Monday, April 21, 2014

‘HATEFUL 8’ READING REVIEWED, NOVEL ‘SHOTGUN’ REVIEWED, PLUS TCM FEST PT.2!



TARANTINO’S ‘THE HATEFUL EIGHT’ – THE STAGED READING

By Andrew Ferrell

(Note: I don’t think I’ve ever run an article by another writer before, but Andrew Ferrell, a friend of the Round-up, attended the event last night, and generously wrote this report.) 

Quentin Tarantino’s would-be next feature, The Hateful Eight, made its no-screen debut Saturday night at the Ace Hotel (formerly the United Artists Theater) in downtown Los Angeles as part of LACMA’s popular series of live readings of feature screenplays. The staged reading of what writer/director Tarantino himself described as a first draft, which was very publicly put on ice a few months ago following an internet leak, brought in a full house of QT fans at $100 - $200 a seat (the outrageous prices being part of a fundraiser for LACMA and Film Independent’s year-long programming).


Tarantino directing - photo from Thompson on Hollywood



As soon as the reading was announced in early April, the big draw, apart from the first legal opportunity for a select few to sample Tarantino’s latest western, became the mystery of who would be cast to participate in this one-time-only, never to be streamed or recorded performance. And what a cast it was, labeled the “Tarantino Superstars” by their perpetually excited ringleader, filled with a dozen famous faces and welcome character actors (plus the filmmaker himself, reading directions), each of whom having already worked with
Tarantino at least once before: Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Amber Tamblyn, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Denis Menochet, James Parks, James Remar, Zoe Bell and Dana Gourrier. The applause for the cast reveal alone would have been enough to cover most performances for an entire evening, but the reading itself kept the audience alternately cackling, cheering, applauding, and occasionally gasping throughout the whopping three and a half-hour runtime, which did include a very brief intermission.


The plot in a nutshell can be described as sort of a Western take on Reservoir Dogs, with the movie’s familiar single-setting, traitor-in-our midst set up being transported to post-Civil War Wyoming. This time, the criminals holed up in a warehouse after a botched heist are substituted for bounty hunters and various unsavory characters waiting out a terrible blizzard inside a cramped stagecoach stop. The setting becomes even more claustrophobic as the characters’ previous connections and ulterior motives are revealed, all the while exacerbated further by the lingering wounds of the Civil War and its outcome. In the event that everyone else does get a chance to experience The Hateful Eight for themselves in one way or another, to say anything more would be to give away the many twists and shifting alliances. This being a Quentin Tarantino script, however, it spoils nothing to say that this boils over into copious amounts of profanity and bloodshed before the storm is over.



Tarantino, dressed in VERY colorful modern cowboy getup and constantly clutching an old iron coffee pot (an important prop, as it would turn out), made some opening remarks reminding the audience of the script’s rough draft status and that the cast had about three days to rehearse. “We’re okay. We’re pretty good,” he half-joked. The performance and its staging remained pretty loose throughout the night, with most of the cast casually dressed and clutching their scripts, sitting in chairs roughly positioned to correspond with the imagined blocking of the scenes. During the more exciting moments and fights, the actors would get out of their chairs and move around a little. Once a few characters died, the very game thespians playing them fell
dramatically out of their chairs and remained on the floor for the duration of the show.


The only hiccups came with the occasional flubbed line (totally understandable, under the circumstances) and the occasional call from the jittery but authoritative Tarantino to re-do a certain bit. Thereading provided a rare glimpse of what it must be like on his sets, with the director occasionally breaking the fourth wall to joke with his old friends in the cast or chastise them for going off script and attempting to “co-write” (his words). If there was ever any doubt that he considers himself God on the set, this performance proved that every single syllable in a Tarantino script is there for a reason, and when giving direction the man knows exactly what he wants. Still, one of the most human and amusing moments of the night came when Tarantino leapt into the middle of a scene and excitedly whispered a new idea in Samuel L. Jackson’s ear. “He’s directing!” the actor quipped to the audience, which was met with wild applause.



Even without much to look at on stage, the words on the page provided a clear visual of how this would play as a movie. Tarantino’s uniquely conversational approach to descriptive writing, as well as his wildly enthusiastic and energetic delivery, painted a mental picture of every shot he had planned, from the opening images of a six-horse coach outracing the snow to the description of the room where most of the story takes place to the comically brutal violence that comes later. The words “in glorious 70-millimeter Super Scope” became the running joke of the evening. As for the expected historical and pop culture references, they flew by so quickly that they were hard to keep up with, though it’s safe to say that no character name is an accident. Samuel L. Jackson’s character, the former Union soldier Marquis Warren, seems to nakedly reference Rawhide and Gunsmoke writer Charles Marquis Warren (thanks to Henry for pointing that one out!), for instance.


As with all past Tarantino projects, casting is everything, and if this exact cast were transposed into the feature film version with a bit more rehearsal, hardly a critic or movie fan would be likely to complain. Not only did the evening provide a fun reunion for Tarantino alum from throughout his career, but they all seemed to legitimately have great fun with their characters and with each other, even while saying and doing some pretty terrible things. Kurt Russell affected his best John Wayne as the bounty hunter John Ruth while Jackson delivered one particularly filthy monologue with devilish glee as the aforementioned Warren. It was a treat to see Tim Roth and Michael Madsen playing off each other again, albeit as very different characters. Recent Oscar-nominee Bruce Dern, playing a former Confederate general, had few words to say, but gave them such quiet gravity and solemnity that one can see why the director apparently tailor-made the role just for him. Among the younger cast members, Amber Tamblyn really held her own as Daisy Domergue, the prisoner around whom most of the intrigue centers, and Walton Goggins provided a great deal of comic relief as Chris Mannix, another former Confederate and self-proclaimed Sheriff-elect. The entire cast proved that their charisma was not restricted to on-camera performing, as is sadly sometimes the case.


As for the lingering questions hovering over this project, Tarantino declared that he is already at work on later drafts, which would seem to pretty clearly indicate that this project is not dead, in spite of his earlier statements and the ongoing lawsuit with Gawker over linking to the stolen, unfinished script. The presence of Harvey and Bob Weinstein at the performance also suggest that, if this wasn’t the master plan all along, somewhere along the way this reading of a “dead” project became an unprecedentedly public workshop on the way to resuming pre-production.


The other question one might have after seeing the script acted out in its entirety is whether or not the produced film would make for a worthy addition to the Western genre or to the vaunted Tarantino canon. While it’s obviously hard to say and all still very hypothetical, the initial impression is that it’s about as much of a Western as Django Unchained. The setting is a bit more traditional than the previous film’s mostly Southern locales, and The Hateful Eight’s details regarding the hardships of frontier travel are more specific and pronounced than the more mythic qualities of Django. Still, this story lacks the sweep, scope and sensitive subject matter that made its predecessor such an “event”.

At least for the time being, it wouldn’t be unfair to call this minor Tarantino, something more in line with Reservoir Dogs or Death Proof, both stripped-down genre exercises elevated by the voice of their author. And even if it’s smaller, it’s by no means tighter, since the performance started at eight o’clock and let out a little before midnight. This dry run of The Hateful Eight consistently entertains, but its characters still require further definition. The broad strokes are there, but one can feel jokes still waiting to be found, and the emotional core is a little elusive. Tarantino continues to play with the juicier topics of the time period, such as race, gender and post-war attitudes, but it feels like he hasn’t quite yet found what it is he wants to say about them. The script, like many of Tarantino’s past works, is divided into chapters, with the final chapter already having been scrapped by the director, who has promised that any future version will end differently. That is probably for the best, as the ending we saw performed, while certainly exciting, might ring a little similar to past successes and thematically hollow or without a greater purpose, which can be somewhat applied to the script as a whole.


Having said all that, if Tarantino is still tinkering, and if he’s as hyper-aware of audience reactions as he seemed last night, there’s still hope. The lengthy standing ovation at the end may have been the encouragement he needs to whip this thing into shape. The guy remains incapable of making anything less than interesting, and his growing enthusiasm for all things Western can only be a good thing for the genre’s standing in Hollywood. Even in its current compromised, unproduced form, The Hateful Eight still makes an impression. And if, worst-case scenario, the movie still doesn’t make it to screens, Tarantino’s already got a hit play on his hands.


SHOTGUN by C. Courtney Joyner – A Western Novel Review


The paperback cover




C. Courtney Joyner’s first novel, SHOTGUN, has just been nominated for a Peacemaker Award as Best First Novel by the Western Fictioneers.  It will be published in June by Thorndike Press in a large-print, hardcover edition, retailing for $28.  What’s so unusual about this is that Pinnacle Books published it as a mass-market paperback in December of 2013 for $6.99.  This is the cinema equivalent of releasing a movie direct-to-video, and then opening it in theatres a few months later – it’s the opposite of the way these things are done, and it speaks volumes of the high hopes the publishing world has for SHOTGUN, which is surely the first of a series. 

Though this is Joyner’s first novel, he is no stranger to storytelling, with more than two dozen movies – some writing and some directing – to his credit.  And in a very cinematic, very visual opening, we meet the protagonist, former Civil War surgeon Dr. John Bishop.  One ‘Major’ Beaudine and his men want the half million dollars in gold they know Bishop has.  Beaudine was the cellmate of Bishop’s illiterate brother, and before brother Devlin swung, Beaudine ‘helped’ him by writing letters for him; letters that betrayed the Bishop brothers’ secret – although John swears there is no secret and no gold.  

Stopping at nothing to gain the knowledge he demands, the Major takes off most of the surgeon’s arm.  And that’s almost charitable, compared to what he does to Dr. Bishop’s wife and child.   When he recovers, the doctor has a shotgun mounted to the stump of his arm, and goes in search Major Beaudine, even as Beaudine and others are in search of the elusive gold.  The doctor is helped in his quest by a beautiful Cheyenne named White Fox.


The hardcover cover


The storytelling is unorthodox: instead of a chronological tale from a single point-of-view, it jumps from the major to the doctor, to the other characters, and forward and back in time, as needed.  You’ll learn everything you need to know, but not always in the order you’d expect.  You’ll understand White Fox’s loyalty to Dr. Bishop eventually, but for a while you’ll just have to accept it.  You’ll meet the blind officer Creed, hunting the doctor with as much determination as any seeing man, and sometimes leading the one-eyed and toothless.  You’ll meet a red-hooded band of renegades whose loyalties are not easily discerned.  You’ll be as happy as I was that the ending of the book is open-ended.  There will be more SHOTGUN stories.  There had better be.


TCM CLASSIC FILM FEST 2014 -- PART 2

The 5th Annual Turner Classic Movies Classic Movie Festival – usually abbreviated to TCM Classic Movie Festival began on Thursday night, April 10th, with a Red Carpet procession in front of the fabled Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, and the screening of a restored OKAHOMA!, attended by star Shirley Jones and many others – if you missed my coverage of the Red Carpet, you can read it HERE .



           As soon as the Red Carpet ended, I raced across Hollywood Boulevard to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, headquarters for the TCM Fest.  After quite a few stairs and turns I made my way to poolside, where several of the screenings were to take place.  They would be screening AMERICAN GRAFFITI after the sun set, and while we waited, a Wolman Jack impersonator spun platters for a jitterbugging dance troupe.  By 7:30, dark had descended, and Ben Mankiewicz introduced stars Candy Clark, Paul LeMat and Bo Hopkins who, despite having done the movie forty-one years ago, all looked great.  Ben noted, “I’m going to start with Bo, because Candy, it was your first film, and Paul, it was your first.  But Bo, you made a film before.  It’s a film some people here are familiar with.  Tell the people what it was.”



            “Well, my first screen appearance was with Bill Holden, Robert Ryan and Ernest Borgnine in THE WILD BUNCH.”  Hoots, cheers and applause! 

            “What were the similarities between George Lucas and Sam Peckinpah?

            “Night.  And day.”  Among the interesting revelations during that conversation: Harrison Ford talked George Lucas into letting him wear a cowboy hat in the film, so he wouldn’t have to cut his hair – it was a small role, and he was afraid that if he got his hair cut for the period, 1962, it would be too short for any other jobs he might get.  Candy Clark revealed that Richard Dreyfus had broken up with his girlfriend just before they started, and spent much of his time between scenes crying in his trailer – that’s why his eyes look so bloodshot throughout the film.  Paul LeMat admitted that at one point he picked up Dreyfus and threw him into a pool.  Unfortunately, he threw him into the shallow end, and his head smashed on the bottom of the pool.  The boys didn’t wear any make-up in the film, except Dreyfus, whose goose-egg-sized swelling had to be hidden. 


Candy Clark and Bo Hopkins
photo by Stephanie Keenan


            Candy Clark, then 25, was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, was up against 14 year old Linda Blair for THE EXORCIST, and they both lost to 9 year old Tatum O’Neal for PAPER MOON, who also defeated Sylvia Sidney for SUMMER WISHES, WINTER DREAMS, and Madeline Khan for PAPER MOON.  But the biggest indignity of all?  When the nominations are being read, and the five actresses faces are shown, they zoomed in on someone other than Candy Clark!  I watched as much as I dared of AMERICAN GRAFFITI – now I’m going to have to rent it! – then hurried over to the Chinese Theatre Multiplex, beside the big Chinese Theatre, and got on line for JOHNNY GUITAR.  It was introduced by film historian Michael Schlesinger, who revealed that we would be seeing the very first theatrical showing of the DCP, the digital restoration.  “JOHNNY GUITAR was shot in Trucolor, a misnomer if there ever was one.  It was Republic’s in-house color process, and if there was one word to best describe it, it would be ‘ghastly.’”  I always thought it ironic that a studio that majored in westerns would come up with a color process that couldn’t reproduce green – as in grass and trees – at all.  I remember Roy Roger’s TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD, about Christmas tree rustlers, was shot in Trucolor, and I couldn’t understand why anyone would steal grey Christmas trees – they were obviously dead!  On the other hand, it reproduced reds beautifully, which is  why Republic made so many films with beautiful redheads like Maureen O’Hara and Adrian Booth in the 1950s.  Paramount acquired the Republic library, and with greens added to the pallet, we were about to see a movie that, as far as color goes, was being seen as it was meant to look, for the very first time.

A show of hands revealed that about 60% of the audience had never seen the film before, and presumably had no idea of what they were in for.  As Schlesinger explained, this is a movie that works on many levels.  Number one, it’s a western, with horses, guns, stagecoach robberies, and manly men like Ward Bond, Sterling Hayden and Scott Brady.  Number two, it’s also a feminist film, in that while all the manly men are off to one side, “… Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge are doing all of the heavy lifting.”  And some would say that it’s a sub-rosa lesbian film, saying that while Mercedes hates Joan because she incorrectly thinks Joan loves Scott Brady, the undercurrent feels like they’re approaching BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN territory.  “Number three, this movie has a rabid gay following.  It’s ALL ABOUT EVE GOES WEST to them.

            “Number four, it’s a not-too-thinly-disguised attack on McCarthyism.”  Though the script is credited to Philip Yordan, he was acting as a front for blacklisted writer Ben Maddow.  And leading the posse in their frequent rushes to judgment is Ward Bond, the most virulently anti-communist actor in Hollywood.  Schlesinger claims that by 1957, Ward Bond had pissed off so many people that he was nearly unemployable, which is why he was thrilled to get then WAGON TRAIN.  With twenty screen credits – admittedly many TV – between 1954 and 1957, the ‘unemployable’ notion may be wishful thinking on Schlesinger’s part. 

            Joan Crawford bought the novel by Roy Chanslor, sold it and herself as a package to Republic, and hired Nicholas Ray, hot from REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, to direct.  It was not always a happy set.  Joan had chosen McCambridge as ‘the other woman,’ to make sure that was role was played by someone less attractive than herself, “…which she was, but she was also a better actress than Joan, and stole every scene she was in.”  Sterling Hayden was not a fan of Joan’s, and after making the movie, famously said, “There’s not enough money in Hollywood to make me do another movie with Joan Crawford.  And I like money.”   But tense sets can produce good movies, and JOHNNY GUITAR, for all its oddness is certainly entertaining. 

            On Friday morning there were two events of interest to western fans, the screening of STAGECOACH, introduced by author Nancy Schoenberger, and the dedication ceremony for the Charlton Heston commemorative stamp. 



            At 6 p.m., PAPER MOON was shown.  Star Ryan O’Neal was to provide the introduction, but he flaked (the only no-show of the entire event).  Ben Mankiewicz pinch-hit for O’Neal, revealing that PAPER MOON was originally slated to be directed not by Peter Bogdanovich, but by John Huston, with Paul Newman in the Ryan O’Neal role, and Newman’s daughter, Nell Potts, in Tatum O’Neal’s Oscar-winner role of Addie Pray.  Ben was as eager to hear what Ryan would have said about the project, and working with his daughter, since he was very enthusiastic at the time, but there have been problems between them since.  Here’s what director Peter Bogdanovich has said: “Working with Tatum O’Neal was one of the most miserable experiences of my life.”  It’s a wonderful movie. 

            As soon as PAPER MOON ended, many of us bolted to get on line for a movie made the next year, 1974, with three of the same cast-members: Madeline Kahn, John Hillerman, and Burton Gilliam – in PAPER MOON he’s the hotel clerk with the big-toothed grin that gets sent up to Madeline Kahn’s room.  That movie was 1974’s BLAZING SADDLES, which was shown in the giant Chinese Theatre, with director, co-writer and star Mel Brooks attending.  The newly renovated – but not ruined – Chinese Theatre is the largest IMAX theatre in the world, with 932 seats, and 932 of us were waiting outside the theatre, up the stairs to the Hollywood and Highland shopping center beside it, and around and around he walkways.  We got in, and there was not an empty seat in the house.  I’ll tell you all about it next week, in part 3 of my TCM Festival coverage. 

In the meantime, here’s Maureen O’Hara talking to Robert Osborne before the screening of HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY.



DON’T MISS THE SANTA CLARITA COWBOY FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND!

Just five more days until the big event, Saturday and Sunday, April 26th & 27th at Melody Ranch!   Since there is a film currently in production at the Ranch (everyone’s being pretty mysterious about what film it is), a small part of the Western street will not be available for strolling, but access to other areas has been expanded, and some venues will be in new locales – I know for instance that the OutWest Buckaroo Book Store will be in a large tent that will actually give them more room for author events than they’ve had in the past.  Good news for me, as I’ll be moderating a couple of authors’ panels.  On Saturday from 1:30 to 2, the topic is THE WEST IMAGINED, and I’ll be talking with Western novelists Edward M. Erdelac, author of COYOTE’S TRAIL; Jim Christina, author of THE DARK ANGEL; and C. Courtney Joyner, author of SHOTGUN.


Author Peter Sherayko


And on Sunday, from 1:30 to 2, the topic is THE WEST LIVED, and I’ll be talking to non-fiction writers Jerry Nickle, great-grandson of the Sundance Kid; JR Sanders, author of SOME GAVE ALL; and Peter Sherayko, author of TOMBSTONE – THE GUNS AND GEAR. 

Also on Saturday at 12:30, and Sunday at 2:30, I’ll be chatting with Miles Swarthout, who wrote the screenplay for THE SHOOTIST from his father Glendon Swarthout’s novel.  Miles is also involved with the upcoming movie THE HOMESMAN, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, from a novel by Glendon Swarthout.  You can learn all about the events at the Buckaroo Book Shop by going HERE.  
You can learn all about the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival HERE 

ROB WORD’S ‘WILD BUNCH LUNCH’ AT THE AUTRY A ROUSING SUCCESS!



Those of us attending the third-Wednesday-of-the-month Cowboy Lunch @ The Autry had a wonderful time listening to great Peckinpah stories from Bo Hopkins, L.Q. Jones, stunt ace Gary Combs, and WILD BUNCH costumer-turned Peckinpah producer and co-writer Gordon Dawson – that’s Dawson wearing the cross he made for Strother Martin to wear in THE WILD BUNCH.  I never noticed Jesus had been replaced by a bullet! Much more coming soon to the Round-up!

THAT’S A WRAP!

Hope you have a great week!  With six or seven authors to talk to at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Fest, I’ve got a ton of reading to do between now and next weekend!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright April 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

TCM RED CARPET! COWBOY FEST TIX WINNER! ‘WILD BUNCH’ LUNCH AND MORE!



TCM FEST RED CARPET



The 5th annual TCM Classic Film Festival technically began on Thursday afternoon, April 10th, with a presentation called SONS OF GODS AND MONSTERS, at The Hollywood Museum, aka the DeMille Barn, hosted by director Joe Dante (THE HOWLING) and FX make-up master Rick Baker (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON).  But the ‘official’ start came at 6:30 p.m., when stars walked down the red carpet outside Sid Grauman’s Chinese IMAX Theatre to see the restored presentation of the Western musical OKLAHOMA!, with female lead Shirley Jones in attendance. 


Kim Novack


The TCM Fest is like no other event I’ve ever attended.  With as many as seven venues screening movies or having live events at any given moment, it’s the cinematic equivalent of the three-ring circus – there’s so much great stuff happening that you can’t do it all, but you can do more than enough.  In addition to the Chinese Theatre, films screen at the immense Grauman’s Egyptian, and Disney’s El Capitan Theatre, with most screenings taking place in the Chinese Multiplex next door to the Chinese.  A few films were even screened poolside at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Attendees make a major commitment of money as well as time: the most expensive package costs $1599, which includes the red carpet screening, plus the VANITY FAIR after-party, and screenings and events.  The least expensive package is $249 – and I understand that all of the packages quickly sell out.  And starting last year, non-packagers could buy tickets for unfilled screenings on a stand-by basis for $20.


Margaret O'Brien, carrying 
Mickey Rooney's top-hat


As I write this, it’s  Monday, April 14th, the day which marks the 20th anniversary of the Turner Classic Movies channel, and I can think of no other organization or outlet which has done half as much as TCM to preserve film and bring it before the public.  


Tippi Hedron


At about 4:30 we media-types were assigned our spots along the red carpet that began in front of the Hollywood & Highland Center and ran along Hollywood Boulevard to the entrance of Grauman’s Chinese.  The guests began arriving at five.  Shirley Jones was with her irrepressible husband, comedian Marty Ingalls, who held a sign announcing ‘37 YEARS’.  After waking part of the length of the red carpet with her, Ingalls left her to do interviews while he entertained the rest of us.  When someone asked him if he was proud of his wife, he responded, “Is she here?” in mock concern, then added, “Don’t tell her you’ve seen me.  I’m with a date.”  He walked down to the end of the carpet, to a bleacher full of fans.  “Isn’t she amazing?  And she’s a hundred years old!”  Shirley Jones turned 80 last month. 


Marty Ingalls



Merrie Spaeth and Shirley Jones


Merrie Spaeth was next down the crimson walk.  In 1964 she played one of the two teenagers obsessed with Peter Sellers’ pianist character in THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT.  I asked her what Sellers was like off-camera.  “Peter Sellers was a lovely man who wanted attention.  And Tippi (Walker) and I would sit at his feet, and he would perform.  The funniest thing he would do is take Inspector Clouseau to places where he actually never went.  We thought he was wonderful, and he responded.”


Worst picture ever taken of Greg Proops


Comedian Greg Proops, probably best known for WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?, is a very busy voice-actor in addition to his on-camera work -- and my awful picture of him may get him even more voice work!  Very knowledgeable about film, he introduced the excellent Ginger Rogers comedy BACHELOR MOTHER later that night.  “My favorite westerns?  By a long mile, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID.  I also liked DESTRY RIDES AGAIN.  And there’s a really odd Henry Fonda film called WELCOME TO HARD TIMES that I think is superb.  I also love THE CULPEPPER CATTLE COMPANY.  I like lots of westerns.  WILD BUNCH.”


Susan Lloyd


Susan Lloyd, granddaughter of silent screen great Harold Lloyd, was attending, and would present his WHY WORRY? on Friday.  She was very excited about the imminent release from Criterion of Lloyd’s THE FRESHMAN.  She’d spoken about how her father dressed in a much more ‘regular’ manner than Chaplin or Keaton, even wearing glasses.  I reminded her that he looked quite different in his earlier films, as Lonesome Luke.    “Yes he did.  And unfortunately some of the ‘Lonesome Lukes’ got destroyed in a fire at his estate.  So there aren’t a lot of Lonesome Lukes.  But Lonesome Luke – the first one was Willy Work, where he wore tight clothes and a split mustache, like Chaplin.  Lonesome Luke was a little boy, and he started putting glasses on with Lonesome Luke.  And he had to fight with (producer Hal) Roach to let him wear glasses; that’s what happened, and then the glasses stuck.  And then he put on a suit, and a regular tie, and that was it.”

“And he looked like no one else, because he looked like everyone else?”

“He looked like everyone else, and he was happy.  He could walk down the street in make-up and still look like everybody else.”


Andy Dick trying to come up with an answer


Comedian Andy Dick has never been in the running for King of the Cowboys, and seemed genuinely baffled by my question.  “Western?  That’s a stumper.  I can’t really…  Have I seen a western?  Oh: CHINATOWN!”  A friend in his entourage coached, “You might want to go with TOMBSTONE or something.”


Tiffany Vazquez


New to the red carpet was New Yorker Tiffany Vazquez, one of the twenty ‘Super Fans’ TCM selected to be guest programmers.  “Western?  I don’t know too much about westerns, so I’m going to have to go with either THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY or maybe THE SEARCHERS.”


Joe Dante


When director Joe Dante walked by, I asked, “When are you going to make a Western?”

“When they let me!  Actually I did one for Showtime, with Brian Keith (note: it’s an episode of PICTURE WINDOWS called LIGHTNING, written by GUNSMOKE’s Jim Byrnes, featuring Keith, Henry Jones, Ron Perlman and Kathleen Quinlan).  They don’t do westerns anymore.”


Bo Hopkins


Then along came Bo Hopkins, who made his screen premiere in THE WILD BUNCH.  “Mr. Hopkins, what are your favorite westerns?”

“Well, THE WILD BUNCH.  CULPEPPER CATTLE COMPANY.  Oh God, all the John Ford movies, Gary Cooper movies.”

“I liked your work in a small but very good picture called CHEYENNE WARRIOR.”

“That’s right; that was a good one.”


Lynn Stalmaster


One of the unexpected pleasures of the red carpet was to speak with legendary casting director Lynn Stalmaster, who famously cast GUNSMOKE for its first decade, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and other Western series, and features like TOOTSIE, DELIVERENCE, MONTE WALSH, VALDEZ IS COMING, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, and all of the MAGNIFICENT 7 sequels.  Of Mickey Rooney stature, nearing 90, and bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, when I told him that I wrote the Round-up, he responded, “Oh, I’m happy to meet you, because I’ve cast so many westerns that you have seen.   The last one I did was THE COWBOYS, with John Wayne.”

“You cast all of those boys?”

“Yes, and most of them were new to film.  And Roscoe Lee Brown; there was a brilliant chemistry between him and Wayne.  And Bruce Dern.  And he created a villain that had dimension, because he was that kind of an actor.  And I cast HALLELUJAH TRAIL for (director) John Sturges. HOUR OF THE GUN, also for Sturges.  And Jon Voight (playing Curly Bill Brocius) appeared in that, and had a couple of wonderful moments; an actor of that caliber can make so much of even a brief role.”

“What do you look for when you’re casting a period picture?  Is it a different quality?”

“I like to introduce something fresh.  Much as I love the old character actors that appeared in every John Ford film, I like to try to find a unique way, that hopefully the director will accept.  So I try all kinds of things.” 

“Which directors were the best to work with?”

“Sunday we’re showing FIDDLER ON THE ROOF; Norman Jewison.  Robert Wise; we did WEST SIDE STORY.” 


Robert Osbourne


I’ll have more on the TCM Festival in next week’s Round-up!


ROB WORD’S ‘WILD BUNCH’ LUNCH WEDNESDAY AT THE AUTRY



On Wednesday, April 16th at 12:30 p.m., Rob Word will hold his 3rd-Wednesday-of-the-month Cowboy Lunch @ the Autry, and the topic will be Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH.  Admission is free, although naturally you have to buy your own lunch.  After lunch, guests who will be discussing the film will include despicable bounty hunter L.Q. Jones; Bo Hopkins, whose very first movie role was Crazy Lee, and who will hopefully talk “…’til Hell freezes over or you say different!”; stuntman, horse specialist and frequent Peckinpah collaborator Gary Combs; and Gordon Dawson, who supervised costumes in WILD BUNCH, and eventually co-wrote BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA with Bloody Sam.


L.Q. Jones


To whet your appetite, here’s a clip from a recent luncheon, with Bruce Boxleitner talking about making the series HOW THE WEST WAS WON.  (You can find many more clips from these events by going to Youtube and searching ‘a Word on Westerns.’)


Bo Hopkins





SANTA CLARITA COWBOY FEST TICKET WINNER!



Longtime Henry’s Western Round-up reader Sally Gomez of Baldwin Park, California has won a pair of tickets to the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival by correctly identifying Champion as Gene Autry’s horse.  Those of you who wrote in ‘Topper’ or ‘Buttermilk’ may now hang your heads in shame.   The Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 26 & 27 at Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita. 


Gold panners


As there is a film currently in production at the Ranch (that’s why they’re in business, after all), some of the Western street will not be available for strolling, access to other areas has been expanded, and some venues will be in new locales – I know for instance that the OutWest Buckaroo Book Store will be in a large tent that will actually give them more room for author events than they’ve had in the past.  Good news for me, as I’ll be moderating a couple of authors’ panels.  On Saturday from 1:30 to 2, the topic is THE WEST IMAGINED, and I’ll be talking with Western novelists Edward M. Erdelac, author of COYOTE’S TRAIL; Jim Christina, author of THE DARK ANGEL; and C. Courtney Joyner, author of SHOTGUN.


Author JR Sanders


And on Sunday, from 1:30 to 2, the topic is THE WEST LIVED, and I’ll be talking to non-fiction writers Jerry Nickle, great-grandson of the Sundance Kid; JR Sanders, author of SOME GAVE ALL; and Peter Sherayko, author of TOMBSTONE – THE GUNS AND GEAR. 



Also on Saturday at 12:30, and Sunday at 2:30, I’ll be chatting with Miles Swarthout, who wrote the screenplay for THE SHOOTIST from his father Glendon Swarthout’s novel.  Miles is also involved with the upcoming movie THE HOMESMAN, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, from a novel by Glendon Swarthout.  You can learn all about the events at the Buckaroo Book Shop by going HERE.  

You can learn all about the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival HERE .


Joey Dillon prepares to shoot an apple 
off a volunteer's head!


NEW VENUE, DATE, AND PRICE FOR TARANTINO’S ‘HATEFUL 8’ READING

As you know if you read the Round-up, Quentin Tarantino had announced on The Tonight Show that he was following up DJANGO UNCHAINED with a new Western entitled THE HATEFUL 8.  And you also know that some a-holes put the script up on-line, which so angered Tarantino that he shelved the project and sued the A-holes.  (A-hole court date is January 27, 2015.  A-holes involved are officially known as the GAWKER website.)  And you know that, as a benefit for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Tarantino decided to hold a staged reading of the script at the Museum, with tickets costing $200 a pop, for LACMA Film Club members only.  But what you perhaps did not know is that scheduling conflicts have caused a change of date and location for the reading. 


The Theatre at the Ace Hotel - formerly 
The United Artists Theatre


The new date is Saturday, April 19th – that’s this Saturday – at 8 p.m.  The new location is downtown L.A., at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel, 929 South Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90015.  The new prices, depending on seat location, are $100, $125, $150 and $200.  They went on-sale on Friday to members of the LACMA Film Club, Film Independent, and New York Times Film Club.  Any unsold tickets will go on-sale to everyone else tomorrow, Wednesday, at 5 p.m.  Here’s the link to Ticketmaster: http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004C8A982C9420

As you may have gathered, they’re kinda touchy about things leaking out, so NO cell phones will be permitted at the event.  The theatre, incidentally, was built as the United Artists Theatre in 1927, and is one of Downtown’s treasures.  Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffith had just begun UNITED ARTISTS to have control over their films, and commissioned the building of the theatre.

The dramatic reading is significant, and open to wildly different interpretations.  Friends who are attending have told me they think that, with the script being shelved, this will be their only chance to witness this new Tarantino work.  Others, myself included, are hoping that the enthusiasm and excitement generated by this event will reinvigorate Tarantino’s enthusiasm, and convince him to make the movie.  We’ll have to wait and see who’s right.


HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY JAMES DRURY!  INSP CELEBRATES FRIDAY WITH HIS FAVORITE ‘VIRGINIAN’ EPISODES!



James Drury, star not only of THE VIRGINIAN series, but of Sam Peckinpah’s RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, FORBIDDEN PLANET, POLLYANA, and many TV westerns -- memorably THE REBEL, RAWHIDE and THE RIFLEMAN -- will turn 80 on Friday.  To celebrate, INSP, which exclusively shows the venerable series, will air Drury’s two favorite episodes among the 249 he starred in.  In THE MOUNTAIN OF THE SUN, the Virginian tries to discourage a trio of female missionaries from going to help Yaqui Indians in Mexico, and in the process falls for one of them, played by lovely Dolores Hart.  This was Hart’s last performance before she gave up acting and became a nun.   In FELICITY’S SPRING, the Virginian and Felicity Andrews (Katherine Crawford) make wedding plans, and I’ll not say more than that.   In addition to the two 90 minute episodes, INSP will also run some never-before-seen footage to celebrate James’ birthday.  Don’t miss it!



James Drury with Clu Gulager




DEL MAR RACETRACK CAPS ‘WESTERN WEEK’ SAT. WITH ‘NIGHT OF THE HORSE’!

Del Mar’s 69th Annual Horse Show is going on, and on Saturday night, April 19th, Night of the Horse presents Hoofbeats Through History, which will examine the moment man first encountered the horse, and how his world was forever changed.  Anthony DeLongis, actor, stuntman, accomplished mounted shooter, knife-thower, and whip-cracker will demonstrate his remarkable warfare skills.


Peter Sherayko as Buffalo Bill


Peter Sherayko, western movie actor, historical accuracy authority, and action coordinator will don the goatee from his famous Buffalo Bill Cody one-man-show, and reenact how the cowboy tamed the west, opened territory, ranched, mined, blazed trails and brawled!

The show will also feature Clay Maier driving dressage and jumping, cavalry style.  Nancy Nunke will present the world’s only trained Przewalksi’s horse – these are the prehistoric horses seen in cave paintings!  Present-day knights in shining armor will demonstrate their jousting skills, plus there will be Charros, Roman Riders and Trick Riders!  To learn more, go HERE .

THAT’S  A WRAP!

That’s it for this week!  Have a great one, and let me know about anything in your neck of the woods that the Round-up Rounders ought to know about!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Content Copyright April 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved