BURT REYNOLDS’ PROPERTY UP FOR BIDS, PLUS DISNEY & TCM TEAM UP, A NEW FRENCH WESTERN, AND ‘BONANZA’ BOOK REVIEWED!

BURT REYNOLDS TO AUCTION PERSONAL PROPERTY

In order to raise cash and save his Florida home from foreclosure (according to The Hollywood Reporter), Burt Reynolds is selling over 600 lots of his personal property in Las Vegas December 11^th and 12^th.  The 78 year old star whose impressive career took off when he was cast as blacksmith Quint on GUNSMOKE, and has included numerous Westerns, DELIVERANCE, the SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT movies, and an Oscar nomination for BOOGEY NIGHTS, has had numerous health problems in recent years.  The sale, to be held at the Palms Casino Resort, will be run by Julien’s Auctions, and a look at the on-line catalog reveals that many items already have bids, some already passing the estimate’s high-end.

How'd you like the numbers 

on Burt's Rolodex?

There is a great deal of art for sale, and many items related to sports, both Burt Reynolds’ own career, and those of professionals in several sports.  There are many books personalized to Burt by authors such as Louis L’Amour, Ray Bradbury, Budd Schulberg, Ossie Davis, Robert Stack, Rudy Vallee, Roddy McDowell, and Carol Burnett.

Sculpture by George Montgomery

Among the art items of particular interest are those by other performers.  There’s a brass sculpture by Western star George Montgomery, a lithograph by Burt’s GUNSMOKE co-star Buck Taylor, a sketch by Fellini, paintings by Doug McClure, Henry Fonda, James Cagney, a poster by Red Ryder-creator Fred Harman, several by Burt’s long-time love Dinah Shore, and a striking horse-head sculpture by Reynolds himself.

This sculpture is Burt Reynolds' own work

Sketch by James Cagney

Among other collectibles are a slew of badges, real and prop guns, boots and belt buckles.  You can guess who one of Burt’s personal heroes is: included in separate lots are a leather chair, desk, and name-plate that were property of director John Ford.  There’s also a framed check signed by Zane Grey.  There are also souvenirs given to him by Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and signed photos and letters from many stars, including Clayton Moore, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Liz Taylor, Ronald Reagan, Barbara Stanwyck, and Katherine Hepburn. 

Clayton Moore signed this pic for Burt

Zoom in to read this great letter to Burt

from Katherine Hepburn

Among the dazzling array of awards for sale, including many Peoples’ Choice and box-office trophies are a pair of Wrangler awards, his Emmy for EVENING SHADE, and his Golden Globes for EVENING SHADE and BOOGIE NIGHTS.  While few items relate directly to specific Western movies, his hat from THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING, and his sombrero from 100 RIFLES are up for bids.  To see the entire catalog on-line, and to bid, go HERE.  

Several items belonged to John Ford

You can buy the sombrero Burt is

wearing from 100 RIFLES

‘THE ROUND-UP’ – AND HENRY C. PARKE – IN THE ‘INSP’ BLOG!

It’s shameless self-promotion time!  The good folks at INSP invited me to write an article for their blog, and the result was ‘When Times Changed, So Did TV Westerns,’ examining how outside events effected long-running Western series.  To read it, go HERE . If you’d like to read ‘Henry C. Parke in the Spotlight’, INSP’s Q&A with me, go HERE . 

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES AND DISNEY TO TEAM UP!

Audioanimatronic Duke in

The Great Movie Ride

A very promising teaming has been announced between the two great entertainment concerns, and it bodes well for Western movie and TV lovers.  At Walt Disney World in Florida, TCM will help the mouse revamp one of Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ most popular attractions, The Great Movie Ride, currently an 18-minute ride that is said to immerse you in classic Hollywood, and utilizes over fifty audioanimatronic figures.  Although details about changes are not yet available, TCM host Robert Osborne will be filming a new introduction, and “inject TCM brand authority” into the ride. 

In exchange, Disney will open ‘the vault’ so TCM can run great stuff the Disney Channel hasn’t shown in decades.  To be presented as a ‘block’ of programming four or five times a year, the first scheduled block will be just in time for Christmas.  On December 21^st, nine items from the Disney archives will air, including the 1932 cartoon SANTA’S WORKSHOP, the 1954 documentary THE DISNEYLAND STORY, the feature film version of DAVY CROCKETT, KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER, and the classic nature documentary THE VANISHING PRAIRIE. This is not the first TCM/DISNEY teaming of late: the last two TCM Classic Cruises have been aboard The Disney Magic. 

BONANZA – A VIEWER’S GUIDE TO THE TV LEGEND

If you’re a fan of Western TV, David R. Greenland’s BONANZA – A VIEWER’S GUIDE TO THE TV LEGEND will be an indispensible volume on your reference book-shelf.  I’ve previously reviewed his excellent book on RAWHIDE ( HERE’s the link ), and will soon review his book on GUNSMOKE.  And I understand he’s got a new one on Michael Landon, all from Bearmanor Media. 

It ran for fourteen seasons, more than any other drama series except GUNSMOKE.  It was the first hour-long drama to be shot in color.  It would be difficult to overestimate the importance of BONANZA in the world of popular entertainment: it was the prototype for all family TV dramas, and its echoes are heard not only in Westerns like THE BIG VALLEY and HIGH CHAPARRAL and LANCER, rurals like DR. QUINN and LITTLE HOUSE, but Depression-era series like THE WALTONS – any show where family is important. 

Usually, by the time a series is judged worthy of this sort of study, the principals are long gone, but Greenland convinced BONANZA-creator David Dortort to take part on the project, and his input elevates the telling of the history of the series from theory to indisputable fact – and a lot of those facts are quite surprising.  You’ll learn that Dortort’s original motivation to do a show about a family was to make sure he never again got stuck doing a series with one principal character – producing RESTLESS GUN with John Payne was a royal pain.  Also, he took his inspiration for the Ponderosa from Camelot, seeing the Cartwrights as knights in denim armor. 

Although they were largely unknown actors, he’d worked with Michael Landon and Dan Blocker before, and wrote the roles of Little Joe and Hoss for them – and had an awful time convincing NBC to go with actors who weren’t names.  Dortort found his ‘Pa’ when he visited the WAGON TRAIN set, and saw no-name actor Lorne Greene refuse to take abuse from series star Ward Bond.  The last to be cast was Pernell Roberts as Adam, and little did Dortort know how prescient his description of the character as ‘the spoilsport of the Ponderosa’ would be.  Roberts’ lack of professionalism when he’d tired of his role is even more appalling than I thought when it was happening back in the ‘60s.  Greenland’s research is remarkably in-depth.  I knew that Victor Sen Young, who played the Cartwrights’ cook, Hop Sing, had played Tommy Chan in the CHARLIE CHAN movie series many times, but I had no idea he was Captain in Air Force Intelligence during World War II.

