Stephen Mertz writes thrillers (sometimes
with a political tinge) as well as westerns. He tells me BLAZE! is a favourite of his own works.
It’s the first in a series of westerns with the same leading characters – J.D.
and Kate Blaze – written by a variety of different authors.
J.D.
and Kate Blaze are two of the deadliest gunfighters in the Old West. They also
happen to be husband and wife. J.D. and Kate find themselves facing a deadly
ambush by Apaches, then they're hired to track down a gang of outlaws led by
the beautiful, ruthless bandit queen Rosa Diablo.
I’ve
yet to find an instance of a female gunfighter in the Wild West; although there
were a rare few female law officers like FIONA MAE MILLER, the one female Deputy US Marshal in the Indian Nations
(what is now Oklahoma.) The ‘Fort Smith Elevator’, in its
November 6, 1891 issue, described Fiona as: ‘A dashing brunette of charming
manners... an expert shot and a superb horsewoman, and brave to the verge of
recklessness.’
Rose
Dunn
There
was also ‘Cattle Kate’ (ELLA WATSON) described ‘as a dark devil in the saddle,
handy with a 6-shooter and a Winchester, and an expert with a branding iron.’
Accused of cattle-rustling, she was lynched by Wyoming vigilantes in 1889.
And
then there was Canadian-born PEARL HART, who carried out the last stage robbery
in U.S. history, robbing a stage outside Globe, Arizona in 1899 – and later
serving time in Yuma Prison for it.
Back
in the heyday of the western, movies and TV shows were lucky enough to have
plenty of feisty actresses to portray women handy with a gun, on both sides of
the law.
For
example, in Roger Corman’s enjoyably bad ‘Gunslingers’
(1956) terrific BEVERLY GARLAND was cast as the widow of a marshal who takes
over his job when he’s murdered. She said, ‘I
think I was the first woman to play a marshal in a movie western.’
Beverly crossed to the other side of the law when she portrayed
Pearl Hart in an episode of ‘Tales of
Wells Fargo.’
Other straight-shooting females, good girls and bad, include
JANE RUSSELL as Calamity Jane in ‘The
Paleface’ with BOB HOPE, JANE FONDA in ‘Cat
Ballou,’ JOAN CRAWFORD in ‘Johnny
Guitar,’ BARBARA STANWICK in ‘The Maverick Queen’ and RAQUEL WELCH in ‘Hannie
Caulder’ (below.)
Actresses like MARIE WINDSOR, JEAN WILLES and ISABEL JEWELL also
gave spirited performances as western women on both sides of the law.
Mexican
bandit women tended to be played by such actresses as BARBARA LUNA and MARIE
GOMEZ (pictured below in ‘Barquero.’)
SARA VARDI gave a
tremendous performance as the girlfriend of bandit El Lobo in ‘The High Chaparral’ episode ‘The Covey.’
Henry
Darrow and Sara Vardi in ‘The High
Chaparral’
More recently we’ve had women-led western such as ‘Bad Girls’ and the Netflix TV series ‘Godless.’
Drew
Barrymore, Mary Stuart Masterson, Andie MacDowell and Madeleine Stowe in ‘Bad Girls’ (1994)
And SHARON STONE portrayed a female gun fighter in a pastiche
of Clint Eastwood in ‘The Quick and the Dead
(1995.)’
REVIEWS
of ‘BLAZE’:
‘A terrific
kick-off to the series. Mertz… writes action scenes like nobody's business … It's
a real gem. If you like gritty, fast-paced Westerns seasoned with sexy romps,
don't miss this one.’
‘Packaging
well-developed characters with a perfect mix of tangled action, burning
passion, subtle humor, and, always a surprise around the corner.’
‘A grand
finale written with cinematic crispness.’
‘Great
read, fantastic pace.’
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