'BANDITS' TALK WITH FRED OLEN RAY

UPDATED THURSDAY JULY 1ST -- SEE AMC 4TH OF JULY SALUTE BELOW

I recently interviewed writer-director Fred Olen Ray on the eve of the release of AMERICAN BANDITS: FRANK AND JESSE JAMES. To read my review of BANDITS, CLICK HERE. I knew that Ray was a prolific director, but not how many times he’d sat in the director’s chair.
FRED: I don’t actually know. I stopped counting some time ago, but it’s close to 100.
HENRY: What year did you make your first?
F: The very first film I ever worked on was in 1975. The first one I directed was probably 1977.
H: You’re primarily known for crime and action, sci-fi and horror. Why did you decide to make a western this time?
F: Well, I don’t actually choose a lot of the projects that we do. We’re like anyone else, we get a job offered, and we take it or don’t take it. And we try to do the kind of films that other people are wanting to pay for. And I had made a western before that was very successful.
H: What was that called?
F: When we first did it, it was called THE SHOOTER (1997, starring Michael Dudikoff and Randy Travis). And then on the Western Channel they played it as DESERT SHOOTER. Plays pretty often on TV now. No one ever finances (westerns) any more, so you figure if you get a chance to do a western, that may be the only opportunity in your whole career, so we jumped at it. And it turned out pretty well. It had been nominated for a GOLDEN BOOT AWARD for best picture, but at the budget that it was made at, it wasn’t going to compete with the other films, and we lost out to LAST STAND AT SABRE RIVER (1997). That was a PBS or TNT thing.
H: Oh right, with Tom Selleck, from the Elmore Leonard novel.
F: Right now, the domestic market is actually looking for westerns again. There’s an upswing of westerns. Of course, when Buster Crabbe and those guys were making westerns in the 1940s, there were three or four western towns that you could film at for varying budget levels. Everyone had horses and everyone had wagons, and costumes and their stunt guys who did horse-work. Nowadays, because westerns have been pretty dead, these things don’t exist anymore. They don’t exist at the level that makes it easy to make a low-budget western, and everybody that comes to you wants it to be low-budget. You keep trying to tell them it’s very difficult to do a movie where every single item has to be a period piece. It means renting everything – a guy can’t even wear his own shoes to the set. Everything has to be rented – every prop, every gun. And you know they do a lot of CG (computer generated) gunfire now, but you can’t do that in a western, because there’s so much black-powder smoke that you feel obliged to use blanks. Then there are horses that have to be wrangled. You know, making a western now, if you don’t have a lot of money, that’s a tough way to go, but we did it. I don’t know if we’ll do it again. Everyone wants us to do another one, because the one we did was pretty well received, or at least it has been so far.
H: Talking about western towns, I just spent yesterday at Peetzburgh.
F: Well that’s where part of this was shot. I just spoke to Pete Shereyko two days ago, and that’s an interesting place. We managed to shoot a little bit outside of his buildings, but for the most part what was done there was done interior.
H: I was in the interiors, and they really looked very nice.
F: We actually cleared one half of the saloon area, and made it into the doctor’s office, and it worked pretty well. And Pete has a lot of clothes and he has a lot of guns and this and that, and it does make it a little more manageable, but you still need that all-important either country-side or exterior western town, and if Paramount Ranch doesn’t suit you, or Sable Ranch doesn’t suit you, the price starts going up dramatically. We shot at Melody Ranch for THE SHOOTER. And it was so expensive the producers wouldn’t let us shoot the interiors, because they didn’t want to pay for this big town and then be stuck inside a room. So all the sheriff’s (office) interiors and saloon interiors were all done at Sable Ranch on sets that were dilapidated and falling down, and then when they would walk out they’d be at Melody Ranch. (laughs) So as they came and went they were changing locations.
H: Now you wrote this one as well as directed it?
F: Yes, I wrote it because the budget was limited. I don’t consider myself a writer, I don’t actually like the act of writing. I do it sometimes because I know I can make the movie for the money the producers want to spend if I control that part. That’s the front line of defense, to write the script for the locations that you know, and in a way that you can make it for the money. I was interested in the Jesse James story because my family has a distant relationship to them. I studied up on that. And I am also a Civil War buff, I’m a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans. I was interested in the plight of people after the Civil War. It’s more of a post-Civil War film than a western. It’s pre-cowboy era. It addresses the tough times, the situations the people in the border states found themselves in after being on the wrong side of the war when it ended. We’re not too preachy, but I certainly portray that, and nobody’s busted me for that, so why not?
H: Why not indeed. Now Peter Fonda, coming off his recent success in 3:10 TO YUMA (2007) is top-billed. How did you like working with him?
F: Well, he may look like he’s top-billed on the box-cover, but he’s actually last-billed on the film. He was somebody we were really looking forward to having, because he’s very iconic. And for one moment in time it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. We had made the deal, and I had spoken to him in France, and coming back on the plane, he fell on the jet-way. He busted his jaw open, and he had to have stitches. And (his people) were saying, he can’t be there on this day, and he could probably be ready in a week.
And that’s a week after the movie shoot had ended. So we thought, let’s not get ourselves caught in a tough spot here. Let’s go ahead and film these scenes anyway with a different actor. And if Peter Fonda comes in, we’ll re-shoot them. But if he never shows up, we’re not sitting here with a movie that’s unfinished. So an actor named Greg Evigan came in filmed that role. It was really tough to let go of it because Greg gave it everything he had, everybody did it to the very best of their ability, we were very happy with it and a few days later, after the movie had wrapped, we heard, ‘Okay, Peter Fonda’s ready!’ So we shot the scenes over again with (Peter Fonda), and those are what we used in the movie.
H: I just saw Greg Evigan in the other recent western, 6 GUNS (2010).
F: Yuh, that was actually made some time after ours but came out before ours. The people who made it (The Asylum) are like a film machine – they just grind them out as quickly as possible, and they’ll wrap one week and two weeks later you see it on a shelf somewhere. (laughs) We don’t operate with that kind of speed or efficiency around here!
H: How about the casting of Frank and Jesse James?
F: Well, I brought in a guy named Tim Abell, who worked for me a lot. He was on SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, INC. (1997-1999), the TV series. I had been working with Tim since the very beginning of his career. I knew he was good with horses, I knew he was good with guns, and he had that look that I thought was the way to go. And when everybody saw and met Tim, everybody agreed: this guy is Frank James. And this isn’t really a movie about Jesse James, it’s a movie about Frank James that Jesse James happens to be in. If you watch the film, you may agree.
H: I noticed that Frank gets top billing in the title, which I thought was a nice change.
F: Well you know, it always has to be ‘Frank and Jesse James’ because if you were to reverse it, then the name ‘Jesse James’ would not appear in the title of the film. It would be ‘Jesse and Frank James.’ And it was always Frank and Jesse, because Frank was older. People were asking me if it was possible that a lawman wouldn’t know which one was Frank and which one was Jesse. And I said, absolutely. They were only four years apart, and with most wanted posters being drawings of people, and people growing beards and mustaches all the time, unless somebody was extremely distinctive, there’s a good chance that you’d have to ask which one they were. Now some of the Confederate history guys commented on a few things that were probably not (historically) correct. I said, look, I can’t be the art department, the wardrobe department, and the gun department. I’m the director, I’ll drop back and blame everybody else for every little technical imperfection. I was trying to tell a story.
H: What projects are you working on now?
F: Well, you know, we have another western in the hopper, and we were all set to make it. We’d raised the money and everything. And then we started having cold feet about the foreign territory not returning the money that would justify the risk. And we may yet make that if somebody else wants to put up the money for it. So we’re going back to what we usually do, which is a sort of sci-fi/monster movie. We’re making a movie about a giant shark next.
H: I saw something online about a Sasquatch meeting a Chupacabra (the perhaps mythical ‘goat–blood sucker’).
F: That’s something we had been developing in secret, and we got wind that someone else might be jumping on that bandwagon, so we decided to go ahead and promote the Hell out of it. I’m not planning to make it for a few months. But I wanted to let other people know that we did have this project and we were planning to make it, as a way of sort of warding off copycats. Once we announced that we got contacted by all kinds of people who either wanted to provide a musical score, or wanted to be the writer, or whatever. We actually did hire one of the guys who contacted us to write the shark movie, so I guess it worked out for him.
H: I guess so. What are your favorites of your own films?
F: You know, THE SHOOTER is probably at the top of my very short list. It was well-acted, it was staged properly, I really enjoyed that film. Most of the films we make, it’s like a contractor – which are the favorite houses that you built? Most of the films, we do because someone’s paying us to do it. It’s a job, this isn’t a hobby. Any film that I do that is successful, I’m happy about. I did a film called ACCIDENTAL CHRISTMAS (2007), and Lifetime Channel picked it up as a world premiere, and it plays five or six times a year. So, I’m really fond of that film just because it was successful. And I just did a movie the SyFy Channel has run a couple of times in just the last week called SEA SNAKES (aka SILENT VENOM 2009), with Luke Perry and Tom Berenger. I’m happy with that because it validated itself and people liked it. And if Paramount or Warner Brothers or 20th Century Fox buys one of my films, I’m happy with those films, because it’s hard to get a bigger, better. I’m still waiting for Universal to buy one of my films, but I’ve got all the other top labels.
H: What are your favorite westerns? What westerns have influenced you?
F: I enjoyed FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965). Of those Italian-type westerns, that’s probably my favorite. I worked with Lee Van Cleef in ARMED RESPONSE (1986), another of my very short list of films that are my top favorites. I like the Leone westerns. I liked DJANGO (1966), I liked a movie called KEOMA (1976) which was another Franco Nero film. In THE SHOOTER there are nods to KEOMA. In that film, I believe the guy looks up at one point, there’s a lightning flash, and an old woman looks like a young girl from his past. And I did that when Michael Dudikoff is crucified, he looked down at this prostitute holding an axe. And the lightning flashed, and he saw a woman who you’d only seen in a photograph in his Bible, which was he dead wife. You see her for one brief moment looking up, and then it flashes back, and it’s the prostitute. That came right from KEOMA. There’s probably some other things.
H: How about American westerns?
F: I watched STALKING MOON (1968) recently, I enjoyed that. John Wayne films from the late fifties to the late sixties are my favorite. I liked RIO LOBO, I liked RIO BRAVO, I liked CHISUM, BIG JAKE is one of my all-time favorites. Not a fan of THE WAR WAGON. I kind of like the one with Rock Hudson, where he’s the Confederate, UNDEFEATED. THE SHOOTIST is a great picture. I was lucky enough to connect up and direct John Carradine in some films as well, toward the end of his life, so we had a chance to talk about all of that. I’m doing Billy the Kid next – that’ll be the next one.
H: Can I announce that?
F: Well, that’s what everybody wants. It’s not what Fred wants, but you know what? People say, you’ve got to have a famous character name, and they want Billy the Kid. It’s going to bend all the rules, and we’re not going to follow the real history. I’m going to follow Billy the Kid as if Buster Crabbe was playing the role again. I’ll just make a story about him.
H: I love those old Buster Crabbe, PRC things.
F: You know it’s very funny because I directed Buster Crabbe in a movie.
H: Really, what was it?
F: It was called THE ALIEN DEAD (1980), and it was one of the last things he did. At one point his career sort of stopped. I said, Buster, why did you choose to stop acting? He said, “Well, I’ll tell you, kid. The budgets on these westerns had gotten so low. It was the end of the day, the sun was going down. The producer took me aside, he whispered in my ear. I got on my horse, I raised my hand to all the guys in my posse, I said, ‘Guys, we’re gonna ride to the bottom of the hill, we’ll dismount, and take ‘em by foot.’ And they all rode to the bottom of the hill, jumped off their horses and ran up the hill on foot because at five o’clock the horses went into overtime, and they didn’t want to pay for it.” Buster said, “That was it. When I went home that night I said, that’s it, I’ve had it!” And he retired from films for a while until he did CAPTAIN GALLANT in the fifties. But he sure did make a lot of films.
H: What more can you tell me about BANDITS?
F: We all very much enjoyed making AMERICAN BANDITS. It was originally called SCOFIELD .45, named after the gun, and nobody wanted to call it that but me, so I said, great, I’ll put that title in my back pocket, you’ll be sorry. They wanted to call it AMERICAN BANDITS, I said, dude, there’s a movie called AMERICAN OUTLAWS (2001) about Jesse James already. I don’t really care what you call it. But when you see the film, it’s not a shoot ‘em up. I said, we can afford to do some action at the beginning, some action at the end, and maybe something in the middle, but it has to be about something. And I think that is why people like it, because it’s about something, about these people, and you give a shit. And I felt like it plotted itself out really well. I thought Jeffrey Combs made a very good villain. You don’t think of him as a western star, but, you know, everybody wants to be in a western.
H: Certainly every guy.
F: Yeah, when you say you’re making a western, people come out of the woodwork. I don’t know if it’s because everyone wants to dress up like they were a kid again. They want to ride up, and they’ve got to have that hat and that gun – a lot of people will buy their own gun! They want that gun when the movie’s over, they want to take that gun home. They want to get on those horses, and people will tell you they can ride horses who haven’t a clue how to ride a horse. They get on and you can see they’re terrified. These horses – I don’t even like to stand next to them – they’re gigantic beasts that weigh a ton, and they’re not as controllable as people think. But I felt like the film succeeded because it had a good story between the people, it was sort of a bittersweet thing, and it’s not a rousing western, you know? It’s not cookie-cutter. But we’ll see, won’t we?
H: We sure will. (Photos, from the top, Fred Olen Ray, Tim Abell as Frank James, Tim Abell ans Siri Baruc, Michael Gaglio and Anthony Tyler Quinn, Ray directing Peter Fonda)

SCREENINGS

ANTHONY MANN FESTIVAL AT NEW YORK’S FILM FORUM

What a treat for all of you that live East but love West! From June 25th through July 15th, the Forum will be presenting 26 movies – most in double features and a few in triple bills! -- directed by the great Anthony Mann, whose post-war westerns brought a new-found maturity to the form, and gave James Stewart a chance to stretch as an actor as never before. In addition to the westerns being shown, Mann's fine crime and war stories will also be on view. Among the westerns: BORDER INCIDENT (1949) and DEVIL'S DOORWAY (1950) on Wednesday, June 30th; THE LAST FRONTIER (1956) and GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (1958) on Thursday July 1st; MAN OF THE WEST (1958) and a new 35MM print of THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955) on Friday and Saturday July 2nd and 3rd; BEND OF THE RIVER (1952) and a new 35mm print of THUNDER BAY (1953) on Sunday and Monday, July 4th and 5th; CIMARRON (1960) on Monday July 5th, THE FURIES (1950) and THE TIN STAR (1957) on Tuesday July 6th; THE FAR COUNTRY (1955) and THE TALL TARGET (1951) on Friday and Saturday, July 9th and 10th. To whet your appetite -- and this is for everyone, not just New Yorkers - CLICK HERE to see trailers of several of the Anthony Mann westerns.


AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have HOMELANDS: HOW WOMEN MADE THE WEST through August 22nd, and THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the basketry show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

ON TV

4TH OF JULY WEEKEND JOHN WAYNE SALUTE ON AMC!

Starting Thursday night, July 1st, AMC will run a marathon of John Wayne pictures which, with the exception of a few infomercials and Three Stooges Shorts, will run through Sunday night, Independence Day. The films will be hosted by the husband and wife team of Ty Murray and Jewel. He is the champion bull-rider who did so well on DANCING WITH THE STARS this season. She's the very attractive and talented singer/songwriter whose impressive acting debut was in the excellent Civil War film RIDE WITH THE DEVIL (1999). The movies, most of which will be seen more than once, and begin at 12:30 Friday morning with THE WAR WAGON, include THE COMANCHEROS, HONDO, RIO BRAVO, THE HORSE SOLDIERS, THE WINGS OF EAGLES, OPERATION PACIFIC, THE SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS, MCLINTOCK!, CAHILL, U.S. MARSHAL, NORTH TO ALASKA, CHISUM, THE COWBOYS and THE SHOOTIST. Check your cable of satellite system for the proper times -- and have a great 4th!

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run THE LONE RANGER at 1:30 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.

I've got a few other items I'll try to get listed today or tomorrow.

Adios,

Henry

Copyright June 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, PA!

Updated Monday 6/21/2010 - see NAZI WESTERN and JONAH HEX review below.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dad’s who read the Round-up! And let’s have a big round of applause for every westerner’s favorite TV dad, Lorne Green as Ben Cartwright! And in a nod to dysfunctional families, let’s not forget Leif Erickson as Big John Cannon (yes, in the titles, ‘Big’ is his first name), both shows creations of that great father of TV westerns, David Dortort, who is still going strong at 94! (To watch a long and fascinating interview with Dortort, CLICK HERE.)

WAR BETWEEN THE STATES PACKS ‘EM IN!

Folks who attended the Civil War reenactment at Pierce College Farm last weekend had a wonderful time. Prior to battle, visitors could tour the Yankee and Rebel camps and talk with re-enactors who were wonderfully knowledgeable about the Civil War in general and their unit, weapons and uniforms in particular. It was a delight to be surrounded by so many people who know and care so much about U.S. history.

There were more than five hundred re-enactors taking part, with roughly 200 Union and 200 Confederate soldiers, and a hundred civilians, many of them women, representing those who waited and held the fort at home. The battles themselves were realistic, exciting – and deafening. My wife and I could see the battle very well from our position beside the row of Confederate cannon, but afterwards we couldn’t hear much of anything for a few hours!

There was food available for purchase, as well as Civil War related books and souvenirs, and clothes, from $4 children’s kepis to beautifully tailored dress uniforms for hundreds of dollars – not to mention percussion caps and replacement ramrods. This is the first of what is planned as an annual event. If you attended, and enjoyed yourselves as much as we did, CLICK HERE to e-mail Pierce College and let them know. There are more Civil War-related events on the horizon – in Long Beach in the end of July, and in Moorpark in November, and we’ll bring you details as the dates get nearer. (photos from top: cast of BONANZA, cast of HIGH CHAPARRAL, Union Zoave soldier, Confederate soldiers on the march, women wisely fleeing the battlefield, Confederate cannon battery, General Lee giving commands)

MOVIE REVIEW – JONAH HEX

JONAH HEX is not the worst western ever made, but it’s a very disappointing one. I never read the comic books it’s based on, so I won’t judge it in terms of how closely it follows its source material. The story of Hex, a bounty hunter who, after a near-death experience, is able to get information by laying hands on the dead seems very promising, and actually works in several scenes.

In fact, technically, there is much good to be said about the film. The costuming (Michael Wilkinson), art direction (Seth Reed) and cinematography (Mitchell Amundsen) are excellent. The make-up is highly effective. Josh Brolin’s Hex had a branding iron pressed into his cheek, and later he tried to remove the offending monogram with a Bowie knife, leaving a gaping hole in his cheek. It’s so convincing that it’s sometimes hard to look at (and according to Brolin, it hurt like Hell).

It’s hard to tell where problems of story end and problems of casting begin. Brolin is just right for the role, but the script makes it nearly impossible for him to give anything but a one-note performance. John Malkovich plays, as always, John Malkovich, and while he has his trademarked unnerving presence, he isn’t supposed to be a creepy neighbor, he’s supposed to be Quantrill! He’s far too effete to convincingly play a military officer. Similarly, the usually excellent Aidan Quinn is laughably soft as President Grant. The normally very funny Will Arnet has absolutely nothing to do as Lt. Grass. The dynamic Michael Fassbender plays Burke, Malkovich’s cruel right hand, with admirable gusto. But his cocky Irishness is completely undermined by the fact that his face is completely covered in Maori tattoos! I’m not kidding – the filmmakers assume the audience doesn’t know the Emerald Isle from New Zealand! The girl, actually the ho, is played by Megan Fox, who may be the most beautiful brunette to grace the screen since Hedy Lamarr – who, you will remember, could act. Actually, that’s a bit unfair, because in most of her scenes she acquits herself well. But towards the end of the picture, there’s a sequence where she and Brolin are chained to overhead pipes, and one repeatedly sees a smirk appearing on her face, followed by abrupt cuts. One suspects that to get a disciplined performance out of Fox, a more Hitler-like director is required. (Okay, since this is the second Nazi reference in this entry, I’ll explain that Fox was just fired from the next TRANSFORMERS movie for describing her director/discoverer Michael Bey as Hitler-like).

SPOILER ALERT!
And what an original plot! The Civil War is over, but there’s this Quantrill-like Southern officer with a personal grudge against Jonah Hex (natch) who won’t accept defeat, and he has this incredible secret weapon stolen from the government, and he’s going to use it to attack Washington D.C.! And this secret weapon is (hold your breath) A CANNON THAT SHOOTS GLASS BALLS FULL OF GASOLINE! Will the planet Earth survive? It’s like a rejected pitch for an episode of WILD WILD WEST after they jumped the shark. It’s written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who were originally supposed to co-direct. When they were dumped, they dropped their first names from the credits, in some sort of half-assed protest, and are billed as Neveldine and Taylor. They were replaced by director Jimmy Hayward of HORTON HEARS A WHO fame.

One reason the super-weapon falls so flat is because we’ve already seen so much fire – every set that Hex exits explodes into flame behind him. As Variety reviewer Justin Chang points out, “Given the relative paucity of Westerns on the current movie-going landscape, it’s somewhat dispiriting to…painstakingly erect a façade of 19th century mining towns, military forts and runaway locomotives…only to blow every one of those sets to yawn-inducing smithereens.”

Some audience members have felt gypped at the movie’s 81 minute running-time, including end credits, but I was just as happy to see it end. If I seem unusually hard on this film, it’s because I love westerns, and I believe every good western makes it easier to get the next one made, and every bad one makes it more difficult for all of us. The irony is that two other westerns have come out this year, both direct to video, and 6 GUNS and AMERICAN BANDITS: FRANK AND JESSE JAMES, are both ten times the western JONAH HEX is, even though their combined budgets aren’t a fraction of HEX’s catering costs.

DAVID ROSE CENTENNIAL

Speaking of BONANZA and HIGH CHAPARRAL, David Rose, the composer of the themes for both shows, as well as the score for HOMBRE (1967), was born 100 years ago this past Tuesday, June 15th. Rose, who died in 1990, was equally well-known for his delightfully bawdy composition, THE STRIPPER. Born in London, he was married thrice, to Martha Raye, Judy Garland, and Betty Bartholomew, with whom he had two children. His star on the Walk of Fame can be found at 6514 Hollywood Boulevard. To hear the theme from HIGH CHAPARRAL, CLICK HERE.

SCREENINGS

ANTHONY MANN FESTIVAL AT NEW YORK’S FILM FORUM

What a treat for all of you that live East but love West! From June 25th through July 15th, the Forum will be presenting 26 movies – most in double features and a few in triple bills! -- directed by the great Anthony Mann, whose post-war westerns brought a new-found maturity to the form, and gave James Stewart a chance to stretch as an actor as never before. In addition to the westerns being shown, Mann's fine crime and war stories will also be on view. Among the westerns: NAKED SPUR (1953) and WINCHESTER '73 (1950) on Friday and Saturday June 25th and 26th; BORDER INCIDENT (1949) and DEVIL'S DOORWAY (1950) on Wednesday, June 30th; THE LAST FRONTIER (1956) and GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (1958) on Thursday July 1st; MAN OF THE WEST (1958) and a new 35MM print of THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955) on Friday and Saturday July 2nd and 3rd; BEND OF THE RIVER (1952) and a new 35mm print of THUNDER BAY (1953) on Sunday and Monday, July 4th and 5th; CIMARRON (1960) on Monday July 5th, THE FURIES (1950) and THE TIN STAR (1957) on Tuesday July 6th; THE FAR COUNTRY (1955) and THE TALL TARGET (1951) on Friday and Saturday, July 9th and 10th. To whet your appetite -- and this is for everyone, not just New Yorkers - CLICK HERE to see trailers of several of the Anthony Mann westerns.

A NAZI WESTERN FILMED IN ARIZONA?

The June 2010 issue of TRUE WEST MAGAZINE has a fascinating article by Joe McNeil, detailing the making of DER KAISER VON KALIFORNEIN, a.k.a. THE EMPEROR OF CALIFORNIA, in 1936. Bankrolled by the Third Reich through a wholly owned film company, it’s the official party version of the life of German immigrant Johann Augustus Suter, or as we know him, John Sutter. He was the man who owned Sutter’s Mill, where a gold find triggered the 1849 Gold Rush, which eventually destroyed him.

There is also a lot of side information on Karl May, the best-selling writer in the history of Germany, whose western stories about Winnetou and Old Shatterhand were favorites of both Hitler and Einstein, and whose stories influenced the western films of German immigrant directors like Fritz Lang, Fred Zinneman, Michael Curtiz and so many other. The article is an excerpt from McNeil’s ARIZONA’S LITTLE HOLLYWOOD: SEDONA AND NORTHERN CALIFORNIA’S FORGOTTEN FILM HISTORY, 1923-1973. If you CLICK HERE, you can see a clip from DER KAISER, and even buy the book.


AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have HOMELANDS: HOW WOMEN MADE THE WEST through August 22nd, and THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the basketry show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

ON TV

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run THE LONE RANGER at 1:30 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.

It's getting a little late tonight (Sunday), so I'm going to finish up tomorrow by adding a few items including my review of JONAH HEX tomorrow.

Hasta manana!

Henry

Contents Copyright June 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

CIVIL WAR PLAYS RETURN ENGAGEMENT!

UPDATED MONDAY 6/14/2010 -- SEE TCM WESTERN STORY BELOW
UPDATED TUESDAY 6/15/2010 -- SEE 'REEL INJUN' AT MOMA - STORY BELOW
UPDATED FRIDAY 6/18/2010 -- SEE 'TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE' SCREENING BELOW

Lovers of the blue and/or grey can get a whiff of cordite this Saturday and Sunday, June 12th and 13th, at Pierce College's HERITAGE DAYS CIVIL WAR HISTORICAL REENACTMENT! Hundreds of re-enactors will recreate the epic conflict of the American Civil War on the broad fields of Pierce. There will be cavalry charges, artillery barrages, and infantry assaults, as well as Victorian dancing, military drill, music, and period arts and crafts. It is hinted that a certain bearded president will be attending and delivering his famed Gettysburg Address (for security reasons he cannot be named). It's fifteen dollars a day, and the program, which is the same for both days, can be seen HERE. You can also purchase tickets there, and if you do so today (Friday) and enter the code "DN20%" you will get 20% off (there is a $2 service fee, but you still save a few bucks). You can also buy tickets at the event. The Pierce Farm Center is located at 20800 Victory Boulevard, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.

FILM TREASURE-TROVE FOUND IN NEW ZEALAND

75 'lost' early American films have been found in the New Zealand Film Archive. These nitrate-base rarities are in the process of being preserved in the United States by the National Film Preservation Board, a nonprofit affiliate of the Library of Congress. Among the films are one of John Ford's last silents, UPSTREAM, a comedy directed by Keystone star Mabel Normand, a Clara Bow period drama, and several early one-reel westerns.

Ironically, the New Zealand archive holds a substantial number of rare non-Kiwi movies because, by the time a film, being distributed around the world, reached far-away New Zealand, it was cheaper to just leave the film there than to pay to have it shipped back to the States. In N.Z. Archive manager Steve Russell's words, "It's one of the rare cases when the tyranny of distance has worked in our and the films' favor." Two of the westerns are THE GIRL STAGE DRIVER (1914), and Selig Polyscope picture, THE SERGEANT - TOLD IN THE YOSEMITE VALLEY (1910). To see a few minutes of SERGEANT , click HERE. David Wells of the N.F.P.F. further tantalized me by asking, "Have you heard about our upcoming DVD set, Treasures 5: The West, 1898-1938?" I hadn't -- it's an up-coming 10-hour DVD set of early westerns being culled from archives like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, George Eastman House, the Library of Congress, Museum of Modern art, the National Archives and UCLA Film & Television Archive. To learn more, CLICK HERE. I'll give you more details as I get them.

JONAH HEX OPENS FRIDAY JUNE 18TH

Unless you've been sleeping under a rock, you know that screens all over the country will be showing the horror-western-comic-turned-movie starring Josh Brolin as the title face-scarred bounty hunter, Megan Fox as the ho, and John Malkovich as the crazed ex-Confederate officer who branded Hex's cheek. Some of the images coming out of the picture look spectacular. And a special THANK-YOU to whoever of my spies anonymously sent me the HEX script dated October 31, 2007! I don't know how close this is to the final shooting script, but I'm dying to see the movie and find out -- it's rated PG-13, but if shot as this draft was written, it would be a hard R for violence and language. Actually, I've never read a screenplay with so much profanity even in the description! "The main house is a two-story Victorian that looks like the war tore it a new *ssh*l*." Writers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor previously teamed on PATHOLOGY (2008), GAMER (2009), and the two CRANK movies. Director Jimmy Hayward comes from the animation side of the world, and previously directed HORTON HEARS A WHO! (2008).

BIG VALLEY FINALLY HAS A FULL SET OF BARKLEYS!

With the addition of Stephen Moyer and Lorraine Nicholson, the BIG VALLEY feature has a full compliment of Barkleys: Jessican Lange as Victoria (Barbara Stanwyck), Lee Majors as Tom (never seen in the series), Stephen Moyer as Jarrod (Richard Long), Lorraine Nicholson as Audra (Linda Evans), Jason Alan Smith as Nick (Peter Breck), and Travis Fimmel as Heath (Lee Majors -- complicated, isn't it?). Nicholson was the princess in PRINCESS DIARIES 2 (2004), appeared in WORLD'S GREATEST DAD (2009), and is the daughter of Jack Nicholson. Stephen Moyer is one of the stars of the TV series TRUE BLOOD.

Also in the cast are Richard Dreyfus and Bruce Dern, both of whom guested on the TV series, and both of whom have worked before with writer-director Daniel Adams. The movie is aiming for a 2011 release. If all of this whets your appetite for the old series, CLICH HERE and watch the original pilot episode.

DICK FORAN CENTENNIAL

Actor Dick Foran was born one hundred years ago, on June 18th, 1910, in Flemington, New Jersey, the son of a Senator. Excelling at athletics and singing at Princeton, he worked first on a freighter, then as a railroad investigator before heading to Hollywood. Under contract to Warner Brothers, Foran, who projected a solid, likable, easy-going personality, played many supporting roles in a wide range of genres, and made strong impressions in a pair of Humphrey Bogart starrers, PETRIFIED FOREST (1936) and THE BLACK LEGION (1937). In 1935 Warners, which had gotten out of the B-western biz when they let John Wayne go, decided to try again, and perhaps responding to Gene Autry’s success at Republic, starred Foran, billing him as “Dick Foran The Singing Cowboy.” He made a dozen films in the series, and though rarely seen today, they were popular, well produced, and hold up well if you can track them down – I found some at Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee. As with the Warner John Waynes, they make use of footage of Ken Maynard from his later silents at that studio. Foran had an excellent voice, but although he was a cowboy who sang, he was not a ‘singing cowboy’ in the Gene and Tex and Roy sense. Rather than campfire songs, his songs and style were more operatic, and looking back, I understand why, as a kid, I was always confusing Foran with Nelson Eddy (though in retrospect, I can’t imagine why, as a kid, I knew who Nelson Eddy was!). His best-remembered film of the era was CHEROKEE STRIP (1937), where he sang “My Little Buckaroo,” to Tommy Bupp. In 1938 he played a Mountie in HEART OF THE NORTH, one of his rare Technicolor outings, which writer Tony Thomas describes as, “the best produced of all programmers about the Mounties.”

When he finished up his contract at Warners Foran went to Universal, where he starred in a pair of fine western serials, WINNERS OF THE WEST and RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY. And in 1942 he made one of his most popular films, RIDE ‘EM COWBOY, with Abbott and Costello and Johnny Mack Brown, a comedy that still holds up today – I know because I watched it today. He made several other films with Bud and Lou, and a neat pair of horror pics, THE MUMMY’S HAND and THE MUMMY’S TOMB. He had a good supporting role in one great western, John Ford’s FORT APACHE (1948), and followed with a few more second leads in independent films like EL PASO (1949), DEPUTY MARSHAL (1949), and AL JENNINGS OF OKLAHOMA (1951) for Columbia. In television, Foran played in just about every western series you can think of. He died in 1979. If you want to celebrate Dick Foran's 100th birthday by renewing your acquaintance with his work, nearly every movie mentioned can be found at Eddie Brandt’s Saturday Matinee. CLICK HERE to visit their website.

SCREENINGS

'REEL INJUN' AT NEW YORK'S MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

Monday, June 14 through Sunday, June 20th, Cree Indian Neil Diamond's terrific documentary about Indians in westerns, and their counterparts in real life -- to read my review go to May 15th HERE -- will be shown at MoMa. My wife and I both consider it the best documentary we've seen in years. Here are the showings:
Monday, June 14, 2010, 8:00 p.m. , Theater 2, T2
Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 4:30 p.m. , Theater 2, T2
Thursday, June 17, 2010, 4:30 p.m. , Theater 2, T2
Friday, June 18, 2010, 4:30 p.m. , Theater 1, T1
Saturday, June 19, 2010, 8:00 p.m. , Theater 1, T1
Sunday, June 20, 2010, 2:30 p.m. , Theater 1, T1

SHANE AND THE KENTUCKIAN AT THE NEW BEVERLY

Sunday June 13th and Monday June 14th. SHANE (1953) - Director George Stevens' masterpiece, from the Jack Schaeffer novel, screenplay by A.B. Guthrie Jr. Although all the leads -- Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin and Brandon de Wilde -- are excellent, to me it's the performances by Jack Palance and Elisha Cook Jr. that are unforgettable. SHANE screens on Sunday at 3:05 and 7:30, Monday at 7:30.

THE KENTUCKIAN (1955), directed by its star, Burt Lancaster, from the novel by Felix Holt and the screenplay by A.B. Guthrie Jr. It also stars Diane Foster, Diana Lynn, John Litel and John Carradine. A Kentucky widower bound for 1820's Texas with his young son is thwarted in his efforts by a corrupt constable, a long-standing family feud, and a beautiful indentured servant. It screen on Sunday at 5:25 and 9:50, and on Sunday at 9:50.

The New Beverly Cinema is at 7165 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles. Tickets are only seven buck, six for students and five for seniors and kids, and they always show 35MM prints.

EDGAR G. ULMER DOUBLE BILL AT NY'S ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVE

Monday June 14th and Tuesday June 15th. Experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas chose this pairing -- THE NAKED DAWN (1955), and DETOUR (1945). DAWN is a western starring Arthur Kennedy as a bandit, and Betta St. John and Eugene Iglesias as the couple whose home he happens upon, making an escape. DETOUR is a film noir, and in spite of Ulmer's direction and Ben Cline's moody camerawork, is one of the most laughably awful dramas ever made -- you just can't triumph over that parade of contrivances.

'TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE' AT OLD TOWN MUSIC HALL FRIDAY THRU SUNDAY

Henry Hathaway's TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936), a story of feudin' and fightin', starring Henry Fonda, Silvia Sydney, Fred MacMurray, Fuzzy Knight, Nigel Bruce and Spanky MacFarland, is the first full-Technicolor outdoor picture. It's showing at the Old Town Music Hall at 140 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245. It screen Friday at 8:15 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 and 8:15 p.m., and Sunday at 2:30. p.m., and admission is $8.

AROUND LOS ANGELES

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. Currently they have HOMELANDS: HOW WOMEN MADE THE WEST through August 22nd, and THE ART OF NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETRY: A LIVING TRADITION, through November 7th. I've seen the basketry show three times, and am continually astonished at the beauty and variety of the work of the various tribes. 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.

ON TV

RANDOLPH SCOTT AND OTHER WESTERNS ON TCM TUESDAY!

If you, like me, have lately bemoaned the fact that Randolph Scott westerns have disappeared from the airwaves, you'll be glad to know the drought is broken! TCM is showing eleven western on Tuesday, and four are with Randy. And there are some with John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin and Joel McCrea. The line-up starts just after midnight (all times given are Pacific): 12:45 a.m. THE BURNING HILLS (1956), 2:30 a.m. THE`SEARCHERS (1956), 10:15 a.m., SILVER RIVER (1848), 12:15 p.m. FIGHTING MAN OF THE PLAINS with Randy(1949) , 2:00 p.m. TRAIL STREET with Randy (1947), 3:30 p.m. DECISION AT SUNDOWN with Randy (1957), 5:00 p.m. WILL PENNY (1968), 7:00 p.m. MONTE WALSH (1970), 9:00 p.m. RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY with Randy and Joel(1962), THE SHOOTIST (1976) ans 1:00 a.m. THE MAN FROM LARAMIE with Randy.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run THE LONE RANGER at 1:30 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.

THAT'S ABOUT ALL FOR THIS WEEK, but I want to say a special thank-you to A Man Called Valance, and all the other folks who take time to leave a comment. Please take a minute to do so, and keep me informed -- the only way I find the events I cover is by stumbling upon them, or tip-offs from readers like yourself.

Adios,

Henry

Contents Copyright June 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

GENTLEMEN, WHAT AM I OFFERED?

Profiles In History, the auction house that specializes in show-biz memorabilia, will be holding HOLLYWOOD AUCTION 40 on July 10th, 11th and 12th. While most items are movie or music-related, there are some mighty interesting western items offered. As you can see above, there is lot #219, a written question and answer page from Buffalo Bill Cody, #221, a Carte de Viste of and signed by George Armstrong Custer, photographed by Matthew Brady, #150, a signed picture of Tom Mix – one of thirty-five pictures in the lot, and #220 a signed picture of Emmett Dalton. My favorite is the last, in that the auction catalogue describes him as a “lawman,” kinda like describing John Wilkes Booth as an “actor.” To see the whole catalogue online, CLICK HERE.

ADAM BEACH CHOOSES COWBOYS OVER ALIENS!

Adam Beach, the American Indian actor who played Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood’s FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (2007), and whose many credits include the excellent SMOKE SIGNALS (1998), the character Blue Duck COMANCHE MOON (2008), and a continuing role in this season’s BIG LOVE, will join Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Wes Studi in DreamWorks’ production of COWBOYS AND ALIENS, directed by Jon Favreau and written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof. The comic-book derived tale revolves around the town of Absolution, in 1973, in the Arizona Territory. Jake (Craig), the amnesiac who wanders into town, finds the people crushed under the heel of iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). Beach will portray Nat Colorado, a half-Apache who works for Dolarhyde. The film is shooting this summer, with a release on July 29, 2011.

ANTHONY MANN FESTIVAL AT NEW YORK’S FILM FORUM

What a treat for all of you that live East but love West! From June 25th through July 15th, the Forum will be presenting 26 movies – most in double features and a few in triple bills! -- directed by the great Anthony Mann, whose post-war westerns brought a new-found maturity to the form, and gave James Stewart a chance to stretch as an actor as never before. In addition to the westerns being shown, Mann's fine crime and war stories will also be on view. Among the westerns: NAKED SPUR (1953) and WINCHESTER '73 (1950) on Friday and Saturday June 25th and 26th; BORDER INCIDENT (1949) and DEVIL'S DOORWAY (1950) on Wednesday, June 30th; THE LAST FRONTIER (1956) and GOD'S LITTLE ACRE (1958) on Thursday July 1st; MAN OF THE WEST (1958) and a new 35MM print of THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955) on Friday and Saturday July 2nd and 3rd; BEND OF THE RIVER (1952) and a new 35mm print of THUNDER BAY (1953) on Sunday and Monday, July 4th and 5th; CIMARRON (1960) on Monday July 5th, THE FURIES (1950) and THE TIN STAR (1957) on Tuesday July 6th; THE FAR COUNTRY (1955) and THE TALL TARGET (1951) on Friday and Saturday, July 9th and 10th. I know you've got a couple of weeks to wait, but to whet your appetite -- and this is for everyone, not just New Yorkers - CLICK HERE to see trailers of several of the Anthony Mann westerns.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD AT LANDMARK THEATRES

To read my review of The Good, The Bad and The Weird, check out May 9th's entry. It's currently playing at the Main Arts Theatre in Royal Oak, MI.

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.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run THE LONE RANGER at 1:30 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.
More stuff is coming as the day progresses!

Adios,

Henry

All Contents Copyright June 2010 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved

PALOMINAS RIDE JUNE 14TH!

Writer/Director THADD TURNER informs me he's planning to roll camera Monday, June 14th, on PALOMINAS, with location work at the Eaves Movie Ranch and Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, both in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The story takes place at the turn of the century, near the border with Mexico, where a rancher and sheriff must face down hired gunmen. I should have cast info in the next week or two. Turner has previously written and produced MIRACLE AT SAGE CREEK (2005) and SEVEN MUMMIES (2006).

WES STUDI MAKES IT COWBOYS AND INDIANS AND ALIENS

Wes Studi is the newest cast member of the Jon Favreau-directed COWBOYS AND ALIENS, joining Daniel Craig, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford and Keith Carradine.

BIG VALLEY CASTS 'HEATH'

Travis Fimmel will be playing the Lee Majors-created role of Heath Barkley in the feature film version of THE BIG VALLEY, which starts shooting July 19th in Baton Rouge. The Ausie-born sctor played continuing roles in TARZAN (2003) and THE BEAST (2009). He joins Jessica Lange as Victoria Barkley, Jason Alan Smith as Nick, and Bruce Dern, Richard Dreyfus, and Lee Majors, who portrays the never-seen-in-the-series Tom Barkley, who sired all the Barkley kids, legit and otherwise.

Writer/Director Daniel Adams may be new to westerns, but not to period films. He's recently written and directed two films set and shot in Cape Cod. In 2009 he made LIGHTKEEPERS, currently in limited release, starring Richard Dreyfus as a lighthouse keeper who finds an amnesiac washed up on his shore. In the romantic comedy GOLDEN BOYS (2008), David Carradine, Rip Torn and Bruce Dern are turn-of-the-century retired sea captains, determined that one of them will marry Mariel Hemingway.

HEY JEFF, WHERE'S THE PATCH?

Photographer Joe O'Connell posted the picture above, of Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn on the set of theTRUE GRIT remake. The production will be moving this week from small Central Texas towns to downtown Austin.

MOVIE REVIEW – ‘REEL INJUN’

I’m not in the Academy, and I don’t know the criteria involved in Oscar nominations, but I do know that REEL INJUN is one of the best documentaries I’ve seen in years. Opening with a group of Indian children watching the climax of THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON -- the death of Errol Flynn as Custer at Little Big Horn -- director Neil Diamond narrates: “Growing up on the reservation, the only show in town was movie night in the church basement. Raised on cowboys and Indians, we cheered the cowboys, never realizing that we were the Indians.”
A Cree living on a reservation near the Arctic Circle, Diamond decides to journey across the United States, to Hollywood, by way of numerous landmarks and reservations, to tell the story of the Indian portrayal in American film and culture, and the parallel story of the lives of real Indians.
By turns it’s enlightening, heartbreaking, and extremely funny – from the sly wit of Indian stand-up comic Charlie Hill; to the goofiness of some westerns, playing dialog backwards to simulate Indian speech; to the self-effacing humor of Diamond and others. His description of ‘the rez car’ alone is worth the price of admission. Editor Jeremiah Hayes seamlessly flows the documentary footage and western movie clips together.
We visit Pine Ridge Reservation, the poorest in the nation, and meet a Lakota chief who is a direct descendant of Red Cloud, standing at the spot where Crazy Horse was murdered.
We hear the fascinating, sometimes tragic stories of ‘movie Indians’ like Buffalo Child Long Lance and Iron Eyes Cody. And speaking of ‘movie Indians,’ we see the homogenization of all the distinct tribes into generic ‘Plains Indians.’ We learn why, among many Indians, LITTLE BIG MAN is better thought of than DANCES WITH WOLVES, why BILLY JACK was so important, and why Jesse Wente, an Ojibway film critic calls John Ford’s great STAGECOACH, “One of the most damaging movies for native people in history.”
The film also takes an amused look at the ‘Indian cool’ fashions of 1960s hippies, and the tribal elements of summer camp that brings a counselor all the way from Austria to lead his ‘Sioux’ band. Sacheen Littlefeather, who was a fashion model at the time, shares the story of Brando asking her to refuse his Oscar, and the importance of that gesture to Indian activists during the occupation of Alcatraz and Wounded Knee. I must confess that, prior to seeing the story of those occupations from the prospective of activists John Trudell and Russell Means, I simply thought they were crazy. Now I understand.
Among the familiar faces who add their perspectives are Clint Eastwood, Jim Jarmusch, Graham Greene and Wes Studi. Additionally we hear from actor Adam Beach, and directors Chris Eyre and Zacharias Kunuk, who are in the forefront of a renaissance of films made by Indians.
In addition to screenings in Canada, REEL INJUN will be shown in New York at The Museum of Modern Art from June 14th through June 20th. October 12th through the 17th it will be screened at The Indigenous Film Festival in Denver, Colorado. Beyond those screenings, I don’t know how available this film will be to see, prior to airing on PBS stations in the future, but I’ll keep you informed. In the meantime, CLICK HERE to see the trailer and visit the official website, which has more information.

DENNIS HOPPER DIES

The actor who made indellible impressions in films as varied as REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and SPEED, was born in Dodge City, Kansas, an appropraite locale for an actor who did so many western roles so well. His first feature film appearence was in JOHNNY GUITAR, and he followed that by playing the title character in the pilot episode for THE RIFLEMAN, 'The Sharpshooter,' seen in the picture above. He appeared in GIANT (1956), played Billy Clanton in GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1958), played Billy The Kid in an episode of SUGARFOOT, was seen in SONS OF KATIE ELDER (1965), HANG 'EM HIGH (1968), episodes of CHEYENNE, ZANE GREY THEATER, WAGON TRAIN, BONANZA and GUNSMOKE. In 1971 he wrote, directed and starred in THE LAST MOVIE, a film about making a western while surrounded by South American Indians. His last western was BLOOD RED, in 1989.

JOHN DAVIS CHANDLER DIES

The actor whose whiny voice and piercing blue eyes made him a natural for portraying all manner of despicable villains, was born and bred in West Virginia. He made his film debut as the title character in MAD DOG COLL (1961), about the perpetrator of the Harlem Baby Massacre. It would be his only lead. He leant his villainy to three Sam Peckinpah westerns, RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY(1962), MAJOR DUNDEE (1965) and PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (1973). In addition to episodes of THE RIFLEMAN, THE VIRGINIAN, HIGH CHAPARRAL, GUNSMOKE and THE TRAVELS OF JAMIE MCPHEETERS, he appeared in RETURN OF THE GUNFIGHTER (1967), BAQUERO (1970), SHOOTOUT (1971), and for Clint Eastwood in OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976). He did many non-western roles as well.

SAM PECKINPAH DOUBLE-BILL AT NEW BEVERLY

Hollywood's New Beverly Cinema will be showing DUCK, YOU SUCKER! and BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA from Sunday, May 30th through Tuesday, June 1st.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD AT LANDMARK THEATRES

To read my review of The Good, The Bad and The Weird, check out May 9th's entry. It's currently playing at the Mayan Theatre in Denver, and opens at the Main Arts Theatre in Detroit on June 4th.

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.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run THE LONE RANGER at 1:30 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.

That's about it, folks. I haven't even looked at what's on cable TV yet. I'll try to later on in the week, but I make no guarantees. Don't forget that it's not just a three-day weekend, it's Memorial Day: FLY YOUR FLAG!

Adios!

Henry

All Contents Copyright May 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved

MUSICAL CHAIRS AT THE BARKLEY RANCH!

As the theatrical version of TV's THE BIG VALLEY gets set to roll camera on July 19 in Baton Rouge, they keep switching the chairs (see photo of Barkleys waiting anxiously for music to begin again). This time, Susan Sarandon is out as Victoria Barkley, and Jessica Lange is in. The EMMY winning actress, for GRAY GARDENS, will be taking on the role made famous by Barbara Stanwyck in the long-running series. Listed in the cast are Bruce Dern and Richard Dreyfus, who both guested on the original series, Jason Alan Smith in Peter Breck's role as fiery Nick Barkley, and Lee Majors, not as Heath, but as his illegitimate father, Tom Barkley.

Conspicuously absent from current listings is Ryan Phillipe, who had been announced as Jarrod, the Richard Long role. Billy Bob Thornton had also been rumored for an unannounced role, but his name has stopped popping up.

KEITH CARRADINE JOINS THE ALIENS

Or maybe the cowboys. Keith, of the great Carradine acting dynasty, has had many western roles, frequently portraying real people: he was Jim Younger in LONG RIDERS (1980), Buffalo Bill Cody in WILD BILL (1995), starred on Broadway as WILL ROGERS, and was Wild Bill Hickock in the first five episodes of DEADWOOD. (And for the record, the biggest mistake the producers of DEADWOOD ever made was to kill off their most interesting character so soon!) Now he joins Danile Craig, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford and Heavy D in COWBOYS AND ALIENS, for Director Jon Favreau. Incidentally, Favreau will be working with his same cimenatographer and editor from IRON MAN 2, Matthew Libatique and Dan Lebental, respectively.

BEST THING ON TV ALL WEEK! JOHNW WAYNE AND INDIANS FACE OFF!

Turner Classic Television continues with their NATIVE AMERICAN IMAGES ON FILM series on Tuesday and Thursday, and Wednesday, smack in the middle, is John Wayne's Birthday! TMC will be showing a whole passel of Duke B-westerns, capped by STAGECOACH. Next I'll be reviewing a fascinating documentary, REEL INJUNS, examining Hollywood's portrayal of Indians from an Indin's point of view, and a look at several Indian-made films, including SMOKE SIGNALS (1998), which plays on TMC on Tuesday. Here's the whole line-up:

Tuesday, May 25th

5:00 p.m. THE SQUAW MAN (1914) The one that started it all -- DeMille this film, purported to be the first western made in Hollywood.

6:30 p.m. LAKOTA WOMAN: RETURN TO WOUNDED KNEE (1994)

8:30 p.m. SMOKE SIGNALS (1998) When his best freind's father dies, an Indian funds their trip to deal with his remains. Starrin Adam Beach.

10:15 p.m. NATURALLY NATIVE (1999) Three Native American sisters decide to try and sell a line of cosmetics.

Wednesday, May 26th

12:15 a.m. RAMONA (1910) D.W.Griffith directs Mary Pickford in this two-reel version of the classic tale.

12:45 a.m. LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1920) Rarely seen silent version of James Fenimore Cooper's tale, starring Wallace Beery, and directed by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown.

THE JOHN WAYNES

3:00 a.m. HAUNTED GOLD (1932)

4:00 a.m. RIDE HIM, COWBOY (1932)

5:00 a.m. THE BIG STAMPEDE (1932)

7:15 a.m. SAGEBRUSH TRAIL (1934)

8:15 a.m. SOMEWHERE IN SONORA (1933)

11:00 a.m. THE MAN FROM MONTEREY (1933)

12:00 p.m. THE TELEGRAPH TRAIL(1933)

1:00 p.m. RANDY RIDES ALONE (1934)

2:00 p.m. THE STAR PACKER (1934)

3:00 p.m. STAGECOACH (1939)

MORE NATIVE AMERICAN IMAGES ON THURSDAY MAY 27TH

5:00 p.m. NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922)Ground-breaking Robert Flaherty documentary.

6:15 p.m. THE EXILES (1961)Three young Indians feel isolated when they leave the reservation for the big city.

8:00 p.m. INCIDENT AT OGLALA (1992) A trial follows a deadly shootout between federal agents and Native Americans, directed by Michael Apted.

10:00 p.m. BROKEN RAINBOWS (1985) The government relocation of 10,000 Navajo sheds light on continuing mistreatment of Native Americans. Stars Martin Sheen, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Burgess Meredith, directed by Victoria Mudd.

11:15 p.m. THE SILENT ENEMY (1930) The story of the Ojibway Indians before Columbus, starring Cheekah, Chief Akawanush, Chief Yellow Robe.

Friday, May 28th

12:45 a.m. RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HORSE (1976) starring Richard Harris, Gale Sondergaard, directed by Irvin Kershner.

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.

WESTERN MOVIES ON TV
Note:AMC=American Movie Classics, EXT= Showtime Extreme, FMC=Fox Movie Channel, TCM=Turner Classic Movies. All times given are Pacific Standard Time.

TV LAND - BONANZA and GUNSMOKE

Every weekday, TV LAND airs a three-hour block of BONANZA episodes from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They run a GUNSMOKE Monday through Thursday at 10:00 a.m., and on Friday they show two, from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m.. They're not currently running either series on weekends, but that could change at any time.

NEED YOUR BLACK & WHITE TV FIX?

Check out your cable system for WHT, which stands for World Harvest Television. It's a religious network that runs a lot of good western programming. Your times may vary, depending on where you live, but weekdays in Los Angeles they run THE LONE RANGER at 1:30 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.

Happy Trails!

Henry

All contents copyright May 2010 by Henry C. Parke -- All Rights Reserved