LESTER CUNEO – THE FIRST ITALIAN WESTERN STAR! PLUS TCM FEST, COWBOY FEST, AND SELECTED SHORTS!

LESTER CUNEO – THE FIRST ITALIAN WESTERN STAR!

The idea of an Italian western star immediately conjures up the 1960s, and the image of a handsome European, perhaps with an Americanized moniker, riding a horse through the Tabernas Desert.  But the first, actually a Chicago-born actor of Italian heritage, started his screen career in 1912 in the United States.  Lester Cuneo’s name is largely unknown today, because he died before the transition of films from silents to talkies, and because his films have long been unavailable.  But now Grapevine Video has made two of his starring features, SILVER SPURS and BLAZING ARROWS, both from 1922, available.  His work is overdue for reappraisal.       

Born in 1888, the tall and handsome Cuneo, with dark eyes and a Roman nose, was a stage actor from his teens, and entered movies at the age of 24.  He was lucky to be in Chicago, headquarters of film pioneer Col. William Selig, and went to work at Selig-Polyscope Studios. For more information on Cuneo and Selig, I turned to Andy Erish, author of the definitive biography of the man, and history of the studio, SELIG – THE MAN WHO INVENTED HOLLYWOOD. 

He told me, “(Cuneo) only made a couple of films at Selig's Chicago studio hub before traveling to Colorado to join the company's Western unit. Ironically, one of the films made in Chicago was a comedy/drama about Italian immigrants in the US called ACCORDING TO LAW, but Cuneo played an immigration cop - not one of the immigrants! Anyway, Cuneo appears to have been assigned to the Colorado unit as a replacement for Tom Mix, who decided not to renew his contract early in 1912 in order to help organize and participate in the first Calgary Stampede. Cuneo played the same sorts of roles Mix had opposite William Duncan - occasionally as the hero, but more often as the villain. When the director of Selig's Colorado troupe, Otis B. Thayer, left after a few months, Duncan took over. Cuneo still alternated playing villain and hero with Duncan.

“Mix rejoined the Selig western unit at Canon City, Colorado around Thanksgiving 1912 after sustaining some serious injuries in the Stampede and the rodeo circuit. Now Mix was often cast in the roles that had been played by Cuneo or Duncan, though all three at various times continued to play hero, villain or henchman. The troupe moved to Prescott, Arizona at the beginning of 1913 where they remained for a year and a half. Duncan directed all of the films and wrote most of them, too, until Mix began writing scripts around September 1913 that more fully integrated his cowboy skills and athletic prowess into his characters and plots. Mix had written a handful of scripts since first joining the company in 1910, and suggested bits of business (physical action) to liven up others' scripts (including those written by Duncan). But the movies written by Mix that were made in Prescott in the fall of 1913 completely transformed the movie cowboy into an action hero whose exploits were an outgrowth of rodeo stunts. Mix had already developed an international following in 1910-11, but the content and success of the films he wrote in Prescott put him in a class by himself.

“Cuneo became the odd man out, serving as sidekick or henchman to Mix's heroes or villains. At the end of 1913 Duncan was reassigned to focus his energies solely on directing Mix - no more acting. Mix had brought a couple of old rodeo and ranch pals into the Prescott unit, notably Sid Jordan, further displacing Cuneo. By the time Selig moved the Western Unit to Glendale, California in mid-1914, Mix had already taken over as director, writer, producer, star, (with) Duncan leaving for Vitagraph. Cuneo seems to have remained behind in Prescott, where he starred in a handful of Selig Western shorts directed by Marshall Farnum (brother of better known actors William and Dustin). Sometime during the summer of 1914 Cuneo left Selig for Essanay, and appears to have relocated to their Chicago studio.” 

Lester Cuneo established himself as a star in Westerns, and unlike many of his contemporaries, starred in films of many other genres.  A more versatile actor than most, he was screen-tested by Ernst Lubitsch for the title role of FAUST in 1923 (sadly, the film was never made).  In 1920 he married beautiful co-star Francelia Billington, and they would produce fourteen movies – and two children – together.  Already a notable actress in her own right, the previous year she had what would be her most important film role, as the married woman pursued by Austrian officer Erich Von Stroheim in BLIND HUSBANDS. 

SILVER SPURS, co-directed by Henry McCarty and James Leo Meehan – both first-time directors! – opens in contemporary (for 1922) Manhattan, as the very cosmopolitan Lester, a western novelist, is at his gentlemen’s club, kidded by his friends for wanting to escape to the simpler life of the imagined west.  They surprise him with a good-luck gift of a pair of silver spurs, and he is on his way. 

In the California town of San Vincente he befriends the local padre (Phil Gastrock), and soon becomes embroiled in helping lovely Rosario del Camarillo (Lillian Ward), by inheritance the queen of the rancho, who has been swindled out of her property and position by Juan Von Rolf (Bert Sprotte).  Von Rolf is such a swine that although married, he treats his wife like dirt, and flaunts his relationship with cantina-girl Carmencita (Zalla Zarana), who makes a play for Lester, in part to make Von Rolf jealous.

In BLAZING ARROWS, again directed by McCarty, an Indian couple, Gray Eagle (Clark Comstock) and Mocking Bird (Laura Howard) discover a white couple, dead by their wagon, and a helpless baby.  The childless couple raises the baby – calling him Sky Fire – as their own.  Abruptly the babe has grown into college student John Strong (Lester Cuneo).  He is on the verge of proposing to wealthy co-ed Martha Randolph (Francelia Billington), but in a nod to Conan Doyle, she is an orphan being raised by guardian Lafe McKee.  Lafe has mismanaged her money, is in hock up to his ears to villainous Lew Meehan (who also co-wrote the script), and will do whatever it takes to keep her from marrying, and gaining control of her fortune. 

John Strong is about to reveal to Martha that he is an Indian (he doesn’t know he was adopted) when Lafe announces it, and forbids the marriage.  Crushed, John drops out of college, goes home to his Indian family.  Distraught, Martha is sent away to the country to ‘get over’ John.  And wouldn’t you know it – they end up in the same place where, as luck would have it, Lew Meehan is known and reviled as a crooked exploiter of Indians.  Contrived as it may sound, the film is very entertaining. 

Although not in the Tom Mix league, Cuneo was a talented horseman, and in both films acquits himself well in the saddle.  Both films have plenty of plot-motivated riding and shooting and fighting, and effective villains.  Unusually, the SILVER SPURS villain, Juan Von Rolf, is described as a German and Mexican ‘half-breed,’ perhaps carrying some lingering hostility after the recent Great War.  Ethnicities, and the views of the period, are important in both stories.  In BLAZING ARROWS it is a given that Martha could not marry an Indian.  However, in a switch on the old Cavalry pictures, it is the Indians to the rescue when the good guys are hopelessly outnumbered.  In SILVER SPURS, Cuneo sees Rosario’s devoted Indian servant, Tehana carrying her mistresses’ laundry, and in a courtly manner carries the load for her – but he doesn’t let her ride!  She still walks while he stays on his horse!

Another interesting aspect of Westerns of the early 20^th century is that they didn’t think of the ‘old west days’ as over, and happily mix debonair Manhattan parties with Indians in tepees and every westerner on horseback.    

Lester Cuneo

Tragically, three years later, the very talented and promising actor would be dead, and by his own hand.  He had fallen out of favor as a leading man, and had begun taking supporting roles in poor films.  He had begun to drink to excess.  Francelia filed for divorce; the decree came in November of 1925.  Reportedly, he told his children, “Daddy’s going away,” took a pistol from a closet, locked himself in the bedroom, and killed himself.  He was 37.  After his death, his widow, who had appeared in 140 films, would make only one more without Lester, before the coming of sound, and four years later would make her one ‘talkie’ movie, a supporting role in a Hoot Gibson western, before succumbing to tuberculosis, and dying at age 39.

But SILVER SPURS and BLAZING ARROWS preserve that moment when Fracelia were young, active, attractive, and full of hope.  Each film is available for $16.95 from Grapevine Video HERE  .  BLAZING ARROWS also includes UNCOVERED WAGONS (1923), a one-reel comedy starring Charlie Chase’s kid brother James Parrott.  It features pioneers in Calistoga Model-Ts, and Indians on bicycles, and is an irreverent hoot!

In researching this piece, I came upon an article from the November 1920 issue of Screenland magazine, with Lester Cuneo telling about an adventure in the Mexican desert.  The text is below.

COMING EVENTS!

There are so many interesting events on the near horizon that it’s time to start marking up your datebook, and making reservations!  I’ll have more details on some of these as the dates get closer.

THE PAPERBACK COLLECTOR SHOW – SUNDAY, MARCH 22^ND

For decades fans of soft-back books have met annually to buy and sell, and for the second year in a row this event is being held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, with a paltry admission price of five bucks.  More than 80 dealers will be showing their wares.  This is a not-to-be-missed event in my book – sorry – and I’ve always had great success filling in missing gaps in my Tarzan, Fu Manchu, Luke Short, and other series here.  You can buy very high end, or be a cheapie like me, and buy what are sneeringly called “reader copies”.  In addition to regular paperbacks, there are many pulp magazines of all genres. 

Earl Hamner signing books last year

Best of all, over 45 artists and authors will be attending and signing their books for free!  Sadly, there are rarely Western authors there, but among writers of particular interest are TWILIGHT ZONE writer George Clayton Jackson, TZ writer and THE WALTONS creator Earl Hamner Jr., sci-fi writers Ib Melchio, William F. Nolan, and Bob and Ray biographer David Pollack.  You can learn more HERE.

THE TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL – MARCH 27^th  THROUGH MARCH 29^th

History According to Hollywood is this year’s theme.  Turner Classics pulls out all the stops for this annual Hollywood event, which will feature way-more-screenings-than-you-can-see at Grauman’s Chinese with their new IMAX screen, the Chinese Multiplex, Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, The Ricardo Montalban Theatre, and poolside at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.  The Red Carpet opening will feature a restored SOUND OF MUSIC with Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and other stars in attendance.  The current schedule, still in flux, lists 27 movies.  Of particular interest to Round-up readers are the musical CALAMITY JANE (1953), starring Doris Day as Jane, and Howard Keel as Wild Bill Hickok; and the world premiere of the restoration of THE PROUD REBEL (1958), directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Alan Ladd, Olivia De Havilland, and David Ladd – and David Ladd will attend! 

Among other guests attending will be Ann-Margaret, Dustin Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, William Daniels, Sophia Loren, Spike Lee, Norman Lloyd, astronaut James Lovell, and stunt-man Terry Leonard.  You can learn more, and buy passes, HERE.

MONSTERPALOOZA MARCH 27^th – MARCH 29^th

Julie Adams

The Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center will play host to as creepy a bunch of people and near-people as you have ever seen, at this annual event that attracts horror-movie fans from around the world for screenings, panel discussions, and a tremendous dealers’ room.  Guests of particular interest to western fans will be Michael Biehn and Julie Adams.  Also attending will be NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD director George Romero, Sonny Chiba, Linda Blair, Yaphet Kotto, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Margot Kidder, Valerie Perrine, Sybil Danning, Richard Anderson and Gary Conway.  You can learn more HERE.

MYSTERY AUTHORS’ LUNCHEON – MARCH 29^TH

At the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim, Behind The Badge is the name of the event which will feature a talk by LONGMIRE author Craig Johnson, as well as writers Allison Brennan and Robin Burcell.  You can learn more HERE. 

THE SANTA CLARITA COWBOY FESTIVAL – APRIL 18^TH – APRIL 19^TH

For the 22^nd year, fans of cowboy poetry, cowboy music, cowboy literature, cowboy movies, and art, and clothes, and food, and cowboy everything imaginable will converge on Santa Clarita, an early home to western moviemaking.  For several years now the joyous gathering has been at Gene Autry’s old Melody Ranch, but that venerable movie studio, now run by the Veluzat family, has become so busy with the upswing of western movie and TV production that the celebration will take place in the heart of Santa Clarita proper. 

The action and entertainment will be at several easy-to-walk venues clustered around Main Street, including The Vu Theatre, The Repertory East Playhouse, The Canyon Theatre Guild, The OutWest Boutique and Bookstore, and there will be three stages and many other exciting escapades featured at William S. Hart Park, once home to one of the greatest of cowboy stars. 

In addition to covering the event for the Round-up, I will be for the second year be taking part in events at OutWest, moderating panel discussions and doing one-on-one interviews with writers.  There’s no schedule yet, but among the poets, authors, artists and songwriters taking part will be John Bergstrom, Almeda Bradshaw Al P. Bringas, Margaret Brownley, Karla Buhlman, Jim Christina, Peter Conway, Mikki Daniel, Eric H. Heisner, Dale Jackson, Jim Jones, C. Courtney Joyner, Andria Kidd, Stephen Lodge, Petrine Day Mitchum. Audrey Pavia, Karen Rosa, Katie Ryan, J.R.Sanders , Tony Sanders, Peter Sherayko, Janet Squires, Miles Swarthout, and  Cowgirl Hall of Fame, stuntwoman Shirley Lucas Jauregui. 

Next week I’ll have a run-down of the musical performers.  To learn more, and to buy tickets, go .HERE 

THAT’S A WRAP!

If you haven’t yet read Andy Erish’s book, COL. SELIG – THE MAN WHO INVENTED HOLLYWOOD, there is likely to be a gaping hole in your movie-history education: there certainly was in mine.  The other great movie moguls who outlived him rewrote Hollywood history, and the poor Colonel got largely deleted, but his contribution to cinema is remarkable, and should be known to all who care about our art-form.  You can learn more, and buy it,.HERE

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

‘HELL ON WHEELS’ SEASON 4 REVIEW, PLUS JULIE ADAMS AUTOBIO!

HELL ON WHEELS 2014 REVIEW

HELL ON WHEELS, AMC’s series about the building of the Trans-Continental Railroad, seen through the eyes of former Confederate officer and railroad engineer Cullen Bohannan (Anson Mount), and ethically challenged railroad robber-baron Doc Durant (Colm Meany), and  nearly a dozen other characters, returns for season four on Saturday, August 2^nd.  And if you need to refresh your memory, or fill in some story holes, AMC will be running the entire first three seasons on Friday, August 1^st – check your local listings for times!

THE ELUSIVE EDEN is the first episode of the new season, and it opens in the winter of 1868, with Durant, broke, proving Proverbs correct, that ‘Pride goeth before a fall,’ in the most spectacular fashion, when he decides to lay track across a frozen lake!  It doesn’t exactly solve his financial problems, but it’s a wondrous thing to see – I rewound and watched it three times. 

Cullen, meanwhile, is in one helluvah fix as a prisoner in the Mormon fort, under the thumb of the Swede, who murdered the minister being sent to run the fort, and assumed his identity.  Last season, while investigating a shooting by a member of a Mormon family, Cullen slept with a young woman, then hung her kid brother for a crime their father probably committed, and only escaped execution himself when the woman’s pregnancy was revealed.  Now he is married to her, she is about to give birth, and he is living with her family.  (Kind of puts any in-laws problems you may be having into perspective, doesn’t it?)

The portable town of Hell on Wheels is now located in the burgeoning city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, which appears to be the exclusive property of Durant: he’s even installed his own Mayor, Mickey McGinnes (Phil Burke), adding to his duties as saloon operator and pimp.  Present also is former Indian prisoner, sometime-whore and sometime-nurse, Eva (Robin McLeavy).  Missing is her man, Elam (Common), whose heart she broke when she gave away their baby – he’s presumably dead.  Elam’s friend, fellow former-slave Psalms (Dohn Noorwood), is also back.  The minister Ruth (Kasha Kropinski) is also back, and in charge of the Mormon boy Cullen rescued after the Swede had slaughtered his family. 

And there are some new folks in town.  Much to Durant’s chagrin, newly-elected President Grant (Victor Slezak) has sent a dapper pack of enforcers-in-politicians-clothing to do his bidding. They ain’t subtle. 

The two opening episodes, THE ELUSIVE EDEN and ESCAPE FROM THE GARDEN focus, as you would guess, on Cullen’s plans to leave the Mormon Fort.  I found some of the ideas better than their execution, but to be fair, the versions I saw were not final cuts, and based on their history, I have great faith in the production company to make this work. 

One surprise is that Cullen has a new new wife: Siobhan Williams, who played his Mormon bride last season, is now a star on THE BLACK LIST, and has been replaced by Canadian actress MacKenzie Porter.  So catch up on any episodes you don’t remember, because Saturday HELL is back ON its WHEELS, and this time for thirteen episodes instead of the previous ten-episode seasons!

THE LUCKY SOUTHERN STAR – by JULIE ADAMS

A Book Review

A good biography leaves you wanting to know more about its subject; reading one often leads to a list of movies I want to watch or books I want to read.  But it’s unexpected to finish an actress’ autobiography, motivated to seek out both Pirandello’s plays, and THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON!

But Julie Adams has written a very unexpected memoir with THE LUCKY SOUTHERN STAR: REFLECTIONS FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.  It is an entertaining, insightful and informative read from start to finish.  In becoming a working professional actress, Julie Adams’ timing was ideal, because her career stretched between so many different stages of the film industry.  When she started out in 1949, it was the tail end of the studio system, and her formative acting years were spent under contract to Universal.  

Then came freelancing at many studios, big and small, and increasingly appearing in the growing monolith of television.  Later still, while continuing in supporting roles on TV and in features, she works extensively in theatre, sometimes quite small theatre, but she shows her respect for those smaller paying audiences, and respect for the work.  She also clearly respects the professionals she worked with in television: I was struck by how often she mentioned by name the writers of particular TV episodes that impressed her. 

This is not a ‘tell-all’ book.  I have no doubt that not everyone in the business was a joy to work with, and I am sure that so beautiful an actress had to work hard to keep the wolves at bay.  But if she hasn’t got anything good to say about someone, they just don’t get a mention.  She’s written the book with one of her two sons, TV editor Mitchell Danton, whose father was the handsome and debonair 1950s and 60s leading man Ray Danton.  Even after their divorce, Julie has nothing hard to say about him, and after he became an in-demand director, he often cast his ex-wife.  Maybe she’s just as nice as she seems to be.

Unquestionably Adams is best known to audiences for starring with ‘the Gillman’ in CREATURE – and for the white one-piece that made a bikini seem pointless.  But she also had a very extensive Western career.  Her first speaking role was in one of the tight-budgeted Lippert movies, 1949’s THE DALTON GANG, for silent writer/director and serial whiz Ford Beebe, opposite Don ‘Red’ Barry.   That led to a six-picture contract with Lippert – and what a contract!  In a cost-saving experiment, six movies with the same cast and crew were shot simultaneously!  They would shoot all the scenes for all six movies on any given set before moving to the next – from school marm to sheriff’s daughter to girl outlaw in rapid succession.  She credits the experience with really teaching her to act. 

Under contract to Universal starting in 1951, she worked in big westerns with some of the finest directors, opposite top stars.  She starred in BEND OF THE RIVER for Anthony Mann, opposite James Stewart.  She starred in three for Budd Boetticher – HORIZONS WEST with Robert Ryan, THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO with Glenn Ford, and WINGS OF THE HAWK – playing a Mexican rebel leader – opposite Van Heflin.  And let’s not forget THE TREASURE OF LOST CANYON with William Powell; THE LAWLESS BREED with Rock Hudson, for Raoul Walsh; and MISSISSIPPI GAMBLER with Tyrone Powell.  She has a detailed memory, and great stories about them all. 

In TV Westerns she was to play a wide range of characters, many of them villains.  Among the most memorable were the title character NORA in a RIFLEMAN episode, where she tries to con Lucas; a BONANZA episode where her plans to marry Hoss are undermined by her compulsive gambling, and a BIG VALLEY, where she tries to get a monopoly in the rice business, and isn’t above killing Victoria Barkley to do it. 

As a ‘cougar’ before there was such a term, she chases Elvis around the desk in TICKLE ME, and does something not so different to Dennis Hopper in his THE LAST MOVIE.  She co-starred with John Wayne, not in a western, but in the cop film McQ.  On the soap CAPITOL she played a fake agoraphobic; on MURDER SHE WROTE she played a man-hungry real estate broker.  But her favorite TV role was as the wife of her BEND OF THE RIVER co-star James Stewart in the short-lived but charming JIMMY STEWART SHOW. 

Julie bookends her autobiography with stories of attending monster-movie conventions with her BLACK LAGOON co-stars, something that keeps her busy, and gives her a lot of pleasure.  Her memories of her adventures in film and TV-making, and her sharp insights into the work of her peers, writers, and directors, will give you pleasure as well.   You can purchase THE LUCKY SOUTHERN STAR, and learn more about Julie Adams, including upcoming appearances, at her site, HERE .

You can read my Round-up interview with Julie Adams HERE.

THAT’S A WRAP!

I hope you’re all having a wonderful National Day of the Cowboy, wherever you are!  If you don’t have plans yet, this link will take you to the official NDOC calendar of events all around the country: http://nationaldayofthecowboy.com/wordpress/?post_type=tribe_events&eventDisplay=month

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

INTERVIEW WITH JULIE ADAMS, UNIVERSAL’S QUEEN OF THE WEST, AT 3-D EXPO!

Van Heflin & Julie Adams in WINGS OF THE HAWK

Conducted September 7^th, 2013

For Hollywood, the 1950s and 60s were the era of the blonde bombshell.  But it was also a time of some striking brunettes, and few made a more lasting impression than the lady whose long black tresses and white one-piece swimsuit made her Fay Wray to THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, Julie Adams. 

But Julie Adams was much more than catnip to a 3D lizard; a stunning beauty with a sultry voice that could portray sincerity or scheming, she always portrayed intelligence.  She was the thinking man’s western beauty, and her characters were rarely the type who just reloaded while her man fired out of the cabin window.  In at least fifteen Western features and dozens of Western TV episodes, she played the sort of strong three-dimensional women that previously only Barbara Stanwyck got to play – and sometimes she played them with Barbara Stanwyck!

And speaking of three-dimensional characters, she starred in two 3D movies, both of which are being featured in the WORLD 3D FILM EXPO III, which opened on Friday night at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, and will run for ten days.  CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON played on Saturday night, and on this Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm, WINGS OF THE HAWK will be shown.  This Budd Beotticher-directed classic is rarely seen in any version, and it’s been years since it played in 3D.   Miss Adams, who stars with Van Heflin in the film, will attend, and take part in a Q&A.  She will also be signing her autobiography, THE LUCKY SOUTHERN STAR – REFLECTIONS FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, which I will be reviewing here shortly.  In it she discusses, along with CREATURE, and her other films, all of her Western movies, and many of her TV appearances.

After some parts in early live TV, and before she became a contract star at Universal, she cut her celluloid teeth working in Westerns for the small independent, Lippert Pictures.  She graciously spent an hour talking to me until she had to rush off for her BLACK LAGOON screening.     

HENRY PARKE:  Miss Adams, it’s great to talk to you.  I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time, and oddly enough, I like your westerns even more than I like THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.

JULIE ADAMS: Well that’s great, because I love doing westerns.  I loved seeing western movies when I was a kid, so my dream came true, and I actually got to act in westerns, and ride those beautiful horses. 

HENRY:  Before you started acting in them, what westerns did you like in particular?

JULIE:  I loved them all.  I went to Saturday westerns mostly, with different stars, but I was more in love with the horses than the actors.  I loved the stories, I loved the outdoors.  I just loved it all.

HENRY:  As far as I know, the first western you did was with Don ‘Red’ Barry, THE DALTON GANG, in 1949. 

JULIE:  You’re absolutely right.

HENRY:  Don Barry’s always been a personal favorite of mine.  What was he like to work with?

JULIE:  I loved to work with him; he was wonderful.  A very nice fellow, extremely polished in the western genre. 

HENRY:  You did a half dozen Westerns for an independent company, Lippert Pictures, in 1950.  I understand that they were shot simultaneously, with the same casts.  They’d do the saloon scenes for all six films, then the ranch house scenes for all six, and so forth. That must have been a crash course in acting.

JULIE:  Well, it was exciting.  Because we did six or seven westerns in just five weeks.  So it was exciting, and it was extremely concentrated.  It was great training for me, because you didn’t have time to think about things too much; just went and did it! (laughs)  I went out and took some riding lessons before I started.  Within the western genre, the horses that are trained for westerns are so easy to ride; you can guide them, and they respond to anything you do, whichever way you want to go.  Horses can really make you look good. 

HENRY: In 1952 you were under contract to Universal Pictures, and you starred with Jimmy Stewart in one of the legendary Stewart and director Anthony Mann collaborations, BEND OF THE RIVER.  Which was quite a substantial step up from Lippert.  What was Anthony Mann like to work with?

James Stewart and Julie in BEND OF THE RIVER

JULIE:  Anthony Mann was really a wonderful director.  He knew what he was doing, and he knew what he wanted, and he made you feel very secure.  You had a good man at the head of the chain.  Everything he directed you to do made sense.  He really knew the western genre so well.  I was very happy working with him; I loved doing BEND OF THE RIVER, and of course to work with James Stewart was great. 

HENRY:  The first action in the film is your character, Laura, getting shot with an arrow.  Which was really unexpected – you don’t usually shoot the beautiful people early; you shoot the little guys.  Laura is so tough and resourceful – much more than you expect western women of that movie era to be. 

JULIE:  I loved that, because I had done some of the Lippert westerns where the women were more – well, the guys were just looking after them.  I loved that she was that active, and could take care of herself.

HENRY:  Almost twenty years after that you were again starring with James Stewart in THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW. 

JULIE:  Oh yes!  Well, my idea of heaven was going to work with Jimmy Stewart every day for six months.  He was a wonderful actor and a wonderful man.  A charming person, very easy to work with and just so good at what he did.  He was a wonderful screen actor, or course.  I enjoyed it enormously.

HENRY:  How did you like Jay C. Flippen, who played your father? 

JULIE:  Jay was a great guy – funny and fun and great to work with. 

HENRY:  In real life, would you have had a hard time choosing between Jimmy Stewart and Arthur Kennedy?

JULIE:  (laughs)  Fortunately I never had to make that decision. 

HENRY:  HORIZONS WEST was the first of three exceptional westerns you starred in for Budd Boetticher, followed by MAN FROM THE ALAMO, and a film featured in the current 3D expo, WINGS OF THE HAWK.  Boetticher frequently used his male stars again and again, but not his leading ladies.  I’m wondering, what made you different, that he used you so often?

JULIE:  I don’t know; I guess he just thought that I fit into the Westerns very well.  And also, in one of them I did a great deal of riding.  I think he was impressed that I could do that.  We got along very well, very well indeed.  And I love to work, so we had a good time, and it was exciting.

Shades of LAURA -- Julie with her portrait

in HORIZONS WEST

HENRY:  In HORIZONS WEST, you’re married to despicable Raymond Burr. 

JULIE: (laughs) He was really a lovely man!

HENRY:  As with Jimmy Stewart, you later worked with him frequently on PERRY MASON. 

Julie guesting with Raymond Burr on PERRY MASON

JULIE:  I worked with him on IRONSIDES, too.  He was also with me on the USO Tour of Korea.  He was just wonderful.  I still get a lot of mail about THE CASE OF THE DEADLY VERDICT, the case that Perry Mason lost.  I was supposed to go to the electric chair, but they finally solved it at the last minute, so I didn’t have to get executed.  It’s a very popular episode in law schools – they all love that one! 

HENRY:  Like Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher was one of the giants of the Western.

JULIE:  Boetticher was fun to work with, because he was so into the action of it all, to make things exciting.  In other Westerns they’d take more time for the plot, and other things, but Boetticher loved the action, and I enjoyed that too.  He was a very good director for westerns, because he knew how to keep it going; keep it all moving.  You slow down, and people, viewers, drop out. 

HENRY:  In WINGS OF THE HAWK, how did you like playing a Mexican Revolutionary? 

JULIE:  I loved it!  (laughs) Only thing I didn’t like  was going to make-up and getting that black greasepaint put in my hair every day.  Bud Westmore did my make-up, and Joan St. Oegger did my hair.  The two heads of the department really fixed me up for that role.  So they wouldn’t have to dye my hair, she put black greasepaint in the edges of my hair, and pinned it back, and on top I had two black switches, so it looked like I had a lot of hair.  They were very very good in make-up and hair in Universal.  I loved the character, and I had a great outfit to wear – the clothes were great – and I got to go out with a wrangler.  At Universal they had wranglers to help people out.  And I rode Pie, the horse that James Stewart always rode; I got a great horse to ride.  I went on every day for three weeks.  And I learned to do running dismounts and all sorts of things on the horse.   So I had a great time. 

HENRY:  I believe that was your first 3D movie – there’re not too many people who have, like you, done more than one.  What challenges did the 3D process present? 

JULIE:  It was all up to the camera people.  As far as acting went, I felt comfortable because we played the scenes as always.  All the 3D problems had nothing to do with me; that was there problem, to make the 3D work.  But I enjoyed it as I enjoyed everything.

HENRY:  How did you like working with Van Heflin?

JULIE:  What a wonderful actor Van Heflin was – I loved working with him.  He was a charming man, and just a fine actor.  So I loved playing scenes with him; I liked him as a person. 

HENRY:  How did you like working with Glenn Ford in THE MAN FROM THE ALAMO? 

Julie and Glenn Ford in MAN FROM THE ALAMO

JULIE:  Once again, a real pro, and very good.  He was not, I don’t know, quite as loose and charming as some of the other actors.  But very good at his job, and I enjoyed working with him.  He was very good in the picture. 

HENRY:  You co-starred six times with Rock Hudson, four of them westerns.  How did you like working with him?

JULIE:  Rock Hudson was a pal, a great friend.  We worked together in BEND OF THE RIVER, where Rock and Lori Nelson and I were the young people, and after that there was such a big audience reaction that they put Rock and me together in THE LAWLESS BREED as the stars. 

HENRY:  With Rock as John Wesley Hardin. 

Rock Hudson and Julie in THE LAWLESS BREED

JULIE:  I had great fun playing a dancehall girl.  I got to have sort of a drop-shoulder thing, and I was serving up drinks at the bar to men, and that was fun.

HENRY:  Universal seemed very careful to give you really good wardrobes all the time.  Your clothes are just so striking.

JULIE:  For that we have to give credit to the Universal people, to Rosemary Odell, who designed most of the clothes – and they made them right up in wardrobe.  They did a great job; that wonderful department.  They made sketches of the costumes, that were submitted to the producer and the director and me, and then they were custom-made. 

HENRY: Hugh O’Brien had supporting roles in three of your westerns before WYATT EARP made him a star.  Did he seem to have star-potential back then?

JULIE:  In those days, we never thought about that exactly, when we were working.  I wasn’t a big star in it: I was the girl in it, and Hugh always did his job well, and later I was delighted when he got a show of his own.  Hugh O’Brien actually was with us at the MAN FROM THE ALAMO screening at The Egyptian back in February.  He’s got a good part in ALAMO; he’s a good actor. 

Julie's pinned with a flaming arrow in

THE STAND AT APACHE RIVER

HENRY:  After CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, you started branching out into many other kinds of stories that were not Westerns.  Were you glad to get out of a rut?

JULIE:  Because I grew up as a kid loving westerns, I never felt that I was in a rut when I was in a Western; I felt very much at home, and had a good time doing it.  But I was also delighted to expand my genre, to work in other kinds of films, with other kinds of actors.  I just plain love to work.

HENRY: In the fifties and sixties you guest-starred on many western series – CHEYENNE, MAVERICK YANCY DERRINGER, BONANZA, BIG VALLEY, THE RIFLEMAN, THE VIRGINIAN.  Were any particularly memorable? 

JULIE:  The three that really stand out are Nora, in THE RIFLEMAN, where I play a mysterious woman from McCain’s – that’s Chuck Connors – past.  There was The Courtship episode of BONANZA, where I’m engaged to Hoss briefly, before they find out I’ve got a gambling addiction.  I had scenes with each of the BONANZA stars, interrogating me.  They didn’t want me to marry Hoss and gamble away the Ponderosa! Then there’s The Emperor of Rice episode of THE BIG VALLEY.  I’ve got a showdown with Barbara Stanwyck, in a basement fire, coming through the smoke.  I was pushing Barbara Stanwyck around.  Those three kind of helped me break out of that ‘good girl’ image at I had in the Universal westerns. 

HENRY:  How did you like Chuck Connors?

JULIE:  I liked him a lot; very good at his job, and a really nice fellow.

HENRY:  Aside from those three, were there any western TV shows that were particular favorites?

JULIE:  I did two MAVERICKs with Jack Kelly that were fun. 

HENRY:  Was the pace of TV production a lot faster than feature work?

JULIE:  Well, of course, but there was really not a lot of difference, because I prepared the same way all the time.  I tried to get the character as fully developed as I could, whoever she was.  And so I’d just kind of take it in stride. 

HENRY:  In 1959 you starred opposite Joel McCrea playing Bat Masterson in THE GUNFIGHT AT 

DODGE CITY.  What was McCrea like to work with?

JULIE:  I can only say it was absolutely wonderful, because he was such a pro at what he was doing.  So you could completely relax, and just play your part.  He was very much at home in the western genre, and he was so good.  I guess I just loved to work, and I was very lucky I worked with so many good people.  Joel McCrea was the real McCoy – he was just what you saw on the screen.  Very handsome, and fun to work with.  I met his grandson, Wyatt McCrea, in Arizona this past March.  A very sweet guy who loves westerns, too. 

Julie with Elvis in TICKLE ME

HENRY:  I understand you did a movie with Elvis.

JULIE:  TICKLE ME.  I run a dude ranch, and he works at the dude ranch.  It’s like the boss and the secretary: I called him into my office and chased him around the desk.  What a delightful young man.

WORLD 3D FILM EXPO III CONTINUES AT THE EGYPTIAN

The festival of 3D movies which began on Friday night with John Wayne in HONDO will continue through next Sunday night – ten days and nights of things flying at you from the screen!  Of particular interest to Western fans is TAZA – SON OF COCHISE, on Wednesday, at 4:15 pm.  This Douglas Sirk – directed western stars Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, and Rex Reason. 

And of course, on Friday, at 3:30 pm, WINGS OF THE HAWK, directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Van Heflin and Julie Adams will screen – and Julie Adams will be there to answer questions, and sign her book – see details in the interview above.    To see a complete schedule for the Expo, go HERE.

‘FISTFUL OF DOLLARS’ SATURDAY SEPT. 14^TH AT THE AUTRY

As part of the Autry’s ‘What is a Western?’ series, the film that rejuvenated an aging and ailing genre, Sergio Leone’s ‘A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS’ will screen at 1:30 pm.  While in much of Europe, the original ‘DJANGO’ was the more celebrated, it is impossible to overstate the influence of ‘FISTFUL’, and the Man in Black trilogy as a whole, on American and European Western films.  There is virtually no Western film to come after, including the work of Sam Peckinpah  and Don Seigal, that was not measurably affected by Leone.  Incidentally, on October 12^th, they’ll screen ‘FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE’, and on November 2^nd, ‘THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.’  While you’re at the Autry, check out the IMAGINATION GALLERY, with many artifacts on display relating to Leone, Clint Eastwood, and their films.

AND THAT’S A WRAP

That’s it for this weekend’s Round-up.  If you’re in L.A. this week, I urge you to check out the 3D Expo, and FISTFUL at the Autry.  The chance to see movies the way they are meant to be seen, on a big screen, with a 35mm print, are getting more and more rare.  Don’t pass ‘em up!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright September 2013 by Henry C. Parke – All Right Reserved