Volume 53 - No. 16
By Tom Morrow Growing up where I lived there was no television. The mainstay entertainment was the local theater and cowboy movies were the fare of choice and that’s where us kids wanted to be. Friday and Saturday nights. A good ol’ western “shoot ‘em up Tony” was standard films on Friday and Saturday evenings. Many of us went both nights because serials only ran on Fridays.
April 20, 2023
Those early films we knew were a good part of our young lives. Nearly all were made in California to satisfy the ever-growing appetite for action films, particularly for us kids. Many youngsters going to see a “horse opry” were accompanied by dads who never really outgrew the habit and love of watching western cinema. Let’s face it … you never outgrow the need for a good western movie. Millions of frustrated wives and moms would readily agree.
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John Wayne in “Stagecoach”
Of the plethora of western films and serials, a goodly amount were made at Republic Studios. Many of those flicks were filmed in a week or less. Republic introduced actors who became big stars. The one actor who made a name for himself was known around the world: Marian Morrison, a.k.a. John Wayne. The native Iowan started out as an “extra,” and gradually became a “white hat” first in the continuing role as “Singing Sandy” (singing voice dubbed in) and then one of the “Three Mesqui-
Hats
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