OldTvCowboys

Classic TV Cowboys from the 30s-50s

[oldtvcowboys]

Ben Johnson gifs created by me. Movie is called Wagon Master (1950) directed by John Ford

[retro70s80sandmore]

Rock Hudson

[kettle-on]

[mostlywhump]

Is Laramie as gay as it seems?

I'd pay good money to talk to the makers of Laramie (1959-1963). They wrote a show about two roommate cowboys who, completely on free will, legally adopt a child.

I'm sure Mike was supposed to fill (Slim's brother) Andy's absence, but their dynamic with him is totally different from Andy. Wikipedia describes Mike as "an orphan allowed to live on the farm," but he's not just "allowed" to live there...They sign adoption papers. They're his PARENTS. They hire a nanny!

Also, according to IMDB, Laramie was the only western show of the time where the characters are seen doing actual chores and realistic upkeep of their farm.

What were the writers/directors going for? Did they know how homosexually domestic it would come across?

Did they cast specifically for actors with unique physical chemistry? Or was this just a stroke of luck?

Were they intending to spit in the face of the rampant toxic masculinity of their era? Feel free to share your thoughts. I could talk about this all day.

edit: it's on STARZ if you need a reference

[mostlywhump]

Tiny Update:

So i've been watching some interviews and reading up on ye olde Wikipedia, and here's my working theory.

The homosexual undertones are definitely to be blamed on the producers and directors. The gay parts (besides the entire storyline) are all found in the blocking, some throwaway lines, and directed physical interactions.

Robert Fuller and John Smith (aka Bob and Smitty) weren't gay for one another. They were just some really chill guys who were good at physical affection and were SO excited to be playing cowboys.

The picture I've gathered is a production team of SUPER fruity producers and writers who got to direct 2 hot guys to do everything they said. Like some director would go

"Bob, I want you to kneel down to check on Slim who's got a forehead wound. Instead of just touching the injury, though, you're going to make really long eye contact while you lightly run your thumb along the cut and push his hair behind his ear. Super tenderly, right? okay, Action!"

And the guys would just shrug and be like "Welp seems good to me. Pretty much how I talk to all of my friends, right? Love being a cowboy with you, buddy :D"

While the whole crew behind the camera is just

Ok, that's all. I'll keep working on my theories because I don't have a life but I do have weirdly specific interests. Thanks for listening.

P.S. Sidenote, Spring Byington who plays the wonderful Daisy was a pretty known lesbian back in her day.

[iguanodonwildman]

Sounds like talent agent Henry Willson might have had a hand in this. He started the beefcake craze of the 1950s. He was gay (and possibly a predator in a casting couch sense?) and worked with a lot of queer actors. John Smith was one of his clients, and there were a lot of rumors about Smith being gay because of this. There are rumors about Fuller, too, but he’s said he isn’t. Idk about Smith, but honestly, I don’t care if the actors are queer so much as I care about the possibility of intentionally queer media in the early 60s.

I wish there was a way to ask people involved about this because at least someone on set had queer intentions.

[600movies-to-go]

[symphony7inamajor]

Rawhide

7x17 - Moment in the Sun

[symphony7inamajor]

Rawhide

7x04 - The Lost Herd

[bloodandwhump]

Laramie (1959-1963): The Confederate Express S03E18

[hikage-phoenix]

I call this The Scene of All Time (the scene that got me into Laramie and Robert Fuller)

[saddletrampss]

hello rawhide fandom, today I offer my first contribution

[symphony7inamajor]

Rawhide

6x20 - Incident of the Swindler

[wagondreamsz]

The guest star who deserved more. I love him so much

[manderley]

WAGON MASTER dir. John Ford (1950)

[oldtvcowboys]

These gifs are in super excellent quality- well done!

[oldtvcowboys]

Happy Birthday to Ben Johnson... He was a professional rodeo cowboy, actor and stuntman all in one! Born today, June 13, 1918 in Foraker, Oklahoma

First two photos are from Wagon Master '50 And the bottom two are from Mighty Joe Young '49

Ben, you will forever be my favorite person and actor!

[bitchontheprairie]

longhorn sheep looking through a window, 1981, linda mccartney

[tavolgisvist]

Lucky Spot looking through the window, 1977, by Linda McCartney (x)

[loungegrrl]

If you’re asking for the person most often described as Marilyn Monroe’s gay male best friend, the answer is usually Montgomery Clift.

Clift was a celebrated actor who starred with Monroe in The Misfits (1961). Monroe was fiercely protective of him, and they shared a deep friendship based on feeling misunderstood by Hollywood. Monroe once said of Clift:

“He’s the only person I know who’s in worse shape than I am.”

She reportedly saw him as “the brother I never had.”

Historically, Clift was not openly gay during his lifetime because of the pressures of Hollywood in the 1950s, but he is now widely regarded as gay (some biographers describe him as bisexual).

Other gay men in Monroe’s circle included photographers, artists, and Hollywood figures, but when people ask about Marilyn Monroe’s “gay best friend,” Montgomery Clift is usually who they mean.

[oldtvcowboys]

John Smith and Robert Fuller..

[k-wame]

marlon brando & monty clift queening out together 😍