Comments on: Didja ever notice “life in a desert highway outpost” in film?

By: Rosetta C. Johnson

Rosetta C. Johnson — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:54:02 +0000

You haven't heard of cafe racing? Well, it all started with this modest roadside diner, which was established back in 1938 to cater to the growing trucking industry. The cafe racer was the place to stop off for a tea or coffee and maybe an order of bangers and mash or an egg and chips.

By: TCM’s Movie Blog

TCM’s Movie Blog — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:36:23 +0000

[...] in the Night (1945) – I won’t reiterate my earlier summary of it here (follow this link if you care to), only lament that it’s a shame MGMWBRKO no longer updates TCM’s message boards with when it [...]

By: K. Antoine

K. Antoine — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:24:52 +0000

RootClip.com is partially live. We've redesigned the site, added a blog, and created user accounts, so make sure you go to rootclip.com and check out the new site! Sign up for a user account! When you sign up for an account, you are able to vote, comment and submit video to the site. It's a simple process that takes less than 5 minutes.Along with the pretty new site, comes a new video player, a new rootclip, and new prizes! All of that will be debuted at rootclip.com on April 28. The new rootclip is titled 'Good Luck' and we think you'll really like it!What is RootClip, you ask? Think choose-your-own adventure meets YouTube. Its a video collaboration website in which we start a story, and the users get to decide where it goes by shooting their own follow-up, one to two minute videos and voting on all of the submissions. Pretty cool, huh?!Oh, and the best part, the creators of the video with the highest number of votes at the end of each 2-week voting period will win straight cash homey! They'll also be eligible to compete against the other winners to create the final scene in the film for a chance to win something pretty sweet, that's going to be announced on the site on April 28!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:37:32 +0000

John Alexander's runs Ryker's, a very busy relay station in Anthony Mann's "Winchester '73" (1950). Like Rick's, eventually everyone passes through – our good guys Jimmy Stewart & Millard Mitchell, our baddies – Stephen McNally, James Millican & Steve Brodie, and the very interesting gun runner played by the very interesting John McIntire.Roy Huggin's "Hangman's Knot" (1952) finds Union officer Randolph Scott and his men trapped with ill-gotten gold at a relay station run by Clem Bevans and his bitter daughter Jeanette Nolan. While Scott can trust Frank Faylen and Claude Jarmen, Jr. you know he's going to have trouble with Lee Marvin, especially when it comes to nurse Donna Reed and the weak-willed Richard Denning. Outside a posse led by Ray Teal is thinking only of the gold and their own brand of justice.

By: moira

moira — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:38:56 +0000

Good call on Ace in the Hole (1950), Jenni. It's one of the greats in this genre! How odd that we haven't mentioned Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), one of director John Sturges' and actor Spencer Tracy's best, turning an eye as pitiless as the desert sun on the dessicated train stop where some of the snakes walk upright on two legs. Simon of the Desert (1965) directed by Luis Bunuel may seem like an odd choice for "desert pit stop" films. Yet, if you've seen this funny & surreal spiritual meditation on the life of the saint, Simon of Stylites, who spent 37 years atop a pillar trying to communicate with God, it might strike you as thematically kindred with The Petrified Forest--if looked at from a certain angle. Both films concern a man (Leslie Howard's character, Alan Squier & St. Simon, respectively) who is out of sync with his time and his surroundings, recognizes that fact, and seeks to withdraw from life's constant hubbub to contemplate his inadequacies. Both encounter myriad examples of the pompous, the base, the angelic and the deluded during their time in the desert, which turns out to be alot more heavily trafficked than anticipated.

By: MDR

MDR — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:35:26 +0000

Wow, these are all great additions to the topic; I'm especially glad that Jenni mentioned one of my favorites (Ace in the Hole) that I somehow failed to include in my article. And Tremors, yeah, that turns the idyllic into hell doesn't it?

By: melly

melly — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:55:48 +0000

come on, guys – Bus Stop with Marilyn bm5f

By: Medusa

Medusa — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 01:29:23 +0000

Glad RHS mentioned Tremors! And boy, that movie holds up! Great monster! I also fondly recall the Ellen Burstyn movie Resurrection where she ends up operating desert gas station, and so much more, of course. Haven't seen it for a while, unfortunately.Great topic!- m

By: RHS

RHS — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:05:50 +0000

In a word... Tremors.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:25:43 +0000

You can't forget Ace in the Hole, starring Kirk Douglas, as a hotshot newspaper reporter who is milking the story of a man trapped in an ancient Native American burial site, which is on the outskirts of a hole in the wall desert town. The town is definitely the type of place one drives thru, on their way to somewhere else, and might stop at the gas station/cafe/tourist shop for a stretch of the legs.