ROUND-UP JOINS TCM FOR A SALUTE TO SINGING COWBOYS!

July 2011 will be the month of the Singing Cowboy on Turner Classic Movies, and Henry’s Western Round-up will be putting its two cents in. I was interviewed for a short TCM documentary about people who are crazy for westerns, which will be run in conjunction with the features. I don’t know how much I’ll be in it – there were other interviewees after all -- or exactly when it’ll air, but I’m told it’ll be ready to run by July 1st. I’ll have info on the Facebook page as soon as I know more.

But back to the singing cowboys! Every Friday in July will feature a different line-up of sagebrush troubadours. July 1st will feature five films starring Roy Rogers beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific time: COWBOY AND THE SENORITA, DON’T FENCE ME IN, MY PAL TRIGGER, THE GOLDEN STALLION and TRIGGER JR. July 8th will take aim at Gene Autry with OLD CORRAL, HOME ON THE PRAIRIE, BACK IN THE SADDLE, TEXANS NEVER CRY and WAGON TEAM. On July 15th the night is split between Tex Ritter and Jimmy Wakely, July 22nd it’s Dick Foran and Monte Hale, and on July 29th we’ll hear from Rex Allen, Herbert Jeffrey and Ken Maynard.

Film Review - CHEYENNE WARRIOR

CHEYENNE WARRIOR, made in 1994 and recently released on DVD, is one of the very best Westerns of the last twenty years. Directed by Mark Griffiths from Michael B. Druxman’s original screenplay, it begins at the start of the Civil War, with a young couple, Kelly Preston and Charles Edward Powell as the Carvers, on their way to Oregon. Impatient to get there, instead of waiting to travel with a wagon train, they’ve gone alone. At a trading post at the base of the mountains, the trader Barkley, played by Dan Haggerty, stuns them by revealing that they are too late: the trail will be impassable until spring. They have nowhere to go now, nowhere to wait out the bitter winter, and Kelly is with child. Barkley is as helpful and generous as he can be, but he’s disgusted with their lack of planning, and tells them, “Dumb people just don’t make it out here.”

And that’s a theme that runs throughout the movie: the Wild West is an unforgiving place, and people that don’t learn fast, that rely on old prejudices, rather than observation, to tell their friends from their enemies, die quickly. It’s consistent that intelligence should be at the core of such an intelligently written story. While Cheyenne Warrior delivers all of the basic ingredients one expects from a western, it does so by having those elements arise naturally from the behavior of believable characters, not because it’s time for a shootout or an Indian fight or to burn a cabin.

In fairly short order Rebecca Carver becomes a widow and meets Hawk, played by Pato Hoffman, the Cheyenne warrior of the title, and they must rely on each other to survive. Their relationship is not an easy one – even with his gratitude for her saving his life, she is so obstinate and slow to learn that he nicknames her ‘Not Too Smart Woman,’ but they eventually come to an understanding, and a respect for each other. But the question remains; when she has her baby, will she stay at the trading post, or try to go back home, or go to Hawk’s village, where many would not welcome her. Screenwriter Druxman’s inspiration was to transpose The King and I to the west, and there are some amusing moments that go along with that premise. There is a solid romance to the story, but not the sappy cookie-cutter sort one expects from, say Hallmark Channel pseudo-westerns.

CHEYENNE WARRIOR is the best micro-budget westerns that I have seen, and I have seen a lot. Costing roughly three quarters of a million, looking like Canada but shot in Simi Valley, about a mile from the Reagan Library, it is a text-book example of how producer Roger Corman puts all the money on the screen. With most low-budget westerns of the past couple of decades, you are forced, as an audience member, to forgive things that reflect the budget: the story is recycled or the supporting actors are amateurish or there’s only one horse and no rolling stock. But there are no excuses necessary here: the script and direction and performances are first-rate; Blake T. Evans’ photography is beautiful and evocative, Roderick Davis’ editing is crisp without calling attention to itself, and Arthur Kempel’s score brings to mind the subtler music in John Ford Westerns.

Of course, it all rises and falls on whether we care what happens to Rebecca and Hawk, which means it’s all on Kelly Preston’s and Pato Hoffman’s shoulders, and they are very much up to the challenge. Pato is smart and dignified, but also frequently baffled by and frustrated by Kelly, by turns amusingly and dramatically. He is much more that the cliché noble savage. Kelly’s Rebecca is independent without being strident, with strong beliefs, but willing to learn new ways. She’s also, without being obviously glamorized, at her most beautiful (I may be somewhat prejudiced: she did CHEYENNE WARRIOR and my noir, DOUBLE CROSS, back to back).

In addition to Dan Haggerty, who gives what is my personal favorite of his performances, the supporting cast includes Bo Hopkins as the scout for a wagon train, and Rick Dean (a fine actor who died tragically at age 53) and Clint Howard as a pair of buffalo hunters enamored of the Carvers’ Henry rifle. It seems like an injustice that CHEYENNE WARRIOR was released directly to home video. We should see this one on the big screen. It’s available from Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster and Roger Corman’s New Horizons Pictures among other places. But if you want to email writer Michael Druxman at Druxy@ix.netcom.com, he will sell you the DVD and the published script, autographed, for $25.

A CHAT WITH ‘CHEYENNE WARRIOR’ AUTHOR MICHAEL B. DRUXMAN

Having read MY FORTY-FIVE YEARS IN HOLLYWOOD…AND HOW I ESCAPED ALIVE, and seen CHEYENNE WARRIOR, I thought I’d do a quick phone interview with author and screenwriter Michael Druxman, to get a couple of good quotes. I reached him at his home in Austin, Texas. I didn’t expect to talk for two hours, but that’s what happens when you meet a kindred spirit. We got to the main event, CHEYENNE WARRIOR, eventually, but he’d just watched the Coen Brothers’ TRUE GRIT the night before, and that got us onto the subject of remakes versus originals, and favorite westerns.

MICHAEL: Overall I think it was a little better than the original. The girl was terrific. I thought that John Wayne was more fun than Jeff Bridges, but performance-wise it was a toss-up. I hate remakes. I think 99% of the time they’re never as good as the originals; case in point, 3:10 TO YUMA. But what happens is the new generation sees the remake, and unless they’re real movie-lovers they never see the original, which is so often much better, because they figure, been there, done that. I never really liked the original TRUE GRIT all that much. I don’t think it’s one of John Wayne’s best westerns. I think it’s a ‘classic’ because he won the Oscar. But I think STAGECOACH, THE SEARCHERS, RED RIVER, THE COWBOYS and THE SHOOTIST are so much better. I wrote a book some years ago called MAKE IT AGAIN, SAM, about remakes. And the point I brought out is you don’t remake a hit, you remake a movie that flopped. They remade SABRINA? You’re competing with the memory of Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, for cryin’ out loud. But TRUE GRIT turned out to be quite a good film. I understand it’s the most successful western film of all time at this point.

I did a picture with Roy Scheider in Ireland, and we were the only two people in the company over thirty, so we spent a lot of time together, and he says, “The reason they don’t make westerns anymore is because when westerns were popular, everyone had a father or a grandfather who remembered those days, or a part of those days.” Like my father, when he was fourteen years old, was a steward on a ship that went from Seattle to Alaska on the Alaska Gold Rush. My dad was born in 1886. But now that generation is totally gone. In fifty years or less there’s going to be no one around who remembers World War II.

H: What are your favorite westerns?
M: You’ll probably hang up on me when I say it, but I am not a big fan of John Ford – Hello? Hello? I like STAGECOACH, and I like THE SEARCHERS – I think THE SEARCHERS is probably the greatest western ever made. I think part of Ford’s problem was his sense of humor stunk. The worst part of THE SEARCHERS is the wedding scene. It stops the movie. He was one of the greatest director, from a visual standpoint, that we’ve ever had, but his stories were so slow-moving. Hawks was another one. With the exception of RED RIVER, I don’t like his westerns. I think RIO BRAVO is much too long. I interviewed Hawks once. And he said something to me that really took me aback. He said, “I’m not interested in telling stories. I’m interested in making good scenes.” And as a writer, I really find that shocking. Tim Burton says, “I wouldn’t know a good story if it jumped up and bit me in the face.” But I like his movies. Although I didn’t care too much for ALICE IN WONDERLAND once they went down the rabbit hole and it became a CGI movie – I hate CGI movies. The reason we’ve got so many shitty movies is everybody wants something different. The director is interested in making good scenes, the cinematographer wants pretty pictures, the actor is interested in his part, the producer would sell his soul just to get the movie made on budget, and the only person that’s really interested in telling a viable story is the writer, and he’s the first one they kick off the picture. It’s like a dog on a lamppost: everybody wants to put their mark on the movie. The only truly creative part of a screenplay is done by the original writer. Everything else is interpretation. ‘Wouldn’t this work better if you turned the old Eskimo woman into a Hawaiian dancing girl?’ The director has his ideas, the star wants his ideas put in, and what you find so many times is the thing that was so appealing in the script, by the time they’re ready to film, is gone. But now they’re under a time-pressure thing, because they’ve got to start shooting by Monday. So they’re forced to go with the latest version of the script, which may not be the best one, and that’s why you get shitty pictures.

H: Whose western do you like?
M: I like the westerns of Anthony Mann – I think they’re terrific. I love the westerns of Delmer Daves. I liked the westerns of Budd Boetticher, with Randolph Scott – Boetticher used to be a publicity client of mine. Randolph Scott I think is my favorite western star. I like John Wayne movies. A client of mine, George Sherman, directed BIG JAKE, which is a pretty good movie. I like THE GUNFIGHTER. You know what’s a great little western that’s not out on DVD is THE LAST POSSE with Broderick Crawford. I like DANCES WITH WOLVES. There’s a B western called DAWN AT SOCORRO with Rory Calhoun, OPEN RANGE. I like SHANE – the only problem with SHANE is Alan Ladd. If they put in Gary Cooper or Randolph Scott, someone who can act… A great fun western is THE OKLAHOMA KID, with Bogart and Cagney. The other Cagney one I really like is RUN FOR COVER. Ernest Borgnine’s in it.

H: You came to Hollywood to make movies, and you did, but with about a 32 year period as a publicist in the middle. During that time did you ever give up your goal of making movies?
M: No, I never gave it up, but I was enjoying the first several years. I was playing with the big boys – I was at the studios every day. I was representing people like Eddie Dmytryk – who did (directed) WARLOCK, which was a damned good western. Of course he did a shitty western when he was with me, called SHALAKO. The Dmytryk western I love is BROKEN LANCE, which Delmer Daves wrote.

And there was a particular story that Michael wanted to tell.

M: The original concept of CHEYENNE WARRIOR was The King and I in the old west. And I carried this idea around in my head for seventeen years. And I didn’t write it because the western was pretty much dead. Then DANCES WITH WOLVES and LONESOME DOVE and UNFORGIVEN – and Clint Eastwood makes a damned good western – they came out, and I decided to sit down and write this. And it’s essentially a love story.

The person who changed Michael’s life forever was Roger Corman.

M: And I have the greatest respect for Roger Corman: he can take a dollar and a half and make a movie that looks like a million bucks. And he gives people a chance – he let me direct my first feature movie when I was fifty-eight years old! How many producers would do that? I quit the PR business and became a screenwriter thanks to Roger Corman, who kept hiring me, and for ten years I made a very good living. Roger Corman did not want to make this movie, because it had a female protagonist, and Roger’s movies mostly appeal to young males. His producer really pushed to do it.

H: Your female lead in CHEYENNE WARRIOR is Kelly Preston. What’s she like?
M: She was sweet. This was before PULP FICTION came out. At one point, when (she and her husband, John Travolta) got here, they offered the part of the husband to Travolta. Which I think was a three or four day shoot. His agent said, we want $100,000 a day and top billing, because PULP FICTION was about to come out, and that was gonna rejuvenate him. So that didn’t happen. And the Dan Haggerty part they originally offered to Robert Duvall.
H: He didn’t want it?
M: He wanted too much money.
H: I think it’s the very best performance I’ve seen Haggerty give.
M: He said to me, ‘You son of a bitch, it’s the only movie I’ve ever been killed in!’
It became one of the highest-grossing movies that New Horizons had ever made, and the people at the studio said it was the best movie they’d ever made. I’m very proud of that. There’s one thing in the picture that I strenuously objected to. (SPOILER ALERT!) In my script, they don’t go to bed together. And the director said, ‘we’ve gotta have the sex,’ and I said at that time they could have become the best platonic friends, and maybe there’s that thought, but it wouldn’t happen. The other thing, where he did listen to me. I had seen the first cut of the film, where they’re eating outside with all of the Indians. They had rewritten that scene so it was Christmas, and they were talking about the Christ child. And I said to them, “It’s Christmas on the Great Plains, and they’re sitting outside. Are you crazy?” All mention of Christmas was taken out. It was shot in the Simi Valley about a mile from where the Reagan Library is. It’s all houses now. Had they moved the camera a foot to the right or the left you would have seen telephone poles.

It’s amazing how CHEYENNE WARRIOR took off. Because it played one or two theatres, then it went directly to DVD and Showtime, and I would go into video stores, and when someone’s browsing, looking for something to rent, and without telling them who I was I’d say, ‘Here’s a good movie.’ And they’d say, ‘I saw that – I love that film!’ When did that come out – ’94? I still get fan-mail from that film; Pato Hoffman still gets fan-mail. People said, ‘Do a sequel! Do a sequel!’

He had the story, but the sequel wasn’t made.

M: I took the story I would have used as a sequel, changed the characters’ names, reworked it a bit, and I wrote a script called SARAH GOLDENHAIR, which begins with the Sand Creek Massacre, and goes on from there. That was in play for a while, but it didn’t happen. Then a year or two later, Roger calls and he says, “Okay, you win. I want you to write a sequel to CHEYENNE WARRIOR.” So I went back to my original story, and he offered me more money than he’d ever offered me to write it, because Frances (Doel, Corman’s story head) said, “If not Michael, who?” He approved the story-line, I wrote the first draft.

Mike wrote two different versions for Corman, but they’re both sitting on the shelf for now. It was not going to be a small picture; it was going to be shot in Canada, but the whole Canadian film-production financing situation changed. We jump ahead to the present day…

M: I tried to decide what I wanted to do next, writing-wise. I have a book of short stories that’s going to come out in August, from Bear Manor Fiction, and one of the stories has to do with Jesse James, for western fans. (The book’s) called DRACULA MEETS JACK THE RIPPER, AND OTHER REVISIONIST HISTORIES. I was also not very happy with what they did with my movie DILLINGER AND CAPONE. I had retained the publishing rights to the script. So I went back to my script, pulled out the essence, and wrote it as a short story. I also retained the publishing rights to both of those CHEYENNE WARRIOR sequels. So my next publishing project, I’m going to publish the two screenplay sequels, and SARAH GOLDENHAIR, in the same book. That will probably be coming in 2012 or so. But I must tell you that the character of Rebecca is not in the sequel. It’s about Hawk.

QUENTIN GETS HIS CAST FOR 'DJANGO UNCHAINED'!

Tarantino’s ‘Spaghetti Southern’ is set to go. Will Smith is out (good – he had his chance with WILD WILD WEST) and Jamie Foxx is in as title character of a slave turned bounty hunter, trained by German dentist Christoph Waltz! Django is out to rescue his wife from the clutches of Calvin Candie (Leo DiCaprio), owner of plantation/brothel CANDYLAND, with Samuel L. Jackson as his gentleman's gentleman. Among those rumored to fill out the cast are Franco Nero, Keith Carradine and Treat Williams. Aiming for a Christmas 2012 release, the Weinstein production is expected to lens starting in the fall in Louisiana.

RELEASE DATE SET FOR UNI R.I.P.D. STARRING ‘GUNSLINGER’ BRIDGES

Universal has announced a release date of June 28th, 2013 for the previously (in May) announced newest in the seemingly endless line of comic-book-based supernatural pseudo-westerns. R.I.P.D. from Dark Horse Comics, written by Peter M. Lenkoy, is about the Rest In Peace Department, a ghost police force, and Ryan Reynolds stars as a recently slain cop. Jeff Bridges will play his Old West gunslinger partner, a role originally announced for Zach Galifianakis, before schedule conflicts intervened. Director Robert Schwentke has lately helmed the Bruce Willis actioner RED and Jody Foster suspenser FLIGHT PLAN. Screenwriting team of Phil Hay and Fred Manfredi have scripted CLASH OF THE TITANS and other effects-heavy actioners.


‘THE ROY ROGERS SHOW’ COMES TO RFD-TV!

Starting Sunday, July 3rd at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, RFD-TV brings the Roy Rogers Show back to the airwaves! Roy, Dale, Trigger, Bullet, Buttermilk, Pat Brady and Nellybelle will all be back and if you haven’t seen this show since you were a kid – or never saw it – you’ll be delighted with how well it holds up. No surprise really as the writers, directors and supporting players were largely the cream of the crop from Republic Pictures. Each show airs Sunday at 9:30, then repeats Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday at 9:00 a.m.. Unfortunately this will take the place of the Happy Trails Theatre on the RFD-TV schedule, but the Roy Rogers features are widely available, and shown frequently on Encore Westerns and TCM – check the article on the TCM singing cowboy salute for details. If you’d like to get in the mood, click HERE to see a medley of TV show openings, starting with the Roy Rogers Show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-r6A7TzvUI&playnext=1&list=PLF189E2DE6A53A40D

BILLY THE KID TINTYPE SELLS FOR $2,300,000

The most optimistic conjecture had predicted half a million at the most, but the tintype considered the only authenticated photo of the young Regulator fetched nearly five times that. The winning bidder, 71 year old Palm Beach businessman William Koch, who traveled to Denver for Brian Lebel’s 22nd Annual Old West Show and Auction told the New York Daily News, “I love the Old West. I plan on enjoying it and discreetly sharing it. I think I’ll display it in a few small museums.”

The fact that in the picture, Billy sports a Winchester in his right hand, and a Colt pistol in the holster on his left hip, gave credence to the legend that Billy was left-handed. However, tintypes being a reverse image, the pistol was actually on his right hip. I’ll have more details on other items in the auction in next week’s Round-up.

FREE SATURDAY MATINEE AT THE AUTRY

on Saturday, July 2nd at noon, the Autry will screen Gene in RYTHYM OF THE SADDLE (Republic 1938) with Smiley Burnett, and COW TOWN (Columbia 1950) costarring Gail ‘Annie Oakley’ Davis and Jock Mahoney.



GLEN CAMPBELL DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER’S

Fans of country music were saddened this week to learn that the Wichita Lineman singer is suffering from the early stages of Alzheiemer’s disease. Campbell, 76, whose final studio album will be released in the end of August, decided to go public with the diagnosis. His wife Kim explained to PEOPLE MAGAZINE that he’s hoping to begin a series of farewell concerts in the fall, and if by chance he should forget a lyric, he didn’t want his audience to think that he’d been drinking. It’s a tragic, slow end to a brilliant career. One of the unexpected effects of the release of the Coen brothers’ remake of TRUE GRIT is that many movie fans saw the 1969 version again, and many have noted how well Campbell’s performance as Le Boeuf holds up.

ROBERT MITCHUM WESTERN FEST AT THE BILLY WILDER

Weekends in July will be packed with double-bills of that sleepy-eyed cowpoke Robert Mitchum, presented at the Billy Wilder Theatre in the Westwood Hammer Museum. It all starts Friday, July 8th at 7:30 PM with PURSUED (1947), directed by Raoul Walsh from a Niven Busch screenplay, and BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948), directed by Robert Wise from a Lillian Hayward script. Saturday July 9th it’s Nicholas Ray’s THE LUSTY MEN scripted by They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? novelist Horace McCoy. On Sunday July 10th, at 11:00 a.m., it’s THE RED PONY (1949) scripted by John Steinbeck from his own stories, and directed by Lewis Milestone. This one’s not just family-friendly, it’s free! All the screenings listed are in 35MM, and later in the month will be THE SUNDOWNERS, TRACK OF THE CAT, RIVER OF NO RETURN, THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY, WEST OF THE PECOS, RACHEL AND THE STRANGER, and EL DORADO. To learn more visit www.cinema.ucla.edu.

STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED IF YOU DIDN'T CHECK THE ROUND-UP FACEBOOK PAGE THIS WEEK

Quentin Tarantino pinned down his cast for DJANGO UNCHAINED; MEEK'S CUTOFF screened at the Egyptian; AMC ran LONESOME DOVE and 17 episodes of THE RIFLEMAN this weekend, and you could have saved 50% on memebership to the Autry Museum. Check Facebook often, and don't miss a thing!

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.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

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.

Also, AMC has started showing two episodes of THE RIFLEMAN on Saturday mornings.

That oughta cover it for the week, but if anything else turns up, you'll find it here, or on our Facebook page.

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Contents Copyright June 2011 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

VIRGINIAN ON SATURDAY, DEAD MEN COMING SOON

 

AUTRY & INSP CELEBRATE ‘THE VIRGINIAN’S’ 50^TH ANNIVERSARY!

 

On Saturday, September 22^nd, the Autry will mark the landmark television series’ half century with a day and night of activities.  Simultaneously, the INSP network will present a marathon of episodes, to welcome the series to its regular Saddle-Up Saturday programming.  The series was a landmark for many reasons.  The first non-anthology series to run 90 minutes, it was essentially a whole movie every week.

 

Happily, many of the stars of the series will be attending the Autry event, including James Drury, who played the title character of The Virginian (his character had no other name), in all 249 episodes.  Also attending will be Clu Gulager (Emmett Ryker), Randy Boone (Randy Benton), Gary Clarke (Steve Hill), Sara Lane (Elizabeth Grainger), Diane Roter (Jennifer Sommers), Roberta Shore (Betsy Garth), and Don Quine (Stacey Grainger).

 

James Drury

 

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., THE VIRGINIAN stars will be signing autographs in the lobby (I assume on a rotating schedule, and they charge for this). 

There will be screenings of episodes in the Wells Fargo Theatre, and at 1 p.m., the stars will take part in a panel discussion, moderated by the Western Clippings website author Boyd Magers.

From 2 to 4 in the Autry Cafe, Stuart Nisbet, the bartender in the series, will present ‘Saloon Stories From Bart the Bartender.’   

And from 5 to 9 p.m. in the Heritage Court there will be a chuck-wagon dinner with the cast (this even is sold out).  To learn more about the event at the Autry, go HERE.

INSP will begin their marathon at ten a.m. western time, with THE EXECUTIONERS, the first episode of the first season.

Incidentally, THE VIRGINIAN is, of course, based on the novel by Owen Wister, published in 1902, and which has been filmed at least five times, starting with Cecil B. DeMille’s 1914 film, starring Dustin Farnum.  It was filmed again in 1923 starring Kenneth Harlan, and the first talkie version was in 1929, with Victor Fleming directing  star Gary Cooper.  It was done again in 1946, starring Joel McCrea, and a TV movie version, starring Bill Pullman, in 2000. 

If you’ve only seen the series, you’d be surprised to read the novel, and learn that Trampas, Doug McClure’s character, and close pal of the Virginian, is his deadly enemy in all of the other versions, my favorite being Brian Donleavy opposite Joel McCrea.  And if you read the book, then watch HIGH NOON, also with Gary Cooper, you’ll be struck by the fact that, despite its claims of being based on the story THE TIN STAR, the movie is largely plagiarized from the last few chapters of THE VIRGINIAN. 

 

SPEAKING FOR THE DEAD (MEN – THE SERIES) – An interview with director Royston Innes

 

To see the DEAD MEN: THE SERIES TRAILER, go HERE.

 

On Wednesday, September 26^th, the first two episodes of a new Western web series will premiere on the internet.  It’s entitled DEAD MEN – THE SERIES, and if you click on the link above, and watch the trailer, you will have seen as much as I have.  But while 2 ½ minutes can’t tell you everything, it can tell you this: it looks like a real movie.  Unlike most of the made-for-the-web western and pseudo western programming I’ve seen, it isn’t green-screened, it isn’t CGI’d, and it doesn’t have any zombies.  It’s clearly shot on real locations, with professional camerawork and costuming and art direction.

 

It’s the brain-child of a pair of men, Australian co-creator and director Royston Innes, and Texan Iraqi War vet co-creator, producer and co-star Ric Maddox.  It’s the story of a man named Roy Struthers and his family, a Civil War and Indian Wars veteran who left the battlefield owning precious little until a small piece of land in the Arizona Territory turned out to hold an immensely valuable gold vein.  Needless to say, there are folks willing to do whatever it takes to steal the claim away from the Struthers family. 

When I spoke to director Royston Innes, he told me how the project came to be, and what he and Ric Maddox envision for its future. 

ROYSTON: The time is right for westerns, although my next project is a film noir.  For me, it’s not so much about the Western; it’s more what’s behind it.  I go to films these days, and there’s just no real men.  I’m Australian, so you grow up with a certain ruggedness.  Every child has moments when you come home from a fight, and you’ve gotten mangled.  And your dad says, “Well, you did good.”  There’s something a little tougher.  But you find with so many actors these days, they come out to L.A., and they get ‘into the program.’  And slowly but surely they become part off the machine, and they lose what was so interesting about them.  Know what I mean?

 

HENRY: Yes, it sorts of vacuums the personality out of them.

R: Yes it does.  And I believe it’s because they think there is something further ahead of them, almost like an idea of who they should be.  It’s all created by fear.  So when we decided to go to Arizona to shoot, it was really important to me to get real cowboys.  And my strength, because in my youth I was very devoted to acting, and I studied with the very best in the world – I spent two years studying with Mike Nichols.  I went to the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and I sought out the best teachers around.  I was very happy to finish it at the time I came out to L.A., I quit.  What I really like to do is (work with), I wouldn’t say unknown actors, but with people who just aren’t actors.  But what they are is they’re character.  For example, the gentleman who plays Virgil (friend of Roy Struthers), Brent Rock, you would have seen him in the trailer –

H: He reminded me of a younger Sam Elliot.

 

Brent Rock

 

R: He is; he’s got the presence -- he’s on-screen, and he electrifies.  And he’s a real cowboy, a real horseman who lives in Tombstone, Arizona.  He’s on his horse every day; he does it for a living.  That’s who I want in my films: real men.  Because of the, as you say, the vacuum of personality that happens, you have to go and search these people out.  And I want to give them the opportunity.  Because if you cast right, and they trust in you, and they believe in you, and I do my job, you’re going to get a better performance than any actor could give you. 

 

H: That’s very interesting, that you’ve devoted so much time to your study of acting, and concluded that you don’t need professional actors. 

 

R: Well, yes and no.  It takes time.  I have another picture I’m doing next year, a semi-western very similar to LEGENDS OF THE FALL, shooting in Canada.  And I have an unknown in the lead role.  And it’s going to take time.  Vulnerabilities in untrained actors, they take more time.  But when you have someone, in this case a Virgil, who is a leading-man cowboy, you just have to get him to get out of the way of himself.  Because it’s already there; he already has the grit in his fingernails.  It’s one of those things that bug me, in westerns in particular, is they’re too bloody clean.  At a time that was so rough and tumble – I want to see the sweat!  Back in the pioneering days of the Wild West, water was as expensive as a dollar a glass.  You could drink liquor for cheaper.  It does something to the way they look, the way they smell, the way they sweat.  And authenticity is very very important to me.

 

H: I understand you grew up, in Australia, watching an awful lot of movies.

 

R: I was obsessed with film.  I’d watch three movies a day, every day.  Obviously you had to go to school, but every waking moment I could, I watched.  I was a bit of a shut-in child, really, I was very anti-social.  I’d go to the video store each and every day, and in the ten-minute walk it took me, I’d audio-taped movies, and I listened to them on my Walkman.  They’d become such a huge part of my life that even when I wasn’t watching them, I was listening to them.  SCENT OF A WOMAN had a huge impact on me.  Because it had a standard first act.  And you think you know where it’s going, then suddenly they pack for New York.  It’s electrifying; and I don’t know what it was, but it sparked something in me.  I didn’t actually fall in love with acting until I saw a man named Daniel Day Lewis in a film called MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE.  I was 11 or 12, and it had a real impact on me.  And not long after I saw him in MY LEFT FOOT.   I didn’t know acting could be like that.  And that is what I aspired to.  And it took me away from my real love, which is film, and I eventually found my way back.  Life has a funny way, in retrospect, of showing you, ‘see, this is where I was leading you all along.’ 

 

H: Any particular western filmmakers have an impact on you?

R: You know who had a big impact on me?  It was about ten seconds, in a film by Jim Jarmusch called DEAD MAN.  It’s a fantastic film; it’s one where you can almost sense the sweat and the grime.  There’s a scene when he’s coming into town, and it’s his point of view, what he’s seeing through the carriage door.  And it’s so dangerous, it almost feels unlivable, and pioneering, and there are no rules.   That moment had a massive impact on me.  Is there a western director who’s had a massive impact on me?  No.  It’s more about authenticity, and celebrating the real man. 

H: How did you and Ric Maddox get together?

R: I directed Ric in a play, here in Los Angeles.  Ric had been in the armed forces in Iraq, and this was a play about Iraq, and I chose him specifically and another fellow who had just come back, and they were amazing.  Ric and I struck up a friendship, and we were talking one day about business, and what films he’d seen recently.  And gotten a bit nostalgic about certain actors, like the Yul Brynners, the John Waynes, and where have these men gone?  We live in an amazing time where there’s no excuse now for anyone not to pick up a camera and create something.  There’s so much available.  So on that idea, of the real man, and there’s no better genre (for that) than the western, we started to create something.  We kind of inspired each other, and one would write, wouldn’t it be great if this would happen?  And it turned into a series that I’m really proud of.  Each episode is ended with a little twist. 

 

H: Did you always see DEAD MEN as a web series, or did you see it as a feature, and figure out how to break it down? 

 

R: I was enticed to the web because it was still underground.  It still hadn’t laid its roots yet.  I wanted to come along and shock them.  I really think that this is going to be one of the premiere quality pieces on the web.  We put a lot of effort and a lot of energy and a lot of money to make it that good, so it could be real entertainment, and it’s for the web.  Eventually the web and web series are going to be the norm, and people will get most of their content there, just right now people don’t know how that’s going to happen.  And if I could say that DEAD MEN contributed to that, I’d be very very happy.

 

Ric Maddox

 

H: How long is each episode?

R: From seven to ten and a half minutes.  We’re premièring the first two episodes on Wednesday, September 26^th.  I’m not going to give anything away, but the first episode sets up where things are going, and I just wanted to give people a little bit of a taste of the speed and the action that they can expect with episodes. 

 

It has a genuine viciousness to it.  There’s a lot of knife fights, and a lot of spilled blood.  Eventually we’re going to get this done in all the different languages, so people can enjoy it.  Westerns are huge in Asia and France and Germany. 

 

H: I’m very aware of that because the Round-up is read everywhere around the globe.

 

R: Well, tell them that they can expect it to be translated into German, French, Japanese and hopefully Cantonese as well. 

 

H: I’ve heard that you’re planning to do five seasons of DEAD MEN.

 

R: Yeah.  It’s funny, we’re getting a lot of heat from this trailer, and because it’s taking web series where they haven’t been before; we’re getting a lot of heat from distributors who want to turn it into something else, something bigger.  Maybe a TV show.  I’m going to all these meetings.

 

Aiming low

 

H: You wouldn’t object to that, would you?

 

R: (laughs) Are you kidding?  Given a bigger budget, this could be amazing.   We already have episodes through season two planned out, and it’s going to take it to a different level – I wish that I could tell you what’s going to happen.  We have it all planned out – guaranteed five seasons.  And if TV picked it up I’d be so happy!  I’m particularly a fan of TV shows where it doesn’t stay in the typical three or four locations.  Almost like an on-going movie. 

 

H: Speaking of locations, how did you like shooting in Arizona? 

 

R: Loved it.  It’s my people.  I love communities.  I moved from Australia to New York when I was nineteen.  I love communities and eventually, my films are going to be more of the inspirational film type.     When you’re walking through Tombstone…some of my actors really got into it.  One of them, he plays Billy Walters, every day after shooting he loved to walk the planks of Tombstone, still in his costume, and it gave him a real thrill.  If you’re going to shoot a western you should shoot it in Arizona, because this is where it all happened.  When I was an actor, I did a war film called THE GREAT RAID (2005), and we did an eleven-day boot camp, and nothing could have been better to get us into the mind-set, what it felt like to be a soldier during World War II.  I would love to have done a western boot-camp for these guys, in Arizona.  It would shock their system in a way that nothing else can.

 

H: I’ve been talking to some actors in the new LONE RANGER movie, and they had a crash course, and they absolutely loved it. 

R: Going back to Arizona, Ric had shot a film there before, called MATTY, and when he told me about the people in Arizona, it just felt right.  We made a half dozen trips up there, scouting locations, and our budget, while big for a web series, is rather small.  And when people understood what we were trying to do, for the western, they opened up their homes to us; they opened up their land to us.  Amazing group of people called the Bell Boys, they have a livestock company, and they helped us with all the horses and the cattle, for next to nothing.  Amazing individuals –friendships that I will keep.  Couldn’t find a better place to shoot than Arizona – now I’ve just got to get those damned tax credits. 

 

(We talked a bit about the perils of the tax credit money that states provide to encourage filming, particularly that director Daniel Adams is in prison for inflating his expenses to get bigger tax credits – read last week’s BIG VALLEY article for details.)

 

R: I grew up with strong principles, and I was taught to hold on to your principles at all costs.  And it’s a daily struggle.  Part of it is believing in a higher force, and that you’re answerable.   That’s one thing I loved about Arizona is I’m a straight-shooter; I’m dealing with straight-shooters. 

 

H: How long a shoot was it?

 

R: It was a decent one; it was close to a month.  (laughs) And it was a tough one, Henry.  Low-budget; everyone doing everything.  Putting the scarves in the ice water, and putting it around my camera-operator’s neck so he doesn’t pass out.  We were there in June, We’d put ourselves in a position where we had to come back for something, and our locations were rough.  We had a thirty-minute four-by-four ride down to these locations.  Someone put a porta-loo down there, and that was it.  If the car went down, you were in trouble!  But again, no place better to get real vista shots.  We didn’t have all those luxuries, and at lunchtime we didn’t even always have shade.  But we came together as a unit, and it was a helluvah experience for an up-and-coming director like myself. 

 

H: Who is your cinematographer? 

 

R:  I actually had two D.P.s.  Bruce Logan, who shot the original TRON, and was involved with the original STAR WARS and 2001.  And Paul Hudson, he has a place called Lizardland Studios in Phoenix.   We shot on the Red One and the Scarlet.

Director Innes, D.P. Hudson

 

H: It’s been so long since I talked to anyone who actually shot film.

 

R: I’d love to shoot film.  There’s just a couple of things; when I’d be taking takes, in the back of my mind I’d be thinking of the cost.  I want to get the best performance, the best take, and sometimes that takes ten or fifteen takes. 

 

H: As you said, there’s really no excuse to not go out and make a movie, now that the changes in technology have brought the prices down. 

 

R: There’s no excuse not to be the master of your own creation right now.  If you’re not creating your own reality right now, you’re being a little lazy, to be blunt. 

 

H: What do you think of recent westerns?

 

R: TRUE GRIT was wonderful – I’m a huge fan of the Coen brothers.  And they’re writing – they’re in my top five.  They have an amazing D.P. in Roger Deakins, who gets them exactly what they want, and they take care of the rest.  3:10 TO YUMA was fantastic, and a real inspiration to me.  I still love the original 3:10.   You know, I take it back (about not being influenced by western directors); there are certain things I love from those old westerns.  I was recently watching Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, and I just love the starting.  I’m doing an homage to that; where they’re waiting in the station for the train to come, for (Charles) Bronson to get off the train.  There’s just that little vignette, the water tapping on the cowboy-hat brim -- it’s just brilliant!  And they don’t take that kind of time anymore.  They’re all in a rush, and that’s what he did so damned well.   He was amazing.  He was a man’s man.

 

H: And as you say, there are so few actors that you can take seriously as a man.

 

R: And that’s why there are so many cuts.  Because the camera doesn’t lie.  And if you’re comfortable in your own skin, and comfortable as the man that you are, the camera can stay on you for that much longer.  We need to be on the lookout for more of those kinds of actors. 

 

To learn more about DEAD MEN: THE SERIES, visit their website HERE. 

 

CHEYENNE WARRIOR II, HAWK -- Screenplay reviews

 

There’s a saying among magicians that if you know a hundred ways to control a selected card, but only one way to produce it, you know one card trick; but if you only know one way to control a card, but a hundred ways to produce it, you know a hundred tricks.

In some ways screenwriting – in fact any kind of writing – is like performing magic.  While there are a limited number of plots, there are infinite ways to tell them.  As Alexander Pope said, you should write, “…what oft was thought, but ne’er so well expressed.”

Michael B. Druxman proved his abilities as a story-teller with his screenplay to CHEYENNE WARRIOR (1994), which I have described here as not only the best micro-budget western I’ve ever seen, but also one of the best Westerns of the last twenty years.  The movie, directed by Mark Griffiths, is one of the most successful that Roger Corman has ever produced.  It’s combination of solid western qualities, plotting and believable romance has generated a considerable international following and fan base. 

Not surprisingly, Druxman immediately set to work plotting the sequel.  Unfortunately, Corman, who owned the characters in the story, was not convinced a sequel was warranted.  When Corman couldn’t be convinced, Druxman rewrote the sequel to make the characters similar, but not the same, with an eye towards making it with the same leads, Pato Hoffman and Kelly Preston.  Sadly this did not produce a movie, but it did produce a very fine script, entitled SARAH GOLDENHAIR.  Thinking it some of his finest work, Druxman took the very unusual step of publishing this unfilmed screenplay.

Well, no follow-up to CHEYENNE WARRIOR has happened yet, but Michael Druxman has revealed the further machinations involved in the attempt, with the publishing of his new book, CHEYENNE WARRIOR II / HAWK.  You see, Roger Corman eventually came around and hired Druxman to write a sequel after all, and he wrote CHEYENNE WARRIOR II.  Upon reading it, Corman felt certain changes were necessary, in order to give the film a stronger female lead – ironic considering he had grave doubts about the original CHEYENNE WARRIOR because Kelly Preston’s part was so prominent.  

The second draft became HAWK, and as Corman was getting ready to put it into production, Canadian tax-shelter problems stalled and eventually killed the project.  Druxman has printed both drafts of the screenplay in one volume, providing readers, and especially writers, with the rare opportunity to compare different versions of what is substantially the same story. 

The similarities are obvious: both versions, as well as SARAH GOLDEN HAIR, revolve around the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.  Many of the characters are the same.  The differences are often more subtle: a white man is caught by Cheyenne poaching rabbits on their land.  In one version, the action is seen from the white man’s perspective; in the other, from the Indians’.  A Scandinavian couple are father and daughter in one version, and husband and wife in the other.  Then there are the major changes: Rose, a ‘Calamity Jane’ sort of character, is one of the two leads in one version, and doesn’t exist in the other.

CHEYENNE WARRIOR II / HAWK is a terrific read, and one of them would make a terrific film (and one would make a good film).  Michael Druxman’s character, Soars Like a Hawk, usually just called Hawk, was one of the great strengths of the original film, and he’s a great strength here, because he is a ‘noble’ Indian, but not of the incredibly stoic, humorless sort. 

Over the years, I’ve always warned beginning screenwriters to make a script the absolute best that they can before showing it to a potential buyer, since it’s nearly impossible to get them to read another draft: you get one shot.  Here you can compare two different versions of the same story, and see which you prefer.  I have a strong opinion as to my favorite, but ironically, I believe the other version is the more commercial. 

Reading CHEYENNE WARRIOR II / HAWK, whether you’re a fan of the original CHEYENNE WARRIOR, and wanted to know what happened to those characters, or whether you want to deepen your understanding of the screenwriting process by comparing the two different versions, offers a unique opportunity for the reader that should not be passed up.  If you’d like to read my interview with Michael Druxman, and  my review of CHEYENNE WARRIOR, go HERE. For my review of the SARAH GOLDEN HAIR screenplay, go HERE. To purchase CHEYENNE WARRIOR ll /HAWK, or any of his other published screenplays, contact Michael B. Druxman at druxy@ix.netcom.com or PMB142, 6425 S. IH-35, Suite 150, Austin, Texas 78744.    

 

KIRK DOUGLAS ATTENDS ‘LONELY ARE THE BRAVE’ AT EGYPTIAN WEDNESDAY NIGHT!

 

Just found out that on Wednesday, September 19^th (tomorrow) at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Kirk Douglas will be appearing before the movie, at 7:30.  Details HERE.

SEE ‘NOW THEY CALL HIM SACRAMENTO’ ON THE BIG SCREEN!

 

If you’re going to be in Portland, Oregon on Sunday, September 23^rd, run, don’t walk, to the Mission Theatre to see NOW THEY CALL HIM SACRAMENTO (1972).  This rarely seen and quite amusing Spaghetti Western comedy is a fake ‘Trinity’ film, with Michael Forest playing the Terence Hill role, and Fred Harrison as Bud Spenser.  And Michael Forest, famous for STAR TREK, and various Spaghetti Westerns and Roger Corman movies, will attend!  Also, Roger Browne, the English voice for Terence Hill, and former president of the E.L.D.A. (English Language Dubbers Association) will attend.  To learn more, go HERE.  To read my review of SACRAMENTO, and to contact video distributor Dorado Films, go HERE.

Okay, that’s gotta be it for this week’s Round-up!  Sorry for delaying this until Tuesday night. 

Next week I’ll tell you about a Cowboy Church you can attend, a partial staging of the RAMONA pageant at the very place where the book was written, and more!

 

Happy Trails,

 

Henry

 

All Original Contents Copyright September 2012 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved