Robert Nott – författare

In the world of Western films, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy have frequently been overlooked in favor of names like Roy Rogers and John Wayne. Yet these three actors played a crucial role in the changing environment of the post-World War II Western, and, in the process, made many excellent middle-budget films that are still a pleasure to watch.This account of these three Western stars' careers begins in 1946, when Scott and McCrea committed themselves to the Western roles they would play for nearly twenty years. Murphy, who also joined them in 1946, would continue his Western career for a few years after his cohorts rode into the film sunset. Arranged chronologically, and balanced among the three actors, the text concludes with Audie Murphy's last Western in 1967. Covering both the personal and professional lives of these three Hollywood cowboys, the book provides both their stories and the story of a Hollywood whose attitude toward the Western was in a time of transition and transformation. The text is complemented by 60 photographs and a filmography for each of the three.

Reclusive American actor Randolph Scott, known for his subtle, dignified performances in almost 60 westerns, has been called the "most genuine Westerner." His career began in 1928 with the first of several bit parts; his first starring role was 1932's Heritage of the Desert. He fought in World War I, studying horsemanship, shooting, and bayoneting, and acted in a variety of films in every genre from musical to swashbuckler. His final film was Ride the High Country (1962).Chronologically arranged from his birth in 1898 to his death in 1987, this book covers every film in which Randolph Scott acted. Each section begins with a biographical chapter and then lists Scott's films from that period: each film's entry has filmographic information, a synopsis, and detailed commentary, discussing such topics as the financial aspects, production details, acting, other participants, anecdotes, and critical responses. Quotes from interviews with figures in the industry and published reviews bolster the entries. A bibliographical essay completes the work, which is heavily illustrated with stills and promotional materials.

Almost as famous for the legendary excesses of his personal life as for his films, Sam Peckinpah (1925–1984) cemented his reputation as one of the great American directors with movies such as The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Max Evans, one of Peckinpah’s best friends, experienced the director’s mercurial character and personal demons firsthand. In this enthralling memoir we follow Evans and Peckinpah through conversations in bars, family gatherings, binges on drugs and alcohol, struggles with film producers and executives, and Peckinpah’s abusive behavior - sometimes directed at Evans himself.Evans’s stories - most previously unpublished - provide a uniquely intimate look at Peckinpah, their famous friends (including Lee Marvin, Brian Keith, Joel McCrea, and James Coburn), and the business of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s.

Winner of the 2015 New Mexico-Arizona Book Award for Biography--OtherAlmost as famous for the legendary excesses of his personal life as for his films, Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) cemented his reputation as one of the great American directors with movies such as The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Max Evans, one of Peckinpah's best friends, experienced the director's mercurial character and personal demons firsthand. In this enthralling memoir we follow Evans and Peckinpah through conversations in bars, family gatherings, binges on drugs and alcohol, struggles with film producers and executives, and Peckinpah's abusive behavior--sometimes directed at Evans himself.Evans's stories--most previously unpublished--provide a uniquely intimate look at Peckinpah, their famous friends (including Lee Marvin, Brian Keith, Joel McCrea, and James Coburn), and the business of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s.

Director Sam Peckinpah was just starting out when he made Ride the High Country in 1962. He was a new kind of director: young, brash, and in a hurry to help the Western "grow up" by treating it with adult themes. Ride the High Country was something new and different, a changing Western to match a changing West. Stars Randolph Scott and Joel McRea were old hands at this sort of thing. Ride the High Country gave the two veteran actors one last job to do and a chance to go out with some dignity.Ride the High Country helped the genre mature and adapt to turbulent, changing times. It launched Peckinpah's career by invoking the themes of honor, loyalty, and compromised ideals, the destruction of the West and its heroes, and the difficulty of doing right in an unjust world--themes developed to their pinnacle in Peckinpah's later masterpiece, The Wild Bunch.

Budd Boetticher (1916-2001) was a bullfighter, a pleasant madman and a talented journeyman filmmaker who could--with the right material and drive--create a minor Western film classic as easily as he could kill a bull. Yet pain and passion naturally mixed in both endeavors. Drawing on studio archives and featuring insightful interviews with Boetticher and those who worked with him, this retrospective looks at each of his 33 films in detail, covering his cinematic career from his days as an assistant's assistant on the set of Hal Roach comedies to his last documentary some 45 years later.