JACK ELLIOTT, WILD WEST CHRONICLES’S BAT MASTERSON, TALKS SEASON 6, PLUS BIRTHDAYS & MORE!

 

Jack Elliott as Bat Masterson in Wild West Chronicles

Photo by Morgan Weistling, courtesy INSP

Updated July2, 2026

Updaed July 5, 2026

Season 6 of INSP’s Wild West Chronicles is just about in the can – or on the chip, or whatever we should be calling it now. The series examines the lives of real-life westerners, from legends to the undeservedly obscure, through the eyes of lawman-turned-reporter Bat Masterson. He’s portrayed by Jack Elliott, and the show is exciting, entertaining and factually informative without being overtly educational. In other words, you’ll have fun, and you’ll probably learn something without intending to. 

With each episode built around a new character, Jack Elliott’s performance as Bat is the glue that holds the show together. Beyond his notable resemblance to the real man, Elliot is engaging, amusing, and brings an understated gravitas to the role: without showing off, you buy him as lawman you wouldn’t want to cross. About a week ago, I visited him on the Wild West Chronicles set, in a Western movie town near Chatsworth, and asked him how many times he’d portrayed Bat Masterson so far.

Bat (Jack Elliott) pounds the keys instead of the street

as he segues from lawman to journalist

(Courtest INSP)

 

Jack Elliott: I think this one we're shooting today is 63. By the end of the season we'll have 65.

Henry Parke: When you started in that role, did you think you still be playing him, six years and six seasons later?

Jack Elliott: No. Honestly, with the way most productions go, when we shot the pilot, I was thinking, this will probably be the last I hear or see of this character, and these people. Then when we got picked up, it was kind of a shocker, and then we just kept getting picked up. So every season you kind of think it might be the last one.

Jack Elliott between takes

(photo by Parke)

Henry Parke: Because in this business, usually it is.

Jack Elliott: <laugh>. Mostly it is, yeah. Gary (Tarpinian), our E.P. (Executive Producer) is really good about the statistics of how many shows go from season one to a season two, and it just drops progressively as each season goes by. It's a fraction of a percent of shows that even go to a season two, let alone a season six.

Henry Parke: Which raises the question of why does this one keep going on? Why has Wild West Chronicles not gone away, or jumped the shark?

Jack Elliott: For me it's just the fact that there's so many stories from the Old West. There's so many great characters, and moments that we can pull from. Even though it was like a 30-year period that the Old West was going on, so much happened, so much expansion in the United States. So many different big characters were alive. So I think just being able to pull from so many different places has kept it going. And then also the fans; people love this show. I get fan mail from Northern Ireland, from all over the world. One of my favorites was a gentleman in his twenties, and he wrote, I just wanna thank you. This show is what my grandparents and I bond over every week. We meet up on Thursday nights, we'll make dinner. We sit down and we watch Wild West Chronicles. So thank you for giving us a reason to get together. <laugh>. I think it kind of resonates with people. I also think the West, especially the true stories, that is our legacy as Americans. We haven't been around that long. So to have something that we can all kind of pull from, it resonates with people.

Director Michael Ojeda watching a take 

from the "video Village"

(Photo by Parke)

Henry Parke: When people recognize you, are there particular episodes that they want to talk about?

Jack Elliott: People love Doc Susie (Dr. Susan Anderson) which, as you know, is what, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman was based on. Different episodes resonate with different people. A good friend of mine, a pen pal when I was a kid, became an elementary school teacher in New Orleans. She teaches history, and Wild West Chronicles has become a part of their curriculum. She said that a lot of the kids were blown away. Some black kids in her class had no idea there were black cowboys. So just kind of expanding people's world and what the West actually looked like, which is a lot of different folks.

Dr. Susie (Nicole Tompkins) treats an ailing Bat 

(Jack Elliott) in Dr. Susan Anderson: Frontier Medicine Woman

(courtesy INSP)

Henry Parke: Are people surprised that Bat Masterson is a real person?

Jack Elliott: Very much so. Because the life he lived was so epic, if you really dive into it, which I have. He was a renaissance man in the true sense of the word. He kept reinventing himself, kept trying different things. And I think that's kind of inspirational to people. It's almost too big for life. Some people can't believe, like you'd be a cowboy, and a lawman and all of these things for 40 years, and then move to New York, live on Broadway, write stories and hang out with Teddy Roosevelt. I think it's a little hard for people to believe.

Henry Parke: He's bigger than life.

Jack Elliott: Truly.

The real Bat Masterson

(Courtesy True West)

Henry Parke: As you've gone along, delving into Bat Masterson's life, what sort of things have influenced how you play him? What things have you picked up that widen your knowledge of him?

Jack Elliott as Bat

(photo by Morgan Weistling, courtesy INSP)

Jack Elliott: When I grew up, one of the things my dad and I bonded over was Westerns; we watched a lot of Western movies. So I definitely draw from that: it's in my genes at this point, the knowledge. As an actor, if you've got a body of material available, which Bat does, you just kind of go through it and take as much as you can. And little pieces will pop out. Like, oh, he was all about the truth. Oh, he really had a great moral compass. Just little things like that you kind of pull from and put in your tool bag as an actor. And then also, as an actor going into this, I was thinking, Bat is the through-line of this show. How am I gonna keep it interesting? How am I gonna be somebody that people are willing to come back to every week and watch? It's not like, oh, here's this guy again. It's like, oh yeah, here's that crazy uncle telling stories I can't wait to hear. You know? So for me, a big part of it is is that had to be somebody that people could relate to, that people found interesting and they looked forward to seeing.

Henry Parke: How about keeping it interesting for yourself, season after season?

Jack Elliott: For me, it has been very interesting, as an actor, to be able to sit with it, with him, for this long. It's like putting on a pair of boots. It's riding a bike again. It really has become part of my DNA. As an actor, I don't think you can separate yourself from the characters fully. I think your life informs the character as much as the character's life informs the character. So I definitely find myself having a little less tolerance for baloney, <laugh> a little more like ‘just the facts, ma'am,’ in my daily life. So I definitely, as the human being, Jack Elliott, I have pulled from Bat, inadvertently. But it's been such a gift. It's been really cool to get to know him. I've grown with Bat over the years.

Henry Parke: Over the years, as you have gotten to know him, have you had much input into the scripts?

An intense scene from Marhsal Garfias Faces the Mob, 

written by Jack Elliott

(Courtesy of INSP)

Jack Elliott: Yeah, actually I wrote a spec script just off the cuff a couple years ago. Because there was a character that I wanted to see portrayed in the show. And we didn't end up using that script, but it gave them an inkling that I knew what I was doing writing-wise, so they offered me a writing gig on season four. I got to actually do my research on John Wesley Harden, and then write an entire episode. I've written two now, but that's about as much input as you can ask for.

Henry Parke: You had pointed out to me that every episode you have a different guest star you're working with. Do you have any favorites?

From Doc Susie's Oath, Nicole Tompkins in her wedding gown

(Courtesy INSP)

Jack Elliott: You know, as a good father, you can't have any favorites, wink, wink, <laugh>. But Nicole Tompkins, who plays Doc Susie, is one of my favorites. She's been back for two or three episodes now. You know, good acting in a good scene is like sparring, like you're throwing a couple punches, they're throwing a couple punches. So to get to play with somebody like Nicole is always an absolute joy, especially when they come back multiple times. There's been quite a few actors that have come in and just kind of blown everybody's minds. Like, okay, this person is the character, and those always just make the best scenes to shoot, so much fun, because then you find little nuances in the scene. They're comfortable, they're killing it. They know their character, and then you can play with it within the scene and find nuances that you didn't even know were there.

Henry Parke: Anything interesting coming up in the near future?

Jack Elliott: Well, I'm always pulling and hoping for a season seven, and from the get-go, they've talked about a Bat Masterson movie. I keep prodding them with that.

The date for the beginning of season 6 of Wild West Chronicles has not yet been announced, so keep reading the Round-up for updates!

JUNE BIRTHDAYS!

I've had the privilege of interviewing three Western film icons who celebrated birthdays in June. Here are the links to read them. 

HAPPY 91^ST BIRTHDAY MONTE MARKHAM!

Here’s my interview with him from the Lone Pine Film Festival!https://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2025/06/happy-90th-birthday-monte-markham-heres.html 

HAPPY 86^TH BIRTHDAY TO MARIETTE HARTLEY!

Here's my True West interview with her!

https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/hartley-of-the-west/

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON WOULD’VE TURNED 90!

Here’s my True West tribute to the Rhodes Scholar-turned music and movie legend, and my interview with him on the set of his final Western, HICKOK. That’s where I also shot the picture of him and his wife, Lisa Marie Meyers.  

https://www.truewestmagazine.com/article/kris-kristofferson-a-texan-at-oxford/

UPDATED 7-2-2026

MY RECENT RENDEZVOUS WITH A WRITER APPEARANCES

On the first Thursday of every month, I have the pleasure of joining Bobbi Jean Bell and Jim Bell on their weekly Rendezvous with a Writer radio program and podcast, for LA Talk Radio. They interview writers every week, with a special emphasis on Western writers, especially when I’m along. Here are links to my most recent appearances.

To hear and see about Bank Robber Henry Starr by Mark Archuleta, click the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/live/t8boskGzAww?si=OAVLrxqDlInKcuV1  

To hear and see about They Kill People by Kirk Ellis, click the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/live/vZ18j385-yE?si=-2_7efkHIZoort5s                       

On Thursday, July 2^nd, I was a guest once again for Bobbi Jean and Jim, and my frequent collaborator C. Courtney Joyner, with Cindy Mitchum, to discuss Them Ornery Mitchum Boys, a book about the lives of brother actors Robert Mitchum and John Mitchum, written by John, and re-published by his daughter, Cindy.  To see and hear the conversation, click the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/live/fKMXnrHoNSk

And for a change of pace, next Thursday I’ll be joining Bobbi Jean and Jim to talk with actress and author Kathryn Leigh Scott, who springboarded to stardom on the delightfully eerie 1960s soap opera Dark Shadows. We’ll be discussing her newest book, Dark Shadows Legacy, The Official 60^th Anniversary Book!

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Please check out the July/August 2026 issue of True West! The cover story by Stuart Rosebrook is When Willie and Waylon Saved Our Country, and my film column, Willie and the Outlaws, takes a look at the Western movies that Waylon and Willie and Kris and Johnny made.

Much obliged,

Henry

All Original Content Copyright June 2026 by Henry C. Parke. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used for A.I. Training.

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON ON HIS WESTERNS, BRUCE DERN HOSTS THANKSGIVING WEST FEST, PLUS INDIAN ARTS MARKETPLACE, BE AN EXTRA IN ‘THE SON’ AND MORE!

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON ON HIS WESTERNS & THE HIGHWAYMEN

Status Media & Entertainment, the same folks who brought you 2016’s TRADED, where vengeful father Michael Pere was turning the Old West inside out to find his abducted daughter, have returned with a new Western, based on events in the early career of soon-to-be legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickok, entitled HICKOK, starring Luke Hemsworth in the title role.  Back in the saddle is director Timothy Woodward Jr., cinematographer Pablo Diaz, production designer Christian Ramirez, and costume designer Nikki Pelley. 

I was invited to visit the set on the second day of shooting, at Peter Sherayko’s Caravan West Ranch, and spoke to all of those fine folks – you’ll be reading that article very soon in the Round-up. But I was particularly excited to speak with the legendary actor, singer, songwriter and Rhodes Scholar, Kris Kristofferson, who would be playing the supporting role of Abilene Mayor George Knox. It was a busy day, and Kris was a busy man, but at around 7 p.m. I was invited to the make-up trailer to talk with Kris about both the current movie, and his career in Westerns.

HENRY: I was wondering what attracts you to Westerns? I know your first movie, THE LAST MOVIE, was more or less a Western, this one is, and you’ve done so many in between. What’s special about the genre to you?

KRIS: Well, I grew up in Brownsville Texas, down at the very bottom of Texas, and I had my first horse when I was five years old. And I had horses all the time until I was a teenager, and we moved to California. I’ve always felt comfortable riding a horse.

HENRY: Do you watch a lot of Western movies growing up?

KRIS: Yes, I did. We went to a Western movie every week.

HENRY: What particularly attracted you to this movie?

KRIS: Well, I liked the story, I like the script, and I like the guys that I’m working with, the director, Tim Woodward. And a Western is something we can have some kind of fun with.

Kris with his wife Lisa Meyers

HENRY: Of course, he directed you in TRADED, a very nice film, and you were very good in it.

KRIS: Thank you.

HENRY: You’ve worked with the very best directors – Peckinpah, Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorcese.  

What makes a great director?

KRIS: It’s someone who knows the script, and knows the potential of the story, whatever it is. And never forgets it during the filming; doesn’t get sidetracked.

HENRY: Which is your favorite, of your Westerns?

KRIS: Boy, I don’t know. I loved working with Sam Peckipah, and we did a couple of things together. But there’s another, HEAVEN’S GATE.  I think it was a really beautiful film that got clobbered.

HENRY: Why do you think it got beat up on when it first came out?

KRIS: I think it had to do with our director. It just seemed like that was not an uncommon thing, to get in a film, and all the rivals running it down in the papers and everywhere. And it was so long a production that there was plenty of time to get down on Michael Cimino.

HENRY: You’ve been joined both in music and onscreen with The Highwaymen.

KRIS: They were my heroes. And the notion that they would one day be my friends and working partners – I look back on it as probably the best ten years of my life. Willie (Nelson) and Waylon (Jennings) and John (Johnny Cash).

HENRY: Are you still close with Willie Nelson?

KRIS: (laughs) Oh yes! He’s a hero, and just a plain funny person. He’s probably the best musician I know. He plays the guitar like Segovia. And just a funny man.

HENRY: You all worked together on that 1986 STAGCOACH remake. I heard that it was originally supposed to be a musical – is that correct?

KRIS: I couldn’t tell you; I remember that it had a lot of trouble getting started, and we ended up in the stagecoach for most of it. I look back on those years with The Highwaymen as a real blessed time in my life. With my heroes; and we were really good together.

HENRY: You were wonderful together; I loved the music you produced, and I enjoyed the movies.

KRIS: Yeah, I did too. And everybody, Waylon, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, were perfect all the time. I’m not saying they weren’t all crazy too. We had a wonderful ten years.

DON’T MISS ‘AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS MARKETPLACE’ SUN. AT THE AUTRY!

1st Prize - Buffalo Mask with intricate beeding

I’m just back from The Autry’s annual American Indian Arts Marketplace where over 200 artists from over forty tribal affiliations are showing and selling their art at the from 10 a.m. ‘til 5 p.m. Sunday, November 12^th.  The work is in every medium imaginable – paintings, sculpture, jewelry – wonderful silver work, pottery, beadwork, basketry, photography, paintings, textiles, wooden carvings, from very traditional to very modern. 

There are also family activities, various demonstrations, informative talks – if you are interested in American Indian culture you don’t want to miss this event.  I’ll have a full article in the next Round-up. Be prepared to walk a distance – the Marketplace, and the L.A. Zoo next door, attracted huge crowds today. And bring your appetite – the Indian Fry Bread is excellent as always. 

EXTRAS CASTING FOR AMC’S ‘THE SON’ SEASON TWO!

If you are in the Austin, Texas area, and 18 or over, you might get a gig as an extra in season two of AMC’s terrific Western series, THE SON. It’s the story of Eli McCullough, founder of a Texas cattle and oil empire, seen in two different times in his life: as a young captive of the Comanches, played by Jacob Lofland, and as a grown man and head of the family, played by Pierce Brosnan. They are looking for all ethnic groups.  Here’s a link to the BACKSTAGE casting notice:

https://www.backstage.com/casting/open-casting-calls/texas-casting/?page=3

Good luck, and please let us know if you get a part!

BRUCE DERN TO HOST A THANKSGIVING WEEK OF WESTERNS ON HDNET MOVIES!

Just in case you didn’t think you had enough to be thankful for, Bruce Dern, the wonderful actor who made a million enemies (and as many friends) when he killed John Wayne in THE COWBOYS, will be hosting sixteen Westerns on HDNET-Movies during Thanksgiving week, his introductions filmed at the Autry Museum.  It’s a really delightful jambalaya of films – CHATO’S LAND with Charles Bronson, DUEL AT DIABLO with Sidney Poitier and James Garner, all three MAGNIFICENT 7 sequels, two Peckinpahs, DEATH RIDES A HORSE with Lee Van Cleef, HOUR OF THER GUN, COMES A HORSEMAN, THE KENTUCKIAN…  My only disappointment is that they’re only showing one of Bruce’s own, POSSE, with Kirk Douglas.  

They start on Monday, Nov. 20^th, and run through Sunday, the 26^th.  For the full schedule, go HERE.  And you can read my TRUE WEST article on the making of THE COWBOYS, featuring my interview with Bruce Dern, HERE.

‘GODLESS’ COMES TO NETFLIX NOV. 22^nd!

In the 1880s, in the town of La Belle, New Mexico, a mining disaster abruptly wipes out the male population. And when word gets out that the town’s women are fending for themselves, it doesn’t take long for bad men to take notice. This six episode series from writer/director Scott Frank and exec producer Steve Sodergergh, stars Michelle Dockery, Lady Mary Crawley from DOWNTON ABBEY; Jeff Daniels; Sam Waterston; and Kim Coates from SONS OF ANARCHY. Check out the trailer!

‘YOUNG GUNS’ RELOADED? 

Morgan Creek is considering rebooting the YOUNG GUNS franchise as a series and a feature. The original films, 1988’s YOUNG GUNS and 1990’s YOUNG GUNS II rejuvenated interest in the Western movie by focusing on the young Regulators of the Lincoln County War, and made stars of Emilio Estevez as Billy the Kid, Kiefer Sutherland as Doc Scurlock, as well as Charlie Sheen, Loud Diamond Phillips, and Dermot Mulroney.  Although not much is known about Morgan Creek’s plans, Deadline: Hollywood says talks are underway with a streaming service.  Remarkably, a list of 48 episode titles have been released!

‘A WORD ON WESTERNS’ CELEBRATES ‘GUNSMOKE NOV. 21 AT THE AUTRY

On Tuesday, November 21^st, at the Wells Fargo Theatre at the Autry Museum, producer, writer, historian and Western crazy Rob Word will host another of his A Word on Westerns events, this time celebrating arguably the greatest of Western TV series, GUNSMOKE!   Among his guest will be actors Bruce Boxleitner, Charles Dierkop, Jacqueline Scott, Tom Reese, Jan Shepard, director Jerry James, and the man who guested more often on GUNSMOKE than any other, Morgan Woodward. 19 episodes, 17 characters, and Matt Dillon killed almost every one of them! 

Admission is free with Museum admission, doors open at 10:30, the program starts at eleven, and the chatter continues afterwards across the courtyard at the Autry’s Crossroads West Café.

TUMBLEWEED TOWNSHIP FEST NEXT WEEKEND

The 2^nd annual Tumbleweed Township Festival will be held on Saturday and Sunday, November 18^th and 19^th, at 3855 Alamo Street in Simi Valley, California. This is a Wild West living history re-creation run by folks who also run renaissance fairs. You are encouraged, though not required, to come in costume (not that superhero junk, Western costume!) and among the real-life characters you may find yourself interacting with are Laura Ingalls Wilder, Harriet Tubman, Joaquin Murrieta, Annie Oakley, Cole Younger, Calamity Jane, and Nat Love. For more information, visit the official website HERE.  Tickets are $15 a day at the gate, and a buck less online.

THE WORLD OF LAURA INGALLS WILDER, THURS, NOV 16, IN BROOKLYN

When I was growing up, in Brooklyn as it happens, every girl I knew was reading Laura Ingalls’ Little House on the Prairie books.  I was not – I was a boy after all (still am), and those cute Garth Williams illustrations with girls in bonnets holding dolls was too girly for me. I didn’t read one until I was thirty, and then I devoured them – it’s the best series of books about pioneer life that I’ve ever read.  I’ve also grown to appreciate Garth Williams’ illustrations.

At the Old Stone House & Washington Park, location of one of the greatest battles of the American Revolution, at 3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues in Park Slope, Brooklyn, author Marta McDowell explores Wilder's deep connection with the natural world, following the wagon trail of the beloved Little House series. She'll discuss Wilder's life and inspirations, pinpoint the Ingalls and Wilder homestead claims on authentic archival maps, and talk about the growing cycle of plants and vegetables featured in the series. You can learn more, and buy $20 tickets, HERE.  

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

The new True West is out with my article on the Kinder, Gentler Side of Sam Peckinpah – I spoke  with Mariette Hartley, L.Q. Jones, Max Evans, James Drury, about making RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY and BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE.

I spent much of this past week at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, where hundreds of independent producers and distributors and filmmakers from all over the world meet to do business, and I was thrilled to track down about a dozen new Westerns and Western projects that I’ll be writing about soon here, and in True West. Most are American, but not all – one rolled camera this week in Luxembourg! 

P.S. - At the American Indian Arts Marketplace I ran into actor Zahn McClarnon, who was terrific in THE SON, playing Toshaway, mentor to the captive young Eli McCullough (Jacob Lofland). When I told him I thought it was his best role to date, he grinned. "Wait until you see the new season of WESTWORLD." Something more to look forward to!

Happy Veterans Day!

Henry

All Original Material Copyright November 2017 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

‘VALLEY O’ VIOLENCE’ REVIEWED, PLUS INDIAN ART MARKETPLACE, ‘CALAMITY JANE’ MOVIE, AND MORE!

Ethan Hawke

IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE – A FILM REVIEW

After watching Ethan Hawke gamely slog through the bloated and rambling MAGNIFICENT 7 reboot, it’s a pleasure to see him given a real chance to act again, in the small but ambitious new Western, IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE, now in theatres and available on Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.  It’s written and directed by the aptly named Ti West, better known for horror films – V/H/S/, HOUSE OF THE DEVIL – than oaters, but he makes a strong impression in his first stab at the genre.

James Ransome

Hawke plays Paul, a troubled drifter headed to Mexico with his horse and dog, whose stop for provisions in a small town turns into a nightmare.  Gilly (James Ransome), the town bully with delusions of grandeur, tries to draw Paul into a fight, which leads to a hateful act I’ll not reveal, and Paul’s subsequent quest for revenge.  Here Paul comes into conflict with the town’s Marshal (John Travolta), who was urban the last time he was a cowboy.  He's sympathetic to Paul, but he’s also Gilly’s father. 

John Travlota

A couple of young ladies, sisters running the hotel, feature prominently: beautiful red-headed Ellen (Karen Gillan of DR. WHO and SELFIE) is Gilly’s girlfriend, who sees his shortcomings, but considers him the only man in town with a future.  Her younger sister Mary-Anne (Taissa Farmiga) is less self-absorbed, and attracted to Paul as a man, and as a way to get out of the town. 

Hawke with Taissa Farmiga

The action is exciting, the plotting sensible, the performances uniformly strong – West knows very well how to create characters and structure dramatic scenes, adding humor without getting cute.  There’s a particularly nice extended conversation between Paul and Mary-Anne, where both excel – especially the quirkily frantic but endearing Farmiga. 

It’s a good film, although not notably original.  The bully son of the prominent townsman wasn’t exactly new in ’55 when Anthony Mann used it so well against Jimmy Stewart in THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, and it became an annoying familiar cliché on episodic TV.  You can argue whether the opening, feature a fine turn by Burn Gorman as a man of the cloth, is an homage or a steal from the opening of THE SHOOTIST.  But what is inarguable is that the scene takes twice as long here as it does in the Wayne film: virtually every sequence in this film is a bit too long, a few much too long.  West is his own editor: he needs to turn the scissors over to someone a bit more ruthless.

Also, the town is too underpopulated.  At one point, one of the sisters comments that she’s not a whore, and if that’s what you want, you can find it at the saloon.  But we never see a whore, or saloon girl, or any female other than the sisters in the entire film.  Similarly, Travolta’s Marshal worries about his position in the town if he should let anything bad happen to his son.  But the town appears to consist of less people than you can count on your fingers.  It would work if it were said humorously, or if he was a madman presiding over a ghost town, but clearly there just wasn’t the budget for extras. 

The music score by West’s frequent collaborator Jeff Grace is at times Morricone-derivative but effective.  The cinematography by Eric Robbins is handsome, and his exteriors evoke Andrew Wyeth paintings.  Particularly striking are the costumes by Malgosia Turzanska, who did the same chores on the excellent HELL OR HIGH WATER.  The Blumhouse Film is expected to go to disk on December 27^th. 

AUTRY’S INDIAN MARKETPLACE DRAWS HUGE CROWDS

This Saturday and Sunday tremendous crowds once again descended on The Autry for the annual American Indian Arts Marketplace,   where two-hundred artists from over forty tribes presented their work under an immense tent.  Painting, sculpture, jewelry, textiles – every medium and every form imaginable were included.  Among my personal favorites were a marble bison carved by Robert Dale Tsosie, traditional Hopi carved figures by Bendrew Atokuku, and the first prize for sculpture, an irornwork by Jason Reed Brown.

Outside of the tent, in addition to art and craft demonstrations and fry bread, there were kiosks with informative representatives for different concerns.  Kenneth Van Wey of the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board (I.A.C.B.) was eager to discuss the problem of fraudulent ‘Indian art’, and the Indian Arts and Crafts Act passed in 1990, which forbids passing off as ‘Indian Made’ any art from a different source.  The problem is widespread.  Pendleton Woolen Mills recently reached a settlement for misleading labeling of blankets as “Indian Product.”  Part of the settlement includes Pendleton donating over forty-thousand dollars to the Red Cloud Indian School’s Heritage Center in South Dakota.  Also, coordinated searches and seizures were made in New Mexico, California, and the Philippines, leading to the arrest of three New Mexicans for trying to sell Filipino jewelry as Indian-made.  Learn more at www.doi.gov/iacb

Kenneth Van Wey

At the next tent, Jim Davis of TLC, the nonprofit The Language Conservancy, reminded me that starting in 1879, it was official U.S. policy to try to erase Native American language, a policy that lasted in some cases into the 1990s.  As a result, 90% of Native American speakers are over 65; the languages are disappearing.  TLC’s mission is to save the many Native American languages by teaching them to the children of the various tribes at their reservation schools, as well as beyond the reservation.  To this end, they’ve produced dictionaries and teaching programs in Crow, Lakota, Dakota, Hidatsa, and other languages.  They’ve dubbed Berenstein Bears videos into Cherokee!  They’re active in the Dakotas, Oklahoma, Minnesota and elsewhere.  You can learn more at their website, http://www.languageconservancy.org/

The next booth belonged to our local independent station, KCET, who are marking Native American Heritage Month with a new short documentary series, TENDING THE WILD, which they are producing in collaboration with The Autry.  It’s available both digitally and on TV, and can be seen at The Autry as part of the California Continued exhibit.  Subjects include GATHERING MEDICINE, CULTURAL BURNING to prevent wildfires, and KEEPING THE RIVER, about the importance of salmon for Indians of the Klamath River.  Other related documentaries include HEALING THE WARRIOR’S HEART which examines the important role of military service in Native life, and tradition and ceremonies’ roles in reintegrating soldiers into civilian life.  You can learn more, and watch several of the shows, here: https://www.kcet.org/category/native-american-heritage-month

Saginaw Grant

You never know who you’ll run in to at these events, and I was delighted to meet Saginaw Grant, who plays Chief Big Bear in the recent LONE RANGER movie, and Screaming Eagle in THE RIDICULOUS 6.  And he has seven more projects in pre- or post-production.  As I was leaving, who was coming in but LONGMIRE star Zahn McClarnon, who was also in last year’s BONE TOMAHAWK, and has a lead role in the upcoming AMC Western series THE SON, starring with Pierce Brosnan. 

Zahn and me

A WORD ON WESTERNS TUESDAY AT THE AUTRY!

This Tuesday, November 15^th, producer and Western historian Rob Word hosts his next A Word on Westerns event at the Wells Fargo Theater.  This time the topic is MAKING WESTERNS – STORIES BEHIND THE SCENES.  Rob will be looking at what skills and qualities makes for a convincing Western actor – the ability to ride and shoot and wear a ten-gallon hat without looking like a half-pint?  Those sharing their opinions and experiences will be Oscar-winning actor Louis Gossett Jr., whose Westerns include THE SKIN GAME, BLACK BART, BONANZA, and ROOTS; actress Rosemary Forsyth, whose starred in SHENANDOAH, TEXAS ACROSS THE RIVER, and the series KUNG FU; and Norman Powell, who produced LAZARUS MAN and GUNSMOKE movies, and was production manager on WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, THE BIG VALLEY, and Sam Peckinpah’s THE WESTERNER.  Doors open at 10:30!  And head across the way for lunch and more conversation after!

OKLAHOMA! SATURDAY NOV. 19^TH AT THE AUTRY!

As part of their continuing ‘What is a Western?’ series, the Autry presents OKLAHOMA!, the 1956 film version of the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein Musical that revolutionized the Musical form in the way it told its story directly through song.  Starring Gordon MacRae, Shirley Jones, Rod Steiger and Gloria Grahame, it’s directed by that master of the Western, Fred Zinnemann, whose HIGH NOON will be shown in December.  OKLAHOMA! will be introduced by Josh Garrett-Davis, Gamble Assistant Curator of Western History, Popular Culture and Firearms.  The 35mm print will be screened at 1:30 pm in the Wells Fargo Theater.

‘CALAMITY JANE’ ANIMATED FEATURE IN THE WORKS

Calamity Jane thinking of Lucky Luke

French animators Henri Megalon and Remi Chaye, whose current animated feature, LONG WAY NORTH concerns a Russian aristocratic girl searching for her grandfather, will next tackle the extremely American story, CALAMITY JANE: A CHILDHOOD OF MARTHA JANE CANNARY, according to Deadline: Hollywood.  The film will focus on Jane as a little girl who was orphaned at ten.  As Chaye explained to DEADLINE:HOLLYWOOD’s Anita Busch, lone women and girls in the western frontier had few options for employment beyond laundry and prostitution, and some brave souls decided to try and pass as men. 

Calamity Jane thinking of Wild Bill, at his grave.

While the feminist angle is certainly a hook, Calamity Jane is not a major pop-culture figure in the U.S., despite the Doris Day musical, and the popular character in DEADWOOD, played by Robin Weigert.  But she’s a much bigger character in Europe, because of the long-time popularity of the Franco-Belgian comic strip LUCKY LUKE, which has been running since 1946, in which she was a major character.  Says Chaye, “We knew her as kids. She is part of the childhood of every French person.”

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Luke Hemsworth

Soon I’ll be writing about my visit to the set of ABILENE, a new Western about Wild Bill Hickok, starring WESTWORLD’s Luke Hemsworth and Kris Kristoffereson, and my days at the American Film Market, tracking down new Westerns.  I just found out that the RED NATION FILM FESTIVAL is going on right now in Pasadena, and will continue through November 21^st.  You can find out more at their official website: http://www.rednationff.com/

LATE BREAKING NEWS – Just learned that lovely Lupita Tovar, one of the very last stars of early talkies, has died at 106.  Among her several Westerns she co-starred with Gene Autry in SOUTH OF THE BORDER, and was the female lead in Universal’s Spanish-language version of DRACULA.

Lupita and Gene

Happy trails,

Henry

All Original Content Copyright November 2016 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved