NBC GREENLIGHTS ‘THE FRONTIER’ – 3RD WESTERN PILOT

 

NBC has commissioned three Western scripts this year, and according to Deadline: Hollywood the network is so pleased with the results they may actually pick up more than one.  The most recent pilot order is from Sony-TV, for THE FRONTIER, written by Shaun Cassidy, to be directed by Thomas Schlamme.  It’s the 1840s-set story of a group of pioneers traveling from Missouri to California.  And yes, the Shaun Cassidy involved is the former Hardy Boy who has a very successful career as a TV writer and producer, currently with BLUE BLOODS. 

As to the other two oaters on the NBC roster, one is RECONSTRUCTION, originally developed for FX, directed by Peter Horton and written by three-time Emmy winner Joshua Brand (NORTHERN EXPOSURE, A YEAR IN THE LIFE). Set in Missouri after the Civil War, it’s the story of a war vet who settles in a town where he is greeted as its savior. It stars Martin Henderson (OFF THE MAP), Emma Bell and Rachel Lefevre.  The other is the as-yet untitled western script from Pete Berg and Liz Heldens, of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS fame

BBC-AMERICA EASTERN ‘COPPER’ ROLLS THIS MONTH IN TORONTO

Casting has been announced for the first dramatic series produced by BBC America, which will roll camera in Toronto later this month.  Admittedly it’s not a Western, but it’s a series of considerable historic interest.  COPPER is the story of a young Irish cop, Kevin Corcoran (a character, not the Disney child star) in 19^th Century New York City, who is working to solve his wife’s disappearance and his daughter’s murder.  His beat is the infamous, teeming immigrant community of Five Points, the area brilliantly portrayed in Herbert Asbury’s history, GANGS OF NEW YORK, later filmed by Martin Scorcese.

Corcoran will be played by Tom Weston-Jones, recently of the long running MI-5 UK series.  Irish actor Kevin Ryan plays Detective Francis Maguire, an Irish-American cop.  Also in the very international cast are German-born Franka Potente, the title star of RUN LOLA RUN, and Marie in BOURNE IDENTITY and BOURNE SUPREMACY; English-born Anastasia Griffith of DAMAGES, ROYAL PAINS and currently ONCE UPON A TIME series; and Canadian-born BLOOD TIES star Kyle Schmid.   

It’s co-created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos.  Fontana won Emmys for writing HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET and ST. ELSEWHERE, and recently wrote BORGIAS, and Rokos was Oscar-nominated for writing MONSTERS BALL.  The series is  exec-produced by Christina Wayne, late of MAD MEN and BROKEN TRAIL, and Barry Levinson who won his Oscar for directing RAIN MAN, and is currently exec producing a Phil Spector biopic starring Al Pacino.  COPPER is set to premiere this summer, for a ten episode season.

FIRST UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW OF CONFEDERATE SUB HUNLEY!

A century and a half ago, during the Civil War, the Confederate Navy’s Hunley became the first submarine to succeed in battle when it sunk the Union blockade ship Housatonic off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.  The sub and it eight-man crew sunk as well, and rested in its watery grave until it was located and raised twelve years ago. 

The bodies of the crew members were all found at their stations, and in 2004 they were buried in what is undoubtedly the last Confederate Military Funeral.  For nearly a decade the Hunley has been on display in North Charleston, at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center.  It's received a reported half milllion visitors a year.  The only problem has been that all of those visitors had to crane their necks to see it beneath a huge eight-ton truss that suspended the war-ship.  On Thursday the truss was removed, finally offering visitors an unobstructed view.  The immediate response from many is that, although much older, it looks very much like a submarine from the First or Second World War.  

To learn more, and take a virtual tour, or take a real one, visit the Friends of the Hunley HERE. 

TED MARKLAND, HIGH CHAPARRAL'S RENO, DIES

HIGH CHAPARRAL fans are mourning the loss of actor Ted Markland, who played Reno, one of the hands on the ranch, and who had more than eighty other screen credits, many of them Westerns.  Tall and handsome in the saddle, wearing his trademark fringed buckskin jacket while riding through the hills around Old Tucson, he was a fan favorite.  His popularity became a problem to CHAPARRAL costumers because so many wanted a piece of busckskin fringe as a souvenir. 

  “It drove them nuts,” Markland recalled. “I finally asked the head wardrobe guy to just give me a big long piece of the fringe, so I could cut off pieces to give to the fans.”

Surprisingly, producer David Dortort, who used Markland not only in CHAPARRAL but in RESTLESS GUN and BONANZA, discovered Ted not acting, but doing stand-up.  And his material was so stream-of-consciousness and edgy that he was managed by Lenny Bruce!

Many fans would be surprised to learn that Ted had a very mystical/metaphysical side, was involved with peyote, and was a friend of Dr. Timothy Leary.  Ted married during the filming of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, and Jack Nicholson was his best man.  He was a friend of the EASY RIDER triumvirate – Nicholson, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper – and it’s said that the Nicholson character’s rant about UFOs came from one of Ted’s peyote-induced visions. 

A member of the Walter Hill stock company, he appeared in ANOTHER 48 HOURS, WILD BILL and THE LAST MAN STANDING.  Toward the end of his life, he set great value in his relationships with his fans, especially of HIGH CHAPARRAL.  “You wouldn’t believe all the cards I get from fans, it’s wonderful. I go to every show I can. Seeing people, talking to people, it’s important.” 

Penny McQueen, editor of The High Chaparral Newsletter, who was hugely helpful in the preparation of this article, remembers, “Ted was genuinely appreciative of each fan and always eager to talk to people. Because he'd lived through such varied times he was interesting to talk with, and always enjoyed discussing his mind-expanding spiritual experiences. His crazy sense of humor was like no one else, I never knew what he might say. The world has lost someone with a unique way of thinking.”  Today, Sunday, January 15^th, would have been his 79^th birthday.

THIS WEEK’S WESTERN BIRTHDAYS OF NOTE

New Years Day marks the 83^rd birthday of TV’s Bronco Layne, Ty Hardin.  You can read the interview he gave the Round-up – part one HERE, part two HERE. 

Lee Van Cleef was born on January 9^th, 1925, and until the sharp-eyed, hawk-nosed actor gave up his first career, he was undoubtedly the scariest CPA in America (with the possible exception of Jack Elam).  After his first screen appearance in HIGH NOON, he became a familiar visage in big and small-screen westerns and gangster stories, but he didn’t become a star right away.  He told interviewers that when Sergio Leone called in 1964, about a part in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE, he was days from having his phone shut off for lack of payment!  It was Spaghetti and American Western stardom from then on. 

Born January 11^th, 1912, Don ‘Red’ Barry was the movies' original Red Ryder, seen here with Tommy Cook, the original Little Beaver. Along with a sense of humor, he brought an often chilling seriousness to that serial, and so many other Republic films, his small stature and pugnacious nature making him the Western Cagney. He was born in Houston, and would have been 102.

Born January 12^th, 1905, Woodward Maurice ‘Tex’ Ritter was a law-school graduate, American music scholar and a Broadway star in GREEN GROW THE LILACS, the basis for OKLAHOMA before his movie career.  Although he starred in many Westerns for Grand National and Monogram, he’s probably best remembered for singing the theme in HIGH NOON, Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling.

A.B. Guthrie with daughter Gus Miller

Novelist Albert Bertram Guthrie Jr. was born in Indiana on January 13^th, 1901, but thinking ‘Albert Bertram’ sounded like a sissy name, he shortened it to A.B. Guthrie, and his friends called him Bud.   He wrote Western novels – many of them filmed – like THE BIG SKY (1947), THESE THOUSAND HILLS (1956), and his Pulitzer Prize winner, THE WAY WEST (1949).  His screenplays included SHANE (1953) and THE KENTUCKIAN (1955).

WESTERNS AT THE NEW BEVERLY

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, January 15^th-17^th, to celebrate the 100^th Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, they’ll be screening VIVA VILLA (1934), directed by Jack Conway (and Howard Hawks, who also worked on the script), starring Wallace Beery, Leo Carillo and Fay Wray, and JUAREZ (1939), directed by William Dieterle, starring Paul Muni, Bette Davis and Claude Rains. 

On January 23^rd and 24^th, Sunday and Monday, they’ll be showing THE BIG COUNTRY (1958), directed by William Wyler from Robert Wilder’s script, and starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons and Charlton Heston. 

‘THE PROFESSIONALS’ SATURDAY JANUARY 21^ST AT THE AUTRY

Richard Brooks directed and scripted, from Frank O’Rourke’s novel, this exciting and exhilarating tale.  When his beautiful wife, Claudia Cardinale, is kidnapped by Mexican Revolutionary Jack Palance, Ralph Bellamy hires Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Woody Strode to rescue her.  Part of the Autry’s ‘What is a Western?’ series, it will be preceded by a discussion lead by Jeffrey Richardson, Gamble Curator of Western History, Popular Culture & Firearms, on the film’s history and its place within the Western genre.   It’s a 35MM print, and it screens at 1:30 p.m.

TV WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL!

More and more, classic TV Westerns are available all over the TV universe, but they tend to be on small networks that are easy to miss. Of course, ENCORE WESTERNS is the best continuous source of such programming, and has been for years. Currently they run LAWMAN, WAGON TRAIN, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, LAREDO, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKEandMARSHALL DILLON, which is the syndication title for the original half-hour GUNSMOKE. Incidentally, I see on Facebook that a lot of watchers are mad as Hell at losing CHEYENNE and THE VIRGINIAN.

RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, first at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Pacific Time, then repeated several times a week. They show a Roy feature every Tuesday as well, with repeats -- check your local listings.

INSP-TVshows THE BIG VALLEY Monday through Saturday, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE seven days a week, DR. QUINN: MEDICINE WOMAN on weekdays, and BONANZA on Saturdays.

WHT runs DANIEL BOONE on weekdays from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Time, and on Saturdays they run two episodes of BAT MASTERSON. They often show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic.

TVLANDhas dropped GUNSMOKE after all these years, but still shows four episodes ofBONANZA every weekday.

GEB is largely a religious-programming cable outlet that runs at least one Western on Saturdays – the ones I’ve caught have been public domain Roy Rogers and John Wayne pictures –and sometimes have weekday afternoon movies as well.

For those of you who watch TV with an antenna, there are at least a couple of channels that exist between the standard numbers – largely unavailable on cable or satellite systems – that provide Western fare. ANTENNA TVis currently running RIN TIN TIN, CIRCUS BOY, HERE COME THE BRIDES, andIRON HORSE.

Another‘in between’ outfit, ME-TV, which stands for Memorable Entertainment TV, runs a wide collection: BIG VALLEY, BONANZA, BRANDED, DANIEL BOONE, GUNS OF WILL SONNETT, GUNSMOKE, MARSHALL DILLON,RAWHIDE, THE RIFLEMAN, and WILD WILD WEST.Some of these channels are hard to track down, but if they show what you’ve been missing, it’s worth the search.

And for those of you on the other side of the pond, our British correspondentNilton Hargrave tells me CBS ACTION has begun showing GUNSMOKE.

THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepeneur 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 permenant 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 Hollywood western, 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.

WELLS FARGO 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.

Well, that's about all for now.  Monday is Martin Luther King day, and I notice the Autry, which is usually closed on Mondays, is open, so maybe I'll see you there!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright January 2012 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved


 

NBC ORDERS 3 WESTERN PILOTS!

‘THE FRONTIER’ -- A THIRD WESTERN IN DEVELOPMENT AT NBC

In addition to RECONSTRUCTION and the as-yet untitled western script from Pete Berg and Liz Heldens, of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS fame (for details on RECONSTRUCTION, go HERE ), NBC has asked COLD CASE exec producer Shaun Cassidy to write the pilot for THE FRONTIER, an 1840s-set Western to be directed by Thomas Schlamme.   It will detail the adventures of a group heading west from Missouri.

‘YELLOW ROCK’ NEARS END OF POST-PRODUCTION

(Mixer Doug Latislaw at work)

(actor Chris Backus looping his lines)

(Foley artist Lorita de la Cerna; her job is to record live sound effects -- in this case boot-shod footsteps -- in synch with the picture)

Co-producer, co-author and star Lenore Andriel tells me the post work, being performed at Monkeyland Audio, is going swimmingly.  “We've been fortunate to be able to have all the actors come in for the ADR (looping). This is not always easy – they’re usually working on other projects, but luckily, we walked ‘between the raindrops’ on this one.  We should be done with ADR by the end of next week, and have the film completed by mid-October! This should co-ordinate nicely with all the film festivals that are happening in the fall, especially in November with the Native Festivals, i.e. Red Nation, and the AFM in Santa Monica.”

‘LAST STAND’ GAINS MORE CAST

Okay, a little more cast.  The modern-day Westerner starring ex-Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger will now include Swedish actor Peter Stormare, who has  been seen in FARGO and ARMAGEDDON among many others.  Screenplay is by Andrew Knauer, Jeffrey Nachmanoff and George Nolfi.  Korean director Jee-woon Kim directed the wonderfully exuberant THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE WEIRD.

SPECIAL ‘TOMBSTONE’ SCREENING PACKS ‘EM IN AT THE AUTRY

The Saturday, September 17^th screening of TOMBSTONE (1993) was the best-attended entry thus-far in the Autry’s ‘What Is A Western?’ series.  Hosted by Curator Jeffrey Richardson, the event included a discussion with Michael F. Blake, author of HOLLYWOOD AND THE O.K. CORRAL: PORTRAYALS OF THE GUNFIGHT AND WYATT EARP, who opined that one of the reasons for the tremendous following for TOMBSTONE is the portrayal of the friendship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday: we all wish we could have a friendship like that. 

(Michael Blake and Jeffrey Richardson)

A surprise bonus was the presence of Joseph A. Porro, TOMBSTONE’s costume designer.  Porro, who designed costumes for INDEPENDENCE DAY, SHANGHAI NOON and many others, confirmed that, while for most Westerns, costume design is all about a visit to Western Costume to go through the racks, he had a unique problem: the costumers for WYATT EARP (the Costner/Kasdan version) and GERONIMO had gotten there ahead of him and wiped the place out!  He travelled to Italy for some of the clothes, but most had to be made from scratch – and the striking individual character of the wardrobe makes it clear that this was all to the good.

(TOMBSTONE costume designer Joseph Porro)

A personal observation here; I’d seen TOMBSTONE two or three times before, though never on a screen, and while I thought it was very good, I frankly never understood its fanatical following.  Now that I’ve seen it on the big screen, I ‘get’ it.  Some movies truly need a huge image to unleash their power, Westerns especially.

The ‘What Is A Western?’ series, all with 35mm prints, continues October 22^nd with Anthony Mann’s brilliant WINCHESTER ’73 (1950) starring James Stewart; November 12^th with Clint Eastwood’s western-directing apex, UNFORGIVEN (1992) -- although I wish he’d called it something else, as it’s sort of marginalized John Huston’s equally fine but unrelated THE UNFORGIVEN (1960).  There’s no entry for December, but next year’s entries will include THE PROFESSIONALS, THE WILD BUNCH, MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (for even more O.K. Corral fun), BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID and THE GUNFIGHTER.  

HAPPY 86^TH BIRTHDAY MORGAN WOODWARD!

(Me and Morgan)

Morgan Woodward, the movie and TV villain par excellence who gained fame – and started the vogue for mirrored sunglasses -- with his role in COOL HAND LUKE celebrated his 86^th birthday Friday, September 16^th, at BONANZACON2011 at the Burbank Marriott – and I’ll have more about that event in next week’s Round-up.   First garnering attention portraying Shotgun Gibbs opposite Hugh O’Brien on the WYATT EARP series, Morgan appeared in every western and non-western series you can think of, notably eight times on BONANZA, a dozen times on WAGON TRAIN, and a record nineteen times on GUNSMOKE – and was killed by Matt Dillon more often than any other actor.  I’m proud to say that he also starred opposite Joe Don Baker in the first movie I wrote, SPEEDTRAP.  

2^ND ANNUAL ‘ROPE AND WIRE’ STORY COMPETITION BEGINS

If you’ve got a hankerin’ to tell a Western yarn, you might want to submit it to the Rope and Wire contest HERE. 

The entry fee is $15, and the first place winner gets $10 from each entry.  Scott tells me, “Last year we had 25 entries. The top prize was $250. We expect to do better this year.”  If you’d like to read last years’ winners, go HERE.  (note: you have to scroll a long way down)

TCM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POND

Just heard from Davy Turner in England that their programming on Turner Classics is very different from our in the States: “They’re showing the old western series I grew up watching, currently MAVERICK and GUNSMOKE.  RAWHIDE (my fave as a Clint fan) and BONANZA were shown last year.  They emailed me after I wrote to thank them, that HIGH CHAPARRAL will be next, in early October.  Look forward to watching Uncle Buck and Manolito ridin’ the Tucson trails again.” 

FORD’S ‘TWO ROAD TOGETHER’ AT LACMA TUESDAY

On Tuesday, September 20^th, at 1 p.m., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will show John Ford’s TWO ROAD TOGETHER, starring James Stewart and Richard Widmark, script by Frank S. Nugent from a novel by Will Cook.  It tells the story of a couple of tough characters bringing a group of settlers home from years of Comanche captivity.

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!And speaking of TCM, 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 entrepeneur 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 permenant 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 Hollywood western, 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.

WELLS FARGO 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.


FREE WESTERNS ON YOUR COMPUTER AT HULU

A staggering number of western TV episodes and movies are available, entirely free, for viewing on your computer at HULU. You do have to sit through the commercials, but that seems like a small price to pay. The series available -- often several entire seasons to choose from -- include THE RIFLEMAN, THE CISCO KID, THE LONE RANGER, BAT MASTERSON, THE BIG VALLEY, ALIAS SMITH AND JONES, and one I missed from 2003 called PEACEMAKERS starring Tom Berenger. Because they are linked up with the TV LAND website, you can also see BONANZA and GUNSMOKE episodes, but only the ones that are running on the network that week.

The features include a dozen Zane Grey adaptations, and many or most of the others are public domain features. To visit HULU on their western page, CLICK HERE.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run DANIEL BOONE at 1:00 p.m., and two episodes of THE RIFLEMAN from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.. On Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. it's THE RIFLEMAN again, followed at 2:30 by BAT MASTERSON. And unlike many stations in the re-run business, they run the shows in the original airing order. There's an afternoon movie on weekdays at noon, often a western, and they show western films on the weekend, but the schedule is sporadic.

That's it for today, folks!  Next week I'll have details on BONANZACON, a review of BLACKTHORN, and a review of the book AND...ACTION!

Until then, Happy Trails!

Henry

All contents copyright September 2011 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved