When Hollywood comes to Fort Bowers, Oklahoma, in 1915 to convince legendary lawmen Bill Tilghman to star in a talking picture show about a bank heist featuring bonafide ruthless outlaws of the period, two very different worlds of Tinseltown and the Old West clash. But when the cast and creators of Bill Tilghman and the…
Mescal, Arizona, located about 40 miles Southeast of Tucson, Arizona, near the town of Benson, is the home of Old Tucson’s second western movie town location. Situated on 60 acres of land which is leased from the Arizona State Land Department, Old Tucson Studio is surrounded by acres of wide open spaces and not a…
The Reel Cowboys honors those who resonate the qualities of the Silver Spur to deserving individuals and organizations. Reel Cowboys works to preserve Hollywood’s history by honoring Western film and television stars. The 21st Annual Silver Spurs Award Show took place recently at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, California. Luminaries such as Patrick Wayne, Dawn Wells, Johnny Crawford, Billy Zane, R.L. Tolbert, Robert Carradine received awards.
One of our favorites being Johnny Crawford, of course. We even made a short YouTube video of Johnny accepting this prestigious award from Steve Connors, son of Chuck Connors…
There was a time when cowboys ruled the day, or at least the airwaves, and the good guy always won.
From Tom Mix in the early 1900s, to Clint Eastwood and Kurt Russell today, most of us have wanted to be a cowboy or cowgirl at one time or another.
Many of us grew up knowing that among the cowboys of the cinema, Roy Rogers was king, and Dale Evans was his queen.
Fast forward. After going through a few years of relative dormancy, in 2015, the Roy Roger’s Double R Bar Ranch came into the sights of Jim Heffel.
Now an accomplished horseman and part-time stunt rider, Jim and his wife Deena bought the farm in a friendly manner of speaking…
For us and countless others, Jevetta Steele’s haunting lyrics from the song, “Calling You,” from the 1987 indie cult classic “Bagdad Cafe” will forever evoke the particularities of a small desert town on Route 66 contrasted with the vastness of the Mojave Desert. However, Bagdad Cafe was not actually shot in Bagdad. Not Bagdad, California, and not Baghdad, Iraq. The award-winning German film, directed by Percy Adlon, was filmed in Newberry Springs at the former Sidewinder Cafe, which decided to let the name “Bagdad Cafe” live on, drawing throngs of international tourists.
It was hellishly hot, it was sweltering, it was blazing. Well, you get the idea. It was just summer in the Mojave Desert. The real heat in the real desert.
The sizzle flavored all the things a good western exemplifies. Man against nature. Man against man. Women against men. Horses against…
Wait, I think I spotted a running theme.
Intrigue, drama and laughter.
Yes, plenty of laughter…
The movie is currently in post-production. In the meantime, we’ll give Heat in the West more buzz than an angry tarantula hawk…
There’s an air in Big Bear that sets it uniquely apart from the bustling cities an hour away. Maybe it’s the vivid visual imagery at every turn, the crisp weather, nice people, diverse neighborhoods, or amenities. But I think it’s much more.
This is the stuff of our childhoods that sparked a thousand day dreams of the Wild West and beyond. Where the good guys fought the bad guys and always won. The world needs more of that…