Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire James Arness Vs Clint Walker

Dumb azzz......lol
But later in life a fine person.

Leo Gordon didn’t play many good guys but in the movie the Tall Stranger with Joel McCray he did play a good guy. He was one of many good supporting actors of that era.

I think Arness would out draw him but I think Walker would whip him in a fight.

Okay you made me look. Pretty funny when you review it. . Wonder how a director coaches something like that gentle stroking of the hitch and gleam in the eye. I am betting she wanted that part. I mean REALLY wanted that part.

I respect the heck out of both men but my money is on James Arness!

Clint was bigger than “Big Bad John”…

Slight correction. Jim Arness received his "bum leg" [and hip], from being shot by a German machine gun during the invasion of Anzio, WW II.

Speaking of Jim's role in The Thing, a humorous anecdote about that. Years ago, CBS was filming one of my Gunsmoke scripts in which I'd written a scene I was curious to see how the director and stage manager set it up. Gunsmoke was filmed at CBS Studio City. I called John Mantley, Exec. Producer and told him I'd like to see them film that scene. Mantley said, "Sure, I'll let you know when we're going to shoot it and I'll leave you a pass at the gate."

So on the day they were shooting it, I was on the Gunsmoke sound stage set. During a break when the lighting crew was setting up lights for the scene, I was over to the side, talking with Arness. During our conversation I mentioned to him that when I was a kid, he'd scared the living bejesus out of me. He said, "Really? How's that?"

I said, "Well, in the tiny Arkansas town in which I grew up there was one streetlight between the theater and my home. That day and night it had snowed and there were several inches of snow on the ground. I watched The Thing that night by myself. Walking home, plodding through the snow, I was scared you were going to jump out from behind a tree and eat me."

Jim laughed and then said, "That was my favorite role."I said, "You're kidding."

He said, "No. it was my favorite role because I did not have to learn any lines."

I got a laugh from that.

Anyway, long ago and far away.

L.W.

Leanwolf,

Thanks for sharing.

I enjoy “old tv”.

Maybe the simplicity of it.

Recently saw a FB post of how several shows used the same locations.

Was it Andy Griffith and Hogans Heroes?

You never notice a German guard tower behind Gomers garage unless you looked for it….

I have watched these two my whole life, still do every day, the twenty years of Gunsmoke and I think I remember six years of Cheyenne, James throwing punches was with speed, power and intent, Clint always throws haymaker punches, always pulled his head back like afraid of being hit, not a killer like James. I always admired their acting, but the real stud was actor which was 6’6” also, was Chuck Connors, he could do anything James and Clint did, and was a pro baseball and basketball player, Chuck was a better actor to boot.

Cool story.

The fake town of Mayberry (a movie making construction) was used in a couple of Star Trek episodes. You can even see Floyd's Barber Shop, sign and all, in one of them.



The above was from the episode titled The City on the Edge of Forever. The other episode where Mayberry was used was Miri.

[quote]
Star Trek, Andy Griffith's show, Hogan's Heroes, Mission Impossible (the original series) were all filmed at Desilu Studio, as were others. Desilu Studio was the old Republic Studio. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez bought Republic Studio for six or seven million $$$$. I was on that lot many times. Used to see the various actors in those shows walking on the lot quite often.

About 25/26 years ago, Paramount Pictures, which is directly next to Desilu Studio, bought Desilu for major $$$$$.

FWIW.

L.W.

i think it was a wound from WW-2

I liked both of them. Clint was a bruiser of a fellow but gentle and kind. To get an idea of James Arness' size catch a scene where he's riding bareback and look at the length of his legs. They almost drag the ground. Sometimes it's hard to get an idea of just how big a person is on camera unless you can compare him to something that you know the size of. Actually love all those actors. It was a great time in filmography. Thanks for all the great posts especially the guys that knew them.

James Arness was shot by a sniper at Anzio, the sniper shot several members of his platoon and hit him in the left foot. He lost the front half of his left foot due to the wound. If you watch Gunsmoke episodes close you see his limp and difficulty he had mounting a horse at times. Buck, his buckskin, was the only horse he wanted to use in films and he hated to ride horses because of his foot. The idiot producer had him walk up hill to boot hill in the opening of the original episodes.

Arness would’ve mopped tha floor with Clint

I don't know. Leo Gordon was no match for him.

But then Chuck Connors wasn't man enough to defeat James Arness.

Hawkeye, that was great, James had him by 25#, but about same size, never saw that one I guess, a lot of strong men in the war era.

Leo Gordon usually played the huge tough guy roles, but was dwarfed by Clint Walker.