COEN BROS. WESTERN SERIES TO ROLL IN NEW MEXICO, PLUS GUNSMOKE MOVES TO INSP, REVIEWS AND MORE!

COEN BROS.’ WESTERN SERIES ‘BUSTER SCRUGGS’ READY-TO-ROLL IN NEW MEXICO!

Joel and Ethan Coen’s Western series, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS is rolling camera in Albuquerque this month, reportedly from mid-July through mid-September! The brothers’ first entry into the small-screen Western format follows their excellent and hugely successful 2010 remake of TRUE GRIT, which received five BAFTA awards and ten Oscar nominations. 

SCRUGGS will be an anthology series. It will consist of six episodes with six separate but interwoven story-lines. The first, SCRUGGS, will concern a singing cowboy, and in the title role is Tim Blake Nelson, who starred in one of the brothers’ earlier successes, 2000’s OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? No stranger to the genre, Nelson played a freighter in the excellent but grim THE HOMESMAN (2014), his performance was one of the few bright spots in the dreary KLONDIKE miniseries (2014), and he appeared in the LONESOME DOVE miniseries prequel DEAD MAN’S WALK (1996).  

NEAR ALGODONES, about a feckless would-be bank robber, will star James Franco, previously in WILD HORSES (2015) for Robert Duvall. Also starring are Stephen Root, who played a judge in the series JUSTIFIED (2012), and appeared in 2013’s SWEETWATER and THE LONE RANGER, and other Coen films; and Ralph Ineson, who plays Amycus Carrow in the HARRY POTTER films. 

No casts have been announced yet for MEAL TICKET or ALL GOLD CANYON.  Zoe Kazan, currently starring in THE BIG SICK and previously in the indie Western MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010), will play the title role in THE GAL WHO GOT RATTLED. And finally, THE MORTAL REMAINS, following five stagecoach passengers to a mysterious destination, will star Tyne Daly, whose career I take credit for, since I wrote her her first role as a policewoman in 1977’s SPEEDTRAP, which she followed with CAGNEY AND LACEY (1981-1988).  She previously appeared on episodes of THE VIRGINIAN (1968) and MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1999).  Updates are coming soon!

INSP ADDS ‘GUNSMOKE’ TO SADDLE-UP SATURDAYS AND WEEKDAYS!

INSP, whose Saddle-Up Saturdays already featured THE VIRGINIAN, THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, THE BIG VALLEY, DANIEL BOONE and BONANZA has now added GUNSMOKE to the mix!  Starting Saturday, July 8^th, they began running two episodes beginning at 10 a.m., Eastern time.  

Starting on Monday morning, they’ll be running one episode at 9 a.m., Eastern on weekdays. Best of all, these are the 176 hour-long black & white episodes made from 1961 until 1966, which are among the very best, and not being shown by anyone else. They’ll also be showing at least four of the five GUNSMOKE movies from the ‘80s and ‘90s – on Sunday, July 16^th it will be 1987’s RETURN TO DODGE, at 2 p.m. Eastern.  On Saturday, July 22^nd, INSP will run a six-episode marathon of justice-themed GUNSMOKE episodes, and the GUNSMOKE movie TO THE LAST MAN. On Sunday, July 23^rd, it’s a double feature of GUNSMOKE: THE LONG RIDE and GUNSMOKE: ONE MAN’S JUSTICE.

GUIDE TO THE OLD WEST – A Book Review

The full and modest title of this tome is An Educational and Slightly Amusing Guide to the Old West, and I hope it’s author, Don Dunham, won’t take it the wrong way if I say that it’s the best bathroom reader I’ve had in years! I don’t mean that the book is scatological in any way, but rather, that its alphabetical short-entry format makes it ideal for skimming and random reading for a couple of minutes at a time.  While not encyclopedic in scope, the 100-page volume can quickly give you a smattering of information on a host of Western topics. Its first entry typically describes in a concise paragraph the 101 Ranch:

“Large (110,000 acres), cattle ranch on Oklahoma founded by Confederate Veteran Col. George W. Miller. It also had thousands of sheep and thousands of buffalo. Established in 1879, it lasted into the twentieth century and began to put on Wild West Shows starring such future noted cowboys as Tom Mix and Will Rogers.”

While appealing to anyone with an interest in American history, as historian Peter Sherayko points out in his foreword, it’s just the thing for writers, historians, reenactors and actors, “…to get their creative juices flowing.” And not all entries are as brief as the example given. When a topic is of major importance, it is given as much space as it needs.  The “cattle drive” entry is nearly three pages, and full of details about the different routes, who did the work, what they were paid, and how they dealt with Indians along the way.  The entry about Indians is nearly six pages long, and other in-depth articles look at the Presidents, firearms, and the proper wardrobe of the working cowboy. 

There are some confusing elements; a reference at the end of an article, such as “see film Wagonmaster 1949,” doesn’t refer to another entry in the book, but is rather a suggestion that you should see that movie (and you should, if you haven’t).  But overall, this large format – 8 1/2” X 11” – book is full of useful and amusing and enlightening information for adults and kids, with hundreds of ‘idea triggers’ when you don’t know which way to take your story.  It’s available from Amazon books for $19.95, HERE.  

NEW RELEASES FROM ALPHA VIDEOS!

REX BELL IN ‘DIAMOND TRAIL’

Handsome Rex Bell is one of those elusive B-western stars, rarely seen, and better known for his marriage to Clara Bow than for his movies. Alpha has unearthed a sparkling little 1930 Monogram programmer, DIAMOND TRAIL, in which Bell starts out not as a cowboy, but as big-city reporter Speed Morgan. When he saves gangster Flash Barrett (Lloyd Whitlock) from an ambush, pretending to be mobster Frisco Eddie, he becomes Flash’s best friend, and his plans to get the goods on Flash leads him to a western diamond-smuggling racket. 

Also included are a pair of shorts. The 1930 Pathe two-reeler RANCH HOUSE BLUES is a Western comedy concerning an attempt to trick a crabby old rancher into selling, without telling him there’s oil on his land. The crab is former Keystone Kop Nick Cogley, and the romantic interest is Charlie Chaplin’s first wife, Mildred Harris.   1933’s THE LAST DOGIE is an Educational Pictures one-reel bunk-house musical starring Metropolitan Opera tenor James Melton singing traditional Western songs very well.   You can order it HERE.

ULTRA-RARE PRE-CODE COMEDIES – BERT LAHR IN ‘NO MORE WEST’

Here’s a fascinating collection of six talkie comedy shorts made before the 1934 Hays Code, or Motion Picture Production Code, put stringent limitations on what could be said or shown, in order to quiet would-be censors who found movies immoral.  The very best is Bert Lahr in NO MORE WEST, a particular delight to folks who only know Lahr as The Cowardly Lion in 1939’s THE WIZARD OF OZ.  Bert plays a Coney Island shooting-gallery operator who nabs a pair of bank robbers, which inspires him to move out west to a town where he’s immediately made the sheriff. It’s ridiculous fun throughout, with a few casting surprises: the lead bank robber is Harry Shannon, who would play Charles Foster Kane’s dad in CITIZEN KANE. The judge who appoints Lahr sheriff, Harry Davenport would soon be seen as Dr. Meade in GONE WITH THE WIND.

The rest of the shorts include another with Lahr, HIZZONER; a very early talkie directed by Mack Sennett, 1928’s THE LION’S ROAR; DOWN WITH HUSBANDS, featuring Bert Roach and Johnny Arthur (Spanky’s dad in the OUR GANG comedies) as husbands whose wives go on strike; HONEYMOON BEACH, where a greedy mom tries to force her daughter to marry wealthy Keystone Kop Billy Bevan; and the most bizarre of the bunch, TECHNO-CRAZY, involving a Bolshevik technology-run utopia, and plans to bomb the mansion of Mayor Billy Bevan.  The quality of prints varies greatly, but it’s an outrageous and often very funny collection.  You can order it HERE.

WATCH ME YAK ABOUT TV WESTERNS!

I recently spent an enjoyable afternoon being interviewed for a webcast, along with fellow blogger Patti Shene, about the TV Western. The interview was for Dan Schneider’s COSMOETICA series, which I understand is the longest-running webcast series on the arts.  If you enjoy it, take a look at the links to Dan’s other webcasts – he finds a lot of very interesting guests and topics.

…AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Tonight, I got an email from a friend who noted that it had been over a month since I’d posted a new Round-up.  He wanted to know if I’m alright.  I am. But other priorities have kept me from the blog for some time.  I’m back, and my backlog of articles and interviews and film and book reviews which need to be written and posted is truly staggering!  I’ll catch up as quickly as I can!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright July 2017 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

SILVER SPURS HONORS GUNSMOKE’S 60TH ANNI, PLUS GUNSMOKE BOOK REVIEWS, WORD ON WESTERNS!

SILVER SPURS HONORS GUNSMOKE'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

At about 5 pm this past Friday, September 18^th, the folks who make the Westerns and the folks who love them, began gathering at Studio City’s famed Sportsmen’s Lodge for the 18^th Annual Silver Spur Awards.  (The Sportsmen’s, which will soon close its doors, has been the location for the Awards for many years, and in fact predates the film business in Los Angeles.  In the old days, you could fish in their ponds for trout, and have them cooked for your dinner.)

While the Silver Spurs, presented by The Reel Cowboys, has always honored Western film and television in general, this year’s Awards were much more specific, celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the longest-running live action series in television history, GUNSMOKE.  Reel Cowboys President Robert Lanthier rode shotgun, but handed the reins over to Julie Ann Ream, combining the event with her Western Legends Awards.  Julie grew up around GUNSMOKE – her grandfather, Taylor ‘Cactus Mack’ McPeters, appeared in 48 episodes, and her cousin Glenn Strange was Sam the bartender at the Long Branch in 238 shows. 

I’ve done a number of red carpets, but this time was a little different for me: Julie assigned me a cameraman, and asked me to do interviews from five ‘til six as the guests arrived, for a DVD of the event.  I was very happy to do it.  After that hour, I continued doing interviews with just my recorder, and those are what you’ll read below.  You’ll have to wait to hear what Mrs. James Arness, Bruce Boxleitner, Angie Dickinson, Morgan Woodward, and Martin Kove had to say until the DVD is ready.

Mariette Hartley flanked by costumed escort, husband Jerry Sroka

When I asked Mariette Hartley which of her three GUNSMOKES was her favorite, without hesitation she said COTTER’S GIRL (1963), in which she played a wild girl found living in the trees, and in need of civilizing.   

MARIETTE HARTLEY:  COTTER’S GIRL.  The very first.  It just stretched me to the limit.  Because I was doing a play, a very heavy play, at UCLA, at the same time as I was doing GUNSMOKE.  Jim Arness never reads the (script).  He reads the page that he’s doing that day, rips it up and throws it away.  The character I played is Clarey, and Jim was very nervous about hiring somebody to actually be on the trail with him for that long a period of time.  He didn’t want Matt to be accused of, I guess, child molestation or whatever.  So he actually insisted on meeting me, reading with me, which is very unusual.  So I got the part of this character who lives in the trees and eats berries.  Ends up getting dressed up.  But I can’t walk – they have to teach me how to walk, how to eat.  And in that particular scene, the eating scene, which was so funny, I end up grabbing a steak and shoving it into my mouth.  Now Jim, having not read the scene, had no idea what was going to happen.  And when these guys, and Kitty, got together, and started laughing, that was the end of the scene.  And it took us four hours to get that scene.  I had to leave, do the play, come back in the morning, we started again, and the minute they said ‘action’ we started laughing, and we were done, just done.  That’s one of the reasons I loved it.  Also it was a wonderful script by Kathleen Hite, who writes a lot of the ones on Sirius XM.  (Note: Sirius XM plays old time radio shows.  Kathleen Hite wrote more than eighty radio scripts, including many GUNSMOKES, and 36 FORT LARAMIE episodes.)

Four-time Emmy-winner Miss Michael Learned may be best known for playing Olivia Walton, but she also appeared on GUNSMOKE.  The first time she played, as she told me, “a hooker.”  The next time, also in 1973, she played Matt’s love interest in MATT’S LOVE STORY.  She was called upon to play the same role in 1990 in the TV movie GUNSMOKE: THE LAST APACHE.   

HENRY: You had a relationship with Matt Dillon like no one else did.

MICHAEL LEARNED: Yes I did, but we don’t talk about it.  He had amnesia, so he could be forgiven.  I knew what was going on, but I didn’t know who he was.  I didn’t know about Miss Kitty.

HENRY:  Would you have cared?

MICHAEL LEARNED: (laughs) Probably not.

HENRY:  What was it like continuing a story with so many years in between?    

MICHAEL LEARNED:  It was kind of weird, to tell you the truth, because I never knew what had happened.  I didn’t know we had a daughter until (producer) John Mantley called me and said, “We’re doing a movie of the week, and you had a daughter.”  I said oh; okay.  It was a little strange, but just being with James, he’s such a calming person.  It was wonderful.  Nice to have a second chance to be with him.

L.Q. Jones and Tanner Beard

Miss Learned has been doing a lot of theatre lately.  “I just got back from doing MOTHERS AND SONS in Austin, Texas, and I’m going off in the summer to do another play in Canada.” 

Not all of the GUNSMOKE fans were old enough to have seen it in its original run.  Tanner Beard, who directed and co-starred in 6 BULLETS TO HELL was there with co-star Ken Lukey.  Their second Western together, 6 BULLETS was shot in Spain on Leone’s sets, and is probably the first Western to replace helicopter and crane shots with drones for dramatic pull-ups.  Actress Mindy Miller, all in buckskin, was eager to speak to L.Q. Jones.  Back in 1983, they starred together in the Charles B. Pierce Western SACRED GROUND. 

L.Q. Jones and Mindy Miller

L.Q. Jones is an accomplished writer and director as well as an actor.  I asked him about his thoughts on the GUNSMOKE writers.   

L.Q. JONES:  They had the best on GUNSMOKE. And you learn very quickly, you may think you can write, and you might be able to.  But can you write for GUNSMOKE?  Can you write for thirty minutes?  Can you write for an hour show?  I can’t. I have a tough time doing an hour and a half or two hours.  That’s a very special thing.  And they knew the people, and they knew their work.  Almost everything I’m in, they ask me to change (my lines) to fit me.  And I do a lot of it over the years.  But not on GUNSMOKE.  You take what they give you, hit your marks, say your words, and pick up your check.  The writers, the producers, the crew, they were so professional in what they did.

HENRY:  You did so many Westerns series at that time.  How did the atmosphere of the sets vary?

L.Q. JONES:  What do I say?  The people had become a family on GUNSMOKE.  Now I also did a lot of VIRGINIANS; and we became a family there.  I was a regular on about seven Westerns.  I’m not saying that GUNSMOKE was the only enjoyable series – I don’t mean that.  But they were the best of the best. They had great budgets.  They could afford to do the things they wanted to do.  And a lot of the other shows…  THE VIRGINIAN bear in mind, we were putting on a new western every other week.  That means you had two weeks to make an hour and a half show, which is a full motion picture.  So we had to clip a few things here and there on budgets.  We did some changes on the scripts.  Not that nobody did any changes on GUNSMOKE; they did.  But by and large you hit your marks, said your words, because what they gave you is what they wanted, and what worked.  And that’s what you’re out there to do, to please first the director, then the producer.  And I got so familiar with them that I could pretty well do it without having to ask them what to do next.  It’s hell to beat family, and I had family on two or three others.  I started out on CHEYENNE.     

HENRY:  What’s your favorite episode of GUNSMOKE

L.Q. JONES:  I know this sounds Pollyana-ish, I don’t mean to, but any show I do is my favorite at the moment.  If I didn’t, I’d have quit the business long ago.  What for me was the greatest fun, I did the first black episode of GUNSMOKE, where except for the regulars, it was all black.  And I was a terrible person.  I literally kicked dogs.  I beat kids.  I chased women, I drank, everything you could do.  They showed it on a Sunday as opposed to a Saturday.  That Monday I went to work; we lived in Camarillo.  I had about a forty-five minute trip to get to the studio.  I was driving my MG.  The top was down.  And I was booed and hissed for the entire twenty or thirty miles.    They had all seen the show the night before.  And they were throwing things and hissing and booing.  It was great fun to work under something like that.  That is my favorite, because of what happened after the fact, but I enjoyed the others as much as that. 

Then it was time for everyone to move in to the banquet hall.  I’ll have the highlights of what was said there in the next Round-up.  For my own interest, I was trying to explain the incredible longevity of the series.  It’s easy to just say ‘it was the best,’ and it was.  But why?  It’s worth noting that this past week also marked the 50^th anniversary of the premieres of both THE BIG VALLEY (112 episodes) and LAREDO (56 episodes).  In fact, yesterday, September 20^th, marked the 60^th anniversary of the first hour-long Western drama, CHEYENNE, which ran for 108 episodes.  Why did GUNSMOKE last for more than twenty years as a series, producing 635 episodes, and four TV movies?  I believe it was the writing as much as the cast, and the secret to the writing was that it began on radio.  Radio is a much more intimate, less ‘showy’ medium than film, and with no visuals, story rather than action had to carry the interest.  And the thirty-minute running time meant that the shows had to rely on character at least as much as plot, since there was simply no time to get complicated.  The first six seasons of GUNSMOKE were half hours, most based on radio episodes, and even when the time ran up to an hour, the writers had already established the lead characters, and learned that stories about people were much more compelling than stories about events.

‘GUNSMOKE – AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION’ BY BEN COSTELLO

‘THE GUNSMOKE CHRONICLES – A NEW HISTORY OF TELEVISION’S GREATEST WESTERN’ BY DAVID R. GREENLAND

TWO BOOK REVIEWS

GUNSMOKE is everywhere, from TV-LAND to ME-TV to ENCORE WESTERNS, and with the new interest peaked by the television series’ 60^th anniversary, it’s a perfect time to pick up these two fine reference books, and deepen your knowledge, and thus your enjoyment, of the greatest Western series ever to grace the small screen. 

Each book devotes hundreds of pages to episode guides, listing cast and crew and a brief synopsis of all 635 episodes, as well as the TV movies.   Ben Costello’s book is a lavish coffee-table book, with photographs, black and white as well as color, on nearly every page.  Costello’s book, clearly a labor of love done over many years, begins with a foreword by story editor Jim Byrnes, who wrote 34 episodes, and a preface by Oscar-winner and three-time GUNSMOKE guest star Jon Voight.  

Opening chapters detail the Gunsmoke story from its beginnings as a ground-breaking radio show created by John Meston and Norman Macdonnell, how western screenwriter Charles Marquis Warren would help craft it into a television series, the casting, and the real people behind the roles of Matt, Kitty, Chester, Doc, Festus, and all of the others.  Chapters are devoted to the many fine writers and directors who crafted the show.

Among the high points are interviews with the series stars, Dennis Weaver (Chester), Burt Reynolds (Quint) and Buck Taylor (Newly).  And there are two chapters of reminiscences by guest stars, including Morgan Woodward, Paul Picerni, Anthony Caruso, James Gregory, Adam West, William Windom, William Schallert, David Carradine, Loretta Swit, Earl Holliman, William Smith, Harry Carey Jr., and many more.   There are chapters about live performances by the cast, a staggering array of toys and collectibles, and even favorite recipes of the stars – I’m definitely going to try Jim Arness’ chili if I can find enough venison! 

‘GUNSMOKE CHRONICLES’ is by David R. Greenland, whose previous excellent books include BONANZA – A VIEWERS’ GUIDE TO THE TVLEGEND  and RAWHIDE – A HISTORY OF TV’S LONGEST CATTLE DRIVE. His trade paperback-sized book opens with a long chapter about the members of the GUNSMOKE acting family.  It’s followed by a look at Dodge City’s familiar faces, a season-by-season overview of the series, and a look at the GUNSMOKE movies.  Also included are lengthy interviews with actress Peggy Rea, actor Jeremy Slate, and a particularly in-depth talk with GUNSMOKE’s greatest and most frequent villain, Morgan Woodward. 

Ben Costello’s GUNSMOKE – AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION, is published by Five Star Publications, and is available from Amazon in hardcover, softcover and Kindle HERE. 

David R. Greenland’s THE GUNSMOKE CHRONICLES, published by Bear Manor Media, is available from them HERE.

LIVE EVENTS

COWBOY LUNCH @THE AUTRY  WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23^RD

Morgan Fairchild & Patrick Swayze 

in NORTH AND SOUTH

THE REEL CIVIL WAR will be the topic of Wednesday’s WORD ON WESTERNS.  From THE BIRTH OF A NATION, to GONE WITH THE WIND to Ken Burns’ nine-part documentary and beyond, what were the best portrayals of the Civil War?

Bruce Boxleitner in GODS AND GENERALS

Confirmed guests include:  Bruce Boxleitner (GODS & GENERALS), Alex Hyde-White (G&G, IRONCLADS), Morgan Fairchild (NORTH AND SOUTH), Lee de Broux (THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE) and historian Phil Spangenberger.  The program begins at 12:45pm.  Come early to buy lunch and get a seat!  

TWENTY MULE TEAM DAYS, BORON, SAT, OCTOBER 3!

Borax fans unite!  Activities will include a parade, games, music, food, and vendor booths!  It’ll be held at the Boron Community Park.  To learn more, call 760-793-4139.

MOJAVE TRAIL DAYS, HELENDALE, SAT & SUN, OCT. 3&4

The celebration features sagebrush songstress Belinda Gail, plus Southern Caliber and the Billhilyz.  Trick-roper, whip-cracker and gun-spinner Will Roberts will perform, and there will be reenactments and other Western entertainments courtesy of the Tombstone Legends and the Sweetwater Outlaws.  Not to mention equestrian events, stagecoach rides, a kids’ zone, vendors, food, and a beer garden.  It all happens at the Helendale Community Parke.  Learn more at 760-951-0006, ext. 230, or visit http://mojaverivertraildays.com/index.html

THAT'S A WRAP!

Here's lookin' at you!

See you back here in a couple of weeks!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright September 2015 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

CLASSIC MOMS AT ‘THE CABLE SHOW’ PLUS ‘WITH BUFFALO BILL’ REVIEWED!

MEETING CLASSIC MOMS – AND MORE – AT ‘THE CABLE SHOW’

From Tuesday, April 29^th through Thursday, May 1^st, thousands of people in all aspects of the cable television industry converged on the Los Angeles Convention Center for The Cable Show.  Over 200 exhibitors filled the exhibit hall promoting their channels, services, hardware, software and other products.  I was the guest of INSP, the channel famous for their daily TV westerns and Saddle-Up Saturday block, and their exclusive airings of THE VIRGINIAN and HIGH CHAPARRAL. 

INSP had arranged to have a pair of stars from two of their most popular series, two of America’s favorite moms, Karen Grassle from LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, and Michael Learned from THE WALTONS, present to meet-and-greet and pose for pictures.  Knowing how long it had been since they’d starred in their series – LITTLE HOUSE had their last season in 1983, and THE WALTONS in 1981 – I was delighted to find how charming and vivacious both ladies were.  When I took my turn posing with them, I commented that I was excited to meet them because I’d enjoyed their shows so much, and also because they’d both starred in episodes of GUNSMOKE, something neither one knew about the other.  “I played a whore!” Karen blurted out.

“I played a whore, too!” Michael Learned added with a laugh.  I was delighted to be able to discuss their experiences in Dodge City. 

Karen Grassle in LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

KAREN GRASSLE:  Well, I came at the very tail end of GUNSMOKE, right after we did the pilot for LITTLE HOUSE.  Victor French, who played Mr. Edwards (on LITTLE HOUSE) was going to direct his first television episode ever (THE WIVING, 1974).  And so he wanted me to come on, and I went on, and I was one of a number of saloon girls.  And at that time I was a big feminist, and I had hair under my arms!  (Laughs)  And so they had to come very politely to me and say, ‘Miss Grassle, do you mind?’  I said of course – that was pretty funny.  We did a show where these boys, who were kind of…missing a few batteries, they were told by their dad, ‘Go find wives, or you’re not going to get any inheritance!’  So they went to town and kidnapped a few saloon girls; brought us out to the farm.  It turned out that the farm where we shot became the location for THE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. 

MICHAEL LEARNED:  That’s a really great story.

HENRY:  Now Miss Learned, you did two GUNSMOKE episodes and a movie. 

MICHAEL LEARNED:  Well, in the first one (A GAME OF DEATH…AN ACT OF LOVE, part 2 1973) I played a lady of ill repute in a court scene.  I was a witness, and I only remember because I saw it recently on Youtube.  It was very early (in THE WALTONS run), and they had to clear me; there’s a morals clause when you sign a contract to do a series – I don’t know if you had to sign one, Karen, but I did.  So they had to get clearance from (WALTON’S creator) Earl Hamner and (producer) Lee Rich and Lorimar, and they let me do it.  Then I did something called FOR THE LOVE OF MIKE (later retitled MATT’S LOVE STORY 1973).  Matt’s had a concussion, and he’s lost his memory.  We fall in love, and I’m the only woman that Matt Dillon ever kissed.  And out of that kiss…came a little baby!  (laughs) 

HENRY:  It must have been a great kiss.

MICHAEL LEARNED:  It was, actually.  He called me up and asked me out for a date.  I thought he was a really great guy, and I like him a lot.  Very self-effacing and kind.  I was kind of nervous; (to Karen) like you, I was just starting out.  Then they did follow that up with a move-of-the-week (GUNSMOKE: THE LAST APACHE – 1990), where he doesn’t know he has a child, because he gets his memory back, and he goes back to Miss Kitty, where he should have been in the first place.

HENRY: And he never kissed her.

MICHAEL LEARNED:  He never kissed her – not on screen anyway.  So in the movie-of-the-week, our child is abducted.  And I call on him to find her, to bring her back.  And he discovers that he has a child that he didn’t know he had.  And that’s my history with GUNSMOKE.  And the funny thing is that I never told him, but when I was a child, I used to watch GUNSMOKE with my dad.  And so the first time I did the show with him, I couldn’t speak, I was so shy.  I just sat there looking at him.  But he warmed me up; he was a very nice guy. 

HENRY:  Now Karen, you also did WYATT EARP with Kevin Costner.  What was that experience like?

Karen Grassle relaxing

KAREN GRASSLE:  That was a lot of fun.  I was living in New Mexico at the time, and they came there to shoot.  They had done some casting in L.A.  Then they tried to fill out some of the roles in Santa Fe.  I was teaching at the time, at the College of Santa Fe, teaching acting for the camera.  There was a great studio there; that’s why they were there.  And so I got to do this little part, as the mother of Kevin Costner’s bride.  And I worked with some great people: Gene Hackman, Kevin of course – he was amazing.  Gene Hackman was so terrific.  And then the camera would cut, and he was, ‘Well, that wasn’t any good.’  You know, we’re so self-critical, actors.  It was a lot of fun.

HENRY:  What is WALTONS creator Earl Hamner like?

MICHAEL LEARNED:  He’s just one of the greatest guys in the world.  Sweet, kind, and everything you think he would be.  He’s got a raunchy sense of humor, which saves the day; otherwise you’d get diabetes.  He likes to drink; he’s just a great all-around guy. He and his wife have been together for I don’t know how many years; theirs is a real love story.  I think somebody’s trying to do a documentary on him, but somebody should do a story about their love story.  Recently I talked to him, and he said, “My wife is at the beach for the weekend, and I’m just sitting around crying, I miss her so much.”  So sweet, after all those years – sixty, I think. 

Incidentally, Ralph Waite, who played John Walton Sr. opposite Michael Learned, died this past February at the age of 85.  Active until the end, in 2013 he was playing continuing characters in BONES, NCIS, and between 2009 and 2013, he did 94 episodes of DAYS OF OUR LIVES.  One of his last performances was in a dramatic short for INSP called OLD HENRY.  You can see the entire 21-minute film HERE.  

Visiting exhibits of other channels, I learned what is on the horizon for Western fans, and discerning viewers in general.  The STARZ/ENCORE folks told me that the highest viewership of any of their many channels, right after STARZ, is ENCORE WESTERNS.  At present they don’t have plans to create any original Western programming. 

At HALLMARK CHANNEL and HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL, WHEN CALLS THE HEART, the Western Canadian romance series, has ended its first season, and cameras have already rolled on season two.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the two HALLMARK channels have announced a slate of about thirty TV movies, and not one is a Western.  This would not be a surprise with any other network, but HALLMARK has staunchly supported the genre when no one else did, and averaged at least two Westerns per year.  The popular GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE franchise produced three features starring and co-produced by Luke Perry, and last year’s QUEEN OF HEARTS is by far the best of the group.  As of now, there are no plans to make more.  HALLMARK has decided to shift its focus to mysteries, and in fact, the HALLMARK MOVIE CHANNEL will be re-branded THE HALLMARK MYSTERY CHANNEL in October.

For those of us who worry that younger viewers aren’t discovering classic films, some heartening news: according to TCM, two thirds of their 62 million viewers are between the ages of 18 and 49.   

AMC is in the middle of its first season of TURN, the Revolutionary War spy series, and this summer will be bringing back HELL ON WHEELS for its fourth season.

THE HISTORY CHANNEL will soon be presenting its own Revolutionary War series, SONS OF LIBERTY, focusing on such characters as John Adams, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Benedict Arnold. 

A&E will deliver a new season of LONGMIRE starting on June 2^nd, and FX will bring us one more season of JUSTIFIED, but then they’re pulling the plug.  Over the last couple of years, the Round-up has been following a number of proposed series at all the major networks, and some pilots have been shot, but not one, Disney’s BIG THUNDER prominent among them, has gotten a go-ahead.

At the seminars that I attended, and in talking to many of the exhibitors, the main topic of conversation, of concern, was making TV content easily and instantly available on all possible devices.  This is absolutely sensible; this is their livelihood.  And yet, as an outsider, it seems to me that such content is too available already.  Just a few years ago, any group of people standing around waiting, at a post office or bank or about to board a plane, would feature a substantial number of people reading newspapers or books, or doing crossword puzzles, or talking to each other.  The reading and conversation was gradually replaced by people talking loudly in their cell phones, and kids with annoying loud portable video games – the same kids who have wheels on the bottom of their sneakers.  Now nobody reads or talks at all; they text, or they stare at videos on their iPhone and check Tweets – reading Tweets is not actual reading.  At a high school last week, I observed a class waiting for a late teacher : I counted sixteen kids sitting on the floor, side by side, none talking, none acknowledging each other, all staring at their smartphones.  They were waiting for a drama class to begin, and not one was communicating with another.  And for all the constant updating, if you can pry a minute or two of conversation out of them, you will find only a tiny percentage has any idea of what is going on in the world.  They don’t need to have watching TV any easier.  They need to watch less, read more, listen more, and then talk more.    

WITH BUFFALO BILL ON THE U.P. TRAIL – A Video Review

This newest silent Western release from Grapevine Video was made in 1926 by Sunset Productions, just a year before sound would turn the movie industry upside down.  One of the particularly appealing aspects of the film is that paralleling the coming changes to the movie industry are the progress-borne changes in the lives of Buffalo Bill Cody and other characters.  The U. P. in the title is the Union Pacific Railroad, and the film concerns a time when the Pony Express, once Cody’s employer, is disappearing, and the wagon train is soon to be replaced by the transcontinental railroad. 

Just as the specificity of the time is unusual, so are many of the characters and plot elements.  In a surprisingly plot-heavy opening, we are quickly introduced to Cody, an Indian whom Cody rescues and befriends (played by actual Indian Felix Whitefeather), a wagon train whose passengers include a runaway wife and her paramour, and a runaway slave (played by apparent white guy Eddie Harris).  They are pursued by a lawman, and a parson, who happens to be the abandoned husband of the runaway wife. 

The wagon train reaches the fort, and soon Cody and a friend, seeing the coming of the rails as inevitable, become land speculators.   Reasoning that the rails must go through a certain pass, Cody and company commence to build a town along the route, but are soon up against the railroad’s corrupt head surveyor, who says he will either be made an equal partner in the town, or he’ll find another route, regardless of what it costs the railroad. 

There’s a good deal of action here, much of it involving the Indians, and a purposely stampeded herd of buffalo.  There are even more subplots – the Major, his daughter and her suitor; the crooked gambler devoted to his beautiful little daughter – and all of them are paid by the end: surprising in a 53 minute film.  One of the curious effects of so much happening is that Cody is only nominally the lead – much time is devoted to other characters.

Portraying Buffalo Bill Cody, star Roy Stewart is not a familiar name today, but he was a big star in silent films, co-starring with Mary Pickford in SPARROWS that same year.  Most of his roles were in Westerns, and when sound came in, he was gradually relegated to bit parts, often unbilled, but he managed to compile nearly 140 film appearances.  He’s big and likable and good with the camera.  He makes an acceptable Buffalo Bill Cody, especially once he starts wearing the familiar fringed buckskin jacket.  The one odd choice was keeping the long brown hair, but not the mustache and goatee.  To look right as Cody, you have to go full hair-and-whiskers, ala Joel McCrea, or abandon the fuzz entirely, ala Charlton Heston.  The hair alone triggers distracting comparisons to Barrymore’s MR. HYDE, and Tiny Tim. 

The movie is well-acted and entertaining, and some elements of the story are very progressive for their time.  The first sighting of Indians is preceded by this title-card: ‘The scouts of the original Americans kept watchful eyes on all white invaders.’  Contrast this with the words from the original poster: ‘DO YOU LIKE ACTION AND HAIR-RAISING THRILLS? You will see Indians attacking the whites --- Indian warfare in all its horrors - action - fights - and the most thrilling suspense you have ever witnessed!’  Obviously not the same writer.

Also progressive, in spite of the white actor portrayal, and some standard-for-the-time toadying, is the runaway slave.  When he is discovered, not even the lowest characters in the story ever consider returning him to his owners.  The film is well directed, handsomely shot and generally well-edited – though a herd-of-buffalo shot that does not match the action is featured much too often – and the print, though scratchy in places, is quite crisp and clear, with sharp lines, dark blacks, and a wide range of grays.  Priced at $12.99, with a piano score by David Knudston, it is available from Grapevine Video, which has about 600 films currently available, and frequently brings out more.  THIS LINK will take you to the WITH BUFFALO BILL page. 

CATCH ‘THE LONG RIDERS’ SAT. MAY 10 AT THE AUTRY!

Walter Hill’s 1980 film about outlaw families has an irresistible gimmick: brother outlaws were played by actual brothers.  Thus the Youngers are portrayed by David, Keith and Robert Carradine (their father John had scenes, sadly deleted), the Millers by Dennis and Randy Quaid,  the miserable Ford brothers by Christopher and Nicholas Guest, and the James boys by James and Stacy Keach, who also co-wrote the script with Bill Bryden and Steven Smith.  I haven’t seen it in years, but I remember it as very entertaining, with memorable action scenes. 

Presented as part of the Autry’s ongoing monthly ‘What is a Western?’ series, it will be preceded by a discussion lead by Jeffrey Richardson, Gamble Curator of Western History, Popular Culture, and Firearms.

EFREM ZIMBALIST JR. DIES AT 95

The Round-up is sorry to note the passing of actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.  The son of concert violinist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. and opera star Alma Gluck, he was awarded a Purple Heart for his military service, and first garnered wide attention playing private eye Stu Bailey on the Warner Brothers 1960s detective series 77 SUNSET STRIP.  He later starred in about 250 episodes of THE F.B.I.  Though not particularly known for Western roles – his easy sophistication made him more natural in big city stories – he did appear early in his career in the Civil War drama BAND OF ANGELS, with Clark Gable.  And in his SUNSET STRIP days he did all of the WB westerns series: five MAVERICKS, and one each of BRONCO, SUGARFOOT, plus a RAWHIDE, and in 1982 played Michael Horse’s father in the impressive and often overlooked THE AVENGING.  In the frst season of the 1990s ZORRO series he played Zorro’s father Don Alejandro de la Vega, before handing the role over to Henry Darrow.  A busy voice actor late in his career, Zimbalist was the voice of Batman’s butler, Alfred, in a half dozen series.  Among his finest work was playing L.A. Police Sgt. Harry Hansen in the only good movie on the subject, WHO IS THE BLACK DAHLIA? starring Lucie Arnaz. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANN-MARGRET

Norman Rockwell's portrait of Ann-Margret

for STAGECOACH 

I’m a little late, but happy birthday to Ann-Margret, whose birthday was April 28^th.  In 1966 she starred in the remake of STAGECOACH, playing Claire Trevor’s role of Dallas, opposite Alex Cord in John Wayne’s role of The Ringo Kid.  Seven years later she was starring opposite the real Duke in Burt Kennedy’s THE TRAIN ROBBERS.  Then in 1994 she played Belle Watling in the miniseries sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND, SCARLETT.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIE NELSON

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Willie in BARABOSA

Born on April 30^th, 1933, Willie has continued the tradition of the singing cowboy started by Gene Autry, but has done it in his own way.  Starting in THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN in 1979, Willie has appeared in many westerns, often as the lead, sometimes as a cameo.  Among them are BARABOSA, THE LAST DAYS OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES, STAGECOACH, REDHEADED STRANGER, ONCE UPON A TEXAS TRAIN, WHERE THE HELL’S THAT GOLD?, and several DR. QUINN episodes.  And though it’s been often said that, with his chinful of whiskers, he could save studios money by being his own sidekick, there’s something about him, perhaps his voice, that makes ladies respond in a way that few ever did for Al St. John, or even Gabby Hayes.  

THAT’S A WRAP!

Next week I’ll definitely finish up my coverage of the TCM Festival, and either the WILD BUNCH LUNCH at the Autry, or THE SANTA CLARITA COWBOY FESTIVAL at Gene’s Melody Ranch.  

Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Material Copyright May 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved