Customer Reviews

Last of the Cowboy Heroes: The Westerns of Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy

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Apart from John Wayne, there were only three cowboy stars who hung on in the late 50s and early 60s, before spaghetti westerns briefly revived the genre, and created a new cowboy hero, Clint Eastwood. These were Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea and Audie Murphy. The films made by Scott between 1956 and 1960, directed by Budd Boetticher and written by Burt Kennedy, are among the best westerns ever put to film. What Nott has done here is to briefly survey the careers of all three performers before the late 50s, then give a detailed look at their final films. His research is excellent (I only found one error, the often repeated nonsense that Billy the Kid was born in New York City or Brooklyn) and his writing style is coherent and clear. Although Nott clearly loves these performers and these films, this is not a gushing fan publication... a comment that cannot be made for much of the output of this particular publisher. Recommended.

With "LAST OF THE COWBOY HEROES" Robert Nott pays a long overdue tribute to three of the most enduring stars of the Western film genre. Each of the three stars has his career in the westerns covered in the period 1946-67 fully detailed,with a brief plot synopsis of each film and its making. Additional anecdotal material by colleagues and supporting actors in the trio's films provides a fascinating insight into their personalities. The book is written by Mr.Nott in a thoroughly readable style and in chronological order,like many of his readers he obviously has fond memories of the three stars and their films. The book is a must for anyone who enjoys western films and even more so for those of us who can remember seeing these movies back in the Golden years of the Western Movie. Excellently illustrated with movie stills and off screen shots this book sets a standard for others to follow.

Entertaining and well-written book about the 3 movie-cowboys: Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea and Audie Murphy. Book tells not so much about their private lives and relations - but focuses on all the westerns they made since 1946. The writer tells detailed about each film and gives his personal opinion. Don't think that he considers all of them to be masterpieces - far from that! So, if these actors were some of your movie heroes from the 50's and 60's, the book is recommendable and easy read (even for a foreigner).

This book reviews the lives of three long-neglected cowboy stars - Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy. Specifically, it follows the western films of these three actors. The book presented a good deal of information on the films and it is too bad most don't seem to be available on dvd as I would like to see the films that I have not seen. There were great descriptions of the plot and making of the films which was well done because it was evident that the author had viewed most of the available films. However, what bothered me was the inaccuracy of the very first line of the book that indicated Scott was born in Orange, North Carolina when all references I have seen indicate it was Orange County, Virginia. When I see something I know to be inconsistent with many other sources, I begin to wonder if anything in the book is accurate as to the biographical data on the stars. However, I would still recommend this book to anyone interested in these films or the stars.

The western is a genre of film I grew up with and loved. My favourite was, and continues to be Audie Murphy. This book provides a great overview of three of the best movie western heroes. The men, like the heores they played, were honest and real. A great book for the film historian as well as for the fan.

A must for any fans of this nearly lost genre of the cinema. Scott, McCrea and Murphy were the REAL cowboys, not the Hollywood version of cowboys, and this book adds to the enjoyment of their films for western fans and cineastes of every stripe. Well researched and entertainingly written!