When a western has two heroes (Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr.), there are going to be two horses right there with them

Grandma Anderson loved westerns. For me, it was one of those things that you just take for granted about a close family member… and then one day they’re gone and you wonder why you never talked about the subject. Now I’ve belatedly come to love westerns too, and my questions languish unanswered. It’s 25 years too late. Questions like —

· What was the first western you saw?
· Who was your favorite western star?
· How did westerns change over the years?
· What did you most want to see when you finally had a chance to travel out west?
· Did you see Wagon Master? Did you like it?

At best, I can hazard a guess at what some of my grandmother’s answers might have been.

What was the first western you saw?

Maud Elizabeth Clem.
My grandmother, Maud Elizabeth Clem, was born in Luray, Virginia, located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains (she’d want me to note that!), in 1902. This means she was a baby when movies were in their infancy and she grew up right alongside them. We know there was a movie theater in nearby Culpeper because my grandmother’s father worked as a projectionist there. And Theodore Carl Anderson, a northerner working in the south, accepted a part-time job playing trumpet in the orchestra, accompanying the silent movies. So I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to assume that this couple who would be my grandparents, Theodore and Maud, enjoyed some movies together in the Culpeper Theater in the early 1920s, prior to their marriage in 1923.

In those days, she might have enjoyed the westerns of William S. Hart, Bronco “Billy” Anderson (doubtless getting a kick out of the fact that her beau had the same last name!), Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, and Tom Mix. But what I really want to know is what she thought of Harry Carey, early western star and father of Wagon Master co-star Harry Carey, Jr. Did she see some of 27 westerns that Carey made with a young John Ford, still in his twenties(!), directing? Most are lost now. What might she have remembered?

Who was your favorite star?

When you’ve watched westerns for more than fifty years, you can probably work through a lot of favorite stars. In the thirties, she would have followed the singing cowboys, the cowboy serials, and the long “b” western apprenticeship of John Wayne. When television came along in the early 1950s, she and her husband were among the first in town to buy a TV. The popular television cowboys were just fine with her, too. She liked them all.

How did westerns change over the years?

Movies were for fun. I doubt she noticed the changes as they slowly unfolded. She started going to movies in Virginia in the silent era, was living on Long Island when talkies became the new sensation, and was settled in Riverhead, New York, when they bought that first television. Life around her was changing fast, but to her, the westerns probably weren’t changing much at all. There were good guys, bad guys, and Indians; there were horses and wagon trains; and there were gunfights and chases. It was quintessentially American entertainment.

What did you most want to see when you finally had a chance to travel out west?

When they were in their 50s, my grandmother and grandfather embarked on their dream vacation, traveling west in a camper. They took a northern route, exploring the Rocky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Redwood National Park. They listened to lots of Johnny Cash on the radio and became big fans. A couple of years later, our family joined them for a similar trip, taking a southern route this time and visiting sites like the Alamo, a pathetic trickle of a Rio Grande, Tombstone, the Petrified Forest, and the Grand Canyon. I think my grandmother was the one really excited about the Alamo and Tombstone, and she would have been the one most disappointed in the Rio Grande, too. It looked so much bigger in the movies.

Did you see Wagon Master? Did you like it?

If a western was playing at the Riverhead Theater in 1950, chances are that Grandma saw it. She liked going to the movies, and she wouldn’t miss a western if she could help it. I bet she liked Wagon Master, too. After all, it had good guys, bad guys, and Indians; horses and wagon trains; and gunfights and chases. That’s more than enough to make a good western. Just settle back and enjoy.

he Uncredited Stars of Wagon Master

I love the way Wagon Master respects its animal stars. One of my favorite moments belongs to Ward Bond. Riding ahead of the wagon train with Travis Blue (Ben Johnson), Elder Wiggs (Ward Bond) is thrown by his horse and comes up swearing. Travis points out that the horse was avoiding quicksand and may have saved his life. Elder Wiggs thinks a minute, turns to the horse, and says a heartfelt, “Sorry, horse.”

Naturally, when a western has two heroes (Ben Johnson and Harry Carey, Jr.), there are going to be two horses right there with them. In scene after scene, their horses provide solid support.

Proc. by movies . by Lee Price