LAREDO’S ROBERT WOLDERS REMEMBERS

LAREDO, the lighthearted adventures of a group of Texas Rangers, was spun off of an episode of THE VIRGINIAN in 1965.  That first season it starred Neville Brand, Peter Brown and William Smith as the Rangers, with Philip Carey as their long-suffering Captain and comic foil.  There was a big change with season two.  A fourth lead, Robert Wolders, was added to the Rangers, as Erik Hunter, a suave European of non-specific nationality, and with an unbelievable wardrobe.  Robert was the Turhan Bey of his generation: when someone handsome, sophisticated and exotic was needed, he was the man to call. 

LAREDO ended after the second season.  Although there are only 56 episodes, it’s fondly remembered, a popular seller on DVD, and runs daily on the Encore Western Channel. 

I first met Robert Wolders a few months back, when he and co-star William Smith were appearing at an autograph show in Burbank – Peter Brown was supposed to be there as well, but had to cancel.  When I interviewed Robert a couple of weeks ago, I explained to him the sort of topics I cover in the Round-up.  “A lot of it is about current production, and a lot of it is about classic stuff as well.  Like LAREDO.”

ROBERT: (laughs) It’s fun to hear of LAREDO referred to as classic. 

HENRY:  I remember so well watching it with my sister; we were both big Western fans as kids.  And it’s funny – your wardrobe was always so distinctive –

R: I’ll say it was.

H: -- that my sister, to this day, whenever she looks at elegant jackets, says, “That’s what I want: an Erik jacket.” 

R: You know, it was actually based on the Carnaby Street fashions.  A lot of people in their late teens, especially in London, and here, and in Haight-Ashbury, were wearing very colorful clothing.  Officer’s jackets and old uniforms. 

H: It always looked ratty on Haight-Ashbury, but very elegant on you. 

R: Thank you.  It happens sometimes that someone, especially a ladyfriend has seen one of those shows.  She’ll say, “I wish I had one of those jackets.”  And they ask me what happened to them, and I have no idea.  They went back to Western Costume, perhaps.  But they were specifically designed for the show. 

H: I’m sure they were.  What everyone else wore – I’m sure they could pull something off the rack for the other guys – for Neville Brand particularly.

R: Well, in the second season, to match, somewhat, the outrageous clothing that I wore, they gave Bill Smith something made of chamois, with the fringe hanging from it.

H:  And all of those Indian necklaces. 

R: Right, right – and boots to the knees, and so on.  And Peter had something not as colorful or extravagant.  And Neville always looked the same.  He was a good man.  He actually became my neighbor – or I became his neighbor, I should say, because he had been living in Malibu for many years.  Then I moved two doors away from him, after the show.  I must tell you that the best thing about that show was the friendships that we developed with one another. And I was especially appreciative of that because I came in the second year, as you might know.  And I expected that they might be resentful, you know, new fellow coming in.  Because it meant, in a way, that the show needed new vigor.  But they didn’t show any resentment whatsoever.  They were extremely helpful.  Especially as I’d never done a Western, in fact I was a novice altogether to acting, you know.  And they really helped me along.  They were extremely cordial. 

H: That’s really nice to hear, because frankly that’s not what I was expecting.

R: Especially Bill. You must remember that I had never ridden a horse, and I never held a pistol -- I had about two weeks to learn to ride a horse.  Fortunately I had a stuntman for when they required it.  In the first show I was to impersonate somebody who was the fastest draw in the West.  And I really did not know how to handle that – I thought that they would fake it somehow.  And they weren’t prepared for that.  So Bill took me aside.  He had done many of those types of shows, and in the space of half an hour, which is what you had between (camera) setups, he tried to teach me how to draw.  And of course I didn’t succeed very well.  So then he said to me, “Take off your pants.”  I thought he was being funny, I said, “I hardly know you.”  But I realized he was serious.  So I took off my pants.  He made me take off my jacket.  Once Bill had my clothing on, they went to close-up, to the holster, and from the chest down, and he did the draw.  Then we put the clothing back on me, and it worked extremely well.  Except that Bill had very skinny legs, which he always complained about, because he was a body-builder.  His upper body was very built up.  I had stout legs, and so if you look very carefully, if you know the two of us, you can see the difference.  And I thought it was so sweet of him, because as I say, that was the very first show, I hardly knew him, and he wanted me to look as good as possible. 

LAREDO cast pre-Wolders: Philip Carey, Peter Brown,

Neville Brand and William Smith

H: That’s very nice.

R: Yes.  With Peter, I think it took a little longer for us to become friends, because he had been the lady’s man in the first year, and then in the second year, they gave me at least two ladies to have love scenes with in almost every episode.  So I think he was a little resentful of that, and perhaps also because of the clothing that I wore, which I thought silly.  After about three months of shooting, on Friday night, they kept us until ten o’clock in the evening, and everyone wanted to go home.  But we are waiting for one of my costumes, (laughs) so that took even longer.  I knew how fed up they were all getting, huddled around, waiting.  And I had had a drink at cocktail time, and was a little more belligerent than usual.  So once my jacket arrived, I threw it into the horses’ trough, which was full of water, and so we had to stop shooting.  And Peter really seemed to have appreciated that, and his attitude towards me became extremely kind.   So I have many good memories of the show.  It was forty-eight years ago, so it’s not something that I dwell on a great deal, but those are a few of the things that I remember.

H: You were born in Rotterdam.  How did you get involved in show business?  Was your family involved? 

