‘WESTERN PORTRAITS’ CELEBRATION AT AUTRY TUES. 11/19, PLUS ‘IT ALL BEGINS WITH A SONG’ DOC, GETS DISTRIB., PLUS NOVEL ‘LEGENDS OF THE WEST’ REVIEWED!

WESTERN PORTRAITS – STEVE CARVER’S 23-YEAR LABOR OF LOVE IS A TRIUMPH!

At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, lovers of Western film will converge at The Autry’s Wells Fargo Theatre for Rob Word's A Word on Westerns, and an event more than two decades in the making, the publishing of Western Portraits – The Unsung Heroes & Villains of the Silver Screen. Twenty-three years ago, Steve Carver began shooting portraits of Western character actors, beginning with the legendary R. G. Armstrong, veteran of Peckinpah films and TV Westerns, and whom Steve had directed seven times. Next was L.Q. Jones (four times), then David Carradine (four times).

Steve Carver is, in fact, much better known to the general public as a director of action films like Capone (1975), An Eye For An Eye (1981), and Lone Wolf McQuade (1983), than he is as a photographer.  As a child, “Actually I was more into art, and wanted to become a cartoonist. Then my father bought for me my first camera when I was eight years old. It was a Brownie box camera. It had two lenses, the top one you look down upon the viewfinder, and the bottom lens was the shutter lens that actually took the picture. Cameras were like magic.”  He grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and in the summers would attend camp, “And they had dark rooms. So, I was able to actually process the film, and print the negatives that I shot.  So, from age eight, 10, all the way up to 12 years old when I became a counselor, I was in a dark room and I was a photographer.

Henry Silva

“My whole family encouraged the arts, and encouraged me to go to The High School of Music and Art, which was in Harlem, in the middle of CCNY (City College of New York).  I had to travel an hour and a half on subway to go to school every day, and an hour and a half back.”  He traveled for his college education. “When I went to graduate school at Washington University in St Louis, I was  (studying with) all of the Life and National Geographic photographers that were working in the Midwest. Clifton Edom, who was the father of photojournalism, was teaching at the University of Missouri.” 

His focus began to change, “When I did my graduate thesis. I did a film that incorporated a lot of my photography. I made the transition from still pictures that were telling stories, to motion pictures that told a whole story. A story that allowed me to not only earn my degree, but to put the story into perspective. And to have a greater audience than one that would come and only see my artwork and my photographs hanging on a wall. To actually enjoy a film, and to applaud, and then get reviews and have people come back, and want to see the film again and have reviewers write about it.”

Robert Forster

He applied for, and won, a fellowship to The American Film Institute.  “I had some great teachers:  Frantisek Daniel, and Tony Villani were my main teachers. I had four mentors that (A.F.I Director) George Stevens, Jr. gave me, which I was very proud of: Gregory Peck, and Charlton Heston.  And my two director mentors were George Stevens, Sr., and George Seaton. Those were the people that I had their home phone numbers, and I could call them up anytime.”

He rubbed elbows with other greats as well. “I found Alfred Hitchcock in the library at the American Film Institute after his lecture. I cornered him and asked, ‘Can you tell me how do you prepare a film?’ And he said, ‘Let me teach you. He sat down with me at the table and took a piece of paper and showed me how to do a storyboard, drew these little stick figures, and actually showed me the single, the two-shot, say the master shot. I played dumb. I knew it already, but he was really great, putting it down for me.” 

At a screening of his second AFI film, his adaptation of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart, starring Sam Jaffe and Alex Cord, Roger Corman, no stranger to Poe, “Tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘How would you like to come and work for me?’” Carver cut trailers for Corman, and got his chance to direct a feature when Corman assigned him to direct a female gladiator movie, The Arena, in Rome. “Actually, the first place he sent me was Israel, to (producer) Menahem Golan's house. I started to do a storyboard. Menahem looked at me and said, ‘Who taught you that?’ I said Alfred Hitchcock. He looked at me like, what?”

John Savage

In Rome, making The Arena at Cinecitta Studios, his neighbor at the next stage was Federico Fellini. “I would watch him shoot  Amarcord.  And Federico would come and sit next to me, watch the girls. He would speak in broken English, how he loved gladiators with big tits.”

Carver was so busy directing that he hadn’t touched a still camera in twenty years, until he was directing 1996’s The Wolves, in Russia.  “I was in Red Square and a gypsy came up to me with a very rare camera that photojournalists use. It was stolen, and he was trying to sell it to me for 50 bucks, American dollars. I wanted this camera, and my body guard, who was a KGB agent, got this camera for me in a very unusual manner. He took the guy behind a kiosk, knocked the guy out, took my money.”  Carver returned to California and, ready for a break from filmmaking, built a darkroom in Venice called, appropriately, The Darkroom.  Calling on his years of experience in labs, his knowledge skills and painstaking perfectionism – Carver often spends six hours on a single print -- he became in-demand for collectors, museums and archives, making new copies from 19^th and early 20^th century negatives, shot by master photographers.

L.Q. Jones

Fascinated by the work of great photographers like Steichen, Weston, Stieglitz, and especially Edward Sheriff Curtis, famous for his portraits of American Indians, “I decided to make my own, and to create sets. I was using homeless people that were walking by my lab at night. I would offer them food and money to sit and to mimic these old pictures.

“And I would create my own negatives and my own photographs in order to learn how to do these. Well, these people weren’t working out because they couldn't stay still. These are all time-exposures, because in the old days, the film was real slow. So everybody had to stay very still for several minutes, and they had metal gadgets that held the person very still when they were taking a picture.”  Carver’s next move was to ask actor friends to pose, and the project was born.  His pool-shooting buddy R.G. Armstrong was his first to pose, and Armstrong encouraged Carver to make it into a book.  He even gave Carver the book’s original title. “The first title was not Unsung Heroes. It was called The Dying Breed. When I started to approach some of the actors, The Dying Breed was a big turnoff.”

R.G. Armstrong

One of the odd things that can happen with time-exposures is anomalies, or ‘ghosting’.  Some are easy to explain, and some are not. When Carver shot L.Q. Jones, “Bobby Zinner (project historian and wardrobe man) brought an 1893 Winchester lever rifle that had killed 22.  You know, and you touch the gun, and it has that vibe, a killer vibe. So L.Q. sat in a chair, and the gun was against the wall and we shot the picture.  Bobby took the gun back.” On another day, “We shot Buddy Hackett.  We used the same set, just redressed it, and we shot Buddy’s picture. In the background, off to the left, there’s a ghost image of the same rifle.  We didn't have that rifle.”

Buddy Hackett 

The first session with Denver Pyle was even more strange. “The first shooting, Denver was in horrible shape.  We dressed him up, and he had a tank of oxygen behind him and tubes running out of him. He was on chemo and we just propped him up and I shot him with 36 exposures, and he just barely got through the session. When I processed the film, his face was purely white. No eyes, no mouth, no nose. Just white. He was a ghost. I was horrified. I didn't have a shot of Denver. I called his wife Tippi and I said, Tippi, is it any way possible that I can get Denver to come back? I need to shoot him again. She said, I'll ask Denver. Denver calls me back and says, I'll be back. No problem. He comes the next day, spitting vinegar. He comes back with his tank, everything. We dress him up again, put the badge on him. I shoot him again. He’s totally different. I mean, lots of energy. The pictures are great. His face is there. His energy is all there.” Denver Pyle died a couple of weeks later.  It’s one of the best portraits in the book, and that is saying a lot. 

With this two-decade project finished, Carver is eager to leave the darkroom, and return to directing.  “What I dread is that the publisher will want a volume two. I have a lot of actors like Robert Fuller writing me and saying, when are you gonna call us?  I have a couple of film projects in mind. We’ll see. I’ve got to get out of here first. I’ve got to get another dog.”

The book begins with a forward by Roger Corman, a preface by Kim Weston, and an introduction by Steve Carver. There are eighty-two photographic subjects in the book, many of whom you’ve seen a hundred times, and each accompanied by an illuminating essay and/or interview by C. Courtney Joyner.  Joyner also wrote the closing essay, Carved on Film: Western Movies and the Faces that Made Them.  The book ends with detailed filmographies of all of the participants, and acknowledgements.  Western Portraits is published by Edition Olms Zurich. 

The list price is $50. It can be purchased at Dark Delicacies, the Autry Gift Shop, and of course, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

‘IT ALL BEGINS WITH A SONG’ RECEIVES WORLD DISTRIBUTION & U.S. JAN 2020 RELEASE DATE

The documentary, which celebrates the unsung heroes of Nashville, its songwriters. Directed by Chusy Haney-Jardine, the 82-minute film will be handled throughout the world by Tri-Coast.  Among the songwriters interviewed are Rodney Crowell, Bill Anderson, Bob DiPiero, Shane McAnally, Brett James, Caitlyn Smith, Brandy Clark, busbee, Desmond Child, and Jeffrey Steele.

It All Begins With A Song_Trailer from TriCoast Studios on Vimeo.

LEGENDS OF THE WEST – A DEPUTY MARSHAL BASS REEVES WESTERN

By Michael A. Black

Published by Five Star – Hardcover, $25.95  238 pages

In 1879, in The Indian Territory which will one day be Arkansas, and pieces of a few other states, Bass Reeves, legendary former slave turned Deputy Marshall for Judge Parker’s court at Fort Smith, has a direct assignment from the Hanging Judge: investigate the activities of a band called The Cherokeos. He agrees, and with his trusty companion, a Lighthorse Indian Policeman known David Walks as Bear, they are on the trails of one Donavan, an Irish immigrant turned criminal mastermind who has left a long and bloody string of crimes in his wake, and has an even more ambitious misdeed in mind.

Michael A. Black, a retired policeman who has written thirty novels in various genres, keeps the telling lively as he cuts back and forth between hunter and quarry, peppered with humor, some of it pretty raunchy. He even provides an alternate story-teller, a character named Stutley, fresh from the east and hoping to be the next Ned Buntline, who is bullied into turning the despicable Donavan into The Rob Roy of The West.

While author Black does not endorse the currently popular theory that The Lone Ranger was based on Bass Reeves, but turned Caucasian, he runs with the idea in this year, the 70^th anniversary of the Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels TV series. There are masks, and five ambushed Texas Rangers, and even a faithful Indian companion who keeps calling Bass “Gimoozabie.” 

‘LONE RANGER AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD’ SCREENS SAT. 11/23 AT THE AUTRY!

Celebrating the 70^th anniversary of the Lone Ranger TV series, the second Lone Ranger theatrical feature, starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, will screen at the Wells Fargo Theatre.  The film will be introduced by Native actor & writer Jason Grasl (Blackfeet).  It will be followed with an interview with Clayton Moore’s daughter, Dawn Moore, conducted by Leonard Maltin.

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

DAUGHTER REMEMBERS CLAYTON ‘LONE RANGER’ MOORE, PLUS ‘COWBOY LUNCH’, ‘SILVER SPURS’, ALMERIA FEST!

DAUGHTER DAWN REMEMBERS CLAYTON MOORE ON HIS 100^TH BIRTHDAY

Dawn and Clayton at the Cowboy Hall of Fame 1990

The first time I saw Clayton Moore in person was the day he got his star at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard, on the Walk of Fame.  His is the only star of the more than 2000 which also names the character that brought him fame. 

In 1996, my wife and I actually got to shake his hand.  It was at a book-signing for his autobiography, I WAS THAT MASKED MAN, written with Frank Thompson.  It was at the biggest bookstore in the San Fernando Valley, Bookstar.  Once a movie theatre,  the line stretched from Moore, seated at a table in front of what had been the screen, all the way through the orchestra, across the lobby, past the box-office and onto Ventura Boulevard.  (Incidentally, if you’d turned right on Ventura, then left at the next corner, Laurel Canyon, you’d be at the entrance to Republic Studios, where Clayton had been ‘King of the Serials.’) 

While we waited for our turn to meet the man we’d both grown up watching portray history’s greatest champion of justice, we were struck by the number of men in line, in military and police uniforms – in front of us was a CHP officer with his helmet dangling from his arm.  The atmosphere was electric – voices all around us announced that watching Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger had inspired them to go into the Army or the police department.  I spotted a friend in line, an attorney who happens to be one of Tex Ritter’s sons.  When we got to the head of the line, we got our book signed, a chance to say ‘thanks’, a big grin, a strong hand-shake, and strong eye contact – through the mask! Who could ask for more?

I am indebted to my friend Maxine Hansen at Gene Autry Entertainment, who thought that Clayton’s daughter Dawn and I should meet.

Clayton (r) in Buffalo Bill in Tomahawk Country

HENRY:  Your father is so associated in the public mind with the Lone Ranger that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it’s not the 100^th birthday of the character; it’s the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the man who portrayed him.  Tell me something about your father that we fans of the Lone Ranger wouldn’t guess. 

DAWN MOORE:  What most people don’t know about Dad is that he had an incredible sense of humor.  He was really a big kid; he was irreverent, and kind of whacky, and liked to have a good time.

HENRY: Besides playing the Lone Ranger, your dad played a wide range of roles – I particularly liked his villains.  How did he like playing a bad guy?  Did he have any favorite non Lone Ranger roles?

DAWN:  You know, he did actually, because when he got the role of the Lone Ranger he was told in no uncertain terms, that he was to mimic (radio’s Lone Ranger) Brace Beemer’s performance, and mimic his voice.  And the Lone Ranger was stoic, and was not to laugh or smile or be light-hearted in any way.  That was challenging, and several seasons into it, he actually said, ‘I’d like to smile.’  And if you watch the progression of it, not only does his horse-back riding improve,  which he also readily admitted, but he actually smiles towards the end of the series run, which he wasn’t allowed to do at the beginning.  He very much enjoyed playing heavies, because that’s when he’d kind of break loose.  (When the Lone Ranger would be in disguise in an episode) he enjoyed playing the prospector, he enjoyed doing the Mexican bandito, he enjoyed the padre; this was much more fun for him than just sticking to the one role consistently.   And that role, let’s face it, was an unemotional man. 

Clayton as the Old Prospector

HENRY:  Yes, nothing upset him, and nothing made him particularly happy, as you say, until a few seasons in.  It’s funny, because you really see that with George Reeves playing SUPERMAN too, that he was stoic and humorless for the first few seasons.

DAWN:  And you can see what that did for Reeves.

HENRY: Didn’t do him any good.  I loved when your dad did The Old Prospector and other characters.  Those roles were so much fun and he did a lovely job of them.

DAWN:  Well he, in fact, had The Old Prospector voice on the answering machine at our house.  And often he would, if he didn’t know who was calling, or depending on the kind of mood he was in, often answer in the Old Prospector voice.

HENRY: How old were you when you realized that your dad was a hero to millions of kids?  How did you find out?

DAWN:  I didn’t watch the show; the show was off the air by the time I showed up.  It would have been in re-runs in the 1960s, and in any case, I wasn’t interested – I was watching the MICKEY MOUSE CLUB.  And because he was in a costume and because he was in a mask, he was rarely recognized in public, so I had a normal childhood; he had quite a bit on anonymity.   So therefore I didn’t know he was famous for a very long time.  I was probably almost nine when we were shopping for a television, and the saleswoman stopped him and said, “I recognize your voice.  Are you The Lone Ranger?” 

HENRY:  As you said, the series was already in re-runs when you came along.  Were your friends aware of who your father was?  Did your parents have many friends in the business? 

DAWN:  Kids in school; you know, mostly I got teased.  I remember being teased quite a bit.  The fun thing was, when I had a birthday party, Dad would be Dad when the kids arrived, and at some point in the middle of the party, he would make a personal appearance as The Lone Ranger.  And then he would disappear again, and come back as Clayton Moore.  And the kids never were the wiser, because they were too young to get the voice thing.  That was fun – that was very fun.  But at school it was more about kids looking for things to tease you about.  About my father’s friends; he didn’t really hang out with other actors.  He hung out with the grips and the stuntmen, and the behind-the-scenes guys.  Because he was a guy’s guy, a man’s man.  And he really wasn’t interested in hanging out with the stars.  My mother would always kind of ride him about that.  ‘Why should I hang out with actors?’  He was not interested.

Clayton is a villain in Gene Autry's 'Night Train to Galveston'

HENRY: Did you ever watch the show with your dad?

DAWN: I didn’t ever watch it with him, and I didn’t watch pretty much anything that he was in with him until we started working on his book, so this was not until the ‘90s. And when we did start working on his book, I did make a point of going through every one of the serials even, and I have both audio and video of the two of us watching that together, and his comments.

HENRY:  I loved him in THE PERILS OF NYOKA.

DAWN:  That was his first one, 1942.  And that in fact was the inspiration for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. 

HENRY:  Oh yes, when you watch it, it becomes very obvious.

DAWN:  I’m thrilled that you know that.  It’s almost identical, including the characters.  The only thing that’s different is that in PERILS OF NYOKA, the star is Nyoka.  But the doctor, and all the other characters – it’s all there.  I don’t think Speilberg ever copped to it, but I know Lucas did.  Do you know if Speilberg ever did?

Kay Aldridge, Clayton, Billy Benedict in

'Perils of Nyoka'

HENRY:  I don’t remember him doing so, but he certainly said he did a great study of the Republic serials before making it.  He was certainly copping to owing a huge debt to the genre.

DAWN:  Dad actually brought that to my attention.  I don’t know who brought it to his attention.

HENRY:  In his autobiography, your father describes adopting you as, “…the greatest thing that ever happened to me.”  How close were you and your dad? 

DAWN:  Dad was a big kid, and because of that he really was a fun father.  He was not a disciplinarian.  That fell to my mother.  So naturally, what does that do to any kid?  The parent who was not the disciplinarian becomes your friend.  So in hindsight I realize my poor mother really got the short end of the stick on that deal.  Somebody’s always the bad guy, and it was never my father.  He enjoyed those roles, but he would never take the bad-guy position in real life.  I would also say he was encouraging.  He was not judgmental, which in a parent is an extraordinary thing.  He thought I walked on water.  He always praised anything, any stupid little thing I did got tremendous praise.  Buuuut… and here’s kind of a fun flipside of that.  Because he was such a good athlete, and I’m sure he learned what I am about to share with you from his own father, he didn’t ‘let’ me win anything that we did together.  If I won fair and square, that was great, but he would not just give it to me.  We played tennis together, and I‘d be running from one side of the court to the other, and he’d be standing still.  And I got so frustrated I can remember one time saying to him, “Why don’t you just let me win one?”  And he said, “Because you’re not going to learn anything by me letting you win.”  He taught me how to dive.  He was an excellent swimmer – he used to swim with Johnny Weissmuller at the Hollywood Athletic Club.  And obviously he knew, from being a trapeze artist, how to be graceful in a dive. So he taught me how to dive, and he would rate me.  “That’s a 7, that’s an 8, that’s an 8 and a half – try again.”  He was encouraging without being judgmental, and that’s a good thing when you’re young, and still living at home, and you come home drunk.  (laughs)  That’s another sign of great parents; I knew when they were disappointed in me.  They didn’t have to go into a long verbal dissertation about it; it was very clear.  He gave direction and encouragement and 

guidance when needed.  He was a buddy; he was a friend.

HENRY:  Were there any other things you two liked to do together?

DAWN:  He used to take me fishing.  He had two brothers; there were three boys in his family, and he was very close to his father, so he did all the same things with me.  We went fishing.  When he would practice using the bullwhip, I would be the one standing there with the cigarette in my mouth.  Now of course, the cigarette was a rolled up piece of paper.  And my mother was mortified – and sure that he was going to hurt me in some way, accidentally of course.  But I was having great fun.  When he was home, he engaged me in everything he was doing.  Some people’s parents come home from work, and they need some downtime.  But because Dad was home all the time, there wasn’t that separation.

Clayton and Dawn at Pat Buttram's 1959

HENRY:  Were there any particular friends from the Lone Ranger days – actors, directors, writers, that stayed friends after the series had finished?

DAWN:  You know, if they didn’t have children, then I wouldn’t remember.  My father remained very close to his Army buddies.  And they were not actors.  He remained close with them until they all started dying off in the 1970s and 1980s.  There were four of them, Dad was one of the four, and they would get together with their wives.  That I remember very distinctly.  But that is another good example of my father being down to Earth, and being more interested in befriending people who were not in the industry. 

HENRY:  Somewhere I have in the back of my head that your father and Rand Brooks were good friends.  Is that right?  (Note: Rand Brooks and Clayton Moore worked together in 1940’s THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO, and seven Lone Ranger episodes)

DAWN:  That’s absolutely right.  I never associate Rand with THE LONE RANGER because Rand, having been in GONE WITH THE WIND in 1939 (note: he played Scarlet O’Hara’s first husband) was already doing very well before my Father arrived.  They were best friends; they were very very close friends.  Rand spoke at Dad’s memorial service, and was very moving.

HENRY: What were your father’s interests or hobbies outside of acting?

DAWN:  For the most part, his hobbies all involved athletics.  He swam almost every day.  He would be out for very long walks.  He would go for camping trips on weekends – he always had some kind of motor-home or camper.  Some kind of vehicle that allowed him to get away.   To this day – why I continue to save it I don’t know – I have all his camping equipment, his fishing gear, and sleeping bag and Coleman stove, and I’m never going to use it as long as I live.  But somehow, that is more who my father was.  It was more important to me even than saving a lot of his Lone Ranger memorabilia.  People ask me, when I’ve had these various auctions, “How can you part with these things?”  And that is not who my father was to me.  My father is in the fishing reel and the tackle box, and I remember him showing me how to get a worm on a hook.  Those things are my father.  The Bohlen gun rig is a character, and part of my father’s job, but that’s not him to me.  So the difference in what I choose to keep, and what’s not as important to me, and should go out for fans to enjoy and be stewards of – the mind-set is a little different.

HENRY:  What triggered your father’s decision to ‘become’ the Lone Ranger, and never appear in public without the mask?

DAWN:  He never appeared, working at any kind of a performance where he would be the Lone Ranger – he didn’t show up or leave without being in the costume – so-as not to dispel the mystery and ruin the mystique.  But he’d really found something that made him feel good about himself.  That’s really what it drove down to: he fell in love with the character, and he said many times that it made him a better person.  And when you look at the Lone Ranger Creed, you can pick out any one of the tenants, and see that it is still completely relevant eighty years later.  And very powerful stuff.  He read it; he took it to heart.  He thought, this is a way to live a better life.  It meant something to him, and he made choices every day based on the creed.  It’s hard to be perfect (laughs).  He certainly didn’t achieve perfection by any means, but the fact that he made the effort to is certainly more than most of us would ever try to do.

HENRY:  Yes, to have a code to live up to every day is taking on an awful lot.

DAWN:  It is taking on a whole lot, and I think my father wasn’t particularly religious, but in lieu of that, that was his religion. 

HENRY:  Much of your father’s later Lone Ranger work, like the Aqua-Velva and Pizza-Roll commercials, was tongue-in-cheek, and he had to play it stoic for the joke to work.  What was your father’s sense of humor like?

DAWN:  He loved doing those commercials because they were so tongue-in-cheek – he was totally in on the joke; he absolutely ‘got it.’  If you came to the house you would have been encouraged to put the mask on, you would have been encouraged to put the hat on or the gun-belt on.  It was a lot of fun for him – he never really got out of being ten years old himself.  There he was playing a character that any kid would want to be, so why wouldn’t he want to do this for the rest of his life.  Dad’s sense of humor -- he thought it was hilarious that they had just bought two plots at Forest Lawn, and how beautiful it was up there.  So when we had guests visiting from Minneapolis, and they wanted to tour around and see all the sights, we went there of course, and he thought it was just hysterical to lay down where his plot was, and make them take a picture.  And they wanted to play along, and my mother was mortified – “Clayton, get up out of there!”

HENRY:  By the 1980s, most active actors of your father’s era were making the rounds of LOVE 

BOAT, FANTASY ISLAND and MURDER SHE WROTE.  Was he approached for this sort of show?  Did he consider them, though it would have gone against his intention to only appear as The Lone Ranger?  

DAWN:  You know, I don’t know exactly where the line got drawn with him.  Garry Marshall approached him to come on HAPPY DAYS, because The Lone Ranger was Fonzie’s hero, and Dad turned that down.  I was surprised at that because it perfectly fit in with who he was, and his portrayal of the character.  I mean, he appeared as The Lone Ranger on LASSIE, and other shows, so it was interesting to me that he turned that down, and another actor had to do that.

HENRY:  It was John Hart. (Note: When, after a few years, Clayton Moore wanted a raise, he was fired and replaced by John Hart.  After one season the producers rehired Moore for more money.)

DAWN:  It was John Hart?  I didn’t realize that.  What did make sense for me was to turn down Johnny Carson.  Johnny Carson asked him a record three times.  Dad’s position was, ‘I’m not going to sit there, on that kind of a format on that kind of a show, in a costume and a mask, and a gun-belt – it’d look absolutely silly for a full-grown man.  And I’m not going to appear as Clayton Moore, because that will destroy the mystique.’  Carson asked him again and he said no, same reason.  Jay Silverheels did appear, and I believe he was in costume, and I think that reinforced Dad to say ‘I won’t do it.’  That makes perfect sense, because he wanted to continue to maintain the mystery.  So that’s why he only took the commercials, which allowed him to continue the mystery.  He did ED SULLIVAN, and my Dad never said a bad word about anyone except Ed Sullivan.  Ed did not go along with the program, meaning he didn’t go along with the joke, he couldn’t interact with him the way he needed to.  My guess is he didn’t want a repeat of the Ed Sullivan experience with Johnny Carson.  He was smart in how he crafted the balance of his career that way, and what he chose to do and what he chose not to do.  In hindsight he did a good job.

HENRY:  I recently met Michael Horse, who played Tonto in the 1981 THE LEGEND OF THE 

LONE RANGER.  And when I re-watched the film, there was a role in it, of a newspaper publisher, that I thought would have made an excellent cameo for your father.  And when I saw the credits, I was stunned: it was played by John Hart.  Was that ever offered to your father?

DAWN: He was not offered any part, but in any case, had he been offered that, he would not have accepted it.  His take on (the story for the movie) would have been totally genius.  He understood that the Lone Ranger was a young man in his late teens or early twenties.  And the way to have transitioned from the fan stand-point, and it would have made a fantastic story-line, is to have him hand the mask down to the next generation onscreen.  Literally, shooting from behind, have him take the mask off and hand it to the next Lone Ranger.   That would have been fantastic, and the story is a great conceit.  They did a fantastic job when Mel Gibson and Jodie Foster did MAVERICK.  It was smart and funny and irreverent, and there was that great wink, how they folded in James Garner.  And they didn’t take the role away from Garner, he was Maverick, but the father.   But no, (my father) was not offered anything, and he would not have taken the bartender had he been offered it. 

HENRY:  What is your father’s legacy?

DAWN:  As I continue to hear from fans, his legacy lies in what the fan-letters say.  This was during his lifetime, in addition to the letters I continue to receive, and what you can find on-line on chat-boards and tribute sites.  The letters are from policemen, and firemen, and teachers, all of whom say they chose a career in service because of him, because of his portrayal.  Not just because of the Lone Ranger, but because of Clayton Moore, and how he chose to live his life.  That is pretty powerful stuff.  This is not just an actor portraying a role for entertainment’s sake.  This is how someone who has been able to transcend the entertainment value, and influence young peoples’ lives at a time that they are sponges, and they absorb something positive and carry it forward into their adult lives.  And they are serving other people, protecting other people.  I think that’s very powerful, and it’s important to me to share that on my father’s birthday. 

Next week I’ll have my coverage of Cinecon’s tribute to Clayton Moore.  Below is a video of Clayton Moore receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

‘LONE PINE’ CELEBRATED AT WEDNESDAY’S ‘COWBOY LUNCH @ THE AUTRY’!

On Wednesday, September 17^th, Rob Word’s third-Wednesday-of-the-month Cowboy Lunch at the Autry will celebrate the legendary Western movie location, Lone Pine, located several hours north of Los Angeles on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.  The sun-scorched desert, eerie rock formations and Alabama Hills have made it a favorite film location since the silent days, much used by Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy and hundreds of others – it even stood in for India in GUNGA DIN! 

Among the guests expected are Mariette Hartley, who starred in Sam Peckinpah’s RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY; William Wellman, Jr.; Robert Sigman of the Lone Pine History Museum;  and author Dick Bann.  Incidentally, October 10 – 12 is the 25^th Annual Lone Pine Film Festival – I’ll have details in the Round-up next week.   As always, Wednesday’s is free, tho’ you have to buy your lunch.  Lunch starts at noon, the talk starts about one, but if you want to be sure to get a seat inside, gets there early!

To whet your appetite for the luncheon, here’s a look at the WILD BUNCH LUNCH, where stuntman Gary Combs describes working for Sam Peckinpah:

‘SILVER SPURS’ FRIDAY AT SPORTMEN’S LODGE!

2012 finale, featuring Wilford Brimley, Anne Jeffreys, 

Delores Taylor, Bo Svenson, Louis Gossett Jr., 

Tom Laughlin and Ben Murphy

There are still tickets available for the  17^th Annual ‘SILVER SPUR AWARDS’ banquet this Friday night, presented by The Reel Cowboys.  Reel Cowboys President Robert Lanthier gave me an update on presenters and honorees.  Master of Ceremonies will be Israel Boone from the DANIEL BOONE series, Darby Hinton, who will soon be seen in the Western mini-series TEXAS RISING!  The first Lifetime Achievement Award will be represented to Clayton ‘The Lone Ranger’ Moore, represented by his daughter Dawn Moore.  The Jack Iverson Founder Award will be presented in honor of Cactus Mack by former child star Tommy Ivo.  Dan Haggerty will present an award honoring John Payne.  Wyatt McCrea, son of Joel McCrea and Frances Dee, will present an award honoring director William Wellman.  Roger E. Mosley will present to stun-man Bob Minor.  Patrick Wayne will present to Stephanie Powers.  Rich Little will present to Ruta Lee.  Among the folks expected to attend are Hugh O’Brien, Trini Lopez and Tab Hunter. 

A portion of the proceeds will go to the John Tracy Clinic, which helps young children with hearing loss.  For the best seating, VIP tickets are $175 on-line and $195 at the door.  General seating is $125 on-line and $145 at the door.  To learn more, and to buy tickets, visit the official website HERE.

ALMERIA FEST NAMES WINNERS!

The Almeria International Western Film Festival was held this week, and here are the winners:

  

Best Film – 6 BULLETS TO HELL

6 BULLETS cast and crew take to the Apollo Stage

Public’s Choice – LA FLOR DE LIS

Best Short – THE GUNFIGHTER

LIE ABOUT YOUR AGE!

As the attached WSJ article explains, LONGMIRE, one of the best and smartest series in years, and an unqualified hit, was cancelled because (a) A&E doesn’t own it, and they want to own more of what they air (understandable) and (b) because polling has shown that the median age for the show’s viewers is 60!  Our geezer-bucks aren’t good enuf for ‘em, even though we have more of ‘em than the young farts they’re coveting!  I’M SHAVING 20 YEARS OFF MY AGE FROM NOW ON, WHENEVER I’M POLLED ABOUT ANYTHING!  PLEASE JOIN ME IN THE BIG LIE!  Jack Benny was right all along!  Signed, Henry C. Parke, age 39.  http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/why-a-hit-tv-show-got-canceled-its-fans-were-too-old-1410451057?mobile=y

THAT’S A WRAP! 

Have a great week, and I’ll see you here next Sunday!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

‘LONE RANGER’ UP FOR BIDS AND ON DVDS!

BRIAN LEBEL’S OLD WEST SHOW & AUCTION

From Friday through Sunday, June 21^st through the 24^th, Denver, Colorado will draw collectors of Western art, artifacts and memorabilia from around the globe for Brian Lebel’s 24TH ANNUAL OLD WEST SHOW & AUCTION.  While the three-day event features a marketplace with over 200 antique and collectible dealers, the centerpiece is Saturday’s auction, where 337 lots will be sold, comprising an astonishing collection of Western items.  

They say that timing is everything, and what could be better timing for the daughter of Clayton Moore, TV’s THE LONE RANGER, to part with some of her mementoes on the eve of the release of the new LONE RANGER movie?   Says Clayton’s only child, Dawn Moore, “He always said that when he was gone I should keep whatever pieces have particular meaning to me, with the rest to be enjoyed by whoever would appreciate them.” 

Cigar store Indian

 

I was on Hollywood Boulevard in 1987 when Clayton Moore got his star on the Walk of Fame, and among the fans present were MCGYVER star Richard Dean Anderson, for whom he was a role model.  When Moore wrote his autobiography, I WAS THAT MASKED MAN, and I stood on line at a book signing, along with my wife, and Tex Ritter’s son, attorney Tom Ritter, and we were all struck by how many LAPD officers, and CHP officers, helmets in hand, were waiting for autographs.  Dawn says that even now, thirteen years after her father’s death, she still receives his fan mail, mostly from baby-boomers who are now police officers, firefighters and teachers.  “These were the young viewers who decided to become protectors in some capacity because of my father’s role on television.  Talk about paying it forward – it’s very powerful stuff.”  Among the Clayton Moore Lone Ranger clothing items up for bids are a Nudie’s Stetson, a Bohlin Buscadero Lone Ranger double holster gun rig, four pairs of boots, a Nudie’s Lone Ranger costume, a Manuel Lone Ranger costume, shirts, pants, and a red neckerchief. Among personal items are a Winchester presentation rifle, gold records, posters, toys, toupees, and a silver bullet that comes with a signed picture of Clayton Moore and Richard Nixon. 

Pistol and papers of Wyoming Sheriff Nottage

 

And speaking of TV heroes, let’s give equal time to TV heroines.  Gail Davis starred in ANNIE OAKLEY in the 1950s, and now her daughter Terrie is selling some of her personal affects.  There are movie posters, toys, magazines, books, and playing cards – all emblazoned with Davis’ image as the woman who, in the star’s own words, “…had to deal with the same ruthless characters--rustlers and killers--that the cowboys dealt with. And she did it without ever killing a one of them.”  There’s a beautiful red Nudie costume as well, but I bet I know what item the women who grew up on the show would give their eye-teeth for: a Nudie-made miniature Annie Oakley costume that little Terrie Davis wore when mother and daughter made public appearances together.  And because Annie Oakley was, after all, a real person, there is also a signed cabinet card of the original ‘Little Sure-Shot’ offered for bid.

If you’re in the market for a hat, there are two Tom Mix Stetsons, Robert Mitchum’s sombrero from THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY (the hat is believed to be pre-Mexican Revolution), and a Stetson that belonged to Robert “Believe it of Not!” Ripley.  There is a wide range of art, both cowboy and Indian-made, and the usual mind-blowing selection of bits and spurs, saddles and sidearms, and some fascinating documents.  There’s a large collection of Tom Mix papers, calling cards and letters from Buffalo Bill Cody, Frederic Remington, and Pat Garrett’s life insurance policy (don't know if they paid off).  From Dodge City there’s a collection of documents carried by City Sheriff Ham Bell.  From Tombstone a collection of documents includes a $1.50 receipt to Wyatt Earp for removing a dead dog, a photograph of Bat’s brother Ed Masterson, and a petition directed to Sheriff John Behan, relating to a writ of Habeas Corpus for Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.  There’s a collection of letters from famous people to the last survivor of the James gang.  There’s even a full-size, working Concord stage-coach!  If you’d like to learn more, get a catalog, or find out how to get to Denver pronto, go HERE.  http://www.denveroldwest.com/owshow.html

 

‘LONE RANGER’ – NEW DVD RELEASES REVIEWED

With the greatly anticipated LONE RANGER movie on the not-too-distant horizon, it’s no surprise that the original LONE RANGER TV series is being made available for those whose appetite will be whetted for more of the masked rider of the plains and his faithful Indian companion.  DreamWorks Classics has released a complete set that includes all 221 episodes on 30 DVDs, as well as two features films, a radio show, a complete episode guide, reproduction of a comic-book, and all manner of extras.  This deluxe edition will run you $199; but if you’d like to get your toes wet before you dive in headfirst, you’ll be glad to know that they’re also putting out three surprisingly inexpensive sampler disks, each featuring eight episodes, and each retailing for a paltry $6.99! Titled HI-YO SILVER, AWAY!; KEMO SABE; and WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?, they’re a great way to relive your own childhood, or to introduce the shows to your children or grandchildren. 

 

The BIG set!

The LONE RANGER first appeared on Detroit radio station WXYZ in early 1933, and when it went off the air in 1954, it had produced around 3,000 episodes starring Brace Beemer as the Lone Ranger, and Shakespearean actor John Todd as Tonto.  Starting in 1949, the first eight years of the TV show were produced by the man who created the radio series, George W. Trendle (though many claim that head-writer Fran Striker was the true creator of the Masked Man as well as his direct descendant, The Green Hornet). 

 

Brace Beemer at the microphone

 

Although Brace Beemer was perfect on radio, a younger and more fit man was needed on-screen, and Clayton Moore was perfect.  A busy but undistinguished actor with an unusually distinctive voice, his portrayal came alive when the mask went on, and he made an indelible impression as the Lone Ranger.  Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk, played Tonto, and although his dialogue was written to make it clear that English was his second language, his characterization was subtle and memorable.  And they didn’t soft-pedal the racial elements; until they learned better, many white folk started the episodes addressing Tonto as “Indian,” as though he didn’t have a name.     

Coming with a tremendous backlog of already-produced half-hour stories, the shows at first relied heavily on adapting radio scripts, which caused them to be rather stiff and stilted.  In early episodes, actor Gerald Mohr, who spoke those well-remembered words from the opening – “…Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear!  From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver!  The Lone Ranger Rides again!” – voiced much un-needed and distracting narration that was carried over from radio, but soon, growing used to the new visual medium, they cut back noticeably on the exposition.  The production values are high in the early shows, with plenty of location work, and a bit of stock footage thrown in.  Later on the series became famous for cutting corners.  Dick Jones who guested on the LONE RANGER, recalled that the camera was mounted on a tripod in the back of a truck at all times, so they could change set-ups that much quicker.  There was also extensive shooting on ‘green sets,’ fake exteriors that were convincing on tiny old TV screens of the day, but are jarringly phony-looking today.

Overall, the shows hold up remarkably well, due in great degree to the iconic performances by Moore and Silverheels, clever – if occasionally nutty – plotting, and a subtle but ever-present moral core: good people, tempted to do bad, could be saved, and even killers who had irreparably crossed the line, could be redeemed through self-sacrifice.  Although nothing you’d notice as a kid wrapped up in a story, the Lone Ranger never shot to kill – he was always shooting guns out of villains’ hands.

In 1954, oil-man Jack Wrather bought the rights to the LONE RANGER from Trendle for the staggering sum of $3,000,000.  He produced two feature films, and audiences for the first time got to see the Lone Ranger in glorious color, in THE LONE RANGER (1956), costarring Rather’s wife and the screen’s ‘Nancy Drew,’ Bonita Granville; and THE LONE RANGER AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD (1958).  The final season of the series was shot in color, and the budgets boosted to a then-phenomenal $25,000 per episode, many shot in scenic Kanab, Utah, and perhaps to take advantage of their colorful attire, those episodes usually focus on the Ranger’s dealings with Indians.  Wrather also hoped to make the series appeal to an older audience as well, and the one noticeable change is that the Lone Ranger is a tad less stoic and more slyly humorous in his patter with Tonto.  Many of the color episodes are directed by the prolific and talented Earl Bellamy, who helmed many movies, and more than 1,600 TV episodes, more than any other director.  (He also was a friend, and directed the first movie I wrote, SPEEDTRAP.)  One surprise in the color shows is that some forward-looking person decided, back in 1949, to shoot the show’s opening in color – it’s the exact same footage they’d been showing in black & white for years, only now we could see that the Ranger’s outfit was blue, and his kerchief red.

The three individual collections

The quality of image in the new DVD releases, HI-YO SILVER, AWAY!; KEMO SABE; and WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?, is stunning, absolutely pristine.  The black & white prints are crisp and sharp, with rich blacks and a wide range of greys that display the often beautiful cinematography.  The color episodes are rich in hue and beauty, whether showing sets, wardrobe, or remarkable desert locations.  As far as I can tell, they’ve been unedited. 

The episodes on each disk are in chronological order, but on two of the three collections – and this is my only serious criticism – the selection seems completely random: there is no apparent attempt to order or group the shows.  This is most noticeable with HI-YO SILVER, AWAY!  The first episode, THE LONE RANGER FIGHTS ON, is actually the 2^nd episode of the series, and the middle section of a three-part telling of the outlaw ambush of a group of Texas Rangers which leaves only one alive, hence the lone ranger.  So we come into the story in the middle, see Walter Sande as a lawman and Glenn Strange (Sam of GUNSMOKE) as Butch Cavendish, and the story ends with a cliffhanger, and a rarely seen cereal plug.  Then we are told to be sure to return for the next episode, but the next episode is not #3, but #43, OUTLAWS OF THE PLAINS.  This is followed by MR. TROUBLE from season 2, which is followed by three episodes from season 3 which star not Clayton Moore, but John Hart as the Lone Ranger!  After two seasons of playing the lead, Clayton Moore tried for more money, and was promptly fired, replaced by Hart for 52 episodes.  Hart was a good actor, but Trendle and company had to admit that, even with the mask, audiences could tell the difference; they renegotiated, and Clayton Moore returned, and played Lone Ranger for the rest of the run.  Incidentally, John Hart, who would go on to star as Hawkeye in HAWKEYE AND THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS series, told interviewer Sunset Carson that he didn’t blame Moore for holding out for more money; Hart was paid less per episode for playing the Lone Ranger than for any other acting job he ever had!  But Even without Moore, these episodes are worth seeing.  THE BROWN PONY stars Lee Van Cleef as an escaped convict who holds the evidence to free and innocent man.  Next is THE OLD COWBOY, followed by THE MIDNIGHT RIDER, starring Darryl Hickman playing, ironically, a caped and masked Zorro-like character.  Then Clayton Moore is back for TRAPPED, episode #178, followed by the 9^th color episode, QUARTER-HORSE WAR, filmed in gorgeous Kanab, Utah, featuring a big budget, a lot of action, and guest-starring fine Western villain Harry Lauter.

 

The KEMO SABE collection starts with TROUBLE FOR TONTO from season 1, then THE FUGITIVE, ENFIELD RIFLE and THE TELL-TALE BULLET from season 4.  TELL-TALE features excellent villain Anthony Caruso, and a pre-Chester Dennis Weaver.  FRAMED FOR MURDER stars the still handsome and active James Best (this weekend he was performing his one-man-show at the Memphis Film Festival).  The last three episodes, COURAGE OF TONTO, MISSION FOR TONTO and THE BANKER’S SON are all in color, so if you’re trying to interest a young kid in the Lone Ranger, this would be the set to start with: if you can get them hooked with the color shows, they’ll be willing to watch the black & white ones after.  (Over the years I’ve introduced thousands of L.A. school kids to Laurel & Hardy, but the trick was to show them the colorized ones first; most kids simply won’t watch anything black & white).  Incidentally, COURAGE OF TONTO guest-stars former screen ‘Red Ryder’ Jim Bannon.

The WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN? collection does have a theme, about identity, and features stories about masks, people impersonating the Lone Ranger but, best of all, features several episodes where Moore gets to shed his mask and don outrageous disguises.  The first episode is THE MASKED RIDER, episode #14 from the first season.  The next one, GOLD TRAIN, episode #27, features a pre-STAR TREK DeForrest Kelly; and little Billy Bletcher, a Mack Sennett comic who voiced The Big Bad Wolf and Peg-Leg Pete for Disney.  From Season 2, BAD MEDICINE features primo Western villain Dick Curtis, and Clayton Moore made up as a hysterical Italian farmer.  THE HOODED MEN from season two continues the disguise theme, and guest-stars Walter Sande.  From Season 4, TWO FOR JUAN RINGO guest stars Lyle Talbot, and features Moore disguised as a Mexican bandito; WANTED: THE LONE RANGER guest stars Jesse White, and both Moore and Silverheels dress up as circus clowns.  The last two episodes are color, from the final season.  THE RETURN OF DON PEDRO O’SULLIVAN features Moore as a red-headed, red-bearded Irishman, and best of all, in OUTLAWS IN GREASEPAINT, the Lone Ranger plays Othello!  GREASEPAINT, incidentally, is the very last episode of the series, although there is no sense of finality, as when it was shot, yet another season was being planned. 

Moore and Silverheels would play their iconic characters in commercials for GENO’S PIZZA ROLLS and AQUA VELVA aftershave, but producer Jack Wrather alienated fans when, after announcing production of THE  LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER (1981), he forbade Clayton Moore from dressing as the Lone Ranger, or wearing the mask.  Despite direction by the great cinematographer Bill Fraker, and a cast that included Jason Robards as President Grant, Christopher Lloyd as Butch Cavendish and Richard Farnsworth as Wild Bill Hickock (and perhaps as a slap-in-the-face to Clayton Moore, featuring John Hart in a cameo), it also featured first-time (and last-time) actor Klinton Spilsbury as the Lone Ranger.  It bombed, and combined with the previous year’s financial disaster HEAVEN’S GATE, dealt the cause of Western filmmaking a decade-long setback.  (Worth noting, Tonto was played by fellow first-time actor Michael Horse, who has gone on to a very respectable and successful acting career in and out of Westerns.)

If you like THE LONE RANGER, you’ll love this set of bargain-priced DVDs from Dreamworks Classics.  And if you don’t, why have you read this far?

A LOOK AT ‘LONE RANGER’ BOOTCAMP

 

GATEWAY SADDLES UP WINNERS FOR ANNUAL COWBOY ROUND-UP

Here’s a very interesting article from the Columbus Dispatch by Terry Mikesell, about the terrific annual Western Festival at the Gateway Film Center in Columbus, Ohio.  And no, I’m not adding all those compliments just because I was interviewed for the piece.  But it helps.  Read it HERE.

And if you can get to Columbus, and want details on the festival, go HERE.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL YOU DADS!

Here’s the picture my daughter posted of us on the Round-up Facebook page, wishing me a happy Father’s Day.  I hope all of you other dads out there had as great a day as I did, and are as proud of your kids as I am.

Happy Trails,

Henry

 

All Original Contents Copyright June 2013 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved