‘CIVIL WAR AND THE WEST’ OPENS AT THE AUTRY
Yesterday, an elaborate new exhibit, Empire and Liberty: The Civil War and the West, opened at the Autry, and will be on
display through January 3rd of next year. As the title suggests, the show examines the
effect that the Civil War had on the American West, a region much of which was
still being settled at the time of the War Between the States. As is practically a trademark with them, the
Autry has used a wide array of documents, uniforms and other objects from their
own collections, and borrowed others, to give a living feel to a war which had
its end 150th Anniversary only last week (John Wilkes Booth died 150
years ago today!).
Frontier Fremont's flag
Of the greatest significance, the posted text that goes
with the displays gives a historical context, a sense of the related sequence
of events that is not obvious. Of course
the Louisiana Purchase led to the Lewis and Clark expedition; but not so
obvious, the charting of that land, the making of states, led to the Missouri
Compromise, forcing an equal number of free and slave states. We know about the misery caused by the Indian
Removal Act, but a side-effect of forcing the Indians from their land was to
make it available for cotton plantations, which brought the ‘need’ of
slaves.
'American Progress' by John Gast -1872
Jefferson Davis’s double-barreled pistol from his
service in the Mexican War reminds us that not only was that war a proving
group for him, but for Grant and Lee, all of whom were West Point
graduates. Among the fascinating
documents that illuminate the period are slave purchase receipts; an
Andersonville Prison Survivor Certificate; a Union Army enlistment bounty –
forty dollars to sign up; a receipt for Chinese coolie wages of $12 a month –
once the $30 voyage cost is paid; a Buffalo Soldier payroll document, $13 a
month. Displays take you through the
period looking at the various historic events, as well as particular groups –
various Indian tribes, former slaves, women, displaced Mexicans – as well as
the general population.
Grant's Smith & Wesson pistol
One strong bit of direction; when you enter the
exhibit, the natural direction, which most folks were taking, was forward and
to the left. I did so, and first found the displays
interesting, but arbitrary. I went
back, and entered on the right, and
suddenly everything was in a generally chronological order, and all of the
elements fell into place. THEY NEED A
BIG RIGHT ARROW AS YOU ENTER!
Pico's War Drum
CHARLEY SUNDAY’S TEXAS OUTFIT by STEPHEN LODGE – A
Book Review
Stephen Lodge at last week's Santa
Clarita Cowboy Festival
Silver-haired Charley Sunday is a retired Texas
Ranger at the turn of the 20th century, trying to hold his small
ranch together. He partners with old
friend and woman of dubious virtue Flora Mae Huckabee, to purchase a now-rare
three hundred head of longhorns, and bring ‘em cross-country to Texas. Rounding up other former Rangers, a female
journalist, an Indian law student, his young grandson Henry-Ellis, and various
other misfits, going up against a dastardly Colorado meat-packer, Charlie
Sunday is in for the adventure of his already long and adventurous life.
The story is told by that grandson, Henry-Ellis, now
an old man, and telling his own grandchildren the tale, sixty years later. The funny thing, as I was enjoying this
novel, is that it didn’t remind me of other Western novels so much as it did other
Western movies – particularly the humorous ones directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
and Burt Kennedy in the late sixties and seventies. It’s written so visually that you ‘see’ the
action, not just understand it, while you’re reading. No surprise really, because it’s author,
Stephen Lodge, has written or co-written a number of memorable movies,
including THE HONKERS, starring James Coburn and Slim Pickens; KINGDOM OF THE
SPIDERS, starring William Shatner and Woody Strode; and RIO DIABLO, starring
Kenny Rogers and Travis Tritt. ( If
you’d like to read my review of Steve’s memoir of his life in the film
industry, AND…ACTION!, and my interview with him, go HERE .)
At the Santa
Clarita Cowboy Festival last Saturday, when I was moderating the panel Screenplay to Novel or Novel to Screenplay?,
Steve confirmed that CHARLIE SUNDAY began life not as a novel, but as the
screenplay MOVE ‘EM SUNDAY, which the great Buddy Ebsen tried unsuccessfully to
have made.
When you read CHARLIE SUNDAY, you can have the
additional fun of seeing the movie in your head, and watching Buddy Ebsen
deliver the lines (although in truth, I usually heard Richard Farnsworth doing
it). CHARLIE SUNDAY’S TEXAS OUTFIT is
published by Pinnacle, a division of Kensington Books, and you can buy it
from AMAZON, or from the other big guys, in trade
paperback, mass-market paperback, Kindle,
and audible. And in just two days, on Tuesday, April 28th, you can
buy DEADFALL: CHARLIE SUNDAY’S TEXAS OUTFIT 2!
And Steve assures me that CHARLIE SUNDAY 3 is already in the works!
‘HIGH
NOON’/’SHANE’ DOUBLE BILL WEDNESDAY AT THE AERO
As part of the continuing celebration of the Aero
Theatre’s 75th year, at 7:30 pm, two of the finest Westerns of the
1950s – nay, two of the finest Westerns of any time – HIGH NOON (1952) and
SHANE (1953) will play, and if you’re reading this blog, I don’t need to tell
you who is in them, or what they are about.
And if you haven’t seen them on the screen in a few years, you need to
see them again – you’ll be astonished at what details you’ve never seen
before. For more information, go HERE .
WILD WEST DAY – ARCADIA, MAY 2ND
Saturday, May 2nd, from ten ‘til 4, enjoy
panning for gold, a telegraph demonstration, roping, U.S. Marshall’s posse, crafts,
stagecoach rides, Queen Anne’s Cottage tours, Depot open house, food, root
beer, and a musical performances by Singing Cowboy Mike Tims, RT n’ the 44s,
and the lovely and talented Saguaro
Sisters. Learn more HERE.
GREGORY PECK IN ‘YELLOW SKY’ MAY 9TH AT
THE AUTRY
As part of their monthly ‘What is a Western?’
series, the Autry will screen YELLOW SKY, at 1:30 pm in the Wells Fargo
Theatre. Director William Wellman and
screenwriter Lamar Trotti, who teamed in last month’s offering, THE OX BOW
INCIDENT, this time tackled a W. R. Burnett (LITTLE CEASAR, HIGH SIERRA) story,
about a pack of outlaws hiding out in a ghost town populated only by an old
prospector and his daughter, Anne Baxter.
Also in this drama, suggested by Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST, are Richard
Widmark, John Russell and Harry Morgan.
The film will be introduced by Jeffrey Richardson, Gamble Curator of
Western History, Popular Culture and Firearms.
Admission is included with museum admission, free to members. Learn more HERE .
MEET TONY ANTHONY - ‘GET MEAN’ SCREENING JUNE 8 AT
CINEFAMILY!
Spaghetti Western star and 3-D movie pioneer Tony
Anthony will make a rare public appearance, with his co-star Lloyd Battista, on
June 8th, for a screening of the new restoration of his 4th
and final film in the ‘Stranger’ series, GET MEAN (1975). West Virginia-born Tony started writing and
acting in 1961 with FORCE OF IMPULSE and WITHOUT EACH OTHER; he went to Europe to
act in the bullfight film WOUNDS OF HUNGER (1963), and stayed for years. Tony Anthony is an unusual actor for his era,
in that he wrote or co-wrote nearly all of his Westerns – notably BLINDMAN
(1971), where he plays a blind bounty hunter, and his quarry is Ringo
Starr.
is the link to buy tickets. I know it’s a month away, but I’m posting
this now because Cinefamiy events are
very popular, and often sell out.
SOLIMA’S ‘BIG GUNDOWN’ INTRO’D BY JOE DANTE JUNE 18
AT LINWOOD DUNN
As part of their THIS IS WIDESCREEN series, The Academy
of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will screen Sergio Solima’s THE BIG
GUNDOWN, starring Lee Van Cleef, Thursday, June 18th, at the Linwood
Dunn Theatre in the Mary Pickford Center, 1313 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA
90028. (Note, this is the Hollywood venue,
not the Academy headquarters in Beverly Hills).
It’s a very unusual, well-told story, with lawman-turned-politician Van
Cleef on the hunt for a degenerate criminal (Tomas Milian) who may be not as
bad as the men who want him dead. This
is the new restoration from Grindhouse Releasing which Courtney Joyner and I
got to see when we were doing audio commentary for their BluRay release, and it
looks spectacular. The price range is
from $3 to $5, and you can learn more about the film, and order tickets HERE
If you’d like to buy the fabulous 4-disc set,
including a CD of the brilliant Ennio Morricone soundtrack, go HERE .
THAT’S A WRAP!
One more thing before you go! The screenings and events in this Round-up
are all in Southern California, but this is not a strictly California
blog. It’s read in over ninety
countries, and I want to serve the Western movie fan as well as I can, but I
need your help. If you know about any
upcoming screenings or other western-related events anywhere in the world, please
share them with me, and I’ll pass ‘em along!
Happy Trails,
Henry
All Original Contents Copyright April 2015 by Henry
C. Parke – All Rights Reserved
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