WIN A BLU-RAY OF ‘COMPANEROS’! PLUS CROATIAN COMEDY-WESTERN ‘KAUBOJI’ REVIEWED, INDIAN MARKETPLACE AT THE AUTRY, RAMONA DAYS!

Updated 11-6-2014 - see HELL ON WHEELS Returns! 

WIN A BLU-RAY OF ‘COMPANEROS’!

As regular Round-up readers know (they may not care, but they know), I’ve had the pleasure of doing commentary tracks, along with director, screenwriter and Western novelist C. Courtney Joyner (SHOTGUN is his latest), on a number of Western movies, the most recent being the beautiful Blue Underground Blu-Ray edition of COMPANEROS, starring the wonderful Franco Nero and Tomas Milian, and directed by the legendary Sergio Corbucci.  You can read more about it HERE.  

Those kind-hearted  Blue Underground folks have offered me two of the COMPANEROS Blu-Rays to share with Round-up readers who truly deserve them, and I figure the most deserving among you are the ones who know the most about Franco Nero and his Westerns.  So, here’s what you need to do to win:  match the Franco Nero co-stars to the correct movies.  I’m giving the movies numbers, and the actors letters, so put your answers in a “1a, 2b” type format, and send it to swansongmail@sbcglobal.net , and put COMPANEROS in the subject line.  And make sure to include your name, phone number, and snail-mail address. On Sunday, November 9^th, I’ll randomly select two winners from among all correct entries. 

1. DJANGO STRIKES AGAIN

2. THE MERCENARY

3. KEOMA

4. CIPOLLA COLT

5. DON’T TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

6. DEAF SMITH AND JOHNNY EARS

a. Lynn Redgrave

b. Donald Pleasance

c. Martin Balsam

d. Anthony Quinn

e. Jack Palance

f. Woody Strode

Granted, some of these movies are known under several different titles, but who told you life was fair?  Incidentally, Blue Underground offers several Franco Nero westerns, including DJANGO; TEXAS, ADIOS; KEOMA, and Franco Nero crime thrillers including HOW TO KILL A JUDGE, STREET LAW, THE FIFTH CORD, and HITCH-HIKE.  Check out their website HERE.  

KAUBOJI – ‘THE COWBOYS’ – A Film Review

On Thursday night, October 23^rd, KAUBOJI, or COWBOYS, had its second United States screening at Santa Monica’s AERO THEATRE.  KAUBOJI is based on a popular comedy stage play written by Sasa Anocic, who stars in the film.  The direction, as well as script adaptation, is by Tomislav Mrsic.

Croatia’s official submission to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, KAUBOJI is a clever and touching comedy that might just reach that Oscar goal. 

Set in an ugly and unwelcoming industrial town, it’s the story of Sasa Anlokovic (Sasa Anocic), a frail and defeated-looking theatre director who returns to his hometown at the invitation of his old friend, the Mayor (Niksa Butijer), to produce a play, in hopes of brightening the existences of a people who haven’t seen a stage production of any kind in decades.  Sasa is dubious, but has no better offers and one senses that, like Julian Marsh (Warner Baxter) of 42^ND STREET, he needs a success, and badly.  He holds an open-call for actors, and in a delightful reversal of CHORUS LINE, where the auditioners reveal their entire lives, here, out of excessive caution, fear or stupidity, the director approaches emotional collapse trying to get them to reveal anything about themselves.  What quickly becomes clear is that there is not a soul in town who is an actor, and there are only a handful of people willing to learn.  Therefore, every auditioner, no matter how clueless, is awarded a role in the show – even the girl who no one can understand, and her brother who cannot or will not speak, and whose fascination with anything electrical is a source of constant danger. 

The dubious director

A first-time meeting with the assembled cast reveals that almost none have ever seen a play.  Director Sasa quizzes them on what TV shows they like – they only watch news!  He hits pay dirt when one mentions he likes Western movies.  It turns out they all do – from STAGECOACH to RIO BRAVO, from Spaghetti Westerns to Winnetou, it’s their only common ground, and the director quickly begins fashioning a Western story for them, using every stock character and plot cliché known to the genre.

 

"You've got the part!"

