George Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned the years from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals, adventure tales, war films, and a few horror and fantasy films. However, his most enduring image is that of the tall-in-the-saddle Western hero. Out of his more than 100 film appearances over 60 were in Westerns. According to editor Edward Boscombe, "...Of all the major stars whose name was associated with the Western, Scott [was] most closely identified with it."
Frances Marion Dee was an American actress. Her first film was the musical Playboy of Paris (1930). She starred in the film An American Tragedy (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 Val Lewton psychological horror film I Walked With a Zombie.
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.
Virginia Mayo was an American actress and dancer. She was in a series of popular comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Bros. biggest box-office draw in the late 1940s. She also co-starred in the 1946 Oscar-winning movie The Best Years of Our Lives.
The Virginian is a 1902 novel by the American author Owen Wister (1860-1938), set in Wyoming Territory during the 1880s. It describes the life of a cowboy on a cattle ranch and is considered the first true fictional western ever written, aside from short stories and pulp dime novels, though modern scholars debate this. The Virginian paved the way for many more westerns by such authors as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour and several others. The novel was adapted from several short stories published in Harper's Magazine and the Saturday Evening Post between Nov 1893 and May 1902.
Ramrod is a 1947 American Western film directed by Andre de Toth and starring Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Preston Foster and Don DeFore. This cowboy drama from Hungarian director de Toth was the first of several films based on the stories of Western author Luke Short. De Toth's first Western is often compared to films noir released around the same time. Leading lady Veronica Lake was then married to director de Toth. The supporting cast features Donald Crisp, Charles Ruggles, Lloyd Bridges and Ray Teal.
Colorado Territory is a 1949 American Western film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, and Dorothy Malone. Written by Edmund H. North and John Twist, and based on the novel High Sierra by W.R. Burnett, the film is about an outlaw who is sprung from jail to help pull one last railroad job.
Wichita Town is a half-hour Western television series starring Joel McCrea, Jody McCrea, Carlos Romero, and George Neise that aired on NBC from September 30, 1959, until April 6, 1960.
Buffalo Bill is a 1944 American Western film about the life of the frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody, directed by William A. Wellman and starring Joel McCrea and Maureen O'Hara with Linda Darnell, Thomas Mitchell, Edgar Buchanan and Anthony Quinn in supporting roles.
Rockabye is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film starring Constance Bennett, Joel McCrea, and Paul Lukas. The final version was directed by George Cukor after studio executives decided that the original film as directed by George Fitzmaurice was unreleasable. The screenplay by Jane Murfin is based on an unpublished play written by Lucia Bronder, based on her original short story.
George N. Neise was an American character actor. He made over 120 film and television appearances between 1942 and 1978.
Four Faces West is a 1948 American Western film starring Joel McCrea, his real-life wife Frances Dee, and Charles Bickford. It is based on the novel Pasó por aquí by Eugene Manlove Rhodes. Its plot concerns a down-on-his-luck cowboy who robs a bank. For its genre the film is unusual in that not a single shot is ever fired.
Westbound is a 1959 American Western film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott, Virginia Mayo and Karen Steele.
Fort Massacre is a 1958 American western film directed by Joseph M. Newman, starring Joel McCrea, Forrest Tucker, John Russell and Susan Cabot. A possibly mad cavalry commander leads his troops through dangerous Indian territory.
Youth Takes a Fling is a 1938 American comedy film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Joel McCrea.
The Tall Stranger is a western novel by Louis L'Amour. It was written in 1957 and first published by Gold Medal Books. A filmed version starred Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo.
Border River is a 1954 American Western film directed by George Sherman and starring Joel McCrea, Yvonne De Carlo and Pedro Armendáriz.
Saddle Tramp is a 1950 American Western film directed by Hugo Fregonese and starring Joel McCrea and Wanda Hendrix. Its uncredited theme song was "The Cry of the Wild Goose" by Frankie Laine.
Stranger on Horseback is a 1955 American Anscocolor Western film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Joel McCrea. The screenplay is based on a story by Louis L'Amour. It was filmed in and around Sedona, Arizona.
Burning Gold is a 1936 American drama film directed by Sam Newfield and starring William Boyd, Judith Allen and Lloyd Ingraham. It is a modern-day western about a World War I veteran who becomes a wildcat prospector for oil and enjoys a major strike.
