I had the extreme pleasure of watching "Overland Mail Robbery" recently with my father. Besides having an extraordinary cast that includes "Wild" Bill Elliott, "Gabby" Hayes, Kirk Alyn, and Roy Barcroft, it has the very competent direction of John English.
There was one scene that really caught my attention. Kirk Alyn (the future Superman) plays a greenhorn city slicker who, with the help of Texas Ranger Bill Elliott, must help a struggling stagecoach company he inherited from the constant attack of outlaws.
We meet Kirk Alyn's character as his stagecoach is held up, and Roy Barcroft proceeds to steal his money needed to keep the stagecoach company afloat. The stagecoach driver goes for his rifle and is promptly shot dead. At the sight of this, Kirk faints, and his prone body is saved by the timely appearance of "Wild" Bill Elliott.
After chasing off the bad guys, Elliott helps Kirk up. Kirk admits that he isn't much in a fight and that he's a coward through and through. To which Elliot replies, "It takes a lot of courage for a man to admit that he's a coward."
Despite everything, Elliott still finds something positive to say even after the self-confessed coward can't. While not many men are depicted as fainters nowadays, think on what someone would say about a fella like that today. Now, try and find an example where someone goes out of their way to make a positive remark like Elliott's in today's media. (Go on, I'll wait...)
Not so easy, huh? I know that B-westerns aren't grounded in reality, but they provided great role models, correction, great MALE role models for boys to want to emulate. Kids today may laugh when they see Hopalong Cassidy tell children of yesterday to brush their teeth and listen to their parents, but what if Harry Potter did the same at the end of one of his books?
Well, in any case, it's a different era now, one without much compassion or responsibility. I shouldn't blame the kids, they're just growing up in all this. So who's fault is it, then?
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