‘ZANE GREY THTR’ SEASON 3 REVIEWED, PLUS ‘AUTRY’ MOVIE LINE-UP, ‘SONS OF LIBERTY’ PREMIERE!

ZANE GREY THEATRE – SEASON 3 – A Review

Largely unknown today, the anthology series was a television mainstay for decades.  While most series focus on a group of people seen week-in and week-out, an anthology, like a collection of short stories, told a different story with different characters with each outing.  Interestingly, only the shows based on suspense of the supernatural – TWILIGHT ZONE and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and their imitators – persist today.  But there were two particularly notable Western anthology series and, remarkably, after years without exposure, both are now available to enjoy: Encore Western in now airing DEATH VALLEY DAYS, and Timeless Media Group has just released ZANE GREY THEATRE, season three, to home video.  We haven’t been this lucky in years!

The full name is actually DICK POWELL’S ZANE GREY THEATRE, and Powell deserves tremendous credit for creating the series.  He was remarkable talent.  Starting out singing and dancing in Busby Berkeley musicals in the 1930s, he became a big star.  But by the 1940s, those films were considered corny and dated, and his career had been marginalized.  He truly reinvented himself, stunning audiences when he returned to the screen in 1944 as Raymond Chandler’s private eye Philip Marlowe in MURDER MY SWEET.  Overnight he became a convincing tough-guy, and had a long new career. 

With the coming of television, while most film people panicked, Powell and his friends saw opportunity.  In 1952 he, Ida Lupino, David Niven and Charles Boyer joined forces and created FOUR STAR PLAYHOUSE, an anthology series where each star would appear in an episode once a month.  It was highly successful and frequently imitated.   In 1956 he created DICK POWELL’S ZANE GREY THEATRE, telling half-hour western stories from a wide variety of writers and directors.  With twenty-five episodes, Aaron Spelling wrote the most.  Republic and Columbia Western journeyman John English directed the most, at 24, but Budd Boetticher did five and Sam Peckinpah did three.  From the old-timers to the young Turks, Powell attracted them all. 

And did he get actors!  Season 3 opens with TRAIL TO NOWHERE, starring post-Annie Oakley and pre-Victoria Barkley Barbara Stanwyck, and pre-FUGITIVE David Jansen in a tale with noir elements as well as Western ones.  The second episode, THE SCAFFOLD, stars Powell himself as a sheriff standing up to a town that doesn’t want to wait for a trial before their necktie party.  Lloyd Nolan robs a bank out of desperation in #3.  Other stories feature David Niven, Robert Ryan, Harry Dean Stanton, a post-CIRCUS BOY but pre-MONKEE Mickey Dolenz, Julie Adams, Jane Greer, Eddie Albert, Walter Pidgeon, Edward G. Robinson, James Whitmore, pre-HIGH CHAPARRAL Cameron Mitchell, pre-THE TALL MAN Barry Sullivan, Arthur Kennedy,  and Rita Moreno.  Soon-to-be Western stars include James Drury, James Coburn, Michael Landon, Peter Breck, and Dennis Hopper. 

One of my favorites is episode #5, LEGACY OF A LEGEND, starring a pre-VIRGINIAN Lee J. Cobb that could easily have been spun off into a series.   And that happened all the time.  Unlike any other series I can think of, DICK POWELL’S ZANE GREY THEATRE was the launching pad for some excellent series.  THE RIFLEMAN began here as a single episode, as did the series that made a star out of Steve McQueen, WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE.  The same almost happened with the series that made Nick Adams a star, THE REBEL.  The show’s creator, Andrew J. Fenady, told me that he’d already signed a deal with Dick Powell to do the show on ZANE GREY when execs at Proctor and Gamble read it and offered to buy it and commit to a series.  Powell, gentleman that he was, let Fenady out of his contract, saying that he had plenty of shows to do, and wishing him luck. 

In season three there are two episodes which became backdoor pilots for series.  THE LONER became JOHNNY RINGO, starring Don Durrant as the gunfighter-turned-lawman, and Karen Sharpe as his woman.  TROUBLE AT TRES CRUCES, written and directed by Sam Peckinpah, became THE WESTERNER, starring Brian Keith as drifter Dave Blassingame.  Although it only lasted thirteen episodes, many consider it a high water-mark for TV Westerns, and it’s a delight to have one more show, the very first one, and with guest star Neville Brand no less!

Dick Powell appears at the beginning of nearly every episode, after the opening teaser, offering an often pun-filled introduction, and imparting interesting nuggets of history along the way.  Not seen in many years, I don’t know the story of the films’ care and preservation, but I get the feeling we are lucky to have them.  At least one episode is without audio over the end titles, and several episodes have the occasional grease-pencil mark, indicating that they were taken not from finished reels but from editor’s work-print copies.  The quality over-all is excellent.

One of the ironies of the series is that while many plots could be described as in the style or tradition of RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE author Zane Grey, in five seasons, only six of his stories were actually used, and none after season two.  Timeless Media Group and Shout! Factory have taken an unusual step to remedy the situation.  The fourth disc includes the last five episodes of Season 3, plus the feature film ZANE GREY’S FIGHTING CARAVANS (1931), an excellent Western starring an impossibly young and handsome Gary Cooper and the beautiful Lily Damita.

With the level of talent in the writing, directing, acting, and over-all production in DICK POWELL’S ZANE GREY THEATRE, putting on each new episode is like opening a gift – you know you’ll get a surprise of excellent quality.  Season 3, priced at $24.93 (list price $29.93) can be purchased direct from Shout! Factory HERE. 

  

THE AUTRY ‘WHAT IS A WESTERN?’ SERIES SCREENINGS FOR 2015

from THE OX-BOW INCIDENT

For several years now, The Autry has presented a monthly Saturday film screening under the heading of ‘What is a Western?’, with an entertaining and informative introduction by the Gamble Curator of Western History, Popular Culture, and Firearms, Jeffrey Richardson.  I always learn a lot from his talks.  On Saturday, January 17^th, before screening 1969’s TRUE GRIT, he described all the involved machinations that led to the film being made, from losing Mia Farrow, thanks to Robert Mitchum’s kibitzing, to the near casting of Elvis Presley in what became Glen Campbell’s role.

The next film, logically enough, on Saturday, February 14^th, will be the Coen Brothers’ 10 Oscar-nominated 2010 TRUE GRIT, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Hailee Steinfeld.  (Just to keep the record straight, the ’69 version only had two Oscar nominations, but it won Best Actor for John Wayne.)    

There’s no film planned for March, but two great Westerns directed by Wild Bill Wellman will screen in April and May.  On April 18^th it’s THE OX-BOX INCIDENT (1943), starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Anthony Quinn, and a murderous lynch-mob.  On May 9^th it’s YELLOW SKY (1948) starring Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, and Richard Widmark, from a story by the great W.R. Burnett (LITTLE CAESAR).

For the summer, it’s three Western comedies in a row!  On June 13^th it’s Bob Hope and Jane Russell in THE PALEFACE (1948); July 11^th James Garner stars in Burt Kennedy’s SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF (1969); and August 8^th it’s MAVERICK, directed by Dick Donner, starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner.

A new exhibition will open at the Museum on April 25^th, EMPIRE AND LIBERTY: THE CIVIL WAR AND THE WEST.  In conjunction, the three Autumn screenings will highlight the Antebellum, Civil War, and post-war eras: on September 12^th , Ronald Reagan is Custer, Errol Flynn is Jeb Stuart, and Olivia de Havilland is ‘Kat Carson’ Holliday in SANTA FE TRAIL (1940).  On October 10^th, Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman star in the Civil War drama GLORY (1988).  On November 14^th, Clint Eastwood directed and stars in one of the finest – and most shamelessly imitated – post-Civil War dramas, THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976).

Every time you attend a screening, you have the opportunity to fill out a ballot and nominate a ‘Fan Favorite’ for the December screening – 2014’s choice was Peckinpah’s RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY.  There is one more scheduled screening of note, though not part of the series.  On Thursday (not Saturday), March 26^th, at 7 p.m., see THE IRON HORSE (1924), a silent film directed by John Ford, starring George O’Brien and Madge Bellamy, and presented with a new, part live, part ‘computer-synchronized soundscape’ by composer Tom Peters.   

For years the ‘What is a Western?’ series has steadfastly refused to show anything but 35mm prints, but bowing to the reality that in many cases, such prints simply do not exist, they are showing some Blu-Ray and digital versions, but the majority are still in 35mm.  To put you in the mood for February’s screening, I’m placing the trailers from both versions of TRUE GRIT below.

‘SONS OF LIBERTY’ PREMIERES 6 PM TONIGHT ON HISTORY! 

Who would have guessed, in our clueless-about-history time, that we would have a second mini about George Washington and the American Revolution, even as we are waiting for season two of TURN?  That series’ biggest fault was a meaningless title, when they could have used the book’s title, WASHINGTON’S SPIES, and attracted more viewers.  I’d say, at least you know what SONS OF LIBERTY is about, but there will be those who expect a spin-off from SONS OF ANARCHY.    

Starring Henry Thomas as John Adams, Ben Barnes (Caspian from the NARNIA films) as Sam Adams, and BREAKING BAD’s Dean Norris (the big bald brother-in-law cop) as Benjamin Franklin, it looks pretty exciting, going by the trailer. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BOB STEELE AND RANDOLPH SCOTT!

January 23rd was the birthday of two great Western icons.  Bob Steele, was born 108 years ago.  A Saturday matinee star with 239 credits (!), many of us grew up knowing him as the chilling gangster Canino in THE BIG SLEEP, or the hilariously babbling Duffy on F-TROOP.  That he was a big star for decades was a revelation!  The Music & Movie Network is celebrating by sharing his film, SMOKEY SMITH (1935), for free!  Just go to this link: http://www.movieandmusicnetwork.com/content/movieoftheday    This was announced as a one-day-only link on Friday, but I just checked, and it's still up.  Their plan is to post a different free movie to this link every day!  Incidentally, SMOKEY SMITH was written and directed by Bob’s dad, Robert N. Bradbury, and features Gabby Hayes when he was still just ‘George,’ and ‘Our Gang’ graduate Mary Kornman

Fans of Randolph Scott are celebrating his birthday weekend with a blogathon celebrating the great southern gentleman's life and career.  Check it out HERE.   

THAT'S A WRAP!

Have a great week week, and let me know what you think of SONS OF LIBERTY!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright January 2015 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

YOU MIGHT WIN THIS BEAUTIFUL WESTERN CALENDAR! PLUS 'SIX BULLETS TO HELL' HOLLYWOOD PREMIERE!

WIN THIS BEAUTIFUL WESTERN CALENDAR!

Last year I said Asgard’s was the most beautiful Western Calendar I’d ever seen.  Well, they’ve done it again!  The 2015 model is a pip – using Western Pulp covers from 1936 through 1949, and featuring the kind of florid colors and over-heated action that drew your eye and made you eagerly plunk down your dime.  The format is big – 11” by 15” – and the pulps featured include TEXAS RANGERS, RANCH ROMANCES, MASKED RIDER, SPEED WESTERN and THRILLING WESTERN.  They’re printed on high-quality heavy stock, and perforated to become a 12-piece print collection when the year is finished.   There’s also a smaller desk-top version.  It retails for $21.95.  HERE is the link to Asgard Press, who have many other beautiful calendars as well. 

BUT IF YOU’D LIKE TO TRY AND WIN YOUR CALENDAR instead of buying, here’s your chance!  Answer these three questions about three great Western writers who started out in the pulps and other magazines:

      1.) Max Brand, under his own name and five pseudonyms, wrote more than 500 novels and about as many short stories.  He died young, in 1944 when, as a Harper’s Magazine war correspondent in Italy, he was killed by shrapnel.  Although best known for his cowboy stories, his most famous character was in another profession, featured in a hugely successful series of MGM features in the 1930s and 1940s, and on TV in the 1960s.  Name the character.

       2.) Writer Frederick Dilley Glidden is my favorite Western writer, because every line of dialogue he wrote sounded like Randolph Scott said it.  In fact, two of his novels were adapted into Randolph Scott movies – CORONER CREEK and ALBUQUERQUE.  RAMROD and BLOOD ON THE MOON were also based on his novels.  Name his nom de plume, borrowed from a real Old West gunfighter and Tombstone and Dodge City regular.          

 3.)   Once a dentist (like Doc Holliday), Zane Grey’s many novels include RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, THE VANISHING AMERICAN, and have been filmed over a hundred times.  Always athletic, he went to college on a baseball scholarship, but in later life his interest turned to a far different sport, one more commonly associated with Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.  Name the sport.

Send your answers to swansongmail@sbcglobal.net , and please put WESTERN CALENDAR CONTEST in the subject line!  On Friday I’ll put on a mask – not the Masked Rider or Lone Ranger kind, but one I can’t see through – pick a winner from among all correct entries, and I’ll put it in the mail on Saturday!  Good luck!

NEW SPAGHETTI WESTERN ‘6 BULLETS TO HELL’ PREMIERES IN L.A. THURSDAY!

On Thursday, January 15^th at 7 p.m., ‘6 BULLETS TO HELL’ will have its Hollywood premiere at the Chinese Theatre #4, as part of the monthly HollyShorts Screening Series.   If you’re a Round-up regular, you’ve been hearing about 6 BULLETS since they first rolled camera in July of 2013.  

An outgrowth of friendships formed at the Almeria Western Film Festival, this homage to oeuvre of Sergio Leone was filmed in Tabernas, Almeria Spain, at MiniHollywood and at Fort Bravo, the fabled stomping grounds of Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance, Franco Nero – really everyone involved with the roughly 800 Spaghetti Westerns produced in the 1960s and 1970s.

It’s the story of former lawman-turned-farmer Billy Rogers (Crispian Belfrage), who once again straps on his guns to avenge the brutal murder of his wife by ruthless bandit Bobby Durango (Tanner Beard) and his despicable gang.  

It’s co-directed by Tanner Beard, who previously directed the excellent LEGEND OF HELL’S GATE, and Russell Quinn Cummings who co-starred in HELL’S GATE, and plays Sheriff Morris in 6 GUNS.  Also in the cast is Spaghetti Western veteran Antonio Mayans (TOWN CALLED HELL, MORE DOLLARS FOR THE MAGREGGORS), and Aaron Stielstra, who gave a chilling performance in the recent THE SCARLET WORM.  Members of the cast and crew are expected to attend.  To reserve your ticket, go HERE.

SHORELINE VILLAGE HOLDS 1^ST ANNUAL ‘BUCKAROO DAYS’ 

SAT. & SUN. JAN 17&18

Shoreline Village in Long Beach, a place better known for fishing than fast-draws, will celebrate the first of what’s planned as an annual free event, BUCKAROO DAYS.  The fun starts at one p.m. both days, and run ‘til 6 on Saturday and 4:30 on Sunday – don’t miss the ‘Farewell Shoot-out’ at 4 pm!  Among the activities and entertainments will be black-smithing, gold panning, Faro playing, shootouts (they often follows Faro playing), line-dancing, swearing-in of junior deputies, gun-slinging, trick roping, and music by The Fiddle and Pine Band, and the BillHillys – who’ll give your kids lessons for playing on a washboard!  There’ll be a rope-maker working in front of RainDance, the American Indian store, and the Kids’ Corral, with games and such for the youngins’, will be open all day, both days.

Shoreline Village is located at 401-435 Shoreline Village Drive, Long Beach, CA 90802.  562-435-2668.  Or visit them at www.shorelinevillage.com  

‘TRUE GRIT’ – THE WAYNE ONE – SATURDAY AT THE AUTRY!

Saturday, January 16^th, at 1:30 pm in the Wells Fargo Theatre, The Autry will screen TRUE GRIT (1969) as part of their ‘What is a Western?’ series.  It’s easy to think the glory days of American Westerns were over by 1969, but that was also the year of THE WILD BUNCH, BUTCH CASSIDY, THE UNDEFEATED, and MACKENNA’S GOLD.  Guys like Wayne were getting old, but they knew their stuff, as did director Henry Hathaway.  When the Coen Brothers did their excellent remake forty years later, the original was widely dis’d and dismissed by folks who had clearly not seen it in years, and recalled it as corny.  Nonsense: TRUE GRIT is a very tough movie, beautifully shot by Lucien Ballard, with a wonderful score by Elmer Bernstein, and directed with the unflinching guts that only a tough old bastard (and I mean that in the most respectful way) like Hathaway could muster.  The wonderful cast, in addition to the Oscar-winning performance by Wayne, includes Robert Duvall, Jeremy Slate, Dennis Hopper, and Strother Martin – who was also in both WILD BUNCH and BUTCH CASSIDY: what a year he had!  Glen Campbell, a great musician but untrained actor, was always sheepish about his performance, but he did just fine.  And Kim Darby, as Mattie Ross, the bossy little gal who hires Wayne to catch her dad’s killer, gives the performance of her career. 

With the remake, much was said, by the Coen brothers among others, about it not being a remake, but a return to the original novel.  That’s a load of crap, because it implies that the Hathaway version strayed far from the Charles Portis book.  The only major difference plot-wise, is that the Coens used the original Portis ending.  But the fact is Portis, who was on-set for the 1969 film, thought he could come up with a better ending than he’d written in the novel, and he certainly did.  SPOILER ALERT!  Incidentally, I have it on good authority that when word got out that the Coens were going with the novel’s ending, featuring an old Addie Ross, Kim Darby  very much wanted to play that role.  Elizabeth Marvel did an admirable job in the part.  But it would have meant so much more if Kim Darby had played it.

TRUE GRIT will be introduced with a discussion led by Jeffrey Richardson, curator of Popular Culture and of the Gamble Firearms Collection. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

Sorry I’m posting a day late!  I thought it would be Sunday, but I had to finish reading a novel and writing a cover blurb, had to steam wallpaper off the dining room walls, and when I came home had to help an elderly neighbor who was calling – “Help! I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” Honest!  I’ve just read a wonderful book, KNOTT’S PRESERVED, about the fabled California theme park Knott’s Berry Farm.  I interviewed one of its authors, J. Eric Lynxwiler, last week, and will have my review and interview in the next week or two.

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright January 2015 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

‘RIFLEMAN’ SEASON ONE REVIEW, PLUS ‘HIGH NOON’ WEST AMERICANA AUCTION!

‘THE RIFLEMAN’ -- SEASON ONE DVD REVIEW

For the first time ever, Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions has issued the complete first season of THE RIFLEMAN in one forty-episode set.  It’s a beauty!  Not only will it bring back great memories, this RIFLEMAN collection is a perfect introduction to the western genre for kids.  Jules Levy, Arthur Gardner and Arnold Laven met during the Second World War, while serving under Warner Brothers Studio President Jack L. Warner, and future President Ronald Reagan, in the Army Air Force Motion Picture Unit at Hal Roach Studios.  They decided to form a production company together when the war was over, and had success with their first movie, an eerie film noir, WITHOUT WARNING! (1952).  The triumvirate worked democratically – when decisions had to be made, they took a vote, and two out of three votes won.  

It worked very well.  While all three men produced, Arnold Laven excelled in directing, helming many movies and hundreds of TV episodes.  While Levy-Gardner-Laven has a long and successful history of producing TV series and feature films – GERONIMO, SAM WHISKEY and KANSAS CITY BOMBER among the latter – they are undoubtedly best remembered for their two exceptional Western series, THE BIG VALLEY and THE RIFLEMAN.

It’s often pointed out that in the late 1950s, there were over thirty western TV series in prime time, and it’s not by chance that today, only a very few of those are still seen regularly, even fewer among the black and white shows: GUNSMOKE, WAGON TRAIN, RAWHIDE and THE RIFLEMAN.  These shows have stood the test of time, and RIFLEMAN is unique in the group, in the sense that a viewer will, over the years, get to appreciate it as two different shows – seeing it first through the eyes of a child, then through the eyes of a parent.   The degree of reality in both the son’s and the father’s world was more than unusual; it was unprecedented.  Chuck Connors, as a widowed ‘Pa’, Lucas McCain, was seen as powerful, wise, and unshakably independent; but even he couldn’t always triumph when the cards were stacked against him, even if, in the long run, good won out over evil.  In the series opener, THE SHARPSHOOTER, Johnny Crawford, as son Mark, is completely unaware of the covert threats made against himself, even as most kids would be while watching the show; but it chills the blood of a father to watch it, understanding how helpless Lucas is.

It scares me every time Lucas looks at me like that!

THE RIFLEMAN pilot premiered on ZANE GREY THEATER, the Western anthology series produced and hosted by Dick Powell, which also served as the birthplace of JOHNNY RINGO, THE WESTERNER, BLACK SADDLE, TRACKDOWN, WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE, and in a sense, THE REBEL (Dick Powell ordered a pilot of THE REBEL, but when Mark Goodson and Bill Todman offered producer Andrew Fenady a full season commitment, gentlemanly Powell let the project go).  The first season of THE RIFLEMAN itself spawned another series, LAW OF THE PLAINSMAN, starring Michael Ansara as Sam Buckhart, a Harvard-educated Apache working as a Deputy Marshal.  Ansara plays that role in episodes #21 and #37 of RIFLEMAN.

This set begins with the original, Arnold Laven-directed, Dick Powell-introduced version of the show from ZANE GREY, and is followed by the ‘official’ RIFLEMAN version.  Watch them both in sequence and you’ll see the subtle differences.  Most of the footage is the same, but some of the scenes with Lucas and Mark have been re-shot.  In the story, Lucas and Mark, looking for a ranch to buy, find one near North Fork.  A shooting contest is about to be held, and if Lucas can win, he’ll have a sizable down-payment on the ranch.  His main competition is a barely-wet-behind-the-ears professional shooter, callow and cocky but likable, played with startling depth by a very young Dennis Hopper.  Either man could win; but the money behind Hopper is Leif Erickson, who wins all competitions he enters, at all costs.    

It’s a terrific show, both as a stand-alone episode, and in introducing the series.  Sam Peckinpah wrote it, and one can’t help guessing that his involvement in the first season, especially the early shows, had a profound effect on the path the series would take.  He also wrote the second episode, HOME RANCH, where Lucas must stand against a rich land-owner and his thug cowboys who want Lucas’ new ranch for his own cattle grazing.  Sam went on to write and direct four more episodes, three of them in the first season, and THE MARSHALL, episode #5, is of particular interest.  Not only does it introduce the Paul Fix character of Marshal Micah Torrance; it is in many ways a first draft of Peckinpah’s RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY.   It features Abby Dalton in what would become the Mariette Hartley role of the lonely girl impressed and seduced by a suave stranger, with James Drury as that stranger in both TV show and movie.  R.G. Armstrong here plays the girl’s uncle and guardian, and in the movie he will play her father.  And Warren Oates plays Drury’s no-account saddle-mate on the episode, and his no-account brother in the movie. 

Not that Peckinpah was the only standout talent in the writing end of the series.  Episode #3, END OF A YOUNG GUN, was penned by playwright Frank D. Gilroy, who would win the Pulitzer Prize for THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES.  The show guest-stars the very young and effective Michael Landon as a wounded outlaw.  Gilroy, incidentally, wrote many Western TV episodes, and has never lost his enthusiasm for the genre.  In the late ‘80s I had the pleasure of editing test scenes for a western he wrote and was to direct, THE CHALLENGE.  Sadly, the project never went beyond the test stage.

The guest casts are full of surprises.  In addition to those I’ve already mentioned, a small sampling of the fine performers you’ll see include Sidney Blackmer, GILDA-villainGeorge McCready, Cesare Danova, Robert Vaughn, Claude Akins, John Carradine, Katy Jurado, Machael Pate, and dozens more.  Among the other excellent directors are Jerry Hopper and Joseph H. Lewis.

THE RIFLEMAN set is attractively packaged and comes on eight disks, and the image quality is stunningly crisp, with a wide range of grays.  In addition to an episode-by-episode booklet, the set includes some very enjoyable and informative special features, starting with a welcome by Arthur Gardner, who will turn 104 this June!  Along with the ZANE GREY pilot are original promos for the series, featuring Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, and David Niven, who was one of Dick Powell’s partners in Four Star Productions.  And each of the episodes on disk #1 are introduced by Lucas McCain himself, the late, great Chuck Connors! 

The final disk includes two photo galleries, one of episode scenes, and one of behind-the-scenes activity.  Best of all, there is an interview with Arthur Gardner, actually an excerpt from his career interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.   

You can order season one of THE RIFLEMAN at the new official website HERE, or at  http://www.therifleman.net/.  There you will also find plenty of information about the series and the people who made it.  In addition to the DVD set, you can also buy art prints, a calendar, mugs, and Arthur Gardner’s autobiography, THE BADGER KID.  There are five seasons and 168 episodes of THE RIFLEMAN.  I can’t wait for the other 128!

HIGH NOON WESTERN AMERICANA AUCTION – JAN. 25 IN MESA, ARIZONA

Roy and Dale scripts and kid's books

The folks from HIGH NOON scour the country all year for this event, and as always, what they come up with is truly remarkable.  They have beautiful American Indian work of all kinds; saddles, bits, bridles, spurs, silver and leatherwork from Edward Bohlin and all of the other great practitioners – they even have Bohlin’s own saddle; graphic art by Frederick Remington, Will James, James Boren and many others.  And there are items from the real West, the fabled west, and that netherworld in between.

WellsFargo items

Arness' Matt Dillon .45 

Among item of particular interest are scripts, badges and boots once the property of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, lots 1-4 (each est. $400-1000).  A beautiful gold and silver-trimmed Bohlin briefcase that was the property of J. R. Ewing-portrayer Larry Hagman, lot 8 ($7000-11,000).  Lot #52 is several items relating to Wells Fargo (est $1500-2000).  Among the art is a picture of a donkey, entitled ‘A Reluctant Packer’ by James Boren, lot #149 (est. $700-900).  There are several Montie Montana items, including a photo of Montie lassoing President Eisenhower , and the rope it was done with, lot #178 (est. $10,000-15,000). 

Tom Mix chaps

Then there are the top star pieces: Tom Mix’s chaps (#237 est. $12000-16000), James Arness’ Colt from GUNSMOKE (#179, est. $8000-10000), and John Wayne’s saddle from THE SHOOTIST (#235 est. $5000-7500).  To learn more, order a catalog, or see the entire catalog on-line, and place your bids, visit www.highnoon.com

Larry Hagman's Bohlan briefcase

NEXT SATURDAY’S ‘WHEN CALLS THE HEART’ -- A TELLING SILENCE

Episode three of the Hallmark Chanel  series, directed by Michael Landon Jr., based on Janette Oke’s novel pits a pair of preachers against each other: the salaried mining-company minister (Adrian Hough as Rev. Anderson) versus a mine-disaster widow who holds Sunday-school services in a meadow (Chelah Horsdel as Cat Montgomery).  And the shrinking flock of the reverend may reflect something more sinister than it first appears.  After all, the reason Elizabeth (Erin Krakow) is teaching school in a saloon is because the Rev. Anderson’s church, where classes used to be held, burned to the ground the night of the mining disaster.  Constable Jack (Dan Lissing), looks into the possibility of arson, and spots a clue the Pinkertons overlooked.  At the same time, Elizabeth tries to help a little girl (Mamie Laverock) who was struck mute when her father died in the mine disaster. 

‘FIREBALL’ SIGNING AT SANTA MONICA FLYING MUSEUM!

On Thursday night I attended the inaugural book-signing for Robert Matzen’s FIREBALL: CAROLE LOMBARD & THE MYSTERY OF FLIGHT 3, held on the 72^nd anniversary, and noting during the presentation, the very minute that DC-3 carrying the actress, just back from a bond rally, and twenty-one other innocent people, crashed into a mountain outside of Las Vegas, killing everyone aboard.  It’s a fascinating story, never before told with this much clarity and original research, and I’ll be reviewing it soon in the Round-up. 

WIN TICKETS TO SEE ENNIO MORRICONE!

The great maestro of cinema music will be presenting two concerts, his first in the United States, to celebrate his 85^th birthday!  If you’re near New York City or Los Angeles, enter to win a pair of tickets, and admission to a rehearsal as well!  Go HERE to enter! 

TREASURES FROM THE ‘ALL-AMERICAN COLLECTOR SHOW’

Saturday I dropped into the twice-a-year All-American Collector Show at the Glendale Civic Auditorium.  It’s a great place for antique toys, advertising, movie memorabilia, paper collectibles – you name it.  There’s a dealer who always has hundreds – maybe thousands – of these Swedish candy-cards to sort through.  They were hugely popular with kids from the ‘40s through the ‘70s, and along with a lot of pop music and cartoon items, there are lots of movie and TV items – Western and mainstream.  Here’re two of the 1” x 2” cards I picked up – pretty nice for 50 cents apiece.  The next show will be in August. 

THAT’S A WRAP!

That’s it for this week!  Don’t forget that Monday night is the start of KLONDIKE on the Discovery Channel.  Have a great week!

Happy trails,

Henry

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

CAMERAS ROLL FOR ‘LAST DUANE’ AT MELODY RANCH!

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

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

George Montgomery

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

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

Jason Patric

Danny Trejo

Rose McGowan

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

Peter Sherayko & Anthony DeLongis

The Tiffany Grips

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

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

Chris Ramirez

Larry Poole, Willy Clark & Heath Hammond

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

Addy Radpour

Brian Herrington & Tony Redburn

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

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

THE HIGH CHAPARRAL RETURNS ON INSP!

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

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

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

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

‘YELLOW ROCK’ AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Busts of Clark Gable, Martin Luther King

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Trails,

Henry

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