Which I have, on business--but the title as much refers to the phrase people in the 19th Century might find carved in the door--often in the abbreviation "G.T.T."--of the abandoned homes of friends or family. "Gone to Texas" was used to describe folk who have found it expedient to leave their homes due to debt or other legal difficulties. The phrase provides a title for the 1975 publication of Forrest Carter's novel, better know in its film adaptation--The Outlaw Josey Wales.
All this is by way of introduction of a little project I started a year or so ago which might be of interest to those playing (or planning) Western rpgs, or just those with an interest in the Western genre in film. I present to you, the Western Film Timeline, which places the events described in various movies in a historical context. It remains a work in progress, but covers events from 1836 (The Man from the Alamo) to 1917 (The Professionals). Corrections are welcome.
4 comments:
Awesome - I love this kind of thing!
That's a great idea. It's interesting how we have seen a lot of stories in which many or most of the character's from Victorian or pulp literature get together, but I've never seen anything parallel for Westerns.
How cool would it be to do a Western version of the Trojan War is which The Man with No Name, Harmonica, Kirk Douglas' Doc Holliday, and Yul Brynner's Chris all get together fore a battle royale.
Great timeline - nice to see a mention of The Great Silence/Il Grande Silenzio - I've only seen it the once but what a corker of a film. Bleak both in setting, story and finale.
One I didn't see there, and again, I've only seen it the once is Harry Tracy, Desperado - starring Bruce Dern. It was made in 1982 and should be seen more often. Tracy died in August 1902.
I like to think of my D&D settings as very like the American West - vast wilderness, full of maurauding hostiles, settlers and pioneers bent on opening up the frontier and the forces of civilisation few and far between, leaving a kind of anarchic vacuum in which adventurers can flourish.
Thanks, guys. Glad you liked it.
@Matthew - That's a great idea! Though I'm a little more partial to Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday.
@Daddgy Grognard - is a great film. Corbucci's best, and one of the all time best Italian Westerns. Thanks for the addition. There are quite a lot of films I've got to go--though some are harder to place because of nebulousness of time.
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