As a boy, western series on TV were my equivalent of video game addiction today.
I suspect I rarely missed episodes of The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Bonanza, Zorro, Have Gun Will Travel (Paladin!), Wagon Train, and the best- Rawhide (..head 'em up, move em' out...).
To this day, if I get bit by a rattlesnake I know I need to use a filthy bandana as a tourniquet, cut a big X over the bite marks with the biggest knife in the county, and suck out the venom.
My high school job was a projectionist. I probably watched (OK, ran) Little Big Man a dozen times.. was a good movie. My work buddy and I were really excited when they hung the poster for Zachariah, "The First Electric Western"! How could any movie disappoint us when The James Gang was part of the soundtrack? Well.... that movie was so bad none of us begged the manager for that poster. Not a candidate for best western movie.
True Grit is a "local" favorite here, having been filmed in and around Ridgway in the Cimmarons. Beautiful scenery. I admit I own a copy on DVD and agree that "..fill your hands you sunny beach.." is a John Wayne classic moment.
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