Lone Pine and the Movies: Celebrating Classic Westerns from 1939, Hollywood's Greatest Year

The 2019 edition of LONE PINE AND THE MOVIES, like its recent predecessors, chronicles the history of Western-movie production. Its cover story examines the wave of 1939 hits that brought big-budget "A" Westerns back to box-office prominence, with behind-the-scenes information on the making of STAGECOACH, DODGE CITY, JESSE JAMES, UNION PACIFIC, and others released during Hollywood's greatest year. Prolific "B"-Western director George Sherman, who began his 40-year career with two inexpensive horse operas shot partially at Lone Pine, is profiled with a detailed survey of his dozens of Westerns made for Republic Pictures. "The Lovely Ladies of Lone Pine" covers three favorite actresses whose careers are inextricably linked to the area: Beth Marion, Grace Bradley Boyd (Mrs. Hopalong Cassidy), and the late Peggy Stewart, a favorite guest at Lone Pine Film Festivals, who passed away earlier in 2019. "Revisiting FRONTIER DAYS" not only takes a detailed look at this favorite 1934 "B"-Western but tells the entire story of its star, Bill Cody, a marginal figure who built a career on Hollywood's Poverty Row and made a precarious living on the fringes of the film industry. A Don Kelsen photo essay matches present-day pictures of FRONTIER DAYS locations with frame captures from the original film. Finally, this issue contains a special section, "The Man Who Loved Westerns," devoted to the late Packy Smith, who organized the very first film festival devoted entirely to his favorite genre-and who, many years later, was instrumental in getting the Lone Pine Film Festival up and running. Packy, who died in late 2018, is remembered by some of his closest friends and fellow movie buffs.