My on the Way Out series...Vol. 1, Part, 9 -- Western movies

Okay, my friends. Those of you who are just crazy enough to latch on to my ramblings once again, it is time to vacate the premises and reenter the world of Western movies...including a journey to the theatre with my grandson.

But first, an off the wall, check in on my Grandson Chase and a beautiful day in the neighborhood... far, far, away.

Us old timers have been through it many times. A journey to the movies with a grandchild can be taxing at times -- either for the grandparent or the grandchild. One of the two is likely to squirm in his or her seat during the film. After all, after the popcorn, the milk duds and the sodas, it's time for the "attention span" and it's any one's guess as to who wins out -- the adult, or the child.

For my readers -- most of them born in the 1930s, 1940s...well maybe I should include the 1950s as well (crazy how fast time goes by) -- there's no reason to go into exactly who Mr. Rogers was. Fred Rogers died in his home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 27, 2003. Best known, of course, for his television show, which was aired on PBS from 1968 to 2001.

Fast forward to a Friday morning -- November 22, 2019 -- and I, the grandpa...and my grandson, Chase, head for the movie theater in the town of Rifle, which sits along the Western Slope of Colorado, on I-70 between Grand Junction and Denver.

Before the movie was over I was in tears and my grandson for the most part sat quietly in his seat and  watched as Tom Hanks took over the screen for the better part of an hour and 25 minutes. I did not expect the movie to be "a learning tool" for a 10-year-old (or, maybe...in the back of my mind, I did), nor did I expect to be so moved that I put my right arm around the shoulder of my grandson, while I used my left hand to wipe away a tear or two.

There was a moment when my grandson put his left hand on my right arm and said, "Are you okay, Grandpa?"

I took a moment and said to him there will come a time, years from now, when he would remember and recall bits and pieces of the movie. "That's what movies are all about," I said.

We walked out of the theater. There was a chill in the air. It was 39 degrees. The expected high for the day was to be 42 degrees by mid afternoon.

I looked at my grandson and eyed the beautiful mountains surrounding the town of Rifle. "You know what the best part of it all is?"

"What's that, Grandpa?"

"You've got your whole life ahead of you. Enjoy it all...the movies...the deer in your backyard...the turkeys walking up your street...your school days...your high school days...getting married and having kids."

He chuckled and said:" Oh, Grandpa." 

I smiled and said, "let's head home."

Of course,  it's not unusual for Tom Hanks to move me. After all, he's the guy who talked to a volleyball for an hour in Cast Away. A great actor and his portrayal of Mr. Rogers was simply: perfection.

But this particular day, it wasn't Hanks doing the moving, but the little fella, sitting next to me.

Getting back to Westerns...and let's stick to TV Westerns today. After all, we all have our own attention spans, right?

When Pernell Roberts passed away a few years ago, it hit me that all the stars from the long-running 1960's TV western Bonanza are now gone. Lorne Greene passed away at the age of 72. Roberts was 81. As for Michael Landon and Dan Blocker...well, they left us too early.

Landon died at the age of 54 and Blocker was lost to us at the age of 43. Most of my readers recall the exploits of the Ben Cartwright family as they filled our television screens weekly from 1959 to 1967.

The Ponderosa was the place to hang out once a week for a TV buff like me. And it didn't end there. I moved on to High Chaparral in 1967 and watched every episode of writer-producer David Dotort's next creation (he was also the culprit behind the Bonanza series),which was filmed about 20 miles from where I live, on a spot in the desert that Tucsonans call "Old Tucson". Leif Erickson played Big John Cannon the patriarch of the 1870s clan, which spent most of their time fighting off the Indians in hopes of saving their ranch from obliteration. Big John Cannon ran the ranch with his brother Buck, played by the great character actor Cameron Mitchell. Erickson died at the age of 74 in 1986 and Mitchell passed away in 1994 at the age of 75. The other actors in the High Chaparral series, which ended in 1971, included Linda Cristal, Henry Darrow and Mark Slade. Cristal portrayed Cannon's wife, Victoria, in the series; Darrow played Molonito and Slade's character was Billy Blue.

Tucsonan Don Collier, who played ranch foreman Sam Butler in the series, passed away last week at the age of 92.  Collier also played the United States Marshal Will Foreman in Outlaws (1960-62), shopkeeper William Tompkins in The Young Riders (1989-92), and  hosted a local educational television show, called The Desert Speaks. I was in line at a local donut shop a few years back when I heard the tall fella in front of me place his order. I recognized the voice immediately. I knew before he turned around that it was Collier. Don made over 70 credited movie and television appearances in his career. The last time I saw him on screen was in the 2008 theatrical release of Jake's Corner about a bunch of odd misfits in a fictitious town in Arizona. He played a character called Eight Seconds. His part in the flick was about that long as well. I remember that voice and that face. I still love watching the old Western movies and the old TV shows...and the actors, like Collier, who portrayed the cowboy roles of the 1880s.

Many have already rode off into the sunset, but they can reappear at the blink of an eye. Just tune in the channel and they will be there -- young and full of vinegar.

My hats off to them and to all of us old timers out there who tune in for an hour or two and relive the Old West.

Photos: Hopalong Cassidy, of course...and me in bottom photo, already in to Westerns at a young age.