CLAIM-JUMPERS BE DAMNED! ALMERIA INTERNATIONAL WEST FILM FEST RIDES AGAIN -- ‘6 BULLETS TO HELL’ TO PREMIERE AT FEST!

(Updated 8-18-2014 -- see KARL MAY story)

As you may have read in the June 15, 2014 Round-up (and if you missed it, HERE is the link ), the 4th Annual Almeria Western Film Festival was cancelled because Tabernas Mayor Mari Nieves Jaen stole it from its creators!  She registered the Festival name under her own name, and proceeded to plan her own event, one which would presumably be politician-friendly, and more dedicated to photo ops than film history.   

I don’t know if her festival is going to proceed, and could not care less!  But I was delighted to hear from Original fest co-creator Danny Garcia.  “We've decided to carry on and we'll celebrate this year’s Almeria Western Film Festival next September 11-13.  We'll have a new website and a new name as we'll add 'International' to the name to make it different from the fake one.”

The very next day I heard from the star/writer/director of the excellent LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE (click HERE for my review), Tanner Beard, with news about his next Western film.  “6 BULLETS TO HELL will have a European Premier in Almeria, Spain on September 12^th.  We are finding out about our US premier, which should be happening sometime in October, and there is another European screening at the Aberdeen Film Festival in early October.” 

Crispian Belfrage

There can be no more fitting place for the film to premiere, since its conception is tied to the Fest, when Tanner attended in 2012.  As Danny Garcia, both the Fest’s co-creator and the film’s exec producer, explained to me in 2013, “The first contact between us and Tanner happened at the… Festival, where Tanner won the audience prize with THE LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE.”  They started talking story, and before you knew it, they had a movie in the works.  “We used Mini Hollywood (the set built by Leone for the film FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) and Fort Bravo (used in hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns as well: DEATH RIDES A HORSE, BLINDMAN, CHATO’S LAND, etc.) and we shot in the desert of Tabernas and the mountains of Abla for the epic final duel.” (You can read more details about the production HERE )

Tanner Beard

6 BULLETS TO HELL is a revenge tale, about a peaceful man who must put on a badge and track down the men who destroyed his world.  It’s made very much in the spaghetti western manner and style.  It was shot in Spain and edited in the U.S.  It has five credited writers: Chip Baker, Jose L. Villanueva, Tanner Beard, Danny Garcia, Russell Quinn Cummings, and it’s co-directed by Tanner Beard and Russell Quinn Cummings. 

Don't let them in!

The stars are Crispian Belfrage as the lawman, Tanner Beard as an outlaw with no conscience, and Magda Rodriguez, Aaron Stielstra, Russell Quinn Cummings, and long-time Euro-western regular Antonio Mayans.  I had the pleasure of watching the first half hour of the film (note: they didn’t hold back on the rest of the film; I just couldn’t get the rest to play.  I HATE watching movies on-line!), and enjoyed it a helluvah lot!  Spaghetti Western fans will be ‘all in’ as soon as they see the titles roll, and hear the first dubbed line of dialogue!  It manages the very dicey balancing act of being enough of an homage to bring the knowing smiles, while still maintaining its own integrity as a dramatic story.  I’ll have more information on the Festival in the coming weeks.  

WEDNESDAY COWBOY LUNCH @ THE AUTRY CELEBRATES ‘MELODY RANCH’!

On Wednesday, August 20^th, at high noon, Rob Word will present, as he does on the third Wednesday of every month, the Cowboy Lunch @ The Autry, which this time out will celebrate that legendary location for Western films for 99 years, Melody Ranch!  A working ranch from the 19^th century, and a movie ranch since 1915, it was the stomping ground of silent stars like William S. Hart and Tom Mix, and with the coming of sound, it became Monogram Ranch.  Incalculable sagebrush sagas were shot there, and it gained its greatest fame when Gene Autry bought the property in 1952, and rechristened it Melody Ranch after his long-running radio show. 

In addition to Gene’s own movies, just about every western TV series shot episodes there, and among the many series that called the lot home were GUNSMOKE, BRET MAVERICK, and DEADWOOD.  Hundreds of features have been shot there, including the recent DJANGO UNCHAINED, and currently the miniseries WESTWORLD is lensing there. 

Among the guests attending will be one of the great child stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Jane Withers, who starred with Gene Autry in SHOOTING HIGH!  The event is free, but you have to buy your own lunch, and I’d advise you to get there early, as the tables do fill up.  The good news is, if you end up at one of the outdoor tables, there will be a live video feed.  See you there!

Gene and Jane in SHOOTING HIGH!

WIN TICKETS TO SEE JOHN BERGSTROM LIVE ON THURSDAY AUG. 21^ST!

Thursday night at 8 (tho’ the doors open at 7), Cowboy balladeer John Bergstrom will be celebrating the release of his fourth CD, BUTTERFIELD STAGE, with a concert at The Rep, a.k.a. The Repertory East Playhouse, 24266 Main St., Newhall, CA 91321.  Tickets are just $20, and you can buy them by calling 877-340-9378. This concert is being presented by the excellent folks at OutWest Western Boutique and Cultural Center, our sponsor with the logo at the top left of the page – and you can buy all of John Bergstrom’s CDs at that site. 

But wait – there’s more!   I caught OutWest honcho Bobbi Jean Bell in such a good mood that she told me she’ll give away two free pairs of tickets to the first two folks who email me and ask for them!  Just send me a note at swansongmail@sbcglobal.net, and be sure to put ‘John Bergstrom’ in the subject line, so I don’t think you’re one of those Nigerian Princes who keeps contacting me!

FREE GENE AUTRY DOUBLE-FEATURE SAT. AT THE AUTRY

At noon on Saturday, August 23^rd, The Autry will screen a pair of Gene’s movies in the Imagination Gallery, BOOTS AND SADDLES (Rep. 1937) and GOLD MINE IN THE SKY (Rep.1938).  In BOOTS, an English kid inherits a ranch, and wants to sell it, but Gene wants the boy to become a westerner, and help him raise horses for the Army.  Another man wants to buy the ranch, and when his and Gene’s bids are the same, they decide to settle it with a race.  The best part is, the kid actor, New Zealander Ronald Sinclair, would in fact give up his acting career to join the U.S. Army when war broke out, and would return to be a very successful movie editor.  And the other bidder is played by Gordon Elliot, who would become a big star a year later, when Republic changed his name to Wild Bill Elliot.   In GOLD MINE troubles ensues when Gene is made the executor of a will, and has to decide who a high-spirited heiress may and may not marry!  Both co-star Smiley Burnette, and are directed by Republic action-ace Joe Kane.  

GENE AUTRY COLLECTION #5 REVIEWED

GENE AUTRY ENTERTAINMENT continues to release four-packs of Gene’s films, and I’ve just received volume 5 (I’ve also received 6&7, which I’ll be reviewing in the near future).  Made from 1949 to 1953, they’re all Gene Autry‘Productions released by Columbia Pictures.  As always, each features a beautiful female lead – Barbara Britton, Elena Verdugo, Virginia Huston, and Gail Davis.  And they all feature Champion, the World’s Wonder Horse.  Two star Pat Buttram, one stars Smiley Burnette, but in the first, Gene rides sidekickless!

LOADED PISTOLS (Col 1949) is an unusual Gene Autry entry in a number of ways, most noticeably that it’s a legit murder mystery, opening with a shooting when the lights are switched off during a crap game.  There’s even one of those fun THIN MAN-styled, “You’re probably wondering why I brought you all here tonight,” scenes where the crime is reenacted!  The victim is a friend of Gene’s, and the suspect is such a jerk that you realize Gene is stepping in more to make sure the guilty party doesn’t get away, rather than to see the innocent jerk freed.  This is the first Autry I recall seeing without a sidekick, and much as I like Smiley and Pat, it’s an interesting change.  Barbara Britton, the beautiful female lead, had already made an impression opposite Joel McCrea in THE VIRGINIAN, and done a pair of films with Randolph Scott so, unlike his other ladies, she receives title-card billing with Gene.  She’s probably best remembered for costarring with Richard Denning in the MR. AND MRS. SMITH series.

Also of note in the cast are Chill Wills as a lawman who keeps confiscating Gene’s guns; old western leading man Jack Holt; Robert Shayne before he’d become Inspector Henderson on SUPERMAN; ace geezer character actor Clem Bevans; and one of my favorites silent movie comedians, Snub Pollard, he of the handlebar mustache, and he even takes a pratfall – pretty impressive at sixty!  This is truly an outdoor picture, with little time wasted between walls.  Full advantage is taken of the beautiful Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, and the beautiful Champion.

As the title suggests, GENE AUTRY AND THE MOUNTIES (Col 1951) shifts the action north to Canada, or actually to heavily pine-forested Big Bear Lake.  In a story that today would be described as ‘suggested by actual events,’ Gene and Pat pursue into Canada a group of French Canadians who are heisting U.S. banks to fund a Canadian Revolution.  The boys encounter a startling world where Mounties are reviled and despised.  When their Mountie friend Terrie Dillon (Richard Emory) is nearly killed by the bandits, the nearest help is lovely Marie Duvol (long-time Universal starlet Elena Verdugo), whose juvie brother (Jim Frasher) and uncle (Trevor Bardette) are among the Mountie-haters.  And wouldn’t you know, their ring-leader Pierre LaBlond (Carleton Young) has plans for Marie that make her shudder.  

Unusual for the amount of seething hatred in the story, even easy-going Gene loses patience with the brother who is mean to his own dog.  When the kid asks if Gene plans to beat him up, he says it wouldn’t be fair for a grown man to beat a boy.  But he adds, never changing his smile, “If I were your size, I’d skin you alive.”  Directed by John English, as is LOADED PISTOLS, there’s a very dramatic out-of-control fire sequence towards the end. 

Again reflecting history, NIGHT STAGE TO GALVESTON (Col 1952) focuses on the days after the Civil War, when the Texas Rangers were disbanded, replaced by a corrupt State Police service, in the movie run by suave but villainous Robert Livingston.  With the support of newspaper publisher Porter Hall and his daughter Virginia Houston, Gene and Pat gather criminal evidence from ex-Rangers.  But Livingston won’t go down without a fight.  By turns effective and cloyingly adorable is twelve-year-old Judy Nugent as a child orphaned by the homicidal State Police.  Nugent would do two films for Douglas Sirk, MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION and THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW, at twenty be a continuing character on the Billy the Kid series THE TALL MAN, and later marry, and divorce, GUNSMOKE star Buck Taylor. 

Almost unrecognizable without his mask in a small, uncredited role, is Clayton Moore, THE LONE RANGER (Robert Livingston was also the Lone Ranger in a Republic serial).  Moore had been dropped from his series over a salary dispute in 1950, and while John Hart was wearing the mask for 54 episodes, generous men like Gene Autry gave Clayton small roles in movies and TV episodes, often unbilled or as ‘Clay Moore’, until the LONE RANGER producers came to their senses and brought him back. 

The final movie in the set is one from Gene’s last year of filmmaking, GOLDTOWN GHOST RIDERS (Col 1953).  The story of a gold-rush town built on a foundation of fraud, it’s an unusual entry for a number of reasons.  Gene plays not only a rancher, but a circuit judge.  Also, the story is told largely in flashback – the tale begins with a man looking for revenge after being imprisoned for a decade, and most of the story concerns the events that led to his imprisonment.   It also raises an interesting legal quandary that would be revisited in 1999’s DOUBLE JEOPARDY: if you’ve already served a term for the murder of someone who it turns out is alive, is it then legal for you to kill them?  There’s even a supernatural element; Smiley Burnette tells the story of an ethereal pack of ‘Ghost Riders’ who haunt the area and jealously guard their claims. 

The film features Gene’s nemesis from GENE AUTRY AND THE MOUNTIES, Carleton Young; a very young Denver Pyle; and as a young Mexican miner whose claim is jumped; Neyle Morrow.  A favorite of the great ‘guy story’ filmmaker Sam Fuller, Morrow would appear in fourteen of his crime thrillers, war movies and westerns.  The female lead is Gene’s lovely frequent co-star Gale Davis, who would soon shed her gingham in favor of fringed buckskin and star for Gene’s Flying A company as ANNIE OAKLEY.    

Special features with each movie include a montage of stills and posters, inside info from producer and film historian Alex Gordon, an episode of the GENE AUTRY MELODY RANCH RADIO SHOW, and Gene and Pat doing on-camera introductions from MELODY RANCH THEATER, a TV series they hosted on The Nashville Network in 1987.  Personally, I like to listen to the radio shows on my computer, but you can also run them on your DVD player.  My favorite of this group is one where Jack Benny is guest, plugging his switch of radio networks.  The TV intros are fun and informative; the boys have a lot of amusing memories of performing in Canada.  Also there’s a surprisingly direct discussion of the importance of non-whites in the settling of the American West.  Released by Timeless Media Group, this and the other  Gene Autry Collections are available from OutWest HERE and other fine retailers.

A TERRIFIC N.Y. TIMES DOCUMENTARY ON KARL MAY

Lost in Translation: Germany’s Fascination With the American Old West

HERE is the link --  I’m sure you’ll find it fifteen minutes very well-spent!

THAT’S A WRAP!

That’s it until next week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

‘EL PURO’ TO BE RESURRECTED!

The gang at Chip Baker Films is at it again!  Major movers and shakers in the Euro-Western world, last year’s Almeria Western Film Festival led directly to their making of SIX BULLETS TO HELL (read my coverage HERE  ) immediately before this year’s festival, in the famous Tabernas  and Almeria locations and sets.  Immediately after this year’s Festival, maybe a month ago, Chip Baker Films announced they’d soon be filming REVEREND COLT, a Neo-Spaghetti Western, also shot at the classic Spanish locations, and starring villainous western icon James Russo (if you missed that article, go HERE ) . 

Now Chip Baker and Unity International Films have put another western into pre-production, EL PURO RESURRECTED, headlining the original El Puro, Euro-Western star Robert Woods (if you missed my interview with Robert, go HERE ).  Made in 1969, EL PURO, directed by Edoardo Mulargia, is known in Italy as LA TAGLIA E TUA…L’UOMO L’AMMAZZO IO.  It was one of Wood’s most popular films in Europe, though perhaps not as well known stateside.  I had seen a short trailer for EL PURO RESURRECTED posted during the festival, and added it to the Round-up Facebook page, but assumed that it was just Woods and company having fun on the great locations.  You can see the trailer below.

It turns out that I was right, initially, but then things took off.  A Chip Baker exec told me, “We did that trailer originally just for fun,” but then people started getting interested, and it seemed like a good idea after all. 

So the pretend trailer is growing into a real movie, and star Robert Woods couldn’t be happier.  When I spoke with him on Friday, he’d just come back from stirring up interest in the project at L.A.’s American Film Market.  He told me, “They asked me to do this trailer, and then they sent me a script.  It looks like it’s going to turn out really well.  And it’s an exact sequel to EL PURO.  It looks like I get killed in the end of that, but you don’t really know.  So we’re starting out with a revisit to that last scene.  It’s all in dusk and twilight, so you don’t see who it is, which man is El Puro.  One man buries the other in a grave, fashions a cross of stones, puts his holster and his guns there, and his holster is embossed ‘E.P.’  And as he rides off to Allesandroni’s music – I love him, love that we have his music – he turns back and says, ‘Now El Puro is dead.’  Thirty years later, he shows up in a bar.  But he’s removed from that life.  Then he beats a kid in a gunfight,” and that triggers EL PURO RESURRECTED’s story.  “All Hell breaks loose, and it’s like HIGH NOON from then on.  It’s great fun – it really is.  And it’s not gratuitous; it’s got some thought behind it. 

Robert Woods in the original EL PURO

“The original script lends itself so well to doing a sequel.  It just fits.  And Leone’s village, it’s gorgeous.  You can do interiors, exteriors; it’s such a cool place to shoot.  You get cameras, armaments, stagecoaches, wagons, horses – whatever you want, it’s all there. ” 

Joining Woods will be several actors familiar to Spaghetti Western fans: Antonio Mayans, of A TOWN 

CALLED HELL and MORE DOLLARS FOR THE MACGREGORS; Nicoletta Machiavelli, of NAVAJO JOE and THE HILLS RUN RED, and Simone Blondell, who co-starred with Robert Woods in PRAY TO GOD AND DIG YOUR GRAVE (1968), also directed by Mulagria, and HIS NAME WAS SAM WALBASH, BUT THEY CALL HIM AMEN (aka SAVAGE GUNS).

The link to the official Facebook page in HERE .  I’m sure I’ll have more information as they get closer to rolling camera, but to get you up to speed in the meantime, below is the entire original EL PURO.  Enjoy!

AUTRY  HOSTS AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS 2013

On Saturday and Sunday, November 9^th and 10^th, the Autry welcomed more than 180 American Indian artists to what has become the largest Annual American Indian Marketplace in Southern California.   Over forty tribes from across the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, were represented. 

Mother-of-pearl inlay from boat, above

This event has gotten larger and better attended with each passing year, and on Saturday the 26,000 square foot tent was comfortably full, with thousands of visitors.  In addition to the art displayed and offered for sale, there were dance and music performances in the indoor Autry courtyard, artist demonstrations including jewelry-making, weaving, basket-weaving, soapstone carving, mask-making, gourd art, and glass blowing.  The longest line by far was for Auntie’s Frybread Kitchen.

Basket-weaving by Jessica Lomatewama - Hopi

Monte Yellowbird Sr., Black Pinto Horse Fine Arts

JT Willie Designs - Navajo

I had the chance to speak stunt man and actor Michael Horse – Tonto in 1984’s LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER.  In addition to his acting career, he’s a talented and respected artist whose works have been exhibited at the Smithsonian.  Look for an interview with Michael in the Round-up, in the near future. 

Michael Horse with his art - Yaqui

On my way to the frybread line I ran into Zahn McClarnon, who stars on LONGMIRE as the untrusting Tribal Policeman Officer Mathias.  One of the stars of INTO THE WEST and YELLOW ROCK, next year he will be seen in the new Sundance Channel series THE RED ROAD.  Zahn was with Patrick Shining Elk, who has stunted in LAST SAMURAI, HIDALGO and THE ALAMO, and recently acted in LA MISSION.

Patrick Shining Elk and Zahn McClarnon

‘HATFIELDS & MCCOYS’ ACTOR SUES OVER HORSE-FALL INJURY

Tom McKay, who played Jim McCoy in the award-winning History Channel miniseries, is suing over permanent injuries he claims he received during the making of the Romania-lensed film.  According to Deadline: Hollywood, McKay alleges, “…defendants… intentionally misrepresented to Plaintiff that their horses were safe, well behaved, and were suitable for riding by Plaintiff.”  McKay claims he was injured when, “…the subject horse became uncontrollable again during filming of a scene, bolted, and subsequently threw Plaintiff into a tree, resulting in serious and permanent injuries and harm to Plaintiff.”  McKay is currently starring the BBC / STARZ series THE WHITE QUEEN.

PRODUCERS  SUE ONE-TIME ‘JANE GOT A GUN’ DIRECTOR LYNNE RAMSAY; RAMSAY CALLS CHARGES “SIMPLY FALSE”

‘JANE’ producers are suing the celebrated WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN director who famously walked off JANE in March, the weekend it was supposed to roll camera.  According to Deadline: Hollywood, the producers are seeking the return of $90,000 she was paid to direct the film, $50,000 she was paid to rewrite the script – neither job being completed, according to suit, and $750,000 The William Morris Agency is holding in escrow.  They further want $500,000 in damages.  In a 44 page filing, the producers claim Ramsay was “…repeatedly under the influence of alcohol, was abusive to members of the cast and crew and was generally disruptive.”

After a brief production shutdown, ‘JANE’ was directed by WARRIOR helmer Gavin O’Connor.  Natalie Portman, the star and a producer of the film, is not a party to the suit.  Ramsay representatives responded that although Ms. Ramsay has not yet seen the suit, the claims in the news stories, “…are simply false.”

‘THE ACTIVIST’ SCREENS WED. AT VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

Written and directed by Cyril Morin, the drama is set against the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising, and stars Chadwick Brown, Michael Spears, Circus-Szalewski, Alen Von Stroheim and Henry LeBlanc.  It shows at 8 p.m. at the Laemmle Noho 7, as part of the San Fernando Valley Film Festival.

THAT'S A WRAP!

That’s it for this week.  Most of us have Monday off because it is Veteran’s Day.  It’s not just a three-day weekend; it’s an opportunity to thank the men and women who have kept us free and safe at great personal risk and cost. 

Time flies.  When I was a kid, everyone’s granddad had been in World War One, and everyone’s dad had been in World War Two.  Now, there is not even one veteran of The Great War left alive.  The ranks of World War II vets shrink greatly with each passing day.  Those who fought in Korea and Vietnam are showing their age.  Make the time, make a point, to thank them now.  I know how glad I am that I thanked my dad while there was time.  Because of  them, we have all the blessings in the world; but we don’t have all the time in the world.

HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

Sincerely,

Henry C. Parke

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

GAMBLE FIREARMS GALLERY OPENS AT AUTRY, PLUS ‘SIX BULLETS TO HELL’ WRAPS IN SPAIN

Steve McQueen's 'mare's leg' from

WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

Just in time for the National Day of the Cowboy celebration last weekend, the Autry opened their new Gamble Firearms Gallery with the exhibition, Western Frontiers: Stories of Fact and Fiction in the downstairs space that had until recently held their Gunfight at the O.K. Corral diorama.  A perfect complement to the nearby Greg Martin Colt Gallery, the new display likewise examines the role of the firearm in both the real and fictional West, but features pieces from Winchester, Remington, Smith & Wesson among others, as well as Colt. 

presentation pistol owned by Annie Oakley

Some of the weapons are of interest because of the sheer artistry in their design and execution; some intrigue because we know whose hand held them.  Most are of interest for both reasons.  For example, there are three beautiful pistols which belonged to Annie Oakley, each covered in gold, with pearl grips.  (A quick stroll to the Colt Gallery will reveal the sidearm of her television portrayer, Gail Davis.) 

Winchester 'One of One Thousand' Model Rifle, 

engraved by John Ulrich, 1879

 Nicholas Beyer Kentucky Rifle

circa 1807, the George Gamble Collection

I asked curator Jeffrey Richardson about the collection, and about his personal favorites.  “The exhibition combines highlights from the Autry's permanent collection along with firearms recently donated to the museum by George Gamble, who amassed one of the finest private collections in the country. A variety of artifacts are on display, and all of the firearms are historically significant and of the highest quality. Besides the Winchester ‘One of One Thousand’ Model 1873 Rifle, two other notable examples are the Kentucky Rifle manufactured by Nicholas Beyer circa 1807 and a Colt Third Model Dragoon with an exceptionally rare mirrored top presented by Samuel Colt to E.K. Root, his company's superintendent, in 1857.”    

Cased Colt Third Model Dragoon Revolver, presented

by Samuel Colt to E.K. Root, 1857

the George Gamble Collection

Also on display are guns from President Theodore Roosevelt’s cowboy days, and Civil War Gen. George Meade’s Remington revolver.  And for fans of Steve McQueen and WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, they have not only his saw-off rifle known as the ‘Mare’s leg,’ but the toy version for pint-sized bounty hunters.   This is the 25^th anniversary of the Autry, and even if it’s just been a few months since you were last here, there are plenty of new things to see.  Jews in the Los Angeles Mosaic opened in May, and will run through January 5^th.   Art of the West features old and new visions of the west, and there have been additions and changes to the permanent galleries that focus on the West of films and other media (and frankly, a bit more compression than I would choose). 

President Roosevelt's Winchester 3rd Model 1876 Carbine,

engraved by Louis D. Nimschke. Acquisition made 

possible in part by Paul S. and June A. Ebensteiner

On Saturday, August 10^th, at 1:30 pm, as part of the Autry’s monthly What is a Western? series, the Australian-set QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER (1990) will be screened.  This excellent western stars Tom Selleck, Alan Rickman and the luminous Laura San Giacomo, and is directed by Simon Wincer (LONESOME DOVE).  Curator Jeffrey Richardson will introduce.

At noon on Saturday, August 24th, the Autry will present their monthly double-feature of Gene Autry movies.  This time it’s UNDER FIESTA STARS (1941) and GOLDTOWN GHOST RIDERS (1953).  You can learn about everything that’s happening at The Autry HERE.  

‘SIX BULLETS TO HELL’ WRAPS

Exec Producer Danny Garcia tells me that SIX BULLETS wrapped on Wednesday, the last day of July.  “(Directors) Tanner (Beard) and Russell (Cummings) will now take care of editing, adr (dubbing), and colouring while I collect music from different sources.”  Among the eclectic mix of music artists are Tymon Dogg, formerly of The Clash , who does a cameo in the film;  Alabama 3, the British band who gained world-wide acclaim with their theme for THE SOPRANOS;  spaghetti-stylist composer Chris Casey; Lexie Beard, who scored Tanner’s HELL’S GATE; and Aaron Stielstra, who both starred in and scored THE SCARLET WORM, and stars in SIX BULLETS as well. 

“And we're looking at getting some old Spaghetti Western tunes as well, to make the soundtrack complete,”  Danny added.  “We should have a trailer by October and the film should be ready by the end of the year; that's the plan.”  If you didn’t read about this film in last week’s Round-up, the link is HERE.  

TV’S COCHISE, MICHAEL ANSARA, DIES AT 91

Michael Ansara, the Syria-born actor who played iconic roles on STAR TREK and in Westerns, died on Wednesday, July 31^st, at the age of 91.  Suave, debonair and handsome, he was adept at both comedy and drama, playing villains and heroes, and in recent years had voiced ‘Mr. Freeze’ in various BATMAN shows.  He appeared in most of the western series, but to those of us growing up in the ‘50s and ‘60s he will always be the Apache Chief Cochise opposite John Lupton in the series BROKEN ARROW.  In his second series, LAW OF THE PLAINSMAN, he again played an Apache. 

Michael Druxman's tribute video 

On Saturday, when I posted news of Ansara’s death, along with a link to a tribute video by his close friend, writer Michael Druxman, I was pleased that it was quickly shared forty-seven times.  I was even happier to see that many who shared were American Indian/Native American organizations and individuals.  Indian portrayals by non-Indians are often resented, but Michael Ansara’s portrayals never brought anything but honor to the characters he portrayed.   Below is a brief clip from BROKEN ARROW.



THE WRAP-UP!

That's all for now.  Next week's Round-up will be a day or two early, to feature my review of the HELL ON WHEELS two-hour opener, which airs on Saturday, August 10th!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

‘SIX BULLETS TO HELL!’ IS SHOOTING UP ALMERIA, SPAIN!

Tanner Beard

Just got word that Tanner Beard, who co-starred in and wrote and directed the excellent Western LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE (read my review HERE ; read my interview with Tanner Beard HERE ), is in the stomping grounds of Leone and Corbucci and Solima – all the greatest Sergios --  making his second Western, ‘SIX BULLETS TO HELL!’ or ‘¡SEIS BALAS AL INFIERNO!’

Russell Cummings

Tanner tells me, “It’s a throw-back to the old Spaghetti Westerns in the vein of the original DJANGO or A FEW DOLLARS MORE.  We're shooting on the sets of those films and where they also shot THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, along with countless others here in Tabernas and Almería, Spain.”

Nalia Ma and Antonio Mayans

Interestingly, the inception of this film can be traced back to a festival last year, on those very locations.  Executive producer Danny Garcia tells me, “The script is co-written by Chip Baker and Jose L. Villanueva, and the first contact between us and Tanner happened at the last edition of the Almeria Western Film Festival, where Tanner won the audience prize with THE LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE.  We used Mini Hollywood (the set built by Leone for the film FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) and Fort Bravo (used in hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns as well: DEATH RIDES A HORSE, BLINDMAN, CHATO’S LAND, etc.) and we shot in the desert of Tabernas and the mountains of Abla for the epic final duel.”

Aaron Stielstra

Tanner gave me a quick run-down of some of the international cast and crew.  He’s joined by a pair of compatriots from HELL’S GATE, Ken Luckey and Russell Cummings; Russell is co-directing with Tanner, and Ken is associate producing.  “The cast and crew is made up of people from all over the world, so that's been crazy to have so many languages on set, but very cool.”  Among them is British Crispian Belrage, who was seen in last year’s Western WEST OF THUNDER as well as THE DONNER PARTY.   Beautiful Magda Rodriguez was just in FAST & FURIOUS 6.  Also lending his sinister presence in Aaron Stielstra, who was chilling as the villainous lead in the remarkable THE SCARLET WORM (read me review HERE ).  Spaniard Norberto Morán was seen in the most recent PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN film, as well as LUCKY LUKE AND THE DALTONS (2004). 

Son of a bitch brothers -- Domingo Beltran Sanchez 

and Danny Garcia

And to give the movie some serious spaghetti western street cred (range cred?  trail cred? ), the cast also includes  Antonio Mayans, whose Western credits include the Mexican-shot GUNFIGHTERS OF CASA GRANDE (1964 directed by Roy Rowland from a Borden Chase script); and the Spanish-located DAKOTA JOE (1968), MORE DOLLARS FOR THE MACGREGORS (1970 - starring Peter Lee Lawrence), A TOWN CALLED HELL (1971- starring Robert Shaw and Telly Savalas), CALL OF THE WILD (1972 – starring Charlton Heston), DEADLY TRACKERS (1973 – starring Richard Harris and Rod Taylor), and DALLAS (1975 – starring Anthon Steffan).

Chris Bell

Chip Baker Films sounds very American, but it’s actually a Spanish company, and their previous films, documentaries, will be of particular interest to the rock and rollers among you: THE RISE AND FALL OF ‘THE CLASH’, and LOOKING FOR JOHNNY, about the life and mysterious death of celebrated guitarist Johnny Thunders.  Sharing exec producer duties with Tanner and Danny is Cesar Mendez, from Chip Baker Films and the Almeria Western Film Festival.  Stand by – I’ll have more details very soon!

'DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST', THOUGHT LOST, NOW AVAILABLE

The fabled action-packed Republic Western serial starring Allan 'Rocky' Lane, long thought to be lost except for four chapters, is now back, complete, and available.  Check out the trailer!  Thanks to Jon Boorstein for letting me know about this! 

THE WRAP-UP

That's gonna have to do it, pards.  Between trying to finish a script, and acting in a play -- three performances so far, and six more to go -- I'm kinda fried.  Have a great week!  Coming soon -- my review of the two-part opener for season three of HELL ON WHEELS!  Here's a teaser!

 

Happy trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright July 2013 by Parke -- All Rights Reserved