SILVER SPURS HONORS GUNSMOKE’S 60TH ANNI, PLUS GUNSMOKE BOOK REVIEWS, WORD ON WESTERNS!

SILVER SPURS HONORS GUNSMOKE'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

At about 5 pm this past Friday, September 18^th, the folks who make the Westerns and the folks who love them, began gathering at Studio City’s famed Sportsmen’s Lodge for the 18^th Annual Silver Spur Awards.  (The Sportsmen’s, which will soon close its doors, has been the location for the Awards for many years, and in fact predates the film business in Los Angeles.  In the old days, you could fish in their ponds for trout, and have them cooked for your dinner.)

While the Silver Spurs, presented by The Reel Cowboys, has always honored Western film and television in general, this year’s Awards were much more specific, celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the longest-running live action series in television history, GUNSMOKE.  Reel Cowboys President Robert Lanthier rode shotgun, but handed the reins over to Julie Ann Ream, combining the event with her Western Legends Awards.  Julie grew up around GUNSMOKE – her grandfather, Taylor ‘Cactus Mack’ McPeters, appeared in 48 episodes, and her cousin Glenn Strange was Sam the bartender at the Long Branch in 238 shows. 

I’ve done a number of red carpets, but this time was a little different for me: Julie assigned me a cameraman, and asked me to do interviews from five ‘til six as the guests arrived, for a DVD of the event.  I was very happy to do it.  After that hour, I continued doing interviews with just my recorder, and those are what you’ll read below.  You’ll have to wait to hear what Mrs. James Arness, Bruce Boxleitner, Angie Dickinson, Morgan Woodward, and Martin Kove had to say until the DVD is ready.

Mariette Hartley flanked by costumed escort, husband Jerry Sroka

When I asked Mariette Hartley which of her three GUNSMOKES was her favorite, without hesitation she said COTTER’S GIRL (1963), in which she played a wild girl found living in the trees, and in need of civilizing.   

MARIETTE HARTLEY:  COTTER’S GIRL.  The very first.  It just stretched me to the limit.  Because I was doing a play, a very heavy play, at UCLA, at the same time as I was doing GUNSMOKE.  Jim Arness never reads the (script).  He reads the page that he’s doing that day, rips it up and throws it away.  The character I played is Clarey, and Jim was very nervous about hiring somebody to actually be on the trail with him for that long a period of time.  He didn’t want Matt to be accused of, I guess, child molestation or whatever.  So he actually insisted on meeting me, reading with me, which is very unusual.  So I got the part of this character who lives in the trees and eats berries.  Ends up getting dressed up.  But I can’t walk – they have to teach me how to walk, how to eat.  And in that particular scene, the eating scene, which was so funny, I end up grabbing a steak and shoving it into my mouth.  Now Jim, having not read the scene, had no idea what was going to happen.  And when these guys, and Kitty, got together, and started laughing, that was the end of the scene.  And it took us four hours to get that scene.  I had to leave, do the play, come back in the morning, we started again, and the minute they said ‘action’ we started laughing, and we were done, just done.  That’s one of the reasons I loved it.  Also it was a wonderful script by Kathleen Hite, who writes a lot of the ones on Sirius XM.  (Note: Sirius XM plays old time radio shows.  Kathleen Hite wrote more than eighty radio scripts, including many GUNSMOKES, and 36 FORT LARAMIE episodes.)

Four-time Emmy-winner Miss Michael Learned may be best known for playing Olivia Walton, but she also appeared on GUNSMOKE.  The first time she played, as she told me, “a hooker.”  The next time, also in 1973, she played Matt’s love interest in MATT’S LOVE STORY.  She was called upon to play the same role in 1990 in the TV movie GUNSMOKE: THE LAST APACHE.   

HENRY: You had a relationship with Matt Dillon like no one else did.

MICHAEL LEARNED: Yes I did, but we don’t talk about it.  He had amnesia, so he could be forgiven.  I knew what was going on, but I didn’t know who he was.  I didn’t know about Miss Kitty.

HENRY:  Would you have cared?

MICHAEL LEARNED: (laughs) Probably not.

HENRY:  What was it like continuing a story with so many years in between?    

MICHAEL LEARNED:  It was kind of weird, to tell you the truth, because I never knew what had happened.  I didn’t know we had a daughter until (producer) John Mantley called me and said, “We’re doing a movie of the week, and you had a daughter.”  I said oh; okay.  It was a little strange, but just being with James, he’s such a calming person.  It was wonderful.  Nice to have a second chance to be with him.

L.Q. Jones and Tanner Beard

Miss Learned has been doing a lot of theatre lately.  “I just got back from doing MOTHERS AND SONS in Austin, Texas, and I’m going off in the summer to do another play in Canada.” 

Not all of the GUNSMOKE fans were old enough to have seen it in its original run.  Tanner Beard, who directed and co-starred in 6 BULLETS TO HELL was there with co-star Ken Lukey.  Their second Western together, 6 BULLETS was shot in Spain on Leone’s sets, and is probably the first Western to replace helicopter and crane shots with drones for dramatic pull-ups.  Actress Mindy Miller, all in buckskin, was eager to speak to L.Q. Jones.  Back in 1983, they starred together in the Charles B. Pierce Western SACRED GROUND. 

L.Q. Jones and Mindy Miller

L.Q. Jones is an accomplished writer and director as well as an actor.  I asked him about his thoughts on the GUNSMOKE writers.   

L.Q. JONES:  They had the best on GUNSMOKE. And you learn very quickly, you may think you can write, and you might be able to.  But can you write for GUNSMOKE?  Can you write for thirty minutes?  Can you write for an hour show?  I can’t. I have a tough time doing an hour and a half or two hours.  That’s a very special thing.  And they knew the people, and they knew their work.  Almost everything I’m in, they ask me to change (my lines) to fit me.  And I do a lot of it over the years.  But not on GUNSMOKE.  You take what they give you, hit your marks, say your words, and pick up your check.  The writers, the producers, the crew, they were so professional in what they did.

HENRY:  You did so many Westerns series at that time.  How did the atmosphere of the sets vary?

L.Q. JONES:  What do I say?  The people had become a family on GUNSMOKE.  Now I also did a lot of VIRGINIANS; and we became a family there.  I was a regular on about seven Westerns.  I’m not saying that GUNSMOKE was the only enjoyable series – I don’t mean that.  But they were the best of the best. They had great budgets.  They could afford to do the things they wanted to do.  And a lot of the other shows…  THE VIRGINIAN bear in mind, we were putting on a new western every other week.  That means you had two weeks to make an hour and a half show, which is a full motion picture.  So we had to clip a few things here and there on budgets.  We did some changes on the scripts.  Not that nobody did any changes on GUNSMOKE; they did.  But by and large you hit your marks, said your words, because what they gave you is what they wanted, and what worked.  And that’s what you’re out there to do, to please first the director, then the producer.  And I got so familiar with them that I could pretty well do it without having to ask them what to do next.  It’s hell to beat family, and I had family on two or three others.  I started out on CHEYENNE.     

HENRY:  What’s your favorite episode of GUNSMOKE

L.Q. JONES:  I know this sounds Pollyana-ish, I don’t mean to, but any show I do is my favorite at the moment.  If I didn’t, I’d have quit the business long ago.  What for me was the greatest fun, I did the first black episode of GUNSMOKE, where except for the regulars, it was all black.  And I was a terrible person.  I literally kicked dogs.  I beat kids.  I chased women, I drank, everything you could do.  They showed it on a Sunday as opposed to a Saturday.  That Monday I went to work; we lived in Camarillo.  I had about a forty-five minute trip to get to the studio.  I was driving my MG.  The top was down.  And I was booed and hissed for the entire twenty or thirty miles.    They had all seen the show the night before.  And they were throwing things and hissing and booing.  It was great fun to work under something like that.  That is my favorite, because of what happened after the fact, but I enjoyed the others as much as that. 

Then it was time for everyone to move in to the banquet hall.  I’ll have the highlights of what was said there in the next Round-up.  For my own interest, I was trying to explain the incredible longevity of the series.  It’s easy to just say ‘it was the best,’ and it was.  But why?  It’s worth noting that this past week also marked the 50^th anniversary of the premieres of both THE BIG VALLEY (112 episodes) and LAREDO (56 episodes).  In fact, yesterday, September 20^th, marked the 60^th anniversary of the first hour-long Western drama, CHEYENNE, which ran for 108 episodes.  Why did GUNSMOKE last for more than twenty years as a series, producing 635 episodes, and four TV movies?  I believe it was the writing as much as the cast, and the secret to the writing was that it began on radio.  Radio is a much more intimate, less ‘showy’ medium than film, and with no visuals, story rather than action had to carry the interest.  And the thirty-minute running time meant that the shows had to rely on character at least as much as plot, since there was simply no time to get complicated.  The first six seasons of GUNSMOKE were half hours, most based on radio episodes, and even when the time ran up to an hour, the writers had already established the lead characters, and learned that stories about people were much more compelling than stories about events.

‘GUNSMOKE – AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION’ BY BEN COSTELLO

‘THE GUNSMOKE CHRONICLES – A NEW HISTORY OF TELEVISION’S GREATEST WESTERN’ BY DAVID R. GREENLAND

TWO BOOK REVIEWS

GUNSMOKE is everywhere, from TV-LAND to ME-TV to ENCORE WESTERNS, and with the new interest peaked by the television series’ 60^th anniversary, it’s a perfect time to pick up these two fine reference books, and deepen your knowledge, and thus your enjoyment, of the greatest Western series ever to grace the small screen. 

Each book devotes hundreds of pages to episode guides, listing cast and crew and a brief synopsis of all 635 episodes, as well as the TV movies.   Ben Costello’s book is a lavish coffee-table book, with photographs, black and white as well as color, on nearly every page.  Costello’s book, clearly a labor of love done over many years, begins with a foreword by story editor Jim Byrnes, who wrote 34 episodes, and a preface by Oscar-winner and three-time GUNSMOKE guest star Jon Voight.  

Opening chapters detail the Gunsmoke story from its beginnings as a ground-breaking radio show created by John Meston and Norman Macdonnell, how western screenwriter Charles Marquis Warren would help craft it into a television series, the casting, and the real people behind the roles of Matt, Kitty, Chester, Doc, Festus, and all of the others.  Chapters are devoted to the many fine writers and directors who crafted the show.

Among the high points are interviews with the series stars, Dennis Weaver (Chester), Burt Reynolds (Quint) and Buck Taylor (Newly).  And there are two chapters of reminiscences by guest stars, including Morgan Woodward, Paul Picerni, Anthony Caruso, James Gregory, Adam West, William Windom, William Schallert, David Carradine, Loretta Swit, Earl Holliman, William Smith, Harry Carey Jr., and many more.   There are chapters about live performances by the cast, a staggering array of toys and collectibles, and even favorite recipes of the stars – I’m definitely going to try Jim Arness’ chili if I can find enough venison! 

‘GUNSMOKE CHRONICLES’ is by David R. Greenland, whose previous excellent books include BONANZA – A VIEWERS’ GUIDE TO THE TVLEGEND  and RAWHIDE – A HISTORY OF TV’S LONGEST CATTLE DRIVE. His trade paperback-sized book opens with a long chapter about the members of the GUNSMOKE acting family.  It’s followed by a look at Dodge City’s familiar faces, a season-by-season overview of the series, and a look at the GUNSMOKE movies.  Also included are lengthy interviews with actress Peggy Rea, actor Jeremy Slate, and a particularly in-depth talk with GUNSMOKE’s greatest and most frequent villain, Morgan Woodward. 

Ben Costello’s GUNSMOKE – AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION, is published by Five Star Publications, and is available from Amazon in hardcover, softcover and Kindle HERE. 

David R. Greenland’s THE GUNSMOKE CHRONICLES, published by Bear Manor Media, is available from them HERE.

LIVE EVENTS

COWBOY LUNCH @THE AUTRY  WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23^RD

Morgan Fairchild & Patrick Swayze 

in NORTH AND SOUTH

THE REEL CIVIL WAR will be the topic of Wednesday’s WORD ON WESTERNS.  From THE BIRTH OF A NATION, to GONE WITH THE WIND to Ken Burns’ nine-part documentary and beyond, what were the best portrayals of the Civil War?

Bruce Boxleitner in GODS AND GENERALS

Confirmed guests include:  Bruce Boxleitner (GODS & GENERALS), Alex Hyde-White (G&G, IRONCLADS), Morgan Fairchild (NORTH AND SOUTH), Lee de Broux (THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE) and historian Phil Spangenberger.  The program begins at 12:45pm.  Come early to buy lunch and get a seat!  

TWENTY MULE TEAM DAYS, BORON, SAT, OCTOBER 3!

Borax fans unite!  Activities will include a parade, games, music, food, and vendor booths!  It’ll be held at the Boron Community Park.  To learn more, call 760-793-4139.

MOJAVE TRAIL DAYS, HELENDALE, SAT & SUN, OCT. 3&4

The celebration features sagebrush songstress Belinda Gail, plus Southern Caliber and the Billhilyz.  Trick-roper, whip-cracker and gun-spinner Will Roberts will perform, and there will be reenactments and other Western entertainments courtesy of the Tombstone Legends and the Sweetwater Outlaws.  Not to mention equestrian events, stagecoach rides, a kids’ zone, vendors, food, and a beer garden.  It all happens at the Helendale Community Parke.  Learn more at 760-951-0006, ext. 230, or visit http://mojaverivertraildays.com/index.html

THAT'S A WRAP!

Here's lookin' at you!

See you back here in a couple of weeks!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright September 2015 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

‘HONDO’, ‘NICHOLS’, ‘SHENANDOAH’ RETURN, PLUS SILVER SPURS HONOR ‘GUNSMOKE’ AND MUCH MORE!

GET-TV BRINGS BACK ‘HONDO’, ‘NICHOLS’ AND ‘MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH’!

Robert Horton is A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH

Three Western series from the sixties and early seventies, two of which haven’t been seen since their original airdates, will be returning starting September 12^th on GET-TV, a SONY-owned antenna company in some markets, and cable or satellite in others.  

For years, series that had less than a hundred episodes were not considered worth syndicating.  All three series had just one season each: A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH (1965) produced 34 segments, NICHOLS (1971) had 24, and HONDO (1967) just 17.  But the recent success of very short-lived programs, particularly ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (2003), whose production was actually revived after a seven-year hiatus, has proved there is life in a good show no matter how few the episodes.  

SHENANDOAH was developed by writer-producer E. Jack Neuman, who previously created MR. NOVACK (1963), and would go on to develop THE BLUE KNIGHT (1973), POLICE STORY (1973) and PETROCELLI (1974). It starred Robert Horton – still going strong at 91 – who’d starred for years on WAGON TRAIN as head scout Flint McCulloch.  When he left the series in 1962, he announced that he would not do a Western series again, but was tempted back by the tale of a man who awakens from a savage beating with no memory of who he is, or why anyone would want to kill him.  As he travels the West looking for answers, his adventures involve a stellar group of guest stars: Oscar winners Cloris Leachman, Martin Landau and George Kennedy, as well as Bruce Dern, John Ireland, Warren Oates, Sally Kellerman, L.Q. Jones and Strother Martin.

James Garner as NICHOLS

Between his great TV successes MAVERICK (1957-1962) and THE ROCKFORD FILES (1974-1980), James Garner starred as the lead character in NICHOLS, one of his personal favorites.  Set in the early 20^th century, Garner plays a career soldier now tired of fighting, who comes home to the town named for his family, and is bullied into becoming its lawman, a job he does without packing a gun, and riding an Indian chopper instead of a horse.  Created by Frank Pierson, writer Juanita Bartlett wrote several episodes before moving with Garner to ROCKFORD FILES, and NICHOLS shares its humorously savvy tone.  Margot Kidder plays Ruth, the Miss Kitty of the town, and unlike at the Longbranch, you have no doubts about what goes on upstairs.

Ralph Taeger as HONDO

Of the three series, only HONDO had exposure after cancellation.  In 1988, Ted Turner bought MGM’s library, and created TNT.  HONDO started getting a lot of play.   A.J. Fenady, who created and produced HONDO, as well as the just DVD-released THE REBEL starring Nick Adams, recalls those early cable days.  “Ted Turner and I became pals.  He loved THE REBEL, but next to THE REBEL he loved HONDO.  When he was there at TNT, they played that thing time and again.  I saw him one time and I said, ‘For God’s sake, how long are you going to keep playing those same seventeen episodes of HONDO?’  And he said, ‘As long as I’m there.’” 

An unusually cheerful HONDO moment.

Ralph Taeger had the unenviable job of taking on a role that John Wayne made famous.  Fenady thought he was up to the challenge.  “You couldn’t draw a picture of a leading man any better than Ralph.  He had the build of Tarzan, he was handsomer than Randolph Scott, and he had a voice like Humphrey Bogart.  If that isn’t a combination for a western, I don’t know what the Hell is.” Even John Wayne was a fan of the show.  “Now Duke used to watch the series, and he said to me, ‘Ralph Taeger is as good a Hondo as I was.’  Parenthetical pause, ‘Almost.’  Well I loved Ralph Taeger.  I talked to him at least once a month until last year, when he died.  And doing the series HONDO led to (my) doing the movie CHISUM with John Wayne and his son Michael Wayne.” 

In addition to Taeger, the cast included Kathie Browne, Noah Beery Jr., and Aussie-playing-Indian specialist Michael Pate.  Among the guest cast did Fenady have a favorite?  “Without doubt, it’s Robert Taylor.  See, I’m the first guy who did a two-hour (theatrical) western, HONDO AND THE APACHES, and used it as a pilot.  MGM said, if you could get Robert Taylor to be in it, we’ll do it.  And I got Robert Taylor, and he was the gentleman of all gentlemen; he was a consummate actor, and a fine, fine man.  And, I’m still making money from that damned thing, because it’s still being featured overseas.”

Each series will be re-introduced with a ‘mini-marathon’, starting at noon on Saturday, September 12^th with five episodes of NICHOLS; September 19^th with five HONDOS; then September 26^th with ten episodes of A MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH. After, they’ll be getting regular spots on Saturdays.  Saturday has always been an all-Western feature day for getTV, showcasing a lot of Tim McCoys and Durango Kid films from the Columbia Pictures vault, as well as big-budget oaters.   Jeff Meier, getTV’s senior veep of programming is excited about adding the shows to the line-up.  “Although each of these series originally had a short run, they all feature classic Old West action that will have viewers agreeing that they were cancelled far too soon.”

60^TH GUNSMOKE ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED BY REEL COWBOYS SEPT. 18!

On Friday, September 18^th, the 18^th annual Silver Spur Awards, presented by The Reel Cowboys, will honor the 60^th anniversary of the Western TV classic GUNSMOKE!  The event, to be held at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, will be attended by many Western stars who can trace the start of their careers to GUNSMOKE.  The event will benefit United Cerebral Palsy and The National Day of the Cowboy.  Those planning to attend, subject to their availability, include members of the James Arness Family, Bruce Boxleitner, Morgan Brittany, Angie Dickinson, Ed Faulkner, Mariette Hartley, Earl Holliman, Bo Hopkins, L.Q. Jones, Martin Kove, Martin Landau, Michael Learned, Gerald McRaney, Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros, Mayf Nutter, Jacqueline Scott, Jon Voight, Johnny Whitaker, and Morgan Woodward – GUNSMOKE’s most frequent guest star!

There will be a silent auction, an elegant Delmonico’s-worthy dinner, musical entertainment, a panel discussion and Q&A led by Bruce Boxleitner, and the awards presentation – and a chance to clink spurs with some of your favorite Western stars.  Tickets are $125, $175 for VIP seating, and $250 for premium seating.  For tickets, call 818-395-5020.  To learn more, go to the official website HERE.

There you can also listen to a radio interview with the two folks who are running the event, Reel Cowboys president Robert Lanthier, and historian and event coordinator Julie Ann Ream, cousin of Glenn Strange, aka Sam the bartender at the Longbranch. 

‘SANTA FE TRAIL’ SAT., SEPT 12^TH AT THE AUTRY

On Saturday, September 12^th, as part of The Autry’s long-running ‘What is a Western?’ monthly series, SANTA FE TRAIL (WB 1940) will be presented at 1:30 pm at the Wells Fargo Theatre.  Admission is free with your admission to the museum.  Directed by Michael Curtiz, it stars Errol Flynn as Jeb Stuart, and Ronald Reagan as George Custer, West Point Cadets in the days leading up to the Civil War, with Olivia de Havilland, with Van Heflin, Alan Hale, and Raymond Massey as John Brown. 

One big change is that Jeffrey Richardson, The Autry’s Gamble Curator of Western History, Popular Culture, and Firearms, who has for years informatively and entertainingly introduced the films, will not be there; he’s left the Autry for a curatorial job in New Mexico.  Instead, the film will be introduced by screenwriter, director, Western scholar and author C. Courtney Joyner, who is very excited about the opportunity.  “I consider this one of Curtiz' best westerns - and it’s the last of the Flynn/de Havilland team-ups.  There’s lots of history about it - and how far it strays from the truth!”  In compliment to the current, fascinating exhibition at the Autry, Empire and Liberty: The Civil War and the West, this and the next pair of films will have Civil War themes.  GLORY (1989) will screen on October 10th, and THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976) will screen on November 14^th – I’ll be introducing that one!

‘REEL STORIES’ OF THE CIVIL WAR AT SEPT. 23^RD COWBOY LUNCH!

Following an always delicious lunch in the Autry’s Crossroad Café, Rob Word’s ‘A Word on Westerns’ interview program will focus on how the Civil War has been portrayed on film, from Keaton’s THE GENERAL to GONE WITH THE WIND and beyond.  Confirmed guests include Bruce Boxleitner and Alex Hyde-White of GODS AND GENERALS and esteemed historian Phil Spangenberger.  The program begins at 12:45, but get there early for lunch, and to make sure you get a seat, because these events always fill up.  But don’t get there a week early – the Autry’s ‘What’s Next? calendar incorrectly says this event is September 16^th – it’s definitely the 23^rd!

ROY AND DALE’S APPLE VALLEY FORMER HOME FOR SALE!

Thanks to author Martin Grams  for posting about this in the Rick’s Place  site. The former home of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in Apple Valley, California, is up for sale.  It sold in 2012 for $645,000, and is now being offered for $770,000.  Want to take an on-line tour?  The realtor has made a ten-minute video, showing not only how the property looks today, but how it used to look.

ALEX CORD LOOKING TO SELL HIS HOME IN TEXAS!Alex

Norman Rockwell's portrait of 

Alex Cord for STAGECOACH

And speaking of desirable cowboy properties, Alex Cord who, among many other roles, played the Ringo Kid in the 1966 version of STAGECOACH, and starred in the spaghetti Western A MINUTE TO PRAY, A SECOND TO DIE (1968), is looking to sell his home in Texas.  He says, “Quail Run Ranch (is) 30 acres with three fenced pastures, run-in sheds, a pond and a creek running through a wooded area. A custom covered arena with Bob Kiser footing, 200 feet long and 80 wide, built by Butch Reddish. Charming house on a hill, 3 bdrms, 2 bth, granite counters, hardwood floors, Jacuzzi tub, storm shelter. Insulated shop, 40 x 40 ft. Horse barn, 4 indoor stalls and 4 sheltered runs, large tack room, feed room and hay storage, wash rack. Three connected round pens, 125 feet, 50 ft, and 25 ft. The place is dead quiet, surrounded by 3 cattle ranches owned by the finest neighbors in the world. It is secluded but not isolated. Twenty minutes to Denton, one hour to DFW airport, ten minutes to Gainesville, Walmart, Home Depot, Tractor Supply.” 

If you’re in the market, or know someone who is, you can contact Alex through his official website, HERE.

THAT’S A WRAP!

I’ve decided to make a change to the Round-up.  Instead of publishing every weekend, I’m going to publish every other weekend, or bi-weekly.  The fact is, between writing the Round-up, being the Film Editor for TRUE WEST, and teaching full-time, I’m not devoting any time to a screenplay I’ve been trying to finish for months – and that’s the job that’s supposed to make me rich and famous!  With that in mind, if you have any good tips to pass along to me, or know of events that I should be covering, please let me know a little earlier! 

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright September 2015 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved