Movie Review: Nevada Smith (1966)

Max enjoys the products of civilization: canned peaches and the McGuffey Reader.

Movie Review: Nevada Smith (1966) directed by Henry Hathaway Max Sand (Steve McQueen) is the son of a failed prospector and his wife, a woman of the Kiowa tribe. While he’s out doing chores some miles from their house, Max is approached by three men. We will come to know them as Jessie Coe (Martin Landau),… Continue reading Movie Review: Nevada Smith (1966)

Book Review: Son of Robin Hood in Nottingham

Book Review: Son of Robin Hood in Nottingham by Paul A. Castleton Young Merion is the eponymous son of Robin Hood by Lady Marian (in this version, Robin is actually Robert of Locksley, a knight unjustly convicted and stripped of his lands.) He has come to live with his father in Sherwood Forest in the… Continue reading Book Review: Son of Robin Hood in Nottingham

Comic Book Review: Best of DC #8: Year’s Best Comics Stories

Can you name all the characters on this cover?

Comic Book Review: Best of DC #8: Year’s Best Comics Stories edited by Julius Schwartz If you were going to have a digest comic called “Best of DC” it only made sense to present a collection of what the creators considered best stories for a given year, in this case, 1979. As the text feature… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Best of DC #8: Year’s Best Comics Stories

Book Review: Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge?

Cover art by Alicia Austin

Book Review: Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge? by Ellen Kuhfeld Ragnar Forkbeard, iron-monger, and Olaf Far-Traveler, trader in exotic goods, have come from Surtsheim in the north to Northlanding, the falls that block boats from coming any further up the Great River. It is time for the great spring fair and the merchants have come… Continue reading Book Review: Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge?

Book Review: Golden Lightning

Book Review: Golden Lightning by Max Brand (Also Published as Lightning of Gold) “Lefty” Bill Ranger is an honest man. When his partner in an Alaskan gold prospecting claim dies before Ranger can deliver the partner’s share, he refuses to take the lot and donates it to charity. This attracts the attention of Menneval, a… Continue reading Book Review: Golden Lightning

Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969

Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969 edited by Sol Cohen The opening editorial is by Ted White, the new managing editor. He talks about the decline in “fiction magazines” (the Saturday Evening Post had recently ceased publication for the first time) and is sad, but points out that times are always changing. He also mentions his… Continue reading Magazine Review: Fantastic August 1969

Book Review: Catlow

Book Review: Catlow by Louis L’Amour (A)bijah Catlow and Ben Cowan grew up together, fighting together and against each other. As so often happens, their lives have taken different paths since. Ben is now a deputy U.S. Marshal, and Bijah is an outlaw rustler. Now, admittedly, Bijah was initially framed for rustling by a crooked… Continue reading Book Review: Catlow

Movie Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Sundance and Butch discuss the outcome of their latest escapade.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) dir. George Roy Hill Parts of this story are true. There actually were outlaws named Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) who belonged to the Wild Bunch. They did indeed rob banks and trains. They did indeed move to Bolivia when things got hot for… Continue reading Movie Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Movie Review: For a Few Dollars More

Monco and Colonel Mortimer share a quiet moment.

Movie Review: For a Few Dollars More (1965) directed by Sergio Leone It is a time when life is cheap, but death can be lucrative, and bounty killers have come to the land. One such killer is referred to as “Monco” (Clint Eastwood) because of his preference for doing things left-handed. Another is Colonel Douglas Mortimer… Continue reading Movie Review: For a Few Dollars More

Movie Review: One-Eyed Jacks (1961)

Rio talks to the locals.

Movie review: One-Eyed Jacks (1961) directed by Marlon Brando We first see Rio (Marlon Brando) and Dad Longsworth (Karl Malden) in Sonora, Mexico in 1880 when they are robbing a trading post with the aid of a third man. Foolishly, they stop in a town only a few miles away so that Dad and the third… Continue reading Movie Review: One-Eyed Jacks (1961)