R: No, no one in my family at all.  No, I came to the United States in the ‘60s, to attend university at Rochester.  I wanted to go into psychodrama, a branch of psychotherapy.  And I was rather timid or reticent.  Maybe just shy, I guess.  One of my professors told me that I should join the stage society of the university.  I became involved in play production, and I realized that I rather cared for it.  After I finished at the university I applied to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, fully expecting to go back to my studies, to finish my doctorate.  And instead, as soon as I finished at the Academy I got an offer from Universal to come out for a test.  I thought it was a lark, and I’d never been to the west coast, but I did have a few friends here that I’d met in Europe, and I thought it was a nice opportunity to come over, (expecting) then to be sent back with my tail between my legs.  Because I wasn’t much of an actor, which I proved on LAREDO.  And instead, the day after doing the test, before I had a chance to go back to the airport, they told me that I would start in two weeks.   I was somewhat reluctant to accept, but then when they told me what they were paying, I accepted readily.  I had just enough time to go back to New York and close my apartment, and prepare to come back here.  And somehow I stayed with it for about three years.  But I did several pictures at Universal before I did the series, and that I rather enjoyed, because there were wonderful people.  The first picture I did was did a remake of BEAU GESTE with Guy Stockwell and Leslie Nielsen, Telly Savalas.  Then I did TOBRUK, with Rock Hudson and George Peppard. I greatly enjoyed that, and was somewhat resentful of being put in a series, because by that time I’d had a number of people who were in a series – David Jansen, who was in THE FUGITIVE, and John Forsythe -- all counseled me to try and keep away from them, because on television I’m typed.

H: While BEAU GESTE was not a Western, it was in fact shot in Yuma, Arizona.

R: That was quite amusing. We went to Yuma, to this miserable little motel, and we were there for about seven weeks or two months.  Then I came back, and I had one week here, and they said I was in another picture, with Rock Hudson and George Peppard – I said fantastic!  Where do we go?  To Yuma!  We went back to the same place, I think I had the same room at the motel, and I spent another six or seven weeks there, yes. 

H: That’s so interesting, because I had read that TOBRUK was shot in Almeria, Spain. 

R: The part that I was in was all done in Yuma.  Then the remainder they went to the Salton Sea, and they went to other places, but I wasn’t part of, so I don’t know what their locations were.

H: On television you did a JOHN FORSYTHE SHOW.

 

R: I did one of the Ben Gazzara things, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.  They don’t want you to be idle, so they push you into those things.  They loaned me out to MGM for THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.  David McCallum, the one who played the Russian, was suspended because he was asking for an increase in salary, which they wouldn’t give him.    So they just changed the name of the character and gave me his part.  They made me into a Greek, Andreas something.  So I did a few things like that.  When I gave up acting altogether many years later, I was living in Malibu, and Grant Tinker, who was producing his wife’s show, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW, offered me a part in one of the shows.  He described it, and I wasn’t eager to take it on.  But it was one of the best experiences I ever had, because it was such a generous group of people, and we rehearsed for two or three days, and shot it in front of a live audience.  That I enjoyed greatly.  But apart from that, acting for me was a hardship.  I had no confidence. 

H: So LAREDO was your first Western.  Were you ever a fan of Westerns before being in them?

R: Yes, the John Waynes and the Randolph Scotts, all those pictures of my youth, and Gary Cooper.  LAREDO certainly was, you’ll agree, a different kind of Western.  It wasn’t the rough, gritty Western we were used to.  (It was) more lighthearted.

H: How did you get cast for the show?

R: The day I came out of the second picture, TOBRUK, they called me in to be tested for that. I think they tested all the people under contract.  In fact Horst Buckholtz told me they had been tested for it. One of the sons of John Wayne, Patrick Wayne, was tested for it.  I think I got the part, in part, because I was under contract.  If they got somebody from the outside they would have to pay him much more.  I think you are well aware of how Universal worked in those days.  But the contract system doesn’t work, doesn’t fly anymore. 

H: LAREDO had a shorter run than many series, just 56 episodes.  But it’s still very fondly remembered, and of course they’re running it on Encore Western Channel.  What do you think was special about LAREDO that it still has a following after all these years?

R: It’s hard for me to define that.  Perhaps because it was lighthearted.  Many of the shows at that time tried to be.  It was the time of GET SMART, the quick riposte and the witty comeback.  I think Jimmy Garner, who’s become a great friend over the years, he sort of set the style for that with MAVERICK.  The lighthearted anti-hero, that type of individual.  I’ve been to two of the autograph shows.  I went to one in Memphis, because Bill and Peter were going, and a friend of mine, Barbara Luna, persuaded me to go as well.  I hadn’t seen the fellows in so many years.  And I was very pleasantly surprised by the people who remember the show.  In fact, I was extremely touched.  This one man, who was probably in his sixties, came over.  And he started to cry.   I said, what’s the matter?  Are you alright?  And he explained that as a child, he had leukemia.  And he was either at the hospital, or at home, not able to go out, and the only release he had was watching Westerns, and LAREDO was his very favorite.  He was so grateful, and he said, I want to thank you guys for helping me through this ordeal.  And other people came up who loved the costumes, and they related how they begged their parents to stay up after nine o’clock so they could watch the show.  One of the problems of the show was that it was Friday night at ten o’clock.  And against a lot of other shows of the time.  I don’t know what they were. 

H: I can’t remember offhand, because I didn’t watch the other shows: I watched you.

R: You didn’t mind the love scenes?  Because I had people come to the autograph shows who said their parents wouldn’t let them watch because of the love scenes. 

H: That was not a problem at my house.  You said that Neville Brand was a friend in later years.  What was he like off-camera?

R: He had great difficulty with himself, as you know, I’m sure.  He was the second most heavily decorated Veteran of the Second World War.  Having been in the theatre of war, he tried to drown the memory of what he had to do, because he had to kill people, by drinking.  Actually he wasn’t that secure as an actor either, so he would show up drunk, when he’d come to the studio, after having his all-night binges.  In fact, in the middle of the season Claude Akins, you’ll remember, came in (to possibly replace him).  I saw Neville in later years, he wasn’t acting anymore, and he was much easier to take.  He was very introspective.  I enjoyed him a great deal. He had issues.  He was gruff, and in general when he was drinking he was hard to take.  I remember one of the promotional shows, THE TODAY SHOW, with Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs.  The other fellows and I were already there, and we were ready to start, and Barbara said, ‘Where is Mr. Brand?’  And just at that moment he was coming in.  He hadn’t gone to make-up or anything, and he yelled out some obscenity, and ‘I’m right here!’  And that sort of behavior is unconscionable.  He’d had one of his all-night binges.  I think I understood him, and he knew that, so we had a good relationship, which was even better in the years after the show. 

H: How did William Smith, Peter Brown and Neville Brand get along together?

