The gang at Chip
Baker Films is at it again! Major
movers and shakers in the Euro-Western world, last year’s Almeria Western Film Festival led directly to their
making of SIX BULLETS TO HELL (read my coverage HERE ) immediately before this year’s festival, in the famous Tabernas and Almeria locations and sets. Immediately after this year’s Festival, maybe a month ago, Chip Baker Films announced they’d soon be filming REVEREND COLT, a
Neo-Spaghetti Western, also shot at the classic Spanish locations, and starring
villainous western icon James Russo (if you missed that article, go HERE )
.
Now Chip Baker
and Unity International Films have
put another western into pre-production,
EL PURO RESURRECTED, headlining the original El Puro, Euro-Western star Robert Woods (if you missed my interview
with Robert, go HERE ). Made in 1969, EL PURO, directed by Edoardo
Mulargia, is known in Italy as LA TAGLIA E TUA…L’UOMO L’AMMAZZO IO. It was one of Wood’s most popular films in
Europe, though perhaps not as well known stateside. I had seen a short trailer for EL PURO
RESURRECTED posted during the festival, and added it to the Round-up Facebook
page, but assumed that it was just Woods and company having fun on the great
locations. You can see the trailer
below.
It turns out that I was right, initially, but then
things took off. A Chip Baker exec told
me, “We did that trailer originally just for fun,” but then people started
getting interested, and it seemed like a good idea after all.
So the pretend trailer is growing into a real movie,
and star Robert Woods couldn’t be happier.
When I spoke with him on Friday, he’d just come back from stirring up
interest in the project at L.A.’s American Film Market. He told me, “They asked me to do this
trailer, and then they sent me a script.
It looks like it’s going to turn out really well. And it’s an exact sequel to EL PURO. It looks
like I get killed in the end of that, but you don’t really know. So we’re starting out with a revisit to that
last scene. It’s all in dusk and
twilight, so you don’t see who it is, which man is El Puro. One man buries the other in a grave, fashions
a cross of stones, puts his holster and his guns there, and his holster is
embossed ‘E.P.’ And as he rides off to
Allesandroni’s music – I love him, love that we have his music – he turns back
and says, ‘Now El Puro is dead.’ Thirty
years later, he shows up in a bar. But
he’s removed from that life. Then he
beats a kid in a gunfight,” and that triggers EL PURO RESURRECTED’s story. “All Hell breaks loose, and it’s like HIGH
NOON from then on. It’s great fun – it
really is. And it’s not gratuitous; it’s
got some thought behind it.
Robert Woods in the original EL PURO
“The original script lends itself so well to doing a
sequel. It just fits. And Leone’s village, it’s gorgeous. You can do interiors, exteriors; it’s such a
cool place to shoot. You get cameras,
armaments, stagecoaches, wagons, horses – whatever you want, it’s all there.
”
Joining Woods will be several actors familiar to
Spaghetti Western fans: Antonio Mayans, of A TOWN
CALLED HELL and MORE DOLLARS
FOR THE MACGREGORS; Nicoletta Machiavelli, of NAVAJO JOE and THE HILLS RUN RED,
and Simone Blondell, who co-starred with Robert Woods in PRAY TO GOD AND DIG
YOUR GRAVE (1968), also directed by Mulagria, and HIS NAME WAS SAM WALBASH, BUT
THEY CALL HIM AMEN (aka SAVAGE GUNS).
The link to the official Facebook page in HERE . I’m sure I’ll have more information as they
get closer to rolling camera, but to get you up to speed in the meantime, below
is the entire original EL PURO. Enjoy!
AUTRY HOSTS
AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS 2013
On Saturday and Sunday, November 9th and
10th, the Autry welcomed more than 180 American Indian artists to
what has become the largest Annual American Indian Marketplace in Southern
California. Over forty tribes from
across the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, were represented.
Mother-of-pearl inlay from boat, above
This event has gotten larger and better attended
with each passing year, and on Saturday the 26,000 square foot tent was
comfortably full, with thousands of visitors.
In addition to the art displayed and offered for sale, there were dance
and music performances in the indoor Autry courtyard, artist demonstrations
including jewelry-making, weaving, basket-weaving, soapstone carving,
mask-making, gourd art, and glass blowing.
The longest line by far was for Auntie’s Frybread Kitchen.
Basket-weaving by Jessica Lomatewama - Hopi
Monte Yellowbird Sr., Black Pinto Horse Fine Arts
JT Willie Designs - Navajo
I had the chance to speak stunt man and actor
Michael Horse – Tonto in 1984’s LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER. In addition to his acting career, he’s a
talented and respected artist whose works have been exhibited at the
Smithsonian. Look for an interview with
Michael in the Round-up, in the near future.
Michael Horse with his art - Yaqui
On my way to the frybread line I ran into Zahn
McClarnon, who stars on LONGMIRE as the untrusting Tribal Policeman Officer
Mathias. One of the stars of INTO THE
WEST and YELLOW ROCK, next year he will be seen in the new Sundance Channel
series THE RED ROAD. Zahn was with
Patrick Shining Elk, who has stunted in LAST SAMURAI, HIDALGO and THE ALAMO,
and recently acted in LA MISSION.
Patrick Shining Elk and Zahn McClarnon
‘HATFIELDS & MCCOYS’ ACTOR SUES OVER HORSE-FALL
INJURY
Tom McKay, who played Jim McCoy in the award-winning
History Channel miniseries, is suing over permanent injuries he claims he
received during the making of the Romania-lensed film. According to Deadline: Hollywood, McKay
alleges, “…defendants… intentionally misrepresented to Plaintiff that their
horses were safe, well behaved, and were suitable for riding by Plaintiff.” McKay claims he was injured when, “…the
subject horse became uncontrollable again during filming of a scene, bolted,
and subsequently threw Plaintiff into a tree, resulting in serious and
permanent injuries and harm to Plaintiff.”
McKay is currently starring the BBC / STARZ series THE WHITE QUEEN.
PRODUCERS SUE
ONE-TIME ‘JANE GOT A GUN’ DIRECTOR LYNNE RAMSAY; RAMSAY CALLS CHARGES “SIMPLY
FALSE”
‘JANE’ producers are suing the celebrated WE NEED TO
TALK ABOUT KEVIN director who famously walked off JANE in March, the weekend it
was supposed to roll camera. According
to Deadline: Hollywood, the producers are seeking the return of $90,000 she was
paid to direct the film, $50,000 she was paid to rewrite the script – neither job
being completed, according to suit, and $750,000 The William Morris Agency is
holding in escrow. They further want
$500,000 in damages. In a 44 page
filing, the producers claim Ramsay was “…repeatedly
under the influence of alcohol, was abusive to members of the cast and crew and
was generally disruptive.”
After a brief production shutdown, ‘JANE’
was directed by WARRIOR helmer Gavin O’Connor. Natalie Portman, the star and a producer of
the film, is not a party to the suit. Ramsay
representatives responded that although Ms. Ramsay has not yet seen the suit,
the claims in the news stories, “…are simply false.”
‘THE ACTIVIST’ SCREENS WED. AT
VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
Written and directed by Cyril
Morin, the drama is set against the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising, and stars
Chadwick Brown, Michael Spears, Circus-Szalewski, Alen Von Stroheim and Henry
LeBlanc. It shows at 8 p.m. at the
Laemmle Noho 7, as part of the San Fernando Valley Film Festival.
THAT'S A WRAP!
That’s it for this week. Most of us have Monday off because it is
Veteran’s Day. It’s not just a three-day
weekend; it’s an opportunity to thank the men and women who have kept us free
and safe at great personal risk and cost.
Time flies. When I was a kid, everyone’s granddad had
been in World War One, and everyone’s dad had been in World War Two. Now, there is not even one veteran of The
Great War left alive. The ranks of World
War II vets shrink greatly with each passing day. Those who fought in Korea and Vietnam are
showing their age. Make the time, make a
point, to thank them now. I know how
glad I am that I thanked my dad while there was time. Because of them, we have all the blessings in the world;
but we don’t have all the time in the world.
HAPPY VETERANS DAY!
Sincerely,
Henry C. Parke
All Original Contents Copyright
November 2013 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved
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