dead and Elvira.

FILM VAULT LORE: A T27FV fan calling herself Georgia remarked at Egor’s site: “I still lived (in Dallas) when they did their last show. They knew they were going off the air because they talked about it and seemed pretty sad about it. I was sad, too. It was the best thing on tv.” 

The show was still hot in the ratings but Randy, Richard, Ken “Tex” Miller and Joe “The Hypnotic Eye” Riley got hot job offers they couldn’t turn down. Combine that with the collapse of the Film Vault Guys’ most recent attempt to get a syndication deal (what might have been) and the gang disbanded after roughly 2 and 1/2 years of bad movie fun.

Ghoulies poster

THE MOVIE: This was a product from Charles Band, so lovers of bad 1980s horror films know what they’re in for. Jack Nance from Eraserhead and Mariska Hargitay from Law and Order: SVU can both point to this flick as their most embarrassing moment on camera!  

A Satanist played by rock singer Michael Des Barres leaves his mansion – which was the site of his Black Masses and human sacrifices – to a young couple played by Lisa Pelikan and Peter Liapis. They move into the creepy old place and the man starts to become possessed by the dark forces that linger in the mansion. Eventually his dabbling in Satanic rituals causes his zombified father Malcolm (Des Barres) to climb out of his grave,which is conveniently located in the mansion’s backyard. Continue reading

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WHEN CRYSTAL JOINED THE FANTASTIC FOUR

This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post will look at the time when the Inhuman named Crystal replaced Invisible Woman in the Fantastic Four while she was pregnant.

FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #81 (Dec 1968)

Title: Enter – The Exquisite Elemental

Villain: The Wizard

Synopsis: With Sue Storm-Richards (Invisible Woman) deep in her pregnancy, the Human Torch’s (Johnny Storm’s) longtime girlfriend Crystal of the Inhumans temporarily replaces her in the Fantastic Four. This marks the first time any team member has needed replaced.

The team’s old foe the Wizard invades the Baxter Building to keep his recently confiscated Power Gloves from being reverse engineered by the Fantastic Four.

(Our heroes took them after defeating the Wizard a few issues back.)

The battle leads all the way to the docks, where Crystal’s elemental powers prove her value to the team by being crucial to defeating and driving off the Wizard. Continue reading

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FARO DEALING AND OTHER SUPPLIES FOR FRONTIERADO

FaroThe Frontierado Holiday, coming up Friday, August 1st is about celebrating the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality.

For reasonably authentic and affordable Faro and Chuck-A-Luck supplies for Frontierado get-togethers I often use River Junction Trade Company and others.

Chuck a LuckSites like theirs will also sell plenty of other supplies that will suit your needs for making your deck or party room look like a Wild West saloon or casino. Clothing, saloon chairs, era-appropriate whiskey glasses, you name it. Continue reading

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DECISION (1958) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

DECISION (1958) – This was a half-hour anthology series that aired as a summer replacement for The Loretta Young Show. It ran 13 episodes, with several episodes serving as pilots for potential new series.

I. THE VIRGINIAN – Pilot for the later series of the same name. This western was based on the Owen Wister novel and starred James Drury and Jeanette Nolan, both of whom starred in the series. Lee J. Cobb replaced Robert Burton as the Judge. Dan Blocker played Salem in this pilot. The story dealt with attempts to sabotage the Judge’s plan to bring a railroad spur to Shiloh Ranch.

II. FIFTY BEAUTIFUL GIRLS – Barbara Bel Geddes starred as a taxi dancer who bravely serves as bait for a crazed killer who has been murdering ladies in her profession. Also starred Edward Andrews and Royal Dano. Continue reading

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GARTER COLT (1968) SPAGHETTI WESTERN

This year the Frontierado Holiday falls on Friday, August 1st. That holiday is about the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality.

GARTER COLT (1968) – Previously, I reviewed the Spaghetti Western The Belle Starr Story, so this time I’m taking a look at this Italo-Western starring Nicoletta Machiavelli. She portrays Lulu “Garter” Colt, a gunslinging beauty who turns heads, breaks hearts and kicks butts all along the U.S.-Mexican Border.

In most Spaghetti Westerns women are around only to be slept with, assaulted and/or murdered, but a select few feature ladies who get to mow down no-good hombres with giddy abandon. One such woman is Garter Colt, who keeps her pistol stuffed into her garter belt, which provides the excuse to frequently flash a thigh while drawing her weapon.

And naturally the low-cut outfits worn by Lulu and supporting character Rosy (Marisa Solinas) allow for additional alluring shots.

Ms. Colt is a professional gambler, so the director also lets the camera linger near her cleavage as she earnestly contemplates her poker hand in assorted scenes.

Our story is set in 1867 as Mexican rebels are on the verge of overthrowing and executing Emperor Maximilian, the Austrian dictator imposed on them by Napoleon the Third while America was too busy with its Civil War to be able to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. Other Spaghetti Westerns, like the original Django and Indio Black depict the Emperor’s European troops as irredeemable bad guys but in this movie our lovely heroine falls in love with a French officer.  Continue reading

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MABEL NORMAND’S BEST SILENT COMEDIES (1916-1920)

Previously, Balladeer’s Blog examined the 1910-1915 silent films of pioneering comedienne Mabel Normand. This time around I’m taking a look at her 1916-1920 work.

FATTY AND MABEL ADRIFT (1916) – This 34-minute film is not only one of the most popular shorts teaming Mabel with fellow comedy legend Fatty Arbuckle but it’s one of the most popular silent comedies ever. When Fatty wins Mabel’s hand in marriage his jealous rival (Al St. John) sabotages their honeymoon cottage by the sea.

The cottage drifts further and further out to sea and is gradually sinking, prompting some comedy set pieces from our stars as they struggle to survive. They send their dog Fido to shore with a plea for help attached to his collar and get rescued by a tycoon on his yacht. The villain gets his.  Continue reading

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THE DOUBLE DAGGERS (1877) THE SECOND DEADWOOD DICK DIME NOVEL

This year the Frontierado Holiday hits on Friday, August 1st. As always, the event celebrates the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. Last year I reviewed the very first Deadwood Dick Dime Novel, so this year I’m tackling the second.

WHO IS DEADWOOD DICK? For newbies to Dime Novels of the American West, let me recap. This character, whose name is practically synonymous with Dime Novels, was created in 1877 by prolific writer Edward L. Wheeler, who also created various FEMALE Dime Novel figures that I’ve reviewed in the past, like Hurricane Nell, the Denver DollBaltimore Bess and Cinnamon Chip.

As his name implies, the masked Deadwood Dick operated in and around Deadwood and the Black Hills region. He was a notorious outlaw/ road agent who led a band of masked followers in assorted robberies. Deadwood Dick was embedded in the American consciousness decades before Zorro, who didn’t debut until 1919, and the Lone Ranger, who came along in the 1930s.

THE DOUBLE DAGGERS or DEADWOOD DICK’S DEFIANCE (December 21st, 1877) – This hero’s tales were republished over and over again into the early 20th Century, so readers will encounter references to this book supposedly being published years later than this.

As this story begins, it is a few months after the conclusion of Deadwood Dick’s previous 1877 adventure. Our masked bandit and his gang continue to plunder gold shipments, stagecoach cargoes and mine payrolls throughout the busy Black Hills goldfields, then fade into the landscape.

Traditional lawmen and even the U.S. Cavalry failed to curtail Deadwood Dick’s prairie pirate/ Robin Hood escapades last time around. Now, however, a deadly outfit of specialists called the Deadwood Regulators have been leaning on outlaw activity in the Black Hills. Continue reading

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LAKE-SUMTER STATE: COOL NAMED SPORTS TEAM

Tired of college sports teams called Eagles, Tigers, Bulldogs or Wildcats? Here’s another institution whose teams sport a more creative name.

LAKE-SUMTER STATE Continue reading

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