“Buffalo Bill” is a 1944 release starring Joel McCrea and the always easy on the eyes Maureen O’Hara. It was directed by Bill Wellman and produced by Harry Sherman, best known for his Hopalong Cassidy films. “Buffalo Bill” is a fun film to watch as we follow a fictionalized version of William Cody (nicknamed Buffalo

“Colorado Ranger” is a one-hour, black and white “B” (maybe even “C”) Western. It was one of a series collection of six movies shot in a month — and it shows. The movie is riddled with mistakes and inconsistencies, but is no less fun as a result. There is plenty of shooting throughout the movie,

“Valdez Is Coming” is a 1970 novel by Elmore Leonard. As with everything I’ve read by Leonard, the story is great and the writing is even better. Leonard must’ve had a different typewriter than the rest of us, because the words, the beautiful language, just seems to flow. It’s a short book (my paperback copy

“Wolf Moon” is a 1993 novel by Ed Gorman. It’s my first Gorman novel, but it won’t be the last. The story starts out as many Westerns do. A young man makes a mistake and winds up serving almost a decade in a territorial prison, all the while his hatred growing for the man he

“The Searchers” is a 1954 novel by Alan Le May, though the story is much better known through the 1956 movie version starring John Wayne. The story is harsh and stark, humorless and relentless throughout. A young girl is kidnapped by Comanches — the only survivor as her family is wiped out — after being

Let me start right off by saying that I’m 60 years old, a fan of all things Western — movies almost as much as books — and have never seen Clint Eastwood’s “High Plains Drifter.” Oh, I’ve caught it more than once on a lazy Saturday afternoon while flicking through the channels and, over time,

Forrest Carter’s book was originally titled “Gone to Texas,” but, for marketing purposes, was changed to “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” allowing book sales to be reinvigorated and to capitalize on the successful Clint Eastwood movie. It doesn’t really matter what the name of the book is, what does matter is that it is a terrific

The Night McLennan Died” is Marshall Grover’s very fun book. It has what you’ve come to expect from a good Western yarn: a small town cowed by a greedy rancher who has plenty of hired guns, beautiful women, a valiant, but outgunned and outmanned sheriff, and the stranger who rides into town to save everyone.

Shorty Thompson U.S. Marshal” is Paul L. Thompson’s first book in the Shorty Thompson series, which now totals more than 40 books. And this is a problem. The reason it’s a problem is because I enjoyed the first book in the series and will feel compelled to keep reading – the natural drawbacks to loving

Jonas Ward’s “The Name’s Buchanan,” starts out fast and picks up speed from there. It’s a short book and virtually every page is filled with action. If you like fights — gun or fist — this is the book for you. If you’re a fan of character development and slow-building plots, just move on to