tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4705940625481143611.post6875398281585784020..comments2024-03-25T11:17:18.130-07:00Comments on Davy Crockett's Almanack of Mystery, Adventure and The Wild West: Forgotten Books: SAINT JOHNSON by W.R. Burnett (1930)Evan Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07620731784654779358noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4705940625481143611.post-3144764096226545202014-01-25T07:13:22.346-08:002014-01-25T07:13:22.346-08:00There were actually two film versions of SAINT JOH...There were actually two film versions of SAINT JOHNSON released the same year, both starring Walter Huston. The first, as you noted, was LAW AND ORDER. In the second, BEAST OF THE CITY, the setting was updated to present-day (which is today, Prohibition/Depression era) Chicago, and Huston was a captain of homicide, unexpectedly transferred to command of an outlying precinct in the sticks, then, just as unexpectedly, bumped up police chief. Wallace Ford played his ne'er-do-well kid brother, a junior detective who, in debt, goes on the take. Jean Harlow is Ford's squeeze, a moll associated with the gangster faction, a thinly fictionalized Capone mob, that stands in for the Clantons. Jean Hersholt (who would become identified with a much more benign character years later in the DR. CHRISTIAN movies) as the Capone figure. A shootout between the cops and the mobsters in a mob-owned night club is the analog for the gunfight at the OK Corral. W.R Burnett co-wrote the script. He later said he thought it was as good as LITTLE CAESAR or SCARFACE, two other classic gangster films with which he was associated.JIM DOHERTYhttp://www.deadlyserious.com/JimDohertynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4705940625481143611.post-54809707311732026192014-01-24T12:26:47.235-08:002014-01-24T12:26:47.235-08:00Did old Ronnie have any pithy remarks about Bonzo ...Did old Ronnie have any pithy remarks about <i>Bonzo Goes to College</i>?Evan Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07620731784654779358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4705940625481143611.post-57697526478895907852014-01-24T12:09:01.916-08:002014-01-24T12:09:01.916-08:00I've seen the 1953 version. Russell Johnson wa...I've seen the 1953 version. Russell Johnson was in it, playing Jimmy. IMHO, it was a not-bad, although routine, medium-budget Western. Reagan did not seem to think much of it. In his autobiography, he mentioned it in passing, and said, "I can only excuse it because it was a Western."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4705940625481143611.post-63610942431086957502014-01-24T07:55:58.832-08:002014-01-24T07:55:58.832-08:00Cool. Thanks, Jerry. I might have one of those Mac...Cool. Thanks, Jerry. I might have one of those Mack Brown movies around here.Evan Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07620731784654779358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4705940625481143611.post-81312159024995931612014-01-24T04:03:56.860-08:002014-01-24T04:03:56.860-08:00According to IMDb, the 1937 Johnny Mack Brown 13-p...According to IMDb, the 1937 Johnny Mack Brown 13-part serial WILD WEST DAYS was also based (at least in part) on this novel. LAW AND ORDER was also remade in 1940, and also starred Johnny Mack Brown, with Fuzzy Knight and head Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd in supporting roles.Jerry Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09482856733981933159noreply@blogger.com