Ep #35 - Eyeliner Westerns in the 60s
The Belle Starr Story (1968)
Out here in the desert you only have two friends, your rifle and your flat angled eyeliner brush. One of Jenna’s favorite activities is spotting inappropriate fashion, hair, and makeup in meant-to-be period films. Some decades are certainly worse than others and the midcentury falls firmly in the ‘too self aware’ camp–I mean, how can you expect people to flock to the theaters if we can’t even see the general outline of some cleavage, am I right guys? While not as prudish as the 1800s, in the 1960s it was still pretty ‘shocking’ to show women in jeans, so perhaps this hybrid mod-Western style does lend some authenticity in its own way.
In this episode, Bart & Jenna curate a list of 1960s westerns starring women and their incredible ability to deflect desert heat from melting their full face makeup. It’s a positive who’s who of important ‘60s babes! They also consider what might have been if not for a lot of male insecurity behind the camera.
The following films are discussed:
•The Second Time Around (1961)
Directed by Vincent Sherman
Starring Debbie Reynolds, Steve Forrest, Andy Griffith
•4 for Texas (1963)
Directed by Robert Aldrich
Starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ursula Andress
•Cat Ballou (1965)
Directed by Elliot Silverstein
Starring Jane Fonda, Lee Marvin, Nat 'King' Cole
•The Ballad of Josie (1967)
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring Doris Day, Peter Graves, George Kennedy
•The Belle Star Story (1968)
Il mio corpo per un poker
Directed by Lina Wertmüller
Starring Elsa Martinelli, George Eastman, Robert Woods
(Please note: Martinelli vs actual Belle Starr)
•Shalako (1968)
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Starring Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd
•100 Rifles (1969)
Directed by Tom Gries
Starring Jim Brown, Raquel Welch, Burt Reynolds
