The Gorgeous People of "The Shadow Riders"

The made for television movie has become almost obsolete in the current landscape of television programming. At one time there was an exquisitely balanced life of options for viewers. Comedy and drama series matched well with variety programs, specials and made for movies and mini-series. Thirty years ago the movie was such a powerful force in the ratings game that there were multiple numbers being programmed on a weekly basis. Many of these films became popular with viewers and spurred on water cooler conversation the following day in the office. "Go Ask Alice" was the first major treatment of drug use on television. "Mr. and Mrs. Bojo Jones" brought the unmarried pregnant couple into focus. "Brian's Song" became an instant classic that is still regarded by almost anyone who saw the original film as one of the great tearjerkers. The television made for movie had a great long run that brought many wonderful films into our homes. 

 The western was once a staple in movie making and in television program planning. The genre is now used mostly as a place where revisionist history has taken over and made for a new genre. The western isn't the western in the 21st century. Images of John Wayne still exist in the collector plate industry, but no one is out producing the style of film he once made. 

With the success of "Magnum, P.I. in the 1980's Tom Selleck used his clout to foster his love of westerns and turned several stories into successful made for television movies. Tom Selleck and his on-screen co-hort Sam Elliott had the looks and the vibe to do this. They looked like western stars. Their passion for the era translated well to the small screen and it afforded those of us with a passion for the American West to ride the trails once again with some good storytelling. I, for one, miss the western. I enjoyed last year's "3:10 To Yuma" starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale and even though it did relatively well at the box office it certainly didn't bust any box-office records. Too bad. 

Then you add in the All-American girl come to life (even though there aren't too many All-American girls who look like Katharine Ross). After "The Graduate," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Stepford Wives" you would have assumed Ms. Ross would have had one of the most significant careers of her generation, but it didn't happen. The 1970's were a great decade of filmmaking, but not a great decade for women's roles. Everyone pretty much ended up playing hookers and peripheral girlfriends and few people ended up having consequential film careers. Jane Fonda and Barbra Streisand were the big names of the era even if Faye Dunaway got the best roles ("Bonnie & Clyde," "Chinatown" and "Network.") In a note of film trivia - Fonda supposedly turned town all of these Dunaway roles. 

The other night I'm doing what I'm good at doing during the summer months - I'm flipping the remote. Nine times out of ten there is nothing I want to watch, but there it was on Encore Westerns - the 1982 telefilm, "The Shadow Riders." As I stated earlier, this was a time when both the broadcast and the cable networks were still making lots of Movies and Minis. Louis L'Amour has written so many western sage stories that he probably couldn't have named them all, but many of them translated quite well to the small screen and this was one of them. Gorgeous man number one, Tom Selleck plays the brother who has just returned from fighting for the Union and gorgeous man number two, Sam Elliott was doing service for the Confederacy. Katharine Ross, the third component of the great looking trio is the love interest to her real life husband, Elliott. I admit I wasn't paying much attention to the storyline of this film. I was far too engrossed at looking at the faces of the actors. I thought this was highly shallow, but I didn't care about the superficiality of my thoughts since I actually sat there thinking why are there no men out there that look like Selleck or Elliott. I'm not talking about the real world now since we have definitely become a less attractive society of late, but I'm talking about the movie and television worlds. I don't want to look at people that look like the average citizens of the world. I want to look at Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott and Katharine Ross.

To make sure I say something other than give my opinion of how good looking these people were I will add that I thoroughly enjoyed "The Shadow Riders." Selleck and Elliott were their usual charming selves and the bad guys were stereotypical outlaws. I love that word - outlaw. It sounds so much more poetic than hood, gangster or thug. Geoffrey Lewis was always an outstanding evil type, although he is bested in this film by some far worse screen heavies. "The Shadow Riders" is engrossing and engaging; and quite honestly I could sit through it again which is my highest compliment for an old TV movie.

If you get a chance try to catch "The Shadow Riders." I noticed it ran again last night, so the odds are it will run again and maybe again. I'm now off to the prairie...I have a horse waiting to stretch his legs.

COPYRIGHT THE FLAMING NOSE 2008