NEW SPAGHETTI WESTERN – ‘BOUNTY KILLER’ – PLUS ‘HOW TV WEST IS WRITTEN’, AUTRY EVENTS, DVD REVIEWS AND MORE!

THIS JUST IN! STARTING TUESDAY, JANUARY 15^TH, THE AUTRY WILL EXTEND FREE ADMISSION TO LAUSD STUDENTS AND THEIR CHAPERONES DURING THE LAUSD TEACHERS’ STRIKE!

‘BOUNTY KILLER’ OPENS JAN. 25^TH IN L.A.!

‘BOUNTY KILLER’, the new Spaghetti Western from Chip Baker Films, opens Friday, January 25^th, at the Arena Cinelounge, 6464 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028. When a young woman, played by Naila Mansour, is abducted during her wedding, her father, Eurowestern stalwart Antonio Mayans (MORE DOLLARS FOR THE MACGREGORS, A TOWN CALLED HELL) hires bounty hunter Crispian Belfrage to rescue the woman, and kill the men. Also in the cast are Aaron Stielstra (THE SCARLET WORM, 6 BULLETS TO HELL) and Lenore Andriel (YELLOW ROCK). Directed by Chip Baker, written by Baker and Danny Garcia, Jose Villanueva and Nick Reynolds, many of the folks who made the fine 6 BULLETS TO HELL are also part of BOUNTY KILLER. Cinematographer of both films Olivier Merckx may be the first to use a drone in a Western, and did so to striking effect.

It’s filmed in classic sets and locations in Tabernas, Almeria, and Andalucia, Spain, much of it on the McBain Ranch from ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. The film will be playing from Friday the 25 through Thursday the 31, and since the times vary from day to day, visit the Cinelounge website HERE for details.

‘HOW TV WEST IS WRITTEN’ AND MORE EVENTS AT THE AUTRY

TUESDAY JAN. 15 – A WORD ON WESTERNS SALUTES BURT LANCASTER

Detail from Thomas Hart Benton's 'The Kentuckian' poster 

Tuesday, at 11 a.m., join Western authority Rob Word and his merry band at the Wells Fargo Theatre for another delightful ‘Word on Westerns’. The topic will be Burt Lancaster, whose Westerns include GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL, VERA CRUZ, APACHE, and THE KENTUCKIAN. Word notes, “Lancaster cared greatly about quality and, when he directed and starred in THE KENTUCKIAN (1955), hired Bernard Herrmann for the music and Thomas Hart Benton to do the movie poster!” Among the guests joining Rob will be Burt’s stunt double from ULZANA’S RAID and POSSE, Billy Burton, and from Burt’s last Western, CATTLE ANNIE AND LITTLE BRITCHES, producer Rupert Hitzig and actors William Russ and Kenny Call. Did I mention this event is free with your Autry admission?  Doors open at 10:30.

WEDNESDAY JAN. 16 – HOW THE WEST IS WRITTEN: INSIDE MODERN TV WESTERNS

A must-attend for any would-be Western screenwriters, Wednesday night at 7 p.m., writers and producers from the latest crop of TV Westerns share insight into the creation of their series, how they’re reimagining the genre, and why stories out of the American West continue to inspire. Panelists include LONGMIRE writer and exec producer Hunt Baldwin, THE SON writer and exec producer Kevin Murphy, and HELL ON WHEELS and BRISCO COUNTY, JR. writer and exec producer John Wirth. This one costs $20 for members & students, $25 for non-members, and reservations are advised.

SATURDAY JAN. 26 – SILENT TREATMENT – ‘CLASH OF THE WOLVES’

The Silent Treatment is the Autry’s new series of silent Westerns with live musical accompaniment. 1925’s CLASH OF THE WOLVES stars Rin-Tin-Tin, his sweetheart Nanette, 7^TH HEAVEN star Charles Farrell, and original Keystone Kop Heinie Conklin, in a tale of Borax miners and claim-jumpers. Presented at 2 p.m. in 35mm, with piano by Cliff Retallick.  It’s free with admission.

SUNDAY, JAN. 27^TH -- THE MUSIC OF ENNIO MORRICONE!

Morricone conducting the Hateful 8 score recording --

and no, he won't be there.

At 1 p.m. – the 5 p.m. performance is sold out -- a concert of music from film scores by the maestro of the Spaghetti Western, performed by a special ensemble of world-class musicians and singers. It’s $10 for members, $20 for non-members, and you’d better make your reservations now.

COWBOYS AND INDIANS AND VIKINGS! – A DVD REVIEW

Wild East Productions presents Volume 60 of their Spaghetti Western Collection, a Giuliano Gemma double feature, DAYS OF VENGEANCE and ERIK THE VIKING. In VENGEANCE (1967), Gemma stars as man framed and imprisoned not for just any crime, but the murder of his own father! His old girlfriend, Nieves Navarro, is now with the lawman who set him up, and Gemma teams up with a traveling charlatan (Manuel Muniz as his comic character Pajarito) and his granddaughter (gorgeous Grabriella Giorgelli) to get justice, and uncover a startlingly baroque conspiracy. It’s elegantly made and highly enjoyable.

The second film, ERIK THE VIKING (1965) is goofy, exuberant fun. Gemma is Erik, nephew of Viking King Thorwald, and when the old man is on his deathbed, he says he wants his power to pass to his nephew, not his own son Erloff (Lucio De Santis). It’s a tough time for Vikings, who get no end of abuse from the more militarily organized Danes. Erik convinces several Vikings that they should find a new land far away from the Danes, and sails off in search of it. They arrive in – you guessed it – the New World, where they make friends with some Indians and enemies with others.

This action-packed daffy little history lesson is surprisingly entertaining, capturing the spirit of the Warner Brothers swashbucklers of the 1930s and ‘40s, and borrowing plot elements from them as well. Yes, there is a beautiful Indian princess (Elisa Montes), and evil plotters working for Erloff, including the indispensable muscleman Gordon Mitchell.

Among the special features is an excellent interview with actress Nieves Navarro conducted by Western screenwriter Danny Garcia (6 BULLETS TO HELL, THE BOUNTY KILLER). The double feature sells for $21.72, and can be purchased HERE. 

A NEW SOURCE FOR TV WESTERNS – JEWISH LIFE TV!

Gail Davis and Jimmy Hawkins

Next time you’re spinning the dial – remember when TVs had dials? – looking for a Western, you might just find one in an unexpected location: JLTV, aka Jewish Life Television, has added oaters to the line-up! Episodes of BONANZA, ANNIE OAKLEY, and the 1954 Western anthology series STORIES OF THE CENTURY have joined THE JACK BENNY SHOW and YOU BET YOUR LIFE, with Groucho Marx, as reasons to watch. Lorne Green, Michael Landon, and BONANZA-creator David Dortort were all Jewish, so perhaps that’s the connection, but whatever the reason, thanks JLTV!  

‘UNSPOOLED’ LOOKS AT ‘THE SEARCHERS’

Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson, the film critics who are re-examining all of the films on the  AFI 100 Best Movies of All-Time list, with 100 individual podcasts, are up to #34, THE SEARCHERS. They are knowledgeable, but not big Western fans – it’s the first John Wayne Western Scheer has seen (!)  – so their takes on it are by turns fascinating and infuriating. Well worth a listen. And I must give them credit on one point in particular: it NEVER occurred to me that John Wayne might be searching not for his brother’s daughter, but his own!  THE SEARCHERS is #34. The episode about HIGH NOON, where I was guest, is #19. You can hear them all HERE. 

I HAVE 5 ARTICLES IN THE FEBRUARY ‘TRUE WEST’!

It’s a personal record for one issue! If you’d like to read ‘em…

p.19 – ‘Cowboy Pens Best Rodeo Movie Ever Made’

p. 26 – ‘Remembering Jeb Rosebrook’

p. 52 – ‘Max Evans in Hollywood’

p. 54 – ‘Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ review

p. 55 – ‘Fire Engulfs Paramount Western Ranch’

ONE MORE THING…

Every spring there are two events in the Los Angeles area that movie nuts, western nuts, and especially western movie nuts dream about all year. One is the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, a great get-together of all things cowboyish, at the estate of the great movie cowboy William S. Hart. The other is the annual TCM Classic Film Festival, one of the great and rare chances to see classic movies, and especially westerns, the way they should be seen, on a big screen. Well, after years of having them one weekend after another, the Cowboy Festival has been moved up, so they will both be on the weekend of April 13 and 14. TCM is actually the 11^th through the 14^th, and before you say, “Then just go to TCM on Thursday and Friday,” it doesn’t work that way, since the movies you want to see are generally scattered through the four days. They’ve just started to announce films, and included are BUTCH CASSIDY, a new restoration of WINCHESTER ’73, and a Tom Mix double bill with live music, THE GREAT K & A TRAIN ROBBERY and OUTLAWS OF RED RIVER. Cowboy Festival hasn’t started announcing their events yet, but it should be noted that for the second year, the Cowboy Festival will be free, while TCM costs a fortune, and even individual movies are $20 a pop.  I’ll keep you informed as I learn more!

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Material Copyright January 2019 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

NEW BOOK ON ‘MAGNIFICENT 7’, PLUS ‘HELL ON WHEELS’ LAST CHANCE, DONNER PARTY MOVIE, LARRY MCMURTRY AUCTION, AND MORE!

THE MAKING OF ‘THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’ by Brian Hannan – A Book Review

With Antoine Fuqua’s remake of the THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN on the horizon this September, it’s the perfect time for a reappreciation of the 1960 classic.  Author Brian Hannan, whose previous books have looked at directors Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg, has meticulously researched the history of THE MAGNIFICENT 7, and details it with enthusiasm and insight, from its Japanese inspiration, Akira Kurasawa’s SEVEN SAMAURI, onward.  More than that, he gives an in-depth picture of the entire movie industry at the turn of the ‘60s, when studios were imploding under the weight of TV competition, long-term studio contracts were vaporizing, money locked in foreign banks was necessitating overseas production, and actors with muscle were starting their own production companies. 

The Kurasawa film is the story of medieval farmers who hire Samurai to protect them from bandits who rob their harvests; farmers who are so poor they cannot pay for the help beyond feeding their defenders.   Many who saw the film immediately grasped that the concept would work beautifully as a Western, moving the locale to turn-of-the-century Mexico, exchanging the samurai for gunmen who are working for a pittance; they are working for redemption rather than profit.   

Before reaching the screen, the property passed through many hands and versions.  Originally the 7 were to be an older, world-weary group, led by Spencer Tracy.  Anthony Quinn hoped to produce and star, but his role, Toshiro Mifune’s comic character in SAMURAI, was re-tooled into the romantic lead for young German actor Horst Bucholtz.   Quinn took the production to court over his exclusion.  Eli Wallach likewise wanted the Mifune part, but instead played bandit leader Calvera, a performance which re-defined his career.  Yul Brynner, the one member of the 7 who was already an above-the-title name, hoped to direct the film, rather than play the lead. 

Hannan describes all of the hubbub that went into the hiring of director John Sturges and casting the leads.  He details the careers of each actor.  He separates fact from fiction about the stars’ attempts to jockey for the lead position.   And he tells the remarkable story of how a film that was already written off as a flop domestically by MGM became such a hit overseas that it got a new release and a new life in the U.S.

Not that he considers the film flawless – Hannan points out the film’s few glaring mistakes, the greatest being Horst Bucholtz getting excessive screen-time in a role and performance that was supposed to be charming, but is almost universally considered irritating.  Although I do think he goes too far.  When he complains that this trio of minor characters needed to be separately delineated, or that character should have had a close-up, it strains the reader’s patience: John Sturges knew damned well what he was doing.  That’s why you wrote the book.   

This is truly a one-movie book – you’ll find scant reference to the three sequels or the TV series.  You may actually learn more than you wanted to know about the making of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, but you certainly will have at least 95% of your questions answered.  THE MAKING OF THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is published by McFarland, and available HERE.

LAST CHANCE TO CATCH THE END OF ‘HELL ON WHEELS’ AND ‘AMERICAN WEST’ COURTESY OF AMC!

If you missed any of the final seven-episode season of HELL ON WHEELS – my DVR somehow erased the second-to-last episode before I could see it – or if you want to binge-watch ‘em all over again, AMC is making them all available on-line, for free, for about a month.  Go HERE to watch.

And they’re doing the same for the Robert Redford-produced THE AMERICAN WEST documentary series.  Go HERE to catch up.

‘THE HUNGER’ FEEDING ON DONNER PARTY LEGEND.

You may remember that last year The Weather Channel had a miniseries DEAD OF WINTER, based on The Donner Party tragedy, starring Darby Hinton as George Donner.  Now 20^th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott’s company, Scott Free, have just announced a Donner Party movie, based on a net-yet-published, not-yet-written novel by THE TAKER author Alma Katsu called THE HUNGER.  It will be directed by Luke Scott, whose first movie, MORGAN, will be released by Fox later this week.  It’s being described as ‘DONNER PARTY MEETS THE WALKING DEAD’. I hope it’s not in poor taste.

‘LONESOME DOVE’ AUTHOR MCMURTRY’S LIBRARY ON THE AUCTION BLOCK!

Heritage Auctions always feature unusual items, and their September 15^th session is no exception.  This one includes a 1788 edition of THE FEDERALST, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, seeking an opening bid of $85,000; and there’s a first edition of Joseph Smith’s THE BOOK OF MORMON, with $38,000 already bid. 

While not nearly so old, among the unexpected and unusual offerings are from LONESOME DOVE author Larry McMurtry’s legendary research library.  They’re grouped by subject, and while there are nearly twenty days to bid, at the moment there are a lot of bargains.  Fifty volumes of Depression-era WPA guides are at $12.  A collection of 150 poetry books are at $1.  On the other hand, when it comes to McMurtry’s forte, Texas, the bidding is a bit more lively.  A group of Texana history books is at $320, but considering that it contains 180 books, that’s one helluvah bargain!  And an uncorrected proof of LONESOME DOVE is currently at $1!  HERE is the link to the auction site. 

CINECON FESTIVAL 52 LABOR DAY WEEKEND!

Once again,  Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard will be the home of the Cinecon Classic Film Festival.  Their special guest this year is Marsha Hunt.  As usual they have a great schedule of both silent and talkie films, and for Westerners that includes 1928’s RAMONA, the first talkie version of Helen Hunt Jackson’s classic novel, starring Dolores Del Rio and Warner Baxter, Ken Maynard in THE FIGHTING LEGION, and Gary Cooper starring in the first talkie version of Rex Beach’s THE SPOILERS.  The dealers rooms across the boulevard at the Loews Hotel is a wonderful place to hunt for stills, posters, DVDs, and book signings.  You can learn more HERE.

‘HATEFUL 8’ AND MORE AT THE AUTRY!

There are two excellent new exhibits at The Autry.  The photography show Revolutionary Vision: Group f/64 and Richard Misrach – Photographs from the Bank of America Collection, highlights a movement in photography, started in the late 1920s, moving away from ‘pictorializing’,  an effort to make photographs look like paintings, in favor of sharp, unadulterated images, and featuring the works of  Edward Weston and Ansel Adams among others. 

New Additions, Featuring the Kaufman Collection, covers a wide range of works by past and contemporary painters and sculptors and American Indian artists. 

And on Saturday, September 3^rd, on the large, grassy lawn of the Autry you can, at 5:30pm enter and grab a patch to sit in, at 7pm you can hear music, and at 8pm you can see Quentin Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL 8 on their immense outdoor screen.  There will be food trucks, and there will be a bunch of morons who will talk through the whole movie.  To my way of thinking, it’s the most hateful possible way to see a movie, but folks who don’t give a damn about film think it’s great.  Enjoy!

JOHN MITCHUM CD RELEASE PARTY AT PARAMOUNT RANCH, SUN SEPT 4^TH!

A star-studded celebration will be held at the Paramount Movie Ranch to mark the release of the new CD JOHN ‘THE HUMBLE’ MITCHUM’S LEGACY’, featuring over fifty Western film and TV legends performing their favorites Mitchum songs and poems.  A man with nearly 160 film and TV credits, best known as Clint Eastwood’s partner in all of the DIRTY HARRY movies, he was also a fine writer, and first gained attention in that realm when John Wayne recorded his poem, America, Why I Love Her, which became a hit record. 

The kid brother of Robert Mitchum, John died in 2001.  His daughter, Cindy Azbill Mitchum, has worked for 13 years to make this event happen.  A glance at the list of contributors reveals that some – Ann Rutherford, Ernest Borgnine, Dick Jones, Herb Jeffries, Robert Easton – are no longer with us.  But happily, most are, and a great many will be attending the event.  And a few tickets are available.  The contact info is on the poster. 

If you’d like to learn more about John Mitchum, the event, and hear some of the recordings, including one by the great James Drury (John appeared on THE VIRGINIAN many times), click the link HERE for Equestrian Legacy Radio, then click on the episode entitled ‘Dirty Harry, Josey Wales’ to hear a lively discussion with Cindy. 

‘COPS & COWBOYS’ 2016 SEPT. 10 AT LEONIS ADOBE!

The annual Cops & Cowboys fundraiser for the Mid-Valley Community Police Council will once again take place at the historic Leonis Adobe Museum in Calabasas, on Saturday, September 10^th.   You’ll have a chance to tour the Adobe, built in 1884, one of the oldest buildings in the San Fernando Valley; enjoy the hosted libations; place your bids in the silent auction; place your bets at the poker and blackjack tables, with cards handled by the Dealer Dolls; have a delicious barbecue dinner; dance to the music of Eli Locke and the Locke and Loaded Band, and get a line-dancing lesson!  To learn more, and order tickets, go HERE.

STAR-STUDDED ‘SILVER SPUR’ SEPT. 16!

Friday, September 16^th, join the Reel Cowboys at The Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City for the 19^th annual Silver Spur Awards.  This is always a glamorous and exciting event, and this year’s emcee will be one of the greats of Western TV, Bruce Boxleitner.  Among those being honored will be the late, great King, Elvis Presley, star of FLAMING STAR and ROUSTABOUT; and the late, extremely talented Western character actor Gregg Palmer.  Those honorees attending are frequent John Wayne co-star Eddie Falkner, stuntman and actor Ben Bates, WALTONS mom Miss Michael Learned, and characters actor and frequent Western guest star Richard Herd, who tells me he’s especially excited that his presentation will be made by the great Morgan Woodward.  Other presenters include Edie Hand, Western costumer (BIG JAKE, THE SHOOTIST, CHISUM) Luster Bayless, Janet Arness, Wyatt McCrea, and the WALTONS’ eldest daughter, Judy Norton.   Contact info is on the poster.  See you there!

                                                                                              

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Had a great time on Thursday interviewing Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy Nolan about their upcoming HBO mini-series, WESTWORLD – you can read about it soon in True West.  In the meantime, the current True West, with the Tombstone walk-down on the cover, includes my article on the excellent new modern western HELL OR HIGH WATER, starring Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster and Robert Pine.  Have a wonderful week, and a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright August 2016 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

MICHAEL HORSE – FROM TONTO TO DEPUTY HAWKS!

Michael Horse & Klinton Spillbury

More than a year ago I was at the Autry’s Annual American Indian Marketplace, where I met artist, actor and musician Michael Horse.  He’d starred on David Lynch’s cult TV series TWIN PEAKS, as Dep. Tommy ‘Hawk’ Hill, but first gained fame playing Tonto in the infamous THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER (1981).  (That’s the one that caused an uproar before they even rolled camera, when the producers forced former Lone Ranger Clayton Moore to stop wearing his mask.  They went on to cast virtual non-actor Klinton Spillsbury as LR, and continued downhill from there.) 

While Spillsbury never acted onscreen again, Michael Horse has had a long, successful acting career on big-screen and small, worked extensively as a voice actor, a stuntman, and as both a graphic and jewelry artist.  When the more recent infamous LONE RANGER came out, responding to Johnny Depp’s headgear, Horse Facebooked a picture of himself with a chicken on his head.  When we met, he was very excited to have just guested on an episode of HELL ON WHEELS, where he actually wore a bird on his head. 

Michael Horse at the Autry

Time flies!  When we did this interview, there was talk of a possible revival of TWIN PEAKS.  Now the show is in pre-production, and Michael Horse is back as Deputy Hawk.

HENRY:  Playing Tonto is a pretty big way to start an acting career. 

MICHAEL: Yuh, went right into a huge movie.

H: Was that your first acting role?

M:  No, I did a couple of MARCUS WELBYs.  I was a musician with Universal Records, and once in a while they’d throw me something, but I never wanted to be an actor.  I still don’t know if I am.  Recently I was working on something, and the guy goes, “Give me this look.”  I go, “Look, I’ve got two looks: I’ve got this way and this way.  I can give ‘em both to you all day long, but that’s about the extent of what you’re gonna get from me.”  Olivier I ain’t.

H:  As a musician, what do you play?

M:  I was a fiddle and bass player.  I did a lot of bluegrass and rock & roll for years, and just got tired of it.  It sounds very glamorous, but you’re doing these big tours and staying in Holiday Inn, and we used to travel by bus – and we’re not talking the buses they have now, we’re talking by bus.  It was pretty hard traveling.  We didn’t have a lot of electricity when I was a kid, so everybody played music; we entertained ourselves.  When I was growing up everybody in my family played something. I am an artist; I’m a jeweler, a painter.  That’s what I do.  

Counting Coup - Ledger Art by Michael Horse

H:  I know you grew up near Tucson.

M:  Yes, on the Yaqui reservation. 

H:  What was your childhood like?

M:  It was wonderful.  It was hot, not a lot of amenities.  But I went out and played in the desert.  We had goats and horses and mules.  It was nice; it was my playground.  We moved to Los Angeles when I was about ten.   We’d go back and forth.  My grandpa had moved there a long time before us to get a job at Lockheed; they had a relocation program.  So I would go back and forth from Arizona to Los Angeles as a kid.  I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, in the Sunland Tujunga area.  My stepdad was an outfitter, took people on hunting guides.  We had a little ranch there; it was a great place to grow up.  There were bears up there, and you could fish.  They built the Hanson Dam.  Los Angeles has the biggest urban Indian population in the United States, especially in the Burbank area.  So there were powwows there.  I grew up in kind of an inter-tribal culture.  That’s why I know a lot about Plains people.  I grew up with a lot of Lakota, Cheyenne and Comanche people.  I bought my first house in Topanga Canyon in 1974 for $35,000 bucks cash – it was a shack, but had an ocean view.  I couldn’t get a p.o. box down there for that kind of money now.

H:  What were you doing when you were asked if you wanted to play Tonto?

M:  I was just renting my art studio from an agent.  She said they’re casting a big movie; they’re doing THE LONE RANGER and looking for someone to play Tonto.  Are you interested?  I said no. She said that’s too bad because they’ll pay a lot of money.  And she quoted a figure at me, and I went, “Oh, Kemosabe!”  I looked up (director William) Fraker, and he had shot some of my favorite films.    

H:  Not a very experienced director then, but a great cinematographer – ROSEMARY’S BABY, PAINT YOUR WAGON, BULLITT, and later TOMBSTONE. 

M: I went down to talk to Mr. Fraker; I didn’t think they’d hire me.  I said you send Tonto to town one time, you’ll have more Indians on your lawn than Custer saw.  And Bill Fraker, who I really admired, kind of talked me into doing it.  The only thing, I said I never wanted to hear the words ‘faithful companion’ ever.  But it was a hoot for me.  And I had family in New Mexico, and I’d gone to the Union Art Institute, so we were filming in my home town, Santa Fe area and around Monument Valley, so it was a blast. But it was not well-written.  And the casting was really wrong. 

H:  Klinton Spillsbury?

M:  Yeah, they knew that (was wrong) right into the picture.  They should have let him go, and got somebody else.  James Keach had to dub his whole voice in.

H:  The budget was $18 million, which was a lot of money in 1981.  And Lazlo Kovacs did a beautiful job shooting it.

M:  Beautifully shot, just badly cast and badly written.  It was so funny making THE LONE RANGER.  I said, I don’t care how much money these people have.  I don’t care where they’re filming it: we’re going to end up at Vasquez Rocks.  And then at the last minute we had to shoot some stuff out there.  That’s where I did most of my commercials and most of my stunts, most of my horseback stuff, and I chased so many people around those rocks. 

H:  Did you have a sense while it was shooting, did you think it was going to be a hit, or were you worried?

M:  I was just hoping that I could show my face at a powwow again! (laughs)  Please, please get me out of here alive!  I mean, I was on the box of Cheerios.   I’m thinking, I’m an old American Indian Movement member.  Oh God, what have I done here?  A lot of my friends said look, you can do some stuff here.  I lobbied for the Indian Child Welfare Bill, I went to D.C., I did a lot of stuff for both reservation and inner city kids, so it worked out okay for me.   I escaped, and actually had a career from it.

H:  And you’re good in it.

M:  I did okay!  They were worried about me, because I was telling them, you can’t do this, you can’t do that.  But (Spillsbury) was so bad he screwed up before I could do anything wrong.  It had potential, but I think, especially after the Johnny Depp thing, none of us Indian people ever have to see Tonto again.  I think he’s put away for a long time.

H:  A young man named Patrick Montoya played the young Tonto, but I’ve never seen him in anything again.  Do you know what ever happened to him?

Sketch by master poster-artist Drew Struzman

M:  Oh yeah, I see him.  He lives in Santa Fe, he comes up once in a while.  I think he has a print shop.  They still call him Tonto.  It was fun to do.  Made some good friends, Mr. Fraker and I became good friends.  Ted Flicker played Buffalo Bill; we became really good friends.  He created improvisational theatre.  He wrote BARNEY MILLER.  He moved to Santa Fe and became a sculptor.  He would tell me stories about making films in the old days.  He and Fraker were friends, so he gave him a part.  And he told Fraker look, this is not well-written.  Why don’t you let me re-write it?  But Fraker didn’t want to rock the boat.  I was lucky to have it, and lucky to escape from it! (laughs).  Not a very good film.  I wasn’t even really an actor.  I just wanted to do okay.  But I thought, one day they’re going to do a really good one, and I’ll be known as the guy who did the crummy one my whole life. 

H: Flash-forward to 2013.

M: And the Creator went, “I’m going to make this one worse than the one you did!”  I’m a huge Johnny Depp fan.  But something went wrong – I don’t know what it was.  The jokes weren’t funny; the story wasn’t all that good; the special effects looked all digitized.  The Lone Ranger is an icon you don’t really want to mess with.  Just because you want to make Tonto a more interesting character, you don’t want to dumb down the Lone Ranger.   I think that was a mistake.

H:  That’s well put, and that’s exactly what they did.  They made him foolish, to make Tonto more important.

M:  And even though Jay Silverheels had some of that stilted dialogue, he still was such a dignified man that it shined through.  You know, that was one of the few real native people we had seen as kids in the fifties. 

H:  I was doing an interview with Dawn Moore, Clayton Moore’s daughter.  She was talking about how people forget that when they started doing THE LONE RANGER series, it was Jay who was the star, who had been in KEY LARGO and lots of big movies, while Clayton Moore had just been playing heavies and doing Republic serials.   

M:  I knew Jay. I loved him dearly.  He had an acting workshop that was for native people.  That’s how I knew about KEY LARGO and all that stuff.  I knew Jay and really liked him.  He was in the Motion Picture Hospital when they said they were going to remake it.  He asked, who’s going to play me?  They said Michael Horse, and he laughed!  He thought that was very funny.  Later I met Mr. Moore – I was at one of the rodeos, and I went up and introduced myself – (this was) after we had done THE LONE RANGER.   I said, “I’m really sorry, sir, for what they did.  You’ll always be the Lone Ranger to me, and long may you ride.”  He said, “How sweet,” and we had a picture taken together.  I said, how come they didn’t use you?  And he said, “Well, I asked them for some money.  I didn’t ask them for an outrageous amount of money, but look, you’re going to kind of retire me.  I want a cameo and I want some money.” And they just put them out to pasture.  He approached them with this idea.  “Look, I’m getting ready to retire as the Lone Ranger, and I find this kid that’s who’s on the fence between right and wrong.  And when I think he’s going in the right direction, I’ll turn my back to the audience, and I’ll hand him the mask.”  And I went, and they didn’t go for that?  They’re idiots: it would have been an iconic, chilling moment!

H:  Absolutely; they needed to make that connection.  When I re-ran your movie, there was the role of the newspaper editor, and I thought it would be a perfect role to give Clayton Moore as a cameo.  And of course it was John Hart, the man who replaced Clayton Moore for a year on the TV series when he wanted a raise. 

M:  Clayton Moore had been such a role model all those years.  Even in the police department, they used to teach the Lone Ranger rules – you never shoot to kill unless you have to.  A lot of those old westerns, when you go back and look at them, they had a certain ethic to them.  They meant well.

Michael Horse with bird headpiece

H: Let’s talk a little about your appearance on HELL ON WHEELS.  About the headpiece, was that a comment to Johnny Depp?

M:  No, it wasn’t.  The lady who did it, she went through a lot of books on the Comanche.   And there were a lot of people who wore birds: we just didn’t wear them that big.  And when he wears something like that, that’s a piece of medicine.  That’s something to be respected.  

H: You seem very happy to be associated with the show.

M: Well, it’s so well written, number one; it’s well-acted, and it’s historically interesting.  The railroads were one of the first of the big corporations that started pushing everybody around. Especially indigenous people.  If you know anything about herd animals, if you put anything in their way, not just a fence, anything, they’re almost autistic.  The railroad actually changed the migrations of the buffalo and elk.  And then from the east came this big piece of iron that was smoking and making noise, and people were killing animals just for the sake of killing.  To the Plains people it must have been the Devil incarnate.  I do this kind of artwork like you saw at the Autry, like the Ledger art.  I was painting something from the same week as The Battle of Little Bighorn.  And I realized from all these periodicals that I read that when that happened, in the east the Civil War had been over for four years; the Brooklyn Bridge was built; the first baseball game between Kansas City and Missouri had been played; Edison was showing the first light-bulb at a symposium.  But that’s how wild it still was in Montana and Wyoming and Colorado.  And the Plains people had no idea what was coming their way.

H:  Then it came, and it was Hell on wheels.

M:  And the Comanche, they were pretty bad boys.  There’s a book out on the Comanches, and I have a lot of Comanche friends.  And I said, “You guys were pretty bad.”  And they said, “Yeah, but basically we just said, ‘Don’t come here.’”  That’s why the Mexican government allowed a lot of the migration into Texas: they figured it would be a buffer between them and the Comanche.  Some of the finer flight cavalry to ever exist were the Comanche people.  There’s one piece that I’ve always wanted to do.  They’ve always done Sitting Bull’s story; they’ve done Crazy Horse’s story.  But they haven’t done the story of Quanah Parker, which is a really interesting piece.  I did a one-man play last year, down in Buffalo Gap, Texas, about Quanah, and he was an amazing man, a person that lived in two worlds like me, a person of mixed blood, and understood both worlds, and how they had to come together.  Actually a pretty wise man for the Comanches when they finally decided to come to the reservation.  He made some pretty interesting deals with the United States government.

H:  Yes he did.  It would have helped if the government had been a little better at keeping those deals.

M:  Well, all governments do that; not just ours.  I liked back in the ‘60s, when all these young people were going, ‘The government lies,’ and all us indigenous people were saying, ‘No kidding?’ 

H:  News flash!

M:  What an epiphany that is!  The railroads, it made this country, connected this country.  Ran goods from point to point – that’s what actually made the whole money-machine of this country work; the railroad.  It was a pretty grand scheme.  But a lot of times progress rolls over the people that live on the land.  Not just the indigenous people, but ranchers and farmers.  It’s kind of the same thing that’s happening now, with the energy needs.  It’s what makes the engine run, but it’s kind of screwing up a lot of ranchers and farmers and indigenous people.

H:  Who’d have guessed they’d all end up on the same side?

M:  Yuh, it happens.  And that Swedish villain on HELL ON WHEELS, that’s one of the greatest villains I’ve ever seen on TV! 

H:  Oh man, isn’t he fun!?

M:  I met him recently; he’s a very sweet man.

H:  He’s like a train with no brakes and no tracks – you just don’t know where he’s going!

M:  Well, I imagine there were probably a lot of people like that back then.  It was pretty open; you could do pretty much whatever you wanted to do back then. 

H:  And of course, in the Indian Territories, once you got there, there was nothing much the government could do about it.

M:  No.  But they gave the railroads a hundred acres of land on both sides of the (tracks) that they could do whatever they wanted to with them; they could sell it, they could develop it.  It’s really good to see that – like I said, I’m a big fan of Westerns.  I grew up with Westerns; I think they’re going to come back.  It’s just how they’re written.  But TV’s doing these small, little mini-series, with big stars that don’t really want to commit to a full series.  Doing nine-episode things like TRUE DETECTIVES was brilliant, it was really good.  FARGO was freakin’ hysterical.  Cable’s really allowed for some really fine television.  Last year they did a seminar at USC about how TWIN PEAKS changed television.  And what it did was, it showed people that anything was possible on television.  It opened all kinds of doors, and changed formats.  It had pretty-much been a formula kind of thing until that went, and people went, ‘Oh, you can do anything.’

H:  I think all of the miniseries, and shows like HELL ON WHEELS, which they don’t call a miniseries, but it’s a continuing story; none of them would have happened, none of them would have been the same without David Lynch being ahead of them.

M:  He opened that door, and said there’s huge audiences for different things.  It’s really funny; there’s a lot of young kids who are seeing it now on the internet.  So it’s more popular than it ever was.  We live in the Berkeley area, and I’ll be going to the movies, and my wife goes, “Those kids are following you.”  Usually young film students.  I’ll go, “Can I help you?”  They’ll go, “Are you Deputy Hawk?”  “Yuh.”  And then they go crazy.  My wife thinks it’s hysterical.

H:  What was David Lynch like to work with?

As Deputy Hawk

M:  David is the sweetest man, such a sweet man.  He’s like Jimmy Stewart with Salvador Dali’s intestines.  He’ll go, “That was really keen, whatcha did!  But this time, could you get naked, and bark like a dog?”  David is an artist.  Both as an indigenous activist, a native activist, and as an actor you don’t get a chance to do art in television that often; and TWIN PEAKS was art.  And that was a wonderful native character.  It got rid of stereotypes, and held some mirrors up to the others, you know.  I’m still looking.  I’ve been turning down a bunch of stuff, but there’s a couple of scripts out there that I’m getting ready to do.  And I’ve been doing all these student films.  It’s nice in my career that I can afford to do this.  These film students will get in touch with my wife.  I don’t get on the internet – I’m such a Luddite, I just learned there’s a redial button on my phone.  My wife’ll go, “This film student is looking for you.”  They won’t go to my agent, because he won’t return their call, because they don’t have any money.  I’ve done three or four of these little films for these kids.  And it reminds me that filmmaking is art.  It’s been very nice.   

H:  I know you did some stunt work.

M:  I used to be around horses.  I did a little stint at rodeo riding; wasn’t very good at it.  The first time somebody paid me to fall off a horse I said, “I can do that!”  Staying on’s the hard part.  Then we started the Native American Stunt Association. We didn’t get the work we thought we were gonna get.  I dabbled in it, did a lot of fight stuff, and it was fun.  Did some stuff in PASSENGER 57 with Wesley Snipes. 

H:  You acted in a few WALKER, TEXAS RANGERS.

M: And God bless Chuck (Norris), I love him, I knew him for years, and friends ask why do you WALKER?  I said it’s so bad, I can’t suck.  But there are some wonderful scripts out there.  Some guy sent me a script from Washington State about a little native kid in the 1950s who worships Elvis, and wants to win a talent contest.   It is so sweet and so well done I told them I’d do it for free.  But working on HELL ON WHEELS, that’s a class act.  The series I did in Canada, it was on for seven years, I did three years of it, called NORTH OF 60.  It was strictly for Canadian television.  It was so well done, so well written – some of it written by native people, directed by native people.  It had all these great native actors, Gordon Tootoosis, Tantoo Cardinal, and Graham Greene.  I was one of only two Indian people from the States ever to be on it.  It was a joy to do.  It was contemporary, about people who live way above the 60 parallel.  I play a therapist and a bush pilot.  I’m hoping to squeeze out a couple of things before I retire.  I’ve done three or four of these little sci-fi films, but I’m not going to do anymore because it’s the same thing.  My wife laughs, the last one, “You’re the holy man, you’re inside by the fire, with these two beautiful girls bringing you food.”   I go, “Yeah, I’m not going outside – the monster’s outside!”

H:  In 1982 you were the star of THE AVENGING, and I’m sorry it’s not better known, because it’s a very impressive independent film.  How did this project come about? 

M:  They just got in touch with me, I said send me the script.  It wasn’t a lot of money, and I’d just finished the LONE RANGER, and I said I’d do it, I like this.

H:  And you got to work with Ephrem Zimbalist Jr.

M:  Yeah, we became pretty tight too.  I love working with these old guys, and make them tell me stories.  Wranglers are the best – they’ll tell you everything.  My favorite thing to do is I do cartoon voices.  It’s all those people who used to make gas-noises and got sent to the principal’s office.  It’s all old stand-up comics, and guys who used to have imaginary friends.

H:  What is your favorite of the voices you’ve done?

M:  It’s probably SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (2002), the horse.  I’m fifty voices in that, even the old Indian woman; she didn’t show up.  “I’ll do my very best.”  I’m such a fan of animation.  And usually you record and then they do the animation.  But we were watching them as they were making it, so there were drawings that moved, and half-painted things.  It’s almost a classic old Disney kind of piece.  There was a series I did for a while called COWBOYS OF MOO MESA.  I played this buffalo called J.R.  He was a Rube Goldberg kind of guy; he used to make all these inventions.  I just loved him. 

H: In 1990 you starred in BORDER SHOOTOUT for Ted Turner’s TURNER PRODUCTIONS.  It’s adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel.

M:  That was fun too.  Elmore Leonard – I didn’t realize until the last five years that he wrote HOMBRE, one of my favorite movies.  Just (Paul) Newman sitting in the bar listening to those two rednecks hassling those two native guys.  Him and Richard Boone, just amazing.  That was an interesting little film.  And working with Glenn Ford.

H:  On his last Western, too.

M:  It took him a little while to get ready.  One of these young kids was complaining.  We’re working in the middle of the night, and it’s freezing.  Finally they get him outside and the kid said, “You had me waiting outside for him!”  And I said, “It’s Glenn Ford.  I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

H:  What was he like to work with?

M:  I was in awe.  I liked the character actors, too.  I used to go to the Beverly Garland Hotel, have breakfast with Monte Hale, and he would tell me stories about the old days.  Same with the old fiddle-players.  I’d say, I’ll buy all your drinks, just tell me about the old days – I’m fascinated by it. 

H: In BORDER SHOOTOUT, you also worked with Michael Ansara.  Although he was from Syria, he spent much of his career playing American Indians.  A number of non-Indian actors have specialized in Indian roles – in addition to Ansara, X. Brands and Iron Eyes Cody. 

M: A lot of them.  Ricardo Montalban, Sal Mineo.

H: Any problems with that?

M:  You know, the process of acting is to portray something that you’re not.  But if you’re doing a cultural piece, and you don’t bring somebody who comes with that culture, you’re going to cheat yourself.  I’ve talked to casting people, and they’ll say, we’ve seen a hundred guys, and they’re not doing what we want them to do.  And I said, if you’ve seen a hundred Indian guys, and they’re not doing this, maybe they don’t do that.  Will Sampson was more interesting just standing there, not saying anything, than all the non-native actors that ever played anybody.  And there were exceptions.  Paul Newman nailed it.  Charles Bronson used to come pretty close.  A really good actor can do it.  But the native guys, the full-blood guys don’t get a chance to play anything else.  But it’s changing.  Digital film has put it back in the hands of filmmakers.  There are a lot of native filmmakers that are making films out there.  And they don’t need Hollywood, they don’t need big money, they don’t need the big stars.  And there are wonderful, wonderful films.  

H:  What’s your favorite film?

M:  LITTLE BIG MAN.  That was the first time I saw one of those funny old elders that I grew up with (on the screen).  Those little people are just so funny, and Chief Dan George was just magic.  “Am I still in this world?”  “Yes, grandpa.”  “Ahhh!”  Dustin Hoffman tells him, “I have a white wife.”  “Does she show enthusiasm when you mount her?” 

I really know how you make a bad movie, but I’m really trying to figure out how you make a good movie.

THAT’S A WRAP!

Just one topic this week, so I hope you enjoyed it! 

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright August 2015 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved