L.A. ITALIA FEST RED CARPET!

Vera and Giuliano Gemma

Sunday night was the opening night of the 8^th Annual Los Angeles, Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest.  The year 2013 has been declared the Year of the Italian Culture in America, by both U.S. President Obama and Italian President Monti, and the Fest is inaugurating the Jack Valenti Legend Award, named in honor of the long-time President of the Motion Picture Association of America, and former special assistant to Lyndon Johnson in the White House.   The first recipient of the award is Best Actor Oscar winner, for SCENT OF A WOMAN, Al Pacino, who will be seen next month as the title character in PHIL SPECTOR, and will soon be heard as a voice in DESPICABLE ME 2. 

Rachel Hunter

The Fest encompasses all genres of filmmaking, from documentary to history, romance to comedy, horror to animation – last night saw the premiere of the animated feature GLADIATORS OF ROME 3D – and, thank goodness the Western.  The very first film screened, at nine on Sunday morning, was a documentary about Sergio Leone.  There are a pair of documentaries by off-spring of Spaghetti-Western stars; GIULIANO GEMMA: AN ITALIAN IN THE WORLD, directed by his daughter, Vera Gemma, which screened last night, and FRANCO NERO: THE MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES, directed by his son Carlo Gabriel Nero, which will screen on Tuesday night.  Also screening during the festival are classic Spaghetti Westerns TEXAS, ADIOS (this morning),DJANGO, and KEOMA, all starring Franco Nero, RINGO THE KILLER, starring Giuliano Gemma, and DJANGO KILL…IF YOU LIVE, SHOOT!, starring Tomas Milian.

Kat Kramer

The Fest is held in the Chinese 6 Theatre, on the 3^rd floor of the Hollywood and Highland Complex, whose Dolby Theatre is the home of next Sunday’s Academy Awards.  When I arrived last night, the first faces I recognized in the crowd were producer Harvey Weinstein, whose DJANGO UNCHAINED and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK have a load of Oscar nominations, and producer-director William Lustig, whose Blue Underground distributes most of the westerns being shown at the Fest.  I took my spot along the red carpet, between reporters from Canada and Dubai, and soon (okay, actually not that soon, but eventually) the stars came by.  First was beautiful model and actress Rachel Hunter.  Next came actress Kat Kramer, daughter of actress Karen Sharpe and producer/director Stanley Kramer, whose centennial is being celebrated this year.  I asked her which were her personal favorites among her father’s work.  “I like IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD, and HIGH NOON, of course.  I think INHERIT THE WIND is my personal favorite through, and GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, because my godmother was Katherine Hepburn, and that movie is still relevant today.  And he also made a film in Italy, which I should reiterate, it’s a good time for tonight: THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA, with Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Giancarlo Gianni – I believe that was his debut, and Virna Lisi, and Giuseppe Rotunno was the cinematographer.”  I asked what she was up to.  “I’m working on lots of things, trying to follow in his footsteps, and do my own thing at the same time.  My own one-woman theatrical show which is singing, characters and monologues, about my own search, has a music theme to it.  And there are films and television programs that I’m working on.  I’m really happy to be here tonight for the honoree, to celebrate Al Pacino, who I’m a big fan of, and (actor) Michele Placido as well.  And Jack Valenti was a good friend of my father’s.”

Dennis Christopher and Paul Dooley

I next spoke to Dennis Christopher, whose break-away film was 1979’s BREAKING AWAY.  He’s worked steadily ever since, but got much attention this year playing Leo DiCaprio’s consigliore  in DJANGO UNCHAINED.  He was delighted to be working with such a high level of performers.  “It was fantasic, it was a feast to be sitting around that table with those actors like Leo, Christoph, Samuel L. Jackson and Jamie Foxx.  Amazing.”   I asked him how he liked working with Franco Nero.  “Oh, fantastic!  We were in the same hotel, so we would have a couple of cocktails together, and he’s just somebody that I’d loved for so long -- and he was the original Django!  It was an honor to meet him.  And he’s a great guy.”  I asked if he watched a lot of spaghetti westerns to prepare for DJANGO UNCHAINED.  “I actually did.  And Quentin likes to show them on the weekends, so I did.  And of course I got DJANGO right away.  And there are so many versions – there’s SUKIYAKI DJANGO, and the original, and I watched them all – absolutely amazing.  Plus horseback-riding lessons.  Which I didn’t get to use, but I did take them, and then they decided to put us in a carriage.”  I asked him if he’d want to do another Western if he got the chance.  “Well, I did when I was much younger.  I did THE OREGON TRAIL (1976 series starring Rod Taylor), and I was in DEADWOOD for a season.  But not a cowboy; I was an actor.” 

Dennis Christopher, Winnie Holzman and Paul Dooley

I saw next coming down the red carpet actor Paul Dooley, and asked Dennis if Dooley hadn’t played his father in BREAKING AWAY.  “Yes; we have a famous father-son act, as a matter of fact.  (Laughs) You know if Paul works, they can get me at a discount.”  Paul Dooley was with his wife Winnie Holtzman, creator of MY SO CALLED LIFE and playwright of WICKED.  Paul told me, “We’ve also written a play for ourselves.”  Winnie added, “We’re going to open it here in L.A. in April at the Odyssey Theatre.  It’s called ASSISTED LIVING.”  Paul added, “We’re in rehearsal now.  But about BREAKING AWAY;  I’m very close with Dennis ever since then.  And we’ve actually worked together after that.  He got a job on LAW & ORDER, they needed a father, he told them about me, I got the job.” 

“That’s great,” I said, “because you made such a great father and son relationship; charming movie, and so many of the cast went on to do so well.”

“Oh yeah!  Jackie Earle Haley, a new career.   Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Barbara Barrie.” 

Maria Christina Heller

Next up was Italian actress Maria Christina Heller, who is in Dario Argento’s upcoming DRACULA 3D.  At the Fest last year, Dario showed forty minutes of clips, which looked terrific.  I asked Maria about working with Argento.  “It’s great!  He knows what he wants; he’s very nice on set.  It was a great experience.  There was also the double-camera thing, because it’s 3D; it was the first time for me.  You look down, there’s the regular camera, and there’s the mirror reflecting into the other camera.” 

Larry and Shawn King

Soon Larry King and his wife Shawn were making their way down the red carpet.  He was asked what his pick was for the Best Picture Oscar.  “This was a great year for movies.  I loved ARGO.  I loved LINCOLN.  Another great movie was FLIGHT.  SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is terrific.  I wasn’t that crazy about the one about the killing of Osama Bin Laden.  It was okay, it wasn’t great for me.  My favorite movie, which (my wife) has not seen yet, was DJANGO UNCHAINED.  I loved the performances.  I loved the theme.  It was hysterically funny, and exciting and violent.  It was everything about filmmaking.”  I asked him what his favorite Western was.  “Good question.  A tie.  SHANE and HIGH NOON.”  Mrs. King said, “I was going to say BLAZING SADDLES,” and Larry agreed.  “That’s right up there, too.  Mel Brooks.  ‘Me Mongo.  Me misunderstood.’”

Al Pacino

A few minutes later Al Pacino, the man of the evening, appeared, and I chose not to embarrass him by pointing out that he had never been in a Western.  

Giuliano Gemma

All the press had been given photo cheat-sheets in advance, showing pictures of all the expected celebrities.  A few had come who were not on the list, and a few had not shown up.  My one big disappointment was that Giuliano Gemma had not appeared.  We all started putting away our equipment, and I walked away from the red carpet, when who did I see, on the other side of a mirrored pillar, but Giuliano, looking very elegant in his tuxedo.  I asked him which of his Westerns are his favorites.  “You know, I made about seventeen Westerns, but I don’t know the titles in English.  A PISTOL FOR RINGO, THE RETURN OF RINGO.”

“I was just watching ARIZONA COLT last night.  That’s a delightful picture.”

“Ahh…nice!”

“How do you like your daughter’s documentary?”

“She made a good work; it just brings about twenty years of my filmography.   We have to do a second part.”

“And when are you going to do another western?”

“Ahh…the Western, it is finished.  We don’t have the opportunity.  But maybe Tarantino will call me – why not?!” 

George Pennacchio, David O. Russell, Harvey Weinstein

The press had largely dispersed when who should arrive on the red carpet but SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK director David O. Russell.  I asked him when he was going to make a Western.  “You know, I wrote a western, and I don’t know if that will get made.  And the wonderful Irwin Winkler, who’s a wonderful producer, who produced RAGING BULL, showed me a really great Western script that he has, that I was honored to look at, so I think it’s a matter of time.  My favorite westerns would be THE SEARCHERS.  This is an interesting story.  Harvey Weinstein called me up on the set of this movie (SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK), and said, ‘I think you need to have a moment at the end that feels like the door is closing on the American family, and they’re in their home.  Like at the end of THE SEARCHERS.’  I’m standing on the set with Robert De Niro in Philadelphia, and I said (to Havey), ‘That’s a western.  I don’t understand.’  He says, ‘No-no.  The door closes and John Wayne leaves, and you feel the family at home in their home.’  And I said, ‘Okay, I think I get it.’  And that’s why we ended up with the ending we have for that movie.  Inspired by a Western, so there you go, brother: thank you John Ford.”    

I’ll have more about the festival in next week’s Round-up.  Los Angeles Italia continues through Saturday.  For details on screenings, all of which are free, on a first-come, first-served basis, go HERE.  

‘DJANGO UNCHAINED’ IN DOUBLE-BILLS AT NEW BEVERLY CINEMA

Quentin Tarantino has decided to pair up his Western with a clever choice of 2^nd features.  On Fri. and Sat., Feb. 16 & 17, it plays with BUCK AND THE PREACHER (1972), directed by Sidney Poitier, starring him and Harry Belafonte as a wagon-master and a con man helping freed slaves.  On Sun., Mon. and Tues., Feb. 18-20 it’s FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, a revenge tale whose parallels are obvious.  On Wed. and Thurs., Feb. 21-22, it’s SKIN GAME (1971), starring James Garner and Lou Gossett as con men running an ‘escaped slave’ scam.   

TCM'S ROAD TO HOLLYWOOD FEATURES 'RIO BRAVO' AND ANGIE DICKINSON

As part of the build-up to their annual Los Angeles Film Festival, TCM is making stops across the country with various classic movies, featuring live appearances by stars.  On Tuesday, February 19th, at 7:30, Dallas, Texas will welcome Angie Dickinson to a screening of RIO BRAVO at the Historic Texas Theater at   231 West Jefferson Boulevard.  Ben Mankiewicz will host.

That'll be it for tonight!  Have a great week, and come back next Sunday for more about the L.A. Ital Fest, a great new Spaghetti Western collection that's about to be released, and more!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents -- and this week it's ALL original -- Copyright February 2013 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved!

CORBUCCI TRIBUTE OPENS LOS ANGELES ITALIA

Yesterday, the 6^th annual LOS ANGELES ITALIA FESTIVAL began.  Held the week leading up to the Oscars, it’s seven days of movie screenings, classics and premieres, as well as other cultural events.  It takes place at the Chinese 6 Theatres, part of the same Hollywood and Highland complex as the home of the Academy Awards, the Kodak Theatre -- soon to be known as something other than the Kodak Theatre.  

Legendary filmmakers are honored, and this year two of the honorees are the late spaghetti western master, Sergio Corbucci, and horror and suspense stylist Dario Argento, who is attending.  The screenings began at 10 a.m. with a documentary about Ms. Loren, BECOMING SOPHIA.  At 12:30 was the first Corbucci screening, THE MERCENARY (1968), starring Franco Nero, Tony Musante and Jack Palance. 

John Landis on Swiss TV

The Festival began in earnest at 6:30 p.m., with the arrival of stars on the red carpet.  There I had the chance to ask John Landis when he was going to direct his next Western.  “Are you kidding?  I’d love to direct a western.  I’ve worked on about sixty, but I’ve only directed one, THE THREE AMIGOS.  Walter Hill once said if they knew how much fun it was to make a western, they wouldn’t let us.  It’s true; it’s the best, and it’s the American genre.  I would love to make a western – I’ve worked on so many of them, in Spain, Mexico, America.  Unfortunately you have to wait till another western somehow makes money before they’ll make some again.   But I love westerns.  Do you know when I first met Dario (Argento)?  I was a stunt guy on a movie called ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, for Sergio Leone.  And do you know who wrote ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST?  Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci.  They were both film critics.  That’s when I met them – they were both on the set going, ‘We met Henry Fonda!’  You know Franco (Nero) killed me once, in a western.”

JUSTIFIED star Joelle Carter

Next I asked Joelle Carter, who portrays Ava Crowder on JUSTIFIED, if she considers her series to be more of a Western or a cop show.   “I’d say a modern-day western.  There’s the cop aspect to it, I guess.”  I asked if she’d like to do a period Western.  “That would be great.  There’s a TV show coming on that’s based on the evolution of a group of pioneers moving west, called FRONTIER.”

When Mark Canton, the producer behind such monster franchises as THE 300 and PIRANAH films, came by, I asked him when he was going to do a Western (I know I’m starting to sound obsessive/compulsive, but it’s my job).  He laughed, “I don’t know.  I start April 16^th on THE TOMB, with Sylvester and Arnold, so first things first; a really great big prison movie, and then I do the next 300.  So it’s western enough for me.”

Franco Nero and Joan Collins

Finally, the great Franco Nero arrived, startlingly handsome, his eyes that familiar blue, looking not too many years older than when he was starring in Spaghetti Westerns.  Sergio Corbucci famously said, “John Ford had John Wayne, Sergio Leone had Clint Eastwood, and I have Franco Nero.”  I asked Franco which was his favorite among his Corbucci westerns.   “Well, actually, I loved the three of them.  I love DJANGO, I love COMPANEROS and THE MERCENARY.  And I did a western – there going to show it here Wednesday – JONATHAN OF THE BEARS – that I dedicated to him, dedicated to Sergio Corbucci.”  I asked what set Corbucci apart from other western directors.  “Well, he was very original.  He did westerns with humor.  I would say like a black comedy.  They were very tough.  But also, they were very political.”

Next was horror maestro Dario Argento, whose SUSPIRIA had been screened just before the red carpet began.  His next film is DRACULA 3D, and immediately after the red carpet, he treated us to 25 minutes of scenes from the film.  I’m not a huge 3D fan, but I loved it, and I can’t wait to see the whole movie – it contains all the best elements of his own work, but those of Hammer horror as well.  Until John Landis reminded me of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, I’d forgotten that Argento started out writing thrillers and westerns for other directors, among them TODAY WE KILL, TOMORROW WE DIE and FIVE MAN ARMY.  I asked him if he might return to the western genre.  “No, no.  Finished.” 

Dario Argento

After DRACULA 3D, and Fausto Brizzi’s romantic comedy, LOVE TO MAKE LOVE – surprisingly also in 3D – Sergio Corbucci’s DJANGO (1966) was screened, with its star, Franco Nero, in attendance. 

Franco Nero, John Landis & Mark Canton

The festival continues every day through Saturday, and all the screenings are free, first come, first seated.  If you can make it today, Monday, at 6:30, you can see THE TONTO WOMAN, a short western shown in tribute to Francesco Quinn, who recently passed away.   At ten a.m. on Wednesday morning they’ll screen Corbucci’s COMPANEROS, starring Franco Nero, and that night at eight they’ll screen JONATHAN OF THE BEARS (1995), also starring Nero, and directed by Enzo Castellari, an honoree at last year’s Festival.  Nero will be doing a Q & A, so you need to RSVP for that one.

Dario Argento and Mark Canton

For a complete schedule of screenings, go HERE.  I’d strongly advise you to come to the festival if you’re in or near Los Angeles this week, but check on-line for road closures, because in preparation for the Oscars next Sunday, a lot of streets are being shut down.

BOOK REVIEW: RAWHIDE

In his new book, RAWHIDE: A HISTORY OF TELEVISION’S LONGEST CATTLE DRIVE, author David R. Greenland takes on the considerable job of documenting the history of this remarkable series, from creation to dilution to eventual destruction.  He also outlines every one of the 217 episodes that made up the series.  Happily it can currently be seen on the Encore Western Channel Monday through Friday, and this book makes a wonderful reference volume for it, enhancing the viewing experience considerably.

More than fifty years after the program first hit the air, the difference between RAWHIDE and most other Western series of its day – or any other day for that matter – is especially apparent.  It is the unvarnished stories of anonymous men doing thankless toil for poor wages.  It is a man’s world to a far greater degree than most westerns.  As far as believability, it exists in the Pantheon of realistic western programs with only two others; WAGON TRAIN and GUNSMOKE.   

And as Greenland explains, it’s unique even within that company, because its creator wanted it that way.  Perhaps the greatest revelation of the book is the contribution to the western form, big-screen and small, made by the series creator, Charles Marquis Warren.  The godson of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Warren started writing western novels, among them ONLY THE VALIANT, and went on to variously write, produce and/or direct a string of mostly modest-budget western features that are all worth seeing.  But it was in television that he truly made his mark.  He produced the first 52 episodes of GUNSMOKE, setting the standard for noir-ishly adult western stories. 

When he couldn’t get along with network higher-ups, he left (replaced by John Meston, who had created the show for radio).  Warren soon moved on to his own creation, RAWHIDE, a western series that would not be set in a town or on a ranch, because it was about continuous movement.  Its episodes had ‘incident’ in most of the titles – INCIDENT OF THE HAUNTED HILLS, INCIDENT OF THE WIDOWED DOVE – because Warren thought the shows should not be about ‘stories’, but ‘incidents.’ And there is a deceptively random feel to many episodes, the plots so subtly designed that they just seem to ‘happen.’ 

Clint Eastwood, Sheb Wooley, Paul Brinegar, Eric Fleming

Typical, and terrific, is INCIDENT WEST OF LANO, which grows out of a simple bit of bad timing: the cattle drive and a wagon train reach opposite banks of the same river, and neither is willing to let the other side cross first.  True to the ‘incident’ idea, the audience knows, when pot-shots are taken, who did it, but the characters don’t know, and they never find out.  And in keeping with the manly silence of the cowboy, when a man from the wagon train is back-shot, any other western, or any other TV drama for that matter, would turn on the revelation that the dead man was a would-be rapist stopped in the act.  But no one on the cattle drive ever reveals how it happened: they’re not interested in justifying their actions to other men.

RAWHIDE premiered in 1959, which Greenland points out was a peak year for Western television.  Fifteen new western series premiered that year, including BONANZA, LARAMIE and THE REBEL.  Westerns were great money-makers, but they were still the Rodney Dangerfields of television: in that year, the only Western-related Emmy nomination was for Richard Boone in HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL.  And he lost.  In eight seasons, RAWHIDE never got a single Emmy nomination for any actor, writer, director or crew member.  It’s worth noting that of all those nominees and winners, about the only shows that people still watch from that era are PERRY MASON and I LOVE LUCY.  And the great westerns like RAWHIDE, which seems startlingly fresh and natural in acting style.

The lives of the men who made up the show’s cast are varied and fascinating.  Clint Eastwood had mostly played uncredited roles until he landed the part of ramrod Rowdy Yates, and he credits the show with teaching him a great deal about acting, and the jobs behind the camera as well.  

Eric Fleming, who played trail boss Gil Favor had such an awful childhood that it’s remarkable that he got past it.  A homely youth, it was while in the Navy that a two-hundred pound block of steel smashed in his face.  The good looks we’re familiar with were a by-product of reconstructive surgery!  Just as Clint would do spaghetti westerns during hiatus periods, Fleming would do movies as well.  His death while making one in South America is so grotesque that, if you saw it in a movie, you wouldn’t believe it.

Other regulars, like Sheb Wooley as Pete Nolan, Paul Brinegar as Wishbone, and Steve Raines as Jim Quince, not only had considerable experience in Westerns, they had all previously worked in Western films for Warren.   

But ironically, several of the featured players were as anonymous as the men they portrayed.  After they left the show, little is known of James Murdock, who played cook’s helper Mushy; Rocky Shahan, who was drover Joe Scarlett; or Robert Cabal, who played the wrangler Hey-soos, except that they’ve all died.    

In fact, with the exception of Eastwood, who was apparently unavailable to be interviewed, none of the regulars are living.  Greenland was able to speak with guest stars like L.Q. Jones, Morgan Woodward, the late Richard Devon, and director Ted Post, and  he pulled together a great deal of older interview material.  There is, however, a substantial interview with Gregory Walcott, a frequent guest on the show.  And Walcott tells one story which demonstrates that, while Charles Marquis Warren made some of the best westerns ever, he could also be a heartless sonuvabitch. 

Some of the great stars of the film business appeared on RAWHIDE, among them Barbara Stanwyck, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor and Lon Chaney Jr.  I just watched one at random, and it featured John Erickson, Leif Ericson and John Cassavettes.  And the one I’ll watch when I finish writing this review stars Brian Donlevy and Dick Van Patten, and is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, one of the last survivors of this era. 

Each of the 217 episodes is listed, with its original airdate, director, writers, cast, summary, and notes where applicable.  And also the opening narration, if any.  Here’s one: “I got a cousin, woman, teaches in a school house back east.  She tells me those boys daydream about becomin’ cowboys.  Of all the jobs a man could pick, why’d he ever want to choose this way to make a livin’?  Three thousand head of God’s lowest form of life, cattle.  If they don’t die of tick fever, strangle in a dust storm or trample their fool selves to death, then the market’ll go down to two cents a pound on the hoof.  They might as well have died before we set out.  But they need food back east.  It’s my job to get this herd movin.  My name’s Gil Favor, trail boss.”

And for us boys who still daydream about becomin’ cowboys, and who learned what a trail boss and ramrod and drover and wrangler are by watching RAWHIDE, David R. Greenland’s book is required reading.  It’s published by Bear Manor Media, and retails for $21.95. You can order it HERE.  

HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY!

That's it for this week's Round-up!  Next week I'll be featuring an interview with LAREDO star Robert Wolders.  They've just started running his episodes on Encore Western if you want to take a look.

Adios,

Henry

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