Exclusive vintage film projection in Library Auditorium, Thursday Oct. 13, 3pm.
Happy Birthday to Laraine Day!!!
October is a month of Westerns! This week we are featuring a little-seen Western, BORDER G-MAN (1938) and the unaired pilot for HAIR TRIGGER (1958) this Thursday.
These both feature Laraine Day on her birthday of October 13.
Border G-Man is a 1938 American adventure film directed by David Howard The film stars George O'Brien and Laraine JOHNSON. It was released on June 24, 1938, by RKO Pictures in Lincoln, Nebraska (roll out the red carpet!).
~Jim Galloway, posing as a ranch foreman, is sent to investigate a suspicion that ammunition, horses and men are being smuggled out of the country and becomes involved in a mystery and a romance~
I know George O’Brien from SUNRISE (1927) – and many students do as well, because we often watch that film as part of cinema history. But here he is in a talking role!
This is an absolute B-Picture that you likely won’t see anywhere else! It is only 60 minutes.
Some sources claim that Laraine Johnson (later known as Laraine Day), who enjoyed her first starring role in this film, was still a Long Beach high school student when the film was made.
We have the Laraine Day papers in Special Collections. So we have a print of a pilot for a Western TV show named HAIR TRIGGER that was never picked up by the TV station in 1958. So this will be seen nowhere but here.
A lot of work went into this high-quality pilot. Come see what “almost was” here!
We have a wonderful collection of Laraine’s materials here at BYU!
Come see an early role in her development, bookended with a seasoned performance 20 years later!
What you missed last week: A very interesting revision of history in the Western, THE PLAINSMAN (1937). Anthony Quinn in likely his first role. An ornery Gary Cooper. It even had a call-back to our film the previous week by having lines including “monkey business”!