The news just arrived that actor, producer and director Robert Redford passed away last night at the age of 89. Throughout my life, he has always been present in films for me. Some of them were great, others just good. He worked with Sidney Pollak throughout his life, and Dave Grusin wrote the soundtrack for many of his films.
If I had to pick one, it would be the soundtrack to Three Days of the Condor (alongside The Fabulous Baker Boys). His compositions are modelled on the soundtracks of many blaxploitation films. A dominant yet restrained funky bass and subtly interspersed brass instruments create a sound that is impossible to resist.
This week George has drawn the attention of me to a series which I have edged out for a long time which is worth it, however, here to be mentioned. Alias Smith and Jones was a western series that was really different from all the others at this time. When they regular show the farm life they tried to make something new with this series. The main actors didn't stay at one place separately they moved from town to town followed by headhunters to stand their year as good guys. Sometimes I felt this series was like the poor mans version of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. But this judgment would not do justice to this superior series. Both principal characters have contributed with her likeable and loose kind to the fact that I have seen the series nearly regular.
And this what the story's about: Hannibal Heyes (Pete Duel) and kid curry (Ben Murphy) are two quite good bad people in the wild west. They rob banks and trains and make a nice life to themselves with the money. When, nevertheless, the sheriffs become surer and surer more and more smartly, the safes and to them during a raid a nice old lady from Boston a sheet of information about an amnesty for small criminals in the hand presses, they decide to change her life and to leave from now on the right ones. However, before they receive the pardon from the governor, they must prove during 1 year that they have really left the skew road and live honestly. From now on they try to escape as Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones from the reward hunters and to prevent that to them other bandits push her raids in the shoes.
Main actor Pete Duel died on suicide at the age of 31 with a gunshot after suffering on depression and heavy drinking.
You can watch episode 1 here:
And one forgotten song from 1971 - the year the series started:
