LONGMIRE, LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES REVIEWED

TV Series Review – LONGMIRE

With the success of TRUE GRIT and HELL ON WHEELS, and the anticipation for Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED, every network, and many cable outlets, announced pilots for Western series.  In the recently posted TV schedules, however, these new Westerns are conspicuously absent with one exception, and that is LONGMIRE, a present-day Western which premieres on Sunday, June 3rd, for a ten episode first season on the A&E Network. 

Craig Johnson has written eight Walt Longmire mystery novels since he began with the critically acclaimed THE COLD DISH in 2004, and he set the stories in modern-day Wyoming.  This is a familiar world to Johnson, whose ranch borders both Crow and Cheyenne reservations.  The TV series is likewise set in Absaroka County, Wyoming, where Walt Longmire is sheriff.  Australian actor Robert Taylor plays Longmire, and he’s fine casting as the easy-going-until-you-cross-him sheriff.  He seems like an amalgam of all the young guys who populated 1960s Warner Brothers Western series – CHEYENNE, BRONCO, LAWMAN, LARAMIE – but now he’s in his late forties, with joys and sorrows in his past.   His wife died a year ago, and he still has her outgoing message on the answer-machine.  His daughter Cady (Cassidy Freeman) can’t even get him to give up her mom’s ashes so they can be buried.  She worries about him.  Everyone worries about him, especially after a car wreck: is he drinking too much?  Is he cracking up?

Longmire is assisted by three deputies.  Blonde Katee Sackhoff, lately of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, plays Vic Moretti, who is doing her best, but would be much more comfortable back in a big city police department.   Adam Bartley plays ‘the Ferg,’ young and soft and inexperienced, and looking for a chance to work in the field.  Handsome and ripped Bailey Chase, whose career got kick-started by BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, plays Branch Connally, the kind of co-worker you’d only learn was gunning for your job if you spotted a campaign poster.

The pilot episode centers on a sheep-killing that leads to a man-killing, prostitution on the res, a runaway Indian girl, and an old Sharps rifle.  It’s a tight and logical mystery, and populated with the kind of rural characters not found in cop shows.  It’s not a cop show, after all, but a sheriff show, even more so than JUSTIFIED is. 

Lou Diamond Phillips

Among the people Longmire turns to for help is friend and saloon owner Henry Standing Bear, played by YOUNG GUNS’ Lou Diamond Phillips.  Happily, he’s a continuing character.  The guest cast includes the lovely Irene Bedard from SMOKE SIGNALS, and Zahn McClarnon as Mathias, a res cop who has no patience when Longmire steps onto the res and out of his jurisdiction. 

If the pilot is a fair indication, LONGMIRE successfully balances having satisfying and thought-provoking mysteries, and characters worth thinking about after the end-titles have rolled.  I’m setting my DVR for the series now.

Movie Review – ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES

Before you try to correct me, no, I don’t mean ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER.  That Tim Burton-produced movie, which opens on June 22^nd, is reportedly budgeted at $85 million.  ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES, which will be available on video May 29^th, reportedly cost $150,000.  I watched it last night, and found it morbidly delightful.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES is a production of The Asylum Film Company, which is currently celebrating its 15^th year and 100^th movie.  If you are not familiar with The Asylum, they’ve created a kind of movie called ‘The Mockbuster,’ a movie that follows on the publicity coattails of big budget movies, either making fun of them, or frankly trying to confuse the consumer into renting the wrong one.  Their ALMIGHTY THOR is based on the Norse myth rather than the comic books; their SHERLOCK HOLMES, while lacking Robert Downey Jr., was shot in Ireland and featured a tyrannosaurus rampaging through London; their JOHN CARTER OF MARS is based on the same public domain Edgar Rice Burroughs novel as JOHN CARTER; and yes, they produced TITANIC 2.  They’ve also made 6 GUNS, a very low-budget but very watchable western starring Barry Van Dyke.

I cannot say how close the ZOMBIES version is to Seth Grahame-Smith’s best-selling novel, ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, because I haven’t read it, and my impression (possibly wrong) is that few people have.  It’s the sort of book you buy not to read, but to give to your history teacher to amuse or upset her.  But the story in this one is by Karl T. Hirsch and J. Lauren Proctor, and it’s scripted and directed by Richard Schenkman, who first made a splash when he wrote and directed THE POMPATUS OF LOVE.  As someone says in the ‘making of’ featurette, it’s not historically accurate so much as an alternative to historical accuracy.

As the movie begins, we first see the future Great Emancipator killing a zombie as a child.  Then later, now president, in the midst of Civil War, while calming Mary Todd Lincoln’s fears about his safety as he prepares his Gettysburg Address, what stuns the viewer is the absolute seriousness with which the filmmakers attack their story.  While the premise is obviously nutty, this movie is a comedy with not one spoken joke, with not a wink to the audience in the entire film.  Bill Oberst Jr., who plays Lincoln, is not a familiar actor to me – no one in the entire cast is – and yet he brings a seriousness, dignity and heart to his performance that moves you, and compares well with Royal Dano (Disneyland’s GREAT MOMENTS WITH MR. LINCOLN) or any of the hundreds of previous Lincoln portrayals.    

A group of soldiers have been sent by the White House on a secret mission down south.  Only one comes back, and he has become a zombie.  The president, fearing a zombie outbreak could decimate the country’s population, assembles a dozen of his best men and, as the only one with first-hand zombie-fighting experience, leads them into the deep South, to the fort where the outbreak began, and there he must fight not only zombies but Confederate General Stonewall Jackson (Don McGraw).  The fort is where most of the film occurs, and it was shot in Savannah, Georgia, at Ft. Pulaski National Monument, the site of an early battle of the Civil War, and the first post of Robert E. Lee after he left West Point. 

From this point on, the story resembles Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, except that the small group being attacked by zombies is the president and his team in a fort, rather than a group of random people in a Pittsburgh farmhouse.  If your suspension of disbelief lets you accept that people can be menaced by zombies in the first place, it’s no more of a stretch to have the president in that situation than anyone else.  And the cast members, while not familiar, are uniformly convincing in their performances. 

Cinematographer Tim Gill makes excellent use of the Georgia locations, and the color has been adjusted to frequently make the images nearly black and white, which lends a nice subconscious Matthew Brady effect.  The art direction, costumes and props all feel correct for the period, and the make-up, zombie as well as normal, is convincing.  My only criticism of the look of the film is that, while two of the female leads, played by Baby Norman and Hannah Bryan, are quite beautiful, their hair is much too modern for the period.

While you don’t need to be an expert on Lincoln to enjoy the movie, the writers have utilized enough of his words to give the savvy viewer a wry grin, especially in the speech by another character that inspires what will become the Gettysburg Address.  There are also some great cameos by real historical figures,  some that are funny for their logic and some for their arbitrariness. 

While I doubt it will replace our memories of Henry Fonda in YOUNG MR. LINCOLN or Raymond Massey in ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, it’s entertaining in its silly earnestness, and certainly worth what Redbox will charge you.  Mr. Oberst’s performance of the Gettysburg Address near the end is beautiful in its delivery and simplicity.  And the audacity of the very end of the movie – once you get it – will make your jaw drop.

‘LEGEND ON HELL’S GATE’ FINDS A DISTRIBUTOR!

Back in February, I reviewed THE LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE (you can see it HERE ), and offered readers a discounted on-line screening of the movie.  I’m very happy to report that HELL’S GATE has been picked up by for distribution by LIGHTNING ENTERTAINMENT, and will be released on DVD on June 19^th.  I’ll be featuring my interview with writer/director/costar Tanner Beard here in the Round-up within the next couple of weeks!

TV WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL!

More and more, classic TV Westerns are available all over the TV universe, but they tend to be on small networks that are easy to miss. Of course, ENCORE WESTERNSis the best continuous source of such programming, and has been for years. Currently they run LAWMAN, WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, LAREDO, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKE, THE REBEL, and MARSHALL DILLON, which is the syndication title for the original half-hour GUNSMOKE.

RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, first at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Pacific Time, then repeated several times a week. They show a Royfeature every Tuesday as well, with repeats -- check your local listings.

INSP-TVshows THE BIG VALLEY Monday through Saturday,LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE seven days a week, DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMANon weekdays, and BONANZA on Saturdays.


WHT runs DANIEL BOONE on weekdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Time, but they’ve just stopped showing BAT MASTERSON. They often show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic.


TVLAND has dropped GUNSMOKEafter all these years, but still shows four episodes of BONANZAevery weekday.

For those of you who watch TV with an antenna, there are at least a couple of channels that exist between the standard numbers – largely unavailable on cable or satellite systems – that provide Western fare. ANTENNA TV is currently running RIN TIN TIN, HERE COME THE BRIDES, and IRON HORSE.


THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permenant galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE.


HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM

Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywood western, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave.,L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children.

WELLS FARGO HISTORY MUSEUM

This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street,L.A. CA.

That's it for now, pardners!  Next week I'll have my review of the HATFIELDS & MCCOYS miniseries, and all about the Spaghetti Western Festival at FILM FORUM in New York.

Happy Trails!

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright May 2012 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

WEST FESTS IN LONE PINE AND ALMERIA IN OCTOBER!

Hey there, world travelers!  In October, Almeria, Spain and Lone Pine, California will both play host to Western film festivals!  Both are locations where numerous Western movies were made. 

First up is the Almeria Western Film Festival on October 2^nd through the 5^th.  The Almeria and Tabernas area was the center of spaghetti western production in the 1960s and 1970s; several hundred westerns were shot there in that comparatively brief period.  Mini-Hollywood, Teatro Municipal deTabernas and Fort Bravo will be the locations for screenings and events.  Films shown in competition include many featured in the Round-up: COPPERHEAD (http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/search?q=copperhead+review)  , HANNAH’S LAW (http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/search?q=hannah%27s+law+review ) , ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES (http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/search?q=abraham+lincoln+zombies+review)  , GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE – QUEEN OF HEARTS (http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/search?q=queen+of+hearts+review )   , and THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VICENTE FERNANDEZ  (http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/search?q=the+man+who+shook+the+hand+review ) .  Also in competition are A PEZZI: UNDEAD MEN, WEST OF THUNDER, DEAD MAN’S BURDEN, and EL APARECIDO.  Classic Spaghetti Westerns to be screened include THE MOMENT TO KILL (1968), THE RETURN OF CLINT THE STRANGER (1972), and $1000 ON THE BLACK (1966).  There will also be a panel discussion with Spaghetti Western stars Robert Woods, George Hilton, Monica Randall, Simone Blondell and Carlos Bravo.  Last year’s festival brought together filmmakers who decided to work together, and they just shot a new Spaghetti Western on the same locations, SIX BULLETS TO HELL (read about it here: http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2013/07/six-bullets-to-hell-is-shooting-up.html ).  Learn more about the festival at the official site: http://almeriawestern.es/index_en.php

Then catch your breath, get over your jet-lag, and head to the 24^th Annual Lone Pine Film Festival.  Lone Pine, Where the Real West Becomes the Reel West is this year’s theme.  Blessed with breath-taking vistas, stark desert and the famed Alabama Hills, Lone Pine was a favorite locale for Republic, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Brothers westerns.  Among the many guests attending are Mariette Hartley, Clu Gulager, L.Q. Jones, Andrew Prine, Peggy Stewart, stunt coordinators Diamond Farnsworth and Loren Janes, and Billy King, who appeared in four Lone Pine-shot Hopalong Cassidy films in the 1930s.  Leonard Maltin and Ed Hulse will host celebrity panels.   There are many tours and events scheduled, from visits to the Bar 20 ranch to the sets of GUNGA DIN.  I don’t have a list of all the films to be screened, but they include HEART OF ARIZONA and other Hopalong Cassidy films; RIDE LONESOME starring Randolph Scott; Sam Peckinpah’s RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, which introduced Mariette Hartley; WESTWARD HO starring John Wayne; SHOWDOWN starring Audie Murphy, and many others.  To learn more, go here: http://www.lonepinefilmfestival.org/

DISCOVERY CHANNEL ORDERS ‘NORTH AND SOUTH’ REMAKE!

The Discovery Channel has ordered a remake of NORTH AND SOUTH, the 1985 ratings giant mini-series, to be produced by Lionsgate, exec produced by John Jakes, whose novels are the basis for mini, and its two sequels.  The original, which starred James Read as Patrick Swayze as West Point friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the Civil War, averaged an astonishing 40 million viewers per episode.  The tremendous supporting cast included Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Cash, Hal Holbrook, Robert Mitchum, and dozens of other famous names and faces.   More details soon!

AMERICAN TREASURES FROM THE NEW ZEALAND FILM ARCHIVES ON SALE SEPT. 24

As I reported back in June of 2010 (the article is HERE if you missed it ) seventy-five silent American films, thought to be lost, were discovered in a search of the New Zealand Film Archive.  Ironically, the New Zealand archive holds a substantial number of rare non-Kiwi movies because, by the time a film, being distributed around the world, reached far-away New Zealand, it was cheaper to just leave the film there than to pay to have it shipped back to the States. In N.Z. Archive manager Steve Russell's words, "It's one of the rare cases when the tyranny of distance has worked in our and the films' favor." Two of the westerns are THE GIRL STAGE DRIVER(1914), and Selig Polyscope picture, THE SERGEANT - TOLD IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY (1910). 

The New Zealand Film Archives and National Film Preservation Foundation have been working to preserve the films ever since, and on September 24^th, their fruits of their labor will be available.  LOST & FOUND - AMERICAN TREASURES FROM THE NEW ZEALAND FILM ARCHIVES, a 3 ¼ hour DVD will feature the preserved films, and while a complete list is not yet available, it will in include John Ford’s UPSTREAM (1927); a trailer for his lost film STRONG BOY (1929); the opening reels from Hitchcock’s earliest surviving film, THE WHITE SHADOW (1924); FAMOUS RIDE ON A RUNAWAY TRAIN (1921); WON IN A CUPBOARD, directed by and starring Mabel Normand, and many more.  Selling for $24.95 from onlinedealers, the DVD has music by silent movie maestros Michael D. Mortilla and Donald Sosin, and includes a 56 page catalog with film notes and credits.  You can learn more at www.filmpreservation.org.  and you can see a trailer by clicking HERE.      

PETER SHERAYKO SAYS, “I WAS JAMES FENIMORE COOPER’S NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR!”

Got a very amusing call from actor/author/armorer/prop man Peter Sherayko (If you don’t know Peter, Texas Jack Vermillion from TOMBSTONE, read my interview with him HERE ) .  He’d been catching up on the Round-up, and was amazed to read the continuing saga of the search for James Fenimore Cooper’s home in New York City.  (If you missed this, the link to the final chapter of the story is in the Round-up entry HERE .)  With the help of the James Fenimore Cooper Society, and the New York Historical Society, we finally determined that the Last of the Mohicans author had lived at 6 St. Marks Place from 1834 to 1836. 

Peter Sherayko, who knows more about Western literature than just about anyone I know, used to live right next door, at 8 St. Marks Place.  I had hoped to pump him for ‘what was Fenimore really like?’ stories, but their periods of residence did not overlap.  Fresh from the Air Force, Peter lived in the apartment for six months in the early 1970s, while attending NYU.  “I had no idea one of my heroes had lived next door!”  I tactfully mentioned that the neighborhood had taken a downturn during the War Between The States.  Peter didn’t think it had improved much by his time.  “It was pretty funky.  I remember the bathtub was in the kitchen, and there was one toilet for all the apartments on the floor.”

One of the busiest men I know, Peter will be working in various capacities on a string of up-coming productions.  Among them, WESTERN RELIGION will soon be rolling at the Paramount Ranch.  Then he’ll be heading to Old Tucson to work on the sequel to HOT BATH AN’ A STIFF DRINK (if you missed my piece about that film’s rough cut, go HERE  ).  Then there’s THE HEADLESS for FRIDAY THE 13^TH impresario Sean Cunningham.  In January he’ll be at the Melody and Veluzat Ranches for SOUND OF THUNDER.   And from September 27^th to the 29^th he’ll be at Calico Ghost Town for the annual CALICO DAYS celebration, hosting a series pilot, BIG HISTORY, that would travel the country, spotlighting historical celebrations.

THAT’S A WRAP!

That’s it for this week’s Round-up!  I just conducted a fascinating interview with Karla Buhlman, President of Gene Autry Entertainment.  She had a lot of insight into Gene’s approach to television; next week I’ll be running that interview in conjunction with my review of the release of the final season of THE GENE AUTRY SHOW on DVD.  And hopefully the following week I’ll have my review of the new Western SWEETWATER, starring January Jones, Ed Harris and Jason Isaacs.

Happy trails,

Henry

All original contents copyright September 2013 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

‘WYATT EARP’S REVENGE’ OPENS MARCH 6TH

Due to a title change, you may not have seen this one coming, but on Tuesday, March 6^th, SONY HOME VIDEO will release WYATT EARP’S REVENGE, previously called THE FIRST RIDE OF WYATT EARP.  (I was actually surprised that the original title had the ‘money-name’ as words number five and six; no wonder they switched it!) 

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days on the set last March, first at the Caravan West Ranch in Agua Dulce, then at Paramount Ranch in Agoura – you can read my in-depth two part report HERE and HERE.  

The film, scripted by Darren B. Shepherd from a story by Jeffrey Schenk and Peter Sullivan, is directed by Michael Feifer.   Based on a real incident – the murder of Dora Hand – the tale pulls together a great many young lawmen who would become legends.  Val Kilmer plays Wyatt Earp as an older man, and Shawn Roberts plays him in his youth.  Matt Dallas is Bat Masterson, Wilson Bethel plays Doc Holiday, Scott Whyte is Charlie Bassett, and Levi Fiehler is Bill Tilghman.  Daniel Booko and Steven Grayhm play the no-damned-good Kenedy brothers, and singer Trace Adkins plays their politically connected father.  AMERICAN IDOL favorite Diana DeGarmo plays the beloved soiled dove at the center of the story, Dora Hand. 

Shawn Roberts as Wyatt Earp

Producers Jeffrey Schenck and Barry Barnholtz clearly have a commitment to the genre: they produced last year’s AMERICAN BANDITS: FRANK AND JESSE JAMES, and just finished shooting BAD BLOOD – THE HATFIELDS AND MCCOYS.   Here is the trailer!

FOX TRIES FOR ‘HONEST ABE’ MONOPOLY!

Talk about covering your bets!  According to Deadline: Hollywood, 20th Century Fox has partnered to release both the Steven Speilberg-directed ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and the Tim Burton-produced ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER.  Apparently something of an obsession with the studio, they also made the 1939, John Ford directed, Henry Fonda starrer YOUNG MR. LINCOLN.  Lamar Trotti was nominated for an Oscar for his original screenplay.  The two new movies are both based on best-sellers, the Speilberg take on TEAM OF RIVALS by Doris Kerns, and the Burton version on the vampire-titled tome by Seth Grahame Smith. 

A Fox spokesman says they do not currently intend to release both pictures on the same day.  They were mum on rumors that they were also trying to acquire Asylum Film’s ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES.  Stay tuned. BOOK REVIEW SARAH GOLDEN HAIR – Original screenplay by Michael B. Druxman I promise to review the book shortly, but a bit of a preamble is necessary first. Before you can evaluate a published screenplay, you must decide why you are reading it in the first place.  Reading a screenplay is not the same as reading a novel.  A novel is a finished work, while a screenplay is a blueprint.  To appreciate a screenplay you cannot speed-read.  You need to pay attention to the description, not only ‘hear’ it but visualize it, to decide if it will work on the screen.  Do the words of the characters sound real to you?  Are they individual voices, or does everyone talk the same?  If you are reading to recall your feelings when you saw a movie, you probably want a screenplay that conforms to the finished film.  But if you want to know what went into making that movie, you want the same blueprint that was handed to the director and the actors and the crew.  This is especially true if you are a writer – you want to see how the words were turned into a finished film.  If you want to become a screenwriter, taking classes is a good idea – assuming they’re not based on Syd Fields’ teachings – but the most important thing you can do is to read as many scripts as you can.  You can learn from both good and bad examples; what works and what doesn’t.  I wrote my first screenplay when I was thirteen, and I actually learned the format from STAR TREK.  Gene Roddenberry used to sell copies of their scripts, and my first was Harlan Ellison’s CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER episode.  It was a great script, and because it was a first draft, I could see the differences between the original ideas and the finished product.  Some changes were good: he opened with a whole subplot of interstellar junkies that there was no time for, and that got dropped.  Some changes were bad: Spock and Kirk, in 1930s New York City, steal clothes off a line so they can blend in, and Ellison makes the point that the clothes should fit badly, since they’re stolen randomly.  Of course, in the show, the clothes are tailored, and it looks ridiculous.   I even took the pages of the script and fed them into my manual typewriter, to set all the tab-stops for DISSOLVE and CUT TO.  Michael B. Druxman is a very talented writer.  His CHEYENNE WARRIOR is the best micro-budget Western I’ve ever seen.  It’s also one of the very best Westerns of the last twenty years, regardless of budget.   What Michael has done with SARAH GOLDEN HAIR is quite audacious: he’s published a screenplay for a movie that has not been made, and is not currently slated to be.  He’d written CHEYENNE WARRIOR for Roger Corman, and it was successful enough that a sequel was considered.  But it didn’t happen, and Michael wrote the screenplay SARAH GOLDEN HAIR, not a sequel exactly, but a story in much the same world, with similar characters.   He wasn’t able to get it made.  A year later, Roger Corman hired him to write a sequel to CHEYENNE WARRIOR, but it’s currently sitting on a shelf. As Michael explains in his introduction, any screenwriter who’s been at it for a while has some scripts that never got made, and often they’re what we consider our best work.  After all, no producer has had you rewrite a part so his girlfriend could play it.  No director has decided to let his actors improvise the dialogue.  Michael considers SARAH GOLDEN HAIR among his best work.  If someone would like to option, he’d be delighted.  If not, he’d like people to have the opportunity to read it. His subject matter is the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, and a group of people caught up in that ghastly event, when a Colorado Militia attacked a village of friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho.  There’s a great deal of tragedy, but there is also love, hope, and adventure.  His characters are mostly Indians and Cavalrymen, with a few civilians, and none are mere symbols – all are flesh-and-blood people with needs and passions.  It’s a beautifully written screenplay, a worthy successor to CHEYENNE WARRIOR, and though it is not a sequel, if you have seen CHEYENNE WARRIOR, you can easily picture Pato Hoffman and Kelly Preston in the leads as Brave Wolf and Sarah.  It’s a bigger story, planned for a bigger budget, and it should be made.  And in the meantime, it should be read.  It’s available on Kindle, and in paperback from Amazon.com.  You can read my review of CHEYENNE WARRIOR, and my interview with Michael Druxman HERE: http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2011/06/round-up-joins-tcm-for-salute-to.html  FREE GENE DOUBLE-BILL AT THE AUTRY SATURDAY At noon on Saturday, February 4th, the Autry will present HOME IN WYOMIN' (Republic 1942), a murder mystery at a rodeo, with Smiley Burnette, and TWILIGHT ON THE RIO GRANDE (Republic 1947) is anothe rmurder mystery, set in Mexico, and featuring short-time sidekick Sterling Holloway. TV WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL! More and more, classic TV Westerns are available all over the TV universe, but they tend to be on small networks that are easy to miss. Of course, ENCORE WESTERNS is the best continuous source of such programming, and has been for years. Currently they run LAWMAN, WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, LAREDO, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKEandMARSHALL DILLON, which is the syndication title for the original half-hour GUNSMOKE.Incidentally, I see on Facebook that a lot of watchers are mad as Hell at losing CHEYENNE and THE VIRGINIAN. RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, first at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Pacific Time, then repeated several times a week.They show a Roy feature every Tuesday as well, with repeats -- check your local listings. INSP-TVshows THE BIG VALLEY Monday through Saturday, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE seven days a week, DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMAN on weekdays, and BONANZA on Saturdays. WHT runs DANIEL BOONE on weekdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Time, and on Saturdays they run two episodes of BAT MASTERSON. They often show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic. TVLANDhas dropped GUNSMOKE after all these years, but still shows four episodes ofBONANZA every weekday. GEB is largely a religious-programming cable outlet that runs at least one Western on Saturdays – the ones I’ve caught have been public domain Roy Rogers and John Wayne pictures –and sometimes have weekday afternoon movies as well. For those of you who watch TV with an antenna, there are at least a couple of channels that exist between the standard numbers – largely unavailable on cable or satellite systems – that provide Western fare. ANTENNA TVis currently running RIN TIN TIN, CIRCUS BOY, HERE COME THE BRIDES, andIRON HORSE. Another‘in between’ outfit, ME-TV, which stands for Memorable Entertainment TV, runs a wide collection: BIG VALLEY, BONANZA, BRANDED, DANIEL BOONE, GUNS OF WILL SONNETT, GUNSMOKE, MARSHALL DILLON,RAWHIDE, THE RIFLEMAN, and WILD WILD WEST.Some of these channels are hard to track down, but if they show what you’ve been missing, it’s worth the search. And for those of you on the other side of the pond, our British correspondentNilton Hargrave tells me CBS ACTION has begun showing GUNSMOKE. THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permenant galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE. HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywood western, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave., L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children. WELLS FARGO HISTORY MUSEUM This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street, L.A. CA.

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

That's right, the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here:

That's about it for now, pardners!  On Friday I had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Wolders, Erik Hunter of LAREDO, and that will b in the Round-up very soon!

Happr Trails,

Henry

All original contents Copyright January 2012 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

BATTLE OF THE BEARDS – Five Abraham Lincoln Portrayals Are On The Way!

Many folks surfing the internet this week have seen a shot of Academy Award winner Daniel Day Lewis having lunch wearing his Great Emancipator beard.  He’s currently working for Stephen Speilberg in LINCOLN, a film which will tell the story of how our 16^th President steered the Union to its victory over the Confederacy. 

(Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln at lunch)

In addition to Lewis, who won Oscars for MY LEFT FOOT and THERE WILL BE BLOOD, his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, will be played by Sally Field, who won Oscars for NORMA RAE and PLACES IN THE HEART.  Their son, Robert Todd Lincoln, will be played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, soon to be seen in the sci-fier LOOPER and Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED.  The cast also features Tommy Lee Jones as Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, David Strathairn as Secretary of State Seward, Jared Harris as U.S. Grant, Jackie Earle Haley as Confederate VP Alexander Stephens, as well as James Spader, Hal Holbrook, and a host of others.

It’s based on the book TEAM OF RIVALS: THE GENIUS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN by Doris Kearns Goodwin, the nationally known historian and former aid to President Lyndon Johnson.  The other three writers, credited with the screenplay, are Tony Kushner – Oscar nominated for MUNICH and Emmy winner for ANGELS IN AMERICA, John Logan – Oscar nominated for THE AVIATOR and GLADIATOR, and Paul Webb, who has no previous professional credits.   

As revealed in last week’s Round-up (go HERE if you missed it), SONY Television is producing a miniseries entitled TO APPOMATTOX, starring Stephen Lang, who played Ike Clanton in TOMBSTONE and Gen. Pickett in GETTYSBURG, as Lincoln.

(Stephen Lang)

While Speilberg’s LINCOLN is currently in production, and APPOMATTOX is aiming at a 2013 TV release, another, less scholarly biography of Honest Abe is closer on the horizon.  On June 22, 2012 Benjamin Walker, of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, will star in ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER.  The film is being produced by Tim Burton and directed by Timur Bekmambetov.  The Lincoln make-up is the work of three-time Oscar winner Greg Cannom. 

(Benjamin Walker as Lincoln)

These are not small projects – the Speilberg LINCOLN is budgeted at around $100 million, and the President-with-a-wooden-stake version is not far behind at $70 million.  When, in an earlier Round-up, I quoted a Paramount insider who opined that VAMPIRE HUNTER was a movie that should be made, but by Asylum Pictures, for $350,000, I heard from Asylum honcho David Latt: “Hey Henry! Thanks for the suggestion...and you'll be happy (sad?) to know that ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. ZOMBIES is already   in the works. Ours will cost less than $70 million. Promise.” I’m waiting to hear back from him how the project is progressing.

And because I am something of a completeist, also coming soon is FDR: AMERICAN BADDASS, in which HERCULES star Kevin Sorbo will play Lincoln opposite Barry Bostwick’s Roosevelt.  I know I’ll be hearing from historical nit-pickers about the fact that the presidents may never have met, since FDR was born seventeen years after Lincoln’s assassination.

My personal disappointment is that, with all the interest in Lincoln, no one is filming the best Lincoln-related – actually assassination-related – book of the last several years, MANHUNT – THE 12 DAY CHASE FOR LINCOLN’S KILLER by James L. Swanson.  Once optioned by Robert Redford, but dropped when he decided to do the interesting but unsatisfying THE CONSPIRATOR instead, it would make one helluvah movie, even without monsters.

DVD REVIEWS

FINDERS KEEPERS CLASSICS is a great place to get hard-to-find movies and TV shows.  Their pricing is very straight-forward: all single disks and many 2-disk sets are $7 each, larger sets are more, and shipping is a flat $6 no matter how big the order.  They just sent me a crate full of interesting westerns from the ‘30s and ‘40s, and I’m reviewing a pair of them today.  Their site is HERE .  Incidentally, Finders Keepers Classics is the work of Martin Grams, an excellent writer and film and radio historian, and author of more than twenty books.  Here is a link to an article he wrote about HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, one of the very few shows to start on television and move to radio: MARTIN GRAMS. 

DVD REVIEW -- LAWLESS BREED

As a long-time fan of SKY KING, I was eager to take a look at LAWLESS BREED (1946), starring Kirby Grant, with Fuzzy Knight as his sidekick, Tumbleweed.  While Republic and Monogram and PRC Westerns are easy to come by, B westerns from the majors are rarely seen, and this was the last of seven that Grant did for Universal before moving on to Monogram for his Canadian Mountie series.


At first, I was dubious.  It looked like Universal, knowing it was the last of the series, had decided not to spend a dime on it: the opening scene in a sheriff’s office, where Kirby and Fuzzy try to talk themselves out of a murder charge, is static – Kirby tells his story as a way to introduce endless clips of stock footage, and I started to wonder if they’d ever leave the office.  But once they do, the story -- and the new footage -- takes off.  And you have two innocent victims of blind justice, a gang of serial bank-robbers, a good girl who happens to be the sheriff’s daughter (Jane Adams), a bad girl who happens to be a saucy French saloon chanteuse (Claudia Drake), and delightfully broad character actor Dick Curtis playing brothers, one a stodgy banker who is murdered, and the other a sea captain -- with a parrot -- trying to catch his brother’s killer!  There’s also insurance fraud, grave-robbing, and our heroes tricked into taking on a murder contract with a gun loaded with blanks – not to mention several songs, all in under 54 minutes! 

Kirby is all charm when he’s flirting with the ladies or cajoling the Sheriff, but there’s a grimness to his demeanor when things are bad that’s startlingly convincing.  On the other hand, I was surprised to find what a pleasant singing voice he had, when he and Fuzzy take turns vocalizing in the slammer.  LAWLESS BREED is an often exciting and amusing Western, and John Ford favorite Hank Worden is effective in a small role as a deputy who’s out of his depth when things go awry. 

The print it’s taken from is pretty scratched, and splicey in a few spots, but the contrast is very good, giving you a wide range of grays.  There were a few scenes that I thought were too dark, but when I rewound, turned off the lights and watched again, I saw they were fine.  They were just shot to be seen in a darkened theatre.  Because this movie was from a time before all movies were shot with the knowledge that they’d eventually be shown on television – the reason most movies from the mid-sixties on are a succession of flat-lit close-ups. 

DVD REVIEW – CHEROKEE STRIP

Richard Dix and Victor Jory face off in CHEROKEE STRIP (1940), an 86 minute B+ production from Harry ‘Pop’ Sherman, released by Paramount.  Dix, as Dave Morell, has come as the new Federal Marshal to the town of Goliath, gateway to the Cherokee Strip, once the property of the Cherokee Indian Nation, and about to be opened to white settlers.  But he has a hidden agenda: he’s the head of the Morell Clan, which has been feuding for years with the Barrett Clan, led by Coy Barrett, played by Victor Jory.  The two men have actually signed a formal truce, but neither trusts the other farther than they can spit. 

Jory is now a successful and respectable banker, but that’s just a front to run his clan’s stage-robbing and cattle-rustling activity.  And into the mix comes Senator Cross (Charles Trowbridge) and his daughter and son, Florence Rice and William Henry, who are working as federal census takers, the natural allies of Federal Marshal Dix, even before he becomes sweet on Florence Rice. 

CHEROKEE STRIP is an exciting and smart story, and much of the fun is watching the cat-and-mouse game Dix and Jory play, always polite, but always ready to cut the other to pieces if a fair opportunity arises.  The stagecoach trip they take together is a classic of deadly one-ups-man-ship.  

Producer Sherman, who made his first fortune distributing BIRTH OF A NATION, was a savvy businessman and a gifted Western filmmaker.  He’s the man who bought ‘Hopalong Cassidy’, and cast William Boyd.  Beloved by his crews, who called him ‘Pop,’ Sherman infused his low-budget films with high production values, beautiful locations, top technical credits, and a loyal stock company of actors that made his films many cuts above the average with a similar budget.

Unlike so many stars of his time, iron-jawed Dix had successfully made the transition from silent to talking pictures, and had his greatest success in 1931’s CIMARRON, the first Western to win a Best Picture Oscar (the next wasn’t until Eastwood’s UNFORGIVEN in 1992), and for which he was nominated for Best Actor.  Though no longer a top box-office star, his career continued on successfully in the 1940s, and he arguably did his most interesting acting in that period, as the lead in Columbia’s THE WHISTLER series, and as the ‘kindly’ sea captain in Val Lewton’s GHOST SHIP. 

Victor Jory, fresh from his villainous triumph as Tara’s overseer in the previous year’s GONE WITH THE WIND, the former Coast Guard boxing and wrestling champ would have a busy career until 1980.  Also in the cast is Andy Clyde, as an assistant to Dix, but not the traditional sidekick he would later become that same year, when Pop Sherman would cast him as California Carlson, a role he would play in HOPALONG CASSIDY movies, TV and radio episodes for a dozen years.  Among the other stand-out tough guys in the cast were Sherman stock-company actors like Tom Tyler, Morris Ankrum, and Hal Taliaffero, and George E. Stone who, as he did in CIMARRON, plays an obviously Jewish character, someone rarely seen in the traditionally ‘white-bread’ Westerns.

It’s written by Western specialists Norman Houston and Bernard McConville, and directed by Lesley Selander, who directed exactly half of the films Pop Sherman produced – 36 out of 72.  Selander’s work was many cuts above what was done in most B or A westerns, not just in terms of action, but in direction of actors, and creativity – 21 post-World War II Tim Holt Westerns he directed at RKO are among the best B-westerns ever made.  

TV WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL!

More and more, classic TV Westerns are available all over the TV universe, but they tend to be on small networks that are easy to miss. Of course, ENCORE WESTERNS is the best continuous source of such programming, and has been for years. It’s not in my current satellite package, which is why I often forget to mention it, but currently they run CHEYENNE, MAVERICK, LAWMAN, THE VIRGINIAN, WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, GUNSMOKE, BRET MAVERICK, CIMMARON STRIP, and HOW THE WEST WAS WON. (I’d get it in a minute, if I didn’t have to buy a huge package of STARZ and ENCORE channels just to get the one!)

But there are several new, or at least new-to-me, channels showing sagebrush fare. GEB, which stands for Golden Eagle Broadcasting, is largely a religious-programming cable outlet that runs at least one Western on Saturdays – the ones I’ve caught have been public domain Roy Rogers and John Wayne pictures – and sometimes have weekday afternoon movies as well.

For those of you who watch TV with an antenna, there are at least a couple of channels that exist between the standard numbers – largely unavailable on cable or satellite systems – that provide Western fare. ANTENNA TV is currently running RIN TIN TIN, CIRCUS BOY, HERE COME THE BRIDES, and IRON HORSE.

Another ‘in between’ outfit, ME-TV, which stands for Memorable Entertainment TV, runs a wide collection: BIG VALLEY, BONANZA, BRANDED, DANIEL BOONE, GUNS OF WILL SONNETT, GUNSMOKE, MARSHALL DILLON (the renamed black and white GUNSMOKE), RAWHIDE, THE RIFLEMAN, and WILD WILD WEST. Some of these channels are hard to track down, but if they show what you’ve been missing, it’s worth the search. 

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

That's right, the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here:

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permenant galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE.

HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM

Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywood western, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave., L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children.

WELLS FARGO HISTORY MUSEUM

This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street, L.A. CA.


FREE WESTERNS ON YOUR COMPUTER AT HULU

A staggering number of western TV episodes and movies are available, entirely free, for viewing on your computer at HULU. You do have to sit through the commercials, but that seems like a small price to pay. The series available -- often several entire seasons to choose from -- include THE RIFLEMAN, THE CISCO KID, THE LONE RANGER, BAT MASTERSON, THE BIG VALLEY, ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, and one I missed from 2003 called PEACEMAKERS starring Tom Berenger. Because they are linked up with the TV LAND website, you can also see BONANZA and GUNSMOKE episodes, but only the ones that are running on the network that week.

The features include a dozen Zane Grey adaptations, and many or most of the others are public domain features. To visit HULU on their western page, CLICK HERE.

BONANZA and BIG VALLEY

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They've stopped running GUNSMOKE.  INSP is showing THE BIG VALLEY every weekday at noon, one p.m. and nine p.m., and Saturdays at 6 p.m., and have just added DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN to their schedule.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run DANIEL BOONE at 1:00 p.m., and two episodes of THE RIFLEMAN from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.. On Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. it's THE RIFLEMAN again, followed at 2:30 by BAT MASTERSON. And unlike many stations in the re-run business, they run the shows in the original airing order. There's an afternoon movie on weekdays at noon, often a western, and they show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic. 

AMC has been airing a block of THE RIFLEMAN episodes early Saturday mornings, usually followed by Western features.

And RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW at 9:30 Sunday morning, repeated several times a week, and a Roy feature as well -- check your local listings.

That's a wrap for today -- I was hoping to include a story on Tombstone's Boot Hill, but that will have to wait until the next Round-up.

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright December 2011 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved