Cowboy Church #254

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 


Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Have You Read the Bible Today. It is important for each of us to read our Bible each and every day. The Bible is not just some book, it is the living breathing word of God. It is easy for our faith and Christian walk to become idle and stagnant and the easiest way for this to happen is to simply not read our Bible. Taking some time each day to read the Bible is the best way for our faith and our walk with God to continue growing and maturing.  This recording is the B-side of a 1955 Little Golden Record by Roy and Dale. The A-side was The Bible Tells Me So. 

This is followed by Red Sovine with The Treasure I Lost. 

Afterwards is the Kentucky Jubilee Four with their 1927 recording of Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler. 

Then comes Susan Raye with Who at My Door is Standing. This recording comes from her 1973 gospel album, Hymns by Susan Raye. 

Next is Elvis Presley with his 1957 recording of Peace in the Valley. As much as Elvis is known as the King of Rock and Roll, perhaps no other type of music was nearer and dearer to his heart than gospel music. This was the music he grew up with and that continued to have a major influence on him through all the years. Elvis has been quoted as saying "I know practically every religious sing that's ever been written." There is no doubt that these songs moved him very deeply. After Elvis had made his first two appearances on TV's The Ed Sullivan Show, he was clearly a very controversial figure. These performances consisted of pure rock and roll music and Elvis shook his hips to them in a way that was considered much too suggestive for the 1950's. Many groups were quick to condemn this as a horrible influence on the kids and some even claimed it to be demonic. Yet Elvis' third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was quite different. This time Elvis did not perform rock and roll but instead did a gospel number in a slow and traditional manner. The song was Peace in the Valley and the performance was a huge success. Elvis had never done a studio recording of any gospel songs, but fans of the performance quite writing letters requesting a recording of Elvis singing Peace in the Valley. RCA quickly rushed Elvis to make a four-song gospel EP entitled Peace in the Valley. This EP of course included the title song, as well as Take My Hand Precious Lord, It is no Secret and I Believe. The EP was a huge success and gospel music would soon play a major role in Elvis' singing career.

Then comes Ray Price with Where He Leads Me I Will Follow. This recording comes from his 1960 gospel album, Faith. 

Afterwards is Johnny Cash and U2 with The Wanderer. This song was written by Bono in 1993 (under the working title The Preacher). The song was inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes but takes place in a future time with a narrator who is worried about the lack of God in society. It is considered to be one of Bono's best songs, but for some reason whenever he tried to record it himself, it didn't work for him. Then he came up with the brilliant idea of having Johnny Cash sing the song (this idea came to Bono when he learned Johnny was going to be in Dublin). Bono would say that Johnny would teach him a lot about how to deliver a song like this during this recording section giving advice about how to put over each word effectively. Johnny told a reporter, "I don't know if it will ever be released or even what it's called." The song would be released on the U2 album, Zooropa (one of U2's most experimental albums) and John would state that this song gave him a sense of artistic renewal.

Today's musical selection ends with The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Power in the Blood. Though it may be simple doctrine that we have heard since Sunday school, I hope we never forget how much power there truly is in the blood of Jesus. No matter what temptations and struggles we may face in life, Jesus' blood spilled on Calvary's cross has overcome all of it. With man something may be impossible but with God all things are possible. 

Now for a sermon from Reverand Martin Luther King Jr. 

Today's movie is Riders of the Rockies (1937) starring Tex Ritter.

Psalm 97

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;

    let the distant shores rejoice.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;

    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire goes before him

    and consumes his foes on every side.

4 His lightning lights up the world;

    the earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

    before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

    and all peoples see his glory.

7 All who worship images are put to shame,

    those who boast in idols—

    worship him, all you gods!

8 Zion hears and rejoices

    and the villages of Judah are glad

    because of your judgments, Lord.

9 For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;

    you are exalted far above all gods.

10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil,

    for he guards the lives of his faithful ones

    and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light shines on the righteous

    and joy on the upright in heart.

12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,

    and praise his holy name.

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Silent Film of the Month: A Roman Scandal (1919)

 

Run Time: 24 minutes. Studio: Christie Film Company. Director: Al Christie. Writers: Scott Darling, Frank Roland Conklin. Producer: Al Christie. Main Cast: Colleen Moore, Earle Rodney, Eddie Barry,

Billy Bletcher, Ward Caulfield. Cinematographer: Anton Nagy. 

Most silent comedy fans know the work of the Keystone (or Mack Sennett) and Hal Roach comedy studios very well. However other comedy studios of the era tend to go quite overlooked. One such studio is the Christie Film Company. This is a shame as many of their comedies are still delightful today. Case in point is our Silent Film of the Month, A Roman Scandal.  

In this film Mary (Colleen Moore) refuses to get married until she makes it in show business, which upsets her fiancée Jack (Earle Rodney). When a nearby stage company goes on strike, Mary volunteers herself and her fiancée to fill in for some of the roles. However, the two end up causing more trouble than help.

This is a truly delightful comedy. Certain story points may have dated. For instance, if this were made today, there is no reason why Mary couldn't have both gotten married and pursued a stage career. Despite this the humor has not dated at all. This is still a very funny movie. The play, even before Mary and Jack get ahold of it is hilarious in its cheapness and ineptitude. It is even more funny thanks to Mary's reaction to the play. Her being as enamored of this play as if it was a great masterpiece is very funny. When Mary and Jack get ahold of the play, it becomes even more hilariously inept. The scene with the fake bull will never cease to crack me up. With delightful gag after delightful gag, a fast pace and the charms of its stars, this is a winner in every area.   

Al Christie (this film's director and producer) was born on November 23, 1886, in London, Ontario, Canada (legendary comedy producer Mack Sennett was also born in Canada). Al Christie had worked as a stage manager and director for Liebler and Company. During a summer lay-off he began his movie career in 1909 as a director for the Nestor Film Company. It wouldn't be long until his career was tied to comedy. In 1911, he went to direct a series of comedies based off Bud Duncan's Mutt and Jeff comic strip that starred, Bud Duncan. In 1912 he moved to the studio's new California facility to direct a series of shorts known as Wild West Weekly. On this series he worked with such comedy stars as Eddie Lyons, Lee Moran, Victoria Forde, Betty Compson, Stella Adams, Billie Rhodes and Neal Burns. By January 1916 along with his brother Charles Christie, he began to produce his own comedies under the Nestor name. Later that same year he established his own studio. This studio would become one the three most popular comedy studios at the time along with Mack Sennett (or Keystone) and Hal Roach. Unlike those other studios the Christie Film Company would often rely more on situational humor than outright slapstick. The films also tended to focus more on younger stars. A 1917 trade ad stated, "Christie Comedies are Comedies of Youth!" In this ad "Youth" was spelled all in capital letters and had images of the studio's stars appearing within the word. The films also tended to have a greater focus on female characters having them play a direct part in the comedic action. This brings us to the star of this film, Colleen Moore. 

Colleen Moore was born as Kathleen Morrison on August 19, 1899, in Port Huron, Michigan. Her first screen test was made at Essanay and came about because the famous film director D.W. Griffith owed her uncle, Walter Howey (managing editor of the Chicago American) a favor. However, the test went well, and she made her film debut in the feature length crime drama The Bad Boy (1917). Though some false publicity claimed she was an extra in D.W. Griffit and h's movie Intolerance (1916), this statement has been proven to be erroneous. With her gift for comedy, it was decided that she would benefit from working with a studio that specialized in comedy. Colleen would state in her 1968 memoir, Silent Star, that her grandmother disapproved of the rowdy Sennett comedies and that is why she signed up with Christie. For Christie she would make two short comedies (this one and Her Bridal Night-Mare (1920)) and two features (So Long Letty (1920) and His Nibs (1921)). Both the short comedies are still available to watch, while the two features are considered lost. 

Scott Darling, a writer on this film was born on May 28, 1898. During the silent era he had written many short comedies for both the Kalem studio and Christie Film Co. as well as having directed 27 movies for Universal. However, he is best remembered today for his work in talkies. During the talkie era he wrote scripts for such movies as The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943) and Laurel and Hardy's films for the Fox Studio. 

Exhibitor's Herald, 1919

Motion Picture News, 1920

The following is from an issue of The Moving Picture World dated, February 20, 1920.

"Starting the New Year right, the Plaza, San Fransico, Calif., comes out with a page for its New Year attractions and gives rather more than half a space to a Christie comedy, 'A Roman Scandal.' This is going to be a great year for comedy and live managers realizing this, are starting in to make the most of their comedy material.

"There has never been a time when comedies could not sell some tickets the feature could not reach, but the demand now is for more and more for comedy and the wise manager caters to this demand by giving more space to his small stuff. More than once the comedy has topped the five reel feature on the general proposition that the feature can take care of itself, and in every instance the additional space has paid. This full page is exceptional, but it is by no means an isolated instance."    


If you wish to watch this delightful film, you can do so below.




    

Resources Used

A-Z of Silent Film Comedy by Glen Mitchell

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #266

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with Sylvester the cat in A Mouse Divided (1953). Though best known for his cartoons with Tweety and Speedy Gonzales, the cat has shown many times that he is more than capable of making a great cartoon without any famous co-stars. This is one of those. The story of Sylvester wanting to eat a small animal until it considers him its parent and then protecting it would be repeated much later in Father of the Bird (1997). A Mouse Divided was directed by Friz Freleng, who directed the Tweety and Sylvester cartoons. 

Next comes Tweety in Birdy and the Beast (1944). This is the second Tweety cartoon. The first three Tweety cartoons were directed by Bob Clampett and feature the bird with other cat antagonists than Sylvester. After Friz Freleng directed the award winning short Tweetie Pie (1947), which first paired Tweety and Slyvester, Tweety would only appear in theatrical cartoons with Slyvester. 

Next comes the first Mickey Mouse cartoon made, Plane Crazy (1928). This was back in the days when Mickey was still a simple country mouse who went around barefoot and didn't wear gloves. These early Mickey cartoons have a genuine rural feel to them (partly because Walt always considered himself a farm boy at heart) that I personally find irresistible and definitely prefer over the later and bland suburban settings featured in his later cartoons. In this film Mickey dreams of being a pilot and makes himself a homemade plane that would make the Our Gang kids jealous. This is because aviation was a popular topic around this time due to the fame of Charles Lindbergh (briefly caricatured here) after his New York to Paris flight of 1927. Walt had already had his earlier star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in an aviation themed cartoon with The Ocean Hop (1927). This cartoon began production in March 1928. The production of this cartoon was done in secret due to the fact that Walt was still under contract to make Oswald cartoons for Universal. Animator Ub Iwerks (who animated the film by himself) was separated from the artists working on the Oswald shorts so that he could not be seen by them. Hugh Harman later described this saying, "They curtained off part of the studio with a great black drop, black skim of some kind, so that I and a few others who were leaving couldn't see the great secret that was going on." Ub Iwerks was one of the fastest animators of the time and finished this cartoon in only a matter of weeks. It has been said that he made as many as 700 drawings in one day. This cartoon was originally made as a silent film, yet you will notice the opening title card says, "Sound Cartoon." The reason for this is that after the success of Steamboat Willie (1928) with sound, a soundtrack was added to this cartoon. 

Now for the silent Aesop's Film Fables cartoon, Snapping the Whip (1929). 



  

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes the New Three Stooges cartoon, A Flycycle Built for Two (1965). The Stooges voice themselves in this made for TV cartoon. In this cartoon, the Stooges try to create a flying bicycle. The live action wrap around segment here is reminiscent of the classic Stooge short, The Ghost Talks (1949). 

Now for the Mighty Mouse cartoon, Hero for a Day (1953). 

If you asked me to pick a cartoon that perfectly shows what the style of the Fleischer Studio was, I would pick, Bimbo's Initiation (1931). This cartoon has everything that makes the Fleischer Studio one of the most unique animation studios of all time. The film has a lot of surreal humor, a very detailed look, a dark and dangerous atmosphere, and was definitely intended more for adults than kids. One thing the Fleischers strived for was to put a gag in every moment of the film and this cartoon has that in abundance. Bimbo was a star character at this time, but his star was soon to be eclipsed by another character in this film, Betty Boop. Betty had made her debut a year earlier with Dizzy Dishes (1930). It wouldn't be long until Bimbo would be playing supporting roles in Betty Boop cartoons. Eventually Betty's films would drop Bimbo. Betty would also later own a dog making her one of the few cartoon characters to both own and date a dog (and even be a dog in her earliest appearances). This cartoon was placed at 37 in Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons.



 

Now let us close with a song. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age by Michael Barrier

Of Mice and Magic: A History of the American Animated Cartoon by Leonard Maltin

The 50 Greatest Cartoons by Jerry Beck

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

Movie Review: Shelter

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B-

A very familiar but well-made movie.

 This movie follows the exact formula as most Jason Statham films. He is a loner with a violent past, who befriends someone and must fight to help protect her. We have all seen this story before and this film doesn't add anything new here. Because of this it is hard for the movie to stand out and from being truly memorable.

Despite this the movie tells this story quite well. As you may expect the action scenes are often excellent. They are well paced, staged and quite exciting. The movie never once drags and by the time it is over it is hard to believe that over 100 minutes have passed. However the real heart of the film is in the relationship between our two main characters, the hero and the young girl he befriends. This relationship is quite touching actually and keeps you emotionally invested in the story. Child actress Bodhi Rae Breathnach (who had previously appeared in Hamnet (2025)) is a very talented young actress, who has great chemistry with Jason Statham. 

While overly familiar this is a well-made movie. 

Bugs Bunny is TCM's Star of the Month for February

 

As a massive fan of both Looney Tunes and TCM, I have long been hoping that these two would cross paths more often. After all cartoons are an important part of film history as there was a time when cinema goers couldn't image a trip to the movies without a cartoon. Recently I found some amazing news that I am very excited about. Starting February TCM will now host the classic Looney Tunes shorts. This is being kicked off by making Bugs Bunny, February's star of the month. From February 2nd to the 9th, the channel will be showing 45 selected Bugs Bunny shorts, that include many long-time favorites of Looney tunes fans.  In the spirit of a classic night at the movies these shorts will be grouped by themes and will be followed by a live action feature of the same theme. For instance, Rabbit of Seville (1950) and What’s Opera Doc (1957) will play before the Marx Brothers classic, A Night at the Opera (1935). And this is only the beginning doc; classic Looney Tunes cartoons will become a staple of the channel for the foreseeable future. 

So, Overture, curtain, lights. This is it tonight of nights. No more rehearsing and nursing a part. We know every part by heart. Overture, curtain, lights. This is it; we'll hit the heights and oh what heights we'll hit. On with the show this is it. Tonight, what heights we'll hit. On with the show, this is it.

Video Link: Black Cat Becomes a HERO?! Sorta... - Causally Comics

Video Link: The Disney Voice You Never Knew You Knew - West of Neverland