Greenland examines all of the Cartwrights’ careers at length, before and after BONANZA, then analyzes the series season by season, marking high and low points, discussing guest stars, writers and directors, and their contributions.  I was particularly interested to learn how early on Michael Landon began writing and then directing episodes.  Daringly, Greenland suggests that BONANZA started off weak, story-wise, and improved with each season.  He notes where episodes were shot, and to what effect locations were used.  There are chapters on the show’s legacy, the collectibles, and then a season by season, episode by episode guide, with cast and crew, plot summary and often interesting details of the production. 

The book was first published in 1996, and this is a reprint – not an update.  Hence, its narrative is frozen in the1990s, so it makes no mention of the deaths of David Dortort or star Pernell Roberts.  You’re encouraged to visit Incline Village, home of the Ponderosa location which, regrettably, closed in 2005.  Much is said about the now defunct Family Channel, which was airing the series, but not all of the episodes, back then.  Nothing is said about INSP, ME-TV or TV-LAND, which air the series today.  The shows then available on VHS tapes are listed, but not current DVDs – I’ve been looking on Amazon, and can’t figure if the whole series is available, or not.  The book lacks an index, so you cannot look up guest stars or directors or writers, or titles.  To find an episode, you’ll need to know its year, and search through the titles.  Also, this reprint was made by photographing each page of the earlier edition.  As a result, the photographs have the grey, grainy quality of a photocopy. 

BONANZA – A VIEWER’S GUIDE TO THE TV LEGEND is a carefully researched, entertainingly written book with a wealth of information for the legions of BONANZA fans.  It’s available for $24.95 from Bearmanor Media HERE.

FRENCH WESTERN ‘BUFFALO RISING’ MAKING FEST ROUNDS

‘BUFFALO RISING’ is the story of a father and young son, Tom and Jack, moving their herd to market, hoping to raise a big enough stake to move to California, and what happens when they cross paths with bison and bad men.  With a French cast and crew, but dialogue recorded in English, much was lensed at a Randall Bisons, a huge ranch in the middle of France, on the hills of Cevennes.  It’s written by Laurent Bertin and Pierre Yves-Hampartzoumian, and directed by Pierre.  Filmed this past June, the fourteen-minute film will play on December 10^th at the Almeria Western Film Festival, and then it’s on to other festivals, even as pre-production for the feature-length version has begun. 

Here is a teaser trailer.  I’ll have more to tell you about this one soon. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

As I write, it’s been pouring rain all day – which in L.A. is a blessing!  Next week I plan to have an in-depth article on the filming of BOONVILLE REDEMPTION, which I understand is near completion!  Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

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

‘SHADOW HILLS’ PILOT ROLLS AT MELODY RANCH

Melody Ranch, the Newhall western movie town that’s been a home to filmmaking for about a century, is home base for the pilot for a new Western series, SHADOW HILLS. Created, written, co-produced by, and starring Lamont Clayton, it’s the story of Hessie Tatum, a former Union Army veteran and Buffalo Soldier. On Tuesday, July 12th I had the pleasure of visiting the set, watching the filming, and chatting with some of the principals.

Lamont Clayton (above right)and Scott Steel (above left) are co-producing SHADOW HILLS. Lamont plays the lead character, and Scott plays Syd the saloon-keeper. Friends for a decade, they’ve been involved in projects together before, but this is the first time on a TV series. Not that Scott is a stranger to the tube. A TV and radio host, he’s frequently seen and heard on Rick Dees In The Morning, and on VH1 and the E! Entertainment network.

This is not Lamont’s first western. He’s acted in GANG OF ROSES, BROTHERS IN ARMS, and produced and acted in RIDE OR DIE. I suspect Westerns hold a special place in his heart.

LAMONT: That’s true. I like westerns: I watch them every night before I go to bed – I watch the Encore Western Channel – I ride horses, and I always wanted to be in a western. I wanted to do a western series. So what we’re doing here, we’re shooting a pilot, and we’re going to shop it and see where it goes. I’ve surrounded myself with a bunch of stars, and their experience is going to make up for what I don’t know. This is my first major production.

SCOTT: We have John Amos, Bobby Brown, Jackee Harry -- and Tommy Davidson makes a cameo appearance. Lamont and I have been friends for a lot of time, and this is a passion project of his. It’s such a great story, and a message that Lamont’s wanted to get out for such a long time, regarding the Buffalo Soldiers and their history.

LAMONT: (People) don’t speak about the Buffalo Soldiers a lot. And I’m trying to give my community some heritage; who they are and where they came from. Because I don’t see a lot of it. I wanted to educate the youth, and help them see where we came from. And maybe it could change the direction that they’re going. (In the pilot, Hessie explains to his young brother that the Indians called the African American cavalrymen Buffalo Soldiers because they thought their curly hair looked the wooly coat of the buffalo.)

(make-up artist Pat Harris at work)


SCOTT: Not only has this TV show got action, it’s fun, it’s educational, there’s comic relief – it’s got everything. It’s one for the families. It’s a great cast, and a lot of fun just being on the set – there’s such energy. And we’re shooting here at Melody Ranch, which is amazing. You feel the history here, with Gene Autry, and they shot GUNSMOKE and they shot DEADWOOD here, and BONANZA – you really feel the energy. It’s a great vibe.

HENRY: Can you give me an outline of the show?

LAMONT: It’s about Hessie Tatum, a Civil War veteran who took his earnings and started a ranch, ten years after he was emancipated. He’s going through the trials and tribulations of being a black man in 1875, owning his own ranch in the Oklahoma Territory and breeding horses. And he’s raising his little brother that’s 14, Jonas, and he lives with his aunt Dessa. And his nemesis is Melvin Butler – played by Bobby Brown -- and his gang.

(Willy searches for Hessie. Below frame, Lamont holds horse in place)


HENRY: I understand the pilot story turns on who will win a horserace.

LAMONT: That’s right. I’ve bet my prize stallion on a horserace against Bobby Brown, and the last thing he says before the bet is ‘A no-show is a forfeit.’

HENRY: I’m not going to give away too much plot, but some of the story involves Comanche Indians.

LAMONT: We were shooting at the Chumash Museum. It was a reservation years ago, but now it’s a museum, and we used a lot of their artwork and things.

HENRY: Who’s your target audience?

LAMONT: I want anyone from twelve years old to eighty. I’m going to be putting in pop stars – Amber Rose was here yesterday, riding around on a one-eyed horse. She’s not going to be in this episode but Bone Thugs n Harmony are going to be in the pilot, leading up to the next episode. They’re just scoping out the town in this one.

(Bone Thugs n Harmony up to no good)


HENRY: When you were a kid did you watch a lot of westerns?

LAMONT: Every chance I’d get. My favorite one – the first one I can remember, when I was four or five years old – my baby sitter used to watch MR. ED. And when she wouldn’t let me watch MR. ED, when she was watching PEYTON PLACE, there was a problem when my mother came home. Okay, it’s not really a western, but there were horses. Of course of course.

HENRY: Now in SHADOW HILLS, the horses aren’t talking, are they?

LAMONT: (Laughs) No, but I give the horse character. When a guy shoots me, and tries to get my horse, the horse runs off. Then the horse comes back to my side. Like Trigger would have done. He goes and gets my best friend, and brings him back to me, and… you’ll see how it unfolds.

HENRY: I understand these are some of your own horses in the show. Horses must be very important to you.

LAMONT: Originally I’m from Chicago. People say, how does a guy from Chicago ride a horse like that?

SCOTT: I’ll take it farther – how does an African American from Chicago…?

LAMONT: My father was from Mississippi, and I’ve had a horse ever since I was eleven years old. When I was in Chicago, like nineteen or twenty, I used to bring my horse and ride around the neighborhood. And the cops were like, “Can you do that?” And I was like, “Yeah.” “Where you going?” “To the store.” “You can do that? You can ride a horse in the city? I’m calling headquarters.” I heard the lady from headquarters tell him, “What law is he breaking? The only thing we can find is, if a horse and a car come to a stop sign at the same time, the horse has the right-of-way.”

SCOTT: There’s lot’s of horse action – any horse enthusiast is going to love it. There’s a great race, the scenery’s beautiful.

(Bobby Brown and his gang ride into town)


HENRY: What side of the camera do you prefer to work on?

LAMONT: I like both. I’ll get in wherever I can fit in. If it’s a part in front of the camera, I’ll get in. If not, I’ll stand behind. I love being in Hollywood and doing the work; the motion picture business, I love it.

Prolific actor John Amos is recognizable from sitcoms like GOOD TIMES and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW to dramas like ROOTS, but to me he’ll always be Major Grant in DIE HARD 2. In SHADOW HILLS he’s working hammer and tongs.

JOHN AMOS: Correct. Mr. Sam is the blacksmith for the town, and according to him, business is terrible. I guess they had economic downturns even in those years.

HENRY: A man of your imposing physical stature seems like a natural for a western, but as far as I know, you haven’t done too many.

JOHN: I did BONANZA: THE NEXT GENERATION. That went very well; it was a lot of fun. Before that, K.C. and I did a sort of a docu-drama called SONGHAI SAM. In West Africa there was a tribe called the Songhai, who were excellent horsemen. They had a unique way of training and establishing a rapport with the horse. They would literally sleep in the stall with the horse for days, sometimes weeks at a time, rubbing the horse down until the odor of the human being and the odor of the stall became almost like one. And by smoothing the horse and massaging the horse and by lifting the horse’s feet, and breathing in the horse’s nose until you got in synch with the horse, it gave them a special insight into the horse’s personality, and their ability to tame and train the animal. That was the premise of our film. As the blacksmith of SHADOW HILLS, I still have a wonderful rapport with horses; don’t do as much riding as I used to, but can literally fix most horse’s problems as relates to their shoes, their harnesses.

HENRY: What appealed to you, particularly, about this part?

JOHN: Well, number one, my son is directing. K.C. is an accomplished filmmaker. He’s provided me with a chance to participate in this film, which is being shot at the Melody Ranch. So many western series have been shot here, and I’m honored to be working here, or anywhere. And especially with my son directing, there’s a slim chance I may be able to get some of the tuition back.

(Long shadows of late afternoon)


HENRY: Is it the first time you’ve been directed by you son?

JOHN: No, we’ve worked together in the past. When he was a student at Cal Arts in Valencia initially, even his grandfather was involved. In one project, SONGHAI SAM again, his mom was one of the head wranglers, she being a horsewoman out of Iowa. His grandfather helped him transport the cattle and the horses, and of course I was there to fill in as talent, and a writing source when he needed additional dialogue. It was a wonderful family effort.

HENRY: Does it feel strange taking direction from your son?

JOHN: I’ve gotten used to it. And we have an understanding. He’s a great director from the standpoint of setting up his shots, continuity. We have a spoken agreement. I said I’ll work with the actors in any projects in which we collaborate. But I’ll merely be an extension of you. I will not change your vision as to how you want the final shot to look, but I’ll try to enhance it by giving the actors whatever individual specific direction I can as they go into a scene, to make the scene better.

(Bobby Brown with his riding double)


HENRY: When you were growing up, were Westerns a big deal to you?

JOHN: Oh my God yes! We’d grab our broomsticks, those would be our horses, after every western we’d see. We’d ride around the block on our broomsticks. We played cowboys and Indians or we played army. We called it playing army or playing war. Of course, we know now that war is no game, and we don’t make light of it. In fact now, I devote the better part of my life now to doing fundraisers for Veterans. I’m a strong supporter of veterans, having been with the New Jersey State National Guard, and the son of a veteran, United States Army Sergeant John Amos. Our objective is to raise funds for the Malone Homes, working in conjunction with Walter Reed Hospital. They’re residences for families visiting their wounded warriors. Very often they don’t have the money to stay in a decent accommodation. I think it’s a great opportunity to help these families that have already made an incredible sacrifice, giving their sons and daughters in the cause of freedom.

HENRY: Do you have any favorite western movies?

JOHN: Absolutely. Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH. I later got to meet and work with Ernest Borgnine, who was one of my heroes. There’s so many. THE CULPEPPER CATTLE COMPANY was one of my favorites. Of course THE MAGNIFICENT 7, with that incredible musical score, and with Yul Brynner, Charles Bronson, and the other wonderful actors in it. I’ve always been a lover of western movies. I raised horses for a while, just pleasure-riding horses. And I find the better rapport I establish with horses, the less I like human beings. Horses don’t lie to you: if they don’t like you, they’ll kick the stuffing out you. And they don’t borrow money, and they don’t spread malicious lies about you.


HENRY: Tell me about your upcoming ZOMBIE HAMLET.

JOHN: Oh, that was a case of the mortgage being due. I did that flick down in Louisiana several months ago. It hasn’t been released yet. The premise is almost self-described by the title. Two young filmmakers want to make a movie. One is Hell-bent on doing something of a Shakespearean nature, because he’s an elitist. His friend tells him zombie movies are ‘in’ -- it’s like having a negotiable bond. So finally they compromise, and you can only imagine the outcome. I love to do comedy, so I jumped all over that one. Shelly Long is in there as a super-uptight schoolmarm. June Lockhart from LOST IN SPACE. Working in Louisiana was hot and muggy, but they had the right setting because of the swamps out there. When they shot the scene where the disciples of Voodoo king gathered, it looked so realistic that it gave you chills at night.

I suppose you could make a western without Peter Sherayko, but I’ve never been on a Western set where I didn’t run into him. In addition to being an in-demand character actor, he’s an expert in Western history details, and his CARAVAN WEST company, formed when he was working on TOMBSTONE, supplies anything western that you could ask for. “We’re doing the same thing we do on all the westerns you come out and meet us on: the set dressings, the props, the costumes, the guns, the saddles. We’re not doing the horses on the pilot because it’s too short a time to get my head wrangler down (from Wyoming). Lamont is bringing his own horses. But if it goes to series we’ll do the horses as well. I worked with Lamont twice before on other films.”

HENRY: What’s your on-screen role in this one?

PETER: I’m playing a corrupt, racist sheriff. Part of my character is I don’t care what they do as long as I get a piece of the action. Anything is allowed as long as you pay me for it. So I’m just like today’s typical politician. I think now, the public knows who the Buffalo Soldiers were. Probably sixty years ago, except for John Ford’s film, SERGEANT RUTLEDGE, they wouldn’t. They did a lot to help settle the west. Most of them were former slaves. It’s a part of American history, of Western history, that should be told. We’ll be learning more of the backstory as the series goes on.

HENRY: How’s the shoot been going?

PETER: Very well. We’re shooting here for two days. We shot two days last week at the Chumash Museum in Thousand Oaks. It’s pretty nice. They have a village there, we brought in tepees because they’re supposed to be Comanche. They had all the Indians there from the various shows. We brought in all the instruments and accoutrements, the set dressing, had a very nice couple of days, and shot part of the horse race. We’ll do a little bit of the race here, and then the next three days we’re at Big Sky Ranch in Simi Valley, and we’ll do the rest of the horse race. It’s 7,500 acres; it’s where they shot LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.

HENRY: Do they still have those buildings?

PETER: No, that was part of Michael Landon’s deal; at the end of the show they burned it down or blew it up. But there is a barn, and there are a couple of ranch houses. There was a small town there, but I don’t know if it still exists. We did a show there back in the early 1990s, and we used that town. It was called GREY KNIGHT or THE GHOST BRIGADE (1993). It’s a Civil War movie with zombies. Billy Bob Thornton and I were in it. I played a captain, he played a Confederate soldier. It was great to work with him – I’ve worked with him three times since then. He kept telling me, “I’m tired of this business over here, they don’t hire you, so I’m gonna write my own stuff.” I told him, “Billy, you’re a hick from Arkansas: forget about it.” Boy did I make another mistake.

Another familiar face on the set was professional polo player Ardashir Radpour. A ubiquitous sight at UCLA football games – he’s the Trojan Knight on the horse – he’s also an actor and a wrangler. And on SHADOWS HILLS he is both, costumed in a dashing outfit that calls to mind the Argentinean gaucho. He looks good, but he’s not playing a good-guy. “I’m one of the gang, and we are trying to rig the race. I’m the guy who cuts the cinch, so the good guy will fall off his horse. I’m one of the bad guys.”

HENRY: It must be cool doing a western at Melody Ranch.

ARDASHIR: It’s an amazing place, because you see it in DEADWOOD and a bunch of other things, but when you’re here, you realize how big this set is. Most things look bigger on film; this set actually looks bigger in person. It makes you respect, when you see them doing a huge western, the people they have to get to fill this place. It’s pretty impressive. So it’s been fun. This is our last day here, and then I’ll be riding at Big Sky Ranch.

HENRY: Will you be riding for yourself, or doubling for someone?

ARDASHIR: I’ll be riding for my own character, Manny. He’s kind of like a Boba Fett character. He’s quiet; he’s there, kind of letting people know ‘I’m a gunslinger, I’m here, and that’s all there is to it.’ And he protects the rest of the gang. It’s fun; I like it.

Nikki Pelley is doing wardrobe on SHADOW HILLS, but when she started working with Peter Sherayko twenty years ago, it was in a different role, in Wild West shows. “When I first met Peter, he told me that if I could do some fancy stuff I could be in his show. So I went out and taught myself how to trick ride. Taught myself how to fall, to jump from one horse to another, to ride backwards, so we did the show, and after that I worked in some other Wild West shows for three or four years. Peter got more active in the film industry while I kept doing Wild West shows. I did the celebrity fund-raising circuit with Irlene Mandrel, and Ben Johnson and Norman Schwarzkopf. In the Wild West Shows I did a part as a Dale Evans lookalike. And one time Dale Evans came to the show and said, “Oh, it reminds me of when Roy and I were young!” So I did that for quite a few years, and played Calamity Jane and others. Then Peter was making movies, and I was his wrangler, and now I’m his wardrobe.” How does she like wardrobe? “It’s fine. At least I’m on the set, and it’s like having a canvas; you can just paint and decorate it any way you want with the costumes. So I like it for the creative side.”

(Nikki sewing a corset back together)


The day had started late, but it went late: when I left, around 8:00 p.m., they were still filming, and just starting to need artificial light. I watched a character named Willie search for Hessie. I watched various sinister types stroll up and down the street, pretty saloon girls hang over the balcony, and the horse race repeatedly start and finish. A woman named Sandy, and her tiny blond daughter Johanna strolled up and down, providing atmosphere, looking great in period dress.

(Johanna is ready for her close-up)


A few days later, I got a call from Shoshone actor Cody Jones who, with Shawn Vasquez, play the Comanches who find Hessie wounded and unconscious. They shot at both the Chumash Museum and Big Sky Ranch, and had a great time, as Cody tells me their roles had been expanded. “We set up a little bit of an ambush. Shawn drops back behind a tree and takes my rifle. I jump up into the tree, and when this guy comes riding by I jump out of the tree and tackle him off of his horse. That was a lot of fun, getting to do that stunt.”

(Director K.C. Amos setting crowd for horserace)

(Go!)

(Waiting for the riders to return)

(Sheriff Peter Sherayko and Deputy Neil Spruce confer)

(8 p.m. at Melody Ranch)

Keep reading the Round-up, and we’ll keep you updated on SHADOW HILLS.


NATIONAL DAY OF THE COWBOY & COWGIRL CELEBRATED AT THE AUTRY AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY

(Joey Dillon shows a volunteer how it's done)

(Kansas Carradine lasoes lass)

(Gene backs Riders In The Sky)

From coast to coast, the 7th National Day of The Cowboy (and Cowgirl in some areas) was a rip-roaring success! The Autry, which was taking part for the second year, had a staggering turnout, and it was delightful to see how many little kids, as well as adults, showed up in spurs and chaps. Among the outdoor entertainments were gunslinger Joey Dillon, lasso artists Kansas Carradine and Landon Spencer, square dancing with Susan Michaels and the Bees Knees, and a musical performance by the legendary Riders in the Sky, ascenders to the Sons of the Pioneers throne.

In the Wells Fargo Theatre, fans got to see Gene Autry star in a sci-fi western that predates COWBOYS & ALIENS (and JONAH HEX and ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER, and R.I.P.D., and all the others in the pipeline), THE PHANTOM EMPIRE!

(costume designer Karin McKechnie)

(curator Jeffrey Richardson in the Colt Gallery)


In the museum proper, the big excitement was the re-opening of the Colt Gallery with a remarkable new collection (see last week’s Round-up for details). Curator Jeffrey Richardson was there for hours giving tours and answering questions. Probably the most attention was paid to a display of single-action Army Colts belonging to great Western movie and TV personalities like Ken Maynard, Buck Jones, Leo Carrillo, Tom Mix, Slim Pickens, Clayton Moore, Gail Davis, Tim Holt, Monte Hale, Gene Autry, and Buck Taylor. Beside that display was another, featuring Colts of lawmen and desperadoes like Pawnee Bill, Kid Curry, Albert Fall, Doc Holliday and President Theodore Roosevelt!

(A new generation of prospectors panning for gold)

Also, many (like me) were visiting the newly opened ART AND THE 20TH CENTURY WEST gallery for the first time. Focusing on California and New Mexico art, it features the work of Maynard Dixon, James Doolin, Robert Henri, and artists drawn to our part of the globe from as far away as Germany, Russia, Austria and Hungary.

Outside of L.A., J.R. Sanders, who created the “Read ‘em Cowboy!” event at the Redlands Barnes & Noble, also had great success, as you can tell by the pictures at this link. To find out how you can still take part (through 7/28th) and help the Western Writers of America Homestead Foundation, go HERE. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=209532519094386&set=o.221304581236513&type=1&theater

To take part in the movement to make the Day of the Cowboy a nationally recognized day, go HERE. : http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=kwysuzeab&v=001PcleU6K0CjjRfVxMuv8wmHmf5OVJy2RLcKB18d-2Aquzf74WrIkdHGF1yX2VNEmlq7pfAeCZSm0gimgo88XMqU7FChjfFVawMplqoONQX10VohdK18Svyg%3D%3D

And if you’ve got pictures or information about Day of the Cowboy celebrations in your neck of the woods, please send it to us through Comments!

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

That's right, the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here:


‘ZORRO RIDES AGAIN’ ON TMC

On Saturday mornings this summer I’ve been enjoying the ACE DRUMMOND serial TCM has been running, two episodes at a time, starting at 8 a.m.. This Saturday, the 13th and final chapter ran (don’t tell me how it ends – I’m still three episodes behind!), and what came on next but chapter one of Republic’s fine western action serial ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (1937), starring John Carroll as the bold renegade who carves a ‘Z’ with his blade, Duncan Renaldo as Renaldo (type-casting I suppose), and featuring action directed by John English and William Whitney.

The problem is, I felt like a crumb telling you about it when Chapter One has already run. But the first chapter is available online! Watch it before you go to bed on Friday night, and pop some popcorn for the morning!



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.

RFD-TV has begun airing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW on Sundays at 9:00 a.m., with repeats the following Thursday and Saturday.

Also, AMC has started showing two episodes of THE RIFLEMAN on Saturday mornings.

That's all folks -- it's almost three a.m.!

Happy trails,

Henry

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

ROUND-UP JOINS TCM FOR A SALUTE TO SINGING COWBOYS!

July 2011 will be the month of the Singing Cowboy on Turner Classic Movies, and Henry’s Western Round-up will be putting its two cents in. I was interviewed for a short TCM documentary about people who are crazy for westerns, which will be run in conjunction with the features. I don’t know how much I’ll be in it – there were other interviewees after all -- or exactly when it’ll air, but I’m told it’ll be ready to run by July 1st. I’ll have info on the Facebook page as soon as I know more.

But back to the singing cowboys! Every Friday in July will feature a different line-up of sagebrush troubadours. July 1st will feature five films starring Roy Rogers beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific time: COWBOY AND THE SENORITA, DON’T FENCE ME IN, MY PAL TRIGGER, THE GOLDEN STALLION and TRIGGER JR. July 8th will take aim at Gene Autry with OLD CORRAL, HOME ON THE PRAIRIE, BACK IN THE SADDLE, TEXANS NEVER CRY and WAGON TEAM. On July 15th the night is split between Tex Ritter and Jimmy Wakely, July 22nd it’s Dick Foran and Monte Hale, and on July 29th we’ll hear from Rex Allen, Herbert Jeffrey and Ken Maynard.

Film Review - CHEYENNE WARRIOR

CHEYENNE WARRIOR, made in 1994 and recently released on DVD, is one of the very best Westerns of the last twenty years. Directed by Mark Griffiths from Michael B. Druxman’s original screenplay, it begins at the start of the Civil War, with a young couple, Kelly Preston and Charles Edward Powell as the Carvers, on their way to Oregon. Impatient to get there, instead of waiting to travel with a wagon train, they’ve gone alone. At a trading post at the base of the mountains, the trader Barkley, played by Dan Haggerty, stuns them by revealing that they are too late: the trail will be impassable until spring. They have nowhere to go now, nowhere to wait out the bitter winter, and Kelly is with child. Barkley is as helpful and generous as he can be, but he’s disgusted with their lack of planning, and tells them, “Dumb people just don’t make it out here.”

And that’s a theme that runs throughout the movie: the Wild West is an unforgiving place, and people that don’t learn fast, that rely on old prejudices, rather than observation, to tell their friends from their enemies, die quickly. It’s consistent that intelligence should be at the core of such an intelligently written story. While Cheyenne Warrior delivers all of the basic ingredients one expects from a western, it does so by having those elements arise naturally from the behavior of believable characters, not because it’s time for a shootout or an Indian fight or to burn a cabin.

In fairly short order Rebecca Carver becomes a widow and meets Hawk, played by Pato Hoffman, the Cheyenne warrior of the title, and they must rely on each other to survive. Their relationship is not an easy one – even with his gratitude for her saving his life, she is so obstinate and slow to learn that he nicknames her ‘Not Too Smart Woman,’ but they eventually come to an understanding, and a respect for each other. But the question remains; when she has her baby, will she stay at the trading post, or try to go back home, or go to Hawk’s village, where many would not welcome her. Screenwriter Druxman’s inspiration was to transpose The King and I to the west, and there are some amusing moments that go along with that premise. There is a solid romance to the story, but not the sappy cookie-cutter sort one expects from, say Hallmark Channel pseudo-westerns.

CHEYENNE WARRIOR is the best micro-budget westerns that I have seen, and I have seen a lot. Costing roughly three quarters of a million, looking like Canada but shot in Simi Valley, about a mile from the Reagan Library, it is a text-book example of how producer Roger Corman puts all the money on the screen. With most low-budget westerns of the past couple of decades, you are forced, as an audience member, to forgive things that reflect the budget: the story is recycled or the supporting actors are amateurish or there’s only one horse and no rolling stock. But there are no excuses necessary here: the script and direction and performances are first-rate; Blake T. Evans’ photography is beautiful and evocative, Roderick Davis’ editing is crisp without calling attention to itself, and Arthur Kempel’s score brings to mind the subtler music in John Ford Westerns.

Of course, it all rises and falls on whether we care what happens to Rebecca and Hawk, which means it’s all on Kelly Preston’s and Pato Hoffman’s shoulders, and they are very much up to the challenge. Pato is smart and dignified, but also frequently baffled by and frustrated by Kelly, by turns amusingly and dramatically. He is much more that the cliché noble savage. Kelly’s Rebecca is independent without being strident, with strong beliefs, but willing to learn new ways. She’s also, without being obviously glamorized, at her most beautiful (I may be somewhat prejudiced: she did CHEYENNE WARRIOR and my noir, DOUBLE CROSS, back to back).

In addition to Dan Haggerty, who gives what is my personal favorite of his performances, the supporting cast includes Bo Hopkins as the scout for a wagon train, and Rick Dean (a fine actor who died tragically at age 53) and Clint Howard as a pair of buffalo hunters enamored of the Carvers’ Henry rifle. It seems like an injustice that CHEYENNE WARRIOR was released directly to home video. We should see this one on the big screen. It’s available from Amazon, Netflix, Blockbuster and Roger Corman’s New Horizons Pictures among other places. But if you want to email writer Michael Druxman at Druxy@ix.netcom.com, he will sell you the DVD and the published script, autographed, for $25.

A CHAT WITH ‘CHEYENNE WARRIOR’ AUTHOR MICHAEL B. DRUXMAN

Having read MY FORTY-FIVE YEARS IN HOLLYWOOD…AND HOW I ESCAPED ALIVE, and seen CHEYENNE WARRIOR, I thought I’d do a quick phone interview with author and screenwriter Michael Druxman, to get a couple of good quotes. I reached him at his home in Austin, Texas. I didn’t expect to talk for two hours, but that’s what happens when you meet a kindred spirit. We got to the main event, CHEYENNE WARRIOR, eventually, but he’d just watched the Coen Brothers’ TRUE GRIT the night before, and that got us onto the subject of remakes versus originals, and favorite westerns.

MICHAEL: Overall I think it was a little better than the original. The girl was terrific. I thought that John Wayne was more fun than Jeff Bridges, but performance-wise it was a toss-up. I hate remakes. I think 99% of the time they’re never as good as the originals; case in point, 3:10 TO YUMA. But what happens is the new generation sees the remake, and unless they’re real movie-lovers they never see the original, which is so often much better, because they figure, been there, done that. I never really liked the original TRUE GRIT all that much. I don’t think it’s one of John Wayne’s best westerns. I think it’s a ‘classic’ because he won the Oscar. But I think STAGECOACH, THE SEARCHERS, RED RIVER, THE COWBOYS and THE SHOOTIST are so much better. I wrote a book some years ago called MAKE IT AGAIN, SAM, about remakes. And the point I brought out is you don’t remake a hit, you remake a movie that flopped. They remade SABRINA? You’re competing with the memory of Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, for cryin’ out loud. But TRUE GRIT turned out to be quite a good film. I understand it’s the most successful western film of all time at this point.

I did a picture with Roy Scheider in Ireland, and we were the only two people in the company over thirty, so we spent a lot of time together, and he says, “The reason they don’t make westerns anymore is because when westerns were popular, everyone had a father or a grandfather who remembered those days, or a part of those days.” Like my father, when he was fourteen years old, was a steward on a ship that went from Seattle to Alaska on the Alaska Gold Rush. My dad was born in 1886. But now that generation is totally gone. In fifty years or less there’s going to be no one around who remembers World War II.

H: What are your favorite westerns?
M: You’ll probably hang up on me when I say it, but I am not a big fan of John Ford – Hello? Hello? I like STAGECOACH, and I like THE SEARCHERS – I think THE SEARCHERS is probably the greatest western ever made. I think part of Ford’s problem was his sense of humor stunk. The worst part of THE SEARCHERS is the wedding scene. It stops the movie. He was one of the greatest director, from a visual standpoint, that we’ve ever had, but his stories were so slow-moving. Hawks was another one. With the exception of RED RIVER, I don’t like his westerns. I think RIO BRAVO is much too long. I interviewed Hawks once. And he said something to me that really took me aback. He said, “I’m not interested in telling stories. I’m interested in making good scenes.” And as a writer, I really find that shocking. Tim Burton says, “I wouldn’t know a good story if it jumped up and bit me in the face.” But I like his movies. Although I didn’t care too much for ALICE IN WONDERLAND once they went down the rabbit hole and it became a CGI movie – I hate CGI movies. The reason we’ve got so many shitty movies is everybody wants something different. The director is interested in making good scenes, the cinematographer wants pretty pictures, the actor is interested in his part, the producer would sell his soul just to get the movie made on budget, and the only person that’s really interested in telling a viable story is the writer, and he’s the first one they kick off the picture. It’s like a dog on a lamppost: everybody wants to put their mark on the movie. The only truly creative part of a screenplay is done by the original writer. Everything else is interpretation. ‘Wouldn’t this work better if you turned the old Eskimo woman into a Hawaiian dancing girl?’ The director has his ideas, the star wants his ideas put in, and what you find so many times is the thing that was so appealing in the script, by the time they’re ready to film, is gone. But now they’re under a time-pressure thing, because they’ve got to start shooting by Monday. So they’re forced to go with the latest version of the script, which may not be the best one, and that’s why you get shitty pictures.

H: Whose western do you like?
M: I like the westerns of Anthony Mann – I think they’re terrific. I love the westerns of Delmer Daves. I liked the westerns of Budd Boetticher, with Randolph Scott – Boetticher used to be a publicity client of mine. Randolph Scott I think is my favorite western star. I like John Wayne movies. A client of mine, George Sherman, directed BIG JAKE, which is a pretty good movie. I like THE GUNFIGHTER. You know what’s a great little western that’s not out on DVD is THE LAST POSSE with Broderick Crawford. I like DANCES WITH WOLVES. There’s a B western called DAWN AT SOCORRO with Rory Calhoun, OPEN RANGE. I like SHANE – the only problem with SHANE is Alan Ladd. If they put in Gary Cooper or Randolph Scott, someone who can act… A great fun western is THE OKLAHOMA KID, with Bogart and Cagney. The other Cagney one I really like is RUN FOR COVER. Ernest Borgnine’s in it.

H: You came to Hollywood to make movies, and you did, but with about a 32 year period as a publicist in the middle. During that time did you ever give up your goal of making movies?
M: No, I never gave it up, but I was enjoying the first several years. I was playing with the big boys – I was at the studios every day. I was representing people like Eddie Dmytryk – who did (directed) WARLOCK, which was a damned good western. Of course he did a shitty western when he was with me, called SHALAKO. The Dmytryk western I love is BROKEN LANCE, which Delmer Daves wrote.

And there was a particular story that Michael wanted to tell.

M: The original concept of CHEYENNE WARRIOR was The King and I in the old west. And I carried this idea around in my head for seventeen years. And I didn’t write it because the western was pretty much dead. Then DANCES WITH WOLVES and LONESOME DOVE and UNFORGIVEN – and Clint Eastwood makes a damned good western – they came out, and I decided to sit down and write this. And it’s essentially a love story.

The person who changed Michael’s life forever was Roger Corman.

M: And I have the greatest respect for Roger Corman: he can take a dollar and a half and make a movie that looks like a million bucks. And he gives people a chance – he let me direct my first feature movie when I was fifty-eight years old! How many producers would do that? I quit the PR business and became a screenwriter thanks to Roger Corman, who kept hiring me, and for ten years I made a very good living. Roger Corman did not want to make this movie, because it had a female protagonist, and Roger’s movies mostly appeal to young males. His producer really pushed to do it.

H: Your female lead in CHEYENNE WARRIOR is Kelly Preston. What’s she like?
M: She was sweet. This was before PULP FICTION came out. At one point, when (she and her husband, John Travolta) got here, they offered the part of the husband to Travolta. Which I think was a three or four day shoot. His agent said, we want $100,000 a day and top billing, because PULP FICTION was about to come out, and that was gonna rejuvenate him. So that didn’t happen. And the Dan Haggerty part they originally offered to Robert Duvall.
H: He didn’t want it?
M: He wanted too much money.
H: I think it’s the very best performance I’ve seen Haggerty give.
M: He said to me, ‘You son of a bitch, it’s the only movie I’ve ever been killed in!’
It became one of the highest-grossing movies that New Horizons had ever made, and the people at the studio said it was the best movie they’d ever made. I’m very proud of that. There’s one thing in the picture that I strenuously objected to. (SPOILER ALERT!) In my script, they don’t go to bed together. And the director said, ‘we’ve gotta have the sex,’ and I said at that time they could have become the best platonic friends, and maybe there’s that thought, but it wouldn’t happen. The other thing, where he did listen to me. I had seen the first cut of the film, where they’re eating outside with all of the Indians. They had rewritten that scene so it was Christmas, and they were talking about the Christ child. And I said to them, “It’s Christmas on the Great Plains, and they’re sitting outside. Are you crazy?” All mention of Christmas was taken out. It was shot in the Simi Valley about a mile from where the Reagan Library is. It’s all houses now. Had they moved the camera a foot to the right or the left you would have seen telephone poles.

It’s amazing how CHEYENNE WARRIOR took off. Because it played one or two theatres, then it went directly to DVD and Showtime, and I would go into video stores, and when someone’s browsing, looking for something to rent, and without telling them who I was I’d say, ‘Here’s a good movie.’ And they’d say, ‘I saw that – I love that film!’ When did that come out – ’94? I still get fan-mail from that film; Pato Hoffman still gets fan-mail. People said, ‘Do a sequel! Do a sequel!’

He had the story, but the sequel wasn’t made.

M: I took the story I would have used as a sequel, changed the characters’ names, reworked it a bit, and I wrote a script called SARAH GOLDENHAIR, which begins with the Sand Creek Massacre, and goes on from there. That was in play for a while, but it didn’t happen. Then a year or two later, Roger calls and he says, “Okay, you win. I want you to write a sequel to CHEYENNE WARRIOR.” So I went back to my original story, and he offered me more money than he’d ever offered me to write it, because Frances (Doel, Corman’s story head) said, “If not Michael, who?” He approved the story-line, I wrote the first draft.

Mike wrote two different versions for Corman, but they’re both sitting on the shelf for now. It was not going to be a small picture; it was going to be shot in Canada, but the whole Canadian film-production financing situation changed. We jump ahead to the present day…

M: I tried to decide what I wanted to do next, writing-wise. I have a book of short stories that’s going to come out in August, from Bear Manor Fiction, and one of the stories has to do with Jesse James, for western fans. (The book’s) called DRACULA MEETS JACK THE RIPPER, AND OTHER REVISIONIST HISTORIES. I was also not very happy with what they did with my movie DILLINGER AND CAPONE. I had retained the publishing rights to the script. So I went back to my script, pulled out the essence, and wrote it as a short story. I also retained the publishing rights to both of those CHEYENNE WARRIOR sequels. So my next publishing project, I’m going to publish the two screenplay sequels, and SARAH GOLDENHAIR, in the same book. That will probably be coming in 2012 or so. But I must tell you that the character of Rebecca is not in the sequel. It’s about Hawk.

QUENTIN GETS HIS CAST FOR 'DJANGO UNCHAINED'!

Tarantino’s ‘Spaghetti Southern’ is set to go. Will Smith is out (good – he had his chance with WILD WILD WEST) and Jamie Foxx is in as title character of a slave turned bounty hunter, trained by German dentist Christoph Waltz! Django is out to rescue his wife from the clutches of Calvin Candie (Leo DiCaprio), owner of plantation/brothel CANDYLAND, with Samuel L. Jackson as his gentleman's gentleman. Among those rumored to fill out the cast are Franco Nero, Keith Carradine and Treat Williams. Aiming for a Christmas 2012 release, the Weinstein production is expected to lens starting in the fall in Louisiana.

RELEASE DATE SET FOR UNI R.I.P.D. STARRING ‘GUNSLINGER’ BRIDGES

Universal has announced a release date of June 28th, 2013 for the previously (in May) announced newest in the seemingly endless line of comic-book-based supernatural pseudo-westerns. R.I.P.D. from Dark Horse Comics, written by Peter M. Lenkoy, is about the Rest In Peace Department, a ghost police force, and Ryan Reynolds stars as a recently slain cop. Jeff Bridges will play his Old West gunslinger partner, a role originally announced for Zach Galifianakis, before schedule conflicts intervened. Director Robert Schwentke has lately helmed the Bruce Willis actioner RED and Jody Foster suspenser FLIGHT PLAN. Screenwriting team of Phil Hay and Fred Manfredi have scripted CLASH OF THE TITANS and other effects-heavy actioners.


‘THE ROY ROGERS SHOW’ COMES TO RFD-TV!

Starting Sunday, July 3rd at 9:30 a.m. Pacific time, RFD-TV brings the Roy Rogers Show back to the airwaves! Roy, Dale, Trigger, Bullet, Buttermilk, Pat Brady and Nellybelle will all be back and if you haven’t seen this show since you were a kid – or never saw it – you’ll be delighted with how well it holds up. No surprise really as the writers, directors and supporting players were largely the cream of the crop from Republic Pictures. Each show airs Sunday at 9:30, then repeats Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday at 9:00 a.m.. Unfortunately this will take the place of the Happy Trails Theatre on the RFD-TV schedule, but the Roy Rogers features are widely available, and shown frequently on Encore Westerns and TCM – check the article on the TCM singing cowboy salute for details. If you’d like to get in the mood, click HERE to see a medley of TV show openings, starting with the Roy Rogers Show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-r6A7TzvUI&playnext=1&list=PLF189E2DE6A53A40D

BILLY THE KID TINTYPE SELLS FOR $2,300,000

The most optimistic conjecture had predicted half a million at the most, but the tintype considered the only authenticated photo of the young Regulator fetched nearly five times that. The winning bidder, 71 year old Palm Beach businessman William Koch, who traveled to Denver for Brian Lebel’s 22nd Annual Old West Show and Auction told the New York Daily News, “I love the Old West. I plan on enjoying it and discreetly sharing it. I think I’ll display it in a few small museums.”

The fact that in the picture, Billy sports a Winchester in his right hand, and a Colt pistol in the holster on his left hip, gave credence to the legend that Billy was left-handed. However, tintypes being a reverse image, the pistol was actually on his right hip. I’ll have more details on other items in the auction in next week’s Round-up.

FREE SATURDAY MATINEE AT THE AUTRY

on Saturday, July 2nd at noon, the Autry will screen Gene in RYTHYM OF THE SADDLE (Republic 1938) with Smiley Burnett, and COW TOWN (Columbia 1950) costarring Gail ‘Annie Oakley’ Davis and Jock Mahoney.



GLEN CAMPBELL DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER’S

Fans of country music were saddened this week to learn that the Wichita Lineman singer is suffering from the early stages of Alzheiemer’s disease. Campbell, 76, whose final studio album will be released in the end of August, decided to go public with the diagnosis. His wife Kim explained to PEOPLE MAGAZINE that he’s hoping to begin a series of farewell concerts in the fall, and if by chance he should forget a lyric, he didn’t want his audience to think that he’d been drinking. It’s a tragic, slow end to a brilliant career. One of the unexpected effects of the release of the Coen brothers’ remake of TRUE GRIT is that many movie fans saw the 1969 version again, and many have noted how well Campbell’s performance as Le Boeuf holds up.

ROBERT MITCHUM WESTERN FEST AT THE BILLY WILDER

Weekends in July will be packed with double-bills of that sleepy-eyed cowpoke Robert Mitchum, presented at the Billy Wilder Theatre in the Westwood Hammer Museum. It all starts Friday, July 8th at 7:30 PM with PURSUED (1947), directed by Raoul Walsh from a Niven Busch screenplay, and BLOOD ON THE MOON (1948), directed by Robert Wise from a Lillian Hayward script. Saturday July 9th it’s Nicholas Ray’s THE LUSTY MEN scripted by They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? novelist Horace McCoy. On Sunday July 10th, at 11:00 a.m., it’s THE RED PONY (1949) scripted by John Steinbeck from his own stories, and directed by Lewis Milestone. This one’s not just family-friendly, it’s free! All the screenings listed are in 35MM, and later in the month will be THE SUNDOWNERS, TRACK OF THE CAT, RIVER OF NO RETURN, THE WONDERFUL COUNTRY, WEST OF THE PECOS, RACHEL AND THE STRANGER, and EL DORADO. To learn more visit www.cinema.ucla.edu.

STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED IF YOU DIDN'T CHECK THE ROUND-UP FACEBOOK PAGE THIS WEEK

Quentin Tarantino pinned down his cast for DJANGO UNCHAINED; MEEK'S CUTOFF screened at the Egyptian; AMC ran LONESOME DOVE and 17 episodes of THE RIFLEMAN this weekend, and you could have saved 50% on memebership to the Autry Museum. Check Facebook often, and don't miss a thing!

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.

Also, AMC has started showing two episodes of THE RIFLEMAN on Saturday mornings.

That oughta cover it for the week, but if anything else turns up, you'll find it here, or on our Facebook page.

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Contents Copyright June 2011 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved