Several folks have asked about books and print media related to cowboy films and cliffhangers. I'm not peddling books and periodicals, but the following info and weblinks may help you locate some interesting readin' and reference material.
| B-Western Movie Reviews - Volume 1 from Boyd Magers will be published in May. It will be a limited printing run and you can pre-order for $25 postpaid in the U.S. This first of three books has about 840 in-depth B-western movie reviews for over 40 stars and their films. The three volume set will have over 2000 reviews. For more on book content or to order, visit Boyd's Western Clippings website: http://www.westernclippings.com |  |
 | During the nearly 15 years that this here Old Corral website has been online, the B western heroes that have generated the most questions and the most e-mails to me are for Lash LaRue, Sunset Carson ... and Allan 'Rocky' Lane. Lane fans should be happy as prolific author Bobby J. Copeland has written Allan "Rocky" Lane - The Mystery Cowboy. Lane is also one of Bobby's favorites and his book reflects that admiration. There's much on Lane's early (mystery) life period; a complete film listing with descriptions; TV and later movie appearances including his MR. ED days; and loads of images. Lane wasn't loved by the folks he worked with - and there's pages and pages of Lane comments from many people ... and a few positive comments too. This 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 softcover has 142 pages and several hundred images. You can order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $23.95 postpaid in the US: Bobby Copeland - OC 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830 If you need more info or shipping costs outside of the U.S., shoot an e-mail to Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net |
| Bobby Copeland and Bill Russell have partnered up on Bob Steele - Little Dynamite. This 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 softcover has 139 pages and many photos, posters and lobby cards. There's details on Steele and the Bradbury family. His starring career is well documented beginning with late silent era work and continuing through his Three Mesquiteers, Trail Blazers and final starring roles at PRC in the mid 1940s. There's lots of great (and positive) comments about Steele from folks who worked with him. You'll also learn more about Steele's later film and TV work (such as his portrayal of "Trooper Duffy" on F-TROOP). Steele is a favorite of ye Old Corral webmeister and this Steele biography is a welcome addition to my reference library. You can order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $23.95 postpaid in the US. For more on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby Copeland - OC 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830 |  |
 | Bobby J. Copeland and Richard B. Smith, III have authored Roy Rogers - A Different View. Biographies are generally written on a chapter by chapter basis and some dates are highlighted or listed as to a year or time period. This book is most definitely a different view. It is written as a timeline, starting with a summary of Roy's beginning, and then continuing on a day-month-year list with events such as marriages, births, children's passings, his "Dick Weston" days, film start and finish dates, rodeo appearances, Roy's radio program, Republic contract issues, Roy's entry into TV, more. There's also many articles on Roy's (and Gene Autry's) lawsuit and appeals trying to halt Republic's release of their westerns to early television. The timeline has many, many newspaper articles, Hollywood tradepaper blurbs, film start and end dates, more. I luv this book! This 8 1/4 x 11 spiral bound softcover has 150 pages and tons of photos. You can order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $23.95 postpaid in the US. For more on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby Copeland - OC 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830 |
| Bobby Copeland's latest is Charles "Durango" Starrett - The Mysterious Avenger. His Starrett book includes a biography, filmography, many photos, comments from people who worked with Starrett, lots more. I had a few chuckles reading about Starrett's (lack of) horsemanship skills as well as his tendency to arrive late on location. This 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 softcover has 127 pages. You can order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $23.95 postpaid in the US. For more on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby Copeland - OC 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830 |  |
 | John H. Conley, Jr. is a kid from Indiana who wound up in Arizona, and he loves the cowboy and the west. His The Heart of a Cowboy is a fun mix of the old and new and the real and reel west. The book is a very pleasant read because of John's writing style ... and there are scores of chapters/sections, each with a handful of pages highlighting a particular cowboy hero, TV show, stunt person, movie horses, etc. There are also profiles on current western tunesmiths and groups, western book authors, western painters, more. This 6 x 9 softcover is about $19.00 and you can learn more about John and his book at: http://www.johnhconley.com And you can order from amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-Cowboy-John-Conley/dp/1453733191/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332594701&sr=1-2 Amazon also has some book excerpts online for you to peruse. In the left side menu, you can also click to view the extensive table of contents: http://www.amazon.com/The-Heart-Cowboy-John-Conley/dp/1453733191/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332594701&sr=1-2#reader_1453733191 |
 | Fall Girl: My Life as a Western Stunt Double is a great book by stunt woman Martha Crawford Cantarini and Chrystopher J. Spicer. In the book, Martha writes about horses, stuntwork, and doubling for stars including Eleanor Parker and Jean Simmons. The book also includes Martha's insights on Clark Gable, Audie Murphy, Robert Taylor, stuntman Joe Yrigoyen, others. This softcover has about 235 pages and was published in 2010 by McFarland & Company. You'll find more about Martha and her days in Hollywoodland in the Stunt Men and Women section on the Old Corral. You can order from Amazon for about $35.00, and the following webpage includes some very positive reviews by book buyers: http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Girl-Western-Stunt-Double/dp/0786447532/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319250088&sr=1-2 Oldies.com had the book for about $30.00, so check websites for prices. |
| An Illustrated History of Trigger - The Lives and Legend of Roy Rogers' Palomino by Leo Pando - with a foreword by Corky Randall - was updated in 2011 by the author and is from McFarland & Company. Trigger was a composite of the original horse, a number of look-alikes and one extraordinary double (rarely acknowledged by Rogers) named Little Trigger. The book covers the life story of the original horse and the look-alikes, as well as the story of Trigger the legend. Includes photographs, tables, notes, filmography, bibliography, index. Illustrations include many rare (some previously unpublished) photographs gathered from Trigger collectors nationwide. This 7 x 10 softcover is $35.00. More info at the McFarland website: http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-6111-0 Also available for about $35.00 from amazon and the Autry Center. |  |
 | Don "Red" Barry, The Cyclone Cowboy is the newest from Bobby J. Copeland. Small in stature, but not in ego or attitude, Donald Barry made some really good westerns for Republic Pictures ... but he never endeared himself to those around him. Bobby's book includes filmography and film details, comments from people who knew Barry, info on his sidekicks, info about his (brief) marriage to Peggy Stewart, more. There's also a section about Barry's amorous adventures in Hollywoodland, lots of newspaper articles, and coverage of his suicide. And yes - Barry's birth name was "Milton Poimbouef". This softcover is about 8 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches, has 129 pages, and includes lots of photos. This is another good read from Bobby. Autographed by the author. Order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $23.95 postpaid in the US. For more on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby Copeland - OC 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830 |
| There's a great book on movie horses which I purchased about five years ago ... and somehow didn't include a mention in this section. The book is Hollywood Hoofbeats: Trails Blazed Across the Silver Screen by Petrine Day Mitchum with Audrey Pavia. Petrine Day Mitchum is Robert Mitchum's daughter. This is a top knotch hard cover with 216 pages, lots of B&W and color photos, and the book measures about 10 1/2 high x 11 1/2 wide. Printed on high quality stock, this book is superb ... and heavy. Silent and B-western cowboys are covered, but not in super detail. But this is not a book about B-western heroes and their hosses - it's a history of the movie horse from the early days to today. So you have info and photos on Tom Mix, John Wayne, Hoppy and Topper, Gene and Champ, Roy and Trigger ... there's info on trainers and rental stables such as Fat Jones, Ace Hudkins, Glenn Randall ... lots of info on horses in A grade films such as NATIONAL VELVET, MY FRIEND FLICKA, BEN HUR, LORD OF THE RINGS ... there's TV western horses ... lots more. And there's also great writeups on stunts as well as the device called the "Running W" (which was used to trip the horses). Well covered is the outcry against the equine deaths in film stunts, and more on the treatment of movie horses over the years. Published by Bow Tie Press, Irvine, California, the book is available from them for about $40.00: http://www.shopanimalnetwork.com/product.aspx?cid=60&pid=208&mid=2 Amazon.com has used and new copies of the book and you can preview some pages: http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Hoofbeats-Trails-Blazed-Across/dp/1931993386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306205447&sr=1-1 |  |
 | Randolph Scott - Dignity In The Saddle is another biography from Bobby Copeland. Includes a biography on Scott, his movies, newspaper articles, timeline, quotes by his peers, days with Cary Grant, many great photos, and lots more. Autographed by the author. Order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $22.95 postpaid in the US. For more on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby Copeland - OC 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830 |
| As I was doing the writeup on Handlebar Hank Bell, I was reminded of a great book that I bought over thirty years ago. It is Diana Serra Cary's The Hollywood Posse: The Story of a Gallant Band of Horsemen Who Made Movie History (Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1975). Diana is "Baby Peggy" Montgomery and she starred in over a hundred comedy shorts in the 1920s. Her father was Jack Montgomery, a real life cowboy who came to Hollywood and became one of the silent and sound B-western performers and stuntmen. The book is a good read for those who want to learn more about early film making, and in particular, the story of real cowhands that exited the ranches to work in motion pictures for $5.00 a day and a box lunch ... because the work was steady and easier than punchin' cattle and repairing fences. Montgomery's friends included Hank Bell, Charles 'Slim' Whitaker, Bill Gillis, and many others. The cover on the right is from my 1975 hard cover edition. A trade paperback was issued by the University of Oklahoma Press in 1996 and is available from Amazon for about $25.00: http://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Posse-Gallant-Horsemen-History/dp/0806128356 Link to the book at the University of Oklahoma Press: http://www.oupress.com/ECommerce/Book/Detail/1106/the%20hollywood%20posse If you check the used book outfits above, you can find both the original hardcover and the newer softcover for $5.00 - $15.00. |  |
 | Fuzzy St. John - Our Fuzzy Q. Jones is another good 'un from Bobby J. Copeland and is a Fall, 2010 arrival from Empire Publishing. Was happy to see this as old Fuzz is among ye Old Corral webmeister's favorite sidekicks. This softcover is about 8 1/2 x 11 inches, has about 130 pages, and includes lots of photos, a biography, filmography, Fuzzy on tour, some newspaper headlines, more. There's individual chapters on Fuzzy with various heroes (such as Fuzzy with Houston and Livingston as the Lone Riders, Fuzzy with Buster Crabbe, Fuzzy with Lash LaRue, etc.). I really enjoyed the lengthy chapter titled "Fuzzy in Action" - here are listed various Fuzzy antics and Fuzzy quotes/dialog from film after film after film. Had quite a few laughs and fond remembrances as I read this section. You can order the book directly from Bobby and the cost is $24.00 postpaid in the US. Let him know if you want it autographed. For more on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby J. Copeland 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830-7114. |
| The Old Cowboy Picture Show Revised by Leo Pando and George Coan is a 232 page, 6 x 9 softcover. The book is a salute to George Coan (1942 - 2009) and the 70 or so issues of his The Old Cowboy Picture Show (TOCPS) newsletter which he published from 1998 - 2009. Leo Pando did much of the production duties on TOCPS. Inside are dozens of great essays on well known and obscure cowboy heroes, a background history of the silver screen and TV western, info on the famous movie horses, lots more. Authors of the articles include Pando, Robert W. 'Rawhide Bob' Phillips, Buck Rainey, Bobby Copeland, Tim Lasiuta, Terry Canote, others. Leo Pando authored a new piece which is the concluding chapter - titled "Golden Clouds and Silver Linings", this covers events from the time of Roy Rogers' death in 1998 through the opening and closing of the Roy and Dale museum in Branson, Missouri and the 2010 auction of its collection which included Trigger. Order the book directly from George's son Jack and the price is $12.99 plus $4.00 postage in the U.S.: Jack Coan 12520 Briarwood Drive Laurinburg, North Carolina 28352 |  |
