James Arness - He Made his Life an Adventure - weekly column 27 February 2022

 Lawrence Hall, HSG

Mhall46184@aol.com

 

James Arness – He Made his Life an Adventure

 

James Arness: An Autobiography

James Arness and James E. Wise, Jr.

McFarland and Company: 2001

 

In his young adulthood James Arness was a blonde-haired surfer dude, which is difficult to reconcile with his film and television persona, but it’s true, and one of the many fascinating aspects of the life of this genuine American hero and natural blonde.

 

James Arness made his life an adventure, and he loved ranching, sailing, surfing, and flying. He tells of his war experiences with modesty, and how his combat injuries, requiring frequent surgeries as he aged, helped him appreciate life. He frequently alludes to his young comrades who were killed, and you can well infer that the tears fell as he wrote of them.

 

Mr. Arness served in the army in the Second World War, and because of his 6’6” height he was ordered to be the first off his platoon’s landing craft at Anzio. He was to serve as the marker – if the water was too deep and he drowned, the boat would come closer to the shingle to discharge his fellow soldiers. He was also given two large packages to take ashore. They contained dynamite for blowing obstacles.

 

Some weeks later shell fragments shattered his foot, and he required occasional surgery throughout his life. When in a story, especially later in his career, you see James Arness limping, it’s for real. And he never complained. Because of the wound he was evacuated; most everyone in his company was killed in the fighting that followed.

 

This book is not a tell-all, and so reflects the honor and dignity of Mr. Arness. He has nothing bad to say about anyone, and his wry humor is a joy. When a tv movie with Raquel Welch gained a larger audience than one of his Gunsmoke sequels he asked, with his usual sense of fun, “What has she got that we haven’t!” Great fun.

 

Mr. Arness writes as much, maybe more, about others than he does about himself, and these mini-biographies are a joy.  Further, the lengthy list of Gunsmoke’s guest stars is a catalogue of Hollywood at its best.

 

I enjoy Gunsmoke, and very much appreciate the quality of acting, writing, and cinematography. I don’t suppose there is a bad episode, but for me the best are the half-hour episodes of the first few years. Working with a small budget and limited time, each is a brilliant, compact story, and the characterizations, plot elements, and photographic composition and lighting indicate that the producers learned their craft well from John Ford and other great filmmakers.

 

Even if you aren’t much for cowboy films the story of James Arness’ life is interesting; if you enjoy his movies from the 1940s and 1950s, Gunsmoke, The McCahans, and his other television productions you will find this autobiography especially entertaining and informative.

 

James Arness loved surfing and sailing and the sea so much that he closes his book with a quote from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812):

 

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where none intrudes,

By the deep sea, and the music is in its roar;

I love not Man the less, But Nature more

 

                                                -30-