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

BORGNINE SHINES IN FINAL ROLE, ‘VICENTE FERNANDEZ’

Ernest Borgnine died this summer at the age of 95.  Few of us make it to that age, and few of those who do have the physical and mental stamina to work to the end like Borgnine did.  He’d continued to act – he made his last Western, NO CHANCE IN HELL, in 2008, and even voiced a continuing character in SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS.  He’d written his autobiography, ERNIE, and over the last few years of his life he’d travelled the country making appearances and discussing his book, his career and his life. 

 

At a jam-packed screening of his Oscar-Winner MARTY at the North Hollywood Library, he reminisced about MARTY, MCHALE’S NAVY, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, and his unforgettable Westerns like THE WILD BUNCH and VERA CRUZ.  When I spoke to him at the Hollywood Show in Burbank, about a year before his death, I asked him when he was going to make another Western.  He laughed, “I'm doing one right now! It's called THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VICENTE FERNANDEZ. It's a Western, but it takes place in a nursing home.”

 

Barry Corbin turning on the charm

 

Now the public will have the chance to see Ernest Borgnine in his last film, which opens at the Laemmle Theaters in North Hollywood this Friday.  One cannot help but approach such a movie with trepidation.  Fans of Laurel and Hardy will never forget how awful Stan Laurel looked, post-stroke, in UTOPIA.  It’s painful to recall the indignity of the great Basil Rathbone ending his career in HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE.  Spencer Tracy fared much better with GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, although studio execs so feared that he would die before the film was finished that he wasn’t paid a dime of his salary until his last scene was in the can. 

 

Happily, there are no such regrets attached to VICENTE FERNANDEZ, nor is Ernest Borgnine reduced to a cameo: it’s his film from start to finish.  He plays Rex Page, who excelled as radio DJ ‘Ricochet Rex’, but is consumed with bitterness at never having made it as a movie actor.  He’s obsessed with A GOOD MAN KILLED BAD, a Western he didn’t get to star in, and he watches his disintegrating VHS tape of the movie every day, repeating the monologues, running the dialogue with his indulgent ten-year-old granddaughter Clementine (Audrey B. Scott).  Although he shows no interest in Clem’s soccer prowess, he’s much closer to her than to her mother and his daughter Denise (Dale Dickey), or his wife of 47 years, Irma (June Squibb).

 

Renaldo Pacheco, June Squibb, Arturo del Puerto, Audrey P. Scott,

Carla Ortiz, Dale Dickey, Ashley Holliday, Ernie

 

A stroke sends Rex to the hospital, then to a nursing home to recover, and to regain the ability to walk.   The nursing home’s staff is entirely Latino, and Rex does not endear himself to them with his ‘wetback’ comments.  But one nurse is grateful to him immediately: beautiful Solena (Carla Ortiz) is being pawed by Dr. Dominguez (Tony Plana) until Rex, coming out of anesthesia, tells him to leave her alone.  When he is recognized as ‘Ricochet Rex’, the staff warms to him.  When he reveals in passing that he once shook hands with ‘The Frank Sinatra of Mexico, Vicente Fernandez’, Rex becomes their hero.  And they need a hero, because the nursing home is run by a patient whose family owns the place and others like it, and he and Dr. Dominguez work together to terrorize the employees and residents.  That patient, Walker, is played with bravura menace by the wonderful Barry Corbin, who was so impressive as the sympathetic judge in REDEMPTION: FOR ROBBING THE DEAD (read my review HERE ).  There are many parallels between the nursing-home folks and the scared town-folk in A GOOD MAN KILLED BAD, and it’s oddly delightful to watch Walker and his two henchmen zipping around on their Rascal Scooters intimidating everyone.  There’s an especially memorable scene where they ride circles around male nurse Alejandro (Arturo del Puerto), Walker menacing him with the bull’s horns mounted on his Rascal, and knocking him off his bike.

 

Rex’s popularity and power at the nursing home grows out of his ability to defeat Walker at the card-game Rat Screw (a variation on War), and as Rex becomes more of a hero to the staff, he has less and less time for his own family.  Much of the story turns on whether, come 4^th of July, he’ll attend his granddaughter’s soccer match of the Vicente Ferandez concert.   

 

Rex's daughter delivers the last existing copy of

A GOOD MAN KILLED BAD

 

Very unusual for today, this modest budget film is handsomely lensed in actual 35mm Fuji Film by Eric Leach, a camera operator and second unit cinematographer on many big pictures.  Written and directed by Elias Petridis, VICENTE FERNANDEZ is a hard film to classify.  While officially called a comedy, much of the film’s tone is more serious than that suggests, dealing with over-medicating and undernourishing patients, and kicking them out on a whim.  One of the funniest elements is the title sequence, which parodies Sergio Leone’s title sequences, accompanied by a song reminiscent of Ennio Morricone’s ‘English-as-a-second-language’ themes like LONESOME BILLY and A GRINGO LIKE ME. 

 

D.P. Eric Leach; writer/director Elia Petridis

 

The film is uneven in its successes, sometimes introducing very interesting notions, and not following through on them.  Rex’s agent, Burt, is forever calling up with pipe-dream plans for Rex’s career, eventually getting him an important audition.  But does he actually believe Rex can ‘make it’, or is he just stringing him along?  You never find out, and even though Emmy and Tony-winning MAD MEN star Robert Morse is prominently billed, you never see him: he’s only a voice on the phone.

 

Also, the actor who beat Rex out for the lead role in A GOOD MAN KILLED BAD, incredibly, ends up in the next hospital bed, but is woefully under-utilized.  The tiny budget is occasionally evident – crowd scenes are sparsely populated, and what is ‘the big game’ first seems to be a girl practicing kicks by herself, with one adult watching.

 

The biggest strengths are in the performances.  Borgnine dominates the film as a man who has long thought his life was worthless, because he hasn’t achieved his loftiest goals.  Corbin gives Borgnine the heightened level of meanness he needs to play off of.  And as the, granddaughter Audrey B. Scott is surprisingly believable, even when delivering dialogue that seems unnatural.  And hardcore Western nerds take note: the man who introduces Rex to Vicente, thus inducing the handshake of the title, is Peter Sherayko, Texas Jack Vermillion from TOMBSTONE.

 

 

We’ll all miss Ernie, but it’s very nice that he could go out on his strong, film-carrying performance in THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VICENTE FERNANDEZ. 

 

 

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

And speaking of TCM (okay, nobody was), have I mentioned that the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here?






 

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepreneur 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 permanent 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 Hollywoodwestern, 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.



WELLSFARGO 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.


WESTERN ALL OVER THE DIAL


INSP’s SADDLE-UP SATURDAY features a block of rarely-seen classics THE VIRGINIAN and HIGH CHAPARRAL, along with BONANZA and THE BIG VALLEY. On weekdays they’re showing LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, BIG VALLEY, HIGH CHAPARRAL and DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN.


ME-TV’s Saturday line-up includes BRANDED, THE REBEL and THE GUNS OF WILL SONNETT. On weekdays it’s DANIEL BOONE, GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, BIG VALLEY, WILD WILD WEST, and THE RIFLEMAN.


RFD-TV, the channel whose president bought Trigger and Bullet at auction, have a special love for Roy Rogers. They show an episode of The Roy Rogers Show on Sunday mornings, a Roy Rogers movie on Tuesday mornings, and repeat them during the week.


WHT-TV has a weekday afternoon line-up that’s perfect for kids, featuring LASSIE, THE ROY ROGERS SHOW and THE LONE RANGER.


TV-LAND angered viewers by dropping GUNSMOKE, but now it’s back every weekday, along with BONANZA.

Just the one lead story for tonight’s Round-up – I have to finish some script revisions, and prepare questions for an interview for next week’s Round-up. Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

REMEMBERING ERNEST BORGNINE

Ernest Borgnine, who earned his Oscar as MARTY, and was unforgettable as Dutch Engstrom in THE WILD BUNCH, has died at 95.  From FROM HERE TO ETERNITY to JOHNNY GUITAR, VERA CRUZ, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, THE DIRTY DOZEN, Borgnine was unique, not only switching deftly between drama and comedy, but also between hero and villain.  Never idle, over the past few years he gained a new children’s audience voicing Mermaidman in SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. 

Having written his autobiography, ERNIE, over the past several years he’d been travelling the country doing book-signings and personal appearances at venues big and small, even appearing at the North Hollywood Public Library for a MARTY screening.  He never seemed to be in anything but a great mood, and I’ve never heard a bad word about him from anyone who worked with him.  And he never stopped working.  When I asked him last July when he was going to do another Western, he laughed, “I'm doing one right now! It's called THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VINCENTE FERNANDEZ. It's a Western, but it takes place in a nursing home.”  I understand the film has been completed, and Borgnine won the Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award at this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival.

INSP CELEBRATES EXPANSION OF SADDLE-UP SATURDAY WITH CONTEST

SADDLE-UP SATURDAY, featuring episodes of BONANZA, THE BIG VALLEY, DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN,and sometimes movies, now starts at 1 p.m. ET, 10 a.m. PT, and runs all day and all night!  You can learn more about the line-up HERE.   To celebrate the expansion, INSP is sponsoring a sweepstakes that will win some lucky viewer an all-expenses-paid four-day Dude Ranch getaway for two worth $5000! The second prize is a Weber Barbecue, Omaha Steaks and groceries worth more than $1300! Third prize – these are worth $300, and there are a dozen of them – are BIG VALLEY and BONANZA DVDs, plus a new pair of Levis and a Fisher Gold Mining Kit! To find out more, click under the banner below, and good luck!  Let's make sure these prizes are won by Round-up readers, and not someone less deserving! 

CLICK HERE

CALIFORNIA PERMANENTLY RECOGNIZES ‘THE NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY’

Only Wyoming has beaten California to the punch!  On Monday, July 2^nd, California became the 2^nd state in the Union to recognize the National Day of the Cowboy and Cowgirl as July 28^th, in perpetuity.  Other states that are currently on board for this year, either by State Senate resolution, or Governor’s proclamation, are Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas.  If you’d like to watch the proclamation pass in California, featuring politicians and NDOC National Director Bethany Braley, go to the video here: https://vimeo.com/45099474

Speaking of the National Day of the Cowboy, events are happening all around the country, and as we get closer I’ll have more and more details, but to start, author J.R. Sanders, the man who created the READ ‘EM COWBOY Barnes and Noble Bookfair last year in Redlands, is at it again, and there are at least 8 READ ‘EM COWBOY events this year, including Redlands, Santa Clarita, and Valencia, California.  If you make a copy of the voucher below, when you make a purchase at any Barnes and Noble, in-store or on-line, from July 28^th through August 2^nd, a percentage will be contributed to organizations who encourage kids to read.  J. R.’s planned a week-long series of events, starting on July 22^nd with a 50^th Anniversary screening of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE at the Fox Theatre in Old Town Redlands.  www.foxeventcenter.com.  There will be all manner of related music, writing and reading events for kids and adults all week long.

(I'm having technical difficulties getting the voucher to appear -- I'll have it in place as soon as I can)

All manner of celebrations are to be held in Sedona, Arizona; the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame; Sullivan, Missouri; Slippoff Hollow, Alabama; and Jefferson, Amarillo and El Paso, Texas.  You can find out details at the NDOC website here: http://nationaldayofthecowboy.com/wordpress/?post_type=tribe_events&eventDisplay=month

The Autry plans a day packed with activities including gun-slinger Joey Dillon, trick-ropers, square dancing, music, arts and crafts, gold-panning, screening of GENE AUTRY SHOW episodes and so much more.  Learn more here: http://theautry.org/programs/music-festivals/national-day-of-the-cowboy-and-cowgirl-2012

If you have an event related to the Nation Day Of The Cowboy planned, please share it with the Round-up, so we can share it with the Round-up Rounders (our readers)!

HENRY FONDA and THE DEPUTY -- a book review

It’s hard to say what kind of roles the public thinks of when they think of Henry Fonda, because he was so damned good at all of them.  This may come off as blasphemy in the Round-up, but I usually think of him first in comedy, especially Preston Sturges’ THE LADY EVE; then as Tom Joad in the GRAPES OF WRATH; and third as Wyatt Earp in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, and all those other great Western roles, both comic and dramatic.

We don’t think of him as the star of a Western television series, but that’s exactly what he was in 1959 and 1960, starring in THE DEPUTY, and the story of how that series came about, as well as its demise, is the subject of Glenn A. Mosely’s illuminating book.

Mosely’s previous book, JEFFREY HUNTER AND TEMPLE HOUSTON (see my review HERE http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2011/11/yellow-rock-nabs-red-nation-top-prizes.html ) examined a series that didn’t make it to a full season.  THE DEPUTY lasted two, and NBC wanted to renew for a third, and extend the show from a half to a full hour.  And yet, it was doomed from the start by creating expectations that the makers had no intention of fulfilling.

Television in 1959 was a very different medium than it is today, and both the public and actors looked on it very differently.  For many years, certainly well into the 1970s, established actors did not want to appear regularly in a TV series.  Guest appearances were fine, but it was believed that audiences would never pay to see an actor once they’d gotten used to seeing them for free, so doing a TV series was considered the kiss of death to a career.  So why did an actor who’d just starred in MR. ROBERTS, Hitchcock’s THE WRONG MAN, 12 ANGRY MEN and THE TIN STAR agree to do a series?  “Many of my friends have asked why I’ve picked this season to debut in my own western series.  Gold convinced me.  Residuals is a magic word.  It means it rains gold.  It is the only chance an actor has to save money these days.  The thought of having an annuity from the residuals is very satisfying.” 

So it was more for love of money than love of westerns, but whatever it took to get Henry Fonda in the door was fine.  The premise was clever: Fonda plays Marshal Simon Fry in 1880 Arizona Territory, and he’s forever conning gunman-turned-shopkeeper Clay McCord (Allen Case) to ‘temporarily’ don a deputy’s badge, and help him on a case.  The plots were dramatic, but if the setup sounds a little more humorous than westernish, it’s no surprise when you learn THE DEPUTY was the first series created by soon-to-be sitcom powerhouse Norman Lear, and VERA CRUZ and CRIMSON PIRATE author Roland Kibbee.  And Norman Lear reveals that he and Kibbee borrowed that marshal-conning-deputy gag from Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s THE FRONT PAGE, better known as the Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell remake HIS GAL FRIDAY.

So, what went wrong?  Notice the series isn’t named THE MARSHAL, after Fonda’s character, but THE DEPUTY, after Case’s.  Fonda agreed to be ‘in’ every episode of the series, but to ‘star’ only in a few.  In the first season, he was the lead in seven out of 39 episodes!  In the other thirty-two, he did appearances so brief that they could shoot as many as five Fonda segments a day!  Fonda’s real love was the theatre, and his deal on THE DEPUTY made it possible to do plays or movies for nine months out of the year.  But would the public stand for it?

Mr. Mosley is a booster for the series, both the Fonda and non-Fonda episodes, and describes each in the fifty page episode guide.  He makes the point that if the quality of each script isn’t uniformly brilliant, shows of that period were expected to churn out 39 or 40 episodes per season, compared to our current fifteen or ten.  True, but it must be remembered that shows of the same period and with the same production schedule, like HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, GUNSMOKE, THE REBEL and THE RIFLEMAN, hit a tremendous amount of home runs per season.  Of course, they had a steady writing and directing staff – GUNSMOKE even had a decade of radio scripts to fall back on.  But after the creators of THE DEPUTY, Lear and Kibbee, turned in their pilot, Lear never wrote another episode, and Kibbee only wrote one.  Perhaps having a consistent vision when the show was getting established would have helped.

Mr. Mosley is the director of Broadcasting in the School of Journalism and Mass Media at the University of Idaho.  He brings the thoroughness of academia to his study of entertainment.  He demonstrates that many television westerns were not so much the reduced offspring of film, as they were the visual descendents of the radio western.  He also makes a convincing case that one reason for the tremendous number of westerns on television at the time – over thirty – was partly attributable to the quiz show scandals. 

THE DEPUTY board game

If you’re a fan of Fonda’s, a fan of Western TV, or just interested in how network deals were struck in TV’s early days, you’ll find HENRY FONDA AND THE DEPUTY very entertaining and informative.  It’s published by BearManor Media, and available through them, Amazon and other dealers, priced at $19.95.  The forward is by Read Morgan, who played Sgt. Tasker in season two; the prologue is by Christian I Nyby II, who, like his father, was a talented and prolific director, but who began his career on the ‘labor gang’ at Republic, where THE DEPUTY and so many other westerns, big-screen and small, were shot. 

Incidentally, if the book whets your appetite to see THE DEPUTY, you can find the entire run for sale on eBay for as little as $42. 

TWO MORE NEW ‘MORGAN KANE’ BOOKS

WR Films, the folks preparing to film MORGAN KANE: THE LEGEND BEGINS, have been releasing e-book versions of the novels to familiarize English-speakers with the most successful series of European-written Western novels since Karl May wrote about Winnetou and Old Shatterhand.  The stories are by Louis Masterson, pen-name for the prolific Kjell Hallbing, Norway’s most popular author.  Morgan Kane is sometimes a lawman, sometimes a bandit, sometimes a Texas Ranger.  The covers have all been eye-catching, but #13, REVENGE!, is their sexiest yet.  It and #12, GUNMAN’S INHERITANCE, have been released, and are available through Amazon and wherever e-books are sold, as are #1-11 -- and you definitely want to start at the beginning.

LOS ENCINOS DAY OF CELEBRATION SUNDAY JULY 15^TH

As regular readers know, Los Encinos Park in Encino is one of the California treasures threatened with closure by a bankrupt and incompetent state government.  An anonymous donor stepped up and gave them enough money to keep afloat through the 2012-2013 fiscal year!  The Docent Association, the park, and community invite you to join them on Sunday, July 15th from 11-3:30 for an extra special celebratory Living History day. It's B.Y.O.P.--bring your own picnic!  Also, from 1 to 2 p.m., they’ll be filming park visitors, asking what makes Los Encinos, locally known as ‘the duck park,’ special to them, and why they chose to make a donation to keep the park open.  Questions? Contact us: 818.784.4849 or LosEncinos@parks.ca.gov

A ‘HELL ON WHEELS’ APPETIZER

Season two of HELL ON WHEELS won’t begin until Sunday, August 12^th, but while we’re waiting, here are some season one behind-the-scenes pictures featuring, top to bottom, Anson Mount, Common and Wes Studi.

That'll have to do it for this week -- what with getting called for jury duty this week, I'm amazed I got half this much done.  Oh, and let's not forget to wish a happy birthday to an actress who, with a single performance, made a great addition to the Western film, Kim Darby!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

L. A. ITAL FEST; 2 NEW HALLMARK WESTERNS

LOS ANGELES ITALIA FESTIVAL 2013 CELEBRATES ‘SPAGHETTI WESTERN MASTERS’

Franco Nero and Joan Collins at last year's Festival

The festival, which runs from Sunday, February 17^th through Saturday, February 23^rd, will honor Al Pacino with the first Jack Valenti – Los Angeles Italia Legend Award, and will be held at the Chinese Theatre 6 in Hollywood.  The screenings are free, on a first come, first served basis, although you may need to RSVP for events with live appearances.  Those of particular interest to Western fans begin on Sunday morning at 9, with the documentary ONCE UPON A TIME…SERGIO LEONE, directed by Giovanni Minoli.  That evening, at 10:40 p.m., the world premiere of another documentary, GIULIANO GEMMA: AN ITALIAN IN THE WORLD, directed by Vera Gemma.  Giuliano Gemma was a popular star first of gladiator movies, then of many Spaghetti Westerns, including A PISTOL FOR RINGO, ARIZONA COLT and ALIVE OR PREFERABLY DEAD. 

On Monday, February 18^th at 10:30 a.m., TEXAS, ADIOS, directed by Ferdinando Baldi and starring Franco Nero, will be screened.  On Tuesday, February 19^th at 9 a.m., DJANGO KILL…IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT!, starring Tomas Milian and directed by Giulio Questi will screen.  At ten p.m., the short documentary FRANCO NERO: THE MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES, directed by Carlo Gabriel Nero will screen, followed by the original DJANGO, starring Nero, and directed by Sergio Corbucci.  On Wednesday, February 20^th, at 10 p.m., RINGO THE KILLER, directed by Duccio Tessari and starring Giuliano Gemma, will screen.  On Friday, February 22^nd, at 8 p.m., Franco Nero will attend a screening of LETTERS TO JULIET (not a Western), in which he costars with his wife, Vanessa Redgrave, and Amanda Seyfried.  Finally on Saturday, February 23^rd, 3:40 p.m., Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (a gangster film, not a Western) will screen.  To learn more about these screenings, or about the many non-Western screenings and events, go HERE.

HULU TO MAKE A WESTERN!

Hulu, the online service for downloading and viewing TV episodes and movies, is entering the world of original programming with a Western!  Entitled QUICK DRAW, there is nothing else that I can reveal at this time, except that they will be shooting eight episodes over four weeks IN Southern California.  When I can share more, I will!

TWO NEW WESTERNS ON HALLMARK THIS MARCH!

Clearly no network has a greater commitment to the Western genre than the Hallmark Movie Channel.  Last month they aired QUEEN OF HEARTS (read my review HERE ),the third annual entry in their GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE franchise, co-created by, and starring Luke Perry as a 19^th Century Wyoming circuit judge.  Last June they premiered HANNAH’S LAW (read my review HERE ), and in March they’ll premiere two new Westerns: no other outlet has produced four new Westerns in a year.  No one else comes close.

The first, airing Saturday, March 9^th, is WILD HEARTS stars Ricky Schroder and his real-life daughter Cambrie Schroder.  Written by Ricky and Andrea (Mrs. Ricky) Schroder and directed by Ricky, it’s a present-day Western tale about a young girl who leaves Malibu for the Sierra Nevada Mountains to find her father, and hopefully establish a relationship.  He’s a professional wrangler, and they are both drawn together and apart over the future of a wild mustang named Bravo.  Also featured in the cast of this Schroder Family Production are three of Cambrie’s siblings, Holden, Luke and Faith.  Also lurking in this film is one of the current West’s most effective villains, Martin Kove.  I spoke with Ricky about his appearance in the most recent GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE film (you can read that HERE ) and hope to interview Ricky again, along with daughter Cambrie, very soon, and we’ll also be discussing LONESOME DOVE and his other Westerns.

‘SHADOW ON THE MESA’ will premiere on the Hallmark Movie Channel on Saturday, March 23^rd at 8 p.m.  Star Kevin Sorbo trades in his Hercules sandals for cowboy boots; co-starring with TRUE BLOOD’S Wes Brown; Gail O’Grady, thrice Emmy nominated for NYPD BLUE; Meredith Baxter, thrice Emmy nominated for FAMILY and A WOMAN SCORNED: THE BETTY BRODERICK STORY; Greg Evigan, well-remembered for B.J. AND THE BEAR and MY TWO DADS; and Barry Corbin of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and many others, and twice Emmy nominated for NORTHERN EXPOSURE. 

Wes Brown plays a bounty hunter searching for his mother’s killer, and enlisting the aid of the father he never knew, Sorbo.  Director David S. Cass Sr. knows westerns from the inside out.  Before he began directing 2^nd unit on HERE COME THE BRIDES, he started out at Old Tucson, stunting for Sam Peckinpah in DEADLY COMPANIONS, and later doubling for John Wayne and Robert Mitchum.  Incidentally, much of the cast has more Western experience than you might guess.  Gail O’Grady’s first screen role was in THE THREE AMIGOS, but don’t go crazy looking for her: her part was cut.  Greg Evigan was effective in the underrated but quite watchable 6 GUNS, playing a sheriff (read my review HERE ). Barry Corbin has many Western credits, but he has two very recent ones of particular interest: in REDEMPTION: FOR ROBBING THE DEAD (read my review HERE ) he’s very moving as a sympathetic judge.  In Ernest Borgnine’s last film, THE MAN WHO SHOOK THE HAND OF VICENTE FERNANDEZ (read my review HERE ) he’s hateful and funny as the Rascal-riding head outlaw bullying the other denizens of a retirement home.  And in 2012, Kevin Sorbo donned a beard to play Lincoln opposite Barry Bostwick, who plays the title character in F.D.R. – AMERICAN BADDASS (there are some questions as to the historical accuracy in this one, but it is a comedy).

NEW BEVERLY CINEMA DOUBLE-BILLS ‘DJANGO UNCHAINED’

‘DJANGO UNCHAINED’ has been screening at Quentin Tarantino’s own Hollywood revival house, The New Beverly Cinema, since the movie opened.  Now they’ve announced that starting on this Friday the 15^th, it will continue for two more weeks, but in a double-bill.  It’s not been disclosed what the second feature(s) will be , nor whether it’ll be two weeks with one other movie, a different double-bill every day, or something in between.  There is much speculation that DJANGO UNCHAINED will be paired with Spaghetti Westerns.  Stay tuned!

MORE MOVIES ANNOUNCED FOR ‘WHAT IS A WESTERN?’ AUTRY SERIES

The once-a-month screenings, now in their third year, will continue, while skipping the month of March, preempted by the play THE BIRD HOUSE, written by Cherokee playwright Diane Glancy.  The series is curated by Jeffrey Richardson, Gamble Curator of Western History, Popular Culture, and Firearms, who always leads a discussion of the film’s history prior to the screening.  All of the screening are on Saturdays.

April 20^th, RAMROD (1947), directed by Andre De Toth, starring Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea.  Also on hand, guest presenter James D’Arc, Curator of the Motion Picture Archive at Brigham Young University. 

May 11^th, HUD (1963), directed by Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas and Patricia Neal.

June 8^th, DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944), directed by Billy Wilder, starring Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson.  (Great noir, but I wouldn’t call it a Western)  Guest presenter, Glynn Martin, Exec. Director of the Los Angeles Police Museum.

July 13^th, BLAZING SADDLES (1974), directed by Mel Brooks, starring Cleavin Little, Gene Wilde and Slim Pickens.

August 10^th, QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER (1990), directed by Simon Wincer, starring Tom Sellick, Laura San Giacomo and Alan Rickman.

And now, the Sergio Leone, ‘Man With No Name’ Triptych, on September 14^th, A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS, on October 12^th, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, and on November 2^nd, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

But wait, there’s more:  On Saturday, February 23^rd, at noon, there will be a double-feature screening of Gene Autry movies, as there is on the last Saturday of every month.  This time it is  BLUE MOUNTAIN SKIES (1939), and GENE AUTRY AND THE MOUNTIES (1951). 

And, not a screening, but a book talk and signing, on Saturday, March 9^th, at 2 p.m., Pulitzer Prize winner Glenn Frankel discusses his latest book, THE SEARCHERS, THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND, with documentary director Nick Redman.

‘HEAVEN’S GATE’ TO SCREEN AT FILM FORUM, NEW YORK!

Praised as a masterpiece, mocked as a bomb, what is certain is that director Michael Cimino is one of the finest directing talents of the 20^th century, yet this movie cost an unheard-of-for-the-time fortune, and crashed and burned.  For one week, from March 22^nd through the 28^th, New Yorkers can see a new 4K restoration of the complete director’s cut, and judge for themselves.  I’ve never seen it, and am leery of watching an epic for the first time on a TV screen.  If I could get to New York, I’d be first in line.

LEE MARVIN MOVIES, AND THE SIEGE AT THE ALAMO, AT THE AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE!

On Saturday, February 16^th, 7:30 pm at the Egyptian, catch a double bill of Lee Marvin’s Oscar winner, CAT BALLOU and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE.  UPDATE!  JUST FOUND OUT 'CAT BALLOU' DIRECTOR ELLIOT SILVERSTEIN WILL BE PRESENT TO SPEAK BETWEEN MOVIES!  Same time, same date at the Aero it’s GONE WITH THE WIND.  Thursday the 21^st at the Egyptian, Lee stars in HELL IN THE PACIFIC and THE PROFESSIONALS.  And on Saturday, February 23^rd, to mark the 13-day siege that began on this date in 1836, the Egyptian will screen Budd Boeticcher’s THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO, starring Glenn Ford.  Co-star Jeanne Cooper will be signing her autobiography beforehand, and after will join co-star Julie Adams, and Glenn Ford’s son Peter Ford for a discussion.

WESTERN WINS AT BAFTA

BAFTA, the British Oscars, were awarded tonight.  Quentin Tarantino won Best Original Screenplay, and Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor for DJANGO UNCHAINED.  Daniel Day-Lewis was named Best Actor for LINCOLN.

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

And speaking of TCM (okay, nobody was), have I mentioned that the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here?








THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepreneur 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 permanent 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 Hollywoodwestern, 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.



WELLSFARGO 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.


WESTERN ALL OVER THE DIAL


INSP’s SADDLE-UP SATURDAY features a block of rarely-seen classics THE VIRGINIAN and HIGH CHAPARRAL, along with BONANZA and THE BIG VALLEY. On weekdays they’re showing LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, BIG VALLEY, HIGH CHAPARRAL and DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN.


ME-TV’s Saturday line-up includes THE REBEL and WAGON TRAIN. On weekdays it’s DANIEL BOONE, GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, BIG VALLEY, WILD WILD WEST, and THE RIFLEMAN.


RFD-TV, the channel whose president bought Trigger and Bullet at auction, have a special love for Roy Rogers. They show an episode of The Roy Rogers Show on Sunday mornings, a Roy Rogers movie on Tuesday mornings, and repeat them during the week.


WHT-TV has a weekday afternoon line-up that’s perfect for kids, featuring LASSIE, THE ROY ROGERS SHOW and THE LONE RANGER.


TV-LAND angered viewers by dropping GUNSMOKE, but now it’s back every weekday, along with BONANZA.


WRAPPING UP…

Spent Saturday afternoon at The Autry, watching LAST OF THE MOHICANS in beautiful – if a little scratchy – 35mm.  I hadn’t seen it in its entirety since it opened twenty-one years ago, and I think I may have to add it to my regular every-two-years rotation, along with the best of Ford and Hawks, LONESOME DOVE and TOMBSTONE.  Amazing that after two decades, Madeline Stowe looks as beautiful in the current REVENGE as she does here, and Daniel Day-Lewis, though not as ‘ripped’ in his Academy Award-nominated LINCOLN as he is here, has aged well.  Russell Means, who we recently lost, turns in a fine performance, as does the terrifying Wes Studi, and whose name jumped out of the end titles but HELL ON WHEEL’S Colm Meany as a British officer.  As Curator Jeffrey Richardson pointed out, classifying it as a Western is iffy, unless you go back to the original designation of west of the thirteen original colonies.  But that’s good enough for me.  If you haven’t watched it in a while, it’s well worth tracking down.  And Jeff also says director Michael Mann is thinking of doing another Western.  I’m crossing my fingers!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright February 2013 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved