Friday, April 25, 2014

Hollywood Hi-Jinks with Western History

Hollywood Hi-Jinks with Western History

Hollywood sure has done some major hi-jinks over the years with western history. After all, isn't movie-making all about raking in the dough? They're not making dry as dust documentaries. Who would go see a film without rough and tumble saloon fights, Indians on the warpath, circled wagons, high noon street shoot-outs?

The heck with true history! Right? Ahem.

Here are a few examples of Hollywood movies that played fast and loose with the Old West. I'm not putting down these movies. Take it all with a grain of salt - but Doris Day as Calamity Jane?  Even if Martha Jane was supposedly considered "attractive" in her youth, by the time she met Wild Bill, that semblance was long gone. Leathery skin from the wind and sun, muscular with rarely washed hair - I mean, Doris Day? REALLY? Here's a side-by-side view of the two. See for yourself. I'll even throw out photos of Howard Keel and the real Wild Bill Hickok too.



Howard could have slapped on a mustache and wig, for heaven's sake. Even though some of the scenes show Doris sans makeup - well, she was no plain Jane no matter what! Oh well. Here's a trailer for the movie - and it plays fast and loose with the romance between Wild Bill and Martha Jane too. No clear historical record existed of a marriage (or child born to them), but Calamity was clearly obsessedwith Wild Bill. Even though he'd married Agnes Lake Thatcher, a successful circus owner.


Let's examine an older movie - They Died With Their Boots On from 1941. (Let's not even go to that shadowy place where Anthony Quinn plays Chief Sitting Bull! But for the era, at least there was some sympathy shown the Native Americans.)

The dashing (and Australian, although he was actually born in Tasmania) Errol Flynn portrays Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Uh-hum. And the lovely Olivia deHavilland plays his wife, Elizabeth Bacon Custer - not much of a stretch there. But Errol Flynn? REALLY? Here's the photos. Along with the trailer, too. Can we say cliche'? Custer in real life had zero sympathy for the Indians, never touched liquor after the Civil War and was quite the arrogant bastard. Considered to be "highly fictionalized", movie goers of the day made They Died With Their Boots On one of the top-grossing films of the year. 



Hmm. There might be a touch of similarity in those craggy features, but Flynn couldn't grow a mustache to save his soul. Plus he couldn't erase the hint of a British accent (he attended school in England.) No matter, since Olivia deHavilland was born in Tokyo to British parents. Olivia's mother divorced her husband and moved to California, but taught both her daughters elocution. (Joan Fontaine was Olivia's sister.) Olivia and Errol seemed well-matched and were very popular, having made eight films together. They certainly share on-screen chemistry (Olivia swears she never had an affair with him, despite Errol's desire - plus he was married at the time). Whatever the historical inaccuracy of George and Libby Custers' official first meeting, we'll forgive them.


We could name several more Hollywood hi-jinks at the movies, but I'll leave readers to add their favorite mash-ups in the comments section. And let's face it, westerns aren't the only movies Hollywood goofed up. Consider the six-foot Peter O'Toole playing Lawrence of Arabia, who was actually shorter than Napoleon at five-foot-one! Nicholas Meyers has a great article about movie inaccuracies - click here to read it

As Hollywood often says, THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT. No questions answered.


