Archive for March 2015
Maureen O’Hara and Dan Dailey Arriving in Pensacola Florida …
Dan Dailey and Maureen O’Hara are shown arriving at the Pensacola Airport. They were here in Pensacola to film a movie with John Wayne, Wings of Eagles , in 1956. I had posted this image on the other blog site that I had of my father’s images five or six years ago and had hoped that some locals who were around when they were in town making the movie would have made a comment, but no one ever did. Maybe this time around it might jar someone’s memory and I will get a few comments. I have often wondered who the guy is that looks like he is directing everyone … maybe he is someone that the airport hired and dressed up to give a more “Hollywood” / “Los Angles” appeal to the movie stars. Also, the look on the little lady’s face watching all of this is priceless … you wonder what is running through her mind as she is watching this production.
The lady who runs Maureen O’Hara’s blog, Ms June Beck, saw my first post and graciously sent me a photo that some Navy photographer had made of John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara and members of the movie out on the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Here is the photo along with Ms Beck’s notation of the crew members and their relationship to the actors …
“On the running board is stuntman “Good” Chuck Hayward (that was his nickname) and, of course Maureen and Duke…then just to our right of Duke’s cap is “Bad” Chuck Roberson (John Wayne’s stunt double for over 30 years and a good actor himself). Roberson has a great book he published in the 1980’s called “The Fall Guy” that is absolutely great if you can find it – all about the stuntman’s colorful life. To our left of Duke’s cap is Ken Curtis, who was in many of Ford’s movies. He was an excellent singer and musician as well. Don’t know the name of the guy in the uniform – but he’s a redhead I’ve also seen in a lot of Ford’s films as an extra, etc.” … June Beck
That was very nice of Ms Beck to send the photo to me and to take the time to write the copy identifying all of the individuals in the photo. The guy in uniform in the back is very familiar, but I could not put a name to him. I went on the IMDb site, but could not match a name to the face. For some unknown reason, I picture him playing a German in some of the old WW II movies. The man that Ms Beck mentioned named Ken Curtis played Festus in Gunsmoke – now I know that everyone knows Festus. If anyone has any memories of these actors or of Ms O’Hara being in Pensacola, please feel free to share them with us. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Several more things …. If the people out at the Pensacola International Airport decide to dress someone up a tux / dinner jacket as a greeter to all of the incoming flights at the airport, please give me credit for the idea and not to anyone down at City Hall. I can use all of the free publicity that I can get. Also, I went back and added a link to IMDb for Ken Curtis ” Festus ” after I read his bio. I am trying to give the readers some more information that what little I know or have on these photos in future posts. I do not know if it will get me any more viewers or readers, but at least you will be ready with some new trivia when Jeopardy comes on the tube, I mean TV. Thanks again for looking …
Denny Shute … Professional Golfer …
Denny Shute was a professional golfer back in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Here is a biography of him from over on Wikipedia … he had won the PGA tournament back in the 1930’s twice and one year he had beat Jug McSpadden to win. I have a photo of Jug on a previous post with Ben Hogan and several other golfers. I do not know what course that he was playing on here in Pensacola when this photo was taken. It could have been the course out at the Pensacola Naval Air Station or it could have been Pensacola Country Club, but I really do not have any idea which course in the Pensacola area that this was taken. The photo was taken back in 1945, so there might be someone that remembers these golf pros coming through Pensacola playing exhibition golf. Feel free to search the site for my post on the other golfers … you might run across something else that interests you. Thanks again for looking … Frank
Unknown Football Team …
I have the negative for this image filed as ” Football Team – Unknown “. I feel that it is probably from Pensacola High School, but I cannot be positive. But what interests me is the team’s equipment … the helmets look to be made of leather and there is no protective bar on the front of the helmet. I do not know what you call this protective piece that is worn on all of the helmets now days. Look at player number “36” seated on the front row. He looks like he is sporting some type of bandage over his left eye … must have taken a really bad hit, but it did not stop him. On the back row there are several players ( #56 for one ) that look like they are wearing a helmet from back in the 1930’s or 40’s for sure. The stadium suggests that this could have been PHS, but like I mentioned I am not sure. I know that there a few views out there that could tell me if this is PHS or not and maybe they will speak out and tell us. I just found this negative recently and it was loose in a box with a lot of other negatives that had no information either. However, like I have mentioned earlier, my main purpose is to share images that my father made and to show a much simpler time / era. If someone has any information, well that is great … icing on the cake so to speak. If not, you have an idea what your parent’s and grandparent’s lived through and endured. So maybe we don’t have it so bad after all, eh? Thanks for looking and as always all comments are welcomed and appreciated … Please check back … Frank
Indian Dance …
Here is one more of the Indian dancers that I had posted sometime earlier. I ran across these negatives in a jewelery box of my mother’s and what they were doing in there I have no clue. I like the out of focus / movement that this image has … I just wish I knew something about the Indians – tribe, location, etc… – maybe someone will see something that they recognize and share it with us. I have been scanning these full-framed and have not bothered cropping it out, so I hope that does not bother or confuse you. Thanks for looking and please check back …Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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