‘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

‘HOWDY KIDS!’ WESTERN DVD COLLECTION BRINGS BABY-BOOMER CHILDHOOD BACK ALIVE!

(UPDATED 6/5/2013 -- See Roy Rogers section of 'Howdy, Kids!!' review, Tom Mix screening)

Those of us who grew up in the post-World War II baby boom had, unquestionably, the best TV childhood of any generation.  There is a reason that people of several generations still watch shows like SUPERMAN and LEAVE IT TO BEAVER: they really were as good as you remembered, and not aimed down to you, but  rather geared to your interests.  Some series whose genres have fallen out of favor have disappeared – CAPTAIN GALLANT and RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE are still good campy fun, but kids of today would have no idea what to make of a Foreign Legion or Jungle series.

Among the shows that have stood the test of time, not surprisingly, are those in that most American and most cinematic of all genres, the Western.  Now the good and very hip/edgy folks at SHOUT FACTORY have put together a delightful sampler, a three DVD, twenty-four episode, ten hour collection of cowboy favorites.  It includes episodes from a dozen favorite series, as well as a pair of fascinating unsold pilots.   Entitled HOWDY KIDS!! – A SATURDAY AFTERNOON WESTERN ROUND-UP, the word ‘afternoon’ is a misnomer, as the whole point of these shows – from a parental perspective – was to keep the kids busy and quiet on Saturday ‘morning’, so grown-ups could catch up on their sleep.  Shout Factory has selected very well, and watching them will spark fond memories from those of us who grew up with them.  They’ll also serve as a great introduction to children and grandchildren – and decode a bit about their parents’ and grandparents’ psyches – when the youngsters see them for the first time.   

 

Early TV benefited tremendously from the training ground of Republic Pictures.  Many of the directors, writers, editors and other crew members and character actors who had learned to perform their crafts with slick, stylish efficiency at the little studio in the San Fernando Valley, quickly found their services in demand all over the small screen.  This was particularly true for one of the very best series of the day, THE ROY ROGERS SHOW, whose TV episodes were like a really good Republic Western without the excessive musical padding.  But Roy, who was still under contract to Republic for seven pictures a year, was forbidden by the studio to do a series.  The court battle over Roy doing the series, and Republic airing his movies, went on for years.  When the prairie fire burned itself out, Republic ran the movies, and Roy starred in his series, but he never appeared in a major studio film again, and his lawyer, Art Rush, always thought Roy had been blackballed as too difficult. Premiering in 1951, husband and wife Roy Rogers and Dale Evans spent seven years and 102 episodes in Mineral City, as friends but not spouses, with Roy as a rancher and unofficial lawman, Dale running the coffee shop, and Roy’s old pal from The Sons Of The Pioneers, Pat Brady – he of the Jeep named Nellybelle –  as Dale’s dishwasher and Roy’s sidekick.  The shows also featured Trigger, “Roy’s golden palomino… and Roy’s wonder-dog, Bullet,” and horse and dog were frequently called upon to carry a message or untie Roy’s hands.   Roy had a very natural acting style that has aged well when others have dated, and his shows often had more plotting, riding, and rough-and-tumble fighting than the others.  A modern-day Western series, this is the sort of show, mixing horses and stagecoaches with Jeeps and telephones, that forever confused the kids of my generation, who believed that if we could only manage to get out west, we could wear six-guns and rob stagecoaches.  Of the two episodes included, THE SETUP is only the third one of the series, centering around a feisty old-lady trapper who won’t sell her land, and the crooks who are willing to shoot her, or have her declared insane to get her property (kinda edgy for a kid show).  The second episode, BAD NEIGHBORS, is from the 4^th season, and features the rarely seen Post Cereals credit sequence. 

No one knew more about making quality B Westerns for a price than Gene Autry, who had preceded Roy at Republic – Roy actually had been promoted to stardom to replace Gene, who had gone off to war.  Gene Autry produced THE GENE AUTRY SHOW from 1950 to 1955, starring in 91 episodes.  But he also produced several other series under his FLYING A PRODUCTIONS banner, four of which are represented in THE HOWDY KIDS!! collection.  ANNIE OAKLEY stars beautiful Gene Autry-discovery Gail Davis as ‘Little Sure-shot,’ although the series bears no relation to her actual life.  Annie, her kid brother Tagg (Jimmy Hawkins) assist Deputy Lofty Craig (Brad Johnson) in protecting their little town of Diablo, and there is plenty of action, though more of the shooting kind – Annie’s specialty – than fisticuffs.  No surprise that Annie was a favorite among girls – she was better with a gun than any man, but never lost her humor or femininity.  All of the Autry shows were well-produced, and with a varying range of locations.  In addition to Gene’s own Melody Ranch, Vasquez Rocks, Iverson’s Movie Ranch, Pioneertown and the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine are frequently seen.

There were 78 episodes of Autry’s THE RANGE RIDER produced between 1951 and 1953, and while Gene drew on the Republic directors and stock-company of villains, the series’ greatest assets were its charismatic stars, Jock Mahoney as The Range Rider, and Dickie Jones as his young sidekick, Dick West.  In addition to being good actors, they did all of their own stunts – and there was an astonishing amount of trick-riding, leaping on and off of horses, diving through windows and the like.  Starting under his birth-name of Jacques O’Mahoney in the mid 1940s, Jock had stunt-doubled for dozens of stars before becoming a star himself.  Jones was a trick-rider and roper from the age of four (!), and at six was hired by Hoot Gibson to perform in his rodeos.  In addition to his work on-camera in westerns, serials and Our Gang comedies, Dick had starred on radio as HENRY ALDRICH, and for Disney voiced the title character in PINNOCHIO.   The episode BULLETS AND BADMEN features ANNIE OAKLEY-hero Brad Johnson as a villain.  Like his movies, Gene Autry’s shows often dealt with social issues, and the episode CONVICT AT LARGE examines an ex-outlaw’s attempt to go straight when few want to give him a chance. 

After RANGE RIDER rode off into the sunset, Dickie Jones was back in another Autry series, BUFFALO BILL JR., playing the title role of a young Marshal – with little or nothing to do with the real Cody, senior or junior.  Little Nancy Gilbert played his forever-in-trouble kid sister Calamity (what can parents expect when they give a kid that name?), and Harry Chesire was Judge Ben ‘Fair ‘n’ Square’ Wiley, who is saddled with raising the two whippersnappers.  This show is what used to be called a ‘haircut’ (gender switch) on ANNIE OAKLEY, and was very popular, if not quite up to the RANGE RIDER standard; but it was full of the sort of riding and fighting and shooting action you expected from Dickie Jones.  One included episode focuses on a town milliner who is fingering likely candidates for robbery.  The other details a search for a treasure buried by Jesse James.

 

 

Gene Autry even tried to build a series around his famous horse in THE ADVENTURES OF CHAMPION, which ran for one 26-episode season in 1955/56.  Set in old Arizona, it starred Barry Curtis as Ricky North, the only person ‘Champion the Wonder Horse’ would obey, with Jim Bannon, a former Red Ryder, as Ricky’s dad, and a German Shepherd named Rebel, who could have been Bullet’s brother.  It’s a nice series, some of it directed beautifully by old pros like Ford Bebee, who was helming Westerns in the silent days, and knew how to tell an animal story with minimal dialogue.  Perhaps it didn’t ‘click’ because it focused more on boy than horse, and Curtis, while a good actor, was saddled with a character so earnest that he made Timmy from LASSIE seem like a juvenile delinquent.  With the show cancelled, he went on the next year to play Van Heflin’s son In 3:10 TO YUMA. 

 

 

FURY started the same year as CHAMPION, and ran for five seasons and 116 episodes.  Fury was a beautiful but wild stallion, and Bobby Diamond played Joey Newton, the only person Fury would obey (sound a little familiar?).  Following the great TV tradition, Joey was an orphan, adopted and raised by Jim Newton (Peter Graves), and they lived on and worked the Newton Ranch with crusty old sidekick Pete (William Fawcett).  Fawcett, a Ph. D., who taught theatre at Michigan State, started acting on film and TV right after the war.  Among his 274 screen credits were every single series included in HOWDY, KIDS!!  -- except for ADVENTURES OF CHAMPION.   Originally planned as a prime-time series, Peter Graves was furious at first, when they switched its time slot to Saturday morning.  A modern-day Western series, with superior acting and production, the episode KILLER STALLION is the first after the pilot, and involves a case of mistaken horse-identity, and Joey’s fight to save Fury from being put down for stampeding other horses.  SCORCHED EARTH could have been a boring p.s.a. about forest fires in less talented hands, but instead is very exciting.   

