"That's Buck Crosby, the daredevil. He's doing the lead in my picture."
Here's a sad thing: As the years go on and on, the lesser lights of old Hollywood only get more marginalized or just plain forgotten. I had never heard of Buck Jones - hadn't known he was a popular B-western star - until I read about the infamous fire at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in 1942. When TCM aired THRILL HUNTER, I tuned in, nursing a mild curiosity about the leading man who was a casualty in the Cocoanut Grove.
It's an atypical oater, and Charles "Buck" Jones plays an atypical cowboy role. This film came out in 1933, a period in which western heroes were always depicted as purehearted and honest. Buck Crosby happens to be brave and he shoots straight and is a natural horseman. He's also a pathological liar. The film opens with Buck's saving a motion picture actress from her runaway horse. Marjorie Lane (Dorothy Revier), the grateful starlet, invites him to dine with her and her film crew and later invites him to come to Hollywood and shoot a film with her...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment