‘HIGH CHAP’ REUNION WEBCAST! PLUS FORD’S ‘IRON HORSE’ W/LIVE SCORE, ‘MAN, PRIDE & VENGEANCE’ TO BLU-RAY!

‘HIGH CHAPARRAL’ REUNION ON WEBCAST!

The ‘High Chaparral Reunion’, which starts this Thursday, March 19^th, is the first event of its kind that I know of, to be webcast so that those of us who can’t get there can still watch in real time, and in fact can watch until April 8^th!  And it’s just been announced that Charlie LeSueur, Arizona’s Official Western Film Historian, will be moderating many of the events. 

Penny McQueen, Producer of the High Chaparral Reunion, told me, “Charlie is great; he's going to elevate things all around. I'm very excited about the webcast.  I'm sure it won't be polished and perfect, but then it's not supposed to be, as it’s real life, giving fans a way to see and participate when they can't come to the event in person.”    

And Charlie LeSueur is asking for your input.  “I'm inviting you to send me your questions to ask the stars. Just go to my website, www.abouttheoldhollywoodtrail.com and find the discussion page. Or you can send them more privately at www.azfilmhistorian.com.”

The Reunion runs from Thursday, March 19^th through Sunday, March 22^nd, and the webcast will feature events on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.  For a complete schedule of events, go HERE.   

Stars and behind-the-scenes folks taking part include Henry Darrow, who played Manolito; Don Collier, who played ranch foreman Sam Butler; Rudy Ramos, who played Wind; stunt-man and Western historian Neil Summers; producer Kent McCray; casting director Susan McCray (whose father, composer Harry Sukman, composed the HIGH CHAPARRAL theme); and writer and historian Boyd Magers.  To register, go HERE!  To get a peek at the webcast video set-up, and see a great teaser, go HERE.  The webcast will cost $65.  To register for the webcast, go HERE . 

Penny tells me that among the events being webcasted will be Don Collier’s ‘Confessions of an Acting Cowboy’ on Sunday evening.  Throughout the weekend she’ll be inserting highlights from previous Reunion events. 

One special thing Penny will be showing at the Reunion is the original HIGH CHAPARRAL pilot.  The copy comes from the family of William Claxton, who directed it, and directed eighteen episodes of the series – three times as many as anyone else.  (He also directed 57 BONANZAS, more than anyone else, and is acknowledged by many involved with either series as their best director.)  It’s from a faded 16mm print, but contains scenes that were never broadcast. 

All Western-movie or TV get-togethers are fun, but there’s something very special about celebrating a show on the actually locations, and set buildings, where it was actually shot.  Just a short drive out of Tucson, Old Tucson Western Movie Ranch was built for the film ARIZONA (1940), starring William Holden and Jean Arthur, right on the edge of mountains and a saguaro-cactus desert.  Hundreds of Western films and TV shows have been shot there, and the streets built for RIO BRAVO have changed very little.  An arson fire some years ago destroyed a lot, but there is still much that is magical in the old place.  If you can’t go for the Reunion, find another time to go. 

I saw this on Charlie LeSueur's Facebook page and had to 'borrow' it.  It's a 1979 Hubba Bubba Bubblegum commercial starring Don Collier and Dub Taylor.

‘BONANZA: LOST EPS’ RESPONSE SO STRONG, INSP CHANGES SCHEDULE!

Last week I reported that INSP had acquired BONANZA: THE LOST EPISODES, and celebrated with a Sunday marathon.  At that time, I said the shows would become part of the regular INSP lineup in April.  Well, Melissa Prince, Director of INSP Corporate Communications tells me the response to the marathon was so enthusiastic that they’ve bumped the shows ahead a few weeks.  Two showed on Saturday, and two more will run next Sunday night – check the listings in your time zone and service!

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. 

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.

FORD’S SILENT ‘IRON HORSE’ SCREEN MARCH 26^TH AT AUTRY WITH NEW LIVE SCORE!

John Ford’s rarely seen 1924 silent Western about the building of the transcontinental railroad, THE IRON HORSE will be screened at 7pm on Thursday, March 26^th, in 35mm, at the Autry.  And since, as The Autry reminds us, silent movies were never seen silent, it will be presented with a new soundtrack by Grammy-nominated composer Tom Peters.  It’s a computer-synchronized soundscape that will be partly performed live.  The cost is $10 for Autry members and students with I.D., $20 for non-members, and reservations are warmly suggested.  Visit TheAutry.org

‘MAN, PRIDE AND VENGEANCE’ COMING MAY 26^TH TO BLU-RAY!

Just got word that the Blue Underground Blu-Ray of the fascinating MAN, PRIDE AND VENGEANCE will be released on May 26^th.  Starring Franco Nero, Tina Aumont and Klaus Kinski, the film is directed by Luigi Bazzoni.  C. Courtney Joyner and I had a great time doing the audio commentary on this one, which was also released in some areas as WITH DJANGO COMES DEATH – a hoot considering that it not only is not a Django film, it’s actually based on the novel CARMEN, on which the Bizet opera is also based.  Blue Underground provided a copy to screen at the Los Angeles Italia Festival last month, and I’m told that it looked marvelous!  Below is the trailer, which also looks great.

THAT’S A WRAP!

Next week, I’ll be sharing my interview with actor, stuntman, musician and artist Michael Horse, best known for his portrayal of Tonto in 1981’s THE LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER!  I’ll also be updating my info on the coming TCM Classic Film Festival and the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival!

Until then,

Happy Trails!

Henry

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

YOU MIGHT WIN THIS BEAUTIFUL WESTERN CALENDAR! PLUS 'SIX BULLETS TO HELL' HOLLYWOOD PREMIERE!

WIN THIS BEAUTIFUL WESTERN CALENDAR!

Last year I said Asgard’s was the most beautiful Western Calendar I’d ever seen.  Well, they’ve done it again!  The 2015 model is a pip – using Western Pulp covers from 1936 through 1949, and featuring the kind of florid colors and over-heated action that drew your eye and made you eagerly plunk down your dime.  The format is big – 11” by 15” – and the pulps featured include TEXAS RANGERS, RANCH ROMANCES, MASKED RIDER, SPEED WESTERN and THRILLING WESTERN.  They’re printed on high-quality heavy stock, and perforated to become a 12-piece print collection when the year is finished.   There’s also a smaller desk-top version.  It retails for $21.95.  HERE is the link to Asgard Press, who have many other beautiful calendars as well. 

BUT IF YOU’D LIKE TO TRY AND WIN YOUR CALENDAR instead of buying, here’s your chance!  Answer these three questions about three great Western writers who started out in the pulps and other magazines:

      1.) Max Brand, under his own name and five pseudonyms, wrote more than 500 novels and about as many short stories.  He died young, in 1944 when, as a Harper’s Magazine war correspondent in Italy, he was killed by shrapnel.  Although best known for his cowboy stories, his most famous character was in another profession, featured in a hugely successful series of MGM features in the 1930s and 1940s, and on TV in the 1960s.  Name the character.

       2.) Writer Frederick Dilley Glidden is my favorite Western writer, because every line of dialogue he wrote sounded like Randolph Scott said it.  In fact, two of his novels were adapted into Randolph Scott movies – CORONER CREEK and ALBUQUERQUE.  RAMROD and BLOOD ON THE MOON were also based on his novels.  Name his nom de plume, borrowed from a real Old West gunfighter and Tombstone and Dodge City regular.          

 3.)   Once a dentist (like Doc Holliday), Zane Grey’s many novels include RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, THE VANISHING AMERICAN, and have been filmed over a hundred times.  Always athletic, he went to college on a baseball scholarship, but in later life his interest turned to a far different sport, one more commonly associated with Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.  Name the sport.

Send your answers to swansongmail@sbcglobal.net , and please put WESTERN CALENDAR CONTEST in the subject line!  On Friday I’ll put on a mask – not the Masked Rider or Lone Ranger kind, but one I can’t see through – pick a winner from among all correct entries, and I’ll put it in the mail on Saturday!  Good luck!

NEW SPAGHETTI WESTERN ‘6 BULLETS TO HELL’ PREMIERES IN L.A. THURSDAY!

On Thursday, January 15^th at 7 p.m., ‘6 BULLETS TO HELL’ will have its Hollywood premiere at the Chinese Theatre #4, as part of the monthly HollyShorts Screening Series.   If you’re a Round-up regular, you’ve been hearing about 6 BULLETS since they first rolled camera in July of 2013.  

An outgrowth of friendships formed at the Almeria Western Film Festival, this homage to oeuvre of Sergio Leone was filmed in Tabernas, Almeria Spain, at MiniHollywood and at Fort Bravo, the fabled stomping grounds of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance, Franco Nero – really everyone involved with the roughly 800 Spaghetti Westerns produced in the 1960s and 1970s.

It’s the story of former lawman-turned-farmer Billy Rogers (Crispian Belfrage), who once again straps on his guns to avenge the brutal murder of his wife by ruthless bandit Bobby Durango (Tanner Beard) and his despicable gang.  

It’s co-directed by Tanner Beard, who previously directed the excellent LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE, and Russell Quinn Cummings who co-starred in HELL’S GATE, and plays Sheriff Morris in 6 GUNS.  Also in the cast is Spaghetti Western veteran Antonio Mayans (TOWN CALLED HELL, MORE DOLLARS FOR THE MAGREGGORS), and Aaron Stielstra, who gave a chilling performance in the recent THE SCARLET WORM.  Members of the cast and crew are expected to attend.  To reserve your ticket, go HERE.

SHORELINE VILLAGE HOLDS 1^ST ANNUAL ‘BUCKAROO DAYS’ 

SAT. & SUN. JAN 17&18

Shoreline Village in Long Beach, a place better known for fishing than fast-draws, will celebrate the first of what’s planned as an annual free event, BUCKAROO DAYS.  The fun starts at one p.m. both days, and run ‘til 6 on Saturday and 4:30 on Sunday – don’t miss the ‘Farewell Shoot-out’ at 4 pm!  Among the activities and entertainments will be black-smithing, gold panning, Faro playing, shootouts (they often follows Faro playing), line-dancing, swearing-in of junior deputies, gun-slinging, trick roping, and music by The Fiddle and Pine Band, and the BillHillys – who’ll give your kids lessons for playing on a washboard!  There’ll be a rope-maker working in front of RainDance, the American Indian store, and the Kids’ Corral, with games and such for the youngins’, will be open all day, both days.

Shoreline Village is located at 401-435 Shoreline Village Drive, Long Beach, CA 90802.  562-435-2668.  Or visit them at www.shorelinevillage.com  

‘TRUE GRIT’ – THE WAYNE ONE – SATURDAY AT THE AUTRY!

Saturday, January 16^th, at 1:30 pm in the Wells Fargo Theatre, The Autry will screen TRUE GRIT (1969) as part of their ‘What is a Western?’ series.  It’s easy to think the glory days of American Westerns were over by 1969, but that was also the year of THE WILD BUNCH, BUTCH CASSIDY, THE UNDEFEATED, and MACKENNA’S GOLD.  Guys like Wayne were getting old, but they knew their stuff, as did director Henry Hathaway.  When the Coen Brothers did their excellent remake forty years later, the original was widely dis’d and dismissed by folks who had clearly not seen it in years, and recalled it as corny.  Nonsense: TRUE GRIT is a very tough movie, beautifully shot by Lucien Ballard, with a wonderful score by Elmer Bernstein, and directed with the unflinching guts that only a tough old bastard (and I mean that in the most respectful way) like Hathaway could muster.  The wonderful cast, in addition to the Oscar-winning performance by Wayne, includes Robert Duvall, Jeremy Slate, Dennis Hopper, and Strother Martin – who was also in both WILD BUNCH and BUTCH CASSIDY: what a year he had!  Glen Campbell, a great musician but untrained actor, was always sheepish about his performance, but he did just fine.  And Kim Darby, as Mattie Ross, the bossy little gal who hires Wayne to catch her dad’s killer, gives the performance of her career. 

With the remake, much was said, by the Coen brothers among others, about it not being a remake, but a return to the original novel.  That’s a load of crap, because it implies that the Hathaway version strayed far from the Charles Portis book.  The only major difference plot-wise, is that the Coens used the original Portis ending.  But the fact is Portis, who was on-set for the 1969 film, thought he could come up with a better ending than he’d written in the novel, and he certainly did.  SPOILER ALERT!  Incidentally, I have it on good authority that when word got out that the Coens were going with the novel’s ending, featuring an old Addie Ross, Kim Darby  very much wanted to play that role.  Elizabeth Marvel did an admirable job in the part.  But it would have meant so much more if Kim Darby had played it.

TRUE GRIT will be introduced with a discussion led by Jeffrey Richardson, curator of Popular Culture and of the Gamble Firearms Collection. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

Sorry I’m posting a day late!  I thought it would be Sunday, but I had to finish reading a novel and writing a cover blurb, had to steam wallpaper off the dining room walls, and when I came home had to help an elderly neighbor who was calling – “Help! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” Honest!  I’ve just read a wonderful book, KNOTT’S PRESERVED, about the fabled California theme park Knott’s Berry Farm.  I interviewed one of its authors, J. Eric Lynxwiler, last week, and will have my review and interview in the next week or two.

Happy Trails,

Henry

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