By John “Butch” Dale
Guest Columnist

John ‘Butch’ Dale

Like many of you “Baby Boomers,” I spent many hours at the movies in the 1950s. Charlie Marshall owned the Sunshine Theater in Darlington. A ticket was 25 cents and buttered popcorn a dime … cheap entertainment for a 9-year old on a Saturday night in 1957.

The majority of movies were not Academy award winners, but rather low cost production “B” flicks … a few horror movies, a few love stories…and a treasure trove of the most popular … the westerns.

These western cowboy “B” movies perhaps lacked substance and imagination, and the dialogue and plots never deviated much, but to us kids the action and characters were great! The men were men, and they were our heroes. The women were ladies and most of the time they were portrayed as the local school teacher, bar hostess, rancher’s daughter, or Indian maiden.

Unlike the movies of today, there was absolutely no sex, perversion, gore, sadism, or senseless violence. There were “good guys” and “bad guys.” The true history of the American West may have been distorted, but these movies were more of a morality play with lots of action. Evil appeared and threatened the good guys, but in the end it was good that always conquered evil. My friends and I identified with the good guys … their stereotypes, hopes, fears, and characters. I wanted to be a “good guy cowboy” when I grew up!

There were many western cowboy stars in the 1950s … Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy … just to name a few. Many are of the opinion that John Wayne was tops, and it’s hard to disagree that that, but my favorite movie cowboy was Randolph Scott, who appeared in over 100 westerns during his acting career. He just seemed like a REAL honest-to-goodness cowboy! He did what he had to do to fight the bad guys … with his fists, with his gun, with his horse … using skill, common sense, cunning, and bravery … and I loved it! When Dad bought our first TV set in the early 1950s, I watched such shows as “Hopalong Cassidy,” “Gunsmoke,” “Wyatt Earp,” “Bat Masterson,” “The Cisco Kid,” “Tales of Wells Fargo,” “The Lone Ranger,” and many others, but the Randolph Scott movies at the theater were always the best because they seemed more realistic.

Randolph Scott

Well, the critics were never impressed with these 1950s western movies and cowboy stars, but they sure beat the idiotic, extremely violent, curse-filled, and sexually explicit movies of today. To a wide-eyed kid of the fifties who attended Sunday school, looked up to his parents, admired his teachers, and believed in right and wrong…these 1950s westerns were in line with my thinking. A “good guy” must always keep his word. He must always be truthful. He must not curse. He must respect women and be kind to children. He must work hard and be resourceful. He must be loyal to his friends, to his family, to his community, and to his country. He must always help people in distress. And he must only use his fists and his gun as a last resort to fight evil and protect the innocent. That’s the cowboy way.

I can identify with Toby Keith’s country western song, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy.” Well, it didn’t pan out that way, but the “cowboy good guy” thinking must have been ingrained deeply in my mind.

During most of my life I was a teacher, police officer, and county sheriff. Thank you, Randolph Scott. Now I am a librarian. If I pack my old police revolver and ride my grandaughter’s horse to the library each day, then perhaps I can be just like my hero. The main problem though … is that I am starting to look more like a famous cowboy sidekick … Gabby Hayes!