R: Not competitive.  I think both Pete and Bill would grow impatient with (Neville), but it was hard to dislike Neville.  He never really offended anyone intentionally.  Well, I’m contradicting myself because he surely offended Barbara Walters intentionally, but that’s because he was under the influence.  But I don’t think that he ever struck out at any of the fellows in the show, or the crew or anyone.  He did some things that were disturbing, because they had just started at Universal with those trams that go around.   They used to pass our dressing rooms.  They’d stop and give all the names, ‘This is Alfred Hitchcock’s room,’ and he disliked that more than anyone else.  So on one occasion he came out with a tray of peanuts, and he started to sell peanuts to the people, and that didn’t work.  He’d been drinking, and the next time the tram came by, he came out, and I’m sorry to be vulgar, but he stood outside the dressing room and pee’d.  But there were kids on the tram; that wasn’t quite considerate of him.  And that was reported to the Black Tower, so I’m sure he got Hell for it. 

H: The format of the series always seemed like GUNGA DIN, very Kipling-esque.  Was there much awareness of that?

R: I think in the sense that in GUNGA DIN the Cary Grant and the Fairbanks character were always teasing each other, trying to best one another.  And that existed very much especially between Peter and myself.  That was kind of an irony, especially in that he had been a lady-killer, and this guy comes in and he gets the better of him, where he was left with egg on his face.  But in a kind-hearted way, never in a mean way.  It was a comic Western, if that’s the right term.

H: Speaking of the GUNGA DIN comparisons, I can certainly see the similarities between Victor MacLaglen and Neville Brand. 

R: Very true, yes.

H: Neither you nor any of the other Rangers ever wore anything that looked like a Texas Ranger uniform.  No one ever wore a badge.  Did anyone ever talk about that?

R: That’s a good point.  One of the people whom I met at the autograph show in Memphis sent me a Texas Rangers badge.  She is quite an expert on the Texas Rangers.  And I said, I was never given a badge, and I couldn’t remember anyone else wearing a badge, not even Phil Carey, the captain.  And she said they would have this badge as an I.D., like the police carry an I.D., I suppose, a shield.  And they would show it to identify themselves, but they didn’t wear it on their clothing.  And she says that the early Texas Rangers just wore civilian clothes.

H:  So it’s more accurate than I would have guessed.  What was Philip Carey like to work with?

R: Oh he was very kind.  He was especially considerate. I remember when members of my family would come, two of my sisters, and my mother, he was so extremely courteous, even though he didn’t owe me that, because we didn’t know each other so very well.  And he invited me to his home for dinner immediately.  He was very philosophically inclined, and we would have great talks.  And after I got to know him somewhat, he was a very fine man.  I don’t think he was always the happiest person. I can’t be sure but I think he might have been somewhat resentful of not having had a greater participation in the show; with five guys, it was difficult to give everyone an equal part.  And of course Phil had a promising film career.  He did some major films.  So he might have felt that doing television was a bit of a comedown.  He never complained, but sometimes I sensed it.

H: Do you have favorite episodes of the series?

R: I do.  It’s the one where I look, perhaps, least self-conscious.  And it was an excellent script with a wonderful director, R. G. Springsteen.  It was called COUP DE GRAS, and I impersonate one of Maxamillian’s officers.  Everything between the fellows and myself is extremely well-written, and went very smoothly.  And then the two people whom I had most of the other scenes with were Barbara Luna, and I’m sure you know Barbara – we have remained great friends -- and a New York stage actor called Arnold Moss.  He had this great vibrant voice.  And even though we were doing a comedy, he played it so beautifully; he played it the way comedy is supposed to be played, as if it’s a serious matter, never laughing at the material.  And if you ever come across that show, you will see why it’s my favorite.

H: I’m sure if I wait a couple of weeks I’ll get it on the Encore Western Channel. 

R: They sent me from a couple of years ago the DVDs of the show.  I hadn’t known that they were available up until then. 

H: Any particular favorite co stars other than Barbara Luna, or any favorite directors?

R: Oh God, as I said, it was forty-eight years ago.  But I do remember people that I knew from films, like Gene Nelson, who had become a director by that time, and he was superior to the other directors because of his experience, and also because of having been an actor-dancer.  People like that I enjoyed working with a great deal.  And Jack Kelly, from MAVERICK.  What I’m shocked to find out is that so many ladies from the show are no longer with us.  You know, they were younger than I.  Like Maura McGiveney, who was in the first show.  Or Ahna Capri, she was killed in a car crash last year, I believe.

H: You worked a bit with Claude Akins.  How did you like him?

R: Oh, he was wonderful, very dependable, very professional.  In the shows that he was in I didn’t have that much to do, and I never had the type of scenes with him that I had with Neville, because I would always be sort of teasing him, which was kind of horrible because of the kind of character he portrayed.  But Claude Akins didn’t play him as a bumbling character – at least not as much.

H: Why do you think LAREDO didn’t have a third season?

R: I think it was in part because of the timeslot.  Ten o’clock Friday nights is not a very good time.  I guess it’s always a matter of ratings.  So I don’t know.  I’d like to think it wasn’t because of me. 

H: Certainly not because of you.  I think you invigorated the show.

R: But what I think they expected was that because there was new blood in the show, that suddenly the ratings would increase tremendously.   I learned from a number of people at these signings, that they didn’t see the first shows, but that they would be told about the show, by word of mouth they heard that it was something enjoyable, and they started to watch it.  But I think what the people at Universal Studio went by was the initial reaction.

H: Now, after LAREDO you did an episode of DANIEL BOONE, and that’s the nearest thing to a Western that I’ve found. 

R: Oh I did, with Maurice Evans, yes.  I remember that well because he too became a great friend.   That is the most rewarding part of my brief acting career is that I formed so many great friendships.  He’s gone too, now.  I would be absolutely dumbfounded that these people whom I’d known about, and who I had seen on stage in New York, that they would be doing Westerns; that I would be performing with them.  It’s a very odd sensation. 

H: Was the part of Erik originally written for a European, or was that something that was adapted for you because they liked you best?

R: No, I think they made him a European because of my accent.  And even the name…he was called Paul.  I said Paul is…I couldn’t say a weak name because the producer was called Paul Mason.  But it’s kind of a weak name.  And I said, what about Erik?  And they accepted it.  And then they added Hunter, Erik Hunter, sounds kind of nice.  Has a spring to it.  If any other actor had been chosen, he would have been an American.  

H: Over the next few years you had guest shots in a lot of top shows.  THE NAME OF THE GAME, F.B.I., BANACEK, BEWITCHED, MACMILLAN AND WIFE.  Were any particularly memorable?

R: No.  The BANECEK and MACMILLAN AND WIFE were because of having worked with Rock Hudson and George Peppard.  I would see them socially in the years afterwards, and they got me involved in those shows.  But there wasn’t anything memorable that I did.  In MACMILLAN AND WIFE I played a tennis star based on Ilie Nastase, who gets killed, I believe.  But I only did this for two or three years after leaving Universal.  And then I left the field of acting altogether.

H: In 1973 you starred in INTERVAL, where you costarred with, and later married, Merle Oberon.  How did that one come about?

Robert Wolders and Merle Orberon in INTERVAL

R: Merle and I had met and fell in love.  And she was about to do this picture.  A lot of other people had been considered.  And she proposed that I read for it.  And Daniel Mann, who was the director at the time, after I read, said, ‘Great!’  The problem with the picture is that he didn’t have a finished script when we started shooting.  And that really showed in the final product.  And the funding left something to be desired.  And Joe Levine, and Embassy Pictures made many, many promises that he didn’t live up to.  So it turned out to be a disappointment, but it didn’t harm our relationship.

H: Well, that’s more important than any movie. 

R: Exactly, yes.  But I wish we hadn’t done it, or I wish that I had not done it with her.  Because there are people, who are far better actors than I ever was, being considered, one of them being Ryan O’Neal.  It’s a love relationship between a younger man and an older woman.  By necessity.  It was, perhaps, a mistake. 

H: And after that you pretty much gave up acting.  Do you miss it?

R: No, except on occasion now, especially when I recognize bad acting, and I say to myself, ‘I could have done better than that.’  But you know, I’m 75 years old, so it’s a little late.  I know that I’m not really qualified.

H: Do you keep in touch with anyone from your Universal LAREDO days?

R: Well I just saw the fellows, Peter and William, but there are not that many left to be honest.  I developed great friendships with many people in this town.  And part of the reason that I keep coming back here, because I lived back in Europe for sixteen years, until fourteen years ago, in Switzerland.  Because I lost Merle in ’79.  And two years later I became involved with someone who had been a great friend to Merle, as you know quite well, Audrey Hepburn.

H: Yes, as I think I told you, my daughter is named Sabrina after her.

Robert Wolders with Audrey Hepburn

R: But Audrey had always lived in Switzerland since the beginning of her career, and she didn’t want to move to the United States; her life was in Europe.  So I decided that if we wanted to be together, then I should move back.   I returned here every two to three months, because I have a part of my life here.  After I lost Audrey I came back here because I had so many friends from the early years, from the ‘60s, when I first came here.  Unfortunately many of them have died, but because of Merle and Audrey, I met so many people.  And then, several years after I lost Audrey, one of my great friends had been Hank Fonda and his wife, who I met when I first came here.  And Shirley, his widow, and I started living together fourteen years ago.   And the odd thing is that Shirley was a great friend of Audrey, and a great friend of Merle.  In the same circle.  Maybe it sounds odd.  They were friends, each one, and I knew that Merle would have approved of me being with Audrey certainly, instead of becoming the extra man.  And Audrey would have approved of Shirley.  So now I’m the step-father to Jane and Peter.  (laughs) I’m kidding, I’m kidding, because Shirley and I are not married.  But in a sense; Jane’s son calls me grandpa. 

LAREDO stars William Smith, Robert Wolders and Peter Brown today.

Picture by Boyd Magers, Western Clippings

H: What should I know about you that I didn’t know to ask?

R: That I was a terrible actor. (laughs) Perhaps about my involvement with UNICEF.  Because Audrey and I traveled for UNICEF for eight years.  Audrey became their Ambassador to the world.  And we have a foundation in Audrey’s name.  The Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund.  Please tell Sabrina that I’m very pleased that she’s named after one of Audrey’s films.

If you’d like to make a contribution to The Audrey Hepburn Children’s Fund, please go HERE.

HATFIELDS AND MCCOYS – THE FIRST TRAILER

Here’s the first look at Kevin Costner’s mini-series for The History Channel.

LONE RANGER DEJA VU

As happened with DARK KNIGHT, Dwight Yoakam, citing scheduling conflicts, is out, and William Fichtner is in as the lead villain in LONE RANGER. Thus far the character has no official name, so we don't know if he's the Masked Man's old nemesis Butch Cavendish, or some other bad man.

PETER BRECK, NICK OF ‘THE BIG VALLEY’ DIES AT 82

Peter Breck, the star of many Western and non-western films and TV shows, including Sam Fuller's SHOCK CORRIDOR, will always be remembered as Victoria Barkley toughest and most likable son, Nick, on THE BIG VALLEY.   Peter also starred in the series BLACK SADDLE, where he played Clay Culhane, a gunfighter-turned-lawyer.  He appeared as a frequent guest in all of the Warner Brothers Western series – SUGARFOOT, BRONCO, CHEYENNE, LAWMAN, and played Doc Holliday six times on MAVERICK.  We'll miss him. You can see him as Nick Barkley every weekday on INSP.

 

FROM THE PAGES OF TV GUIDE

 

I’ve been receiving some great scans from old TV Guides, from playwright, comedy writer and documentarian Karl Tiedemann, and I’ll be sharing them in the coming weeks.  Enjoy!

 

That’s all for this week’s Round-up!  I thought I’d have a follow-up story from last week, about the Los Angeles Italia screening of JONATHAN OF THE BEARS, after which Franco Nero was to do a Q&A.  They switched movies at the last minute, and showed a brand new post-apocalyptic sci-fier, NEW ORDER, also starring Franco Nero.  At least I got him to sign my Venezuelan DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN video box!

 

Enjoy the Oscars!

 

Henry

 

All Original Contents Copyright February 2012 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved 

CORBUCCI TRIBUTE OPENS LOS ANGELES ITALIA

Yesterday, the 6^th annual LOS ANGELES ITALIA FESTIVAL began.  Held the week leading up to the Oscars, it’s seven days of movie screenings, classics and premieres, as well as other cultural events.  It takes place at the Chinese 6 Theatres, part of the same Hollywood and Highland complex as the home of the Academy Awards, the Kodak Theatre -- soon to be known as something other than the Kodak Theatre.  

Legendary filmmakers are honored, and this year two of the honorees are the late spaghetti western master, Sergio Corbucci, and horror and suspense stylist Dario Argento, who is attending.  The screenings began at 10 a.m. with a documentary about Ms. Loren, BECOMING SOPHIA.  At 12:30 was the first Corbucci screening, THE MERCENARY (1968), starring Franco Nero, Tony Musante and Jack Palance. 

John Landis on Swiss TV

The Festival began in earnest at 6:30 p.m., with the arrival of stars on the red carpet.  There I had the chance to ask John Landis when he was going to direct his next Western.  “Are you kidding?  I’d love to direct a western.  I’ve worked on about sixty, but I’ve only directed one, THE THREE AMIGOS.  Walter Hill once said if they knew how much fun it was to make a western, they wouldn’t let us.  It’s true; it’s the best, and it’s the American genre.  I would love to make a western – I’ve worked on so many of them, in Spain, Mexico, America.  Unfortunately you have to wait till another western somehow makes money before they’ll make some again.   But I love westerns.  Do you know when I first met Dario (Argento)?  I was a stunt guy on a movie called ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, for Sergio Leone.  And do you know who wrote ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST?  Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci.  They were both film critics.  That’s when I met them – they were both on the set going, ‘We met Henry Fonda!’  You know Franco (Nero) killed me once, in a western.”

JUSTIFIED star Joelle Carter

Next I asked Joelle Carter, who portrays Ava Crowder on JUSTIFIED, if she considers her series to be more of a Western or a cop show.   “I’d say a modern-day western.  There’s the cop aspect to it, I guess.”  I asked if she’d like to do a period Western.  “That would be great.  There’s a TV show coming on that’s based on the evolution of a group of pioneers moving west, called FRONTIER.”

When Mark Canton, the producer behind such monster franchises as THE 300 and PIRANAH films, came by, I asked him when he was going to do a Western (I know I’m starting to sound obsessive/compulsive, but it’s my job).  He laughed, “I don’t know.  I start April 16^th on THE TOMB, with Sylvester and Arnold, so first things first; a really great big prison movie, and then I do the next 300.  So it’s western enough for me.”

Franco Nero and Joan Collins

Finally, the great Franco Nero arrived, startlingly handsome, his eyes that familiar blue, looking not too many years older than when he was starring in Spaghetti Westerns.  Sergio Corbucci famously said, “John Ford had John Wayne, Sergio Leone had Clint Eastwood, and I have Franco Nero.”  I asked Franco which was his favorite among his Corbucci westerns.   “Well, actually, I loved the three of them.  I love DJANGO, I love COMPANEROS and THE MERCENARY.  And I did a western – there going to show it here Wednesday – JONATHAN OF THE BEARS – that I dedicated to him, dedicated to Sergio Corbucci.”  I asked what set Corbucci apart from other western directors.  “Well, he was very original.  He did westerns with humor.  I would say like a black comedy.  They were very tough.  But also, they were very political.”

Next was horror maestro Dario Argento, whose SUSPIRIA had been screened just before the red carpet began.  His next film is DRACULA 3D, and immediately after the red carpet, he treated us to 25 minutes of scenes from the film.  I’m not a huge 3D fan, but I loved it, and I can’t wait to see the whole movie – it contains all the best elements of his own work, but those of Hammer horror as well.  Until John Landis reminded me of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, I’d forgotten that Argento started out writing thrillers and westerns for other directors, among them TODAY WE KILL, TOMORROW WE DIE and FIVE MAN ARMY.  I asked him if he might return to the western genre.  “No, no.  Finished.” 

Dario Argento

After DRACULA 3D, and Fausto Brizzi’s romantic comedy, LOVE TO MAKE LOVE – surprisingly also in 3D – Sergio Corbucci’s DJANGO (1966) was screened, with its star, Franco Nero, in attendance. 

Franco Nero, John Landis & Mark Canton

The festival continues every day through Saturday, and all the screenings are free, first come, first seated.  If you can make it today, Monday, at 6:30, you can see THE TONTO WOMAN, a short western shown in tribute to Francesco Quinn, who recently passed away.   At ten a.m. on Wednesday morning they’ll screen Corbucci’s COMPANEROS, starring Franco Nero, and that night at eight they’ll screen JONATHAN OF THE BEARS (1995), also starring Nero, and directed by Enzo Castellari, an honoree at last year’s Festival.  Nero will be doing a Q & A, so you need to RSVP for that one.

Dario Argento and Mark Canton

For a complete schedule of screenings, go HERE.  I’d strongly advise you to come to the festival if you’re in or near Los Angeles this week, but check on-line for road closures, because in preparation for the Oscars next Sunday, a lot of streets are being shut down.

BOOK REVIEW: RAWHIDE

In his new book, RAWHIDE: A HISTORY OF TELEVISION’S LONGEST CATTLE DRIVE, author David R. Greenland takes on the considerable job of documenting the history of this remarkable series, from creation to dilution to eventual destruction.  He also outlines every one of the 217 episodes that made up the series.  Happily it can currently be seen on the Encore Western Channel Monday through Friday, and this book makes a wonderful reference volume for it, enhancing the viewing experience considerably.

More than fifty years after the program first hit the air, the difference between RAWHIDE and most other Western series of its day – or any other day for that matter – is especially apparent.  It is the unvarnished stories of anonymous men doing thankless toil for poor wages.  It is a man’s world to a far greater degree than most westerns.  As far as believability, it exists in the Pantheon of realistic western programs with only two others; WAGON TRAIN and GUNSMOKE.   

And as Greenland explains, it’s unique even within that company, because its creator wanted it that way.  Perhaps the greatest revelation of the book is the contribution to the western form, big-screen and small, made by the series creator, Charles Marquis Warren.  The godson of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Warren started writing western novels, among them ONLY THE VALIANT, and went on to variously write, produce and/or direct a string of mostly modest-budget western features that are all worth seeing.  But it was in television that he truly made his mark.  He produced the first 52 episodes of GUNSMOKE, setting the standard for noir-ishly adult western stories. 

When he couldn’t get along with network higher-ups, he left (replaced by John Meston, who had created the show for radio).  Warren soon moved on to his own creation, RAWHIDE, a western series that would not be set in a town or on a ranch, because it was about continuous movement.  Its episodes had ‘incident’ in most of the titles – INCIDENT OF THE HAUNTED HILLS, INCIDENT OF THE WIDOWED DOVE – because Warren thought the shows should not be about ‘stories’, but ‘incidents.’ And there is a deceptively random feel to many episodes, the plots so subtly designed that they just seem to ‘happen.’ 

Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, Paul Brinegar, Eric Fleming

Typical, and terrific, is INCIDENT WEST OF LANO, which grows out of a simple bit of bad timing: the cattle drive and a wagon train reach opposite banks of the same river, and neither is willing to let the other side cross first.  True to the ‘incident’ idea, the audience knows, when pot-shots are taken, who did it, but the characters don’t know, and they never find out.  And in keeping with the manly silence of the cowboy, when a man from the wagon train is back-shot, any other western, or any other TV drama for that matter, would turn on the revelation that the dead man was a would-be rapist stopped in the act.  But no one on the cattle drive ever reveals how it happened: they’re not interested in justifying their actions to other men.

RAWHIDE premiered in 1959, which Greenland points out was a peak year for Western television.  Fifteen new western series premiered that year, including BONANZA, LARAMIE and THE REBEL.  Westerns were great money-makers, but they were still the Rodney Dangerfields of television: in that year, the only Western-related Emmy nomination was for Richard Boone in HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL.  And he lost.  In eight seasons, RAWHIDE never got a single Emmy nomination for any actor, writer, director or crew member.  It’s worth noting that of all those nominees and winners, about the only shows that people still watch from that era are PERRY MASON and I LOVE LUCY.  And the great westerns like RAWHIDE, which seems startlingly fresh and natural in acting style.

The lives of the men who made up the show’s cast are varied and fascinating.  Clint Eastwood had mostly played uncredited roles until he landed the part of ramrod Rowdy Yates, and he credits the show with teaching him a great deal about acting, and the jobs behind the camera as well.  

Eric Fleming, who played trail boss Gil Favor had such an awful childhood that it’s remarkable that he got past it.  A homely youth, it was while in the Navy that a two-hundred pound block of steel smashed in his face.  The good looks we’re familiar with were a by-product of reconstructive surgery!  Just as Clint would do spaghetti westerns during hiatus periods, Fleming would do movies as well.  His death while making one in South America is so grotesque that, if you saw it in a movie, you wouldn’t believe it.

Other regulars, like Sheb Wooley as Pete Nolan, Paul Brinegar as Wishbone, and Steve Raines as Jim Quince, not only had considerable experience in Westerns, they had all previously worked in Western films for Warren.   

But ironically, several of the featured players were as anonymous as the men they portrayed.  After they left the show, little is known of James Murdock, who played cook’s helper Mushy; Rocky Shahan, who was drover Joe Scarlett; or Robert Cabal, who played the wrangler Hey-soos, except that they’ve all died.    

In fact, with the exception of Eastwood, who was apparently unavailable to be interviewed, none of the regulars are living.  Greenland was able to speak with guest stars like L.Q. Jones, Morgan Woodward, the late Richard Devon, and director Ted Post, and  he pulled together a great deal of older interview material.  There is, however, a substantial interview with Gregory Walcott, a frequent guest on the show.  And Walcott tells one story which demonstrates that, while Charles Marquis Warren made some of the best westerns ever, he could also be a heartless sonuvabitch. 

Some of the great stars of the film business appeared on RAWHIDE, among them Barbara Stanwyck, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor and Lon Chaney Jr.  I just watched one at random, and it featured John Erickson, Leif Ericson and John Cassavettes.  And the one I’ll watch when I finish writing this review stars Brian Donlevy and Dick Van Patten, and is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, one of the last survivors of this era. 

Each of the 217 episodes is listed, with its original airdate, director, writers, cast, summary, and notes where applicable.  And also the opening narration, if any.  Here’s one: “I got a cousin, woman, teaches in a school house back east.  She tells me those boys daydream about becomin’ cowboys.  Of all the jobs a man could pick, why’d he ever want to choose this way to make a livin’?  Three thousand head of God’s lowest form of life, cattle.  If they don’t die of tick fever, strangle in a dust storm or trample their fool selves to death, then the market’ll go down to two cents a pound on the hoof.  They might as well have died before we set out.  But they need food back east.  It’s my job to get this herd movin.  My name’s Gil Favor, trail boss.”

And for us boys who still daydream about becomin’ cowboys, and who learned what a trail boss and ramrod and drover and wrangler are by watching RAWHIDE, David R. Greenland’s book is required reading.  It’s published by Bear Manor Media, and retails for $21.95. You can order it HERE.  

HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY!

That's it for this week's Round-up!  Next week I'll be featuring an interview with LAREDO star Robert Wolders.  They've just started running his episodes on Encore Western if you want to take a look.

Adios,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright February 2012 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

ORIGINAL 'DJANGO' RETURNS!

THE ORIGINAL ‘DJANGO’ -- LOS ANGELES, ITALIA TO HONOR SERGIO CORBUCCI; FRANCO NERO TO ATTEND 

Los Angeles, Italia, the annual celebration of Italian film and culture, will include several tribute screenings to the great Spaghetti Western director Sergio Corbucci. The event will be held from Sunday, February 19th through Saturday the 25th, in Hollywood, at the Chinese 6 Theatre.

The festival opens on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. with a documentary about Sophia Loren, BECOMING SOPHIA, and will be followed by a 12:30 p.m. screening of Corbucci’s THE MERCENARY (1968), starring Franco Nero, Jack Palance and Tony Musante, with music by Ennio Morricione and Bruno Nicolai.

On Sunday night, at 10:15 p.m., Corbucci’s DJANGO (1966) will be screened, starring Franco Nero, Jose Bodalo and Loredana Nusciak, featuring the wonderful score by Luis Bacalov -- and Franco Nero will attend!

On Monday, at 6:30 p.m., in memory of actor Francesco Quinn, the short film THE TONTO WOMAN will be screened.

Finally, on Wednesday at 11 a.m., Corbucci’s COMPANEROS (1970) will screen, starring Franco Nero, Tomas Milian, Jack Palance, Jose Bodalo and Fernando Rey, and featuring Ennio Morricone’s brilliant score.

This event is FREE, and all seats are given out on a first-come, first-seated basis. You are asked to RSVP by email for the screenings with personal appearances. For more details, go HERE.

And for fans of stylish horror, director Dario Argento will be attending, and there will be numerous screenings of his films, including SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME, CAT O’ NINE TAILS, and a 25 minute preview of his current production, DRACULA 3D.


THEN THERE'S THAT OTHER SERGIO...

Bracing the Corbucci screenings at Los Angeles, Italia,The American Cinemateque will be screening all of Sergio Leone's Westerns at their two theatres.  At the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, on Friday, February 17th, they'll begin with a double bill of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE.  On Friday, February 18th, they'll screen THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.  Then, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, on Thursday, February 23rd, it's DUCK, YOU SUCKER, AKA A FISTFUL OF DYNAMITE.  On Friday, February 24th, it's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.  All screenings start at 7:30 p.m.


TV WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL!

More and more, classic TV Westerns are available all over the TV universe, but they tend to be on small networks that are easy to miss. Of course, ENCORE WESTERNS is the best continuous source of such programming, and has been for years. Currently they run LAWMAN, WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, LAREDO, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKEandMARSHALL DILLON, which is the syndication title for the original half-hour GUNSMOKE.Incidentally, I see on Facebook that a lot of watchers are mad as Hell at losing CHEYENNE and THE VIRGINIAN.

RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, first at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Pacific Time, then repeated several times a week.They show a Roy feature every Tuesday as well, with repeats -- check your local listings.

INSP-TVshows THE BIG VALLEY Monday through Saturday, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE seven days a week, DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMAN on weekdays, and BONANZA on Saturdays.

WHT runs DANIEL BOONE on weekdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Time, and on Saturdays they run two episodes of BAT MASTERSON. They often show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic.

TVLANDhas dropped GUNSMOKE after all these years, but still shows four episodes ofBONANZA every weekday.

GEB is largely a religious-programming cable outlet that runs at least one Western on Saturdays – the ones I’ve caught have been public domain Roy Rogers and John Wayne pictures –and sometimes have weekday afternoon movies as well.

For those of you who watch TV with an antenna, there are at least a couple of channels that exist between the standard numbers – largely unavailable on cable or satellite systems – that provide Western fare. ANTENNA TVis currently running RIN TIN TIN, CIRCUS BOY, HERE COME THE BRIDES, andIRON HORSE.

Another‘in between’ outfit, ME-TV, which stands for Memorable Entertainment TV, runs a wide collection: BIG VALLEY, BONANZA, BRANDED, DANIEL BOONE, GUNS OF WILL SONNETT, GUNSMOKE, MARSHALL DILLON,RAWHIDE, THE RIFLEMAN, and WILD WILD WEST.Some of these channels are hard to track down, but if they show what you’ve been missing, it’s worth the search.

And for those of you on the other side of the pond, our British correspondentNilton Hargrave tells me CBS ACTION has begun showing GUNSMOKE.

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permenant galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE.

HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM

Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywood western, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave., L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children.

WELLS FARGO HISTORY MUSEUM

This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street, L.A. CA.

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

That's right, the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here:

Well, I've got my computer back from the shop, so the Round-up may be 48 hours later than I'd planned, but at least it's posted.  I had a couple of other stories I was going to include, but I didn't want to put this off another day, so I'll add those stories to next week's Round-up!

Happy Trails 'til then!

Henry

All original contents Copyright February 2012 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

ROUND-UP READERS SEE WESTERN ‘LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE’ WITH 20% DISCOUNT

Movie Review – THE LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE: AN AMERICAN CONSPIRACY

Treading ground reminiscent of B. Traven’s TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE is Tanner Beard’s THE LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE: AN AMERICAN CONSPIRACY. In spite of its unwieldy title, which neither suggests a western, nor really makes sense in context, HELL’S GATE is an extremely impressive feature directorial and screenwriting debut, and a visual feast.

Filmed in Texas, a Texas not of desert, but of green and water, it’s the story of a group of people whose initial connection seems slight at best, except that they are desperate and struggling, and largely dishonest: a young outlaw (Eric Balfour), of a wolf-pack hired to kill one Champagne Charlie Austin.  A young Irish railroad worker (Tanner Beard), with doubtful morals and an agonizing toothache.  A young and desperate thief and cut-purse (Lou Taylor Pucci) who manages to be at the wrong places at the right times, with an ear to every half-opened door.  It’s a triumph of writing, direction and performance that we care what happens to each man. 

What draws the three together is not accident or conspiracy, but fate, at its most sinister and relentless.  Along the way there are white buffalo; deadly bowling matches; beautiful women -- with morals and without them; shootouts between men too drunk to care about the danger to bystanders; and Indians that have always been friendly up until now.

It’s an ensemble piece, with roles for the supporting players so rich, and well acted, that it intentionally takes a long time for the viewer to figure who the lead characters are.  Among the notable performers are Buck Taylor as a businessman with political aspirations, Henry Thomas as a bartender with a secret, lovely and too sympathetic Jenna Dewan, and FIREFLY star Summer Glau.   One of the best scenes feature TUDORS star Jamie Thomas King as Doc Holliday, blissfully drunk at the card table, and amused at a poor loser.  Another standout performance is by YELLOW ROCK star Michael Spears as an increasingly menacing Indian the boys want to trade with. 

The photography by Nathaniel Vorce, making his feature debut as a cinematographer, is not merely beautiful.  It creates an idealized realism that makes everything that happens in the story all the more credible.   Likewise Kari Perkins’ handsome and accurate costumes and production design and art direction by Christopher Stull and Yvonne Boudreaux combine to draw the audience into the movie’s beautiful but grim world.

If I can give one warning to the audience, and I don’t think this is a spoiler, the opening scene is confusing because it is a flash-forward.  If you think of the movie as starting a couple of minutes in, when you first see buffalo, it will be chronological, and much more understandable.    

And here’s how you can save 20% when you see LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE!  The movie is available on-line at CONSTELLATION TV, HERE.  

If you go to the site and, when prompted, enter the discount code ‘henry’, the normal $5 charge will be lowered to $4.  The showings are hourly, and if you are, like me, not experienced with on-line movie watching, I’d advise you to buy your ticket several minutes before your showing, as you’ll have to register.  I think you’ll enjoy LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE.  I certainly did, and I look forward to interviewing writer/director/star Tanner Beard for the Round-up in the near future.  If you’d like to see the trailer, go HERE.

Update, August 14, 2012.  LEGEND OF HELL'S GATE is now in release!  Redbox has provided the Round-up with a link, so you can check and see if it's available in your friendly neighborhood kiosk: http://www.redbox.com/movies/the-legend-of-hells-gate

MORGAN KANE – SCREENWRITER NAMED; NEXT TWO NOVELS RELEASED

WR Films has just disclosed that it is Russian-born Andrew Ilitchev who has been toiling away these many months, adapting and combining the first two Morgan Kane novels, EL GRINGO and EL GRINGO’S REVENGE, into the screenplay for MORGAN KANE – THE LEGEND BEGINS, the first of at least three motion pictures to feature Morgan Kane.  Raised in New York City, Ilitchev studied at Columbia University, and was associate producer on the acclaimed Iraq War documentary DREAMS OF SPARROWS, and has since relocated to the West Coast. 

MORGAN KANE, the creation of Norway’s most successful novelist, Louis Masterson.  Masterson, whose real name was Kjell Hallbing, wrote 83 KANE novels between 1966 and 1985, and WR Films has acquired publishing rights to all of them.  They’ve been issuing a new eBook in the series every month or two, and recently published numbers five and six, THE STAR AND THE GUN and BACKED BY THE LAW.  Both books, as well as the previous four, are available for download from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. 

LEON RIPPY JOINS CAST OF ‘LONE RANGER’

Leon Rippy, well known to Western fans as Tom Nuttal in DEADWOOD, has signed to play a tracker in THE LONE RANGER, the mega-budget western from Disney, starring Armie Hammer as Masked Man and Johnny Depp as Tonto.  Coincidentally, Leon’s first western was the MOW called THE TRACKER, starring Kris Kristofferson.  His other westerns and historical films include YOUNG GUNS II, THE PATRIOT, and THE ALAMO.  A very busy actor of late, he was the angel in the series SAVING GRACE, Latimer in LEVERAGE, and can currently be seen as Dr. Beauregard in ALCATRAZ.  But on March 2^nd he’s off for two weeks of ‘cowboy camp’ to prepare for The Hearty Hi-Yo Silver!  We’ll be having an interview with Leon in these pages very soon.

WESTERN X – WEBISODE SERIES REVEALS CHAPTER 7

WESTERN X, writer-director Michael Flores’ on-line Western serial, is now up to chapter #7.  It’s one of the most ambitious web series I’ve seen -- you can read my previous write-up of the series HERE

.

The link to the official site, where you can learn more about the series, and see each chapter, is HERE, and I would urge you to start with chapter #1.  

LITTLE TOMBSTONE SHORT

Here’s a link to ‘Little Tombstone,’ a very clever five-minute animated spaghetti western.  I know that it’s by students from ESMA, but I can’t figure out which ‘ESMA’:  the French school, the Naval Academy, the Egyptian animal welfare society…  If you know, please fill me in.  And take a look HERE.

TV WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL!

More and more, classic TV Westerns are available all over the TV universe, but they tend to be on small networks that are easy to miss. Of course, ENCORE WESTERNS is the best continuous source of such programming, and has been for years. Currently they run LAWMAN, WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, LAREDO, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKEandMARSHALL DILLON, which is the syndication title for the original half-hour GUNSMOKE.Incidentally, I see on Facebook that a lot of watchers are mad as Hell at losing CHEYENNE and THE VIRGINIAN.

RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, first at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Pacific Time, then repeated several times a week.They show a Roy feature every Tuesday as well, with repeats -- check your local listings.

INSP-TVshows THE BIG VALLEY Monday through Saturday, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE seven days a week, DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMAN on weekdays, and BONANZA on Saturdays.

WHT runs DANIEL BOONE on weekdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Time, and on Saturdays they run two episodes of BAT MASTERSON. They often show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic.

TVLANDhas dropped GUNSMOKE after all these years, but still shows four episodes ofBONANZA every weekday.

GEB is largely a religious-programming cable outlet that runs at least one Western on Saturdays – the ones I’ve caught have been public domain Roy Rogers and John Wayne pictures –and sometimes have weekday afternoon movies as well.

For those of you who watch TV with an antenna, there are at least a couple of channels that exist between the standard numbers – largely unavailable on cable or satellite systems – that provide Western fare. ANTENNA TVis currently running RIN TIN TIN, CIRCUS BOY, HERE COME THE BRIDES, andIRON HORSE.

Another‘in between’ outfit, ME-TV, which stands for Memorable Entertainment TV, runs a wide collection: BIG VALLEY, BONANZA, BRANDED, DANIEL BOONE, GUNS OF WILL SONNETT, GUNSMOKE, MARSHALL DILLON,RAWHIDE, THE RIFLEMAN, and WILD WILD WEST.Some of these channels are hard to track down, but if they show what you’ve been missing, it’s worth the search.

And for those of you on the other side of the pond, our British correspondentNilton Hargrave tells me CBS ACTION has begun showing GUNSMOKE.

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permenant galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE.

HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM

Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywood western, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave., L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children.

WELLS FARGO HISTORY MUSEUM

This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street, L.A. CA.

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

That's right, the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here:

That's all the news for now!  Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All original contents Copyright February 2012 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved