Horsing around

I just finished reading Deanne Stillman’s wonderful, well-written and enjoyable article on horses in film history. I was very impressed that she chose the scene from “Monte Walsh.”

Has she ever seen the clip from the movie “Tumbleweeds” with William S. Hart? Without a doubt the greatest riding sequence in western movie history ... and Bill does this at the age of 57! The way that horse ran in the scenes took my breath away.

One other note: Stillman did not mention comedy with horses. Let us go back to Lee Marvin’s performance in “Cat Ballou.” The scene against the side of the building still stands out as one of the funniest in movie history, and would not be without Kid Shelleen’s (Marvin’s) horse.

Terence Jon Troup

Tustin