Two series made a direct transition from radio to television: THE LONE RANGER and SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON.     Both are credited as created by George W. Trendle, although many insist that LONE RANGER was truly the creation of head writer Fran Striker.  Brace Beemer played the daring masked rider of the planes on radio, but a younger and more fit man was needed on-screen, and Clayton Moore was perfect.  A busy but undistinguished actor with an unusually distinctive voice, his portrayal came alive when the mask went on, and he made an indelible impression as the Lone Ranger.  Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk, played his faithful Indian companion Tonto, and although his dialogue was written to make it clear that English was his second language, his characterization was subtle and memorable.  And they didn’t soft-pedal the racial elements; until they learned better, many white folk started the episodes addressing Tonto as “Indian,” as though he didn’t have a name.      

Coming with a tremendous backlog of already-produced half-hour stories, the shows at first relied heavily on adapting radio scripts, as can be seen in THE RENEGADES, episode 8 of the first season.  This caused them to be rather stiff and stilted.  Actor Gerald Mohr, who spoke those well-remembered words from the opening – “…Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear!  From out of the past come the thundering hoofbeats of the great horse Silver!  The Lone Ranger Rides again!” – voiced much un-needed and distracting narration that was carried over from radio.  But by episode 11, SIX GUN’S LEGACY, they had cut back noticeably on the exposition.  The production values are high in these early shows, with plenty of location work, and a bit of stock footage thrown in.  Later on the series became famous for cutting corners.  Dick Jones who, in addition to starring in THE RANGE RIDER and BUFFALO BILL JR. guested on the LONE RANGER, recalled that the camera was mounted on a tripod in the back of a truck at all times, so they could change set-ups that much quicker.

SERGEANT PRESTON came to television six years later, in 1955, but was even more radio-tied and stiff than LONE RANGER, and Richard Simmons portrayed Preston with an ‘1890s melodrama’ broadness that was a distinct, and quirky, part of the show’s charm.  One of the few shows shot in color – the LONE RANGER didn’t get color until near the end of its run – it was still one of the most old-fashioned, and the episode CRIME AT WOUNDED MOOSE features a horde of masked bandits that look like they’re right off of a WEIRD TALES pulp cover.   Did I mention that Preston is ably assisted by his lead sled-dog, “…his wonder-dog Yukon King!” 

THE CISCO KID, produced by ZIV Television, was shot in color, which contributed greatly to the series’ value and longevity.  When O. Henry created the Cisco Kid in his short story THE CABALLERO’S WAY, the Kid was a pretty rotten villain, and his image had been continually scoured and polished ever since.  By the time that Duncan Renaldo, who had played him in some movies for Monogram and United Artists, was playing him again for television, Cisco was “O. Henry’s Robin Hood of the old west!”  Or more properly, as Duncan described him, Don Quixote, with Leo Carrillo as Pancho, the Sancho Panza character.  Like the Lone Ranger, they didn’t shoot bad guys; they shot the guns out of their hands.  Much of the pleasure of this series is the charm of the two stars, who had been in the movies for decades.  Leo Carrillo, who had started at the tail end of the silent era, and had played Pancho opposite Renaldo in the United Artists films, was over seventy when he began the series, but put in a tremendous amount of work in the sun and in the saddle.  Duncan Renaldo’s background was as mysterious as any movie (read my article about him HERE http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2010/08/amazing-adventures-of-duncan-renaldo.html), but he’d had a long career at Republic, and had written some movies as well.  Their chemistry on-screen was a joy.  Marcia Mae Jones, who starred with them in the GHOST TOWN episode, told me that they were terribly competitive, and always concerned about who was getting more close-ups, but that never came through to the audience.  Incidentally, as many of these series were syndicated over the years, cuts were made to allow for more ads.  I’d seen GHOST TOWN several times, but only with this version have I finally seen the first four minutes, which not only sets up an otherwise unintelligible plot, but also features moving scenes with Cisco and Pancho nearly dying of thirst in the desert.  The series lasted for seven seasons, ending in 1956, and produced 156 episodes, which were re-run for decades.  The stars’ identification with these characters was complete, which was fine with both men.  After playing Pancho, Leo Carrillo only did two TV guest shots before he died in 1961at the age of 80.  Duncan Renaldo died in 1980, at the age of 76, and never played another character onscreen again.

 

 

In 1955, when Bill Williams finished starring in 103 episodes of THE ADVENTURES OF KIT CARSON, he said he never wanted to hear the name ‘Kit Carson’ again.  I’m with him.  I’m not saying it was a terrible series, but it wasn’t very good.  The shows tended to be static, with way too much time spent talking in interiors, and not enough plot or action.  The biggest weakness was Williams himself, who was very handsome, but a lox.  Ironically, his sidekick, El Toro, played by Don Diamond, had all the personality that the star lacked.  Although actually a Russian Jew from New York City, Diamond excelled at playing Mexicans, and was also a regular on Disney’s ZORRO series before winning his best-remembered role as Crazy Cat on F-TROOP.  El Toro’s obsession with the ladies makes for trouble, and in the episode THE DESPERATE SHERIFF, about a new and unsure lawman, and a prisoner who must be held when there is no jail cell, the femme fatale of the piece is no less than Movita, Tehani of 1935’s MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, and later the first wife of Marlon Brando.

Although Kirby Grant had done many films, playing Mounties and cowboys and foils for Abbott and Costello, the role of SKY KING defined his image as much as The Lone Ranger did Clayton Moore, and he gloried in it.  In fact, after eight years and 72 episodes, once the show ended in 1962, Grant never played another character onscreen again.  Unlike the ‘in between’ shows like ROY ROGERS, SKY KING was as modern as a modern-day Western could be, and lots of fun, with Sky flying his Cessna, ‘The Songbird,’ all over the west to save the stranded and track the lawless.  With him was his adorable, if often ditzy, niece Penny, played by Gloria Winters, and probably half of the episodes involved getting Penny out of some harebrained trouble.  But to be fair, Penny could also fly to the rescue when given the chance.  The featured episode, BULLET BAIT, centers on a wedding being held at Sky’s Flying Crown Ranch, until gangsters kidnap the groom and threaten the bride.      

THE RIFLEMAN is the oddest choice of the set, because even though, like CHAMPION, FURY, and BUFFALO BILL JR., it focused on a boy, rather than being a Saturday Morning show, it was an ‘Adult Western’ in the mold of GUNSMOKE, and made by some of the same tough characters, including writer and director Sam Peckinpah.  In 168 episodes, from 1958 to 1963, Chuck Connors was widower Lucas McCain, Johnny Crawford was his son Mark, and the two shared a ranch just outside of North Fork, New Mexico in the 1880s.   Although Lucas was as good with his modified Winchester as Annie Oakley was with her guns, it couldn’t have been more different: Lucas avoided showing off his gun whenever possible, yet almost always ended up having to kill someone, something that was rarely featured, especially on-camera, on the Saturday morning shows.  In the featured episode, DAY OF THE HUNTER, Lucas must deal with charming but sinister mountain-man John Anderson, who is determined to force Lucas into a duel, and cruelly manipulates Mark into making it happen.  It’s much darker than you’d ever have on a Saturday morning show, but very good, until a scene at the end which I won’t give away, except to say that it is not merely bad, but laughable, in a series in which you would never expect it. 

Rounding out the set are a pair of unaired pilots that run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous.  To take the ridiculous first, THE ADVENTURES OF RICK O’SHAY, with no connection to the same-named comic strip, starred Steve Keyes, with sidekicks Bob Gilbert and Ewing Brown.  The plot, if you can call it that, involves kidnapping, and characters so stupid that they agree to take part believing it’s a practical joke.  While some of the outdoor photography is better than adequate, the acting is embarrassing, and the tech work, especially indoors, is horrible, reminiscent of the worst junior high school play you’ve ever seen.  The only name worth mentioning is director Oliver Drake, who was a fairly good and prolific screenwriter but a very poor director. (We do owe him a debt of thanks for co-writing STUNT MAN: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF YAKIMA CANUTT.)    

On the sublime side, THE ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER, created as a comic strip by Fred Harman, had been a hit in the newspapers, then on radio.  Republic made a very good and popular serial starring Don ‘Red’ Barry (that’s where he got ‘Red’), and Tommy Cook as his Indian orphan companion Little Beaver.  This was followed by a long series of Republic features, first with Wild Bill Elliot, then with Allan ‘Rocky’ Lane as Red, and always with Bobby Blake as Little Beaver.  The last big-screen Red Ryder was Jim Bannon of THE ADVENTURES OF CHAMPION, and in 1951, when this pilot was made for a possible TV series, Bannon was back, and turning on the charm in a big way.  While the mystery boy who played Little Beaver – billed as ‘himself’ – was not up to the Cook or Blake standard, the rest of the cast was exceptional.  Lyle Talbot was the main villain, trying to engineer the rustling of cattle entrusted to Ryder’s care.  Olive Carey, widow of Harry Carey and mother of Harry Carey Jr., played ‘The Dutchess,’ the wealthy lady Red works for.  Kenneth MacDonald was the man who knew too much to live!  Robert J. Wilke, one of the West’s best grinning badmen had a wonderful knock-down drag-out saloon brawl with Red; and Dick Curtis, another top-shelf swine, has a bullwhip duel with Red!  Director Thomas Carr, a master of Western action, and director of many of the best SUPERMAN shows was at the helm.  The tight script was penned by Charles Belden, who’d written many Westerns, and many of the best Charlie Chan pictures.  It’s thoroughly entertaining, and I’m amazed it didn’t sell.  Incidentally, in 1956, another pilot was shot, featuring Allan ‘Rocky’ Lane as the redhead, and it didn’t sell either.             

