KING OF THE COWBOYS RETURNS TO THE AIRWAVES!

(Updated Friday Nov. 4 th - see Dedication of Steve McQueen Square)
(Updated Wednesday Nov. 3rd - see Happy Birthday Queen of the West, Red Nation Film Festival)
Here’s delightful news for those of us who were a bit heartbroken when the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Branson shut down, and its contents were sold off. You’ll perhaps recall that Patrick Gottsch, President of RFD-TV, bought the taxidermied figures of Trigger and Bullet, planning to display them. There was also talk of airing Roy Rogers movies on the network. It has all come to pass! Starting this Saturday, November 6th, HAPPY TRAILS THEATER will begin airing Roy Rogers movies, hosted by Roy’s son Dusty, and grandson Dustin!

Beginning with 1939’s SOUTHWARD HO, a Civil War story directed by the great Joe Kane and co-starring Lynn Roberts and Gabby Hayes, the movies will air Saturday in 90 minute time slots, at 9 am Pacific, 10 am Mountain, 11 am Central and Noon Eastern. They’ll repeat twelve hours later, and on Thursdays, 2:30 pm Pacific, 3:30 pm Mountain, 4:30 pm Central and 5:30pm Eastern.

Here’s the schedule for the next few months: November 13 - THE ARIZONA KID (1939), November 20 - DAYS OF JESSE JAMES (1940), November 27 - WEST OF THE BADLANDS (aka BORDER LEGION 1940), December 4 - YOUNG BUFFALO BILL (1940), December 11- THE RANGER AND THE LADY (1940), December 18 -YOUNG BILL HICKOCK (1941), December 25 - THE TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD (1950)– this one, shown on Christmas day, is about Christmas tree rustlers!, January 1, 2011 - IN OLD CHEYENNE (1941).

But wait, there’s more! RFD-TV has revived The Roy Rogers Riders Club! And Trigger and Bullet are on tour, posing for photos. They’re even scheduled to appear at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on New Years Day. For information about the tour, the club, and merchandise, CLICK HERE.

REPUBLIC PICTURES IV – THE FINAL CHAPTER

For those of you who have been following this multipart story of the 75th Anniversary of Republic Pictures, here’s the last section. If you’ve missed any or all of it, you can click to read PART ONE, PART TWO and PART THREE.

The third panel discussion ended at 2:30 pm, to be followed, after a five minute break, by a 25 minute ‘Dignitary Presentation.’ Knowing that this would be my only chance to get anything to eat and see anything else – other panels would be running until we had to clear the studio at 5:00 pm -- I gave up my front-row seat and snuck out into 107 degree heat. When I got back for WESTERN MOVIE MEMORIES WITH REPUBLIC STARS the room was hot and packed, and using a combination of boyish charm and well-aimed elbows, I slithered to a spot against the wall and near the front.

(photos, top to bottom: Dale Evans; folks having their portraits taken with Trigger and Bullet; SOUTHWARD HO poster; Dick Jones, Donna Martell, Anne Jeffreys; Adrain Booth, Michael Chapin, Peggy Stewart; Anne Jeffreys, Hugh O'Brien; A.C. Lyles, Joan Leslie, Ben Cooper, Adrian Booth, Michael Chapin; Dick Jones, Donna Martell, Anne Jeffreys, Hugh O'Brien; the monogram 'B' on the Barkely's gate; exterior of the Barkley estate; Big Valley street set under construction; Barkley dinging room; foyer; parlour)

I was afraid I was late – the tables were full of guests waiting to speak: A.C. Lyles, Joan Leslie, Ben Cooper, Adrian Booth, Michael Chapin, Peggy Stewart, Dick Jones, Donna Martel, Anne Jeffreys and Hugh O’Brien. Leonard Maltin stood at the podium, waiting to be moderator. There was a lot of talking going on at the front, not from the tables, but in front of them. A familiar western character actor caught my eye, then jerked a thumb at two men who were talking in front. “Who is that?” he asked in obvious annoyance.
“That’s A.C. Lyles,” I said. “He made a ton of westerns at Paramount – ”
“I know Lyles,” he snapped. “I worked for him. Who’s the clown that won’t shut up?”
“Tom LaBonge.”
“Who in Hell is Tom LaBonge?”
“L.A. City Council.”
“For Chrissake!” he snarled. “Politicians!”
And for another fifteen minutes, as the Republic Pictures stars waited behind them, and hundreds of impatient audience members waited in front of them, City Council Members Paul Koretz, Paul Krekorian, Thomas J. LaBonge and Assemblyman Mike Feur ignored the clock on the wall and the contemptuous catcalls from the crowd, and hogged the mike, prancing about like geldings, mugging and clowning and issuing proclamations for the press cameras. Despite their posturing, they clearly knew nothing about the movies Republic made. If they did, they’d know how close they came to somebody getting a rope – or four ropes. When the blowhards finally left, there were only a couple of minutes left for each speaker, and Leonard Maltin did a masterful job at getting the most from speakers in the least amount of time.

“Republic was the home of the peoples’ movies,” Maltin began. “Films that played small towns, kids’ Saturday matinees, and later more adult movies. We’ll try to cover as many bases as we can. Westerns and serials were the mainstay of Republic, and everyone here worked on westerns.”

Dickie Jones is at least as famous for being the voice of PINNOCHIO as he was for starring in the Autry-produced series THE RANGE RIDER with Jock Mahoney, and as the title character in BUFFALO BILL JR. Starting as a 6 year old trick-rider in Hoot Gibson’s rodeo, Hoot encouraged Jones’ parents to take him to Hollywood. Maltin asked Dick Jones, who’d worked as a kid at Republic in the thirties, to give us a kid’s eye view of the studio.

“I had the privilege of being one of the very first Republic Studio actors, back in 1935, when I did WESTWARD HO with the great John Wayne, as his younger brother. We made most of it up in Lone Pine, and if the wind wasn’t blowing strong enough, they got these huge fans, and made a sandstorm. That wasn’t my first job in motion pictures, but it was my first job at Republic. It wasn’t 20th Century Fox or M.G.M. or Warner Brothers: it was homier.”

Like Dick Jones, Michael Chapin started at Republic as a kid, in the 1946 Roy and Dale starrer, SONG OF ARIZONA. “By that time the studio had gotten sophisticated. So we weren’t just working on the westerns streets, we were actually going out on location and shooting outdoors.” He did eight movies for Republic, four in 1952, BUCKAROO SHERIFF OF TEXAS being the first of a series with Eileen Jansen, “…a lovely lady who unfortunately had to leave here early. Eileen and I were a couple who were intended to replace Roy Rogers and Dale Evans as they matured, and at the time we were hired, she was twelve and I was just going on fourteen. We liked the intimacy, the closeness and family-like atmosphere here. They gave us a lot of latitude: despite the publicity (to the contrary), we both were good riders. They gave us lessons, and we had wonderful wranglers that taught me trick riding – Dick (Jones) was a master of trick riding. He didn’t need lessons. They gave us the latitude to practice, so we didn’t always need doubles: they weren’t so fearful. My career really spanned eighteen years, from the time that I was six months old, until I was eighteen: and that was it. And it was so formative, and Republic was at the core of that whole career. It was a joy, and I was blessed to be part of this industry.”

Anne Jeffreys, best remembered as Marian Kerby on TV’s TOPPER, has had a long film career, in Westerns and gangster and war movies. Starting out at PRC as Buster Crabbe’s leading lady in BILLY THE KID TRAPPED, soon she was Lawrence Tierney’s moll in DILLINGER, Tess Trueheart to DICK TRACY, and the female lead in ZOMBIES IN BROADWAY -- and that’s just three of her five credits for 1945! She was fond of horses even before she ever got to Republic. “I used to ride up into the hills. I used to work a lot in the backlot. I didn’t do all westerns. I was cast playing the dumb chorus girl or the gangster’s moll to Jack LaRue. And I went to the head of the studio and I said, ‘Look, can’t I play a nice girl? Why do I always have to play a dumb chorus girl?’ He said, ‘The only roles like that are in Westerns.’ ‘Then give me a western to do.’ ‘You want to do a Western?’ ‘Yes I do!’ So he signed me for a series with Wild Bill Elliot and Gabby Hayes. I did eight of those. Then I was bought by R.K.O. to do the Frank Sinatra film (STEP LIVELY -1944, the musical version of ROOM SERVICE), but I loved Republic, I learned a lot of tricks, a lot of things to do. I learned wiggle my ears from the back, because they always shot the back of the girls – she was never in the scene, she never got the man -- she would just ride off. But I learned so much – it was a wonderful, wonderful time to be here. One time I played an Indian girl. I had dark make-up on, and a head-band, moccasins on my feet and buckskins with fringe. I went into the commissary and sat down with the talent, and unbeknownst to him, my agent sat down right next to me but he didn’t know me. And I said to him, ‘You pass-um salt? You pass-um pepper?’ And then I laughed, and he knew me immediately. But we fooled him. There was a trick some of the cowboys would play on each other. They’d sit in a chair and nod off, and (the other cowboys) would sneak up behind them and tie their fringe to the chair. Well, they sneaked up on me, and I had taken off my moccasins, which weren’t very comfortable. I’m sitting there, studying my script, and they sneaked in and filled my moccasins with talcum powder, they tied my fringe to the chair. So when they called, ‘Hey Anne, we’re ready for you!’ I jumped up, dragging the chair behind me, with puffs of smoke coming from my feet! But I got even with them. I took the smoked fish that were hanging in front of the tepee, and put them in a ‘hot pot’, and they were looking for (where the smell was coming from) all day, but I wouldn’t tell them. But it was a wonderful time – we enjoyed everything we did there.”

Donna Martell confirmed, “Right here at Republic Studios I made my very first movie – am I thrilled or what? It was so great – I didn’t know a script from a camera, and there I am playing the ingénue lead in APACHE ROSE (1947), with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans – my heroes! They were so darling. That was the very first film done in Trucolor (the Republic answer to Technicolor), and someone told me a little bit ago that they can’t find it in color – but we did it in Trucolor. And not only did I do a Roy and Dale, I did a Gene Autry here (TWILIGHT ON THE RIO GRANDE), and (in between) I did a film with Gilbert Roland, the Cisco Kid, in ROBIN HOOD OF MONTEREY (1947). I got to know Gene Autry real well. We all loved Gene, I loved Republic Studios. I can’t believe what they’ve done to it – I think it’s magnificent!” She paid enthusiastic tribute to all of the other stars on the dais, especially the most dapper man in Hollywood, A.C. Lyles.

In introducing Peggy Stewart, Maltin mentioned that she had more Republic credits than anyone else at the table. The lovely western and serial queen confirmed, “I did thirty-two westerns here. I did the all the RED RYDERS – well, not all of them, but I did most of the Bill Elliots, who’s the real Red Ryder as far as I’m concerned. I did about half of the Allan Lanes. Then I did three or four of the Jim Bannons. And I was married to Don Barry, who was the first Red Ryder – he did the serial. I did lots and lots of films – lots of memories here. I did a SEINFELD back here, and on a lunch hour, I thought, aw shoot, I’m going to take a walk to the back road and see what’s left of the Duchess’ ranch. Well, I start that way, but I can see there’s nothing but trees and shrubs, so I head back to the stage out here, stage nine. I’m leaning against the wall. I started hearing the ghosts of the crew, Bela the prop man and Zachary – and I started crying. Nostalgia just took over. And here comes Jerry and the crowd back from lunch, and at the door Jerry says, ‘Hi,’ and he lets the others in, then turns around and says, ‘Peggy, are you alright?’ And I say, ‘Jerry, you’re in my cave!’ ‘You’re what?’ And I said, ‘Over there used to be the big red barn, and if you opened the doors there was a track for the coal cars, and it went all the way through to the other side of the barn where your stage is! That was the cave set that they used in all the westerns and serials, and it’s gone.’”

Maltin reminded Adrian Booth, who began her career at Republic as Lorna Gray, that the studio sometimes kept her so busy with her serial duties that she’d check into a local motel rather than driving all the way home. “Yes I did. I had the pleasure of playing Vultura (the villainess of 1942’s PERILS OF NYOKA), and we didn’t shoot in the order of the script. We had fifteen episodes, and you had to know the dialogue of all fifteen, whether it was outside, or on the backlot, or in the studio, or on the New York street. And sometimes, because of the weather, you’d have five different calls. The assistant director would call you up at three o’clock in the morning to tell you which one. You had to know the dialogue for each. Not knowing if you were going to shoot at one place or the other was the best training in the world. I’d play Bette Davis one day, someone else the next day, but most of all I just played the queen, and loved every minute of it. I go back almost as far as the studio does: I’m gonna be 93 in about a minute. One of my fondest memories was making a film with John Wayne before he was a big star, one of the Three Mesquiteers. And my agent brought me over to meet everyone, and the first thing they asked me was if I could ride a horse. And I said of course I could ride a horse – I did it in Central Park in New York. But I lied – I just had to, you know. But John Wayne in that first picture, he helped me – he told me what side of the horse to get on. And he was so dear. We’re outside, and there’s this little wooden porch. And we had to walk along this porch and down three steps. And three times he stumbled on a nail. And he did it deliberately, and the reason was to save a quarter (of a day’s) check for the extras. And this was John Wayne. I’m grateful to God that I was here at this lovely studio, it was always like a family, they were always kind, they were always good. Locations would be so much fun. I never had an unhappy day in this studio.”

Leonard Maltin next turned to Joan Leslie. Most of the speakers thus far had started at Republic, but she’d already been a big star at Warner Brothers, and many would consider the move to be, in his words, ‘slumming.’ She didn’t feel that way. “It was different than Warners – Warners was so big that sometimes you got lost in the shuffle. They always treated me like a little girl – ‘Oh, we’ll get Joan to do it.’ Here I chose the scripts I wanted to do. I worked with directors like Joe Kane.” Maltin again interjected that while many on the panel had worked with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, only Joan had worked with that great western star, Vaughn Monroe. She laughed, “He was a lovely guy, we had a grand time (on THE TOUGHEST MAN IN ARIZONA). The next one was THE WOMAN THEY ALMOST LYNCHED (1953) – I loved that title. With Brian Donlevy.”

Leonard Maltin suggested that in the 1950s, Ben Cooper was the busiest guy on the Republic lot. “I loved every minute of it. I had worked in New York for eleven years before I came out here, so it was a vacation. And the first one I did was a war picture (THUNDERBIRDS 1952), and my dressing room was on the 2nd floor. I remember walking up there and looking around – this was 1952, no smog – beautiful weather, month of May, and all I could think was, I’ve got to come back out here. So I went back (East), had pictures taken with my horse, sent them out, got to play Jesse James in THE WOMAN THEY ALMOST LYNCHED. And pretty soon after I walked on the set, Buddy Sherwood, wrangler – some of you who worked here may remember him. Always had a fresh flower in his hat, a cigar in his mouth, pot-belly and no butt. He walked up to me and he said, ‘Can you ride, kid?’ All he knew was I was that actor from New York who’s been on Broadway. I had my own horse; I’d been jumping him bareback. And I was really getting in shape to do this picture. But I knew if I said, ‘Oh yeah, I’m a good rider,’ you’re dead. You won’t live up to it. So I just said, ‘I can stay on sometimes.’ He just looked at me. So I just went over to the horse that he’d pointed out, patted him on the chest, and I saw that the cinch was a little loose. I threw up the stirrup leather, and I was about to tighten the cinch, and he was right behind me, and he said, ‘Come on, we’ll give you a good one.’
“But I loved it: I went from one to another to another. I didn’t care what they wanted me to do: I just wanted to do it. I was under contract here for four years, and I enjoyed every minute – I really did. And JOHNNY GUITAR was one that a lot of people remember. I’ll tell you about the very last shot of the picture that we did -- we were shooting all out of sequence. In the picture, Joan Crawford has me hidden under a table. And at one point my left leg’s supposed to fall out from under the (tablecloth). So, I thought it would be funny, and I had nothing else to do, so I took my shirt off, and I cut the pant-leg off pretty high. So I had on just this one blue pant-leg, boot and spur, and the top of the pants. Then I walked out and they all thought that was pretty funny. So I crawled under there, they had it all set up, ‘Okay – Action!’ I waited a moment, then my leg fell out. ‘Cut!’ Then Harry Stradling, the cameraman, said, ‘Wait a minute. That light wasn’t right – we’re gonna have to do it again. Okay, Ben, stay there, and we’ll get to it.’ ‘Okay!’ And I waited. And I waited. And I thought, not are they only very slow, they’re being very quiet. And I crawled out from under that table, and everybody had left the soundstage! The crew, the cast, the guys up in the rafters, everybody had gone to the wrap party and just left me there! And I loved them all.”

Hugh O’Brien, the last to speak, will always be remembered as WYATT EARP on his long-running series, but first he was at Republic. “I did three films here. The first one I remember very well, with Forrest Tucker, FIGHTING COAST GUARD (1951). On the first day, the studio manager came on the lot, and said to me, ‘I know it’s your first role in a film at Republic, but I know you from somewhere. How do I know you?’ And I said, ‘I used to do your windows.’ When I got out of the Marine Corps I had a card made up that said ‘Exterior Decorator’ on it. And by the time I was under contract to Universal I had thirty guys working for me. I did about 2/3rds of the lawns in the Beverly Hills area. The home I live in now, I used to landscape. I sold (the business) when I went under contract to Universal for $35,000, which would be like a million dollars today.” When Maltin asked if he found Republic a pleasant place to work, he responded, “I thought it had some of the cleanest bathrooms in town.” And when the laughs died down, he added, “Actually, it reminded me so much of where I went to high school, in Illinois.”

The final panel discussion of the day was SPECIAL EFFECTS & THE LYDECKER BROTHERS, about the work of Howard and Theodore Lydecker, whose miniatures have never been surpassed, whether in serials, war movies, crime films or westerns. An excellent website was put together to promote this event, and it’s been updated, and has very nice biographies of all the attendees. To see it, CLICK HERE.

SNEAK PEEK AT ‘BIG VALLEY’ SETS AND LOCATIONS

The accompanying photos, all courtesy of lisafemmeacadienne, show the exterior of the Barkley home, a western street under construction, and some interiors – see last week’s entry for information about where in Louisiana these places are located.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY QUEEN OF THE WEST!
Just found out that Dale Evans' birthday was on Halloween, so I added that pin-up to the top of the page!

7TH ANNUAL RED NATION LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL

From Wednesday November 3rd through Tuesday November 9th, the Laemmle Sunset 5 Theater at 8000 W. Sunset Boulevard, L.A., CA 90046, will be the home of the Red Nation Films Festival,celebrating American Indian filmmakers. For details, CLICK HERE.

AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS MARKETPLACE AT THE AUTRY
Saturday and Sunday, November 6th and 7th, the Autry will host it's annual Indian Arts Marketplace. Both days will be packed with education and entertainment for all ages. Over 180 artists representing dozens of tribes will be taking part. For details, CLICK HERE.

DEDICATION OF STEVE MCQUEEN SQUARE IN L.A. SUNDAY!
Steve McQueen, whose Westerns include the series WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, and such unforgettable movies as THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, NEVADA SMITH, THE REVIERS, JUNIOR BONNER and TOM HORN, will be honored this Sunday, Nov.7th, with the dedication of a square at the intersection of Highland and Santa Monica, the end of Route 66 in Hollywood. The event will begin at eleven a.m. on Hollywood Boulevard with a Steve McQueen Motor Parade, stop by Steve's star on the Walk Of Fame at Hollywood and Highland, and the dedication of the square will take place at around noon. For more information, go to the Jules Verne Adventures website HERE.


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.

AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

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.

That's about it for now. Jeff Hildebrandt left me a message reminding me that the ENCORE WESTERN CHANNEL has been, and continues to regularly show Roy Rogers Westerns. I wish I still got Encore Western, but I can't without buying a whole package of stations I don't want. The particularly nice thing about RFD-TV running the shows is they're a basic cable channel, so maybe it will expose westerns to folks who aren't even looking for them -- especially kids. If you notice things running on Encore Western, or any other channel, that would be of interest to our readers, please let me know!

Adios!

Henry

All Contents Copyright November 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

REPUBLIC 3, BIG VALLEY 2

(Photos, top to bottom:Jane Kean; Tommy Cook, Jane Withers, James Lydon; Jane Withers, James Lydon, Colleen Grey; Marjorie Lord, Theodore Bikel, Tommy Cook; Robert Easton, Marjorie Lord, Theodore Bikel)
If you missed part one of my coverage of the Republic Pictures 75th Anniversary Celebration, CLICK HERE. If you missed part two, CLICK HERE. If you’re up to date, read on!

James Lydon, star of the Henry Aldrich series, was just passing the microphone to Jane Withers when someone in the audience called out, “Jim, tell ‘em about closing up Republic!” Lydon turned silent and solemn for a moment. “I don’t think I want to say that, because it was a very sad event. But I will tell you that I was responsible for closing Republic. Because I was the Vice President of the Screen Actors Guild at that time, and you may remember that Ronald Reagan was the President. And we had to close Republic – I’ll tell you about it some other day. It’s sad.” If any readers out there know the story – please fill us in!

“That really brightened up the day,” joked panel moderator Jim Taffel. Then he announced, “If you’ve never heard her at any event, you’re missing the treat of a lifetime: Jane Withers!” 84-year-old Jane took the mike. “I’m tickled to be here – and thank you all for coming! I’m hoping you’re having as much fun as I am! I’ve seen so many friends from so many years ago. You know, there’s not too many ladies that start working at the age of two and a half years old. I had that privilege, and I’ve been goin’ ever since: Whoopee! I love what I’m doing, and I can’t think of anything better than show business to give you the opportunity to meet wonderful people in all walks of life. Right now I have rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and vertigo -- believe me, that’s a challenge! Anyway, back to Republic. After I finished at (20th Century) Fox – I did forty films there, and I did a radio show in Atlanta, Georgia when I was four – and I had met Mr. Yates at one of those big conventions they had once a year. And he’d said, ‘Jane, if you ever get tired of 20th Century Fox, here’s my private number. Call me.’ Well, (at Fox) they weren’t giving me the kind of pictures I wanted: they wouldn’t let me grow up. They still had me in pigtails, and I was developing…in all different areas. So I went in to talk to Mr. Wurtzel, who was the head of the B pictures, and I said, ‘I think I’ve had it here at Fox, and I think I’m going to go over to Republic.’ Because I love westerns – I did four when I was growing up.” She did four pictures at Republic: JOHNNY DOUGH BOY (1942), MY BEST GAL (1943), FACES IN THE FOG (1944) and AFFAIRS OF GERALDINE (1946) – not a western in the bunch.

“The first movie I did at Republic was JOHNNY DOUGH BOY, which starred Jimmy Lydon, who was my favorite leading man of all time. And the Williams Brothers, and it was the first movie they ever did.” She told how a friend from her church introduced her to the brothers, and she asked Herbert Yates to put them in the picture. “Andy Williams did work with the Williams Brothers for a very long time, then went out on his own. Dick Williams, his brother, was here (earlier)in the day, but he had a medical appointment that he had to keep. He said to tell you all ‘hello’ – he sure had a good time meeting all the people he did.”

Jane told the story about how, as a girl at Fox, she got to make a movie with her idol, Gene Autry. She’d pitched the idea to Fox, and was told it just wasn’t possible. So she called Mr. Yates at Republic, and he told her, “That’d be box-office dynamite!” She brokered a loan-out deal, where Fox let Republic have three of their stars in exchange for Gene Autry. “Because of that, Gene Autry and I were buddies until he passed away. And Roy and Dale – we were neighbors for fifteen years, and our kids grew up together. It was great joy and honor to work with everyone here!”

Next up was Tommy Cook. “It’s wonderful to be here with this wonderful group of people on the dais, especially my buddy Robert Easton, the original Quiz Kid. We grew up in radio together, with Arch Obler. As you know, Robert’s the world’s greatest dialect coach. We’re going to be doing a SPERDVAC Convention at the Beverly Garland Hotel in the beginning of November; we’re going to recreate some of the old-time radio shows. Anyway, in 1940, I was the original Little Beaver in THE ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER, the original 12-episode serial. And of course a couple of years later my good buddy Bobby Blake, as he was then called, did some Red Ryder films with Wild Bill Elliot, then Don Reynolds (a.k.a.) Little Brown Jug, did the last Red Ryder films, I think, with Jim Bannon Jr. Such memories! The western towns, Fat Jones’ ranch that supplied all of the horses, and of course my little pinto, Papoose. William Whitney and John English were the directors of that film. And about a year or so later I did another serial here at Republic, JUNGLE GIRL, with Tom Neal and Frances Gifford. And Whitney and English directed that. And then I was featured in THE SONG OF ARIZONA, with Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Gabby Hayes. Great times. And right about that time I did a film here at Republic called THE KID FROM CLEVELAND. One of the great ‘B’ lists of stars: George Brent, Lynn Bari, Rusty Tamblyn and myself. We went to Cleveland itself and made the film with the world champion Cleveland Indians. I have such great memories -- I don’t (recognize) the studio now, besides shooting in the western town back here, and in Chatsworth and going around the (San Fernando) Valley to shoot locations.

“I was invited a few years ago to a western film festival in North Carolina. I took my son. My mother kept my Little Beaver outfit. I put it on my son, and we went there. And they’re showing episodes of Red Ryder in 16mm, and I’m there for Q&As. So they’re getting ready to show the next episode. And a lady in the audience said, ‘Tommy, would you say something (about doing the serial)?’ And I went blank, and tears started coming down. And I started to think of the world’s greatest stuntmen who were with us on Red Ryder – Dave Sharpe, Yakima Canutt – still the greatest of all time. And all the fun, and the way everyone treated me as a little ten-year-old. I finally came through, and I said, ‘I apologize, but those were the most wonderful days of my life.’ Republic Studios: we loved you. Thank you.”

Theodore Bikel spoke next. One of the earlier panelists had stood during her speech, to make sure that the folks in back could see her. Not Theodore: “I’m not going to stand up. If you have difficulty in seeing me in back, I want to assure you that my appeal, such as it is, is not, strictly speaking, visual.” And when the laughs died down, “It’s sexual. I love this nostalgia feast that we have here, and it puts me in mind of a song Abe Burrows wrote, which went something like this: ‘I’m walking down memory lane, with not a God-damned thing on my mind.’ I’m a New York actor. I was shuttled between New York and Hollywood. New York to me was live theatre, and Hollywood was film. And you learned from both experiences. Now in New York, when you do theatre, you say to yourself, ‘It’ll be better tomorrow.’ In Hollywood it’s got to be better today, because you don’t get it tomorrow. Unless you get a very benign director who’s willing to do a set-up over, and that was rare in the days when they started to hurt a little bit for money. I did several pictures and other things here on this lot. I can remember very fondly most of them. You remember them fondly when the people at the gate recognize you as you drive in. You know you have arrived. And if you have a dressing room that’s allotted to you – also very nice. We had been doing a picture directed by Sam Peckinpah, and seven eighths of the entire film was just two actors, Charles Boyer and me. (Note: ‘The Prison,’ a 1962 episode of DICK POWELL THEATRE) It was on a desert island: he was a prisoner, I was a guard. This was very concentrated acting. This was things that we both did intentionally. There were none of these waiting periods where you went to the honey-wagon – why do they call them the honey wagons? – to lie down, or you go to the craft table to have a snack. There was no time for snacks or lie-downs: we were working. And that was the best. And it renewed my faith. I like it when people remember what you did on the stage. And they tell you that they saw you in a certain performance, the town, etcetera, etcetera. In the movies, they can actually relive the emotion, relive what they saw twenty years ago, and some people actually have this strange notion – you know, someone came up to me and said, ‘I saw that movie you made twenty-eight years ago: you have grown!’ Movies are what they are: they are frozen in time, just as a painting is, or a sculpture. But they are also movies – they move. There is an emotion to them that is almost tangible. The great movies become greater with time, and the duds become bigger duds. I am grateful for my life in the theatre, and I am grateful for my life in film. And I’m grateful that I’m here, alive, to tell you about it.”

The lovely Marjorie Lord was the next to speak. To folks my age she’ll always be Danny Thomas’ wife in MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY. She actually starred in a serial, THE ADVENTURES OF SMILING JACK (1943), but she didn’t mention it, perhaps because it was made not by Republic, but by Universal. “It’s very interesting to hear the background of a lot of these people. I too started on the Broadway stage, sixteen (plays), including a Pulitzer Prize winner with Judith Anderson, before coming to Hollywood. But I always came back to the theatre. And I don’t think he remembers it, but I just realized today that Jimmy Lydon and I did a play. We played a brother and sister together at the New York World’s Fair (1939). This was a tough time in my life: I was down to fifty dollars. I didn’t know what I was going to do then. Then overnight, with the help of God, this (play) opened up, and we worked for four weeks together.”
“I remember it very well,” Jimmy chimed in.
“There’s a DVD of that whole Fair, somebody sent it to me, and we’re in it. But I loved live theatre – I always shuttled back to New York when I wasn’t too busy here. And almost everything that happened to me in films came out of a play: when RKO picked up my first play and hired me; when I signed my contract at Universal, I was doing a play. And even the DANNY THOMAS SHOW -- Danny saw me in a play in New York and flew me out here. After my contract at Universal, I was offered a part here at Republic, in a film called SHANTYTOWN (1943). And one of the reasons I wanted to do it was because my husband, at the time, was John Archer, and he was doing it, and we were fairly newlyweded, and I wanted to do it with him. And it was a very nice little picture. The marriage didn’t last, but we did produce a beautiful daughter, who you may know better than me: my daughter’s Anne Archer. I did another film here, DOWN LAREDO WAY (1953 with Rex Allen). I can’t remember much, but I remember it was about a horse, because I love animals – that’s mostly what I remember. I also did a film with Colleen Grey, RIDING HIGH (1950, D: Frank Capra).” And when Colleen Grey called out, “It’s about a horse!” she got a large laugh from the audience. Ms. Lord finished by saying, “It’s been a nice reunion in many ways. Thank you so much.”

The last to speak on the panel was the Henry Higgins of Hollywood, actor and linguistic coach Robert Easton. “By way of coincidence, so many of the people that Marjorie Lord just mentioned were people whose lives were intertwined with mine as well. Years ago she was doing the lead on a HALLMARK HALL OF FAME, it took place in the old west, and I had a part in it. One time I did a television show called NAVY LOG (1955), and her husband John Archer was my commanding officer, and to use a little Navy slang, every time I screwed up, he chewed me out. And then I’ve coached Anne a number of times. It’s all family-family-family. People used to ask me, ‘In show biz, do you think it’s all nepotism?’ I always said, ‘I don’t know: I’ve never had any nepots.’ George Brent was mentioned earlier. In the 1920s, my mother was the leading lady of a repertory company, and the leading man was George Brent. When I started in the business, I had several major problems. One, I had a strong Texas dialect, that used to hold me back a whole lot. So I overcame that and learned how to do other dialects in self-defenses, and people saw that and got the idea that I could do other things. Second of all, I was too tall, at a time when most leading men were not too tall. They didn’t like to work with a big kid. It even happened one time at a Warner Brothers interview with Michael Curtiz. I got the part. It sounded wonderful – the scene where I’d be walking along the dirt road having a wonderful two-shot, doing a scene with Gary Cooper. Gary Cooper, very nice man, came over, introduced himself. Then Michael Curtiz looked over and said, “Mein Got, the kid is taller than Gaddy Coopah! We can’t use a kid taller then Gaddy Coopah! Too bad, kid.” That was it. I found a lot of the leading men did not want to work with someone who was very big, because the audience could see that they weren’t as tall as they’d like to be portrayed. One time with (Steve) McQueen, I was supposed to come riding in on a horse, he rides in on his horse, we ride side by side having a long wonderful dialogue, going back and forth from horse to horse. Then he realized that every time he looked at me he’d be looking (up), and every time I looked at him I’d be looking (down). He said, ‘It’s a hot day. Why don’t you have him sit on the ground, against a tree. And I’ll ride up and I can talk to him from my horse.’ Years later I was working with him on a movie called THE WAR LOVER. He was the pilot, Bob Wagner was the co-pilot, and I was the turret gunner. They used to have big guys for gunners, so they’d be standing on the floor, and their head and shoulders would go up into the turret. ‘Enemy planes coming at eleven o’clock!’” To keep from getting squeezed out of group shots, he learned to position himself in the background, where his comparative height wouldn’t be noticeable. “The smartest actor I ever worked with, in terms of handling that problem, was Brian Donlevy. Remember a series he did called DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT? (laughs) I don’t even remember. I got there on the set that first day, opening scene of dialogue. He looks at me. ‘Let’s rehearse this a bit. We’ll just add a couple of lines here, and have some fun.’ We do the scene, I say, ‘Mah name is Tennessee.’ He says, ‘You must be seven feet tall!’ I say, ‘Pretty near, pretty near.’ We went ahead and did the whole film, did not re-block anything. I didn’t have to stand in the gutters, like I always had to do with Charlie Bronson. Because he was smart: he established me as seven feet tall, so he had to be six four.

“Then a very nice thing started happening. They started bringing in leading ladies who were tall. And they had the power to say, ‘I don’t want to work with that shrimp, so-and-so.’ So I really lucked out on that one. I worked with practically every tall actress in town. Had really great love dialogue. ‘Yer just as purty as a bucket full o’ hog liver.’ ‘Look at them stars! More of ‘em then flies on a hog’s back!’ I did all of that love talk. I learned to adjust to what was going to get me work. I was very lucky -- I did lots and lots of comedy. Red Skelton was very kind to me – I worked for him as a stooge comic for over twenty years. I had a running part on the BURNS AND ALLEN SHOW, I worked with Jack Benny, Danny Kaye – you name them, I’ve worked with them. One day Red Skelton had a very distinguished English actress on the show, and he loved to go off the script. So they had everything on idiot-cards for everybody. And then he’d go off the script. We’re doing the dress rehearsal, and (in the sketch) he tells his girlfriend, ‘You’ve got lips like petals.’ She said, ‘Rose petals?’ He said, ‘No, bicycle pedals!’ Huge laugh. But she said, ‘I don’t unduhstand why they loffed so much.’ I said, ‘It was a brilliant pun.’ She said, ‘Rose petals and bicycle pedals – those are not puns.’ I said, ‘For you folk, they’re not. To us, they are.’ ‘Oh yes, now I see. Frightfully clevah.’ And that was her introduction to American comedy.”

And coming up in part IV, I’ll have the highlights of the final panel, which includes Joan Leslie, Ben Cooper, Adrian Booth, Michael Chapin, Peggy Stewart, Dick Jones, Donna Marten, Anne Jeffreys and Hugh O’Brien.

‘BIG VALLEY’ FEATURE ROLLS CAMERA MONDAY!

The movie, based on the tremendously popular 1960s series starring Barbara Stanwyck, was first announced as going to camera back in late July, but if all goes well, the crank should start turning tomorrow, October 25th, in Louisiana. If you’ve been following the Round-up, you know there have been many changes in the announced cast. As of now, Victoria Barkley will be played by Jessica Lang. Son Jarrod, played on television by Richard Long, will be Stephen Moyer. Jason Alan Smith will take on Nick Barkley, originally played by Peter Breck. Audra Barkley, played on TV by Linda Evans, will be Sara Paxton. Heath, the bastard son played by Lee Majors will be Travis Fimmel. And in a wonderfully ironic twist, Tom Barkley, the never-seen-on-TV father of all the kids will be played by his own bastard son, Lee Majors. Also in the cast are three fine actors who appeared in the series: Bruce Dern, Richard Dreyfus and Buck Taylor. John Savage and Aidan Quinn are also featured.

The film is written and to be directed by Daniel Adams. Producer Kate Edelman is the daughter of A. I. Bezzerides, who created the original series. For exteriors, they will be filming at the Rosedown Historic Plantation in West Feliciana Parish. Interiors will be shot at the Greenwood Plantation in St. Francisville.


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.

AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

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.

Later today, or sometime tomorrow, I'll add pictures from the Republic event. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Henry

All Contents Copyright October 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

WHY NOTHING'S NEW IN THIS WEEK'S ROUND-UP

I had hoped to have the third part of the Republic 75th Anniversary story in today’s report, but it’s gonna have to wait until next week. All of this past week I have been working intensely with playwright and Emmy-nominated comedy writer Karl Tiedemann on his new film, FORGOTTEN LAUGHTER. It’s a documentary about three of early television’s most talented and least appreciated clowns: Ben Blue, Martha Raye and George Gobel. This week we’ll be interviewing a pair of writer/director/producers who have worked with not only the above, but W.C. Fields, Ed Wynn, Abbott and Costello, Olsen and Johnson, Hope and Crosby, Martin and Lewis – so you can understand why we want to be well-prepared!

If any of you have had any dealings with Blue, Raye or Gobel, or know someone who has, we’d love to talk with you/them. Just post a comment, or e-mail me at swansongmail@sbcglobal.net.

Next week I promise I’ll have the rest of the Republic piece, and in coming weeks I’ll have interviews with actors Earl Holliman and Ty Hardin, a review of a new young-adult western novel and interview with its author, a review of a memoir about growing up on studio backlots, a chat with a COWBOYS AND ALIENS cast member, and a look at a publisher who specializes in new Western novels by British authors.

See you next weekend!

Henry

REPUBLIC 75TH ANNIVERSARY PART 2

Back at the 2nd Generation panel (if you missed part one last week, CLICK HERE). Julie Ann Ream told the story of how Rex Allen got his famous horse, Koko. “Koko was bought for Dale(Evans), and he was a big horse – too much for her, and a little wild. And Roy, who was a real good friend of Rex’s said, ‘He’s too much for her, and honestly I don’t want my wife riding a horse that’s prettier than Trigger.’ Rex loved that horse – I think these men loved their horses better than they loved their wives – I really do.”

Julie Rogers followed that one up with a story about the horse Dale ended up with, Buttermilk. “Grandma hated Buttermilk. Not really a very pleasant horse. It was rough, and she was not the best rider anyway. When she was at the end of her life, my uncle was talking to her, and she was really sweet about it, because she wasn’t afraid of death at all. She thought of it as a graduation. And he’s saying, ‘Dad’s there. And Trigger’s there. And Buttermilk.’ And she shot him the skunk-eye, and said, ‘If Buttermilk’s there, I don’t want to go!’” A member of the audience asked her to tell why Dale didn’t want to precede Roy in death. “As you know, when Trigger passed away, he had Trigger mounted – he used to get mad when people said ‘stuffed’. And when Bullet passed away, he had him mounted as well. And Dale said, ‘You know what? I’m not going before you, because I’m afraid you’ll do the same thing to me!’ And he said, ‘I don’t care. Just stuff me and put me on top of Trigger.’”

(Photo captions:Bo Hopkins and Andrew Prine; Ben Cooper and Ty Hardin; Andrew Prine; Peggy Stewart, Ben Cooper and Ty Hardin; Ty Hardin, Donna Martell and Bo Hopkins; John Mitchum; John Mitchum's book; Bill 'Hoppy' Boyd with Grace Boyd, Gloria Winters beside The Songbird.)

The second panel discussion, COWBOYS, POETRY & THE MITCHUMS, was moderated by Cindy Mitchum – daughter of John and niece of Robert – and Rob Word. The panel included actors Cliff Emmich; Larry Maurice; Andrew Prine; Republic stalwart Ben Cooper; TV’s BRONCO, Ty Hardin; Republic leading lady (often as Donna DeMario) Donna Martell; wildest member of the WILD BUNCH, Bo Hopkins; Republic leading lady and serial queen (and currently in the rock biopic THE RUNAWAYS) Peggy Stewart; the Henry Higgins of Hollywood, dialectician Robert Easton; and action star Martin Kove. Robert Mitchum only did one film for Republic, but it was a peach: THE RED PONY, from the John Steinbeck novel. His brother John Mitchum, with about 150 acting credits, often as bartenders and deputies, did several at Republic, but the subject here was not so much movies as the poetry of John Mitchum.

As his daughter Cindy explained it, “It actually started on the set of CHISUM, in 1969. Forrest Tucker had asked my father to write a special song for him, for his nightclub act. So he wrote a song, and the next night he sang it for Tuck, who said, ‘That’s fantastic. What else have you got?’ And he recited a poem. They went back to the set, and John Wayne was playing chess with my cousin Christopher (Mitchum). And Tuck said, ‘You’ve got to hear what John just wrote.’ So dad recited this poem. And John Wayne started to cry. Forrest Tucker said, ‘If it means that much to you, do something about it.’ John Wayne stood up, shook my father’s hand and said, ‘I’ve never recorded anything, but I want to do an album of your poetry.’” The poem was AMERICA, WHY I LOVE HER, and with John Wayne battling lung cancer, it took four years to put the album together, but it was nominated for a Grammy in 1973. If you’ve never heard it, or if it’s been a long while, and you’ve forgotten its simple power and beauty, CLICK HERE to hear it on Youtube. Gregg Palmer, an actor with a slew of Western credits, including a half-dozen with John Wayne, and who was a dear friend of John Mitchum, did his impression of the Duke reciting AMERICA, WHY I LOVE HER. The other guests on the panel, most of them old friends of the late John Mitchum, took turns reminiscing about Republic, and John Mitchum, and reading his poems. All of the readings were strong, but the emotional highpoint was celebrated six-gun fast-draw Ben Cooper reading DEAREST. His wife passed away three years ago. “Originally a tribute to Eddie Dean and his dearest, (I) adjusted the words to express (my) love of (my) dearest of almost fifty years, Pamela.”

Cindy Mitchum is currently at work recording her father’s poems as read by some of the great actors and voices in the industry. This project has been going on for several years, and a number of the stars who lent their voices have since passed away.

The Third Panel Discussion, entitled MEMORIES OF REPUBIC PICTURES WITH REPUBLIC STARS, was moderated by film historian Stan Taffel, and included Robert Easton, Marjorie Lord, Theodore Bikel, Tommy Cook, Jane Withers, James Lydon, Colleen Grey and Jane Kean.

Jane Kean, best remembered as THE HONEYMOONERS’ 2nd Trixie Norton, began with, “Here I am, the Lady Gaga of the Stone Age. I made a picture here years and years ago called SAILORS ON LEAVE. I was about fifteen – and that wasn’t Tuesday. I played ‘Miss Sunshine,’ and I had the best time – I led the band. Shirley Ross was in it, who introduced ‘Two Sleepy People,’ with Bob Hope. She was the star, and I used to follow her around – hoping I’d get more lines. Never did. (The lot) is so different, so built up with all of these new stages. Herbert J. Yates – we called him Poppa – was an inspiration. I remember when he had an ice rink built here, so Vera Hruba Ralston could practice. And later she became Mrs. Yates. And on such a hot day as this, we really appreciate you all coming out here today.” It surpassed 108 degrees during the day.

Colleen Grey, a queen of films noir, recalled, “My one experience at Republic was a picture called THE TWINKLE IN GOD’S EYE. With Hugh O’Brien, Mickey Rooney, and some others – I don’t have a clue as to what that picture was all about! But I do remember that the famous and infamous Mickey Rooney was a minister, an itinerant preacher in this movie. He had a guitar, and he would play and sing, and The Twinkle In God’s Eye was the song. I don’t remember the movie, but I remember the last few phrases (of the song). ‘And when a man has finished sinnin’, you’ll find he has a new beginnin’, and it starts with the twinkle in God’s eye!’” After singing it, and acknowledging applause, she confided, “I don’t think we even shot it on this lot, so I feel like an interloper today. However, it was my privilege to work with one of the enormous, marvelous stars of Republic Pictures, John Wayne. My first movie was RED RIVER, with John Wayne, the icon, marvelous man, so I feel that, by hook or by crook, I am connected to Republic.”

Moderator Stan Taffel, while acknowledging it wasn’t a Republic series, couldn’t resist introducing the next panelist by shouting, “Henry! Henry Aldrich!” To which James Lydon dutifully responded, “Coming Mother!” Then he came clean: “I hated it, really. I did. Because I’ve made about eighty-five features in my lifetime, before I became a producer and a director and a writer. I only made nine of those, and guess who I got stuck with? Henry Aldrich. I first came to Republic in 1940 from R.K.O. I was a young boy, I was sixteen, but I looked about twelve, so I played high school kids for about twenty years. Coming to Republic was an experience, because we made pictures differently from how the major studios did. We were all very well-behaved. We did what we were told, and we did it rapidly, and it was always a challenge because we had such short schedules. At Paramount, for instance, we made the ALDRICH pictures in 21, 22 days. When I first worked with Jane (Withers) in 1940 at 20th Century Fox, we had 25 days to make a ‘B’ picture. And at R.K.O. we had 21 days. When I came to Republic we had twelve days. You realize we had to go to school three hours a day. And the assistant couldn’t take you out of the school unless you’d had at least fifteen minutes in school. I want you to know it’s quite a trick to learn anything, when you’re in high school, in fifteen-minute segments. It was quite an experience growing up in the motion picture industry. And I was a kid from the New York stage. I loved that (in motion pictures), if you made a mistake, it was okay. If you had a nice director, he’d say, ‘It’s okay, do you want to take another rehearsal? Film is cheap.’ And you didn’t feel badly. But on the stage, if you made a mistake, you would make it in front of God and everybody. So coming to motion pictures was a great relief to me. Coming to Republic, I had the opportunity to make seven pictures, and two of them starred my friend of a lifetime, Jane Withers.”

And as they’d say in old-time radio, ‘Next week we’ll learn what Jane Withers has to say in Part Three of the Republic 75th Anniversary Celebration!’

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17TH LOS ENCINOS LIVING HISTORY DAY

On this day, and the third Sunday of every month, Los Encinos State Historic Park, located at 16756 Moorpark St. in Encino,91436, has a Living History Day. From one to three p.m. enjoy music, period crafts,a blacksmith, docents in 1870s attire, tours of the historic buildings, and traditional children’s games.


AN EVEN BIGGER PEEK AT THE NEW ‘TRUE GRIT’

If last week’s trailer whetted your appetite – I have one friend whose watched it thirty times already – then CLICK HERE to check out the brand new, two and a half minute trailer featuring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross, the little girl determined to bring her father’s killer to justice.

GRACE BOYD DIES

An actress who, as Grace Bradley, starred opposite Harold Lloyd in THE CAT’S PAW, and W.C. Fields and Bob Hope in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938, Grace Boyd is best known as the widow of William ‘Hopalong Cassidy’ Boyd. They married in 1937, when she was 23 and he was 45, and she did comparatively little acting afterwards. Boyd died in 1972, but Grace worked hard to keep the image of Hoppy and Boyd alive and in the public eye for many years.

GLORIA WINTERS – SKY KING’S PENNY – DIES

Gloria Winters Vernon, the adorable little (5’ 1 ½”) blonde fireball who played niece Penny to Kirby Grant’s Sky King, passed away from complications from pneumonia at the age of 78. Starting on television as Jackie Gleason’s daughter in THE LIFE OF RILEY in 1949, after two years she moved to the modern American West. From 1952 until 1959, in all 72 episodes, she was forever getting in trouble with rustlers, kidnappers and all manner of crooks. Sooner or later she would have to be on the radio, calling Uncle Sky to fly out in his plane, The Songbird, and rescue her. But her character wasn’t completely helpless – she frequently flew the Songbird herself, an inspiration to young budding pilots watching at home. Winters married Dean Vernon, a sound engineer, and soon gave up acting. Her last credit was an episode of WYATT EARP in 1960.


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.

AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

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.

That's it for tonight! Tomorrow I'll be adding pictures from the Republic panels, and some other interesting stuff.

See you manana!

Henry

All Contents Copyright October 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

REPUBLIC PART ONE; TRUE GRIT VERSION TWO

When I asked a friend if he was, like I, surprised at the elaborateness of the Republic 75th Anniversary Celebration, he replied, “Surprised? I was flabbergasted!” I agreed, wholeheartedly and gratefully. The general community of Hollywood is infamous for its ignorance of, and indifference to, its wonderful history. So it was all the more delightful to attend an event so steeped in fun and history, and it was clearly a lump-in-the-throat thrill to those guests who once toiled under the proud banner of the Republic eagle.

The event took place last Saturday, September 25th, at what is now CBS Studios in Studio City, the San Fernando Valley City named after Republic Pictures. Or rather, the city is named after the facility that began as Mack Sennett Studios in the early sound era, and next became Mascot Pictures, before Herbert J. Yates, president of the film lab Consolidated Film Industries, called in the markers of a fistful of Poverty Row concerns, and combined them into an empire which became known aptly as The Thrill Factory.

(Pictures, top to bottom - Nudie clothes display, by the covered wagon trailer he made for Roy Rogers; gunslinger Joey Dillon's pistol defies gravity; Aissa Wayne, Diana Canova; Diana and Julieta Canova; Diana, Julieta and Jamie Nudie; Aissa Wayne; Julie Rogers; Chris Nibley; Jeff Connors shows off THE RIFLEMAN's gun; one of the Hollywood Trick Horses takes a bow)

I never heard a count on the number of visitors, but the event was very well attended – hundreds of western fans waited eagerly for the gates to swing open at eleven. When they surged in, clutching their beautiful, lavishly illustrated programs, many seemed overwhelmed by their choices of where to go first. There was continuous live western music, equine performances by Hollywood Trick Horses, gun spinning by champion Joey Dillon, trick roping by Linda Montana, and performances by the Stuntmen’s Association of Motion Pictures. For children, there was story reading, Native American story telling, and art, music and poetry workshops. In the screening room there was ZORRO’S FIGHTING LEGION, CAPTAIN MARVEL, PERILS OF NYOKA, the Three Mesquiteers – John Wayne, Max Terhune and Ray ‘Crash’ Corrigan -- in THE NIGHT RIDERS (1939), and Wild Bill Elliot’s THE LAST BANDIT (1949), whose leading lady, lovely Adrian Booth, was present for the festivities.

There were indoor and outdoor displays of posters and stills and artwork, dealers of same, actors signing pictures and DVDs (much more on them later), and authors signing books, among the best, C. Courtney Joyner with THE WESTERNERS (see my review HERE); Joe McNeill with ARIZONA’S LITTLE HOLLYWOOD (CLICK HERE for details); Michael Blake, author of DANCES WITH WOLVES;AND...ACTION! by Stephen Lodge; and Peter Sherayko, whose new edition of TOMBSTONE: THE GUNS & GEAR will soon be available (CLICK HERE for details).

Best of all, there were the panel discussions which began at 11:45 in Carla’s Café, the old Republic commissary. And I’m glad I looked around at everything else before I went in, because there was so much interesting talk that, except for a ten minute break, I never left until the entire event was over. The first panel, Republic Pictures 2nd Generation, featured Roy and Dale’s granddaughter Julie Rogers; John Wayne’s daughter Aissa Wayne; sisters Diana and Julieta Canova – daughters of Judy; Jamie Nudie, granddaughter of the great western tailor; Chris Nibley, son of serial queen Linda Sterling and screenwriter Sloan Nibley; and son of THE RIFLEMANChuck Connors, Jeff Connors. Moderator Julie Anne Ream is the granddaughter of western character actor and musician Taylor ‘Cactus Mack’ McPeters, and cousin to singing cowboy Rex Allen and arch-villain and Longbranch bartender Glenn Strange. Among the fascinating tidbits that came out in the discussion: it’s well known that studios tried, without success, to turn John Wayne into a singing cowboy. But Julie Ann revealed that while the Duke was lip-synching, just off-screen the singing was being done by Glenn Strange.

Jeff Connors remembers, “They used to shoot THE RIFLEMAN at Republic, when it was Four Star Productions. I was in three episodes. In one of them I talked. It was called THE SCHOOLMASTER. My brothers were in it, my cousins were in it. Growing up as Chuck’s kids was just great. He never spoiled us. I get asked all the time what he was like, compared to the show. He was probably more strict, but one thing I remember, wherever we would go, he would always say, ‘It’s always about the fans.’ He’d do signings, and he would stay there until everyone was taken care of. The show ran from 1958 to 1963, and it’s a shame that we don’t have shows like that today for our kids. People tell me all the time, ‘I grew up with The Rifleman.’ And I asked a gentleman one time what that meant to him. And he said, ‘My dad was a drunk. And if it wasn’t for your father and Johnny (Crawford), I’d probably have ended up dead or in jail.’ I have no complaints. My dad passed away in ’92 – he had a ranch in Tehachapi. It was great.” And with a little cajoling, he swung up the original rifle from the TV show.

Chris Nibley, a director of photography, remembers growing up at the Republic lot, his mother starring in westerns and serials, his dad writing so many of the best Roy Rogers pictures. “Both my parents worked on this lot: they met here and married here. They had a one-day honeymoon, then they came back to work. I was born in ’48, so my mom took about five years off. Then she got sick of it and came back to work. So my very youngest memories of the lot are playing in the Republic caves. They had these very famous caves that were a permanent set, and were used in nearly every show. They were so well known that the other studios – MGM, Warner Brothers – would rent them. So I would play in the caves – I wasn’t supposed to, but I did.” There were attempts to push him in front of the camera as a child, but he was too shy, and eventually ended up behind the camera. “(My parents) knew cinematographers, and I was interested in photography, so I started out as an assistant cameraman on GUNSMOKE, on the 20th season, which was shot on this lot.” Chris remembered a story his father told him about where the L.A. River runs right by the studio. “Republic would use it all the time, as the Nile or whatever they needed, and this one time as an African jungle river. There used to be an alligator farm in Anaheim, and they just trucked in alligators, dressed people up like natives for the scene. When they were done they carted the alligators back, and it wasn’t until two weeks later that they counted the alligators and realized that one was missing. They found him living behind a restaurant.” “I should talk just a little about Yakima Canutt. He and my dad were great friends, and he actually directed my mother in the serials, when they would often have two directors. Yak had a little ranch up on Riverside Drive, and I would walk by and talk to him. He practically invented stunts. Before him, a stunt man was a cowboy who would fall off a horse and break his arm. And he figured if he could do it and not break his arm, he could do it again. He worked out a system.”

Jamie Nudie, granddaughter of rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn, remembers that he was the first one to put rhinestones on western clothing. “He would watch all the old-time westerns, and he wanted something where the cowboys onstage, their clothes could sparkle. They started in 1947 in a garage, with a ping-pong table as their cutting table. And they wanted to approach Roy and Dale, but they had to have a store, so they opened one up at Victory and Vineland in North Hollywood, and they were there for forty-seven years. Nudie was a character. He wore unmatched boots, rhinestone suits, and carried his money in his boot. He drove a big white Cadillac with (cow) horns and guns and silver dollars – it was his calling card. When they’d pull up to a stop-sign on Lankershim, he’d tell his driver, ‘Blow the stampede!’ (a recording of a cattle stampede), and watch to see the ladies’ dresses blow up. He did clothes for Roy and Dale, and from John Wayne to John Lennon. And Elvis Presley’s gold lame’ suit.” Her newest project, with Julie Ann, is the Noho (North Hollywood) Country Western Heritage Foundation.

Julieta Canova recalls her mother, hillbilly musical star Judy Canova. “Mom was no different from any other mother, except that she worked outside the home. She hated getting up early, so Mr. Yates would send an ambulance to pick her up when she had to go on location. I don’t think growing up in a show business family is any different from growing up in any other family, because you know nothing else. So it’s normal. It was normal to have Ernest Borgnine over for dinner, but a lot of people didn’t understand that. I think mom would be stunned to see what it’s (Republic) become, and she would have been pleased and proud to know that the entire entity is still functioning and still growing.”

Julieta’s sister, TV star Diana Canova, was born after their mother had stopped appearing in movies, but was still appearing at county fairs. “In our house there was always music. Her sister and her mother had been in vaudeville in the ‘30s and ‘40s, eight shows a day. When she was 12 or 13 years old, she was plucked out of that to come to Hollywood and do a movie, and never left. So the siblings would be over, and after a couple of drinks the musical instruments would come out, and that’s what I grew up with. My mom’s main gift to me was her voice. It was a wonderful childhood – she was a warm, loving mom, who just happened to be a slapstick queen and wore Army boots.” Turning to John Wayne’s daughter Aissa, she said, “I worked with your dad on a Perry Como special. And he was the nicest guy. He was a hugger, and he always made me feel so good about myself. A generous man, kind of big, kind of scary, but a total softie. And on my piano is a picture of the three of us – me and Perry and your dad – and it’s one of my most prized possessions.”

Aissa Wayne recalled , “I think one thing all of us on this panel appreciate is the stories from the generation of people that really started film. The cowboys came across the West and they didn’t know what they were going to find. It was the pioneer spirit – we can do it, we can find a better life. I want to thank my dad for instilling in me my pride in America. My pride that we still have liberty – that we can go east, we can go west, we can go wherever we want. In our home we learned about our freedoms. My dad didn’t really associate with Hollywood – we didn’t have Ernest Borgnine over for dinner.” Not that the Duke isolated his family from the business. “I did meet actors and actresses on the set. And I remember playing on sets in fake tepees. And one time there was a mock dead Indian, and he had been tied down, and there were ants going in and out of his mouth.” She also remembered a story her dad told her about trying out for a part. “The cowboy he was playing the scene with did not look very tough, and he’s supposed to hold out his hands and say, ‘I’ve been working very hard.’ But dad looked at the hands and (instead of saying his scripted line) said, ‘Those hands never worked a day in their life!’ And the studio head was there and said, ‘You’ve got the part!” Aissa Wayne, an attorney, was recently in the news for some generous pro bono work. Novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler died in 1959, his wife Cissie some years before. When it was brought to Wayne’s attention that, despite arrangements in Chandler’s will, their remains were not together, but in separate locations, she went through the legal steps to finally bring them together.

Julie Rogers remembers, “My grandparents never lost sight of who they were and where they came from, and why they were recognized – that it was because of their fans. They were always grateful, and they wanted us to be grateful. Roy and Dale were always the same, whether they were on or off the screen – they were always grandma and grandpa. And because of that, the lines between reality and show biz got blurred (for me). I didn’t know everybody else’s grandfather didn’t have a TV show. We would go every weekend to the house, and they’d put us on Trigger from mane to tail and give us rides. We’d roll up, and Nellybelle was always in the carport, and Bullet was one of the house dogs. They had Bullet, Bambi, Bowser, Bob and Mark. They were also a home for people who were going through a rough period in their lives. They would take in struggling actors, kids of their friends – as you know they adopted so many children. Every time they’d come home from a tour of an orphanage, they’d come home with another kid. It was a really great time to grow up. They were really wonderful grandparents to have.”

Julie Anne remembered an embarrassing time when she had to go home sick. Her grandfather had to pick her up from school, from the set of GUNSMOKE. “(They were shooting) an episode called MARRY ME. He was playing Pop Cathcart, with Warren Oates, and they were hillbillies. He was done up in his union suit – which is long red underwear. He came to pick me up at school, because I was sick. And the nurse wouldn’t let him in – she was going to call the police! I was just so offended! But it was one of the best days, because I wasn’t really sick, I just wanted attention. And he brought me home and let me read lines with him.”

Jamie adds, “My dad (Nudie) used to pick me up at junior high school in the Cadillac with the moo-horn! Can you imagine? He had that recording of a cattle stampede, and he’d drive up and play it. And kids would say, ‘That car’s honking,’ and I’d say, ‘I don’t know who that is.’ And then he’d call, ‘Jamie, get in the car!’”

Part Two of the Republic 75th Anniversary Next Week!

LONE PINE FILM FESTIVAL Oct. 8-10

This weekend, Western movie lovers will be heading for Lone Pine, the region of the Eastern Sierras that has been a favorite location for film-makers since the silent day. Every year Lone Pine celebrates with a weekend of tours of famous film locations, musical entertainment, star appearances, guest speaker panels and, of course, screenings of locally shot movies. I’ve been hearing great things about this event for years. For details, CLICK HERE!

TRUE GRIT TRAILER RELEASED!

Wonder how the Coen Brother’s reworking of Charles Portis’s novel is going to look? CLICK HERE to find out!


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.

AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

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.

If you get to Lone Pine, tell us about it!

Henry

All Contents Copyright October 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved