Monday, April 7, 2014
‘TURN’ PREMIERES ON AMC, COWBOY FEST TICKET GIVEAWAY, PLUS FIRST LOOK AT ‘THE HOMESMAN’!
‘TURN’ - SERIES PILOT REVIEW
Tonight, April 6th, at 6 p.m. Western
time, 9 p.m. Eastern, AMC’s new drama series, TURN, will premier. Set in the midst of the American Revolution,
it is based on the true story of the Culper Ring, a group of grown-up boyhood
friends who became a spy network working to get information on Redcoat troop
movements for General George Washington.
Based on the best-selling history book WASHINGTON’S
SPIES by Alexander Rose, it is a spy-thriller with three-cornered hats, and I
found the pilot enthralling. Shot in Virginia, and set in New York’s Long
Island, the story centers around farmer Abraham Woodhull, a married man with a
baby son. Long Island is occupied by the
British, and the Woodhulls are among the families suffering the indignity of
having a British soldier quartered in their home.
Woodhall has other problems as well: his crop of
cauliflower is infested with maggots, which makes it unlikely that he’ll be
able to pay off his debts – owed to a tavern-owner now married to Woodhall’s
former beloved. With the government
controlling commerce, the desperate Woodhall tries to sell a few head of
cauliflower on the black market, unsure of whether he has more to fear from British
or the gun-toting colonists – and his simple act sets wheels in motion that
will change the lives of everyone he knows.
The at-first reluctant spy Woodhall is played
convincingly by Jamie Bell – remarkable to realize that at the turn of the last
century he amazed us all as the title character of BILLY ELLIOT. Meegan Warner plays Mrs. Woodhall who wants
her husband to have nothing to do with spying.
Heather Lind, who played Katy on BOARDWALK EMPIRE, plays Anna Strong,
whom Woodhall would have married if she hadn’t spurned him. And Seth Numrich, late of the grim comedy
series GRAVITY, plays Colonial Army officer and Woodhall’s childhood friend Ben
Talmage, who approaches Woodhall to help his country-in-the-making.
Written by Alexander Rose and producer-writer Craig
Silverstein, whose voluminous credits include NIKITA, TERRA NOVA and BONES, the
plotting is clever, the telling is smart, quick and sensible, with a fine eye
for historical detail that creates reality without screaming about it. The action is exciting and not for the
squeamish – the occupying army is unflinchingly brutal, and the occupied must
at times answer in kind.
Rather than
being played as symbols, as is often the case with movies of this historical
period, and despite the powdered wigs, the characters are motivated by a mix of
practicality and ideals, just like real humans.
For myself, the most unnerving aspect of the show is
that Robert Rogers, of Rogers’ Rangers, is one of the principal villains of the
piece! Having grown up loving the
NORTHWEST PASSAGE series, starring Keith Larsen in that role, as well as
Spencer Tracy in the feature, it’s troubling to see the rest of his history on
the screen. For hero though Rogers was
in the French and Indian Wars, he was fighting alongside the British against
the French. It’s disappointing, but not
unreasonable that he sided with the British again during the American
Revolution. Here he is played with gravitas by Angus McFayden, who was
excellent in the recent COPPERHEAD, and is perhaps best remembered as Robert
The Bruce in BRAVEHEART.
Tonight’s
opener is ninety minutes, and will be repeated later tonight, plus on Monday,
and next Saturday and Sunday. The
regular episodes will be an hour. I’d
make a point to see the pilot if I were you – it’s fine stuff, and my guess is it
will continue to improve.
FIRST LOOK AT ‘THE HOMESMAN’!
Here are the first images from THE HOMESMAN, which
will premiere on May 24th at the Cannes
Film Festival! Co-written, directed
by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, based on the novel my Glendon Swarthout, Jones
plays a rustler who takes on the job of transporting three madwomen across the
desert to an asylum in Kansas.
Joining Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones are fellow
statuette owners Hilary Swank and Meryl Streep, as well as John Lithgow, James
Spader, Hailee Steinfeld – Mattie Ross in the TRUE GRIT remake, William Fichtner,
and Barry Corbin. It’s produced by Luc
Bresson, the French writer-producer-director who created the LA FEMME NIKTA,
TRANSPORTER and THE PROFESSIONAL franchises.
Novelist Glendon Swarthout has an excellent record
in the cinema. Films adapted from his
novels include BLESS THE BEASTS AND CHILDREN, WHERE THE BOYS ARE, and the
Westerns 7TH CAVALRY, THEY CAME TO CORDURA and, most famously, John
Wayne’s final film, the marvelous THE SHOOTIST.
Glendon’s son, Miles Swarthout, wrote the screenplay for THE SHOOTIST,
and was involved in THE HOMESMAN as well.
I’ll be interviewing Miles Swarthout about his own
and his father’s career at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, at Melody Ranch,
on Saturday and Sunday, April 26th & 27th, at the
Buckaroo Book Shop. We’ll talk at 12:30
on Saturday and 2:30 on Sunday. You can learn all about the events at the
Buckaroo Book Shop by going HERE. https://www.facebook.com/events/434317293370585/434413240027657/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity
WIN TWO TICKETS TO THE COWBOY FESTIVAL!
Speaking of the Santa
Clarita Cowboy Festival, and yes, I’ve been speaking about it a lot, it’s coming to the Veluzat family’s
Melody Ranch on Saturday and Sunday, April 26th & 27th. What
started as a working ranch has been a popular location for filmmakers for
nearly a century. Owned at one time by
Monogram Pictures, then purchased by Gene Autry and christened Melody Ranch
after his radio show, nearly every A or B Western star worked there at one time
or another. A very busy movie ranch, in
growing demand with the resurgence of the Western movie and TV series, it was
home base for both DEADWOOD and Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED, as well
as many other films, music videos and TV commercials.
The Festival is an outgrowth of a Cowboy Poetry
Festival held annually at Santa Clarita High School. When the 1994 earthquake demolished the
school’s auditorium, the Veluzat family offered the use of their movie ranch,
and a twenty-year tradition was born. There’s still poetry, as well as food,
shopping for all things Western, strolling the ranch and visiting its
museum. There activities for children
and adults, and all manner of entertainment, including magician Pop Haydn,
gun-slinger par excellence Joey Dillon,
and lariat-tosser Dave Thornbury. Then
there’s the music – at five different venues big and small throughout the
ranch, more than twenty acts will perform, including Don Edwards, Sons of the
San Joaquin, Waddie Mitchell, Cow Bop, Dave Stamey and many more.
Miles Swarthout & C. Courtney Joyner
And at the Buckaroo
Book Store, run by the folks at OutWest,
Western fact and fiction writers will be meeting fans, signing books, and
giving talks. Among the authors
attending will be Cheryl Rogers-Barnett (daughter of Roy and Dale), Margaret
Brownley, Jim Christina, Peter Conway, Steve Deming, Edward M. Erdelac, J.P.
Gorman, Dale B. Jackson, Jim Jones, C. Courtney Joyner, Andria Kidd, Antoinette
Lane, Jerry Nickle (a descendant of Harry Longabaugh, alias the Sundance Kid),
J.R. Sanders, Tony Sanders, Peter Sherayko, Janet Squires, ‘Cowgirl Peg’
Sundberg, Miles Hood Swarthout, Rod Thompson, and Nancy Pitchford-Zee.
And in addition to the interviews I’ll be doing with
Miles Swarthout, I’ll also be moderating a pair 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. 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.
Admission is $20 per day for adults, $10 for kids,
but the good folks at OutWest – click their logo at the top of the page to
learn all about ‘em – are going to give away a pair of tickets to the
event! Thousands will pay, but you won’t
have to if you’re our lucky winner! How do you win? Answer this question: For a long time, after
Gene Autry had stopped making movies at the ranch, Gene held onto the property
to provide a home to one particular horse.
What was that horse’s name? E-mail your answer, along with your name,
address, phone number, and what day you’d want the tickets for, to swansongmail@sbcglobal.net , with
‘Cowboy Festival Ticket Giveaway’ in the subject line. The winner will be selected randomly from all
correct entries, and announced in next week’s Round-up. Good luck!
ROBERT DUVALL IN ‘A NIGHT IN OLD MEXICO’
Check out the trailer for the new present-day
Western starring Robert Duvall, Jeremy Irvine, and Angie Cepeda.
TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL OPENS THURSDAY APRIL 11
For details on what Westerns are playing, check out
last week’s Round-up here: http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2014/04/free-tcm-movie-locations-tour-heston.html
For details on all films and events, go here: http://filmfestival.tcm.com/
SEE TY POWER AS ‘JESSE JAMES’ SATURDAY, APRIL 12 AT
THE AUTRY
As part of the Autry’s ‘What is a Western?’ series, Henry King’s dazzling Technicolor
telling of the James Brothers myth will be screened in 35mm! The original screenplay is by the great
Nunnally Johnson. The cast includes
Henry Fonda as brother Frank, Nancy Kelly, Randolph Scott, Henry Hull, Brian
Donlevy, John Carradine, Donald Meek and Jane Darwell. The film will be introduced by curator
Jeffrey Richardson, who always provides fascinating background and insights
into the films in this fine monthly series.
It’s at 1:30 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Theatre, free with your museum
admission.
MICKEY ROONEY DIES AT 93
Just heard that the Mick has passed away. I saw him at a number of events, but never
got to talk to him. But I had the
pleasure of speaking with many child stars of the 1930s and 1940s over the
years, and without exception they all held that the most talented and versatile
of them all was Joe Yule Jr., a.k.a. Mickey Rooney. A tremendous talent who will be sorely
missed. I’ll have more in next week’s
Round-up.
THAT’S A WRAP!
I’ve got the TCM Festival coming up this week, Rob
Word’s Cowboy Lunch @ the Autry saluting THE WILD BUNCH a week from Wednesday,
and the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival the week after that! Should be a lot of interesting stuff coming
up in the Round-up!
Happy Trails,
Henry
All Original Contents Copyright April 2014 by Henry
C. Parke – All Rights Reserved
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As always - an entertaining, enlightening, and fascinating read! Counting the days to Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival - can't wait to meet the ticket winners!
ReplyDeleteI'm worried!
ReplyDeleteI believe it was right here that I read that filming will be going on during the Cowboy Festival at Melody Ranch. For me at least, the main star is the set (town) itself. Now, obviously, actual filming work cannot possibly be going on during the festival, as it would be impossible to control the noise and crowd. The actual filming must be going on during the week, but even then, how much of the town will be off limits, due to a "hot set?" This is a very important question as I go to the festival mainly for the town set.
Hi Jeff, I'm sorry I didn't reply earlier, but it took me a while to find out anything. What I have been told is that most of the big western street will be available to the public. As I understand it, it's at the farthest end of the street from the Melody Ranch entrance, starting at about where the Buckaroo Book Store normally is, and the street makes a dog-leg turn, that things will be blocked off. I understand other areas not normally open will be available to us, though I know no specifics. Hope to see you there!
DeleteThought TURN pilot was quite good. Will be sticking with it.
ReplyDeleteJim Cornelius
www.frontierpartisans.com
Thank you!
ReplyDelete