‘MILLION WAYS TO DIE’ AND ‘STOLEN RANCH’ REVIEWED, PLUS ‘LONGMIRE’ RETURNS!

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST

A Film review

I’m wary of bestowing possessive titles on films:  I’m fine with ‘John Ford’s THE SEARCHERS’ or ‘Howard Hawks’ RIO BRAVO’ because those men have earned that credit over time.  To my surprise, I really think it’s ‘Seth McFarlane’s A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST’, because not only does he direct and star in the film, he co-wrote it, and his fellow writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild attest to the fact that MacFarlane is the driving force, the one with the long-term commitment to making a western, in this case a western comedy.  He has done it surprisingly well; A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST is a charming, raunchy delight!

Liam Neeson

From the opening moments, you know the film is no throwaway – Universal loves McFarlane after the money he made them with TED, and it’s said they’ll give him anything he wants as long as he makes TED 2.  Following the unwritten but crucial rule that you can’t successfully parody something if you can’t do it as well, the film is breathtakingly shot and beautifully scored.  Much is shot in Monument Valley, and cinematographer Michael Barrett lenses those John Ford buttes and valleys and mesas as gorgeously as anyone ever has.   Composer Joel McNeely, who won an Emmy for his YOUNG INDIANA JONES scores, creates a score that, while not derivative or imitative, brings to mind the best of Dimitri Tiomkin, Elmer Bernstein, Alfred Newman and George Bassman. 

Set in Arizona in 1882, though largely shot in New Mexico, it’s the story of Albert Stark, a sheep-rancher, and since it is a measure of impressive self-restraint – not something MacFarlane is known for – let me astonish you: there is not even one reference to BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN in the entire film!  Instead, the film opens with poor Albert about to be gunned down by a cattleman for letting his sheep stray and overgraze the prairie – see, MacFarlane has actually seen a lot of westerns!  Portraying a character not unlike Bob Hope’s in his westerns, Albert, with no hope of outdrawing the man, manages to negotiate a deal – and in the process loses the love of his girlfriend Louise (Amanda Seyfried), who now sees him as a coward as well an incompetent sheepherder.  Her affections are stolen by the ultimate mustache-twirling villain, Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), who actually runs a mustache emporium! 

Matt Clark, with and without the fur

In the desert just outside of town, an old prospector is riding along, his donkey pulling a buckboard, the old sourdough telling the animal how their gold strike will make them rich.  Then their way is blocked by a band of outlaws led by Clinch (Liam Neeson), who exudes the kind of smiling menace only a man with supreme confidence can produce.  Despite the protests of Clinch’s wife Anna (Charlize Theron), the old man doesn’t live long.  And cheers for MacFarlane’s love of the genre for casting Matt Clark as the prospector!  The Elisha Cook Jr. of his generation, Clark has played victims and low-level villains in scores of westerns: in 1972 and 1973 alone he appeared in THE COWBOYS, THE CULPEPPER CATTLE CO., THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA RAID, JEREMIAH JOHNSON, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN and PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID.   Displeased at his wife’s behavior, Clinch sends her and one of his men to the nearest town to sit out the next train robbery – they’ll be back for her in twelve days. 

In town Albert and Anna meet, and circumstances free her from her gun-toting wet-nurse.  They become friends, and Anna’s attempts to help him win back Louise, by making her jealous, backfire when the outcome is Albert challenging Foy to a duel.  Of course, Louise has to teach Albert how to shoot.  Now, as a reader of the Round-up, I’m going to guess that, between movies and TV, you’ve probably seen ‘teaching-the-beginner-how-to-shoot- bottles-off-a-fence’ sequences a hundred times – maybe more.  Somehow MacFarlane, who really takes his time with this, manages to make it fresh and convincing and funny, and ultimately romantic.  And the barroom brawl is the best scene of its kind I can recall in twenty or thirty years, all the more because it acknowledges its own absurdity: when the fight breaks out between two characters, all the uninvolved men throughout the bar give a, “Oh well, here we go again” shrug, and start randomly beating each other.

The big 'Mustache' dance number 

A lot of the fun grows out of the history: when Anna and Albert want to sing, they have to acknowledge that there are only about three songs, and all of them are by Stephen Foster.  In fact, in a square-dance sequence that is something of a nod to 7 BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS and CAT BALLOU, Foy leads them in a song about mustaches, which is credited to Foster as well.  When Albert, missing Louise, is leafing through pictures of them together, instead of the sort of snapshots that are usually used, and historically ridiculous, he is looking at tintypes, and much fun is gotten from the fact that you couldn’t smile in them, because the exposures took so long.

Sarah Silverman and Giovanni Ribisi

Wes Studi has a nice part as Cochise, who introduces Albert to the exciting world of peyote. Also enjoyable in supporting roles are Albert’s friends, the local whore, played by Sarah Silverman, and her virginal boyfriend, played by Giovanni Ribisi – they’re saving him for marriage.  Taking a bit of the fun out of them are the frequent references to them being Christians, as if there is some Christian dictate that it’s okay to be a prostitute but not an unmarried non-virgin.  Of all the world’s religions, only Christians – Mormons included – are expected to tolerate this crap incessantly. 

And speaking of the offensive stuff, the obscene dialogue and occasional sheep-urinating-on-the-star’s-face ‘gags’ seem oddly arbitrary, often forced, and usually not funny beyond shock value.  Although maybe this was meant as a jab at DEADWOOD’s excessive obscenity, and the pious and absurd claims that ‘this was how they really talked back then,’ when in truth, using ‘fighting words’ as mild as ‘sonuvabitch’ could get you legally shot.

As opposed to, say, BLAZING SADDLES, which is pure burlesque from start to finish, A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST is at its core a sweet movie with likable characters you grow to care about.   A great deal of its potential rises and falls on Seth MacFarlane’s ability as a leading man, and he carries the movie very well.  Aside from youngsters who do not need to be rushed into adulthood, and adults for whom the obscenity would ruin the fun, I recommend it highly!

THE STOLEN RANCH – A Silent Western

A  DVD Review

Grapevine Video just keeps expanding my knowledge of the silent western, this time with a Fred Humes starrer, THE STOLEN RANCH (1926).  Not familiar with Humes?  He was a pretty big name towards the end of the silent days.  Under contract to Universal in the twenties, in popularity he was a runner-up to the studio’s reigning kings, Hoot Gibson and Jack Hoxie. 

THE STOLEN RANCH is an unusual story, set not in the old west of the 19^th century, but the nearly contemporary – for 1926 – west of the First World War.  Humes plays Breezy Hart, a soldier who befriends another in the trenches, Frank Wilcox (Ralph McCullough).  The stress of endless war has caused Frank to crack: only Breezy’s tight grip and calming talk keeps Frank from an ugly death in ‘no man’s land’.  After the war Frank, suffering from what would be called Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome today – then it was ‘shell-shock’ – is heading to his late Uncle’s  ranch.  Frank expected to be left the ranch, but his uncle’s foreman claims a new will gives the ranch to him. 

Determined to get a look at the inside of the ranch operation, Breezy gets a job there as the cook’s assistant, and does some snooping.  Also in the cast are Louise Larraine as a ranch girl and Humes’ love interest, Nita Cavalier as the lawyer’s daughter and Frank Wilcox’s love interest, and villains like William Bailey, Slim Whitaker and Jack Kirk, who each have more than 300 screen credits, nearly all of them westerns.  Humes is a cheerful, likable performer, and the movie skillfully switches back and forth between the western mystery elements, comic romance, and the trauma of war flashbacks triggered by the sound of a random gunshot.

Admittedly, the film is not a classic in its storytelling: too much plot relies on overheard conversation.  And by today’s standards, the amount of male hugging and other physical bonding borders on the homoerotic.  But overall it is a thoughtful and entertaining movie, with all the action elements you want in a western, and enough unexpected aspects to make it memorable.

Men psychologically damaged by war, and the mixed welcome soldiers received when coming home, were not usually the stuff of western programmers, but then, most western programmers were not directed by the likes of William Wyler.  One of the truly legendary directors of Hollywood, Wyler’s sophistication, intellect, and heart would earn him three Oscars, for BEN HUR (1959), MRS. MINIVER (1942), and most relevant to this discussion, THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), the story of returning veterans of the Second World War.  For the record, Wyler also directed Walter Brennan to an Oscar playing Judge Roy Bean in THE WESTERNER, excelled in romantic comedies like ROMAN HOLIDAY, and drew two of the best child performances ever – from Bonita Granville and Marcia Mae Jones – in THESE THREE (Merle Oberon, Miriam Hopkins and Joel McCrea are pretty good, too).  He also put aside his career for several years to go to war, making films for the government, entertainingly  detailed in the new book, FIVE CAME BACK: A STORY OF HOLLYWOOD AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR, by Mark Harris. 

Another pro on the project was writer George H. Plympton, an unsung master of entertaining storytelling whose over 300 credits, often shared, include FLASH GORDON, and many of the best Republic serials, plus b-westerns and Bowery Boys films. 

Humes and Wyler would make two more westerns the following year, but the actor, who as a sideline played gorillas in several movies, would have a minor career once sound came in.  Although he worked steadily for many years, it was mostly unnamed characters in uncredited roles.  Humes, who played sidekicks and villains to Hoot Gibson in five of the star’s silents, may have made a personal connection.  In 1935, when Hoot was a big star, and Humes was reduced to playing bit parts, Hoot used him in two more movies. 

THE STOLEN RANCH, which features a lively piano score by David Knudston, is available from Grapevine Video.  http://www.grapevinevideo.com/stolen_ranch.html

‘LONGMIRE’ MARATHON PRECEDES SEASON 3 PREMIERE MONDAY NIGHT!

Monday, June 2^nd, at 10 p.m., LONGMIRE returns to A&E for a third season.  I can’t tell you too much about the new season because I haven’t seen any yet – I hope to have a screener on Monday, and will review it next Sunday.  What I can say for sure is that of all the current dramas of the past several years, there are only two that I never miss: HELL ON WHEELS and LONGMIRE.  If you are behind in your episodes, or you just want to refresh your memory, A&E is running all of season two earlier in the day – check your local listings!

THAT’S A WRAP!

That’s it for today!  Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright June 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

ON ‘MAN FROM DEATH’ SET, PLUS CONCERT TICKET GIVEAWAY, AND DIRECTV DROPS INSP!

ON THE SET OF ‘THE MAN FROM DEATH’

In the second week of the New Year I got a call from Peter Sherayko, the man who, in addition to acting – he was Texas Jack Vermillion in TOMBSTONE –  runs Caravan West, his outfit that provides historically authentic weapons, props, saddles, the horses to wear them, and the men to ride them, for Western movies and TV.  He was working on a new film, THE MAN FROM DEATH, which was shooting at Veluzat Movie Ranch in Saugus, and he invited me to the set on Saturday, the 12^th.  It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

They were shooting in the Mexican Village set, which you’ve seen many times.  The last time I was there, two or three years ago, they were shooting the award-winning Western YELLOW ROCK.  It was kind of like old home week, not only being back on that set, but with YELLOW ROCK crew-members like Peter, who was doing props and guns, saddles and horses; Ardeshir Radpour, a talented actor and magnificent horseman was wrangling; and Christian Ramirez, who was armorer.

Also on-set was gunslinger Joey ‘Rocketshoes’ Dillon.  A multi-award winner for his six-gun acrobatics, he trained Josh Brolin to handle guns for JONAH HEX, Joseph Gordon Levitt for LOOPER, the cast of GANGSTER SQUAD, and many more.  For MAN FROM DEATH he was working with leading man Eric Lim on his fast-draw.

Eric Lim spins guns for teacher Joey Dillon

The composition of the crew was a bit unusual for a Western movie, for any movie really, and it’s encouraging to see how opportunity has opened up.  The writer-director and actor-producer are both Asian-American, and the boom, first assistant director and Steadicam operators were all women.

Peter introduced me to art director Lawrence Kim, who gave me the low-down on the story and the production.

Art Director Lawrence Kim gets out of  range

 before the shooting starts

LAWRENCE KIM:  The film is called THE MAN FROM DEATH.  It was written, and is now being directed by Steven Reedy.  It’s being produced by Eric Lim, who plays Strider, who’s known as ‘Death’.  It’s kind of a mystical, supernatural tongue-in-cheek spaghetti western.  It’s a proof-of-concept for a feature, we hope, and it’s going to be about fifteen to twenty minutes.  I shot a recent feature here, on the Veluzat Ranch, the Mexico town, and coincidentally, my friends here, all the core group, had done a very successful short film before.  Eric wanted to get everyone together to do this western.  The design is kind of post-Civil War, around 1875.  But it’s tongue-in-cheek, because cactus doesn’t really grow out of  wells.  Within our limited budget I’m trying to give the sense of a town; a general store, a cantina, a coffin-maker.  Things like that.  I’m an architect and a production designer.

Peter Sherayko

Lawrence got called away to the set at that point.  I haven’t seen the script, but the scene they were about to film looked pretty climactic.  Eric Lim as Strider, and his friend, played by Dennis Ruel, are sitting in the middle of the street, tied side-by-side to a cactus.  As Dennis explained it to me, “Strider has a list that the bad guys want to get ahold of, and it’s a very important, kind of magical list.  And I’m the bait, so to speak.”  And he’s also got a vest full of dynamite strapped to his chest.  And quite a crew of bad guys surround them: black outlaws, white outlaws, lady outlaws, Confederate soldiers, Union soldiers, and a Samurai! After several takes, they took a break, and I was able to talk to star and producer Eric Lim about how the project came about.    

Dennis Ruel models explosive fashions

ERIC LIM:  I worked with Steve Reedy, the director, about two years ago.  We did principal photography for a project called THE PORCH, which was more of social cause; it was a suicide prevention video.  It was very personal.  And now we wanted to get into a more narrative film.  So we put together a western, a genre we both love, and now we’re working on THE MAN FROM DEATH. 

HENRY:  And this is something you’re hoping will expand to a feature?

ERIC LIM:  Hopefully, yuh.  I think there’s a lot of opportunities these days, with the market kind of changing, shifting towards video-on-demand.  We’re developing the feature script concurrently with this.  We’re hopeful that the idea, the style, the story will resonate into something that can work in a little bit more of a long-form. 

Ticklish Indian gets a make-up touch-up

HENRY:  How would you describe the tone of the movie?

ERIC LIM:  I would say the tone is very edgy in the way, it’s very modern.  It’s taking a lot of the tropes that I think people really love of westerns, of spaghetti westerns, the iconography, the aesthetics, trying to set it in a more modern style of editing, pacing, music, and trying to bring that into a new audience, the kind of people who are reared on new media, or watch some of the big tent-pole action movies.  Our aim of the game is to capture some of that audience, while bringing some of the tropes and the style and the coolness of the spaghetti westerns that we love.

Transplanting a cactus

HENRY:  What’s your favorite western? 

ERIC LIM:  You know, I just watched HIGH NOON; I really really liked that.  I think it was a really strong story.  You know, you have a lot of that spill-over, this parallel between samurai movies and western movies –

HENRY:  Right, because the spaghetti western came out of the samurai in a sense.   

ERIC LIM:  They’re very synonymous with one another, kind of styled with those archetype characters.  They’re so many.  They’re some really cool modern ones like the remake of 3:10 TO YUMA, with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe.  There’s a great samurai movie called 13 ASSASSINS; they’re really great, you know?  I hope there’s a re-birth to those genres, this time and setting, where it was a little more lawless, with traveling warriors.  I think there’s something really cool about that.  Because everyone has to be armed, and everyone has to kind of adapt to  fighting, be self-reliant.  

Mike Gaglio, Joey Dillon, Ric Maddox

HENRY:  How do you like filming at Veluzat Ranch?

ERIC LIM:  This is amazing!  Because you just get in here, the way it’s set up, and it’s so immersive.  Especially being in front of the camera, there’s so little work to do to get yourself immersed in the setting.  You look straight down the main road; you see the border town church.  You look anywhere, you see the stucco, the southwestern look.  There’re no seams.  Pretty crazy that it’s just 30 minutes outside of L.A.  All the crew can drive home and sleep in their own beds at night; that in itself is really amazing. 

Larry Poole

HENRY:  You’re packing a couple of guns; what are you wearing?

ERIC LIM:  Right now I’m wearing the Schofield Wells Fargo; I think it’s a five and a half barrel; a little bit easier for me to spin.  I’ve been working with Joey Dillon, a great, great gun-spinner.  He’s really filled me in, and we developed the character, the logistics of me drawing out the weapons, and so forth.  We went for the Schofields because they have the top-loading aspect, as opposed to the Colt .45s, where you had to load one-by-one.  Since we have a fighting scene, we wanted it to just pop open and be able to cram the bullets in. 

John Wyatt Davis

HENRY:  Tell me, if it really was the old west, would you be more comfortable drawing from the hip, or under the arm? 

ERIC LIM:  You know, I like drawing from the hip.  For the shoulder rig, I see a very pragmatic value of being able to stand sideways, to minimize my surface area.  So I do understand that; I like that a lot.  But there’s something really cool about drawing from the hip. 

I next talked to Eric Ruel about doing his first Western.

DENNIS RUEL:  I’ve been wanting to do a western for a long time.  I’m a martial artist, with a bunch of these guys here, and I always wanted to do a martial arts western, and this is exactly what it’s gonna be. 

HENRY:  What are your favorite westerns?

DENNIS RUEL:  Tough call.  I always liked UNFORGIVEN.  I recently watched the original DJANGO, the Franco Nero.  In Italian – I didn’t want to watch it dubbed.  That was cool to watch.  Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH --  that’s the one I remember watching first, when I was younger, and that was kind of my idea of what a western should be.  

HENRY:  It’s a mind-blowing introduction to westerns.

DENNIS RUEL:  The reason I saw it was I was getting into Hong Kong action.  And John Woo was becoming a big name.  And I was reading articles about where he got his influences from.  And Sam Peckinpah was a big influence to him. 

As usual, the director is the most in-demand person on a set, so I just had a chance to ask Steven Reedy what his Western influences are.

Director Steven Reedy

STEVE REEDY:  Oh man.  3:10 TO YUMA, which is kind of recent.  But it’s an incredible movie.  Because Christian Bale’s character is fighting just to be appreciated by his kids – which is so badass.  And then of course you have Russell Crowe being such a badass on every actual physical level; and what a way to juxtapose it.  And Sergio Leone is incredible because he’s such a creative genius.  I think those are good ones that come to mind.    

There were a number of familiar faces among the cowboys on the set.  Actor and musician Mike Gaglio, from AMERICAN BANDITS – FRANK AND JESSE JAMES was there.  He had a role in the first season of HULU’s web western comedy series QUICK DRAW, and they like him so much they asked him back for season two – a nice surprise, considering they killed him off in season one.  I’d first met Byron Herrington, author of the non-fiction Western CAMPO – THE FORGOTTEN GUNFIGHT, on the set of THE LAST DUANE, and he tells me he, too may have a continuing role on QUICK DRAW. 

Ardeshir Radpour and Willy Clark

I’d last run into Willy Clark a couple of months ago, when he was armorer on the set of WESTERN RELIGION.  Since then, he and Peter Sherayko had been off to Old Tucson, Arizona, to work on HOT BATH AN’ A STIFF DRINK 2.  They’re already talking about making HOT BATH 3, and they haven’t even released HOT BATH 1 yet (I saw a rough cut, and it’s a lot of fun).  “Matthew Gratzner, the director, said this second one would definitely be a movie to go to a theatre to see.  Between the stagecoach, the whiskey warehouse shootout, the explosions, there were about two-thousand blanks.  We were going through 250, 300 blanks (a day); the Gatling-gun scene, and stuff like that.  All in all, everything worked out well, no incidents, except we did have one horse run over a sound guy, knock him down.  He went to the hospital; took twelve stitches in his chin, but he was back on the job the next day.  The weather’s what beat us up.  We were working some 6:30s to 6:30s, and we were down to the teens some nights.”  I told him when my wife and I were in Old Tucson a couple of years ago, it was 104 degrees.  “The time we were there, we were lucky to make the 60s.  Mostly it was the 50s during the day, and went down at night.  Down to the 30s, down to the teens a lot.  We’re hoping the third one comes around.  They might be coming to California in March.”      

Me with Rick Groat

The fact is, most of the folks making Westerns know each other, most are friends, and they’re quick to help each other when a few more buckskinned bodies are needed. Ric Maddox, star and a producer on the DEAD MEN Western web series was there to shoot and ride.  Likewise, Rick Groat was there, taking a break from his own film, currently in pre-production.  “I’ve been working on this one for a year and a half.  RIDE THE WANTED TRAIL.  I’m the writer-producer-director on it.  Right now we’re all set with it.  We’ve got Wolf Brothers Entertainment co-producing.  We’ll go into production on it mid to late summer.  It’s looking pretty good.  And most of these guys you’re looking at, you’re going to see in it.”

At 'Action!' all the cowboys run like Hell!

WIN TICKETS TO SEE ‘NEW WEST’ FEB 20th AT REPERTORY EAST PLAYHOUSE!

Hopefully you’ve noticed that we have a new sponsor here at the Round-up, the OutWest Western Boutique and Cultural Center in Newhall – just go to the top left corner of the Round-up, click their logo, and you’ll be magically transported to their wonderful store. 

They also sponsor the OutWest Concert Series at the Repertory East Playhouse , at 24266 Main Street, Newhall, CA 91321.  Coming up on Thursday, February 20^th, SCTV Presents The OutWest Concert Series: An Evening with NEW WEST!  Award-winning NEW WEST brings their own brand of Western ballads, story songs and cowboy swing to entertain you.  Raul Reynoso, Michael Fleming and David Jackson return to the Western stage with their engaging performance style!  Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy Michael Fleming’s memorable original songs, the trio’s sweet harmony, Raul Reynoso’s world class guitar work and David Jackson’s show-stopping numbers.  Dress up!  SCTV will film, and you just may be on TV!  Tickets $20.  RSVP and Purchase tickets at OutWest 661-255-7087.

And one lucky Round-up reader will win a free pair of tickets to the concert.  To enter, first make sure you live someplace where you can actually get to the concert from (we have lots of readers in Russia, but I doubt they can make here).  Then send an email to  swansongmail@sbcglobal.net, with ‘New West ticket giveaway’ in the subject line.  Make sure to include your name, snail-mail address, and phone number.  And here’s the challenging part: Michael Fleming is Festival Director for a Santa Clarita event that will celebrate its 21^st anniversary April 24-27.  Make sure to name that event in your email!  Please be sure to send your entry by 11 pm Saturday, February 8th.  The winner will be selected randomly from all correct entries.  And below is a sneak preview of NEW WEST.

DIRECTV DROPS INSP!  NO MORE ‘VIRGINIAN’ OR ‘HIGH CHAPARRAL’!

(AND MAYBE WE CAN GET IT BACK!)

We DirecTV viewers who look forward to Saddle-Up Saturday had a rude surprise this Saturday  morning: no Westerns – in fact, no INSP at all!  The satellite company which recently made headlines when they jettisoned THE WEATHER CHANNEL has now dropped the station with the exclusive rights to a pair of the finest western series ever made, THE VIRGINIAN and THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, in addition to airing BIG VALLEY, BONANZA, and western-ish family shows like DR. QUINN and LITTLE HOUSE. 

To be fair, DirecTV says they didn’t ‘drop’ INSP.  A statement at their website says, “DIRECTV offers smaller programmers an opportunity to buy airtime on our programming lineup. Inspiration, channel 364, is one of the networks that paid DIRECTV to air its channel. Unfortunately, Inspiration decided to no longer purchase that airtime as of 1/31/14. DIRECTV did not drop the network, Inspiration simply decided they no longer wanted to purchase airtime. If you like classic TV shows like Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, or Matlock, we suggest Hallmark Channel (Ch 312) or Hallmark Movie Channel (Ch 565).  If you like religious programming like Billy Graham, Campmeeting, and other inspirational shows, we suggest GEB America (Ch 363) or God TV (Ch 365).”

And if you like Westerns like HIGH CHAPARRAL and THE VIRGINIAN, I guess you can drop dead.  Does DirecTV have a point in claiming they didn’t ‘drop’ INSP?  Sure, but it’s a distinction without a difference: either way, we’re not getting the series we want, from a network that has proved its value, and has steadily growing popularity.  And while INSP apparently no longer wants to pay to have their network aired, they’re offering it for free to DirecTV.  At the same time, DirecTV is paying licensing fees to air the many unpopular ‘junk’ networks we all zap past on our way to the good stuff. 

I’m not saying the folks at DirecTV are bad guys – in fact, they’re one of the first TV services to add the new and very entertaining PIVOT network to their line-up.  But the only chance we have of getting INSP back on is by letting them know that we value the quality Western programming that is synonymous with INSP, and we’re willing to go somewhere else if we can’t get what we want.  Frankly, the way my DirecTV bill has been going up of late, we’d already been talking at my house about checking out DISH and the various cable companies. 

I was a school-kid when these shows were originally aired, which was also when STAR TREK began, and we had to picket and write angry letters and generally raise Hell when, year after year, NBC cancelled that classic show.  And we won for three years, not because we were pests, not because the network saw the error of their ways, but because NBC became convinced that there was money to be made off of us.  Today there is money to be made off of INSP fans, and money to be lost if DirecTV doesn’t bring the network back.  Please go to the following site -- http://www.iwantmyinsp.com/  -- and sign the on-line petition.  And call and register your disappointment at DirecTV’s actions, and encourage them to pick up INSP, by calling 1-844-GET-INSP.

‘LEGEND OF JESSE JAMES’ STAR CHRISTOPHER JONES DIES AT 72

A handsome, charismatic and talented actor whose star burned briefly but brightly in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Christopher Jones has died in Los Alamitos, California, from complications related to cancer.  The son of a grocery clerk and a mother who would die in 1960 in a mental institution, Jones had a tough childhood, and lived for some time in Boys Town.  His first big break in acting came in 1965, when he was cast as the title character in the Western TV series, THE LEGEND OF JESSE JAMES, opposite Allen Case as brother Frank. 

Though the series lasted only one season, it was peopled with strong casts and directors, and put Jones on the map.  This led to his starring in the feature CHUBASCO, where he met and married co-star Susan Strasberg.  In 1968, Jones starred in the greatest of all scare-your-parents-out-of-their-wits movies, WILD IN THE STREETS, where he plays a pop-star who campaigns to lower the voting age to 14, is elected president, and sends everyone over 30 to concentration camps with an LSD-laced water supply.  He went on to star in THREE IN THE ATTIC, THE LOOKING GLASS WAR, A BRIEF SEASON, and in David Lean’s second-to-last film, RYAN’S DAUGHTER (1970).  The latter was his biggest film, but a disappointment for Jones – reportedly Lean had another actor dub his lines – and during the filming in Europe, his friend Sharon Tate was murdered.  Jones said he had a nervous breakdown as a result.  He lost interest in acting, and refusing Quentin Tarentino’s entreaties, came out of retirement for only one film, MAD DOG TIME (1996), for director Larry Bishop, who had acted with Jones in WILD IN THE STREETS.

Fortunately, Jones had saved his money, and was a talented painter, which is how he spent much of his time.  His three-year marriage to Susan Strasberg produced one child.  He also had a son by Cathy Abernathy, and four children by Paula McKenna.

‘MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST’ RED-BAND TRAILER!

Quick warning – this trailer is a HARD-R FOR LANGUAGE!  Don’t share it with your kids unless you’d share the most coarse parts of DEADWOOD with them:  it’s that rough.  But it looks very funny, and beautifully shot.  Let me know what you think!

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Have a great week, folks!  And if you’re a DirecTV subscriber, please take the time to complain about the loss of INSP.

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright February 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

INTERVIEW WITH ‘MY NAME IS NOBODY’ WRITER ERNESTO GASTALDI

I became aware of the work of the talented and prolific Italian screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi as I prepared to do audio commentary, with fellow western writer C. Courtney Joyner, for Blue Underground’s DVD release of Gastaldi’s THE GRAND DUEL, starring Lee Van Cleef (you can read my review HERE.)

The auteur theory of film, which deifies the director, often ignores the fact that the words have to come from someone, and Mr. Gastaldi’s words have illuminated many of the best European Westerns and Giallo (literally ‘thrilling’movies); he has more than 120 produced movies to his credit.  We exchanged a few emails after I did the commentary, and to my delight, he agreed to an email interview about his westerns for the Round-up. 

In preparing my questions, the hardest part of my research was identifying his films from the maze of alternate titles.  I was reminded that in February I had been talking to Spaghetti Western star Giuliano Gemma at the Los Angeles Italia Fest, about his favorites among his own westerns.  He was talking about MAN FROM NOWHERE and I was talking about Gastaldi’s ARIZONA COLT, and it took us a minute to realize we were talking about the same movie. 

I finally put every Euro-western DVD I had in the player to read the writing credits – and I was startled to realize how many of my favorites were written by Ernesto Gastaldi.  I emailed my questions to Ernesto late on Thursday night, and to my great surprise, on Friday afternoon, all of my answers were waiting for me.  Here, then, is my interview.

HENRY: What is the first movie you remember seeing?

ERNESTO: Maybe L’ASSEDIO DELL’ALCAZAR by Augusto Genina. I was 6. (Note: an Italian war film about the famous Siege of Alcazar during the Spanish Civil War; winner of the Mussolini Cup at the Venice Film Festival)

HENRY: When did you know that you wanted to make movies?

ERNESTO: After RASHOMON by Kurosawa.

HENRY: In 1957 you graduated from Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia of Roma with degrees in direction and screenwriting.  In the United States, ‘film school’ was practically unheard of until the early 1970s.  What were the most important things you learned in your film studies?

ERNESTO: CSC allowed me to stay in Rome and meet people. One good prof was the director Alessandro Blasetti. (Note: the founder of the school, he directed his first film in 1917, and he continued directing until 1981.)

 

The young writer and director.

HENRY: In 1960 you were writer and assistant director on THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA.  Was that your first movie?  How did you get the job? 

ERNESTO: In 1959, at Christmas, I was assistant director of Renato Polselli in that movie: we wrote the script together.  Renato was fiancé of a girl I met at CSC.

HENRY: How did it feel to hear actors saying your dialogue for the first time? 

ERNESTO: Having been on the set, not so much...

HENRY: In the first three years of your screenwriting career, 1960 through 1962, you worked on nineteen movies – horror movies, pirate movies, comedies, gladiator movies.  Were you under contract? 

ERNESTO: In Italy no writers were under contract. I wrote for many different producers.

HENRY: Where did the projects come from?  What genres did you prefer?

ERNESTO: I like all commercial genres.

HENRY: With THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK you started using the pseudonym Julian Barry on certain films.  Why?

ERNESTO: Italian producers preferred to pretend your movies were American.

HENRY: In 1965 you did uncredited script work on BUFFALO BILL, starring Gordon Scott.  Was that your first western?

ERNESTO: The first Italian western was COWBOY'S STORY by (19 year old) Peppo Sacchi, in 1953. I was on the set as visitor. BUFFALO BILL wasn't a real Italian western.

HENRY: Were you a fan of westerns as a boy?

ERNESTO: No, but I liked them.

HENRY: Who were your favorite cowboy actors growing up? 

ERNESTO: Gary Cooper.

HENRY: What western writers or filmmakers influenced you?

ERNESTO: Nobody.

HENRY: It was another year and fourteen movies – a lot of spy thrillers among them – before you made another western, and it was the excellent ARIZONA COLT.  You established that perfect balance of western adventure and humor that would be seen in much of your western work.  Was ARIZONA COLT your idea, or was it brought to you?

ERNESTO: Duccio Tessari (A PISTOL FOR RINGO) invented the humorous western; Sergio Leone followed and I too.

HENRY: Giuliano Gemma had made the RINGO films and several other westerns by then.  Did you write ARIZONA COLT with him in mind, or was he cast after it was written?

Colt and his sidekick, Whiskey

 

Fernando Sancho as Gordo

 

ERNESTO: I knew, while I was writing the script, that Giuliano Gemma would be Arizona Colt.

HENRY: You have written five movies that Giuliano Gemma starred in.  Which was your favorite?

ERNESTO: I think I GIORNI DELL’IRA (DAY OF ANGER) by Tonino Valerii.

HENRY: Did you write any westerns, and then try to sell them, or did you write on assignment?

ERNESTO: I wrote almost always on assignment.

HENRY: In 1966 you co-wrote $1,000 ON THE BLACK, creating the hugely popular character of ‘Sartana’ for Gianni Garko.  You would write several more ‘Sartana’ movies for Garko.  Why do you think the character became so popular? 

ERNESTO: The name ‘Sartana’ had a big success; I don't know why. Many different actors acted ‘Sartana’!

HENRY: How did you like Garko?

ERNESTO: Garko has been a very good ‘Sartana’.

HENRY: You were writing movies that you knew would be translated into many languages.  Did that knowledge affect your approach to the writing?  Did you try to tell the stories more visually?

ERNESTO: When I write I think just to the story, no cares about actors or other conditions.

HENRY: There are often five or six writers credited on Italian films.  Why were there so many?

ERNESTO: I wrote my scripts alone, rarely with one friend. Many names you see in credits are fake, to justify coproductions.

HENRY: In 1967 you wrote a ‘Django’ film, $10,000 FOR A MASSACRE, and your first western for Lee Van Cleef, DAY OF ANGER.  Lee was now a big international star.  Did that change anything in your writing?  Did stars try to tell you how to write for them?

ERNESTO: No. As I (said before), when I write I think just to the story.

HENRY: In 1967 you earned a degree in economics.  Why did you decide to go back to school, and why did you choose economics?

ERNESTO: I started economics studies in Torino in 1953, well before I imagined writing movies. Then I interrupted them for years. In 1965 the Roman University, where I shifted (to) in 1955, asked me to finish or renounce forever. I finished, passing 20 tests in few months.

HENRY: Did you spend time on the sets of films you were writing?   

ERNESTO: I almost never went to sets. Too much to write in those periods!

HENRY: Were you asked to make script changes during production? 

ERNESTO: Yes, but really few times.

HENRY: I have spoken to several European Western stars who complained that many producers were dishonest.  Did you ever have trouble getting paid for your work?

ERNESTO: Once.  Screenwriters were the first people to be paid.

HENRY: In 1968 you made the first of your seven films with George Hilton, with ONE MORE TO HELL, also known as FULL HOUSE FOR THE DEVIL.  You must have had a good relationship.

Title card from FULL HOUSE FOR THE DEVIL

ERNESTO: George Hilton is one of my good friends.

HENRY: In 1970 you made ARIZONA COLT RETURNS, with Anthony Steffen taking Gemma’s role.  How well do you think he did, and why did it take four years to do a COLT sequel?

ERNESTO: The second COLT wasn't a real sequel. The title had been decided by the producer, not by me.

HENRY: Did you have favorite directors and favorite actors? 

ERNESTO: Favorite directors: Tonino Valerii (MY NAME IS NOBODY; DAY OF ANGER; A REASON TO LIVE, A REASON TO DIE; THE PRICE OF POWER),  Sergio Martino (ARIZONA COLT RETURNS; $10,000 FOR A MASSACRE; VENGEANCE IS MINE), and Sergio Leone. Favorite actors: Tony Quinn (note: in 1988 Gastaldi wrote STRADIVARI, starring Anthony Quinn as the violin-maker), Henry Fonda, Lee Van Cleef, Alan Collins (note: his real name is Luciano Pigozzi.  Known as the ‘Italian Peter Lorre,’ he appeared in IT CAN BE DONE, AMIGO, and nearly a dozen gialli written by Gastaldi).

HENRY: How long did you usually take to write a western?  Would a giallo take more time or less time?

ERNESTO: Usually I wrote a script in one month: western or giallo are the same. Of course when I worked with Sergio Leone I spent 8 months to write MY NAME IS NOBODY.

HENRY: In 1972 you wrote the very enjoyable western comedy IT CAN BE DONE, AMIGO, starring Bud Spencer and Jack Palance, and from the ARIZONA COLT films, Roberto Camadiel. 

Bud Spencer and Jack Palance in IT CAN BE DONE, AMIGO

ERNESTO: I wrote SI PUO FARE, AMIGO because Bud Spencer had to be forgiven, and compensate the (production company) SancroSiap.  (He had) told one story of mine, paid for by SancroSiap, to director (Enzo) Barboni, from which he made the film THEY CALL ME TRINITY. To avoid a lawsuit, Bud worked for free.

HENRY: Also in 1972 you wrote REVENGE OF THE RESURRECTED, also called PREY OF VULTURES, for Peter Lee Lawrence, a western mystery.  Did you enjoy combining those two genres?

ERNESTO: I do not remember anything about that movie

HENRY: You next wrote A REASON TO LIVE, A REASON TO DIE, for James Coburn, Telly Savalas, and Bud Spencer, three big stars. Your fourth western of 1972 was THE GRAND DUEL, one of my favorites, as you know.  Again it is an elegant blend of western action and humor.  This was getting very late in the time of the European western.  Did you have any sense that they would soon disappear? 

ERNESTO: IL GRANDE DUELLO – I wrote this movie during my collaboration with Sergio Leone, which lasted 3 years. No, I hadn't any sense that western movies were at their end.

Dentice watches Van Cleef in GRAND DUEL

HENRY: Starring opposite Lee Van Cleef is Alberto Dentice, who is very good, and yet he never did another movie.  Were you making a reference to John Ford and John Wayne is the stagecoach sequence, which reminded me very much of STAGECOACH? 

ERNESTO: No. I just invented a new story.

HENRY: In 1973 you wrote one of your best-known films, MY NAME IS NOBODY, starring Terence Hill and the great Henry Fonda.  What was it like to work with Sergio Leone?    

ERNESTO: I met Sergio Leone when he had just the title MY NAME IS NOBODY. I worked for 8 months, going every day to Sergio’s home to read him the scenes I had written at night. To see Henry Fonda saying my dialogues has been a real emotion.

MY NAME IS NOBODY - Henry Fonda

HENRY: How much of the movie did he actually direct? 

ERNESTO: Sergio Leone directed just two little scenes of MY NAME IS NOBODY.  The only director was my friend Tonino Valerii.

MY NAME IS NOBODY -Terence Hill

HENRY: LA PUPA DEL GANGSTER (1975) starred Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.   It is a comedy, based on a story by the very ‘noir’ Cornell Woolrich.  Did the story start out as a comedy?

ERNESTO: LA PUPA DEL GANGSTER (was to star) Monica Vitti, but the script so pleased Sophia Loren, wife of film producer Carlo Ponti, (that she) wanted to act in it.

HENRY: In 1975 you wrote another comedy-western for Terence Hill, A GENIUS, TWO FRIENDS AND AN IDIOT.  It was directed by the usually very serious Damiano Damiani.  How was he to work with? 

ERNESTO: Damiano Damiani was not able to direct a movie (as) complex and ironic as it was in the script, and he ruined everything.

HENRY: Was this your last western? 

ERNESTO: I wrote, with my daughter, a new ‘almost’ western story, called TOWN & COUNTRY, located in the US; too expensive for our dead cinema industry.

HENRY: Eleven years after NOBODY, you did script work on ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.  How was it to work with Sergio Leone again?

ERNESTO: I worked very well with Sergio, but in my treatment of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, the young criminal does not become a senator!

HENRY: What do you think of recent westerns, like TRUE GRIT and DJANGO UNCHAINED? 

ERNESTO: I liked very much DJANGO UNCHAINED! I have found a lot of Sergio Leone style and some parfum of my western scenes.

Ernesto with wife, Mara Maryl, in Hawaii

 

HENRY: You have directed several films, many with your wife, actress and writer Mara Maryl.  Given the choice, do you prefer to write or direct?

ERNESTO: I prefer to write.

You can purchase many of Ernesto Gastaldi’s films.  GRAND DUEL is available from Blue Underground, as are many of his gialli, HERE, ARIZONA COLT, ARIZONA COLT – HIRED GUN, REVENGE OF THE RESURRECTED, IT CAN BE DONE -- AMIGO, and FULL HOUSE FOR THE DEVIL are available, some in double bills, from Wild East Productions HERE.  MY NAME IS NOBODY is available from lots of outfits – check out Amazon.

EWAN MCGREGOR TO JANE’S RESCUE!

 

Ewan McGregor has gotten out of bed with Jude Law and in bed with Natalie Portman (okay, I doubt he was really in bed with Jude, but I had to use that picture!), rescuing JANE GOT A GUN from purgatory!  The most troubled western movie production since HEAVEN’S GATE, the movie starring and co-produced by Portman was shut down on the first day when director Lynne Ramsay abruptly quit.  When she quit, lead villain Jude Law – himself a replacement for Joel Edgerton (who is still ‘in’, but in a different role) – quit as well.  Ramsay was soon replaced by director Gavin O’Connor, and Jude Law was replaced by Bradley Cooper, and everything looked honky-dory.  Then Cooper had to exit due to a long-standing commitment to his SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK director David O. Russell, and JANE got shut down again.  But now Ewan McGregor has stepped into the breach!   

Curiously, with Ewan coming on-board, JANE GOT A GUN has become something of a STAR WARS reunion: Natalie Portman played Queen Amidala; Joel Edgerton, currently Tom Buchanan in THE GREAT GATSBY, played Owen Lars; and Ewan McGregor was Obi-Wan-Kenobi.   

A STUDIO AND MORE CASTING FOR ‘A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST’

Seth McFarlane’s western comedy, set for release on May 30^th of 2014, will be c-produced by Universal, no great shock considering how well they fared with his TED.  Joining McFarlane and the previously announced Charlize Theron and Amanda Seyfried are Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi and Sarah Silverman.  Writing with McFarlane are his TED collaborators Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild.   

 

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.


WESTERNS 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.

AMC usually devotes much of Saturday to westerns, often with multi-hour blocks of THE RIFLEMAN, and just this week began running RAWHIDE as well.  Coming soon, LONESOME DOVE and RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE miniseries!

THE WRAP-UP

Happy Mothers' Day!  Next week I'll finish my coverage of the TCM Classic Movie Festival, and I've got some other things cookin' as well.  Have a great week, and if you know something that would be of interest to the Round-up Rounders, please share it!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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