Introduction

I watched "Alias Smith and Jones" (ASJ) when it was first broadcast in the 1970s and had taped several episodes when it was rebroadcast in the 1980s. I rediscovered ASJ again in the Spring of 2008 when I saw it was available through Netflix. I quickly watched all four disks of Season 1, then decided I had to own the DVDs so I bought the set. My interest was rekindled and I read all the ASJ fan fiction I could find on the Internet, joined message boards and read whatever I could find about the show on the Web and in books.

When I figured I'd found all the fanfic out there, I began to write my own stories featuring Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry. As I was writing, I found myself doing a lot of research to make my stories more realistic, and I got interested in the history of the US in the post-Civil War period as a result, an era I knew little about. Then I branched out and started watching classic Westerns, and found many guest stars who'd appeared in episodes of ASJ were also in lots of wonderful movies. I have been making my way through the Westerns in Wild West magazine's list of top 100 movies, as well as other Westerns, which has been a lot of fun as I've never seen--or even heard of--most of these movies. I also started reading novels set in the Old West, and non-fiction magazines and books about Western history.

I decided to create this blog to share my thoughts about movies that have some kind of connection to ASJ. I was fascinated to learn that many of the guest stars on the show also starred in Westerns filmed in the 1950s and 1960s. In most cases, the movie starred an actor or actress who had a guest role on ASJ. In other cases, a scene or a set in a movie was used in an episode of the TV show. Sometimes, a phrase or a scene triggered a connection for me. Or someone listed in the credits of a movie had some sort of relationship to ASJ. I find it very interesting to compare how the West was portrayed in these movie Westerns with how it was depicted in ASJ. I'll briefly describe the plot of the movie, point out the ASJ connection, and provide links to movie reviews and sites with further information. Occasionally, I'll post about a book I've read that I like, or a website or place that I find particularly interesting. As Joe Simms says in The Bounty Hunter, "I got my eye on you..."