Free Republic

Known primarily for his turn as Lucas McCain on Rifleman, Chuck Connors was also a professional baseball and basketball player, longstanding and prolific character actor, and a conservative activist. The Early Life of Chuck Connors Born in Brooklyn in 1921, Connors was the son of two Irish immigrants from Newfoundland and Labrador, which were not at that time part of Canada yet. His father was a longshoreman and his youth was spent in an obsession with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Chuck Connors attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica School where he served as an altar boy. It was here that...

Today's feature is one of my favorite epic westerns of all time. "The Big Country" features a terrific cast and perhaps the most memorable western score ever by Jerome Moross. Charlton Heston is terrific in an atypically, unheroic role for him. Wm. Wyler was so impressed with him he cast him as "Ben-Hur" the next year. The lovely Jean Simmons is fantastic as well as the beautiful and intelligent school marm whose ranch is the centerpiece of the feud. Of all Gregory Peck's leading ladies, she's the one he had the best chemistry with. The scene where they swap horror...

Warner Bros. today will launch a service giving the public the opportunity to custom-order DVDs of films never before released via the medium. The move is seen as a response to dwindling DVD sales and also to customer demand for titles that while not totally obscure, didn't necessarily generate enough heat to merit a full-on DVD release. The Warner Archive Collection, available at WarnerArchive.com, includes films dating back to the silent age and for $19.95 per disc Warners will burn, package and ship for receipt within an estimated five days. Currently there are 150 titles available with for a total...