JOHN LEGEND FIGHTS FOR UNDERGROUND, ZORRO’S HOUSE FOR SALE, PLUS ARNESS’ STUNT DOUBLE DIES, HOLLYWOOD SNAPSHOTS REVIEWED!

JOHN LEGEND GOES ABOVE-GROUND TO REVIVE ‘UNDERGROUND’

John Legend, who has been relatively quiet on the subject since UNDERGROUND was cancelled this May after its second season, has come out swinging. Legend exec-produced the series about runaway slaves and abolitionists, and by all reports it was a hit, the biggest ratings success WGN America has had with original programming.  But WGN America is owned by Tribune Media, which was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group. They’re geared to less expensive reality programming, and the UNDERGROUND per-episode price tag is $4.5 million.  Legend also claims that Sinclair has a policy of acquiring TV stations and shifting their news policies to the far right.

The series, while it was aired by WGN America, is produced by SONY, and has been shopped to a number of other possible venues, including BET and OWN, without success. In attempt to stir up interest, Legend has taken to social media, saying the following:

John Legend as Frederick Douglas 

in UNDERGROUND

In the wake of the events in Charlottesville, America has had a conversation about history and memory, monuments and flags, slavery and freedom. We’ve had a debate about the Civil War and how we remember the Confederate leaders who provoked the War in order to perpetuate the evil institution of slavery. How do we tell the stories of this era? Who is celebrated? Who is ignored? Do we give hallowed public space to those who fought to tear the country apart so that millions would remain in shackles? Or do we celebrate those who risked their life in the pursuit of freedom and equality.

As storytellers, producers and creators of content for film and television, we have the power to take control of the narrative. As an executive producer of the critically-acclaimed television series Underground, we’ve been proud to celebrate those like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass who were true American heroes whose legacy we can be proud of. Their words and their actions helped make it possible for my ancestors to be free. I’m honored and humbled by the opportunity to make sure they are not forgotten. Along with the stories of historical luminaries, our series features fictionalized characters and plot lines directly inspired by the courageous real narratives of the first integrated civil rights movement in the United States, the movement to abolish slavery.

In its first two seasons, Underground was undeniably a hit series, setting ratings records for WGN America, receiving rave reviews and sparking conversation in the media. It was screened at the White House and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. It was acknowledged by the NAACP, NABJ, and many other highly respected institutions, and generated widespread engagement on social media as a trending topic during every new episode… yet here we are, still fighting for a future for the series.

How did we get here? WGN America was bought by media conglomerate Sinclair Communications. Sinclair has pursued a strategy of buying up local networks and moving their news coverage to fit their far-right agenda. In addition, they’ve bought Tribune Media, the parent company of WGN America and immediately turned away from high-quality original dramas such as Underground and Outsiders in favor of cheaper unscripted entertainment.

We know there is still an appetite for high-quality scripted dramas on network and cable tv and streaming services. We also know that, in this particular moment in history, there is an urgent need to tell the powerful story of the Underground Railroad. Even today – in the 21st century – we rely on a sort of underground network of individuals and organizations willing to put themselves at risk to help those who are not yet seen as equals in the eyes of the United States government. When our elected officials tell undocumented individuals who boost our economy, who strengthen our workforce, and who see the U.S. as the only home they have ever known, that they are at risk of deportation, those individuals are forced to live in the shadows. They may be sent to a land they can’t remember, that they fled in fear, or in some instances where they have never even set foot. Who will tell their stories when they are made to feel unsafe when they go to work, drop their kids off at school, seek medical help, or report a crime? Putting a spotlight on these types of stories creates an opportunity for recognition, understanding, discussion and learning, bringing a humanity and context that allows people to experience our past and present in a way that is not possible in other media.

For all of these reasons and more, the cast, producers and our studio Sony Pictures remain committed to a future for Underground because of a belief that this story is important and invaluable… and it remains our hope that not only is there a future for this show, but for many others like it.

Let’s #SaveUnderground so that we can continue to inspire and educate the American people about these true American heroes.

ZORRO’S CASA IS UP FOR BIDS! SOLD!

Casa Verdugo in 1910

No, this is not some clever plot by the Alcalde to force ‘the fox’ into the open. The home in Glendale, California where Zorro creator Johnston McCulley lived in the late 1930s and ‘40s, just closed escrow this week for $1.85 million. Built in 1907 in the Mission Revival style, the house on North Louise Street was recently designated historic by the City of Glendale, and Realtor Shannon Cistulli tells me there has been a proposal to declare the neighborhood an historic district, and name it after the home, which has long been known as Casa Verdugo.

Postcard of Casa Verdugo's Indian Room

The home was famous long before McCulley moved in, and was in fact named after a neighboring house. Legendary land speculators Huntington and Brand wanted to attract tract buyers to Glendale. They acquired a historic adobe mansion called Casa Verdugo, named after the original land-grant owners, and made it the end-of-the-line of their Redcar system. This was the time of an international literary obsession with Helen Hunt Jackson’s RAMONA, and visitors to Southern California were desperate for a taste of the early Spanish culture. A fine Mexican chef and restaurateur, Piedad Yorba de Sowl, was induced to give up her Los Angeles restaurant and turn Casa Verdugo into an elegant and very high-end eatery. It flourished.

Casa Verdugo today

Piedad and her husband acquired a neighboring tract of land and built their own home there. The restaurant was such a success that Brand and Huntington got greedy (I know, it’s hard to believe), refused to renew Sowl’s lease, and decided to run the restaurant themselves. Piedad turned her neighboring home into a restaurant and it became the new Casa Verdugo – she was foresighted enough to have registered the name, and successfully sued Brand and Huntington when they tried to reopen the adobe restaurant under that same name. In the first year of operation as a restaurant at the new location, it was a filming location for THE MANICURE LADY (1911), a one-reel comedy produced by D. W. Griffith’s BIOGRAPH company, directed by and starring Mack Sennett, with Vivian Prescott and Eddie Dillon.  (I haven’t seen it, but it’s been shown on TCM.)

Visiting the ZORRO TV set. L to R Guy Williams,

Johnston McCulley, Henry Calvin, ?

When Piedad relocated the restaurant yet again – it would have six different addresses over the years – the place became a home again, and eventually Johnston McCulley’s home. Best known as a novelist, McCulley’s works, especially related to Zorro, would be frequently filmed, first notably in 1920, with Douglas Fairbanks in THE MARK OF ZORRO, and in many versions, here and abroad thereafter. His only credited screenplay was for the 1941 Hopalong Cassidy film DOOMED CARAVANS, but his stories for the movies included 1937’s ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’ RYTHYM for Gene Autry, as well as films for Bob Steele and Johnny Mack Brown. His story for the Duncan Renaldo Cisco Kid film SOUTH OF THE RIO GRANDE (1945) led to a writing collaboration with Renaldo, DON RICARDO RETURNS (1946); McCulley wrote the story and, using a pseudonym, Renaldo both co-wrote the screenpay and co-produced. Interestingly, DON RICARDO was shot in part at the historic Leonis Adobe, which still stands and is open to the public.

SERVICES FOR BEN BATES, JAMES ARNESS STUNT DOUBLE, MONDAY 10/9

Actor and stuntman Ben Bates, stunt double for James Arness in GUNSMOKE, has died. A former rodeo cowboy and one-time Marlboro man, Bates became best known within the industry when in 1972 he took over stunt-doubling duties for Arness, a job he would continue on Arness’ later series and movies, including HOW THE WEST WAS WON, THE ALAMO: 13 DAYS TO GLORY, RED RIVER and MCCLAIN’S LAW. He also played Ranger Post in 1982’s LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER, and Arcane Monster in THE SWAMP THING.  His viewing will from 10 a.m. until noon,  at the Miller Jones Mortuary, 26770 Murrieta Road, Sun City, CA 92586, 951 672-0777, followed by services at the church directly across the street at 1 p.m.  A second service will be held in Texas this Friday, but we don’t have details yet.  Close friend Julie Ann Ream adds, “Anyone wishing to contribute, no matter how small, to a 'Cowboy Wreath' which will be at the service in Texas, please contact me here or via e mail @ julieannream@yahoo.com. Your name will also be added to the card that will be going to his family. Val loved the idea that it will rest with Ben at his final resting place.”

HOLLYWOOD SNAPSHOTS – THE FORGOTTEN INTERVIEWS, by Michael B. Druxman

The only digest-sized magazine people are familiar with today is Readers Digest – all the others have expanded, like TV Guide, or disappeared. But from 1936 until the mid-1970s, Coronet Magazine offered general interest stories in a pocket-sized magazine. In the ‘70s, publicist, screenwriter, playwright, and film director Michael B. Druxman wrote a monthly column for Coronet called Yesterday At The Movies, interviewing stars from the golden age of Hollywood.

Druxman has gathered the best of these interviews for HOLLYWOOD SNAPSHOTS, and they mostly are people who rarely spoke on the record. Druxman is a skilled and knowledgeable journalist, and all of the interviews reveal thoughtful insights into the subjects’ lives, and often character.  Among the stars discussing their careers are Jack Oakie, Claire Trevor, Paul Henried, Ann Miller, John Carradine, Howard Keel, Gale Sondergaard, several of the Our Gang kids, even the notoriously reticent Mary Pickford.  Also included are interviews that never saw the light of day, including one with David Jansen that never ran, and a talk with Yvonne DeCarlo for The Enquirer, which they killed because she didn’t talk enough about her diet.

Best of all, without the inflexible word count required by the magazine, Druxman provides each with an introduction, providing a context to when and how and where the interview took place – he talked with Gale Sondergaard at The Brown Derby!  Often there are moments that would have been unkind to include at the time, such as the actor’s wife who asked Druxman not to reveal how much her husband drank during their chat. And after each piece he includes quotes that there just wasn’t room for – often among the best stuff!

Druxman has written several non-fiction books about filmmaking, as well as one-man shows based on great stars, including Clara Bow, Orson Welles, Clark Gable, Al Jolson and Errol Flynn.  Culled from the research for these projects, the second half of the book includes an array of quotes from actors, producers, writers, and editors he interviewed. Among the directors alone are Herb Ross, Edward Dmytryk, George Sidney, Gordon Douglas, Raoul Walsh, and Howard Hawks. HOLLYWOOD SNAPSHOTS is published by BearManor Media, for $19.95 in paper and $29.95 in hardback.

…AND THAT’S A WRAP!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright October 2017 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

‘UNDERGROUND’ GOES UNDER, PARAMOUNT RANCH 90TH ANNI., ‘NED KELLY’ KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN, PLUS MORE!

‘UNDERGROUND’ GOES UNDER – NO 3^RD SEASON FOR WGNA DRAMA

Amid all of the good TV-Western news – second seasons of HBO’s WESTWORLD and AMC’s THE SON – comes disappointing news for fans of the excellent pre-Civil War historical adventure series, UNDERGROUND.  Despite strong ratings and Emmy buzz, WGNA has announced cancellation of the Underground Railroad drama. 

WGNA is owned by Tribune Media, and it was announced in May that Tribune was being acquired by local-TV giant Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 54 local Fox affiliates across the country.  Sinclair execs have gone on record saying that despite their respect for the quality and popularity of UNDERGROUND, they are looking for less expensive original programming.  Also cancelled was WGNA’s other high-profile drama OUTSIDERS, about generations of war-like hill people living off the grid in the Appalachians.     

UNDERGROUND Exec Producer John Legend and series stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aldis Hodge have reached out to fans via social media, asking them to campaign for a move to another network.  Oprah Winfrey’s OWN has been approached, and it looked like the show might have a chance with BET, the Black Entertainment Television Network, but the deal didn’t happen.  HULU streams UNDERGROUND and they, too, have been approached without success.  Not that anyone’s asked, but to me, the most logical home for the show would be NETFLIX, who had great success when they acquired the A&E-cancelled contemporary Western LONGMIRE; my second suggestion would be AMAZON, which is in a frantic competition with NETFLIX for market share.

PARAMOUNT RANCH CELEBRATES 90^TH ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY 6/4!

The Paramount Movie Ranch in Agoura will mark its 90^th anniversary this Sunday.   The fun starts at 6 pm with a tour, and there will be displays, presentations, and a panel discussion featuring Hollywood historians Marc Wanamaker, Donald Bitz and Mike Malone. 

In 1927, Paramount Pictures bought 2,700 acres of the original Rancho Los Virgenes to build their movie ranch.  While they filmed there for decades, the sets eventually crumbled, and the buildings we think of as Paramount Ranch actually started out with a different studio.  Mark Wanamaker explains, “The RKO Ranch was at Louise and Burbank Boulevard, in Encino. The CIMARRON street was built there in 1931, which was a major western town if you remember the film. It became the nucleus of the ranch, and later they built other buildings, residential neighborhoods… In 1953 Howard Hughes owned RKO, and he liquidated the ranch – he didn’t need it anymore. The Hertzs were a family that came from back east that always wanted to own and run a movie ranch. The Hertz family purchased the Paramount Ranch, purchased pieces of the RKO Ranch and brought them to the Paramount Ranch. The current western town at the Paramount Ranch was the RKO western town.”  You can read the rest of my interview with Marc HERE.  

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY RELICS CELEBRATES ‘IVERSON MOVIE RANCH’, MOVES TO SAVE ‘CASABLANCA’ FAÇADE! 

IVERSON

Iverson's Garden of the Gods

On Tuesday, May 23^rd, The Valley Relics Museum, final resting place for hundreds of mementoes of San Fernando Valley restaurants, theatres and other fun spots – their collection of classic neon signs is unequalled – honored the memory of the Iverson Movie Ranch with a Power-point presentation by Iverson Ranch historian Dennis R. Liff, and Ray Vincent of the Chatsworth Historical Society. 

Original sign on display at Valley Relics

The place was packed with Western-movie aficionados, many of whom had grown up near Iverson; in their enthusiasm it was sometimes a race to see whether audience members could blurt out a location or identify a movie still before the speakers could.  A popular location since the silents, including Buster Keaton’s THREE AGES and Curtiz’ NOAH’S ARK, hundreds of A and B Westerns have been shot there.  The burned-out relay station from STAGECOACH was filmed there, as were TV series like THE LONE RANGER – it’s the home of the famed ‘Lone Ranger Rock’, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, BONANZA, THE VIRGINIAN, and dozens more.   

Julie Ann Ream meets a cigar-store Indian

she purchased at the recent Knott's Berry Farm auction

Dennis Liff

Sadly, in the late 1960s, the Simi Valley Freeway cut through the ranch, its visual incongruity and associated noise making it increasingly difficult to make any kind of movies, and record sound.  Condominiums have popped up among the iconic movie rocks that were the ranch’s greatest attraction; others have been dynamited, and still others have been buried.  But happily, the most famous rock area, the Garden of the Gods, is part of a park that is open to the public, as is the Lone Ranger Rock.

Find your way to the Garden of the Gods

Lone Ranger Rock

CASABLANCA

Just as I was putting this story to bed, I learned that Valley Relics and its founder, Tommy Gelinas, were in the news again.  It began a decade earlier, Christmastime in 2007, when it was announced that the original airplane hangar #1 at Van Nuys Airport, formerly Metropolitan Airport, was about to be demolished.  The reason this was big news was that it was the hangar around which so much of the action in Warner Brothers’ CASABLANCA (1942) had taken place.  It’s where Victor (Paul Henried) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) Laszlo arrive early on, and it’s where at the end someone leaves and someone stays and someone gets shot and it’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship (I’m not going to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen it). 

The owners of the Van Nuys hotel The Airtel, Jim and Christine Dunn, read the story, rushed over, and bought the front façade of the hangar.  It’s been stored in pieces at the Airtel ever since.  Christine Dunn announced in The Daily News that she is turning the job of reassembling the façade to Tommy Gelinas.  It’s not yet clear where its new location will be – Tommy thinks it would be too large for his museum.  It may well become the façade for a Moroccan restaurant in Van Nuys.  I know this isn’t strictly Western-related, but Humphrey Bogart starred in THE OKLAHOMA KID, and Paul Henreid directed nine episodes of THE BIG VALLEY, so I’ll continue to follow this story. 

KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN FOR ‘LEGEND OF NED KELLY’!

Matthew Holmes, whose THE LEGEND OF BEN HALL was named True West Magazine’s Best Foreign Western of the Year, has announced his next film, THE LEGEND OF NED KELLY.  Played previously by Mick Jagger and Heath Ledger, Kelly is an even bigger folk-hero in Australia then Ben Hall.  The most famous of the Aussie Bushrangers or highwaymen, he’s the one who made himself a suit of armor.  Matthew has just begun a Kickstarter campaign to finance the film. He financed the short subject version of BEN HALL that way, which lead to the feature.  I’ve never gotten involved with crowdfunding before, but I’m going to kick in a few bucks on this one.  If you’d like to learn more about the project, or possibly invest in it, click the link below:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/legendofbenhall/the-legend-of-ned-kelly-feature-film?ref=user_menu

FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE, 'GUNFIGHTER' BY THE MIDNIGHT LARKS!



Here's a brand-new video, directed by Mike Malloy, producer of the fascinating Western THE SCARLET WORM (2011) and director of the excellent documentary EUROCRIME (2012). Midnight Larks in a new band with roots from the band Spindrift, who contributed to the soundtrack of the Scott Eastwood Western DIABLO.  The Gunfighter in the clips is the very talented and scary Aaron Stielstra, in scenes from SCARLET WORM and 6 BULLETS TO HELL (2014).  Enjoy! 

HEAR ‘GUNSMOKE’ RADIO STARS COURTESY OF S.P.E.R.D.V.A.C.!

Jon Dehner is on the air!

Thirty-five years ago, in August of 1982, at a meeting of SPERDVAC, the Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy, some of the greatest voice-talents in the history of radio gathered to discuss their work.  All had performed on GUNSMOKE, most on HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, and all had other impressive credits.  Parley Baer was the original Chester Proudfoot; John Dehner played Paladin on HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and starred in FRONTIER GENTLEMAN; Virginia Gregg; Harry Bartell; Peggy Webber; and Vic Perrin played countless characters on dozens of series.  Barbara Watkins of SPERDVAC has begun posting one remarkable program a month, and this is a wonderful beginning.  Click HERE to listen.  

Georgia Ellis & Parley Baer

The link will also take you to the SPERDVAC page, where you can learn more about this fine organization, and even join up!

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

In the coming Round-ups I’ll be catching up with the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, the TCM Festival, book and video reviews, and the new documentary SPIRIT GAME – PRIDE OF A NATION.  And the nation is the Iroquois Confederacy.   It’s the true story of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team, and how for the first time the Championship Games were held on an Indian Reservation. 

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright June 2017 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

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

RUNNING WILD – A Film Review

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

Stella gets more bad news

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

The animal activists you love to hate!

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

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

Searching for runaway horses

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

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

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

Luckily Brannon has a way with horses.

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

Franco Nero with Joan Collins

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

UNDERGROUND RETURNS WED. MARCH 8^TH

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

THE SON – FIRST FULL TRAILER

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

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

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

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

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

TRAVIS FIMMEL TO PLAY WYATT EARP ON HISTORY CHANNEL

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

 ‘GUNSMOKE’ WRITER-PRODUCER RON HONTHANER DIES

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

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

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

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

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

AND THAT’S A WRAP!

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

Happy trails,

Henry

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

NEW CHARLES LUMMIS DOC., ‘6 BULLETS’ FILM & GAME RELEASE, PLUS ‘UNDERGROUND’ FINALE, MEL GIBSON’S ‘BARBARY COAST’, AND MORE!

MUST-SEE TV -- CHARLES LUMMIS DOCUMENTARY AIRS ON KCET TUESDAY!

On Tuesday, May 10^th, at 9 pm, the California arts documentary series ARTBOUND returns to KCET with CHARLES LUMMIS: REIMAGINING THE AMERICAN WEST.  While not a name on the tip of many tongues today, Lummis’ contributions to the history of the Southwest United States, particularly Los Angeles, would be hard to overstate.  On Saturday, a panel featuring many of interviewees in the film discussed Lummis and the documentary at the first museum in Los Angeles, which Lummis built, The Southwest Museum, surrounded by one of the world’s finest collections of American Indian art and artifacts, which Lummis collected.

Lummis watches over producer Juan Devis' shoulder

Charles Fletcher Lummis, born in Massachusetts in 1859, grew up at a time of individualists.  He was classmate of Theodore Roosevelt at Harvard, but dropped out, wrote for a Cincinnati newspaper, but quit when he got a better offer – working for the Los Angeles Times.  He proposed that he walk to L.A. from Cincinnati, and became a media sensation from the newspaper columns he posted en route.  His contact with American Indians along the way would greatly influence the rest of his life. 

Lummis' granddaughter, poet Suzanne Lummis

After 143 days afoot, he arrived and was made city editor of Times.  It was 1885, which was, as Lummis’ granddaughter pointed out, the year that RAMONA-author and Indian rights activist Helen Hunt Jackson died.  It was a passing of the torch.  Los Angeles was in a time of transition – it had a population of only 12,000 when Lummis arrived – and he saw, with concern, that as the numbers quickly swelled, the history of the Indian and Mexican and Spanish people who had lived there before the Anglos was disappearing.  While a sincere and enthusiastic booster for Los Angeles, he did not want to see a homogenized city, and used his skills as an anthropologist, writer, poet, and photographer to both preserve the rapidly fading past, and make a convincing argument that this past should be incorporated in the city’s future.  Neither a paralyzing stroke – he healed, nor blindness – it proved temporary, could slow him down.  I highly recommend this documentary, and hope it will soon be available for viewing outside of L.A.

‘6 BULLETS TO HELL’ MOVIE AND VIDEO GAME PREMIERE TUESDAY!

In a very clever bit of synergy and cross-promotion, Tuesday, May 10^th marks the release of both 6 BULLETS TO HELL the movie on iTunes, and 6 BULLETS TO HELL the video game.  The film stars Tanner Beard, Crispian Belfrage and Russell Cummings, and Round-up readers have been following 6 BULLETS since it rolled camera in 2013, and as I said in my review – read it HERE – 6 BULLETS is a new Spaghetti Western filmed in the holy ground of Almeria, Spain, and masterfully captures the spirit of the originals.  Here’s the trailer from the movie.

CHECK OUT MY MOTHER’S DAY COLUMN AT INSP

I had the pleasure of writing a guest Mother’s Day column for the INSP-TV blog, honoring actress Barbara Stanwyck, and one of her most famous characters, Victoria Barkley from THE BIG VALLEY.  It gave me the opportunity of interviewing her co-star from TROOPER HOOK, Earl Holliman, and Kate Edelman, whose father, Louis Edelman, co-created and produced THE BIG VALLEY, who both shared their memories of ‘Missy’ with me.  You can read it (and I wish you would) HERE.

‘UNDERGROUND’ SEASON ONE ENDS WED. WITH A MARATHON

If you, like me, were late to discover WGN’s series about slaves escaping through the Underground Railroad, you can catch up starting Wednesday, May 11^th at 10 a.m. (check your local times).  As I reported in the last Round-up, UNDERGROUND has been picked up for a second season.  

MEL GIBSON, KURT RUSSELL, KATE HUDSON TO STAR IN WESTERN SERIES ‘BARBARY COAST’!

Mel Gibson will be co-writing and directing as well as starring with Kurt Russell and Kate Hudson in BARBARY COAST, based on the history book of the same title by Herbert Asbury, whose GANGS OF NEW YORK was filmed by Martin Scorcese.  The story of the wicked early days of San Francisco during the Gold Rush of 1849, it will be produced by the Mark Gordon Company , who currently produce QUANTICO, CRIMINAL MINDS and GREY’S ANATOMY. 

While the beautiful and talented Hudson is a newcomer to the genre, her co-stars are not.  Mel Gibson played the lovable scoundrel MAVERICK (1994), the Revolutionary War hero in THE PATRIOT (2000), and even voiced John Smith in Disney’s animated POCAHONTAS (1995).  Kurt Russell is a Western icon ever since playing Wyatt Earp in TOMBSTONE (1993), has recently starred in both HATEFUL 8 (2015) and BONE TOMAHAWK (2015), but hasn’t done a Western series since he co-starred with Tim Matheson in THE QUEST (1976).

CELEBRATE JOHN WAYNE’S BIRTHDAY WED. MAY 18 AT THE AUTRY!

Rob Word’s Word On Westerns will salute the Duke with a gathering of friends and family, including son Patrick Wayne, granddaughter Anita Wayne LaCava Swift, and co-stars Robert Carradine (THE COWBOYS), Paul Koslo (ROOSTER COGBURN), and author and historian Chris Enns.  These one-of-a-kind events have been so packed of late that there have been some wise changes made.  It will begin at eleven – not noon – and at the Wells Fargo Theatre.  The program will begin with a performance by Will Ryan and the Saguaro Sisters, and eventually everyone will segue across the courtyard to the Autry Crossroads Café for lunch.  Doors open at 10:30 a.m. – don’t be late!

DOUG FAIRBANKS IS ‘WILD AND WOOLLY’ SAT. MAY 21 AT THE EGYPTIAN!

Douglas Fairbanks stars in this delightful comedy from nearly a century ago, as a sophisticated New Yorker who wants to experience the Wild West – and boy, does he!  It was written by Anita Loos, the first brilliant screenwriter, and her husband John Emerson.  Loos started her career  young – some say as young as 12 – when, hanging out in her father’s nickelodeon theatre, she wrote a scenario and sent it to the name and address on a film can in the projection booth – to D.W. Griffith at Biograph Pictures.  (Forgive my digression, but back in the 1970s, Anita Loos became a good friend of my mother’s, and although I only met her briefly, it was a thrill – and I can remember every word she told me about a nightmarish dinner party with Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.) The film is directed by Emerson, and the cinematographer is Victor Fleming, who in 1939 would direct both GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ!  Presented with a live piano accompaniment by the Cliff Retallick, this is part of the Egyptian Theatre’s long running Retroformat series, showcasing long-unavailable silent films shown in 8mm or 16mm.  Learn more HERE. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

Coming soon to the Round-up I’ll have coverage of my visit to the set of IMPULSION, the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, the TCM Festival, and a bunch of great interviews I haven’t had a chance to transcribe.   Have a great week or two!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Material Copyright May 2016 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved