Three Tough Guys and One Tough Broad

Ward Bond and Barton MacLane ... studios did not have to waste screen time establishing who these gents were.  Primo tough guys.   Great duo in Maltese Falcon (1941).

                      Bond and Maclane in Prison Break (1938)

            Broderick Crawford in When the Daltons Rode (1940)

               Barbara Stanwyck in These Wilder Years (1956)

He's Here, He's There, He's Everywhere!

 I have always liked this lobby card, a favorite movie, They Were Expendable (1945), and a nifty scene.  Today's special effects are truly amazing, but a lot could be done 80 years ago with a good camera man and imaginative special and visual effects units.  

How often do we see a shot of Mr. Montgomery from behind?!  

I was looking at this reprint not long ago and felt an odd presence.  I scanned it so I could blow it up and take a close look.  

Yup, it is Mr. Bond staring at Bob, with gun in hand.  To be expected, the John Ford film regulars did not welcome Bob with open arms - John Wayne had expected the lead role; he was miffed when Ford had Bob finish the movie; etc., etc.  Shall we assume there were not any real bullets in his gun?