Wonderland Burlesque

Friday, January 17, 2025

Friday Fun: Happy National Bootlegger's Day!

Friday Fun:

Happy National Bootlegger's Day!

I must confess...

At first, I misread this as National Bootlickers Day.

Now, that would have pushed us in a whole different direction.

I dunno. Somethin' tells me y'all might find this a bit more palatable.

(Although I must say, having licked a number of boots in my day... they can be pretty tasty!)

Be they cowboy, construction, combat, kinky, equestrian, hiking, motocross, military, go-go, leatherman, fireman, fishing, fashion, work, or wellies...

These boots? Why they are made for walking... among other things.

Personally, I can think of a number of things I'd like to do to those pictured below.

Sigh.

How I love to imagine slipping them on!

Suit up and boot up, boys.

The weekend is here.

Dress for success.

- uptonking from Wonderland Burlesque

Do It With Your Boots On - Cupid

Boys In Boots - Erin Kinsey

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Wonderland Burlesque's Let's All Go To The Movies: She's A Lady! - Part XXIII

Wonderland Burlesque's

Let's All Go To The Movies

She's A Lady!

Part XXIII

Yes, sometimes? It takes a lady.

Or so these films would have us believe.

They promise lots of drama, the occasional comedy or musical, and a little bit of dirt!

Let's take a walk down Hollywood Blvd. and shine a light on these magnificent classic films.

This way, if you please. But remember...

Ladies first!

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The Cowboy And The Lady

(1922)

Disgusted by her husband's philandering, Jessica Weston goes to her Wyoming ranch. Weston accompanies her and promptly starts a flirtation with saloon proprietress Molly, and consequently angers their ranch foreman Ross. Jessica and Teddy North, a gentleman rancher, fall in love. When Weston is killed, Jessica and Teddy suspect each other, but Teddy accepts the guilt to protect Jessica. His trial is nearly over when Jessica learns from Molly that foreman Ross committed the murder, and the lovers are reunited

Adapted by Julien Josephson from the 1908 play of the same name by Clyde Fitch, this American silent Western was directed by Charles Maigne and stars Mary Miles Minter and Tom Moore.

It was was shot on location at Jackson Hole in Wyoming.

Twenty-five members of the cast and crew were involved in a train wreck just outside of Victor, Idaho. Mary Miles Minter was thrown around her private railroad car and severely cut her left arm, Tom Moore received a head wound and other bruises, and Patricia Palmer injured her back and possibly suffered internal injuries.

As with many of Minter's features, this is thought to be a lost film.

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Cisco Kid And The Lady

(1939)

Just as Harbison kills a miner, Cisco and Gordito arrive and the dying miner rips his map into three pieces. Harbison tries to get the other two pieces but Cisco continues to outwit him. When Cisco takes the map from Billie who took it from Harbison, she identifies him and he is jailed. Having a change of heart she has a plan to get him out and he has a plan to trap Harbison.

This American Western was directed by Herbert I. Leeds and stars Cesar Romero, Marjorie Weaver, Chris-Pin Martin, George Montgomery and Virginia Field.

For this film, the first Ceasar replacing Warner Baxter, who'd won the Academy Award for the role, and is the fifth film in The Cisco Kid series. For Cesar Romero, this was the first of six Cisco Kid roles.

Watch this film in its entirety on YouTube for free!

Marjorie Weaver, Cesar Romero, and Virginia Field

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The Ranger And The Lady
(1940)

While Sam Houston is in the nation's capital trying to get Texas into the Union, his aide, a renegade general, is trying to impose a self-serving tax on the use of the Santa Fe trail. Roy and Gabby are supposed to collect the tolls. There, they meet a lady who owns a wagon train which uses the trail, and Roy decides to help her out and do something about the unfairness of it all.

This American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and stars Roy Rogers, George 'Gabby' Hayes, and Jacqueline Wells (AKA: Julie Bishop).

Of course, Roy sings: As Long as We're Dancing and Chiquita.

Watch this film in its entirety on YouTube for free!

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Plainsman And The Lady

(1946)

In 1859, St. Joseph, Missouri is divided by a railroad track that separates the rich and the poor. On the richer side is Ann Arnesen, daughter of Michael Arnesen, owner of the Pony Express. Michael hires Sam Cotton to protect his pony line from hostile Indians and a gang headed by Peter Marquette, who owns a stagecoach line and fears losing his business to the pony express. Sam finds himself in a difficult position because he soon learns that Michael's wife, Cathy, is in love with Marquette! Sam, despite several attacks by Marquette's men, organizes the pony line. Michael, who is ailing, is shocked to death when his wife confesses that she hates him, after which Marquette tries to destroy the express stations. Sam, with the aid of a friendly Indian tribe, wipes out Marquette and his gang, and returns to St. Joseph and Ann, the woman he loves.

Plainsman and the Lady is a 1946 American western film directed by Joseph Kane and starring Wild Bill Elliott, Vera Ralston, Gail Patrick and Joseph Schildkraut.

The male lead was originally offered to John Wayne, but he didn't like the script and didn't want to work with Vera Ralston again, so he refused it. It was then given to Bill Elliott.

Produced, distributed and released by Republic Pictures, this film was given a larger-budget than the second features Republic traditionally produced, as owner Herbert Yates was attempting to gain greater prestige and profits at the box office.

Vera Ralston was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s.

As a figure skater, Ralston represented Czechoslovakia in competition under her birth name Věra Hrubá. She competed at the 1936 European Figure Skating Championships and placed 15th. Later that season, she competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where she placed 17th. During the games, she personally met and reportedly insulted Adolf Hitler. Hitler asked her if she would like to "skate for the swastika." As she later boasted, "I looked him right in the eye, and said that I'd rather skate on the swastika. The Führer was furious."

Ralston moved to Hollywood with her mother and signed a contract in 1943 with Republic Pictures. In 1952, Ralston married Republic studio head Herbert Yates. Yates was nearly 40 years her senior, and reportedly left his wife, with whom he had two grown children, to be with Ralston. Yates used his position as the studio's head executive to obtain roles for Ralston; at one point he was sued by two studio shareholders for using company assets for his own gain by promoting his wife's career. It was alleged that 18 of her 20 films had been flops. Yates died in 1966, leaving half of his estate ($8 million) to Ralston; after which, she suffered a nervous breakdown. Eventually, she recovered and remarried.

Vera Ralston

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The Law And The Lady

(1951)

A maid becomes a beguiling international jewel thief and loses her heart.

Very loosely based on the 1925 play The Last of Mrs. Cheyney by Frederick Lonsdale, this American comedy was directed by Edwin H. Knopf and stars Greer Garson, Michael Wilding, Marjorie Main, and Fernando Lamas.

Previous film versions of the story were made in 1929, starring Norma Shearer, and 1937, starring Joan Crawford, and retained the play's title and its contemporary setting,