SADDLE ACES OF THE CINEMA

SADDLE ACES OF THE CINEMA. Buck Rainey. A. S. Barnes; 1980.

In this very interesting volume, Rainey looks back at the cowboy heroes of yesteryear, from the silent era to the mid-fifties when television took over from the B movie westerns that proliferated before the "boob tube" became ascendant. The book is much more interesting than I first imagined, because Rainey's prose is quite good and he unearths a lot of interesting information on these mostly forgotten movie stars. The names of Tom Mix and Gene Autry [The Phantom Empire]  and a couple of others may be familiar to the casual reader, and we've also got the likes of Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Rex Bell, Harry Carey [The Vanishing Legion], Buck Jones, Jack Holt [Holt of the Secret Service] and others. Many of these gentlemen went on to successful careers as character actors in westerns, serials and other genres. The book is packed with black and white illustrations, a complete list of each actor's film credits, as well as lots of biographical information. If nothing else the book makes it clear how fleeting fame can be, but each man had many, many devoted fans in their day.

Verdict: For western fans and film enthusiasts. ***. 

THE PRICE OF VALOR: THE LIFE OF AUDIE MURPHY

THE PRICE OF VALOR: The Life of Audie Murphy, America's Most Decorated Hero of World War II. David A. Smith. Regnery; 2015.

Audie Murphy, a poor farm boy who became the most decorated hero of WW2, beat the odds in combat and then also beat the Hollywood odds by becoming a movie star.  Murphy was never considered any kind of Laurence Olivier, but he gave convincing performances in films that employed his limited range and made good use of his pleasant but often angry and bitter demeanor. Murphy suffered from what today we would call PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), which made it tough on his two wives, the first of which was actress Wanda Hendrix [The Admiral Was a Lady].; he also had a fling with actress Jean Peters [Vicki]. The first half of the book recounts Murphy's adventures as a soldier overseas, the campaigns he was part of, and the bravery he showed which led to him taking, and saving, many lives. At first he was contemptuous of other soldiers who broke down or cried in sheer terror, but he eventually developed some compassion for them. Never anxious to be seen as a "hero," his survivor guilt insured that he thought the real heroes were the men who died overseas.  As an actor Murphy appeared in the film version of his self-effacing memoir To Hell and Back, starred in John Huston's The Red Badge of Courage, and in addition to a variety of western films, appeared in everything from Bad Boy to The Unforgiven. Forever seeking the excitement of his early years, he developed a gambling addiction, suffered from perpetual nightmares, and always carried a gun. As he got older, Murphy found that times had changed to such an extent that he was seen as a a mere World War 2 relic; even his beloved westerns had undergone a psychological change. Ironically, after surviving so much during the war, he died in a plane crash at the age of 45. The Price of Valor is probably not the last word on Murphy, but it is a readable, fast-paced book that gives the reader most of the facts. Not a film historian, author Smith briefly covers the films but the book can't really be considered a career study.

Verdict: Informative look at the life of Audie Murphy. ***.