Westerns have always had a sizable female following. But while we’ve long had female on-screen icons like Maureen O’Hara and Barbara Stanwyck, less than a half-dozen have sat in the director’s chair.
In the “silent” days of 1913, Canadian Nell Shipman began writing and starring in Westerns. By 1920, she was co-directing her own features in which, rather than playing the typical waif in need of rescue, the outdoorswoman was more likely to rescue the male lead.
Shipman retired in 1924, and it would be 35 years before another woman would take on the mantle. Sixteen-year-old British beauty Ida Lupino was already a star when, in 1934, she came to Hollywood. Continuing to act, in 1949 she began to write and direct tough films noir. Ten years later she directed her first Western, an episode of Hotel de Paree. Series star Earl Holliman, recalls, “She was a movie star, and I had watched her for years. Directors who’ve acted can be very helpful. She was sharp, knew exactly what she wanted, where she wanted the cameras.” Still, on her first Western, communication wasn’t always easy. “She was English, and she talked about when the heavies go up to the bar, ‘to have a couple of hookers,’ which in England means a tall whiskey. And the assistant director asks the producers, ‘Where will we get these hookers?’ Ida was talking about drinks; they were talking about whores.” Lupino would go on to direct episodes of Have Gun-Will Travel, The Rifleman, The Virginian, and others.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July - August 2020-Ausgabe von True West.
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Where Did the Loot Go? - This is one of those find the money stories. And it's one that has attracted treasure hunters for more than 150 years.
Whatever happened to the $97,000 from the Reno Gang's last heist? Up to a dozen members of the Reno Gang stopped a Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis train at a watering station in southern Indiana. The outlaws had prior intelligence about its main load: express car safes held about $97,000 in government bonds and notes. In the process of the job, one of the crew was killed and two others hurt. The gang made a clean getaway with the loot.
Hero of Horsepower - Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
From the Basin to the Plains
Discover Wyoming on a road trip to Cody, Casper and Cheyenne.
COLLECTING AMERICAN OUTLAWS
Wilbur Zink has preserved the Younger Gang's history in more ways than one.
Spencer's West
After the Civil War, savvy frontiersmen chose the Spencer repeating carbine.
Firearms With a Storied Past
Rock Island gavels off high profits from historic firearms.
She Means Business!
An energetic and ambitious woman has come to Lincoln, New Mexico, to restore the town's legendary Ellis Store.
Ride that Train!
HERITAGE RAILROADS KEEP THE OLD WEST ALIVE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
Saddle Up with a Western
Old West fiction and nonfiction are the perfect genres to fill your summer reading list.
RENEGADES OF THE RAILS
RAILROADS WERE OPEN SEASON FOR OKLAHOMA AND INDIAN TERRITORY OUTLAW GANGS.