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auction and acquired the two SAAs used by his friend Lee Marvin during the production of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.”
CONDITION: Very good as a Colt SAA that has seen generations of frontier and Hollywood Western use with a classic smooth gray patina associated with a well traveled sidearm and retaining some original blue finish on the cylinder (strongest in the flutes) and around the trigger, refinished blue finish on the barrel and ejector rod housing, and some original case colors
on the replacement hammer. The grip shows similar working gun character with chipped
toes. Mechanically needs work as hammer only has three clicks. This well-documented Colt
SAA revolver is steeped in Texas and Hollywood history. It is a Peacemaker that lived a true frontier life in the 1880s and later used to portray the “Wild West” it was made to tame in a number of Hollywood Westerns including John Ford’s classic “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” One will
be hard pressed to find another Colt SAA that bridges the gap between Western reality and fantasy so eloquently!
Provenance: Stembridge Rental Company (“The Man Who Shoot Liberty Valance,” “Bonanza,” “The Last Rebel,” “Wild & Wooly,” “Standing Tall,” “Last Ride of the Dalton Gang,” “Mr. Horn,”); Robert Petersen; The Al Frisch Collection; Property of a Gentleman.
Estimate: 15,000 - 25,000
World War II epic “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), portrayed the criminal hell bent on revenge in “Point Blank” (1967), and the leading man in 100 episodes of the successfully crime drama “M Squad” (1957-1960). Marvin won the Oscar for Best Actor for his dual role in the comedic
Western “Cat Ballou” (1965).
The revolver’s Hollywood Western career did not end with “Liberty Valance.”
From other provided Stembridge rental sheets this SAA is documented as having
appeared in a number of other productions. These productions included:
-“Bonanza” (May 1969-April 1970 production), see rental sheet no. 12833
-“Bonanza” (July 1971-January 1972 production), see rental sheet no. 14387
-“The Last Rebel” (1971), see rental sheet no. 1237
-“Wild & Wooly” (1978), see rental sheet no. 8742
-“Standing Tall” (1978), see rental sheet no. 8574
-“Last Ride of the Dalton Gang” (1979), see rental sheet no. 9087
-“Mr. Horn” (1979), see rental sheet no. 9559
The revolver was once part of the Al Frisch collection. A majority of the Stembridge gun collection was sold to noted publisher and gun and automotive collector Robert Petersen of the Los Angeles area. Al Frisch was called in to catalog the
collection. Frisch was a veteran of the Los Angeles
County Sheriff’s office and during his 33 career
came to know several Hollywood stars including
Lee Marvin. The Stembridge guns were originally
slated to be part of a museum collection but
these plans were abandoned and the collection
was sold at auction. Frisch was present at the
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