Click here to check out Meg's Amazon Author page for her award-winning western mysteries!
~~~~~
Meg also writes under the pseudonym D.E. Ireland with a friend - Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins are getting mixed up with murderers in London's post-Edwardian era.
Check out their page and their cozy mystery series. Here's the cover of
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17 comments:

  1. Great post, Meg. Fact or faction? Hollywood gives us more attractive and larger than life characters. They knock the edges off many of the real folk to make us feel more sympathetic to them. I guess that we do that as writers as well.

    The modern approach with the biopic is different though, isn't it? Actors are made up to look as like the real characters as possible, matching speech patterns, mannerisms, etc.

    Glamour or grit. I think it depends what you want.

    Thanks, I enjoyed it and the movie clips.

    Keith

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  2. I think it is fascinating that the general public's resistance to long hair and facial hair on men from the 1920s to the 1960s precluded them from even admitting it had been fashionable in the 19th century, leading to so many short-clipped and clean-shaven (or pencil-thin-mustached) Wild Bills and Custers. The only people with beards were grizzled old miners and weird professors.

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    1. HAHAHA! so true. I never liked long hair on men, even though I'm one of the "hippie" gen. That did seem a trait of the "stock" minor characters, instead of the heroes.

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  3. Thanks Keith! It is fun watching some of the "mash-up" classics, and I also enjoy the "biopics" too, especially Hal Holbrook as Twain. Even Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln was quite good, and Sally Field. My hub is a Doris Day fan, but Calamity Jane ... just, NO. lol

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  4. Great post Meg.
    For contemporary I have to mention the Reacher movie from the past year. I and my brother have been avid Reacher fans since we discovered Lee Child 6 or 7 years ago. When we heard Tom Cruise was going to be Reacher we were upset - he is no more what we envisioned as Reacher than is my grand son. However, Cruise put up most of the money so he can play what ever part he wants.
    Another that upsets me is the RCMP; the historic depictions are disgusting and the contemporary not much better.
    I guess they'll have to hire we who research are novels to maintain accuracy ... and pay us big bucks, of course.
    Or better yet, use our stories!
    Dave McGowan
    www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com

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    1. There you go, Dave! Our stories are solid. ;-D Would love to see Double Crossing as a film with Jenn Lawrence.

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  5. Meg, what a great post. I thoroughly enjoyed this! Thanks so much for a wonderfully entertaining piece. I had to laugh when I read your comment about Anthony Quinn playing Chief Sitting Bull. LOL Loved the entire post!
    Cheryl

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    1. I remember seeing his portrayal of Sitting Bull as a kid and thinking, "Huh? He's not an Indian." And that was before I knew who Quinn was. Same with the Rifleman portraying an Indian. Noooo.

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    2. And Paul Newman too!!! LOL

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    3. And don't forget Burt Lancaster!

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    4. Gosh yes. Forgot about Burt.

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  6. What always makes me cringe in old Westerns is the "Native American" with the cheesy wig and dark make-up - at least we recognize that there are actually real Indians nowadays.

    Great post, as always!

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    1. Thanks, Jes! Not only "real" but great actors, too. I was so honored to meet Wes Studi at WWA convention in Albuquerque.

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  7. In many ways I think the 'historic' films of the past took on the aura of the time they were made. It was fun, but accurate, I think not. Yet, having said that, they also help keep the names alive for future generations to at least realize there was a history.

    I am happier now that there is a least an effort being made to make films about history as accurate as possible. Loved the 'John Adams' series on cable a few years back along with 'Letters from Iwo Jima' etc.

    A very fun and thought provoking post. Doris

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  8. This was my laugh for the day. Doris/Calamity... it's definitely fiction! About the hair--eye makeup and eybrows, too--they always, until recently, reflect the style of when the film was made and not the historical period. The old movies did somewhat better with costuming if you don't count the shirts with inset sleeves and the Hollywood Stetson. Even as a kid, I figured it was all fantasy--a world they built to portray the spirit of the Old West but not the real deal. Of course, I grew up around some old-timers that sat a horse so long that when they stood with their heels together, a dog could run between their legs. That was my idea of a cowhand. (You didn't call anyone a "cowboy" or a "dude" if you weren't prepared to defend yourself.)

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  9. At least Anthony Quinn and Ricardo Montalban were Mexican, which even though not Indian inplies some indigenous ancestry... that made 'em a smidge more believable than Chuck Connors, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson as Indians. And Burt Lancaster as a Mexican in the movie based on the classic Elmore Leonard novel VALDEZ IS COMING? Anthony Quinn coulda knocked that outta the park!

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  10. Oh, Chuck Connors - that was hilarious. Thanks, Troy, Jacquie and Doris! glad you had some fun with the memories of old movies. Good or bad, they do linger. ;-)

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