I thoroughly enjoyed HOWDY KIDS!!, and I’m sure anyone of an age to remember some of the shows, or anyone who wants to know more about kid television, will enjoy it as well.  Sadly, this sort of kid-centered action entertainment, a direct descendent of the Saturday matinees with serials and B Westerns, did not last long.  As actors, justifiably, began demanding a bigger piece of the action, production budgets, though infinitesimal by today’s standards, soared, and live action was soon dumped in favor of cheap-to-produce cartoons.  But boy, it was great while it lasted!   HOWDY, KIDS!! is priced at $19.98, and available from the Shout Factory HERE.

 

5 GEORGE O'BRIEN WESTERNS ON TCM STARTING TUES. A.M.

Turner Classic Movies will show five George O'Briens starting this morning at 5:45 a.m., Pacific time, interspersed with other movies.  They are MARSHAL OF LOST MESA (1939), BULLET CODE (1940), LEGION OF THE LAWLESS (1940), PRAIRIE LAW (1940) and TRIPLE JUSTICE (1940).  And later in the afternoon they'll show Tim Holt in ROBBERS OF THE RANGE (1941).

DOUBLE INDEMNITY SATURDAY AT THE AUTRY

Don't know quite how it'll fit into 'What Is A Western?', but Billy Wilder's film of Raymond Chandler's screenplay from James M. Cain's novel is so close to perfect that it's a must-see regardless. Prior to the screening, there'll be a talk by Glynn Martin, executive director of the Los Angeles Police Museum, discussing L.A.'s importance to films noir. It's at 1:30 pm, and did I mention it stars Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck and Edward G. Robinson?

TOM MIX – SELIG FILMS SATURDAY AT THE EGYPTIAN!

On Saturday, June 8^th, at 7:30 p.m. in the Speilberg Theatre at the Egyptian, a program of silent Tom Mix westerns, all produced by Col. Selig, will be presented.  Part of the Cinemateque’s ‘Retro Format Films’ series, all of the prints being shown are 8mm film, possibly the only format in which some still exist.  There will be several shorts, including “An Arizona Wooing” (1915, 23 min.), “A Bear of a Story” (1916, 13 min.) and “Roping a Bride” (1916, 11 min.), followed by the feature JUST TONY (1922), all shown with a live piano accompaniment by Cliff Retallick.  If you’re not familiar with film pioneer Col. Selig, you need to read Andrew Erish’s excellent book, COLONEL WILLIAM N. SELIG – THE MAN WHO INVENTED HOLLYWOOD.  Here’s a link to my mini-review – I’ll have a more extensive one, and an interview with the author, shortly:  http://henryswesternroundup.blogspot.com/2012/12/luke-parrys-third-goodnight-for-justice.html

OUTDOOR EVENTS

As Summer comes along, there are more good things to do out-of-doors.  Please send me your Western events anywhere in the world, and I'll be happy to share them!

JUNE 8-9 17TH ANNUAL INTER-TRIBAL POWWOW, OCEANSIDE

On Saturday and Sunday, arts and crafts, food, dance performances, and drumming, at the San Luis Rey Mission grounds.  (760)-724-8505.  http://slrmissionindians.org/www.slrmissionindians.org/Home.html

JUNE 8 JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION, EARLIMART

Entertainment, speakers, food and drink, puppet shows and tours of the historic buildings of Allensworth.  Allensworth State Historic Park. (661) 849-3433
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21298


THE WRAP-UP

That's it for this week!  If you are a regular Round-up reader (or Rounder), you know that  I've interviewed a number of actors, directors and writers of Westerns, but this past Wednesday I had my first opportunity to interview a film composor, Randy Miller, who composed the soundtrack for YELLOW ROCK, which has just been released on CD on the Intrada label.  I'll have that soon.  Have a great week!

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright June 2013 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved
 

 

 

 

YELLOW ROCK NABS ‘RED NATION’ TOP PRIZES

(Elaine Lockley Smith, Michael Spears, Lenore Andriel, Steve Doucette, Joanelle Romero)

Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor – Michael Spears, and Best Director – Nick Vallelonga were won by YELLOW ROCK, a small-budget independent Western with tons of heart, at Monday’s Red Nation Film Festival Awards Ceremony. Appropriately, the awards were presented at CBS Studios, once the home of Republic Pictures, a hub of production for films about, and starring, American Indians. 

(Peter Sherayko, Ardeshir Radpour)

The Festival began the previous Tuesday, November 1^st, with the premier screening of YELLOW ROCK at the Peltz Theater at the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  There by the red carpet I ran into Peter and Susan Sherayko – in addition to acting in the film, Peter supplied the props, guns, saddles, horses and costumes.  He’d spent the day working with Christian Ramirez on a pseudo-Western project, this one starring Charlie Sheen.  “It’s called A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III.  It’s a modern movie, and today Chris and I went down and set up an Indian village for a dream sequence.  I don’t what the film’s about, I haven’t read the script, but it’s Charlie Sheen, so it’s going to be fun.” 

(Katarina, Christian & Cory Ramirez and Katarina'a sister)

Among the other YELLOW ROCK cast and crew members attending were line producer T.A. Williams and his wife, art director Christian Ramirez and his wife Katarina, prop man Cory Ramirez, writer/producer/star Lenore Andriel, writer/producer Steve Doucette, producer and Melody Ranch top hand Daniel Veluzat, actress and associate producer Amy Jennings, actress and associate producer Elaine Lockley-Smith, wrangler and actor Ardeshir Radpour, and actors Eddie and Michael Spears, Zahn McClarnon, Clay Wilcox, Joseph Billingiere, Rick Mora and Sam Bearclaw. 

(Michael and Eddie Spears)

After all the red-carpet posing, everyone moved into the beautiful Peltz Theater, and the screening began.  I can’t pretend to be an impartial observer of YELLOW ROCK – I was on the set, got to know a lot of the cast and crew (I’d already known James Russo since we were high school kids working together on student films), and have been following along all through post-production – so I’d looked forward to this screening with great anticipation.  And I was not disappointed in the least. 

(Ric Mora, Zahn McClarnon, Michael Spears)

After the screening, Joanelle Romero, actress, and founder and president of the Red Nation Film Festival, brought cast and crew onstage for a Q&A.  Joanelle asked Lenore what the inspiration for YELLOW ROCK was.  “Steve and I were doing research, and we found that in California there were so many small bands of Native Americans who had lived here, and once the Gold Rush happened, they were just driven off, and there is no history of them, and we will never know who they were.  And the more were learned, the more we thought this story hasn’t been told enough.  So we fictionalized the Black Paw tribe – there was no Black Paw tribe.  But what we wanted to do was make it emblematic of the many that died.” 

(Clay Wilcox)

Steve Doucette added, “What’s going on with corporate greed in this country – you still see these things going on with American Indians today: people are still after the mineral rights on their land.  So we hope that our story will remind people that this is still going on.”   

(Daniel Veluzat being interviewed)

Things can move quickly in the film business – the crew is just back from San Francisco, screening YELLOW ROCK at the American Indian Film Festival on Friday.  I’ll keep you up-to-date on the film’s progress, and will have the names of the rest of the Red Nation Film Festival award winners next week.

(Amy Jennings and her family)

(On the way to the screening)

Film Review:  YELLOW ROCK

When Max Detreich (James Russo) and his ominous entourage (Christopher Backus, Peter Sherayko, Clay Wilcox and Brian Gleason) come to town, it’s assumed they’re up to no good.  But he claims they’re on an errand of mercy.  His brother and nephew went trapping around Falcon’s Peak, and never returned.  To find them, he approaches Tom Hanner (Michael Biehn).  Once a lawman, he lost his wife, then his son, and now he’s lost himself in a bottle.  Maybe he can help them find the missing two, and pull himself out of his own quagmire. 

Knowing they’ll have to enter territory of the Black Paw tribe, Hanner enlists the aid of Sarah Taylor (Lenore Andriel), a doctor who is one of the only whites the Black Paws trust.  Dr. Sarah meets with the Chief (Joseph Billingiere) who reluctantly allows the search party on their land, with strict limitations on where they can go, and what they can do.  Dr. Sarah accompanies the search party onto Black Paw ground, and things go rapidly to Hell in a hand basket.  

YELLOW ROCK is a small gem, with a powerful and evocative score by Randy Miller, and often stunningly beautiful photography by Ricardo Jacques Gale.  Forgive me for sounding perverse, but a scene near the end, in a field, is one of the most strikingly beautiful killings of a man that I recall seeing on film. 

And yes, there is plenty of killing – not in an ‘over-kill’ sense -- but the lead flies fast and heavy at times, and Jon Vasquez’s editing makes the most of it, never letting you lose track of who shot at who, who missed and who hit.

The performances are strong, among the more familiar performers and those that may be new to you.  Lenore Andriel is convincing as Dr. Sarah right out of the gate when she must calmly treat a wounded Indian boy with hysteria and panic all around her.  Amy Jennings is effective as her assistant who has no use for Detreich and his men.   As Detreich, James Russo embodies the man who, right or wrong, you do not want to cross.  Michael Biehn is startlingly convincing as the dissipated lawman trying to rise to the occasion.  Among the man Indian actors, Eddie and Michael Spears are effectively used as brothers on opposite sides on the treatment of the white men.  Zahn McLarnon is a stand-out in the role of translator between whites and Black Paws: it’s one of the very few times where you absolutely believe that someone is groping with converting ideas from one language to another.

Admittedly, no movie is perfect.  There is, for instance, a scene with wolves that is beautiful but too long.  Sometimes it seems that characters are taking a long time to grasp a situation that is obvious to the audience.  And I sure thought that a character who was killed early on got killed a second time later on.  But these are minor complaints.  Overall the story is logical and strong, the dialogue always workmanlike-to-crisp, and the characters draw you in.  This is a movie with a lot of heart, about the collision of the white and the red man, and while it toys with the mystical, it never gets sappy about it.

 Book Review – JEFFREY HUNTER AND ‘TEMPLE HOUSTON’

TEMPLE HOUSTON ran for just one season, just 26 episodes, in 1963, and it was very enjoyable – I remember it fondly, nearly fifty years after its brief run.  Starring Jeffrey Hunter and Jack Elam, it was modeled on the son of Sam Houston, who was a very prominent and successful Wild West attorney.  This book by Glenn A. Mosley is subtitled, ‘A Story of Network Television,’ and it is that as much as it is the story of one series and one actor.  It is a story of what goes wrong in television, why it goes wrong, and its implications and lessons reach far beyond the one show.  It’s a cautionary tale that anyone looking to work in television, especially in the writing and producing end, should read.

To begin with, someone has a smart idea: create a Western law series about a real lawyer, Temple Houston.  Base the plots on his real cases.  A studio, in this case Warner Brothers Television, decides to develop it.  Their first move?  Throw out everything they liked about it in the first place: the real cases, and the real personality of Temple Houston the man.   Next step?  Supposedly base the plot on the Philip Lonergan story ‘Galahad of Cactus Spring.’  Why?  Because they already owned that story – they had since the silent days! – and thus they wouldn’t have to give the new writer a ‘Created By’ credit, which would get him payment for every episode thereafter. 

Warner Brothers Television was in a tough way in 1963.  Once the king of TV Westerns with MAVERICK, CHEYENNE, SUGARFOOT, BRONCO and LAWMAN, those shows were mostly gone.  Warner Television had a new President, DRAGNET creator and star Jack Webb, and he was determined to re-dominate prime-time TV.  His first series to be scheduled was THE ROBERT TAYLOR SHOW, with Taylor starring as a special assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.  When the network got a hint that some of the stories would cast a jaundiced eye on some of their sponsors, cigarette makers among them, they pulled the plug, and the TEMPLE HOUSTON folks, just starting to develop the series, were told they were going on the air in a matter of weeks, to fill the ROBERT TAYLOR spot. 

In a way, they never recovered, and the book tells of all the various approaches the producers and writers tried, from serious and lawyerly to broadly comic.  The book also tells about the career of Jeffrey Hunter, a talented actor and a favorite of John Ford – he has a great role in THE SEARCHERS – who some believe was a victim of the ‘Jesus curse’ after starring in KING OF KINGS.  Many actors believe it’s fatal bad luck, career-wise, to play Jesus, and Hunter certainly joined the long list of actors whose career went downhill after that role. 

Sadly, it’s not currently possible to take a new look at the series.  It’s not available on any format, except for the 54 minute pilot, which was released theatrically as THE MAN FROM GALVESTON.  That’s available from the Warner Archive.

The book, entertainingly written, is exhaustively researched, but must, like its short-lived subject, be brief.  It’s only 139 pages long, counting the index, and one does sense a bit of padding – it not only includes descriptions of all TEMPLE HOUSTON episodes, and unwritten episodes for the second season that never happened, it also includes a list of unrealized Jeffery Hunter projects, and an episode guide to the ROBERT TAYLOR SHOW, none of which ever aired.  On the other hand, when you finish the book, I seriously doubt you’ll have any lingering unanswered questions about TEMPLE HOUSTON.  And you may have new insights into how television works, and how remarkable it is that anything half-way good ever gets on the air.  JEFFREY HUNTER AND TEMPLE HOUSTON is $14.95 from Bear Manor Media, at www.bearmanormedia.com, which also published Glenn A. Mosley’s earlier book, HENRY FONDA AND THE DEPUTY: THE FILM AND STAGE STAR AND HIS TV WESTERN. 


THIRD ‘MORGAN KANE’ NOVEL NOW AVAILABLE

As regular Round-up Rounders know, Morgan Kane, sometime lawman and sometime scoundrel, is the star character of the most popular Western series to ever come out of Norway.  WR Films has acquired to rights to all 80 plus novels by Louis Masterson, in conjunction with their upcoming movie MORGAN KANE: THE LEGEND BEGINS, and are releasing them as e-books, to help familiarize the English-speaking world with Kane.  They’ll be releasing a new one every few weeks.
The first two books, EL GRINGO and EL GRINGO’S REVENGE, which together serve as the basis for the first movie – there are at least three movies planned -- have been available online for a few weeks, and now the 3rd book in the series, WITHOUT MERCY, just hit the books-stalls, electronically speaking, this week. You can check it out at Amazon here :http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064GMRSW, and at I-Tunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/without-mercy/id478981224.

 RIFLEMAN REBOOT!

 

CBS is developing a remake of the classic Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, Paul Fix series, scripted by Laeta Kalogridist, who co-produced AVATAR and wrote SHUTTER ISLAND, and Patrick Lussier, who has written three Dracula movies and DRIVE ANGRY, to be directed by 'Harry Potter' helmer Chris Columbus.

The folks at TVSeriesFinale.com contacted singer and band-leader Johnny Crawford to see what he thought of the idea.  He thought it was, “intriguing,” and added, “I would love to be involved as an actor, director or music supervisor. I’ve always loved Westerns and I loved working on the original series.  It was a great childhood.”  Chuck Connors and Johnny Crawford remained close after the end of the RIFLEMAN run, and worked together on BRANDED, PARADISE, and THE GAMBLER RETURNS: THE LUCK OF THE DRAW. 

 ‘HELL ON WHEELS’ EPISODE #2 AIRS SUNDAY NIGHT!

I don’t know about you, but after so many years of nothing new, I’m delighted to have a new weekly Western to look forward to. If you missed episode #1, you can see it here:

 

JUST THREE MORE PERFORMANCES OF 'CHAPS'!

Next weekend, November 18th through the 20th, will be the final performances of 'CHAPS'.  Described as ‘Monty Python Meets The Old West,’ CHAPS, by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner is set in 1944 London, during the War and the Blitz.  When America's favorite singing cowboy Tex Riley and his troupe are late for a special broadcast at the BBC, Mabel the tour manager and Miles the frantic young producer grab a snobby announcer, an agreeable sound man and a soap opera actor, slap them into costume, hand them scripts (after all, it's radio!) and shove them in front of the studio audience. The resulting performance is one England will never forget. 

I just came from the Sunday matinee, and had a great time -- the show is delightfuly goofy and the cast is exuberant and vocally gifted -- and a good thing, because there are more than twenty songs, including many Gene Autry and Sons of the Pioneers favorites, all beautifully backed up by the 'Tex Riley Radio Round-up Orchestra.'

Presented by ELATE (Emmanuel Lutheran Actor's Theater Ensemble), the play will be presented Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm, with a Sunday matinee at 2 pm,  at the Lincoln Stegman Theater, 6020 Radford, North Hollywood, CA 91606.  Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and kids under 13, and Goldstar members can do a little better.  Call 818-509-0882 for tickets.

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.

BONANZA and BIG VALLEY

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They've stopped running GUNSMOKE.  INSP is showing THE BIG VALLEY every weekday at noon, one p.m. and nine p.m., and Saturdays at 6 p.m., and have just added DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN to their schedule.

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. 

AMC has been airing a block of THE RIFLEMAN episodes early Saturday mornings, usually followed by Western features.

And RFD-TV is currently showing THE ROY ROGERS SHOW at 9:30 Sunday morning, repeated several times a week, and a Roy feature as well -- check your local listings.

I guess that's enough for now.  Next week I'll have coverage of the JOHN WAYNE TRIBUTE at the Arclight Cinerama Dome, which included family members, Kim Darby, Earl Holliman, Christopher Mitchum, and a video message from Glen Campbell.
Happy Trails,

Henry

All original content copyright November 2011 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved