THE TAINTED ARCHIVE

How the west was revived

2009-11-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Films in or soon to go into production include True Grit, The Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Cowboys and Aliens and Jonah Hex. Writers such as Larry McMurtry and Cormac MacCarthy have entered the mainstream. In the US imprints such as Forge, Leisure, St. Martins Press,Bantam and Pinnacle are regularly releasing new western novels and the UK home of the western, Robert Hale's Black Horse Westerns are selling better than ever and raising their profile. At the grass roots, where the fans hang out, there are scores of western blogs and web sites with new ones springing up all the time.

That's a lot of activity for a so called dead genre...so is the western entering a revival phase?

To my mind the western has never really gone away nor has it rolled over, turned a sickly green and been in need of reviving. Even during the Eighties when the genre seemed to vanish from bookshops there were still loyal fans.

So why now this surge of interest?

What surge? There is no surge? The only difference these days is that we've got the internet and booksellers are able to get their books, whatever the genre, to a wider demographic than ever before. It was only the book sellers that claimed the western was dead in the first place but now that fans are able to come together via the internet or as we call it here, The Wild West Web they can dictate what it is they want. Type in BOOK BLOGS into Google and it soon becomes obvious that genre fiction is still popular and not only westerns but horror, SF, crime, hardboiled. And yet go into any bookshop and you'd swear only a handful of big name authors were ever read.

Genre fiction is formulaic they say. And to some extent it is but then so are the blockbusters that line the bookshop shelves. These blockbusters are of a uniform building brick size and if that's not writing to a formula then I don't know what is. Over the last year or so I've gotten to know a lot of western writers and to a man they are all trying to push the envelope of what is acceptable in a western. If you want an example of diversity in the western genre then check out the forthcoming anthology A Fistful of Legends from Express Western (news on release dates as soon as we get them). The book contains 21 western stories and although I've yet to read any (well except for my own story that is) I am reliably informed that between them the stories run the entire gamut of human emotions.

My own westerns Tarnished Star (available now) and Arkansas Smith (available for pre-order) may stick very closely to the classic style of western storytelling but I have tried to work in subtexts. Tarnished Star in many ways questions what it is to be a man and the responsibilities we all share. And whilst Arkansas Smith travels a far darker trail there is, I hope, a story being told on more than one level.

That's why I love the western, both as a writer and a reader - the possibilities are endless and far from being straitjacketed into an endless routine of Cowboys and Indians or white hats and black, the genre can go anywhere it wants, can explore both the good and bad sides of human nature.

I can never stray too far from the deserts and plains, the mountains and the rivers - it's the landscape of adventure and great courage. For the past year I've been working on a crime novel set in my homeland of South Wales in the year 1904. A million miles away from the Wild West and yet there are still western elements in this story of British policemen because the story takes place around Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show' s visit to the area. I hope to have some publication news on this book very soon. But the point is that no matter what I do, where and when I set my stories, there will always be something of the western about them.

Which is why the next Tainted Archive themed weekend will be a Black Horse Western Weekend - we plan to go all out on this one with guest blogs, reviews, interviews, features and whatever else we can dream up.

So go one give a western a try...you'll be glad you did.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - Commando comic book interview

2009-11-14T06:48:00.000-08:00

Commando Comics were launched by D.C. Thomson of Dundee, Scotland in 1961. The company already had a high profile in comics most noticeably with The Beano and Dandy but the Commando books were not like regular weekly comics, modelling themselves on the slightly more expensive digest size comic books of which there were many on the UK shelves. All these years later and only Commando remain.

Why when other war comics have bitten the dust does Commando continue to thrive? In 2005 when Carlton Books collected twelve of the most popular Commando comics and published them as a graphic novel, entitled The Dirty Dozen they had a best-seller on their hands and several other volumes followed...indeed, continue to follow.

The Tainted Archive slipped into combat jacket and fatigues and cornered Commados current editor Calum Laird as well as writer, David Whitehead who has written over two dozen of the books. That's nothing, David points out, when compared with writers like Ferg Handley who has done hundreds. This past week Commando published four more issues culminating with issue no 4245...and they'll be back again next week.

I put the question of the title's success to both Calum and David

CL: Although I’m delighted by it, I don’t know for sure what to put the title’s longevity down to. I think that because each story is so long we concentrate on plot more than visuals (though never at the expense of the visuals) and this gives the finished article a weight that the comics couldn’t. There’s a lot of reading in a Commando so if you’re a story fan, it gives you just what you need.

The standard of illustration has been kept high over the years, too, but the comics also had good artists — sometimes the same ones as were working on Commando.

We’ve run a very tight team for many years which keeps costs down, and that helps maintain our viability.

DW: COMMANDO saw off all its competitors simply because of the quality of its stories, artwork and general presentation, all of which were superior to the likes of WAR PICTURE LIBRARY, BATTLE, WAR AT SEA, AIR ACE and so on. But I have no idea how it has survived. A loyal, hardcore readership? Probably.

David Whitehead, when not writing Commando comic books can be found entertaining readers as western writer, Ben Bridges. I asked David if the discipline between writing comic strips and straightforward novels differed?

DW:

Not really. Writing is writing. Regardless of the genre, you approach it as professionally as possible and always try to give of your very best. Of course, more description goes into a novel, and there’s more room to examine the characters’ motives and emotions, but at the end of the day you’re telling a story with a beginning, a middle and an end, and hopefully telling it to the best of your ability.

It’s assumed by those who don’t know any different that COMMANDO is aimed at kids. And therefore there is an expectation to somehow ‘write down’ to that audience. Nothing could be more wrong. For a start, I believe that the readership is young adult to adult, and that “kids” as such don’t read COMMANDO in any great numbers. I also believe that COMMANDO readers have a very genuine interest in the subject and expect, quite rightly, to read stories that are well-told, historically accurate, emotionally involving and wholly entertaining.

And David certainly does provide entertaining tales - they wouldn't get past the eagle eyes of editor, Culum Laird otherwise. I asked Calum what he looks for in a potential Commando strip?

CL: A story with the length and weight to carry a 63-page book. A mix of interesting plot and action with the pace to make the reader turn the pages. And it must be original as we’ve done all the obvious plotlines in our 48-year history.he more worldwide the conflict the better for our purposes. It gives the creator greater scope for the narrative geographically and a wider potential range of characters.

I then asked David how many of the four thousand odd books had he written?

DW: I believe my total now stands at 28 or 29 – small potatoes when you consider the outputs of long-term COMMANDO writers like Ferg Handley, whose stories are now numbered in the hundreds. I did start publishing my own comics in the 1980s, but not with any great success. I wrote the scripts and sometimes produced the artwork as well. My favourite character was called CAPTAIN CLOCKWORK, and he was a robot policeman who pre-dated Robocop.

There was a time when all the Commando books were complete self contained stories and this is still largely the case but there are now some recurring characters, such as the excellent Ferret McGlone stories, with continuity between books. I asked Calum if this was started to experiment with the format or due to reader demand?

CL: This change came about some time ago, when I wasn’t working in the office. It was, I believe, led by the team here who saw some potential in the idea. It was tested by producing some stories with recurring characters. As these were well received, it became an established part of the Commando repertoire.

The artwork for the Commando strips are handled by some of the best artists in the industry but when working on a script I wonder if the writer made little drawings. I put this to David.

DW: Yes. A story is about 130-135 pictures long. I sketch out little illustrations and scribble down all the speech balloons and panels, and when I type up the script I get a good sense of continuity between one picture and the next.

Again we aimed the offensive at Dave, asking him of any future Commando Projects.

DW:I very much regret that I haven’t been able to contribute more to COMMANDO, not least because the people at COMMANDO H Q have always been a joy to work with and I find the COMMANDO format extremely exciting. But in addition to COMMANDO I also write regular articles for BOOK AND MAGAZINE COLLECTOR and have a number of commitments to various publishers. Over the last year to eighteen months I’ve branched out into different genres. My books with Steve Hayes – FERAL, DEAD END and most recently UNDER THE KNIFE – are all psychological thrillers. THE FLUTTERING and SCARE TACTICS fall into the horror category. I write romances under my wife’s name and have also just started writing western series with both Mike Linaker and Alfred Wallon. So time is limited, but as long as I can find a good story to tell, I hope to keep my hand in with the occasional COMMANDO and would be very, very unhappy if I couldn’t.

The Tainted Archive thanks both David and Calum for their time and for helping in providing the same spills, thrill and exciting books we enjoyed growing up. And I hope this feature encourages Archive readers to check out the books. Maybe you read the books years ago and had no idea they were still out there or perhaps you're a current comic books fan and have never tried these classic British comics. They can be found in W.H. Smith's and most good newsagents. Go pick one up - you'll be glad you did.

Commando website

David Whitehead website

Will the real John Dexter please stand up

2009-11-14T02:15:00.001-08:00

Respected sci-fi author Robert Silverberg once moonlighted as John Dexter and gave us this delight of gender bending literature. Or was it Lawrance Block? Block also penned work under the John Dexter name, as did many others - in fact every Cornith/Greenleaf/Nightstand/Hamling writer was at one time or another John Dexter.

So will the guilty party raise their hand

WAS THE RIPPER A BIRD?

2009-11-14T01:34:00.000-08:00

An Australian scientist using swabs from letters supposedly written by Jack the Ripper has come to the conclusion that the killer could have been a woman. Ian Findlay, a professor of molecular and forensic diagnostics claims to have perfected a system that allows him to extract DNA from a single cell up to 160 years old. Conventional DNA methods require at least 200 cells.

Dr Findlay took swabs from the back of postage stamps and bloodstains - his best sample came from the Openshaw letter which is widely believed to be genuine in that it came from the actual killer. His finding led him to the conclusion that the killer may have been female - not so much Jack the Ripper but more Jill the Ripper.

It's certainly another interesting theory and of course Inspector Abberline, the detective in charge of the investigation, believed it may have been a woman.

You never know, I suppose.

NIGHT OF THE CRABS

2009-11-13T18:38:00.001-08:00

Night of the Crabs
Guy N. Smith
Originally published 1976

This book takes me back - to a time of flared trousers, long summers, spangles and hula hoops. Guy N. Smith was a popular name around the school-yard - he wrote gruesome horror tales about killer crabs, bats, alligators. His world was populated by slime beasts, snakes and the walking dead. Just the sort of thing your average schoolboy from the 1970's liked. -well that and Farrah Fawcett!

These books stood out on the shelves - look at the cover here and ask yourself, is it any wonder we spent our pocket money on these books. Course James Herbert kicked off the 1970's trend for creatures on the rampage with The Rats in 1974 but me and my muckers preferred the Crabs because the stories were set in Wales. So in a sense they were all the more scary because we lived in Wales also and the landscape the psychotic crustaceans scuttled over was the very same ground we walked upon.

Now since those days I've grown and become more sophisticated in my tastes - or at least I thought so. Re-reading the book now, as an adult, you realise how much of a good story it is, how well written and if you suspend your disbelief you're in for a treat. The story moves at a breakneck speed and manages to build genuine suspense. OK it all get ridiculous when the giant crabs come ashore but that doesn't matter because Guy Smith is a skilled enough writer to drag you into the story. These books still have a cult following and there has been talk of a film from time to time - I've had a few long telephone conversations with the author, well we're both pipe smokers so there's an affinity there, and he feels as if the Crabs story is very much alive and there will be some developments in the future. The crabs franchise still has teeth...should that be pincers?

The idea of giant crabs may seem silly but then so too are killer rats, possessed cars, zombies and vampires. Isn't all imaginative fiction silly to a certain extent

The entire Crabs series is legendary in horror circles and, silly or not, they really are entertaining.

Sherlock Holmes - Guy Ritchie goes mainstream

2009-11-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

"I've spent too much time messing around in inaccessible, esoteric material," Guy Ritchie told Entertainment Weekly. "I've never had my day in popular court. 'Holmes' will allow me to express my accessible side."

In other words Ritchie is desperate for a hit movie following an awful run of films - Revolver and the absolutely terrible Swept Away.

Meanwhile Robert Downey has revealed that he wore a ear piece for most of the film so that his lines could be fed him as he acted - "I was wearing an earpiece [to get fed dialogue]. I've tried it since on other movies, but it only works for Holmes because he's not thinking while he's talking. He already knows what he's going to say before he said it."

I'm certainly looking forward to the Holmes movie but I have mixed feelings - it certainly looks like an action packed movie from the trailers but it doesn't feel like the world of Sherlock Holmes. But I really rate Robery Downey has an actor, Jude Law too so maybe the film will be the rollercoaster Richie hopes -ahh well, time will tell.

HOLMES RELATED.
Tesco currently have the entire Jeremy Brett run of SHERLOCK HOLMES for £35. That's over 39 hours of quality television and Jeremy Brett is universally acclaimed as the best and most authentic Sherlock Holmes there has ever been. 16 discs - collecting together The Adventures, The Return of, The Memoirs and The Case Book.

Now that would make someone a wonderful Christmas present.

007 goes to Oxfam

2009-11-13T02:05:00.000-08:00

Oxfam are raking in the bucks after a rare book was handed in amongst a black bag full of books donated to the shop.

The charity shop, Oxfam's Morningside branch in Edinburgh found the copy of Live and Let die, a first edition, in a bag of old books donated to the charity. The book was expected to fetch £800 but went under the hammer for £3,000.

Andy Crosby, manager of the store, said the money would go towards maintaining a water supply for 3,800 people. feeding 500 families emergency rations and also building two classrooms.

Coming up this weekend on The Tainted Archive

2009-11-13T01:55:00.000-08:00

We take a look at the Commando Comic book range, D. C. Thompson's long running series, and interview editor, Calum Laird and creator David Whitehead who is better known to western fans as Ben Bridges. We also look at the state of the western genre in fiction and ask is there really a western revival happening? All this and much more on The Tainted Archive this weekend.

A LITTLE ROMANCE FOR CHRISTMAS

2009-11-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

The eBook revolution continued and now SONY have announced a special Mills and Boons edition of their Ereader which they describe as, being a lovely powder pink. The reader comes with three Christmas themed Mills and Boons eBooks preloaded onto the device. There's also a voucher bundled in the box that allows you ten free book downloads from the Mills and Boons website.

However if you prefer crime you could buy a James Patterson themed reader which comes with Cross Country preloaded and a token for a free download of Worst Case which is the new Alex Cross novel which won't be published as a regular book until Jan 2010.

The Tainted Archive predicts that 2010 will see Ebooks going mass market - rumours are that there will be a £99 reader on the market early next year.

THE DAMBUSTERS (1955)

2009-11-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

Filmed in black and white in order that actual footage of the testing of Barnes Wallis's revolutionary new bomb could be slotted seamlessly into the film. This results in the film having a semi-documentary feel about it.

Some trivia surrounding the film: The final scenes where the bombs are dropped was the inspiration for the climactic battle against the Death Star in Star Wars. The make up supervisor and head of photographyaphy on this movie also worked on Star Wars. The name of Gibson's dog in the movie is Nigger(as it was in reality) but for American release this was changed to Trigger. However the Americans retained the word, Nigger for the code word in the ops room.

The cast are all excellent - top honours go to Michael Redgrave who plays the scatty scientists who invents the bombs and British heart throb Richard Todd as Wing Commander Gibson.

The film is available on DVD separately or in the OPTIMUM WAR CLASSIC VOL 1 box set, bundled with The Cruel Sea and The Colditz story. The disc I watched was given away recently with the Daily Mail - dreadful newspaper but they give away more freebie discs than any other UK newspaper. And the discs are worth the price of the rag.

To conclude an excellent movie from a time when the BRITS had a vibrant film industry all of their own.

The digital wheel keeps on rolling

2009-11-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

Recently the Archive announced the launch of Carina Press, a new imprint of romance publisher Harlequin that will exclusively publish eBooks. eBook-only publishers, a group that's really growing in a publishing world where eReaders are getting more popular every day.

Like Carina, a lot of the eBook-only presses focus on genre titles -- romance, science fiction, fantasy -- which lend themselves naturally to the eBook format, as they're often quickly-consumed and addictive. Presses like Uncial and Atlantic Bridge don't specifically focus on one genre, but are clearly driven by fantasy and sci-fi to the extent that they specify general fiction titles as "Mainstream." Others, like Samhain Publishing, from which Carina is taking its new executive editor, have found that the romance genre is very successful in eBooks. FULL STORY

Four go to war

2009-11-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

Another four all action COMMANDO books have hit the shops today.

Protection Squad - written by Mike Knowles with artwork by Gordon Livingstone

Last Ditch Defenders - written by C.G.Walker with artwork by Dennos McLoughin.

Dangerous Despatches - sees the return of Archive favourite, Ferret McGlone, and is written by Norman Adams with artwork by Keith Page.

The Medal -written by Ferg Handley with artwork by Vila

The comic books are priced at £1.35 each and offer great classic style British comic books.

Do you take sugar with that book, sir?

2009-11-12T03:07:00.000-08:00

I've been watching the Ebook story with great interest and now, thanks to Mr Roy Bayfield, I've come across the following article about another revolution in the way books are delivered to the reader.

Frustrating 'out-of-print' and 'out-of-stock' books will become a thing of the past with a new machine that prints books on demand. In the future, any novel, manual, journal or academic title, no matter how old or new can be printed in just under five minutes. Blackwell launched the Espresso Book Machine® (the "EBM") this last April at its London flagship store in Charing Cross, which currently holds more than 400,000 publications. By summer there will be over a million titles available, the equivalent of 23.6 miles worth of shelving or over 50 bookshops rolled into one, in a machine the size of a photocopier. FULL STORY

The Archive says: This is definitely an exciting development, in that it means no book need ever be out of print. And although there are some downsides to this for smaller scale authors the positives do, I feel, outweigh the negatives.

Ebook on your PC - FREE KINDLE READER

2009-11-12T02:54:00.000-08:00

Barnes & Noble recently offered a free eReader software for either your PC or Mac. And now Amazon have also recently released a Kindle for PC’s. Click on links to download either reader.

EASTENDER'S ADAM CROASDELL IS NEW JAMES BOND

2009-11-12T02:42:00.000-08:00

Well sort of - the soap opera actor will voice James Bond, 007 for a new computer game. The game producer's decided not to use Daniel Craig because he was too expensive.

"Oddly enough I have just played James Bond in a new video game. How weird is that? I don't know what the future holds, but I'm always into varying up what comes my way, trying new things." Croasdell told the Tainted Archive.

The game, so far untitled, will come from Activision sometime next year.

SHERLOCK HOLMES 1 - Full issue FREE online now

2009-11-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

The Sherlock Holmes publicity machine goes into full gear- you can read the first issue of the new Sherlock Holmes comic series from Dynamite HERE

DOWNFALL (2004)

2009-11-12T01:14:00.001-08:00

Downfall
Directed by Oliver Hirschibiegel
If the war is lost. Then it is of no concern to me if the people perish in it. I still would not shed a single tear for them. Because they did not deserve any better - Adolph Hitler.

Downfall is one of the finest war movies I've ever seen. Filmed in the German language with a German director - the Nazi regime and World War II are certainly the darkest days in German history and this film, depicting the last ten days in Hitler's bunker was a difficult undertaking.

My generation was born after the war but it is our history too and we must deal with it - Director, Oliver Hirschibiegel.

Swiss actor,Bruno Ganz plays Hitler and, although the actor admits to having initial troubles with the character who is seen by history, and rightly so, as one of the most evil men who ever lived. But by approaching the role with the detached air of an actor, after all Hitler didn't believe himself to be evil, he becomes the leader of the Nazi movement. His performance is so intense, so believable that at times the monster that was Hitler almost becomes a figure of pity. After all it is far to0 simplistic to dismiss Hitler merely as a monster - he was that but he could also be a charming charismatic man, someone with such all powerful charisma that he seduced a civilised people towards barbarism.

One of the most harrowing scenes comes late in the movie when Goebbels, realising all is lost, poisons his angelic children. The film is so realistic, so well acted, that the viewer is sucked into the world of the movie and the scene is genuinely painful to watch.

I watched the film twice - once with English subtitles and then again without the subtitles and like all truly great films it drags you into the film. The distance between film and viewer vanishes and you actually feel the emotions as if you are part of the action. This is an excellent film - based on the diaries of Hitler's personal secretary - that depicts events as they must have been.

The Momentum DVD release is a two disc set with a great transfer of the film, even the dark scenes within the bunker are free from digital artefacts. The second disc contains a hour long look at the making of the film, a virtual tour of the bunker and many historical features.

Mesmerising and magnificent, this films should be in the top ten of anyone's list of war movies and the fact that it is presented in the German language makes it all the more authentic. You really need to see this one.

Ian Kershaw, the Guardian's respected film critic said of Downfall:

"Knowing what I did of the bunker story, I found it hard to imagine that anyone (other than the usual neo-Nazi fringe) could possibly find Hitler a sympathetic figure during his bizarre last days. And to presume that it might be somehow dangerous to see him as a human being — well, what does that thought imply about the self-confidence of a stable, liberal democracy ? Hitler was, after all, a human being, even if an especially obnoxious, detestable specimen. We well know that he could be kind and considerate to his secretaries, and with the next breath show cold ruthlessness, dispassionate brutality, in determining the deaths of millions.Of all the screen depictions of the Führer, even by famous actors, such as Alec Guinness or Anthony Hopkins , this is the only one which to me is compelling. Part of this is the voice. Ganz has Hitler's voice to near perfection. It is chillingly authentic."

Once again then - a brilliant powerful and harrowing film.

COME P.I. WITH ME

2009-11-11T13:25:00.001-08:00

The Lady in Cement
Directed by Gordon Douglas

The 1968 sequel to Tony Rome - again available on budget priced DVD as part of the Studio Classics Collection. There are no extras but the picture quality is above average and the soundtrack has been given a polish. The film looks and sounds wonderful with natural flesh tones - which I'm sure you'll appreciate when Raquel Welch is on screen.

The film wasn't as critically successful as its predecessor but I think I preferred it. The plot is better and far more original and the Sinatra plays the character with more charm and grace. There are also some stylish shots such as when the dead girl is found in the crystal clear Miami waters. And it's great to see old Hoss Cartwright (Dan Blocker) as a kind of Moose Maloy type character who hires Rome to find a mysterious girl.

The world of Tony Rome is one of seedy strip joints and rundown slums where everyone's a hustler and life comes cheap.

A excellent neo noir thriller.

NEW IMPRINT SEEKS WRITERS

2009-11-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

Harlequin Books have become the first publisher to set up a digital only imprint, Carina Press. In their press issue the publisher said:" Digital publishing is not new to Harlequin, since many of their print books are also available in ePublishing formats; however, Carina Press will be dedicated solely to producing and distributing eBooks."

The publisher are accepting digital submissions from prospective authors and you can find details HERE

Carina Press will consider shorter length stories of less than 50,000 words, genre novels between 50,000 to 100,000 words and longer and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. We expect to publish a majority of romance and erotic romance but are also very interested in women’s fiction, science fiction, fantasy, futuristic, mystery, thrillers, horror, and niches. If you have something new and fresh we would be happy to read your story!

HOW TO KILL OFF A COMIC STRIP

2009-11-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

Regular readers will know that I was a big fan of comic books when I was a kid and I'm still fond of the old comics. Battle was a particular favourite of mine and the comics first superstar was D-Day Dawson.

There's an interesting feature in the current issue of Crikey in which Pat Mills, the characters creator, spills the beans on all things Dawson. It's a great read and I highly recommend the magazine.

Mills, who has gone on to become a legend of comics, reveals that when they initially created the character the story was intended to run for twelve issues and twelve issues only. The character had been wounded during the D-DAY landings but continued fighting on week after week, while the bullet inside him moved closer and closer to his heart. The bullet will eventually kill him and Dawson decides to go out fighting.

However British comics of the day used to have a small "VOTE FOR YOUR TOP STORY" box for readers to cut out and send in with their letters and Dawson kept getting the most votes so when the time came to kill the character off the management said NO NO NO. For Mills this was a nightmare and he and his co-creator John Wagner grew bored with the character and worse than that they found he stilted their creativity. But no matter what they did - farming the strip out to lesser writers, hiring poor artists, the strip remained in the top spot with readers.

Eventually the lack of quality did find readers turn away from the strip but the comic went from strength to strength - after all Major Easy,Rat Pack, Johnny Red and Darkie's Mob were around to replace Dawson. It was though, Mills admits, a sorry way for Dawson to go out.

On set

2009-11-11T03:14:00.000-08:00

No Wild West Web rounup today - I'm on set filming and am updating from my laptop. There will be several Archive posts later this evening but for now I'd like to point you towards part 15 of The Story with No Name - the plot thickens, as they say. This week's entry comes from Jim Griffin and can be found HERE

TONY ROME (1967)

2009-11-10T12:27:00.000-08:00

Tony Rome
Directed by Gordon Douglas

Blackmail, lies, murder - It's just another day in paradise.

I've got a large DVD collection - many titles I've bought because I'd heard of the movie, or I liked the look of the blurb or sometimes simply because it was an old movie. I'm a sucker for old films and will often pick up anything I find, figuring I'll watch it one day. This has resulted in me owning a fair few DVD's that I've never as yet watched - And so in the mood to crash with a bottle of wine and a movie I went through my collection. I fancied something light, easy to watch and so I pulled out Tony Rome, a Sinatra movie from 1967 which is on disc as part of the budget priced Studio Classic series. No extra features but a pristine cut of the movie.

The film starts with one of those corny 1960's themes that all of these neo-noir movies seem to possess. This one sung by the Nancy Sinatra is cool in a kitsch kind of way. The movie itself sees Frankie playing Tony Rome, an ex-cop turned PI who lives on a houseboat. He's up to his neck in all kinds of trouble as he searched for a girl's diamond pin. Sinatra play a kind of Bogart character and whilst he can't quite match Bogie's thuggish cool he does do a very good job. I wasn't expecting to like this movie but I must say I enjoyed it immensely. It reminded me of Harper (Interestingly Sinatra lost out in that role to Paul Newman) and other films of that ilk. But it was solidly done with a plot that makes perfect sense.

The movie was successful enough to spawn a follow up, The Lady in Cement which I also have in my collection and will probably get around to viewing soon. The supporting cast is headed up by the lovely Jill St. John who would soon provide the glamour in the Bond movie, Diamonds are forever. Though is this movie she shows far more flesh and the sluttish character she plays here is many miles removed from the dizzy Tiffany Case.

It's actually a neat detective movie and well worth a couple of hours of anybody's time.

Amazon bestselling westerns - 11- Nov 2009

2009-11-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Black Horse Express blog

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Bestsellers on Amazon - 9 November

For variety, this week the bestseller list is for books published after January 2009.

1. Arkansas Smith by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 31 Mar 2010)

2. A Coffin for Santa Rosa by Steve Hayes (Hardcover - 30 Oct 2009)

3. Packing Iron by Steve Hayes (Hardcover - 31 Aug 2009)

4. The Tarnished Star by Jack Martin (Hardcover - 30 Jun 2009)

5. Comanche Country by Greg Mitchell (Hardcover - 30 April 2009)

6. Hangtown by Logan Winters (Hardcover - 30 Oct 2009)

7. On the Great Plains by Logan Winters (Hardcover - 30 April 2009)

8. Rio Bonito by Caleb Rand (Hardcover - 31 Jul 2009)

9. Iron Eyes Makes War by Rory Black (Hardcover - 30 Oct 2009)

10. Trail of the Burned Man by Thomas McNulty (Hardcover - 30 Nov 2009

Wild West Roundup

2009-11-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

The current issue of Wild West Magazine is now on sale in the US and also as an import elsewhere. The lead feature is about Virgil Earp and asks why the frontier marshal has always played second fiddle to his more famous brother Virgil. $8.03 US £4.95 UK

A man in Australia has uncovered what are believed to be the wedding day pictures of Doc Holliday and Big Nose Kate. John Bullock came across the photos, which are marked with the photographer's code I.D and Co, St,. Louis 1876, at a jumble sale in Tasmania and they have been accepted by historians as being of Doc and Big Nose Kate. How the photos ended up in Tasmania is a mystery.

The New Mexico public library now has two letters from Billy the Kid on view to the public. The letters which were written to Governor Lew Wallace are available to view by anyone but you must make prior arrangements with the library.

Big screen TV westerns based on both Gunsmoke and The Big Valley are in the early stages of production. It is reported that James Arness will play a cameo in the Gunsmoke movie and that both Lee Majors and Linda Evans will appear in the Big Valley. Already looking forward to these two.

True West' s latest issue is now in shops with a lead feature looking at great art of the West. The magazine is packed full of the latest news and features and although I prefer Wild West Magazine, True West is also worth buying.

Bad news is that the proposed $175 million deal to extend the Autry National Centre of the American West will not go ahead. The centre in LA was due for an extension but after protests from the Southwest Museum of American Indian centre it was decided not to continue.

ANNE RICE ONLINE CHAT

2009-11-10T10:52:00.001-08:00

Fancy an online chat with bestselling horror author, Ann Rice?

You'll need to visit Barnes and Noble's Facebook page and add them as a friend and then on NOv 11th 2009 between 1pm to 5.30pm ( Eastern Time) Anne Rice will be online to answer any questions you have.

The Archive says, FANGTASTIC