WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY-JANE-GOT-A-GUN? PLUS LA/ITALIA FEST HONORS MORRICONE, ‘WESTERN RELIGION’ ON DVD, AND MORE!

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY-JANE-GOT-A-GUN?

Did you miss it?  The Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan Macgregor opus that went through Hell to reach the screen came and went in about two weeks.  It’s damned good – you’ll find out when it makes its way to home video.  And you’ll probably join me in wondering why it was dumped by the Weinstein Company like week-old fish. 

This project was Natalie Portman’s baby from the start.  She knows from Westerns – see 2003’s COLD MOUNTAIN.  She snapped up the much-talked-about Black List script by Brian Duffield (Hollywood’s changed so much that The Black List is now where you want to be), pulled together financing, got director Lynne Ramsay (2011’s WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN), a cast…  And on the day shooting was to commence, Ramsay quit.  When she walked so did a lot of the cast, including Jude Law.  That would have killed most small films, but somehow they held it together, director Gavin O’Connor (2011’s WARRIOR) stepped in – dove in is more like it – and grabbed the reins.  On the eve of the film’s release, its distributor, RELATIVITY MEDIA, went bankrupt, and almost took JANE with them.  But The Weinstein Company saved it.  Then they released it with no press screenings, no publicity, and the only TV promotion I saw was Ewan Macgregor’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.   In this business, that’s the way you release a film that reviews can only hurt.  A stinker.  When I caught the movie at the Sherman Oaks Arclight, it was a kick to see three Westerns in the marquee – THE REVENANT, THE HATEFUL 8 – another Weinstein release, and JANE.  There were four other people in the theatre.  We all loved it.  I just don’t get it.

L.A./ITALIA FEST HONORS MAESTRO MORRICONE!

Franco Nero & Joan Collins on the Red Carpet

From Sunday, February 21^st through Saturday, February 27^th, the Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood will once again be the home of the 11^th edition of the annual L.A./Italia Film Festival.  Sponsored by the Italian government and various Italian businesses, this week-long celebration of Italian films, fashion and culture features both new and classic Italian films, and films made by Italian-Americans, and all of the screenings are free!  It’s done on a first-come, first-seated basis, and in four years of attending, I’ve never been shut out of a screening.

They’re honoring composer Ennio Morricone, and several films that he’s scored – the current THE HATEFUL 8, THE UNTOUCHABLES, THE MISSION, BUGSY, and DAYS OF HEAVEN.  My only complaint is that HATEFUL 8 is the only Western they’re showing this year.  You can learn all about the event, and find out when the screenings are, by checking out the official website HERE.

Just one word of warning: this event ends the day before the Oscars, which are held right next door at the Dolby Theatre.  In the day before the Oscars, more and more streets get closed off, so when you come to the L.A./Italia screenings, give yourself extra time to find parking.

‘WESTERN RELIGION’ ON DVD MARCH 1^ST!

If you’re a Round-up regular, you’ve been following the progress of WESTERN RELIGION since it first rolled camera in October of 2013, through their screening at Cannes and their L.A. Premiere a few months ago.  You may have read my interview with directorJames O’Brien, or learned about my adventures as a poker-playing extra in the film. 

The story of a sinister mix of gamblers who descend upon a tent city in Arizona to compete in a high-stakes poker tournament, it’s just been released on video-on-demand through iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, Youtube, and on March 1^st it comes out on DVD from Screen Media. 

GET-TV ADDS ‘CIMARRON CITY’ TO SATURDAYS FEB. 20^TH!

GET-TV is one of the new antenna digital channels, and it’s also available on some cable and satellite systems.  It’s a SONY channel, with lots of good old movies, and Saturdays they feature their Saturday Showdown Block (read my interview with Get-TV senior programming veep Jeff Meier HERE. Instead of playing often too-familiar Western series, they’ve specialized in quality shows that only ran for a season or two, and have rarely been shown again.  They’re adding CIMARRON CITY, which ran in 1958, a Gunsmoke-style series starring George Montgomery, John Smith who’d go on to fame in LARAMIE, and Dan Blocker who didn’t do too badly on BONANZA.  They continue to show MAN CALLED SHENANDOAH starring Robert Horton, HONDO starring Ralph Taeger, NICHOLS starring James Garner, WHISPERING SMITH staring Audie Murphy, THE TALL MAN starring Clu Gulager and Barry Sullivan, and LAREDO starring Neville Brand, Peter Brown, William Smith and Robert Wolders.  Incidentally, one of my most popular Round-up features is my interview with Robert Wolders.  You can read it HERE.

‘RANGER IN TIME – RESCUE ON THE OREGON TRAIL’ – A Book Review

I got some ribbing after the last Round-up for writing a book-review of a coloring book.  I may get more ribbing for reviewing RANGER IN TIME – RESCUE ON THE OREGON TRAIL, not because it’s a kid’s book, but because it’s about a time-traveling Golden Retriever.      The novel by prolific and talented kid’s author Kate Messner is the first in as series of four thus far.  Ranger is a 21^st century disappointment, a dog flunked from a search-and-rescue program because he was too easily distracted by squirrels.  He’s living with a modern family when he digs up an old first-aid kit in the back yard that somehow zaps him back to 1850 and the Abbotts, a family heading out on the Oregon Trail.  And wouldn’t you know it, that search-and-rescue training comes in mighty handy.

Don’t get bogged down in the science of time travel – maybe it’ll make more sense in the next book, about ancient Rome, but it’s just a MacGuffin to get a modern-day sensibility into a historical tale.   The fact is, it’s hard to get school-kids interested in reading history, and this story, with its nod to Jack London and his brilliant dog’s point-of-view novels, CALL OF THE WILD and WHITE FANG, is exciting, involving, and frank.  I was a little surprised that when other fuel became scarce, the kids had to collect buffalo turds, or chips, to make a fire.  I was startled that, after several family members die along the trail, their graves were purposely driven over by the wagons, to compact the earth, and make it harder for scavenging wolves to dig up.  It’s the kind of creepy but clearly authentic detail that would make a kid want to learn more. 

The book, aimed at 2^nd to 4^th grade readers, ends with an extensive chapter on the historical research behind the story, and suggestions for further reading. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

LAST WEEK THE ROUND-UP PASSED 250,000 HITS!

Thanks to all of my loyal readers, from more than 100 countries, who keep coming back to the Round-up!  I thought I’d have my interview with Crispian Belfrage about the making of THE PRICE OF DEATH, but I ran out of time, so that will be in the next issue.  Hope your Valentine’s Day was romantic, and your Presidents Day was…presidential!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents  Copyright February 2016 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved!

‘LONGMIRE’ PLAY-DATE, ‘JANE’ REPRIEVE, ‘BONE TOMAHAWK’ REVEAL, PLUS ‘EDGE’ TO CUT A PILOT, AMC ORDERS REDFORD WEST SERIES!

‘LONGMIRE’ RETURNS, NOW TO NETFLIX, THURS., SEPT 10!

The long-awaited 4^th season of LONGMIRE is ‘in the can’ and almost here!  What was A&E’s most successful drama ever – until they abruptly dropped it – will premiere in a little over a month on Netflix.   It will NOT be available on broadcast or cable or satellite – you’ll have to subscribe to Netflix to see it through the internet.  The entire ten-episode season will be available on that day, so if you want, you can binge-watch it in a sitting (and have no more LONGMIRE to watch for a year – ulp!).  All the regular characters are back, and season 4 will begin right were season 3 ended.  And here’s some great news: because Netflix is a pay service, there are no commercials, so the episodes will be not 48 minutes, but at least an hour long!  In my LONGMIRE article in the upcoming October TRUE WEST, I’ll be discussing the whole A&E/Netflix TV saga with LONGMIRE-creator Craig Johnson, and actor Zahn McClarnon, who plays Navajo Officer Mathias.

‘JANE’ RESCUED FROM RELATIVITY CHAPTER 11!

Finally some positive news for the long-embattled JANE GOT A GUN.  The film’s principal financier, lawyer David Boises, got JANE extricated from Relativity Media the day before the imploding mini-major filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The movie was set to be a co-release by Relativity and The Weinstein Company.  It hasn’t been announced yet if Weinstein is still in the mix.  To say star Natalie Portman’s first film as a producer has been beleaguered is putting it mildly.  It started when acclaimed writer/director Lynne Ramsay quit on what would have been the first day of shooting.  Star Jude Law went with her, the producers scrambled to recast, Acclaimed director Gavin O’Connor stepped in, Ewan MacGregor stepped in and, against all predictions, the movie was made.  The story concerns a woman who turns for help to her former lover when former associates come after her outlaw husband. 

‘BONE TOMAHAWK’ TO PREMIERE AT ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE ‘FANTASIC FEST’!

Kurt Russell, cowboys and cannibals come together in BONE TOMAHAWK, the new dark Western which will have its world launch at the 11^th annual Alamo Drafthouse Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.  The Fest runs from September 24^th through October 1^st.   The film also features Lili Simmons, Sean Young, David Arquette, Sid Haig, Michael Pare, and Oscar-nominee Richard Jenkins.  I had the chance to visit the set, and you’ll be reading my interview with writer/director Craig Zahler soon. 

ROBERT REDFORD’S ‘THE WEST’ COMES TO AMC SUMMER 2016

When you’re Robert Redford, you don’t need to audition.  No pilot was required for AMC to sign up for eight one-hour episodes of THE WEST, a docudrama series from Sundance Films that had once been announced at the Discovery Channel.  A new look at familiar bad men and good men of all shades, like Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Jesse James and Billy the Kid, the series will feature commentaries by actors known to the genre, including James Caan, Tom Sellick, Ed Harris and Keifer Sutherland.  It’s planned to run in the summer of 2016, alongside the final episodes of HELL ON WHEELS. 

WAYNE DIEHL ON THE ‘WRITER’S BLOCK’ GUEST THURSDAY NIGHT!

On Thursday, August 6th at 8 pm, Wayne Diehl, author of THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF MISSY MONTAIGNE, will be joining hosts Jim Christina and Bobbi Jean Bell for an hour of talk on their weekly show, Writer’s Block, on L.A.Talk Radio.  You can listen live (at ‘Listen Live 2’) HERE.  You can call in live at 818-602-4929.  And if you miss the live broadcast, or want to catch up on earlier shows, you can find podcasts of them HERE 

PILOT BASED ON ‘EDGE’ BOOKS ORDERED BY AMAZON

George Gilman’s THE EDGE Western novels and characters will be the basis of a series pilot for Amazon.  Written by the prolific English author in the early 1970s, to follow up with his successful novelizations of the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood trilogy, they are cold and violent spaghetti westerns on the page.  Shane Black, who wrote and directed IRON MAN 3, will co-write with Fred Dekker, direct and exec produce.  Max Martini, the SEAL Commander from CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, will play Josiah Hedges, aka Edge, out to avenge his brother’s death.  Ryan Kwanten, of TRUE BLOOD fame, will play Edge’s quarry, the likable son of a senator, secretly a sadistic monster.    

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

So much new Western news!  And people keep asking me, ‘Do they make Westerns anymore?’  Duh!  Have a great week, folks!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

‘TCM CLASSIC FILM FEST’ RED CARPET, PLUS ‘GRAND DUEL’ REVIEW

 

My view from the red carpet

 

From Thursday, April 25^th through Sunday, April 28^th, I attended the 4^TH ANNUAL TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL.  The events took place at and around Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, at several of the smaller Chinese Theatre multi-plex screens, with additional events at Grauman’s Egyptian and the Hollywood Arclight aka the Cinerama Dome.   It was my first time, and I was overwhelmed by all of the screenings, activities, and choices that had to be made. 

This is an event for people who are passionate about the movies, and eager to see them on a big screen, often in 35mm, always with someone of note giving an introduction.  But how do you choose when GIANT, ON GOLDEN POND, THE BIG PARADE, THE TRAIN, THEY LIVE BY NIGHT and GUYS AND DOLLS are all showing at once?!  It is truly an embarrassment of riches.

 

 

I caught as many movies as I could, but I only managed to catch four on one day, Saturday, which made me a piker by the standards of most attendees.  Chatting while standing on line, I met folks from Kansas City, Missouri; Illinois; Arlington, Virginia; Florida; and Cincinnati, Ohio.  A couple I met waiting to get in to see DELIVERANCE were from outside Raleigh, North Carolina, and confided, “We want to see it on a big screen, so we can recognize our relatives,” then quickly added, “only joking,” in case I was dense.  Interestingly, I didn’t meet a soul from L.A., and the one couple I met from San Diego turned out to be recent transplants from Kentucky.  And none of them were first-timers: on average they were back for their third year. 

It was delightful to be surrounded by so many people who were so enthusiastic, and knowledgeable, about classic film.  Waiting for BONNIE AND CLYDE to start, someone uttered the name Strother Martin, and a dozen voices piped in with their favorite Strother Martin performances.  The event is pricey.  The costliest package, featuring VIP entry to everything, meet-and- reets with stars and TCM hosts, and all manner of extras, costs $1599.  There are a lot of in-between packages, with the least expensive, at $249, getting you admission to only the big-screen venues, the Chinese and Egyptian.  You can also buy single event tickets for $20, but be aware that they are ‘stand-by’, and a lot of shows fill up, though most at the huge Chinese and the Egyptian do not.

I’d picked up my media credentials (when did they stop being ‘press credentials’?) the day before, and hadn’t read their many emails closely enough to realize that I had to apply separately for credentials to cover Thursday night’s gala, featuring the world premiere of the digital restoration of FUNNY GIRL at the Chinese.  I realized my stupidity late Wednesday night, and emailed, begging to be let on the red carpet.  Well, sometimes stupidity pays off: they not only gave me a spot on the red carpet (see the picture), since I was the very last dope to ask, I got the very last spot, which gave me a perfect view straight down the center of the famed ‘footprint’ courtyard.  The first star to come my way was Barbara Rush.  Best known for her role in TV’s PEYTON PLACE, she’s starred in many movies and guested in many series, her best western role being Audra in HOMBRE, opposite Paul Newman. 

 

Barbara Rush

 

Next was Coleen Gray.  She first made a splash as the good girl opposite carny grifter Tyrone Power in NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947).  She got her feet wet in westerns the next year, co-starring with Victor Mature in FURY AT FURNACE CREEK, then entered the big-leagues playing John Wayne’s romantic interest in the Howard Hawks classic RED RIVER.  She’s appeared in numerous western and civilian films since then, guest-starring on nearly all of the major western series, and starred opposite Hugh Marlowe in a frequently overlooked top-of-the-line oater, Charles Marquis Warren’s THE BLACK WHIP.     

 

Coleen Gray

She was followed by Jacqueline White, best known for noirs like CROSSFIRE and THE NARROW MARGIN, but who starred with Randolph Scott in RETURN OF THE BAD MEN, and with Tim Holt in RIDERS OF THE RANGE. 

 

Jacqueline White

Looking much as she did in MIDRED PIERCE was beautiful Ann Blyth, who would be attending screenings of both PIERCE and KISMET during the festival.  Her only feature western is Zane Grey’s RED CANYON, but she appeared on five episodes of WAGON TRAIN.  I asked her if she had a favorite western role among them.  “That’s always so hard to just pick one.  I’ll get back to you on that.”

 

 

Ann Blyth

 

 

Marvin Kaplan

 

Comedian Marvin Kaplan of IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD was next, and then I was talking to former child star Jane Withers, who would be the special guest at her film, GIANT, the next night.  Of all the stars entering the Chinese that night, she was probably the only one who would be walking by her own footprints in cement.  I asked her which was her favorite western, SHOOTING HIGH, with Gene Autry, or GIANT, with Rock Hudson and James Dean.  “Oh, bless your heart for knowing about both!  I did five westerns as a kid, and I loved them all, oh gosh, because cowboys are my favorite people in the world.   Monte Hale and Gene Autry and Roy and Dale were always very close friends.  Roy and Dale and I became neighbors years later; our kids all went to church and Sunday School together.  I’ve had the most unique and interesting life of anyone I know.  And I’m so grateful – I’ve just had my 87^th birthday, and Fox Home Entertainment is rereleasing all my early Jane Withers films from the ‘30s and the ‘40s, and I’m just thrilled.”

 

Jane Withers

 

 

Jane's footprints

 

Next came the great Theodore Bikel, who appeared in episodes of HOTEL DE PAREE, WAGON TRAIN, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKE, and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.  When I asked him what his favorite was, he said, “I can’t tell you.  Some of them I liked.” 

 

Theodore Bikel

When I asked Karen Sharpe Kramer about her favorite western, she might have said MAN WITH A GUN (1955), where she starred opposite Robert Mitchum, or JOHNNY RINGO (1959), her western series, but I wasn’t surprised at her answer.  “HIGH NOON, of course.”  She’s the widow of producer/director Stanley Kramer, who made HIGH NOON.  “I like THE SEARCHERS, I like TRUE GRIT as well.  But HIGH NOON has something to say, which I think is important.  So I would always search out a movie that would leave you with something, instead of just being entertaining.” 

 

Karen Sharpe Kramer

I next saw Wink Martindale, DJ and game show host who, a few decades ago, had the number one record in the country, not a song, but a spoken recording.  I asked him, “When are you going to do another recording like A Deck of Cards?” 

 

 

Wink Martindale

 

“Oh, I don’t know!  That was one of those rare ones – you don’t find those very often.  Would you believe that was recorded in 1959?  Or was it 1859?”

“Off-subject, let me ask you, what’s your favorite western?”

“I think it would be HIGH NOON, without any question at all, because I loved Gary Cooper’s performance in that; great story.” 

Next came beautiful Anne Jeffreys, Marion Kerby to those of us who grew up watching TOPPER, still lovely at ninety.  “Which is your favorite of all your westerns?”

 

Anne Jeffreys

“Ahh…NEVADA (1944), with Robert Mitchum.”

“Terrific.  Any favorites among you Wild Bill Elliot films?” 

“No, except with Gabby Hayes.”  There are eight of those to choose from. 

 

Mitzi Gaynor

 

By then the staffers were trying to hurry the guests into the theatre – we glimpsed Mitzi Gaynor, Marge Champion, France Nuyen, Tippi Hedron , Robert Hays, Eva Marie Saint and film historian Kevin Brownlow zipping by.  Although Barbra Streisand lives in town, she didn’t attend the screening.  She was in New York, at another event, presenting an award.  Cher filled in for her, doing the introduction to FUNNY GIRL.    

 

 

Marge Champion

 

I rushed off to see a movie, chose ROAD TO UTOPIA, a north-western comedy set in the Klondike Gold Rush, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.  It was introduced by Greg Proops, one of the improvisational comedians from WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?, who gave an excellent talk about the chemistry of Hope and Crosby in the ROAD pictures, and that underscoring the humor was the ruthlessness of their attempts to cut each other off in the pursuit of both money and Lamour.  It was hysterical.

 

France Nuyen

 

Next week, in Part 2, I’ll discuss the screenings of RIVER OF NO RETURN, HONDO and DELIVERANCE.

LEE VAN CLEEF IN ‘THE GRAND DUEL’ ON DVD

 

Blue Underground has just released a beautiful new version of 1972’s THE GRAND DUEL, starring Lee Van Cleef, directed by Giancarlo Santi from Ernesto Gastaldi’s screenplay. It’s one of the best of the Spaghetti Westerns from the end of the cycle. This was Santi’s first film as a director, but he’d made his bones as assistant director to Sergio Leone on THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, as well as the excellent DEATH RIDES A HORSE.  Screenwriter Gastaldi has a staggering 121 writing credits, from cult horror favorites like VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA and WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS’ DORMITORY to Westerns like the ARIZONA COLT and SARTANA series, but is probably best known for MY NAME IS NOBODY – he even did uncredited script-work on Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA. 

 

The story revolves around wanted man Philip Vermeer (Peter O’Brien aka Alberto Dentice), hunted for murder by ex-Sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef), and a passel of bounty hunters.  The dead man, Samuel Saxon, referred to as ‘The Patriarch,’ and only seen in dramatic black & white flashbacks, has three sons, a businessman; a lawman; and a flamboyant, syphilitic pock-marked ne’er-do-well, all of them obsessed with Vermeer’s capture and punishment.  Clayton is convinced Vermeer is being framed, and they join forces to learn and expose the truth.

 

 

 

 

Shot in unfamiliar and striking locations by Mario Vulpiani, edited by Roberto Perpignani, who also cut LAST TANGO IN PARIS and IL POSTINO, the film is full of striking compositions and sequences, among them Van Cleef slyly tipping Vermeer to the location of the bounty hunters, a remarkable chase shot from overhead, a nighttime attack on a stage-coach stop, and the wonderfully staged ‘grand duel’ at the end of the film.  There is also a sometimes haunting, sometimes thrilling score by Luis Bacalov and Sergio Bardotti.

'Killing of the Old Man' sequence

 

 

 

The degree of corruption in the town is striking, and because this is so common to the sub-genre, over the years, many American viewers have bristled at the sense that many Spaghetti Westerns are anti-American.  I think this is a misreading of the intent.  I think the corrupt and degenerate brothers who run the town, like the hooded thugs in DJANGO and the homosexual ‘Zorros’ of DJANGO KILL! are not references to America at all, but to Italian Fascism, which had, until a short time before these films were made, enslaved Italy.

 

from the duel

It would be disingenuous of me not to also mention that screenwriter and film historian C. Courtney Joyner and myself provide a commentary track, which has been well-reviewed (I didn’t  realize that people actually reviewed commentary tracks) and here are a couple of links for reviews of this version of THE GRAND DUEL: from 10K BULLETS, and from DVD LATESHOW.   Also included is a Spaghetti Western Trailer Reel featuring some of Blue Underground’s other fine releases.   The official release day is May 21^st.  The price is $14.98.  You can learn more HERE.
 

50^TH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘HUD’ AT AUTRY SATURDAY, MAY 11^TH

On Saturday at 1:30, HUD will have its 50^th anniversary marked with a screening at the Autry as part of their What is a Western ? series.  I’ve never seen HUD, but I’ve been hearing about it for years.  It earned three Oscars, for Best Actress Patricia Neal, Best Supporting Actor Melvyn Douglas, and Best Black & White Cinematography by James Wong Howe.  It stars Paul Newman as a selfish and reckless cowboy who risks his family’s ranch over a feud with his father.  Curator Jeffrey Richardson will introduce the film, discussing HUD’s unflinching social commentary as part of the Western genre’s transformation in the 1960s. 

“FILL YER HAND BRADLEY COOPER, YOU SUNUVABITCH!”

More headaches for the trouble-plagued set of JANE GOT A GUN, the new western starring and co-produced by Natalie Portman.  First, on the day the cameras were to roll in April, director Lynne Ramsey was a no-show. Then lead villain Jude Law quit because Lynne had quit.  He was replaced by Bradley Cooper – right after his SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK success.  But now Cooper is leaving because of his previous commitment to David O. Russell.  More details coming soon!

THE WRAP UP

That’ll have to do for today.  Happy Cinco de Mayo, and happy birthday to my mom, to Monica Lewis, and to Will ‘Sugarfoot’ Hutchins.  With Saturday being Stephanie’s and my 28^th wedding anniversary, I’m a little surprised I got this posted and written tonight.  Next week I’ll have part two of my TCM Fest coverage, and soon I’ll have reviews of  a Pat Buttram biography, the home video release of BORDERTOWN, and ‘HOWDY KIDS!! A Saturday Afternoon Western Round-up’ from the Shout Factory.

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

HALLMARK GREENLIGHTS ‘WHEN CALLS THE HEART’ - A NEW WESTERN SERIES!

 

The Hallmark TV movie WHEN CALLS THE HEART is in post production, and will serve as an introduction to a series of ten one-hour episodes of the same title.  Based on the best-selling CANADIAN WEST book series by Janette Oke, the movie stars Maggie Grace, Jean Smart, Lori Laughlin, Poppy Drayton and Stephen Amell.  The cast for the TV-series has not yet been announced. 

 

 

Set in 1910, it’s the story of Elizabeth Thatcher, a cultured teacher who, with misgivings, gives up her comfortable city life to become a teacher in a prairie town on the western frontier.  She’s determined to prove her independence to her doubting family, and her doubting self.  She’s helped in part by drawing inspiration from a late Aunt’s secret diary.  It seems the Aunt had a similar adventure, and similarly had a romance with a Royal Canadian Mountie. 

 

Author Janette Oke and the Hallmark Channel have had a long and successful partnership since 2003, when they first adapted her book LOVE COMES SOFTLY.  It’s led to a dozen titles from the series since then, most or all of them westerns, many with LOVE’S (ADJECTIVE) (NOUN) titles.  The WHEN CALLS THE HEART movie was written and directed by Michael Landon, Jr.      

 

MUSICAL CHAIRS CONTINUE ON ‘JANE GOT A GUN’

 

Natalie Portman in COLD MOUNTAIN

 

But the good news is, when the music stops, it looks like they’ve still got a cast, plus a director.  It had been announced recently that Michael Fassbinder, of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, JONAH HEX, and Magneto of the X-MEN movies, was exiting due to schedule conflicts with another X-MEN movie.  He had been replaced by Australian Joel Edgerton, who plays the Squadron Team Leader in ZERO DARK THIRTY, and will soon be seen as Tom Buchanan in THE GREAT GATSBY. Edgerton had initially been cast as the villain of the piece, but when Fassbinder left, Edgerton was switched to hero, and Jude Law came on board to play the villain.  But no one, least of all star and producer Natalie Portman, was prepared when they reached the set on Monday, March 18^th, for the commencement of principal photography, and learned that director Lynne Ramsay had quit.    

 

The project had begun with an original screenplay by first-timer Brian Duffield, and was a highly touted ‘Black List’ script. (Note: this ‘Black List’ has nothing to do with politics. It is a list of highly respected scripts that haven’t been sold. Stupid name, considering the ‘Black List’ connotation, isn’t it?)  The story concerns Portman’s character, who is married to the head of an outlaw band.  When he comes home, badly wounded, pursued by former underlings who want to finish him off, she turns for help to a former lover, (once Fassbinder, now Edgerton).  Lynne Ramsay, who has garnered great respect as the director of WE’VE GOT TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, had been actively involved with the project from day one, and her abrupt exit has left the town stunned.

 

Portman’s producing partner, Scott Steindorff of Scott Pictures, was livid, and told DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD: “I have millions of dollars invested, we’re ready to shoot, we have a great script, crew and cast.  I’m shocked and so disappointed someone would do this to 150 crew members who devoted so much time, energy, commitment and loyalty to a project, and then have the director not show up. It is insane somebody would do this to other people. I feel more for the crew and their families, but we are keeping the show going on, directors are flying in, and a replacement is imminent.”

 

Next to leave, it was revealed Wednesday, is Jude Law, whose interest in the project was based on his wish to work with Lynne Ramsay.  Among those being considered to replace him, according to the Los Angeles Times, are Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, and Jake Gyllenhal.  Maguire starred in the rarely seen but excellent Ang Lee-directed western RIDE WITH THE DEVIL; Bridges has starred in a slew of westerns, most recently TRUE GRIT; Gyllenhal was nominated for an Oscar for Ang Lee’s BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (if you consider sheep-movies to be westerns), and also played Billy Crystal’s son in CITY SLICKERS. 

 

Now it’s been announced that WARRIOR director and co-writer Gavin O’Connor will be sitting in the canvas chair.  He directed Edgerton in WARRIOR, which garnered Nick Nolte a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.  He also directed TUMBLEWEEDS (1999), which earned a Best Actress nomination for Janet McTeer, and directed the hugely popular hockey film MIRACLE (2004).  With so much money and so many jobs on the line, this highly talented group should be able to pull it off. 

 

MIKE GAGLIO REPORTS FROM ‘QUICK DRAW’ SET

 

Mike Gaglio (left) in AMERICAN BANDITS: FRANK AND JESSE JAMES

 

When I learned that the folks at Hulu, the downloading site, were making their own western series, I was excited.  They were shooting eight episodes over four weeks at the Paramount Ranch.  But all the people involved were a little…gun shy... when I contacted them.  They weren’t having any press on the set.  Then I learned they were casting dress extras, and I thought I might sneak on-board that way.  But it turned out to be a S.A.G. shoot, so I couldn’t get on that way either.

 

Then I learned that actor, musician and all-around good-guy Mike Gaglio had a part in the show.  Mike has more than forty film and TV credits, including AMERICAN BANDITS: FRANK AND JESSE JAMES, and I thought I might learn a little about it from him.   

 

“I was told I have a part in this movie.  I met up with some friends, and as soon as we got there, this guy goes, ‘So you’re our dead body extras, right?’  And half the cowboys are going, ‘Hell no, I’m not an extra; I’m an actor, and I was guaranteed lines in this movie.’  (Laughs)  They’re all pissed off.  And the kid who’s wrangling us goes, ‘We don’t have any use for that.  What we need is a bunch of dead bodies laying around, that the good guys have shot up.’  They put us across the stream from the big stars, the stream that runs right through Paramount Ranch.

 

“There’s six of us extras; he gave us each a number, and he said, ‘When I call out your number, you fall down dead.’  I was crouched down behind a tree.  They called out my number, I flipped over, dead.  And that was it.  And I laid there, and it rained on me for a little while, and I fell asleep for about an hour.  When I did wake up they had gone on to the dialog part.  But we still had to lie there.”

 

It turned out to be a comedy, and the actors were from Comedy Central.  “There was no script.  It’s all improv.  I was first told I had a week of work; but because I was killed off in the very first scene, they didn’t want me back.  Then I got a call that I had one more day on the show.  This time we were street people, just walking back and forth in front of the saloon.  They were really nice; they fed us extremely well. The costume lady was great.  She did some of the costuming for DEADWOOD.  The costumes were really ratty; they were rentals from Western Costume, but they looked very ‘DEADWOODY’.  A very accurate look to them.”   I guess I shouldn’t be too jealous about not getting to be a dress extra.       

That'll be it for this week's Round-up.  I apologize for the several changes of type in this posting -- the software is giving me a hard time for unknown reasons.  Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright March 2013 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved