Viewing alert: Ricardo Montalban

Turner Classic Movies has tossed out its previously announced Jan. 23 lineup of films to program a seven-movie retrospective honoring the late Ricardo Montalban. Of particular note to C&I readers: William A. Wellman's Across the Wide Missouri -- the epic 1951 drama in which Clark Gable leads a group of 19th century pioneers westward. To see why the latter film was so significant for Montalban -- for all the wrong reasons -- check out this Wikipedia article.

Roy Rogers rides again (and again and again and...)

Listen up, buckaroos: Roy Rogers will honored Aug. 28 with a day-long retrospective on Turner Classic Movies. Among the attractions: Young Bill Hickok, Young Buffalo Bill and Jesse James at Bay, three sagebrush sagas featuring The King of the Cowboys as Wild West legends; Dark Command, Roy's only co-starring stint with John Wayne; and The Cowboy and the Senorita, the 1944 classic that paired Roy for the first time with a lovely leading lady named Dale Evans. The couple remained together for decades, on screen and off, roaming along many happy trails while making sweet music together.

Wild about Wayne

And the hits just keep on coming: Turner Classic Movies will celebrate the John Wayne Centennial by showing no fewer than 35 of his best movies May 21-26.

Meanwhile, over at Box Office Mojo, Scott Holleran reports from Newport Beach on a major Wayne retrospective and tribute. The money quote: "Seeing the Duke on the big screen—mostly at Edwards Cinemas in Newport Beach's Fashion Island—is an experience: during opening credits, the theater goes silent as a big, rousing score comes through the speakers and, when the movie begins, there's a palpable sense of shared excitement for what's coming; the audience reacts, laughs, and thoroughly enjoys the show. An unmistakable difference between today's audiences and a John Wayne audience: reverence for the motion picture. They're there to see the movie—the action, the story, the hero—not to be blown away by a giant video game."