Just watched this for the first time today , and i absolutely loved it. Jean Arthur and William HOlden are 2 of my favorite actors...seeing them together on screen was magical. I cant believe there is no posts here ? Anyways, it is one of the best westerns Ive ever seen . 10/10
shareHere! Here! I completely agree. I was blown away by the amazing production values (the massive sets and all of the small details as well). I too just saw it for the first time this week, and also hold Holden and Arthur among my favorites. I will have to make a trip to see the sets one day, as I was glad to read from the reviewer 'Rich Gray' and the 'Trivia' section here, that it is still standing and being used. I can't say I am surprised though to read that it still exists, after seeing the amazing work that went into building 'Old Tucson' for the movie. By the way, I bought this along with 'Texas' (1941) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034269/ also with Holden and Buchanan (and Glenn Ford as well--another of my favorites), and found they make an excellent pairing on a rainy Sunday afternoon here in Oregon. (Wouldn't it have been nice if they had made a movie called 'Oregon' with all these players!) 10/10
shareHey, glad u liked it, Jean Arthur was so beautiful, even up until she was like 50, she hardly looked it at all, she always looked so young... I have also seen Texas , and it is another great movie, and i rated it previously 10/10 also. I really enjoy old western movies, theyre just so great !!! I like Glenn Ford too
shareOne thing I noticed that is unusual for a film of this vintage- all or nearly all of the guns were correct for the Civil War era.. I'm sure trapdoor Springfields and single action army Colts were used in the long shots, where they couldn't be seen, so 5-in-1 blanks and .45-70 blanks could be used, but in the close-ups there were Colt, Remington and Starr cap & ball revolvers, Sharps carbines that fired linen cartridges, and a genuine Henry rifle. It's a rare thing to have a 1940s Western film that goes to the trouble to get the guns right. I really liked this movie.
p.s. Jean Arthur was 39, not 50 when this film was shot.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
I noticed the same thing. Did you also see in the scene where Solomon was helping fight the indians that attacked her wagon train. what looked like a rifle made from a revolver. I have seen pics in gun books. I think it was called a Colt revolving rifle.
Steve
Correct, a Colt Revolving Rifle. Not a great success, as a sale item in Colt's catalogue, I'm afraid. If a cap & ball revolving pistol chain fires, it might kick a bit more than usual, but no harm to the shooter. If the c & b revolving rifle chain fires, the projectiles that come out of the cylinder NOT through the barrel are going to badly maim the shooter's supporting hand out there on the fore-end. OUCH!!! Missing fingers are a real possibility.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
You are supposed to put grease over the mouth of each chamber thus preventing firing all at the same time.
Doesn't always work, especially during rapid fire/reloading- and in the case of the revolving rifle, the cost of just one chain-fire is WAY too high.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
In December 2011, my son and I went to the Old Tucson movie lot which was built for this movie. If you are ever in the area it is well worth seeing.
shareJean Arthur might have been 40, and William Holden might have been 22, but they both looked about 28 or 30.
shareI found the introduction of the Henry rifle into the story line interesting. Given the amount of screen time given to Arthur for describing the rifle's features, cartridge capacity, loading apparatus, etc. I wonder if there were scenes planned for it in a shoot out, such as the Apache attack on the cattle herd, that never made to the final edit.
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