MODERN HORSE-OPERA ‘RUNNING WILD’ REVIEWED, PLUS ‘UNDERGROUND’ RETURNS, ‘THE SON’ AND ‘THE HERO’ ON THE WAY, AND MORE!

RUNNING WILD – A Film Review

What do you do when you’ve gone through all of your wife’s money, incurred tremendous debt, and still failed to save her family ranch?  One option is to drive your truck headlong into a tree at 80 miles an hour.  The young, sheltered and coddled socialite widow, Stella Davis (Dorian Brown Pham) is blissfully unaware of her dire situation until, with her husband’s death, she learns that she’ll lose everything she owns in ninety days.  Compounding her worries, several starving horses have wandered onto her property, and though she can barely afford to feed her own stock, she hasn’t the heart to push them out.

Stella gets more bad news

Desperate to create some income, she and her foreman Brannon (Jason Lewis) sign the ranch up for a prison program that prepares convicts for freedom by teaching them to train horses – the same program, Stella learns, that Brannon came out of.  Now Stella must contend with debts, surly and dangerous cons (including SONS OF ANARCHY’s Tommy Flanagan, Tom Williamson and Michael Girgenti), and ‘friends’ like Jennifer (Christina Moore) who say they want to help, but would love to acquire Stella’s ranch and stud horse at a fire-sale price.  But the biggest threat comes from Jennifer’s sister, Meredith Parish (Sharon Stone), a richer-than-Trump widowed animal-rights loony who thinks that all horses should be free – saddling one is tantamount to slavery!  And she’s a media darling with the meanness, savvy and power to destroy Stella.

The animal activists you love to hate!

Effectively written and acted, populated by interesting characters – particularly the cons – whose stake in the outcome grows as the story progresses, RUNNING WILD is an entertaining and enjoyably hopeful film.  French-born director Alex Ranarivelo has gone from zero to sixty practically overnight, from directing shorts to directing six or eight features back-to-back for ESX Entertainment, of which RUNNING WILD is the first to be released.  And he has a skill with both drama and action – no surprise with the latter, considering his background in street racing.

Interestingly, some of the on-screen talents are stretching their legs in unexpected sides of the production.  Sharon Stone, clearly willing to be beautifully detestable, is one of the producers.  And her screen sister, Christina Moore, co-wrote the screenplay with Brian Rudnick.

Searching for runaway horses

While the plot is more than ample to hold your attention, this neo-Western has something on its mind beyond the conflict of its characters – exposing the plight of thousands of wild horses, overpopulating government land, left to starve, or rounded up and incarcerated (am I starting to sound like Sharon Stone’s character?).  A related approach to this problem is shown in the fine documentary WILD HORSE, WILD RIDE (read my review HERE ).

Convicts get to ride -- with the law right behind!

 RUNNING WILD is now available at selected theatres, and on demand, from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 

Luckily Brannon has a way with horses.

LOS ANGELES-ITALIA FESTIVAL FEB. 19^TH – 25^TH AT THE HOLLYWOOD CHINESE!

Franco Nero with Joan Collins

One of the truly not-to-be-missed annual events in L.A., The Los Angeles-Italia Festival, under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy, is a week of Italian culture and Italian films, and all of the screenings are free, on a first-come, first-seated basis.  In addition to many American premieres of Italian films, as well as some world premieres, there are many screenings honoring Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, and Italian-American actor Dean Martin.  Some years have included many Italian Westerns, but the pickings are pretty thin this go-round.  On Tuesday, Feb. 22^nd at noon, RIO BRAVO, starring Dean Martin, will screen.  On Wednesday, at 10 p.m., a new Western short starring Franco Nero, ALONG THE RIVER, will screen, and Nero will be present.  To find out about all of the other screenings and events, go HERE. 

UNDERGROUND RETURNS WED. MARCH 8^TH

The second season of WGN’s UNDERGROUND will premiere on Wednesday, March 8^th.  This is a very involving and exciting series about The Underground Railroad, which was smuggling escaped slaves from Southern states to the safety and freedom of the North.  If you missed season one, keep an eye on the WGN schedule, as my guess is that the previous episodes will be replayed prior to the new shows.  I had the opportunity to talk about the design and look of the show with UNDERGROUND’s Production Designer and Costume Designer – keep an eye out for that soon in True West.  In the meantime, here’s a trailer:

THE SON – FIRST FULL TRAILER

THE SON will premiere on AMC on Saturday, April 8^th.  I’ve seen the first two episodes of THE SON, based on Philipp Meyer’s critically acclaimed bestselling novel, and I think it’s terrific, a worthy successor to the network’s HELL ON WHEELS.  The story of a Texas oil family, it’s told in two parallel storylines, both about Eli McCullough.  In 1849, as a teenager abducted by Comanche, he is played by Jacob Lofland.  As a turn-of-the-century oil magnate, he’s played by Pierce Brosnan.  Both story-lines are fascinating, and shockingly true to history.  I was able to speak not only to Meyer, but to producers and several members of the cast – again, coming soon to True West.  And here’s the first trailer --  

SAM ELLIOT IN ‘THE HERO’ PICKED  BY THE ORCHARD AT SUNDANCE

Sam Elliot stars as an aging Western actor coming to terms with his life in THE HERO, which The Orchard has picked up for theatrical release this fall.  His co-stars include his beautiful bride Katherine Ross, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, and Nick Offerman.  Director Brett Haley and writer Marc Basch had previously collaborated with Elliot, when he starred opposite Blythe Danner in I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS (2015). 

While there’s not a trailer yet, here’s an interesting clip.

And here’s a clip from a TMZ show, where an unprepared reporter tries to interview Sam Elliot.

TRAVIS FIMMEL TO PLAY WYATT EARP ON HISTORY CHANNEL

Travis Fimmel, who has a huge following from THE VIKINGS series and the WARCRAFT feature, is finally getting to do a Western.  A few years ago, when there was going to be a feature based on THE BIG VALLEY, he was cast as Heath – and Lee Majors was going to play his dad, the never-before seen Tom Barkley. Sadly, that project shut down when the director went to jail for scamming Massachusetts out of money on another film. But now Travis will be playing Wyatt Earp on a new anthology series for History Channel.  He also wrote the episode, and is producing the series.

 ‘GUNSMOKE’ WRITER-PRODUCER RON HONTHANER DIES

One of the series’ fine behind-the-camera talents, Ron Honthaner, who worked for seven seasons on more than 150 episodes of GUNSMOKE, died on January 10, 2017, after a five-month battle with lung cancer.  After serving four years in the Navy, Ron studied film at U.S.C., and worked on independent features, including the drama THE EXILES (1961), famous for its look at the lives of American Indians in Los Angeles.  A man of many skills, his first job on a Western was on the animated feature THE MAN FROM BUTTON WILLOW (’65). Landing a position in post-production at Columbia—Screen Gems TV, he worked on THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE WACKIEST SHIP IN THE ARMY until, in 1967, he sold a script to GUNSMOKE.  He would eventually sell the series another script – his two episodes are NOWHERE TO RUN (’68) and BLIND MAN’S BUFF (’72) – and he became Post-production Supervisor and, later Associate Producer on the series.  

He also worked on the GUNSMOKE spin-off series DIRTY SALLY (1974).

He worked as an editor on several series, and directed the feature THE HOUSE ON SKULL MOUNTAIN in 1974.  When James Arness returned to the west in the HOW THE WEST WAS WON series in 1976, Ron was Post-production Coordinator, as well as being one of the editors on ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE (1976).  He even did a little acting in the Western comedy HOT LEAD AND COLD FEET (1978). 

Lately Ron had turned to prose and written the excellent Western novel THE SHADOW OF THE HAWK (you can read my review HERE ), and you can order it from Amazon HERE .

Ron is survived by his wife Eve, son Jed, daughter-in-law Jackie, sister Joan Campbell, and many nieces and nephews.  Donations in his memory can be made to the Motion Picture & Television Fund (www.mptf.com/old/tributegift) or to Hospice Charities of America, c/o Sanctuary Hospice – 150 Paularino Ave., Suite C-125 – Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Please check out my article in the February True West Magazine, featuring actress Constance Towers’ memories of working for John Ford on THE HORSE SOLDIERS, with John Wayne and William Holden.  In the next Round-up, I’ll talk about the red carpet at the RUNNING WILD premiere, review the largely over-looked Civil War picture from last year, FREE STATE OF JONES, talk to stunt ace Walter Scott about his work on THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES and THE COWBOYS, and look in on this weekend’s Civil War Days at Strathearn Park in Simi.  Have a great week!

Happy trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright February 2017 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

‘REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS’, ‘NAMES YOU NEVER REMEMBER’ REVIEWED, PLUS SAM ELLIOT TO ‘JUSTIFIED’, ‘DAN’L BOONE’ ANNIVERSARY, TIM MCCOY MARATHON!

REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS – A Movie Review

THE REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS is an unexpectedly powerful and effective Western, with uniformly strong performances by a largely unfamiliar but very talented cast.  Its co-writer and director Clayton Miller – he wrote with Charlie Shanian and Chris VanderKaay – has only directed one feature before, but he draws absolutely natural and effecting performances from the early-teenaged Jaden Roberts and Ezra Proch who, while not the leads, drive a great deal of the story.

Drew Waters, who had a small but showy role as Champagne Charlie Austin in LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE, plays Henry Myers who, with accomplices Clay (Beau Smith) and Mac (Rio Alexander), pull a bank job that turns needlessly bloody.  They separate, and Henry is trying to hide the loot in a church, when he’s startled by the minister (Michael McCabe), and accidently shoots and kills him. 

A year later, his accomplices track him down, looking for the loot and all but kill him before he escapes.  A family finds his nearly lifeless form, and the young girl, Laura (Jaden Roberts), overrides her brother Will’s (Ezra Poch) and their mother Marilyn’s (Erin Bethea) doubts, and insist they take him in and nurse him back to health.  And while Henry heals, now living with the first real family he’s ever known, he is being hunted by his ex-accomplices for the loot, and by Sheriff Tom (Luce Rains), for the robbery, and the murder of the minister. 

Erin Bethea & Drew Waters

This is an elegant production, and a savvy one.  The filmmakers have mounted the size of movie that they can effectively afford to produce: not too many characters, not too many locations.  Filmed at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the breathtaking cinematography is by Reynaldo Villalobos, who also shot HOUSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS, which premiered on INSP in August (read my review HERE http://www.henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2014/08/insp-premieres-house-of-righteous.html )  Special credit also goes to production designer Sean Cunningham and his crew for unself-conscious realism, and the make-up crew headed by Mandy Danielle Benton for giving us some of the truly dirtiest, scummy-bearded villains I’ve ever seen outside of a Sergio Corbucci Spaghetti Western.

This is a faith-based production, and while that used to be a warning to expect poor production values, amateur acting and sappy plots, faith-based filmmaking has improved tremendously over the last several years, I believe because Tyler Perry showed the way, his films bursting from church screenings to mainstream theatres by virtue of the fact that they were hysterical and accessible comedies.   Though not a big box-office name, Erin Bethea is a superstar in the faith-based film world, having starred opposite Kirk Cameron in the ground-breaking FIREPROOF, and several others.  Among the supporting players, Rio Alexander has been seen in INTO THE WEST, 3:10 TO YUMA, LONGMIRE and the modern Western THE LAST STAND.  Luce Rains has had the most sagebrush experience, having been seen, often with a star, in DESPERADO: AVALANCHE AT DEVIL’S RIDGE, INTO THE BADLANDS, THE YOUNG RIDERS, LIGHTNING JACK, WYATT EARP, WILD BILL, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, 3:10 TO YUMA, APPALOOSA, SHOOT FIRST AND PRAY YOU LIVE, DOC WEST, DEAD MAN’S BURDEN, and last year’s SWEETWATER! 

Jaden Roberts & Drew Waters

If I have any criticism of the recent crop of faith-based Westerns, it is that too many have ‘redemption’ in the title: there was 2011’s excellent REDEMPTION: FOR ROBBING THE DEAD, the current THE REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS, and last month I acted in BOONVILLE REDEMPTION.  It gets confusing!

REDEMPTION OF HENRY MYERS has appeared on the Hallmark Movie Channel, and is also available on DVD.

NAMES YOU NEVER REMEMBER – WITH FACES YOU NEVER FORGET by Justin Humphreys – A Book Review

It’s been said that since the passing of the cinema’s Golden Age, roughly from the coming of sound to the 1950s, character actors are a dying breed – even a dead breed.  Author, interviewer and raconteur Justin Humphreys has given the lie to that claim, with his fascinating, informative, and wonderfully entertaining collection of interviews, NAMES YOU NEVER REMEMBER – WITH FACES YOU NEVER FORGET.  Published by Bear Manor Media, it should take its rightful place on your bookshelf, beside Leonard Maltin’s REEL STARS and Jordan Young’s REEL CARACTERS, tomes which interviewed and profiled the great character actors from previous decades. 

Mark Lawrence on THE RIFLEMAN

The final interview of the book, with the wonderfully villainous and delightfully gutter-mouthed Marc Lawrence, is the only conversation that goes back to the early 1930s.  The rest are with actors whose careers began post-war, and I was particularly surprised and pleased to learn quite a bit about two men I’d seen, but never known their names – Don Pedro Colley, whose imposing height and menacing presence made him a natural for sci-fi films and Blaxsploitation; and Buck Kartalian, whose diminutive stature on a body-builder’s frame has given him a long career in action, horror and sci-fi.  Both men have unforgettable roles in PLANET OF THE APES films – Buck as the cigar-puffing ape who abuses Heston, and Don, in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, as one of the ‘A’ bomb-worshipping mutants – and James Franciscus’ torturer.   

Royal Dano on THE RIFLEMAN

This is clearly a labor of love done over a long string of years – many of the books’ ten subjects are gone; one, Royal Dano, to whom it is dedicated, for two decades.  Western fans will be particularly interested in the interviews with Dano, R.G. Armstrong, Bo Hopkins, and L.Q. Jones – all Western specialists on the big and small screen, all frequent collaborators with Sam Peckipah, and L.Q. even wrote the forward. 

These are not Red-Carpet chats but detailed career discussions – R.G. Armstrong’s at 34 pages is only a little longer than average.  And in it you’ll learn about his desire to be a poet rather than an actor, how his time spent as a hobo would inform his performances as a lawman dealing with hoboes, how Peckinpah used Armstrong’s serious religiosity to create his hypocritical and fanatical religious roles in films like RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY. 

Dick Bakalyan takes the kill-shot in CHINATOWN

Dick Bakalyan, the pre-eminent juvenile delinquent of the 1950s, later Jack Nicholson’s nemesis, Detective Loach, in CHINATOWN, really grew up as a tough-guy – hence the famously flattened beak – and is endlessly cheerful discussing his strings of Sinatra films and Disney films.  But as with many of the interview subjects, his projections for the future of the industry are bleak for directors as well as actors.

Many of the subjects’ best stories are not about themselves, but about their co-workers.  Don Pedro Colley’s adventures working with Jack Palance in the deep south, and Palance’s sticking his neck out for the black members of the cast, are all the more impressive for being so unexpected.  High points of both Royal Dano’s and Mark Lawrence’s interviews are their memories of ‘Cookie,’ the great Elisha Cook Jr., the movies’ perennial victim and, to my surprise, a drunkard of epic proportions.  Another surprise is to find how funny in real life Royal Dano, almost always a tragic figure on-screen, really was.  His insights into working with directors Nicholas Ray on JOHNNY GUITAR and Alfred Hitchcock on THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY are revealing as well. 

Roger Corman made Jonathan Haze a genre star, casting him as the lead in the original LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and he starred in easily a dozen more for the low-budget mogul.  But I was surprised to learn that, rather than sinking into obscurity afterwards, he moved behind the camera, often partnered with Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and has had a series of successes.

Bo Hopkins in THE WILD BUNCH

Bo Hopkins had just as tough a beginning as Dick Bakalyan, a frequent runaway, in and out of homes, then reform schools, then given the choice of jail for a robbery, or joining the Army.  He fought in Korea, came back with acting scholarships that led to do plays from Kentucky to South Carolina to New York to Hollywood.  He made a smash in his first film role, playing Crazy Lee in THE WILD BUNCH, but he actually earned his S.A.G. card on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW.

L.Q. Jones in THE WILD BUNCH

Speaking of THE WILD BUNCH, L.Q. Jones, half of my absolute favorite bounty-hunting team (with Strother Martin), reveals that he took his name from the character he played in his first movie, BATTLE CRY.  His story of how, as a non-actor, he got the part, and his dealings with director Raoul Walsh on BATTLE CRY and THE NAKED AND THE DEAD are too delicious to give away.  He also credits his buddy Fess Parker with getting him in the door and having his back (Morgan Woodward would tell me the same about Fess).  A man with many more facets to his personality than his screen villainy would suggest, L.Q. would also write and produce the wonderfully creepy THE BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN, and write, produce and direct the sci-fi classic A BOY AND HIS DOG, from Harlan Ellison’s novella. 

Buck Kartalian’s story of how we went, with no intervening steps, from being a professional wrestler, to acting onstage opposite Olivia De Havilland and Jack Hawkins in ROMEO AND JULIET is alone worth the price of admission. 

German-born, Canadian-raised Paul Koslo became a familiar, menacing face starting with OMEGA MAN, and has done a wide range of horror, action, sci-fi films, and Westerns like JOE KIDD, ROOSTER COGBURN and HEAVEN’S GATE.  His stories about Charles Bronson are as astonishing as they are disappointing – Mr. Deathwish comes off as an absolute bastard.  And yet, Bronson would hire Koslo for two more films!  Of equal interest is Koslo’s convincing analysis of the demise of the character actor: the tremendous rise of star salaries has reduced everyone else, regardless of their fame, experience and talent, to scale – take it or leave it.

It’s clear in the tone that some of the subjects were more eager to talk than others – Marc Lawrence continually interjects comments like, “I think you’ve got enough there to write fifteen articles.  What else do you want?”  But author Humphreys charmed and persuaded and cajoled the anecdotes out of them.  Along with the faces, there are a hundred stories you will never forget.  NAMES YOU NEVER REMEMBER – WITH FACES YOU NEVER FORGET, will give you hours of pleasure, ten unique perspectives on the film industry, and will send you searching for dozens of movies – ones that you’ve never seen before, and others you know well, but will appreciate on a whole new level.  I recommend it highly.    

SAM ELLIOT JOINS CAST OF ‘JUSTIFIED’!

Sam Elliot, the actor with the best ‘western’ voice to come along since Bill Conrad voiced Matt Dillon on radio’s GUNSMOKE, will be joining the cast of JUSTIFIED as a continuing character for its sixth, and final, season.  His character is Markham, an ex-gangster who has turned over a new leaf – the cannabis kind – and made a fortune growing legal weed in Colorado.  Also joining the cast is Garret Dillahunt, who played Ed Miller in THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, Wendell in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, and Sheriff Baskin in WINTER’S BONE.  His character, Walker (not a Texas Ranger), is a special ops-turned-security maven for a not-so-clean businessman.  JUSTIFIED returns to FX in January.

‘DANIEL BOONE’ JOINS INSP LINE-UP ON 50^TH ANNIVERSARY!

Fess Parker 

This coming Sunday, September 28^th, INSP will bring back DANIEL BOONE, within four days of its NBC premiere in 1964. In the title role, Fess Parker had become a superstar on early television as Davy Crockett on a series of WALT DISNEY’S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR episodes, and for insurance, NBC decided to have him wear the same wardrobe playing Boone, coonskin cap and all.  (As a result, virtually no member of my generation can separate the exploits of Boone and Crockett.) 

Fess Parker and Ed Ames 

For six seasons and 165 episodes, the series told the sometimes true, sometimes fanciful tales of the pioneer frontiersman who lived from 1734 to 1820, fought in the Revolutionary War, was captured by Shawnee warriors who planned to kill him and ended up adopting him, and who blazed his famous Wilderness Trail through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains.  Most of the stories take place in the town of Boonesborough, Kentucky. 

Starring along with Fess Parker was Patricia Blair as his wife Rebecca, Veronica Cartwright as their daughter Jemima, and Darby Hinton as their son Israel.  (For the record, Boone and Rebecca actually had ten children, and this past Friday at the Silver Spur Awards, host Darby Hinton explained that there were going to be two sons in the series.  But the producers were so pleased with his work in the pilot that they wrote the other son out.)

Over the years, Dan’l had several friends and sidekicks that drifted in and out, refreshing the series, including Ed Ames, of the singing Ames Brothers, as Mingo, Boone’s Oxford-educated half-Cherokee friend; crusty old Dal McKennon – incredibly, the voice of Archie Andrews in cartoons – as Cincinnatus; Albert Salmi as Yadkin; pro-football player Rosey Grier as Gabe Cooper; and country singer and sausage purveyor Jimmy Dean as Josh Clements.      

Patricia Blair, Darby Hinton, Fess Parker, Veronica Cartwright

Daniel Boone’s life, and hence the series, covered a period in American history that was not often shown, and the battles with the British military, and stories about slavery in a pre-abolitionist society, are pleasantly unfamiliar.  It started in black & white, and I prefer these tougher and darker tales than the later ones.  (I feel the same way about the first noir-ish episodes of SUPERMAN for that matter.) But there is plenty to recommend in the entire run of the series. 

As Doug Butts, SVP of Programming at INSP says, “DANIEL BOONE is not only entertaining. It embodies the timeless values and positive entertainment audiences have come to expect from INSP.  We couldn't be more thrilled to bring DANIEL BOONE to our lineup during the 50^th anniversary of the series, and we believe it will be a great opportunity for a whole new generation of viewers to enjoy this family drama.”

INSP will begin with a star-studded 6-hour marathon on Sunday, September 28th, opening with the two-parter from the second season, THE HIGH CUMBERLAND, about the blazing of the Cumberland Trail.  It’s directed by Western specialist (he directed John Wayne eleven times) George Sherman, and written by D.D. Beauchamp, who started out with Abbott & Costello before becoming a Western pro.  The series will run Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., ET.  If you don’t know if you get INSP, follow the link: <http://www.insp.com/insp-channel-finder>.

GET-TV TIM MCCOY MARATHON NEXT SATURDAY!

On Saturday, September 27^th, Get-TV will present an eight-film marathon featuring some of the very best of Col. Tim McCoy’s Columbia Westerns!  These were the absolute zenith of his career in talkies, and to have such a block of them is unprecedented!  It starts off with a bang at 9:00 a.m. PDT with 1932’s END OF THE TRAIL, featuring both an involving a story and, remarkable for its time, the Colonel speaking, as I recall, direct to camera, delivering a stunning indictment of the Federal Government’s failure to honor the terms of virtually any of the treaties it made with the Indian tribes.  It’s followed by THE PRESCOTT KID, SHOTGUN PASS, THE FIGHTING FOOL, TEXAS CYCLONE, TWO-FISTED LAW, DARING DANGER, and FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE, all from 1930-1933.  And they’re followed at 7:30 by three westerns I don’t know, RELENTLESS        (1948) starring Robert Young, THE PHANTOM STAGECOACH (1957) starring William Bishop and directed by Ray Nazarro, REPRISAL (1956) starring Guy Madison, and one we all know, THE OUTLAW (1943ish) starring Jack Beutel, Jane Russell, Walter Huston, Thomas Mitchell, and directed by the two Howards, Hughes and Hawks.  And here’s a link to find out if you can get GetTV: http://get.tv/get-the-channel

‘SPIRIT OF THE COWBOY’ FESTIVAL!

This great picture from the ‘Spirit of The Cowboy’, held in McKinney, Texas on September 14^th, was sent to me by CHEYENNE WARRIOR author Michael Druxman.  What a great gathering!

Upper row: Dan Haggerty, Michael Druxman, Clu Guhlager, James Stacey    
Middle row: Marshal Teague, Robert Fuller, Darby Hinton, Ken Farmer,  Bo Hopkins
In front: Alex Cord

THAT’S A WRAP!

Coming to the Round-up ASAP are an article on BOONEVILLE REDEMPTION, THE CINECON SALUTE TO CLAYTON MOORE, THE SILVER SPUR AWARDS, and tons of other good stuff! 

Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Content Copyright September 2014 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

CAMERAS ROLL FOR ‘LAST DUANE’ AT MELODY RANCH!

On Saturday, August 18^th, I had the pleasure of watching the first day of filming for Zane Grey’s THE LAST DUANE, at the Veluzat family’s (formerly Gene Autry’s) Melody Ranch in Newhall.

The film, based on the novel LAST OF THE DUANES, is the fifth screen-telling of the story.  The first, in 1919, starred William Farnum; 1924’s starred Tom Mix; the first talkie version, in 1930 starred George O’Brien opposite Myrna Loy; and the 1941 version starred George Montgomery, Lynn Roberts, Eve Arden, George E. Stone and, in the role of Texas Ranger Maj. McNeil (a fictionalized version of Leander H. McNelly), the star of the 1919 version, William Farnum.

George Montgomery

Zane Grey, who died in 1939, was a tremendously popular and influential Western writer in his day, and his novels and stories have been the source for 113 movies and TV shows, and some, like RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, have been filmed many times.  Big budget and small, his stories were filmed frequently at Fox, Columbia, and a particularly fine series of about a dozen films were done at Paramount in the 1930s, many featuring Buster Crabbe or Randolph Scott.  From 1956 to 1961, Dick Powell produced and hosted ZANE GREY THEATRE, often showcasing Grey’s stories.  Though Grey is not much discussed today, a glance at Amazon.com reveals a tremendous number of his novels in print and available in paper, hardback, and e-book form – I recorded audio-book versions of one or two of his novels a few years back.

This newest version of the story, from Market Street Productions,  is being directed by Christopher Ekstein, and written by Ekstein, Jason Chase Tyrrell and Stacy Ownes Ekstein.  The lead has not yet been determined, but he won't be needed for filming this weekend because the twelve pages of script being shot center around a dramatic incident in his character’s youth.  His role will be played by a child actor, and you’ll see one of those ‘Ten Years Later’ titles, and then the story will continue.  The bulk of the movie will be shot starting in October.

Jason Patric

Danny Trejo

Rose McGowan

The stars of the opening sequence, who were hard at work at Melody Ranch yesterday, were heroic Jason Patric; villainous Danny Trejo; and beautiful Rose McGowan.  I’ve agreed to not post any pictures of the principals for now, and I don’t want to give anything away, but I was happy to arrive onset just in time to see someone shot to death in front of a saloon -- several times -- and there was a considerable amount of shooting and stabbing and riding throughout the day. 

Peter Sherayko & Anthony DeLongis

The Tiffany Grips

I tracked down Peter Sherayko, who in addition to being armourer, through his Caravan West outfit, supplies the horses, saddles, props and buckaroos.  I asked him what were the most interesting weapons in the show, and he said it was Danny Trejo’s pistols, or rather, their grips.  “Danny’s guns have 1851 Tiffany grips.  They made them for a lot of Civil War officers starting in 1865.  Jason Patric has an 1860 Army (Colt).”  Peter was ably aided by assistant armourer Heath Hammond and art director Christian Ramirez. 

I wasn’t familiar with the story they were filming, but historian Sherayko certainly was.  “THE LAST OF THE DUANES is one of Zane Grey’s better-knowns.  This part we’re doing now, it’s about Buck Duane as a nine-year-old kid.  He grows up later, and the novel really takes off with him being an outlaw at the beginning of it, and ends up with the Texas Rangers, one of Leander H. McNelly’s Rangers.”  Buck is fictional, but McNelly was the real thing.  Peter tells me that when the other Texas Rangers were issued Winchesters, McNelly insisted his men have Sharps rifles.  ‘But Winchesters are repeaters – with a Sharps you only get one shot.’ ‘I want my men to make every shot count.’  Sam Elliot is also going to be in the movie.  I don’t know who he’s playing, but I’d put my money on McNelly.

Chris Ramirez

Larry Poole, Willy Clark & Heath Hammond

As the day’s shooting progressed, Rose McGowan switched from a beautiful burgundy velvet dress to a black one.  The men who loitered on the street, or waited to be poker-players in the upcoming saloon scene, were an unusual collection that added to the atmosphere of the film.  Anthony DeLongis is an excellent horseman, and expert with whips and swords.  Ardashir Radpour is a great rider and professional polo player.  Larry Poole and Willy Clark, with his Gabby Hayes beard, look perfect in a saloon, but Willy is also an expert gunsmith.  Brian Herrington is a Western author (CAMPO – THE FORGOTTEN GUNFIGHT), and Tony Redburn is a quick-draw expert and gun-spinner. 

Addy Radpour

Brian Herrington & Tony Redburn

It was around three o’clock, about 100 degrees, when they started shooting the saloon interior, and between the art direction, the cast, and the smoky haze, the set looked perfect.  Danny Trejo entered from the street, and did what he does best: intimidate people.  They’d shot the scene of Danny and his two henchmen riding up to the saloon and dismounting that morning, and now, while Danny was doing the scene inside, a second unit was doing close-ups of Danny’s boots – on someone else’s feet – slipping out of the stirrups and hitting the street. 

With that shot done, the three horses were done for the day.  As they were being walked back to the stable area, Danny Trejo, between takes, caught sight of them passing by, and called for them to wait.  He dashed out of the craft services area with a yellow apple, and broke it into pieces to feed to the horses, talking to them and stroking their heads.  I’ll have more details on THE LAST OF THE DUANES in the near future. 

THE HIGH CHAPARRAL RETURNS ON INSP!

Beginning with an all-day marathon on Saturday, September 15th, the series about the Cannon and Montoya family, rarely seen in decades, will become a part of INSP’s SADDLE-UP SATURDAY programming starting September 29th, and join the week-day schedule as well.

Henry Darrow, well-remembered as fiery-tempered Manolito, says, “Folks never get tired of a good western. And The High Chaparral is one of the BEST. People often ask me why they can’t see it on TV anymore. Now, I can tell them, ‘You can! On INSP.’ I couldn’t be more thrilled.”

David Dortort, the show’s creator, had his first tremendous success with BONANZA, about a perfect family. He decided to try something new by creating a dysfunctional family, and the social and ethnic conflicts between Anglos, Hispanics, and Apaches were daring back in 1967, and seem remarkably fresh today.

The series, which ran for five seasons and 97 episodes, stars Leif Ericson, Cameron Mitchell, Henry Darrow, Linda Cristal, Mark Slade and Don Collier. 

‘YELLOW ROCK’ AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE!

The Western Heritage Award winner for Best Direction, Best Screenplay and Best Lead Actors is now available on DVD and a variety of on-demand and pay-per-view options.  The film stars Michael Biehn, James Russo and Lenore Andriel. 

I’ve been following YELLOW ROCK since they first rolled camera, and I reviewed it when it premiered at – and swept the awards of – the Red Nation Film Festival (you can read my review HERE )

When I reached writer/producer/star Lenore Andriel, she was just back from the Prescott Arizona Film Festival.  “We were there for four or five days, having the time of our lives.  They screened the film and we were very honored, it was right after their tribute film, which was DANCES WITH WOLVES.   The writer was actually there, Michael Blake, and I got to meet him, and tell him how his film influenced the heart and storyline of YELLOW ROCK.  It really made the entire festival for us – it was quite wonderful. 

“YELLOW ROCK was released August 7^th, across all platforms.  It was released for video-on-demand on Time-Warner Cable, Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, COX, WTC, NBC-Universal.  It’s coming to DirecTV.  And it was also released the same day on DVD through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Blockbuster, Family Video.  It’s available for pre-order on Nexflix, and it’s available at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, because that’s where we won Best Picture and all the awards.  It’s also available, streaming, on iTunes, Sony Platform PS3.  I believe in a month from now it’s going to be available in all the RedBox units across the country.  And it will also be available in WalMart the end of October.  We still have a couple more film festivals that we’re honored to be officially selected for.  One of them is the Almeria Film Festival, in Almeria, Spain.  That is October 11^th through the 13^th.  Then we’ll be looking at doing limited theatricals across the country in the New Year.”     

Also on the agenda are plans to make two more westerns.  “They say the first baby’s the hardest, but I finally gave birth to it.  It was very difficult making the film, but it’s been a real dream, and a very blessed film.  Now we have a lot more knowledge of how to do a western, and what not to do.  One of the things we’ll probably not do is shoot it in the summer (laughs).  But we will be back at the Veluzat Motion Picture Ranch, and at Melody Ranch as well.  We’ll be back with Daniel Veluzat, who’s been a wonderful partner to us.” 

I caught up with Lenore’s writer/producer partner Steve Doucette as he was waiting for Lenore to come over so they could start fleshing out the other two western stories.  It sounded like possibly a prequel and a sequel to YELLOW ROCK, but Steve wouldn’t commit to that.  “And what’s exciting about it is we feel we can go bigger on the other two budgets.  So we can keep the production value at least on par, and hopefully bigger and better.” 

I asked him if YELLOW ROCK had turned out bigger than he expected.  “Yuh, it blew up on us from day one, from when we wrote it to when we brought in bigger names than we ever dreamed we could get.  For a small independent western like this; most definitely.  Bigger in a happy way.  We didn’t think that we’d be winning numerous awards with this, which we’re proud of.  We’re thrilled, and we hope we have the same financial success with the way that it’s been received.

“You know, it’s a real shout-out to independents who can do it right.   You never want to slack off on the production value, like the sound, and the way the movie is shot.  There are certain areas with independents, that makes them look weaker.  So that’s where I opened up my wallet, to make sure we had good sound, good score, good production value.   I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon.com.  There are maybe ten reviews there, mostly four and five star reviews, and some of the things it’s being compared to, whether it’s DANCES WITH WOLVES, or the grittiness of UNFORGIVEN; that’s a real compliment to us.  We want to make everything real.  Although we do think it’s more PG than the R rating that we got.  Quite frankly, I just believe this is one that the entire family can sit down and watch, which was our intention.  We wanted, and our director Nick Vallelonga felt the same, to make a movie that was a throwback to the way stories were told when you and I were kids.  We were growing up in the ‘60s.  There were good movies with a good moral message to it, that the whole family could watch.  So whether it was SHANE or some movie like that, that’s what we were shooting for.  I hope that everybody sees it that way.  We’re very proud to be able to tell the story about Native American Indians.  That’s a big, strong point for Lenore and I.”

You can buy the DVD from Amazon.com HERE. In addition to the movie itself, the DVD includes a ‘Making Of’ documentary, deleted scenes, and a commentary track by director Nick Vallenlonga and Lenore Andriel. 

You can order it from NBC Universal on-demand HERE. If you have Time-Warner cable, it’s on demand HERE. 

LAST DAYS OF THE‘MUSEUM OF THE SAN FERNANDOVALLEY!’

If you’ve been meaning to visit the Museum of The San Fernando Valleythis summer, but haven’t gotten around to it, do it now! The Museum is currently located on the ground floor at Westerfields Fashion Square Mall in Sherman Oaks, but it will be leaving at the end of August, and as of yet, it has no new home. Gerald Fecht, who frequently mans the Museum, told me that the group had been amassing a collection of artifacts for some time, but did not have a permanent – or even temporary – home until the Westerfields folks approached them. A California Pizza Kitchen had closed, and the Museum was offered the space, for free, until it was rented. Well, a Vietnamese restaurant is moving in on the first of September, so the Museum will be once again on the move.

Even before they had a physical home, the Museum was surprisingly active, hosting walking tours of various parts of the Valley, and sponsoring an oral history project, recording the memories of people who have lived or grown up in this once very rural farming area. They recently recorded the reminiscences of actor Biff Elliot, who passed away this week. Best remembered as detective Mike Hammer in I, THE JURY, he was also, as a soldier, part of every major battle in Italy during the Second World War.

The Museum and the Studio City Neighborhood Council ran the REPUBLIC PICTURES 75^thANNIVERSARY celebration in September of 2010, which brought together fans and a bevy of Republic stars (I covered it extensively in the Round-up, if you want to search back a ways).

Busts of Clark Gable, Martin Luther King

“We’re still getting residual effects from that event. Monte Montana’s kids recorded their histories for us as a result of that event, and we’re still getting contacts from people who worked for Republic Pictures. There’s a really good museum in Burbank, one in Chatsworth, one in Canoga Park, and a really good historical society, the San Fernando Historical Society. But there’s no museum that encompasses the whole San Fernando Valley area; and that’s our mission, to present the history and culture of the entire San Fernando Valley.”

I asked him what the Valley’s most important historical contribution was. “For 30,000 years we had the Tonga people living here. It’s never been a desert, but it’s arid. In modern times the greatest two contributions would be aerospace, and the entertainment industry.”

Their interests are also literary. On Saturday, the museum ran an event at the TarzanaCommunity Center, once within the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate, celebrating the issuance of a postage stamp honoring Burroughs. There are also several large heads and busts on display, the work of a Van Nuys sculptor. They posses a growing collection of post cards and photographs from local, long-gone restaurants and businesses, film studios, and exotic wild-animal theme parks.

While they would dearly love a permanent address, they have also created traveling historical displays, such as the pictured one about water. Come by the museum if you have a chance. And visit their website for more information: http://www.themuseumsfv.org/

That’s it for this week’s Round-up.  Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright August 2012 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved