Well, as long as we’re on other matters, how about Randolph Scott? Video stores, at least the ones where I live, do not have his movies for rent. There’s no theater within 800 miles of here that’s likely to run one, let alone mount a Randolph Scott film festival. I got hooked on his laconic, righteous cowboy character years ago, and I miss him.
It came as no surprise to learn that artsjournal.com colleague Terry Teachout also appreciates Scott. After reading the long piece about Scott that Terry wrote for American Cowboy magazine, I searched the net for DVDs of Scott pictures and found that a few are available, including the remarkable Seven Men From Now. In his Westerns, Scott had flint in his visage, his convictions and his resolve. His films are simple, short and satisfying. Here’s a paragraph from Terry’s article about Scott.
He always played the same character, a lanky, dryly amusing cowboy with a Virginia accent who spoke only when spoken to and shot only when shot at, and you could take it for granted that he’d do the right thing in any given situation. If he’d been younger and prettier, he would have been too good to be true, but Scott was no dresser’s dummy: he had a thin-lipped mouth and a hawk-like profile, and wasn’t afraid to act his age on screen. Nobody in Hollywood, not even John Wayne, looked more believable in a Stetson.
For the whole thing, click here. It’s a terrific read.