 | The Films of Whip Wilson by David L. Godwin is a great read about a western movie hero who came along during the end of the B-western era. This softcover is about 8 1/2 x 11 inches, has 260 pages, and includes a very detailed biography and filmography as well as personal appearance details, his comic books, Monogram contract info, tradepaper reviews, comments from people who worked with Wilson, info on trusty white hoss Bullet, and lots more. And there's many photos and movie adwork from Whip's films as well as photos and insights from the Wilson family. The book also provides a good perspective and "history lesson" on what it was like working for Monogram and being under a contract. The tidbits and nitty gritty in this well researched volume reminded me of Merrill McCord's excellent bio on the Randall Brothers. Order the book directly from David for $29.95 plus $3.95 postage (in the US). No credit cards - check or money order only. Send your order to: David L. Godwin 7056 NC 50 South Benson, North Carolina 27504-7206 |
| Bobby Copeland and Bill Russell have co-authored a well done and well deserved book on Colonel Tim McCoy. The 110 page, 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 softcover Tim McCoy - A Real Rough Rider contains lots of images, a biography, film listing ... and details on Tim's TV show, performances with the Tommy Scott Show, more. You can order the book directly from Bobby for $19.95 plus $4.00 postage in the US (let Bobby know if you want it autographed). If you'd like more info on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby J. Copeland 104 Claremont OC Oak Ridge, TN 37830 |  |
| William Boyd and Hopalong Cassidy fans can rejoice as there are now two new books available. | ||
 | On the left is Hopalong Cassidy: On the Page, On the Screen which covers each of Clarence Mulford's books and each of the Cassidy films and TV shows. A comprehensive index enables readers interested in almost anything linked to the books or films - including eventual stars like Robert Mitchum, George Reeves, Jan Clayton and Barbara Britton - to find the relevant material instantly. Authored by Francis M. Nevins, this 500+ page book is $40.00 (+$5.00 shipping) and can be ordered via the Museum of Lone Pine Film History. When you get to their website, click on "Shop" and then on "Books" and scroll for the Hoppy book: http://lonepinefilmhistorymuseum.org/ On the right is Hopalong Cassidy - An American Legend by Michael Cochran and Grace Bradley Boyd. There's two editions of this book: a $300.00 (+$30.00 shpping) leather bound limited edition (of 1000 copies) which is autographed by Grace Bradley Boyd; and a regular trade edition priced at $45.00 (+ free shipping in the U.S.), and that cover is shown on the right. More info (and lots of photos) is at Russ Cochran's website: http://www.russcochran.com/hopalong.html |  |
  |  | I checked with prolific author Bobby J. Copeland in March, 2012. Several of his books are out of print and he no longer has copies for sale. These include: Gabby Hayes - King of the Cowboy Comics Bill Elliott, The Peaceable Man Trail Talk B-Western Boot Hill The book covers are shown on the left. Check amazon, oldies.com, eBay and various book sites (listed at top of this webpage) to see if you can locate a copy. |
| Two new books by Bobby J. Copeland and Richard B. Smith, III are now available from Empire Publishing. One covers the life and career of Sunset Carson and the other is on prolific sidekick, musician and song writer Smiley Burnette. Both are 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 softcovers and contain 160 and 176 pages, respectively. Both contain loads of photos, a filmography, and comments from people with whom they worked. If you want Bobby to autograph, you can order either book directly from him for the same price of $18.00 plus $3.00 shipping/handling. If you'd like more info on book content or want to order, contact Bobby at: bobbycopeland@comcast.net Bobby J. Copeland 104 Claremont Oak Ridge, TN 37830-7114 |  |
| Gene Autry Westerns - America's Favorite Cowboy by Boyd Magers was published during Summer, 2007 and is a detailed look at all of the Autry films and TV shows and includes plot synopsis, negative costs, info on cast members, tunes, stunt folks, etc. The official Gene Autry website also has the book for sale at about $65.00: http://www.geneautry.com/musicmovies/books/geneautrywesterns.html Rather than summarize all the nitty-gritty details in the book, click HERE for a jpg image of the back cover which has all kinds of info. |  |
| Public Cowboy No. 1 - The Life and Times of Gene Autry by Holly George-Warren is the ultimate biography on Gene. The softcover version is $17.95. The official Gene Autry website has book details: http://autry.com/news/2007/pc_biography.html More info is available at the Oxford University Press website: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Music/PopularMusic/?view=usa&ci=9780195372670 You can also order the book from the Oxford University Press link above or through: http://shop.theautry.org/browse.cfm/public-cowboy-no.1-hardcover/4,181.html |  |
