So I just finished reading Kilkenny, and started reading the Lost Treasures section in the back. I got to where Beau mentions that it was filmed in the '50s as Blackjack Ketchum, Desperado. So I googled it and read the short Wikipedia article. The only reference in the article is one that says that the movie was based on a Louis L'Amour novel about Ketchum. The link goes to something called Legends of America. I didn't see anything in there saying that LL had written a book about him (which I know he didn't) so it makes me wonder why someone claimed on Wikipedia that that is what the novel was about.
You've actually confused me. I didn't mention the short stories, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. I'm just saying it's strange that someone wrote on Wikipedia that the character of Kilkenny was based on Blackjack Ketchum, which isn't true. And the website that is used to back up that claim doesn't even mention Kilkenny, so the whole thing makes no sense.
Okay, I think I see what you're referencing. There really was a Black Jack Ketchum...He was hung and decapitated. He was convicted of felonious assault. The only person ever hung for the offence, which was later found to be unconstitutional. His actual name was Tom, so the Jack Ketchum is a bit confusing. He was also hung for assault...the penalty for that is up to four years in prison. Somehow they hung him for it.
"We don't have any law here. Just a graveyard." LL from TREASURE MOUNTAIN
"Blackjack Ketchum, Desperado is a 1956 American Western film directed by Earl Bellamy and starring Howard Duff and Victor Jory. It was based on a novel by Louis L'Amour about Tom Ketchum. The film has yet to receive a home media release."
That's the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.
A producer or executive was IN LOVE with the name Black Jack Ketchum. He saw it somewhere and decided he had to stick it on this movie. An extreme version of a problem that you see in Hollywood all the time. Someone with a little power has the vapors for a moment and suddenly an idiotic element is attached to the project. To remove it is to go to war with the person who thought of it.
