‘RAMONA’ 91ST SEASON CLOSES THIS WEEKEND!

Synergy is everywhere!  If I hadn’t been at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival at Melody Ranch this past weekend, I wouldn’t have chatted with Maria Christopher, who was man-ing (woman-ing?) a booth for the Rancho Camulos Museum near Piru, and I wouldn’t have learned that this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, May 3^rd and 4^th, is your last chance to see RAMONA this year!

Just as it has been since 1923, RAMONA, California’s official outdoor play, will be presented at the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre in Hemet,California.  Now in its 91^ST season, RAMONA is a grand tradition, based on the novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson in 1884.  Her intention was to draw attention to the plight of California Indians in the same way that Harriet Beecher Stowe exposed the evils of slavery with UNCLE TOM’S CABIN.  A work of fiction, but set in real locations, RAMONA was a publishing phenomenon, and it was decided to present a play based on the book, in a natural outdoor setting, in the area where the story takes place. 

It’s a remarkably colorful presentation, with about 350 participants, and only the two leads are usually professional actors.  Some locals have taken part, in various roles and positions onstage and behind the scenes, for decades.  Among the famous actors who have taken part are GONE WITH THE WIND villain Victor Jory, who played the lead early in his career, and was associated with the show for years, and Raquel Welch, who played Ramona in 1959.  To learn more, and buy tickets, call 800-645-4465, or go HERE. 

It was not by chance that Maria Christopher was up on RAMONA, as there is a link between the spectacle and Rancho Camulos.  Author Jackson was in the early stages of writing her novel when a friend encouraged her to visit the Rancho as a possible setting for her story.  On January 23^rd, 1882, Jackson took a train out, stayed for a couple of hours, then took a train back.  That brief visit was enough: she set the story there, and when RAMONA took on a life of its own, the Rancho became known as THE HOME OF RAMONA, and has been a hugely popular pilgrimage spot for lovers of the romance ever since.  You can see the Rancho and read about my visit for Ramona Days HERE.   

Ms. Christopher also told me that there was considerable Ramona news on the cinematic front.  While the best-known screen telling of the tale is undoubtedly the 1936 Technicolor film directed by Henry King, scripted by 20^th Century Fox’s master storyteller Lamar Trotti, and starring Loretta Young and Don Ameche, this was actually the 4^th version of the story.  The first, a one-reeler filmed in 1910, directed by D.W. Griffith and starring America’s Canadian Sweetheart Mary Pickford, was actually filmed at the original setting, Rancho Camulos.  The film has recently been restored, and screened at the Rancho. 

Mary Pickford

The other two versions, the 1916 version starring Adda Gleason, and the 1928 version starring Dolores del Rio, are lost.  Only they’re not! A copy of the del Rio version was recently found in an archive in Czechoslovakia!  It’s been preserved, and I’m keeping my eyes peeled for a time when this late silent version, which co-stars Warner Baxter, will be available to see.

Dolores del Rio

And remarkably enough, a single reel of the 1916 version has just been located at the Library of Congress.  As the original was ten reels, it’s only a small portion of the story.  As the preservation was being done, copies of a few frames were sent to the Rancho, where folks were surprised to find that this 2^nd version of the movie was also shot on location at the Rancho!  And it was directed by character actor Donald Crisp, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1941 for HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY.   

THAT’S A WRAP! 

I know this is a tiny version of the Round-up.  The fact is, I have an embarrassment of riches to report on, and not the time between the events to do the writing.  In the past couple of weeks I’ve attended the TCM Festival, the WILD BUNCH LUNCH at the Autry, the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival at Melody Ranch, and The Cable Show at the L.A. Convention Center.  Late as this is, I would have skipped the Round-up entirely this week, and left it all for the next few reports, but I wanted to get the word out on the final performances of RAMONA before it was too late to be of use. 

I’ve never managed to get there and see it!  If you do, please let me know how it was!  Until Sunday,

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright May 1, 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

  

WESTERN SERIES ANNOUNCE RETURN DATES!

While AMC remains cagey as to their actual season 3 premiere date for the excellent HELL ON WHEELS, only saying ‘2013’, other shows and networks are being more forthcoming. 

(Update 4/16/2013 – On Monday, the day after I chided AMC for being cagey as to when HELL ON WHEELS would return, they announced Season Three would begin on August 3^rd, the series moving to Saturday nights at 9 p.m.)

Below, to whet your appetite, is a link to a behind-the-scenes HELL ON WHEELS documetary)

http://www.amctv.com/hell-on-wheels/videos/inside-episode-206-hell-on-wheels-purged-away-with-blood

LONGMIRE will begin its 2^nd season on Monday, May 27^th on A&E.  If you haven’t caught this modern-day Western lawman series, you should.  Starring Robert Taylor and based on Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire mysteries, they tackle troubling and thought-provoking cowboy and ‘res’ issues head on, including disenrollment.   Below is a clip from the show.

 

BBC AMERICA’s Eastern-Western COPPER returns on Sunday night, June 23^rd, with some new cast members, and thirteen episodes instead of last year’s ten.  Alfre Woodard will join the denizens of Victorian New York’s crime world, along with Andrew Howard of HATFIELDS & MCCOYS, Donal Logue of SONS OFANARCHY, Eamonn Walker of CHICAGO FIRE and Lee Tergesen of THE BIG C.  Below is the teaser trailer for season two

 

SANTA CLARITA COWBOY FEST NEXT WEEKEND!

On Saturday and Sunday, April 20^th and 21^st, the 20th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival will be held at historic Melody Ranch, owned and operated by the Veluzat family, and once the galloping grounds of Gene Autry.  (For a history of Melody Ranch, and the Cowboy Festival, go HERE )  This is a delightful event, and it’s the only once-a-year chance for visitors to visit the historic locale.  The streets are full of full-costume folks and street performers amazing visitors with their skill twirling rope and gun.  In addition to strolling the mean streets you’ve seen countless times on film and TV, recently in DJANGO UNCHAINED and DEADWOOD, you can shop for western clothes and a variety of foods.  There is entertainment and activities for children, and book talks and book signings by a wide range of Western fiction and fact writers.  And then there’s the poetry, and the music: four stages of varying sizes bring you a wide range of Western music acts including Riders in the Sky, Baxter Black, Sons of the San Joaquin, Don Edwards, Band of the California Battalion, Sourdough Slim, and a dozen more.  Bring your kids – it’s a not-to-be-missed event!  It’s $20 a day for adults, $10 for kids under 12.  Get the details HERE .

 

‘HOME OF RAMONA’ - RANCHO CAMULOS EVENT FRIDAY APRIL 19^TH STARRING SOURDOUGH SLIM

Speaking of the Cowboy Festival, on Friday, April 19^th, from 11 a.m. until 3p.m., in conjunction with the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, Rancho Camulos in Piru will be holding a fund-raising event, Californio Fiesta de Camulos Rancho!  This beautiful and fascinating rancho is known as the ‘Home of Ramona’ because it was here that author Helen Hunt Jackson, during a brief stay between trains, was inspired to write her novel, and set it there.  D.W. Griffith, when he filmed RAMONA a century ago, used Rancho Camulos as his studio.  You can read my story about Rancho Camulos HERE    And on Friday, April 19^th you can enjoy a Southwest Vaquero buffet, music, and costumed docent-led tours as you step back in time. Entertainer extraordinaire and the last of the vaudeville cowboys, Sourdough Slim performs in the Will Roger's tradition.  All proceeds benefit the nonprofit museum's mission of historical preservation and education.  The price is $55 per ticket, and you can buy tickets HERE.  And below is a short movie about the Rancho and the event:
 

NAT’L COWBOY & WESTERN HERITAGE HONORS, APRIL 19-20

In a two-day event, this Friday and Saturday, The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma will induct into their Hall of Great Western Performers actors Wes Studi, Robert Mitchum, Duncan Renaldo, and Leo Carillo.  John Lacey and Kenneth Eade will be inducted into their Hall of Great Westerners.  Films and television shows will also be honored: Outstanding Theatrical Motion Picture, DJANGO UNCHAINED; Outstanding Documentary, THE DUST BOWL; Outstanding Television Feature Film, SHADOW ON THE MESA; Outstanding Fictional Drama, LONGMIRE; and Outstanding Television Docudrama, HATFIELDS & MCCOYS.  There are literary and music honorees as well.  To learn more, and to purchase tickets, go here: http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/default.aspx

‘LAST SUNSET’ MATINEE TUESDAY AT LACMA

Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson spar over Dorothy Malone on a cattle drive, in this rarely seen Western directed by Robert Aldrich from Dalton Trumbo’s screenplay, based on the novel by Howard Rigsby.  I’ve heard great things about this film, which also stars Joseph Cotton, Neville Brand, Jack Elam and Carol Lynley.  It shows at 1pm at the L.A. County  Museum of Art.  You can learn more HERE.

HOPALONG CASSIDY FESTIVAL MAY 3-4

The original ‘man in black,’ Hopalong Cassidy, as portrayed by William Boyd, will be celebrated at a two-day festival in Cambridge, Ohio at the Pritchard Laughlin Civic Auditorium, with a dinner and entertainment at the Hoppy Museum.  Those stars scheduled to attend include Darby Hinton from DANIEL BOONE, Johnny Crawford from THE RIFLEMAN, and Roberta Shore and Don Quine from THE VIRGINIAN.  To learn more, go HERE.   

AND ACROSS THE POND…

Just heard from a couple of our British correspondents, Nilton Hargrave and Davy Turner, that Hallmark’s SHADOW ON THE MESA will air on Channel 5 on Friday, April 19^th.  Nilton adds that they still haven’t gotten numbers two and three of the GOODNIGHT FOR JUSTICE film series.  And a new channel called Movie Mix is running the original DJANGO with Franco Nero.

 

‘DAY OF THE GUN’ TO GO-GO THE INDIEGOGO ROUTE

As reported back in December, Maryland-based Western filmmaker Wayne Shipley is making his newest, DAY OF THE GUN.  You can read my story about his outfit, see a trailer, and link to the company, HERE.  I’ve just gotten word that he is using the increasingly popular ‘crowd-funding’ method to raise money through Indiegogo.  You can read the offering HERE.  The perks for contributing run the gamut from DVDs of previous ONE-EYED HORSE productions to tie-in playing cards, poker chips, wardrobe and on-screen associate producer credits. 

 
DR. QUINN AND JESSE JAMES SEPARATE

Married since 1999, stunning actress Jane Seymour and actor/director/writer James Keach have confirmed that they have separated.  Although she has played many roles in her career, Seymour is most identified with the title character in DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN, from 1993-1998.  Her real father was a doctor in England, and her character was named Michaela, after him.  James Keach played Jesse James opposite real brother Stacy Keach as Frank James for Walter Hill in 1980’s THE LONG RIDERS.  His father, Stacy Keach Sr., produced first the radio, then television series TALES OF THE TEXAS RANGERS.  Incidentally, in 1982 James Keach, unbilled, provided the voice of the masked man in LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER, dubbing ‘actor’ Klinton Spilsbury.  It’s a shame: they have teenaged twins.

‘GUNS OF PARADISE’ ON DVD?  GOOD QUESTION

I received an email from Dan Searles asking a very interesting question: “Is there a legal site to buy Lee Horsley’s GUNS OF PARADISE?”  I don’t know how many people remember that CBS series, which ran for three seasons, starting in 1988, and produced 56 episodes.  Originally called simply PARADISE, starring Lee Horsley as a gunman who suddenly has responsibility for his dead sister’s four children, Aussie beauty Sigrid Thornton as lady banker, and Dehl Berti as Lee’s Indian confidante, I consider it the best Western series to come along since the 1960s, and always thought it shameful how little CBS did to promote it.  Ironically when CBS brought out DR. QUINN two years later, it striking how many elements were so blatantly imitative of PARADISE, down to the casting of look-alike children.

As to Dan’s question, the short answer is, ‘no’; PARADISE was never released on tape, nor has CBS announced any plans to bring it out on DVD.  But if you skip the word ‘legally,’ you get another answer entirely.  An on-line search of GUNS OF PARADISE reveals about a dozen different sources willing to sell the entire series on DVD, with prices ranging from as high as $90 to as low as $39.  Are these copies legal?  I don’t know how they can be.  These are disks made from collector copies, recorded right off of television.  I’m astonished at how openly they’re sold.  While I would never encourage anyone to buy illegal copies of copyrighted material, I must admit that I’ve bought a few such sets, of varying quality, from series I was told were in the public domain – only to be told by the producer of one show in no uncertain terms that it was not in public domain.  Anyone else bought any of these collector-to-collector copies?

 

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

And speaking of TCM (okay, nobody was), have I mentioned that the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here?








THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepreneur Gene Autry, and designed by the Disney Imagineering team, the Autry is a world-class museum housing a fascinating collection of items related to the fact, fiction, film, history and art of the American West. In addition to their permanent galleries (to which new items are frequently added), they have temporary shows. The Autry has many special programs every week -- sometimes several in a day. To check their daily calendar, CLICK HERE. And they always have gold panning for kids every weekend. For directions, hours, admission prices, and all other information, CLICK HERE.



HOLLYWOOD HERITAGE MUSEUM

Across the street from the Hollywood Bowl, this building, once the headquarters of Lasky-Famous Players (later Paramount Pictures) was the original DeMille Barn, where Cecil B. DeMille made the first Hollywoodwestern, The Squaw Man. They have a permanent display of movie props, documents and other items related to early, especially silent, film production. They also have occasional special programs. 2100 Highland Ave., L.A. CA 323-874-2276. Thursday – Sunday 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. $5 for adults, $3 for senior, $1 for children.



WELLSFARGO HISTORY MUSEUM

This small but entertaining museum gives a detailed history of Wells Fargo when the name suggested stage-coaches rather than ATMS. There’s a historically accurate reproduction of an agent’s office, an original Concord Coach, and other historical displays. Open Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Admission is free. 213-253-7166. 333 S. Grand Street, L.A. CA.


WESTERN ALL OVER THE DIAL


INSP’s SADDLE-UP SATURDAY features a block of rarely-seen classics THE VIRGINIAN and HIGH CHAPARRAL, along with BONANZA and THE BIG VALLEY. On weekdays they’re showing LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, BIG VALLEY, HIGH CHAPARRAL and DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN.


ME-TV’s Saturday line-up includes THE REBEL and WAGON TRAIN. On weekdays it’s DANIEL BOONE, GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, BIG VALLEY, WILD WILD WEST, and THE RIFLEMAN.


RFD-TV, the channel whose president bought Trigger and Bullet at auction, have a special love for Roy Rogers. They show an episode of The Roy Rogers Show on Sunday mornings, a Roy Rogers movie on Tuesday mornings, and repeat them during the week.


WHT-TV has a weekday afternoon line-up that’s perfect for kids, featuring LASSIE, THE ROY ROGERS SHOW and THE LONE RANGER.


TV-LAND angered viewers by dropping GUNSMOKE, but now it’s back every weekday, along with BONANZA.


THE WRAP-UP -- That's it for this weekend!  Lookin' forward to the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival this weekend, and the TCM Festival next week.  Hope to see you there!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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