With the Frontierado holiday coming up on Friday, August 7th this year here’s another seasonal post.
STORIES OF THE CENTURY aka TALES OF THE WEST (1954-1955) starred future Jock Ewing Jim Davis as Railroad Detective Matt Clark. Part anthology series and part historical fiction, this series presented Clark crossing paths with assorted real-life outlaws of the Old West. During Season One (26 half-hour episodes) his female sidekick was Frankie Adams (Mary Castle). Season Two ran just 13 half-hour episodes and co-starred Kristine Miller as Matt’s sidekick Margaret “Jonesy” Jones.
Clark and his Gal Fridays were fictional but the series tried to stay as factual as it could regarding the outlaws they encountered. Like on Riverboat and other westerns two consecutive stories could be set nearly 40 years apart but Matt and company never aged.
THE EPISODES:
BELLE STARR – The one and only Marie Windsor brought her special kind of subtle “butch” quality to her performance as notorious female outlaw Belle Starr. Railroad Detective Matt Clark and his lovely assistant Frankie Adams are on the trail of Starr and her gang when they steal several horses intended for the U.S. Cavalry. With Ric Roman as Belle’s husband Sam Starr. Continue reading
PART TWO: Ozidi’s maternal grandmother Oreame performs the ritual to transform him from a mere mortal into a spiritual warrior who is as strong as ten men, has eyes that blaze like lightning and can see through the lies of deceitful men and ears that can hear the whispers of the Niger River gods. The ritual includes bathing Ozidi in palm oil and river water. 
ALIEN: EARTH (2025) is now filming its second season. New cast members include comedienne-singer Tracey Ullman, former Bronn actor Jerome Flynn, Sam Spruell of Fargo and Peter Dinklage, the humorless fool who considers himself the official spokesperson of all people under a certain height. 
HULK! Vol 1 #11 (Oct 1978) 
Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at another YouTube movie review channel. This one is called Hard Cut Reviews. I haven’t been this enthusiastic about a YT channel since Red Letter Media when I covered them way back in the early years of 2010 and 2011. 
OZIDI – Over the years, Balladeer’s Blog has examined several epic myths from around the world. I’ve reviewed Navajo, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Greek, Roman and African epics. Among the African epics I’ve examined were the Mwindo Epic, the Woi Epic, the sagas of Aiwel Longar, Bakaridjan Kone and others. 
BLINDMAN (1971) – Richard Starkey aka Ringo Starr turns 86 years old today. In his younger years he was affiliated with some musical group, but REAL Ringo fans know him as a Master Thespian who appeared in plenty of memorable movies. 
The Frontierado Holiday lands on Friday, August 7th this year. Regular Balladeer’s Blog readers may recall that Frontierado Season celebrates the myth of the Old West, not the grinding reality. To mark the season, I always review Westerns, look at neglected elements of the 1800s west and examine overlooked gunslingers whose lives were at least as exciting as the big-name figures. 
“WHISKEY JIM” GREATHOUSE – He started out by shooting his way to the top of a bootleg whiskey ring in the early 1870s. From there he moved on to stealing horses and mules with his gang, later switching to Buffalo “Hunting” with Pat Garrett. That got Whiskey Jim caught up in the war between buffalo “hunters” and the Comanches. In New Mexico, Jim took on crime lord “Hoodoo” Brown and ultimately moved on to rustling and rubbing shoulders with Billy the Kid. Click 
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