• Westerns Women • Ladies of the Western •
Best of the Badmen

GENE AUTRY WESTERNS

by Boyd Magers

Hardcover. 456 pgs. Hundreds of photos.

Like no other book on Gene Autry! Each film and TV show contains: Release date; Major production credits; Complete cast including character played; All songs included, who wrote them and who performs them in the film; Running time; Filming dates; Cast bios of major players; Locations used; Budget and negative costs; Stunt people involved; Film analysis/synopsis; Notes and Comments including film and cast background info, saleries paid, working titles, etc.; Film comments from Gene and other cast members; Theatre exhibitor comments at the time of release.

Bonus Material features recurrent themes in Gene's westerns; Gene in print; Gene's appearances in short subjects and TV shows; Gene's "Top Tens" as selected by 13 noted Autry enthusiasts; Reference tables listing Gene's sidekicks, leading ladies, musical groups, screenwriters, directors, locations; Champion chronology.

Forword/Afterword by Dick Jones and Jimmy Hawkins.

Now out of print. Limited copies. $75 (plus $8 U.S. postage)
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DON’T MISS OUT ON THE ONLY BOOK OF ITS KIND!

BEST OF THE BADMEN

by Boyd Magers
with Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland

Hardcover. 347 pgs. Over 320 photos. Complete bios and photos on 315 western screen heavies from 1930 to the TV era of the ‘60s!

The real pleasure of watching a western —be it B, A or TV, is seeing how increasingly despicable Roy Barcroft, Harry Woods, Jack Elam, Charlie King, Noah Beery, Ted Adams, Myron Healey and scores of others could be from week to week. Now, learn the facts of their real lives as you prepare to boo and hiss them once again!

In over two years worth of research we’ve dug up and located facts and obscure information on these 315 badmen that has never been published before. Also much previously printed incorrect info has been updated and corrected. Extensive filmography on all.

Forewords by House Peters Jr., Jan Merlin, Michael Pate and Morgan Woodward.

Just a random sampling of the heavies included:
Ernie Adams, Ted Adams, Dick Alexander, Chris Alcaide, Morris Ankrum, R. G. Armstrong, Holly Bane, Roy Barcroft, Trevor Bardette, Gregg Barton, Lyle Bettger, Lane Bradford, Al Bridge, Steve Brodie. Yakima Canutt, Bruce Cabot, John Cason, George Chesebro, Ed Cobb, James Coburn, Tris Coffin, Dick Curtis, Richard Devon, John Doucette, Leo Gordon, Dan Duryea, Earl Dwire, Jack Elam, Doug Fowley, Terry Frost, Bud Geary, James Griffith, Kevin Hagen, Ron Hayes, Jack Ingram, Stan Jolley, Victor Jory, Douglas Kennedy, Charles King, Fred Kohler, Jack Lambert, Tom London, Pierce Lyden, Ian MacDonald, Merrill McCormick, Ted Mapes, LeRoy Mason, John Merton, Walter Miller, Mort Mills, Dennis Moore, Zon Murray, Chuck Morrison, Bud Osborne, Gregg Palmer, Bill Phipps, Tom Reese, Warner Richmond, Gene Roth, Allan Sears, Carl Sepulveda, Glenn Strange, Lee Van Cleef, Francis Walker, Slim Whitaker, Bob Wilke, Roger Williams, Harry Woods, Rusty Wescoatt and hundreds more!

Here’s what a few of them said about playing the bad guy:

• MYRON HEALEY: “There’s much more leeway in playing a heavy, you can get more out of the role. With the existing dialogue, you get more of a chance to pull things out of it…character and personality. With a heavy, you just play it straight and it’s just plain interesting, the fact that you’re not a nice guy.”
• LEO GORDON: “Westerns are fundamental…the morality play. There’s a good guy and a bad guy. You know which is which. You don’t have to go into the psyche to find out his parents were abusive. (And the heavy is) the guy people remember. You get more recognition.”
• JOHN CLIFF: “If you’re a heavy by nature, I mean the way you deliver, you’re a natural heavy. So many people try to lay it on. Give me a guy that can smile at you and cut your throat, you got a heavy.”
• JAN MERLIN: “One of the disadvantages of being a ‘good guy’ is having to look heroic and clean cut, while the ‘heavy’ can be as grungy as he pleases…or sometimes wears far more fancy duds than his pursuer…maybe even be better looking!”
• DAN DURYEA: “You can’t make a picture without a villain…it pays well and you last.”
• GREGORY WALCOTT: “The villains always seemed to have a little more dimension, a little more color, a little more character. It’s kind of fun too.”
• NEVILLE BRAND: “I don’t go in thinking he’s a villain. The audience might, but the villain doesn’t think he’s a villain. Even a killer condones what he’s done. I just create this human being under the circumstances that are given. I don’t think he’s a villain. Everybody just condones his own actions.”
• JACK ELAM: “In the old days, Rory Calhoun was the hero because he was the hero and I was the heavy because I was the heavy—and nobody cared what my problem was. And I didn’t either. I robbed the bank because I wanted the money. I’ve played all kinds of weirdoes but I’ve never done the quiet, sick type. I never had a problem—other than the fact I was just bad.”
  

Now only $45 (plus $7 U.S. postage)
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WESTERNS WOMEN

by Boyd Magers and Michael G. Fitzgerald

INTERVIEWS WITH 50 LEADING LADIES OF MOVIE AND TELEVISION WESTERNS FROM THE 1930S TO THE1960S

Forewords by Anne Gwynne, Lois Hall,
Gale Storm and Virginia Vale

Softcover. 288 pages, 150 photos, filmographies

This collection features a diverse mixture of leading ladies. Some toiled in B-westerns, others worked exclusively at the A level, a few were relegated to television. Those interviewed: Jane Adams, Julie Adams, Merry Anders, Vivian Austin, Joan Barclay, Patricia Blair, Pamela Blake, Adrian Booth, Geneé Boutell, Lois Collier, Mara Corday, Gail Davis, Myrna Dell, Ann Doran, Faith Domergue, Dale Evans, Beatrice Gray, Coleen Gray, Anne Gwynne, Lois Hall, Kay Hughes, Marsha Hunt, Eilene Janssen, Anna Lee, Joan Leslie, Nan Leslie, Kay Linaker, Teala Loring, Lucille Lund, Beth Marion, Donna Martell, Kristine Miller, Peggy Moran, Maureen O’Hara, Debra Paget, Jean Porter, Paula Raymond, Jan Shepard, Marion Shilling, Roberta Shore, Eleanor Stewart, Peggy Stewart, Linda Stirling, Gale Storm, Helen Talbot, Audrey Totter, Virginia Vale, Elena Verdugo, Jacqueline White and Gloria Winters.

Now only $40 (plus $6 U.S. postage)
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LADIES OF THE WESTERN

by Boyd Magers and Michael G. Fitzgerald

THE SEQUEL BOOK TO WESTERNS WOMEN. INTERVIEWS WITH 51 MORE LEADING LADIES OF MOVIE AND TELEVISION WESTERNS FROM THE SILENT ERA THROUGH THE ‘30S, ‘40S AND ‘50S
TO THE TELEVISION WESTERNS
Softcover. 328 pages, 150 photos, filmographies

Forewords by Kathryn Adams, Mala Powers and Marion Shilling.

In 1999, Boyd Magers and Michael Fitzgerald published WESTERNS WOMEN: INTERVIEWS WITH FIFTY LEADING LADIES OF MOVIE AND TELEVISION WESTERNS FROM THE 1930S TO THE 1960S, to acclaim and delight of the Westerns world. (“A must for fans…entertaining and an absorbing read”—WRANGLER’S ROOST;“excellent”—UNDER WESTERN SKIES; “recommended for any Western fan’s library”—NOSTALGIA WESTERNS—“engaging…affectionate”—FILM REVIEW.)
Now Fitzgerald and Magers are back with a new roundup of interviews with leading ladies from B-westerns, A-westerns, and television. In this volume of fascinating and candid conversations, 51 actresses discuss the facts of life as lived on a western set—and why, despite harsh working conditions, low pay, and a host of other challenges, most of them would happily choose to live it again.

Like WESTERNS WOMEN, this collection features another diverse mixture of leading ladies. Some toiled in B-westerns, others worked exclusively at the A level, others did TV westerns. Those interviewed: Kathryn Adams, Claudia Barrett, Reno Browne, Virginia Carroll, Phyllis Coates, Louise Currie, Frances Dee, Edith Fellows, Barbra Fuller, Beverly Garland, Lisa Gaye, Jane Greer, Marie Harmon, Virginia Herrick, Kathleen Hughes, Lois January, Anne Jeffreys, Linda Johnson, Suzanne Kaaren, Mary Ellen Kay, Elyse Knox, Barbara Knudson, Ruta Lee, Virginia Lee, Adele Mara, Carole Mathews, Joyce Meadows, Colleen Miller, Pauline Moore, Dorothy Morris and Caren Marsh, Noreen Nash, Noel Neill, Gigi Perreau, Mala Powers, Madlyn Rhue, Elaine Riley, Kasey Rogers, Jean Rouverol, Ann Rutherford, Karen Sharpe, Marjorie Stapp, Olive Sturgess, Ruth Terry, Lyn Thomas, Martha Tibbetts, Yvette Vickers, June Vincent, Beverly Washburn, Marie Windsor, Jane Withers. Included among their remembrances and anecdotes, you’ll find stories and tales about Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Audie Murphy, Charles Starrett, William Witney, John Wayne, Rex Allen, Clint Walker, Joel McCrea, Robert Horton, Bob Steele, Allan “Rocky” Lane, Lash LaRue, James Arness, Don Barry, William Boyd, Walter Brennan, Richard Boone, “Bonanza”, Johnny Mack Brown, Smiley Burnette, Rod Cameron, Yakima Canutt, Lon Chaney Jr., Republic Studios, Bill Elliott, Don Durant, Dale Evans, Eric Fleming, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Myron Healey, Monte Hale, Buzz Henry, Hoosier Hot Shots, Will Hutchins, Jack Kelly, Alan Ladd, Jock Mahoney, Clayton Moore, Wayne Morris, Hugh O’Brian, Dale Robertson, “Superman”, John Agar, Bob Wills, Whip Wilson and many more!

Now only $40 (plus $6 U.S. postage)
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Boyd Magers
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