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  THE FASTEST GUNS
  THAT NEVER LIVED (PART II)
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  This second article on “The Fastest Guns that Never Lived” is ded-
  icated primarily to the great movie stars of days gone by. Their daring
  feats and blazing gun battles, far surpassed even the greatest of real-life
  gunslingers. It is primarily through their efforts that the Old West still
  remains alive in the hearts and minds of today’s Americans.
  Thirteen of the greats of the movie and TV screen were presented
  in part one (still available in the latest issue of The Strategic Review).
  Another fourteen are presented here. The ratings are purely subjective
  on the part of this author, and are in terms of TSR’s BOOT HILL
  rules for gunfights in miniature. If anybody’s favorite hero has been
  slighted or left off, please send complaints to the author, C/O this mag-
  azine. It is strongly advised that these characters not be used in any cur-
  rent campaign games, as they will overbalance the campaign, but they
  will provide some very interesting special scenarios.
  Don “Red” Barry — Barry is probably most remembered for his star-
  ring role in the movie series “The Adventures of Red Ryder” from
  1940 to 1944. His last starring role was in “Iron Angel” (1969),
  but he has appeared constantly in supporting roles in movies such
  as “Johnny Get His Gun” (1971) and “Showdown” (1973) since
  then.
  William “Wild Bill” Elliot — Elliot rose to fame by starring in the
  movie serial “The Great Adventure of Wild Bill Hickok” in 1938.
  In 1944 he took over the lead of the “Red Ryder” series from Red
  Barry. In 1950 and 1951 he ran the “Wild Bill Elliot” series on the
  radio. He continued to make top westerns until the late 50’s.
  “Hoot” Gibson — A pioneer in the early silent westerns, Hoot was one
  of the first cowboy stunt men. “Action” (1921) began his rise to
  stardom. During the 1920’s, Hoot ranked second only to Tom Mix
  as the leading cowboy star. His pictures were fast, full of action,
  but mainly non-violent. By the 1930’s, Hoot’s popularity declined
  with the rise of the talkies, but he kept some attention by starring
  in the first of the “Three Mesquiteers” series (which would later
  feature such greats as John Wayne and Bob Steele). He later
  starred in the “Trail Blazers” series in 1943.
  William S. Hart — Probably more than any other of the early western
  stars, Hart portrayed the Old West as it really was. Films such as
  “Tumbleweeds” (1925, 1939) are now classic westerns. When real-
  ism in the westerns no longer had box office appeal, Hart retired
  from his movie career. He never made a talkie!
  Tim Holt — Admittedly, much of the acting, in even the finest of the
  old western movies, was not top notch. However, Holt displayed a
  quality of acting ability far above most of his contemporaries. In
  the late 30’s and into the 40’s Tim was one of the leading box of-
  fice draws. In 1946 he made “My Darling Clementine” along with
  Henry Fonda, Victor Mature, Walter Brennan and Ward Bond
  which portrayed the events leading up to the famous Gunfight at
  Don “Red” Barry
  Wild Bill Elliot
  “Hoot” Gibson
  William S. Hart
  Tim Holt
  Rocky Lane
  Col. Tim McCoy
  Joel McCrea
  Tom Mix
  The Durango Kid
  Bob Steele
  Lee Van Cleef
  The Cisco Kid
  Poncho
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  the OK Corral. It was a top effort. His career ended in the early
  50’s, but he appeared as late as the 60’s in a segment of “The Vir-
  ginian.”
  Allan “Rocky” Lane — Lane achieved cowboy stardom in the mid-
  40’s. He developed a character who was neat, kind, pleasant,
  handsome, quick on the trigger and tough in a fist fight. In 1946,
  he replaced Wild Bill Elliot as the lead in the “Red Ryder” series.
  His career faded out, along with most of the other movie cowboys,
  with the rise of TV in the early 50’s.
  Colonel Tim McCoy — Most remembered for the series of films in
  which he played Lightning Bill Carson, McCoy developed a screen
  character who was “The Detective of the Range.” His character
  frequently donned disguises during the course of a movie. He
  starred from the late 20’s through the early 40’s when he joined the
  army and attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
  Joel McCrea — McCrea rose to stardom in the mid-30’s on the strength
  of some fine non-westerns. His popularity was slipping when, in
  1944, he made “Buffalo Bill.” After 1945 Joel made mostly west-
  erns, including the title role in “The Virginian.” He portrayed var-
  ious historical figures including Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and
  Sam Houston. In the late 40’s and early 50’s, he did the radio seri-
  al “Tales of the Texas Rangers” and in 1959 starred in TV’s
  “Wichita Town.” He is still active (starring in “Mustang
  Country” in 1975) and is currently the Chairman of the Board of
  Directors of the Cowboy Hall of Fame.
  Tom Mix — Before becoming a movie actor, Mix was at one time a
  U.S. Marshall and a Texas Ranger. By 1921 he was the “King of
  the Cowboys” of the movie western. His films had lots of action,
  chases and fight scenes. He never smoked or drank on screen and
  usually no one was killed. He did all of his own stunt work and
  suffered over eighty injuries during his professional career. He re-
  tired from the movies in 1935 and died in an auto wreck in 1940.
  The Durango Kid — Portrayed by Charles Starrett, The Durango Kid
  rode across the screen in 56 movies starting in 1940. The “Return
  of the Durango Kid” appeared in 1945 and continued until 1952.
  The Kid would appear from nowhere, save the day and-reappear as
  the mild mannered nobody.
  Bob Steele — Probably the fastest draw of all of the old movie cowboys
  was Bob Steele. He rose to fame in the late 20’s. In the 40’s, he did
  a series as Billy the Kid and made 20 pictures in the “Three Mes-
  quiteers” series. He also starred in the “Trail Blazers” series. He
  has continuied working until the present and the younger genera-
  tion may remember him as Trooper Duffy on TV’s “F Troop.”
  Lee Van Cleef — Van Cleef is one of the few “bad men” who has made
  it big in the western movies. He played heavies from the early 50’s
  all the way through his roles in two of Clint Eastwood’s movies,
  “A Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
  Those two movies launched him in a starring career in European
  westerns, and today Van Cleef is the most popular western actor in
  Europe. Many of his films have made it back to the US (such as El
  Condor and Barquero, both 1970).
  The Cisco Kid and Poncho — These two characters are out of place
  among these other movie stars, but they deserve recognition for
  their entertainment on TV during the late 50’s and early 60’s. Their
  exploits are still shown on some stations around the country.
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  A,B,E,H
  A,E,F,H,K
  B,G,J
  A,E,F,H
  A,E,F,H
  A,B,E,H
  A,B,E,H
  A,E,F,H
  A,B,C,E,G,H,J,K
  A,B,E,H
  A,B,F,H
  B,E,H
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  A — ½ penalty if shooting from horseback.
  B — Never surprised.
  C — Double the length of medium range when shooting.
  D — Shoulder arms are considered “Fast.”
  E — May “hipshoot” with no penalty.
  F — No penalty for giving opponent first move.
  G — Treat wounds as one class lower when shot. A “Mor-
  tal Wound” result becomes a “Serious Wound,” etc.
  H — ½ penalty if firing at a moving target.
  J — Must use “Sharpshooting” rule, and must fire at “gun
  A,B,E,G,H,J
  arm/hand” only.
  G
  K — No penalty for “wrong hand” shooting.
  � �
  
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