Reminiscent in tone and humor and subject-matter to films like BILLY ELLIOT and THE FULL MONTY, where desperate people find hope in the theatre, KAUBOJI takes it one step farther, because the Western genre that unites all of these odd strangers is based on the struggles of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, and the triumph of the individual.  These poor shlubs seem never to have had a triumph in their lives.  But all of them, from the pathetic Momma’s boy, to the hypochondriac, to the cowardly lackey of the mobster-deodorant king, grow themselves a pair, looking out for themselves and for each other.  Their bonding comes not over whiskey and poker and campfires, as in their play, but over bowling and weed – but it gets them there, and they manage to create something that gives them great pride, and makes them better people, better men -- and one better woman -- for the experience.   

The Mysterious Stranger

While some of the comedy is broad, and a little coarse, it is based in reality, and there is also a fair amount of wistfulness and sadness, and plenty of heart.  It ends leaving you as much touched as amused.  I strongly recommend it.

The saloon

KAUBOJI is part of the 14^th year of the Kino Croatia: New Film series of the American Cinematheque, a program run by filmmaker Matko Malinger.  The movie was followed by a musical performance, on a saloon set, by Croatian and Czech singers and musicians who did a dynamite version of the Bon Jovi classic DEAD OR ALIVE, and a spirited pseudo-western song called WHISKEY, which I’m guessing was in Croatian or Russian. 

The funeral

This led to a reception in the lobby which featured a tasty selection Croatian pastry, Croatian beer, Croatian wine, and even Croatian bottled water for those with a long drive ahead of them.  I found myself chatting with the talented guitarist from the musical performance, Milan Skorjanec, who surprised me by telling me he’d only had a couple of days to learn the songs.  An immigrant from Croatia, he’s an electrical engineer by trade, but still a musician by compulsion, and he grew up with many of the same Westerns as we in the States did.  And as he reminded me, Croatia has its own history and heritage with the Western movie.  Fans of the Winnetou films of the 1960s, starring Pierre Brice as the Apache chief, Lex Barker as Old Shatterhand, and Stewart Granger as Old Surehand, know they were based on German author Karl May’s stories, and made by German companies.  They may assume that the films were shot in Germany, but they were in fact lensed in Yugoslavia, is what once was, and is once again, Croatia.  Milan tells me they’re now shooting much of GAME OF THRONES in the same locations. 

Guitarist Milan Skorjanec

INDIAN MARKETPLACE AT THE AUTRY NOV. 8 &9

The 24^th Annual American Indian Marketplace will be held at the Autry next Saturday and Sunday, showcasing more than two hundred artists representing more than forty tribes.  I attend this event every year, and am always astounded by the range of art on display.  Whether your interests run to silver, beadwork, leather, painting, pottery, drums, jewelry – you’ll find it here, in a 25,000-square foot tent.  Best of all, you’ll find the artists, who are happy to talk about their work.  It’s free to members, $12 for non-members, and less for students and children.  There are a number of other events involved, beginning on Friday night.  For more information, go HERE.

‘RAMONA’ LIVING HISTORY DAY SAT. NOV. 8 AT RANCHO CAMULOS!

From noon ‘til 4 you can time-travel to the days of the great Spanish ranchos as you stroll the grounds of Rancho Camulos, the very location that inspired Helen Hunt Jackson to write RAMONA, one of the most beloved romances in the history of California, and the subject of the annual Ramona Pageant (more about the pageant from an earlier Round-up HERE).

There will be costumed re-enactors, children’s activities, a book store, gift shop, food trucks, and best of all, a wonderful historical atmosphere in which to lose yourself!  I’ve attended this event several times and loved it.  HERE is a link to a write-up from one of my previous visits.    

‘LOST’ 1928 ‘RAMONA’ SCREENS SAT. NIGHT NOV. 7 AT ‘HOME OF RAMONA’!

Considered ‘lost’ for decades, the silent 1928 version of Helen Hunt Jackson’s RAMONA, starring the luminously beautiful Dolores del Rio, was recently discovered in the film archives of the Czech Republic!  I can imagine no more perfect place to see it – Helen Hunt Jackson’s brief visit to Rancho Camulos, in Piru, California, inspired the story, and provided its setting – and D. W. Griffith even shot the first film version at the Rancho, starring Mary Pickford.  Following tapas and wine, the film will screen in the Rancho’s 1930 schoolhouse, to a live musical accompaniment, and will be followed by a panel discussion of RAMONA experts, led by film historian Hugh Munro Neely.  The price is $50 per person, and you may learn more, and purchase tickets, by going HERE.

BRACE YOURSELF – ‘HELL ON WHEELS’ RETURNS SAT. WITH ‘BLEEDING KANSAS’!

Following a maddening one-month hiatus, HELL ON WHEELS returns to AMC Saturday night, November 8^th with BLEEDING KANSAS.  I just saw it last night, and it is very good – but in what is often a very tough show, it is the most sanguineous episode I can recall.  You’ll learn what happened after Church-lady Ruth fired on Sid.  You’ll find out why Thomas Durant is nicknamed ‘Doc’.  You’ll see what happens when Mickey McGinnes’ friends from the New York’s Dead Rabbits gang come to Cheyenne.   Like I said, it’s a tough one, so you might want to have a stiff drink first.  Or bite a bullet.  After this one, just two more episodes left for season four!

If you need to a catch up, HERE is a link that’ll show you several ways to do so. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

Tommy Lee Jones and Hillary Swank in THE HOMESMAN

Hope you had a great Halloween, and enjoy the week ahead.  I saw THE HOMESMAN this week and loved it, and I’ll be reviewing it next week!  THE HOMESMAN was first a wonderful novel by Glendon Swarthout, and I hope to have with my review, my interview with Glendon’s son, novelist Miles Swarthout, who adapted to the screen Glendon’s previous novel, THE SHOOTIST, and who has just published a SHOOTIST sequel novel, THE LAST SHOOTIST.

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

MCQUEEN’S BACK, ‘DEAD OR ALIVE’ ON ME-TV, plus COMIC WESTERN ‘QUICKDRAW’ NEW ON HULU!

UPDATED 9/4/2013 – See change of date on ‘AROUND THE BARN’ story.

UPDATED 9/2/13 11:08 A.M.

Labor Day triggers a new schedule for the Me-TV network – and they’re bringing back Steve McQueen in his star-making role of bounty hunter Josh Randall in WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.  A series not seen on television for many years, McQueen did 94 episodes from 1958 to 1961, and in my humble opinion it was one of the great half-hour westerns, right up there with HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, THE REBEL, THE RIFLEMAN, and the first six years of GUNSMOKE.  It’ll play weekdays at 5 am, and Saturdays at 4 pm. 

F-TROOP, the delightful western comedy series, will play Monday through Thursday nights at 9:30 pm.  It stars Forrest Tucker as Sgt. O’Rourke, and Larry Storch – soon to be seen in the new Western feature KNIGHT OF THE GUN – as Cpl. Agarn, playing a pair of lovable Bilko-like old west connivers, with Ken Berry as the well-meaning but clueless Captain Parmenter, their hapless foil, and beautiful, feisty Melody Patterson – jail bait at the time! – as Wrangler Jane.  Also standouts in the cast are James Hampton as Dobbs, Frank DeKova as Chief Wild Eagle, Don Diamond as Crazy Cat, and in a tremendous break from his B-western heroics, Bob Steele in a terrific comic turn as Duffy.

WAGON TRAIN will continue Saturdays, but at 11:30 am; RAWHIDE will be seen Saturdays at 3 pm; THE RIFLEMAN continues with its hour block weeknights at 6 pm, plus Saturdays at 5 pm; and DANIEL BOONE will continue weekdays at 9 am.  

‘QUICKDRAW’ – a TV Review

The folks at HULU have been making new and old movies and TV shows available online for a few years, but only recently decided to produce their own exclusive content.  I got word in February that they were set to make a western comedy series, QUICKDRAW.  The show stars John Lehr, who toplined the series 10 ITEMS OR LESS, but is perhaps most familiar as one of the resentful cavemen in the very dry and funny series of GEICO INSURANCE commercials.   He and Nancy Hower created QUICKDRAW; they write it together, and she directs. 

Under considerable secrecy their company took over Paramount Ranch in Agoura for the month of March, and shot a season of eight half-hour (okay, 23 minutes) episodes.  I so wanted to see what was going on that, when they wouldn’t permit press, I tried to get on as an extra, but they were a SAG show, so that didn’t work either.  Well, with virtually no fanfare, the shows have been completed, and the first five episodes are available for free right now online – here’s the link to episode 1 on HULU:   http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/511696#i0,p0,d0

John Lehr plays lawman John Henry Hoyle, newly appointed sheriff in a town where you can place a bet at the local saloon on the time and day that the new sheriff will die.  Sheriff Hoyle, unlike his predecessors, is a Harvard man, and absolutely full of himself, convinced that, being an educated man, he knows more about everything – include subjects he knows nothing about -- than any of the simple dolts in town.  In truth, he is a horse’s ass, although good with a gun.  He is assisted by Deputy Eli Brocius (Nick Brown), who is also not that bright, but not self-deluded.  (Whenever Oliver Hardy, the fat one of Laurel and Hardy, was asked whose character was dumber, he always said his own.  He reasoned that Stan was dumb, and knew it.  Ollie was dumb, and thought he was smart, which made him really dumb.)  In fact, every man in the show is a dimwit, and every woman is smart, sassy, sexy, and a whore.  This is a PC updating of the old burlesque tradition where the men were dumb but sly, and all the women were sexy, but dumber than the men. 

In tone, QUICKDRAW is BLAZING SADDLES meets ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT.  It’s vulgar like BLAZING SADDLES, but played largely straight-faced like ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, and a lot of the humor comes from having very modern-seeming characters, especially Hoyle, in a period situation where, in reality, they wouldn’t survive long.  Surprisingly, while the show has no intention of being ‘good history,’ there is an obvious awareness of history in the setting up of gags.   Cole Younger, Belle Starr, Pearl Starr, and the Bender family all turn up, as do small-pox-infested Army blankets. 

The production makes optimum use of the Paramount Ranch facilities, and costume and art direction credits are admirable.  There is a bit of riding and frequent gunplay, the latter not surprisingly played for laughs. 

One of the stand-outs in the supporting cast is Bob Clendenin as Vernon Shank, the undertaker; his bald pate and long, sorrowful face are as familiar from neo-noirs like L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and THE 13^TH FLOOR as they are from comedies.  Also notable are Allison Dunbar as a whore and saloon-keeper named Honey, and Alexis Dox as Pearl. 

A couple of years ago, when the success of the 3:10 TO YUMA and TRUE GRIT remakes brought heat to the Western genre, every network had at least one series in development, and at least two proposed drama series dealt with an educated easterner going west to apply modern scientific methods to crime investigation.  I’d be willing to bet the creators of QUICKDRAW saw the obvious humorous possibilities in the premise, and accidentally had their parody beat the dramas to the marketplace. 

I wouldn’t recommend showing this ‘DIRTY F-TROOP’ to kids, as the language tends to be, perhaps in a nod to DEADWOOD, but more likely as an easy laugh, peppered with not four-letter words, but the occasional ‘vagina,’ ‘testicle’ and ‘intercourse.’  And the visuals often go for shock-value; one episode opens with a stage-coach riding into town driven by a decapitated driver, the coach full of corpses that are later handled without a modicum of respect. 

The show is a continuing saga, so it makes sense to watch it from the beginning.  I’ve seen the first three episodes, and I plan to watch the whole season.  My biggest reservation with the show is also my most basic.  While I found many things to amuse me, moments to smile about, I don’t know that I laughed out loud even once. 

R.I.P.D. ARRIVES D.O.A.

The Round-up had been following this comic-book adaptation ever since it was announced a couple of years ago.  Granted, a sci-fier about dead cops tracking dead criminals for the Rest In Peace Department isn’t exactly a natural for the Round-up.  But I figured with Jeff Bridges playing a long dead old-west lawman, partnered with newly dead partner Ryan Reynolds, it would be of interest to Western fans. 

I was a little annoyed when all of my requests for a screener copy, or admission to a press preview, were ignored.  Then I found out there were no screeners or previews, and I understood it was nothing personal.  Then last night I caught the film at a ‘dollar’ theatre, and I understood completely.  The filmmakers had nothing to gain by letting the press get an early peek.

R. I. P. D. is sewn together from stolen parts in much the same way Frankenstein’s monster was.   If you remove the elements jacked from GHOSTBUSTERS, GHOST and the MEN IN BLACK films, what you have left is…Jeff Bridges.  And typically, the filmmakers don’t understand the films they steal from.  (‘GHOST’ spoiler alert!)  It took a long time, and was a helluvah shock, to realize that Tony Goldwyn was the villain of the piece; but Kevin Bacon, playing that role in R.I.P.D., is revealed in the first few minutes, and as a result has virtually nothing to do for the rest of the film except cackle with glee. 

In a nutshell, Ryan Reynolds is an almost-clean Boston cop who, with partner Kevin Bacon, stole a big gold whatsit from some meth dealers they were busting.  Reynolds feels guilty, wants to turn it in, hence Bacon can’t afford to let him live.   The whatsit turns out to have much greater significance than its monetary value, and saying more would give away what painfully little non-obvious plot there is.

Some of the technical credits are very good.  The art direction goes from the so-so to the occasionally stunning – a tornado of souls traveling to and from the other side is particularly memorable.  The endless effects are competent, and some of the chase stuff at the end is very exciting, except that by that point you’re looking more closely at your watch than the screen.  And the design of the creatures is so obviously copied from the previously sited films that it’s embarrassing.

While Jeff Bridges is amusing in his swagger, and particularly enjoyable in his by-play with Mary Louise Parker as a emotionless and hyper-competent office-runner who regrets their dalliance, there is little sense of chemistry between Bridges and Reynolds.  For me, the most pleasant surprise was the simple sincerity of Reynolds’ performance.  Whenever he played to the pain of the cop who had lost the love of his life (Stephanie Szostack), all the crap fell away, and for all-too-brief moments the story became utterly believable. 

‘ROUND-UP’ ON THE AIR AND ‘AROUND THE BARN’ ON SAT. DEC 14TH!

Bobbi Jean with her commendation from the L.A. County

Board of Supervisors

(Please note:  I would not normally plug my radio appearance three months in advance.  It was originally scheduled for this coming Saturday, but we were just preempted by a Dodger baseball game.  Go Dodger Blue (I guess)!

On Saturday, December 14th, I will be a guest of Bobbi Jean Bell on her Saturday morning show on  KHTS AM 1220, ‘Around The Barn.’  Heard every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m., hosts Bobbi Jean Bell and Julie Fox Pomilia discuss western culture, music and lifestyle.  Bobbi Jean is the lady behind the Outwest Western Boutique and Cultural Center in Santa Clarita:

http://www.outwestmktg.com/  But don't wait until December -- you can hear the program live every Saturday (except September 7th) by clicking the following link, and clicking on ‘Listen Live.’  http://hometownstation.com/content/saturday-program-schedule

‘RAMONA DAY(S)’ SATURDAY, SEPT. 7^TH!

I had a great time last year attending RAMONA DAYS, at Piru, the home of Rancho Camulos, also known as The Home of Ramona.   The del Valle family received is as a huge land- grant (48,612 acres!) from the government of Mexico in 1839; it achieved international fame when author Helen Hunt Jackson visited in 1882, and decided to set her novel, RAMONA, there.  (You can read my detailed description of my visit HERE . )

I understand that this year’s celebration will feature the Ramona Pageant Players and Dancers, Flamenco dancers, historical re-enactors, tours of the beautiful grounds and gardens, and the historic 1853 adobe, special children's activities, food, specialty vendors, and an exciting raffle with great prizes. Advance tickets are now on sale for only $7 per adult ($10 at the gate). Children are free. To learn more, and to purchase tickets, go here: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e7zw7m3k37d4d78c&llr=nvg6ppmab

THE CONTINUING SAGA OF JAMES FENIMORE COOPER’S HOME AND PLAQUE!

The onetime address of James Fenimore Cooper, a

gay steam-bath, and a video store.  Col. Hamilton's

home is on the right.

What an interesting can of worms I opened up!  As regular readers know, when I was back in New York City a couple of weeks ago, I hiked with fellow NYU alum and Round-up contributor Jonathan Boorstein over to St. Marks Place, an old block on the Lower East Side.  In our college days we would often walk past a building, The St. Marks Baths, which a plaque announced had been the home of Leatherstocking Tales author James Fenimore Cooper; I thought I’d snap a picture of the building and plaque for the Round-up.   

We trudged up and down the two-block length of St. Marks Place, but never found the plaque.  I snapped a picture of what I thought to be the right building, at 4 St. Marks.  I’d sent an inquiry to the folks at the James Fenimore Cooper Society, about the address and the plaque, and received a response from Hugh MacDougall, Corresponding Secretary:

“You are quite correct. Cooper lived at 4 St. Marks Place (pictured in your attachment) for a time after his return from Europe in 1833. Specifically, he lived there from May 1, 1834 until May 1, 1836 (May 1 was the standard period for leases in New York to begin and end). He, and sometimes his family also, made a number of trips to Cooperstown during that period, as he arranged to buy back and remodel his old family home (Otsego Hall) originally built about 1800 by his father William Cooper.”  He also included a photograph of the house from Mary Phillips’ 1913 biography, JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.  “It is clearly the one you photographed.”  (Click HERE to see the photos and article from last week’s Round-up. )

I pressed him for information on the plaque, and heard back from Mr. MacDougall with details about the building’s history.   The entire block of St. Marks Place between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues was built by English-born real estate developer Thomas E. Davis in the 1830s.  The house at 4 St. Marks is known as the Hamilton-Holly House as it was bought in 1833 by Colonel Alexander Hamilton, son of the former Secretary of the Treasury, who had been killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr.  It was a very elegant block of one-family homes, but had become run-down, and most of the grand homes had become boarding-houses by the time of the Civil War (you know a house is old when you talk about the neighborhood going bad in the 1860s).

Mr. MacDougall told me that he’d passed my inquiry about the plaque to the New York Historical Society.   A couple of days later I received a startling update: we were looking at the wrong building!  The house pictured in a century-old photograph and described in the Cooper biography, described in numerous historical texts, and by myself, the Hamilton-Holly is next door to Cooper’s home!  The correct address is 6 St. Marks Place.  Mr. MacDougall forwarded the letter from Joseph Ditta, Reference Librarian of the NYHS, to me.  It contains several links to documents and articles.  One, by Jeff Weinstein for his Out There blog in 2008, detailed that until fairly recently, 6 St. Marks had been the home of Kim’s Video, a vast and fabled New York video store that catered to knowledgeable and voracious movie-lovers much as Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee does to West-coasters to this day.  “Kim branches opened and closed, but the move to a spacious site at 6 St. Marks Place allowed the addition of CDs and digital paraphernalia. But only the videos drew me and other addicts into the moldy elevator week after week. The building had before housed the New St. Marks Baths, a gay-sex meeting place shuttered because of AIDS (a complex story in itself), and a semigay Turkish bath before that. Mr. Kim had plenty of cleaning to do — not all of it completed, as far as I could tell. I also recall a plaque on the old building: ‘On this site stood the winter residence from 1834-1836 and the last New York City home of the novelist James Fenimore Cooper.’”  You could in fact rent LAST OF THE MOHICANS in the former home of its author. 

Well, that answers that.  And I am grateful to The James Fenimore Cooper Society, and The New York Historical Society, and Jeff Weinstein, for setting the matter straight.  Now if we could only get the plaque put back up!  And one more postscript.  I also asked Mr. MacDougall how far west Cooper, whose western tales were often set farther east than later writers, had travelled.  “The farthest west Cooper ever traveled in America was Kalamazoo, Michigan and its area – which he visited several times towards the end of his life because of some property he had acquired there, and (as was often the case) made use of the occasion to scout out the background for a novel (The Oak Openings, or The Bee Hunter, published in 1848, and the last of his “Indian” tales).”

THE WRAP-UP

That's it for this week -- hope you're having a great Labor Day Weekend!  I know -- here's a salute to both the Jerry Lewis MD Telethon, and the King of the Cowboys!

Happy trails!

Henry

All Original Content Copyright September 2013 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved