OT - Last Stand at Saber River

[JohndeFresno]

Another great Tom Selleck western, rented through Netflix! The clothes look more appropros than in the stylized Westerns that we are usually stuck with. In one scene a local gunsmith is converting the old percussion revolvers to handle the new cartridge rounds, adding an ejector and proudly declaring one piece of work as a "precision firearm."

Then, returning Confederate solder Cable (Tom Selleck), with family in tow, is confronted by the Carradine brothers in Union garb and some others.

One of the Carradines sees that Selleck has the drop on him with a revolver and asks, “Do you think you can get us all with that?”
Selleck: "You're first. He's next. You really gonna care what happens after that?"

Great stuff.

[Warhawk]

I picked up a Tom Selleck collection of DVDs a while back, and this was one of them.

Great movie!

[TedH]

I watched it a while back and remember it being pretty good. Might be time to rent it again.

[kimwcook]

Was looking for a movie to watch last night and I came across that title. I need to watch it again. Great movie. I'll watch a Tom Selleck western any time.

[AmBraCol]

"Chinamart" usually has a pretty good selection in their video section. Last time we were up north I picked up "Last Stand At Sabre River" for around $5 IIRC. Watch it twice and it's cheaper than renting.

[FWiedner]

I believe that the old gunsmith, Cable's FIL, is Harry Carey Jr.

My favorite scene in that movie is Cable's wife backing him up with a shotgun when he goes to reclaim their home from squatters.

All business, that girl.

[Gun Smith]

Absolutely right Fweidner!
Harry Carey Jr. is one of my favorite actors. He has written a book that all John Wayne, John Ford fans should read. The title is "Company of Heros, my life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company". Published in 1994. It puts you into those 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's days of good western film. He, as most of John Ford's casts and crews were afraid of the old man, yet some of the stories he tells also show Ford as a real larger than life guy.
It should be a required read for any old movie buff. You will enjoy it. I was luckey to get a first printing and Harry personally autographed it for me.

[Buck Elliott]

Couple of Spencers, a Henry or two, and several "crates of Enfields" are also featured.

[Rusty]

Yep, that little gal teaches you why the shotgun was the gun that won the west.

[L_Kilkenny]

I bought the Selleck 3 pack last months while I was down with the flu. As it happens, it was still sitting by the TV in the bedroom when I went to find a bedtime movie last night. Good flick I must say. As for the wife, she may be tough but man was she a $@&%$. He did good not to go John Wayne on her butt. The sister was much friendlier and easy on the eyes. She was trouble too!

The only thing that bothers me is his '66 (I think) flopping around on his horse. Secure that thing for heavens sake!!! That would bother the heck out of me and I'm sure the horse enjoyed it as well. Did dig his pommel bag!!!

LK

[C. Cash]

I caught parts of it when it came out on TV and remember liking it, but need to get this movie and watch it again.

[ceb]

One of my favorites.

[Buck Elliott]

The only thing that bothers me is his '66 (I think) flopping around on his horse. Secure that thing for heavens sake!!! That would bother the heck out of me and I'm sure the horse enjoyed it as well. Did dig his pommel bag!!!

LK

THAT is one of my pet peeves.

The rilfe was a Henry (Uberti), but the way it flopped & gyrated about in that saddle scabbard was nothing short of criminal... And upside-down at that!

Hard to keep a pony focused on his job with cargo slingin' about thataway.

The Pommel bag was a nice touch, but the movie may predate their use as shown.

[stew71]

Nice to hear the positive reviews...it's on our...okay...MY Netflix queue. Although my wife does think Tom Selleck is handsome...

whatever....

[Buck Elliott]

Nice to hear the positive reviews...it's on our...okay...MY Netflix queue. Although my wife does think Tom Selleck is handsome...

whatever....

Just so she thinks you are...

You could spend a couple bucks more and get the Selleck Western Collection, on sale at a big-box store near you...

[RIHMFIRE]

Great flick...Cant go wrong with Tom Selleck!
Pretty good cast too...Carradine brothers...
Ole Harry Carey Jr. ...absolutely one of the best supporting
actors that ever graced the silver screen...
The only thing i did not like about the movie was the
lady who played his wife...good actress but she just did not
fit that role for some reason.....and the little boy too....

I wish he would make another western!

[Ysabel Kid]

Will put that on the list to watch this Christmas. Have watched a bunch of good ones thus far - "Quigley Down Under", "The Last of the Mohicans", and watching "Jeremiah Johnson" as I type this!

[Idahoser]

Good book too.

[Hillbilly]

The pistol resides at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum here in OKC.
I think the saddle from that movie is here too.

What movie did that 76 Winchester appear in? It's part of the Selleck section also.

[FWiedner]

The pistol resides at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum here in OKC.
I think the saddle from that movie is here too.

What movie did that 76 Winchester appear in? It's part of the Selleck section also.

"Crossfire Trail"?

That's a good one too.

[Ysabel Kid]

Watched it today. A very good movie. Only problem I saw was the introduction of a Colt conversion in 1865. I think these were a few years off, were they not?

[JohndeFresno]

Watched it today. A very good movie. Only problem I saw was the introduction of a Colt conversion in 1865. I think these were a few years off, were they not?

Ysabel,

I wondered, the first time I saw the movie; because Selleck's movies frequently bring in little bits of accurate period trivia that are woefully lacking in most Westerns.

I discovered that innovative gunsmiths were making conversions before the firearms firms caught up with the times.

See, for example:
http://www.riverjunction.com/kirst/history.html
"...Thus beginning in 1857, Colt's could not produce a breech loading cartridge-firing revolver for more than a decade, until 1869 when the Rollin White patent expired. Nor for that matter, could any other gunmaker in the United States. Nevertheless, there were countless patent infringements during the Civil War by small gunmakers, particularly Manhattan Fire Arms Manufacturing Co., of Newark, New Jersey, which produced several cartridge-firing models in the early 1860s. These, among others, either made in the U.S. or imported from Europe (where the S&W and White patents had no legality), put thousands of cartridge-firing pistols into the hands of both Union and Confederate soldiers during the War Between the States...."

That is why I thought the scene was especially cool where Harry Carey Jr. was making conversions of the frontier firearms at his gunsmith shop. It added a dimension to changing times of the Old West, when the story takes place.