‘TCM CLASSIC FILM FEST’ RED CARPET, PLUS ‘GRAND DUEL’ REVIEW

 

My view from the red carpet

 

From Thursday, April 25^th through Sunday, April 28^th, I attended the 4^TH ANNUAL TCM CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL.  The events took place at and around Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, at several of the smaller Chinese Theatre multi-plex screens, with additional events at Grauman’s Egyptian and the Hollywood Arclight aka the Cinerama Dome.   It was my first time, and I was overwhelmed by all of the screenings, activities, and choices that had to be made. 

This is an event for people who are passionate about the movies, and eager to see them on a big screen, often in 35mm, always with someone of note giving an introduction.  But how do you choose when GIANT, ON GOLDEN POND, THE BIG PARADE, THE TRAIN, THEY LIVE BY NIGHT and GUYS AND DOLLS are all showing at once?!  It is truly an embarrassment of riches.

 

 

I caught as many movies as I could, but I only managed to catch four on one day, Saturday, which made me a piker by the standards of most attendees.  Chatting while standing on line, I met folks from Kansas City, Missouri; Illinois; Arlington, Virginia; Florida; and Cincinnati, Ohio.  A couple I met waiting to get in to see DELIVERANCE were from outside Raleigh, North Carolina, and confided, “We want to see it on a big screen, so we can recognize our relatives,” then quickly added, “only joking,” in case I was dense.  Interestingly, I didn’t meet a soul from L.A., and the one couple I met from San Diego turned out to be recent transplants from Kentucky.  And none of them were first-timers: on average they were back for their third year. 

It was delightful to be surrounded by so many people who were so enthusiastic, and knowledgeable, about classic film.  Waiting for BONNIE AND CLYDE to start, someone uttered the name Strother Martin, and a dozen voices piped in with their favorite Strother Martin performances.  The event is pricey.  The costliest package, featuring VIP entry to everything, meet-and- reets with stars and TCM hosts, and all manner of extras, costs $1599.  There are a lot of in-between packages, with the least expensive, at $249, getting you admission to only the big-screen venues, the Chinese and Egyptian.  You can also buy single event tickets for $20, but be aware that they are ‘stand-by’, and a lot of shows fill up, though most at the huge Chinese and the Egyptian do not.

I’d picked up my media credentials (when did they stop being ‘press credentials’?) the day before, and hadn’t read their many emails closely enough to realize that I had to apply separately for credentials to cover Thursday night’s gala, featuring the world premiere of the digital restoration of FUNNY GIRL at the Chinese.  I realized my stupidity late Wednesday night, and emailed, begging to be let on the red carpet.  Well, sometimes stupidity pays off: they not only gave me a spot on the red carpet (see the picture), since I was the very last dope to ask, I got the very last spot, which gave me a perfect view straight down the center of the famed ‘footprint’ courtyard.  The first star to come my way was Barbara Rush.  Best known for her role in TV’s PEYTON PLACE, she’s starred in many movies and guested in many series, her best western role being Audra in HOMBRE, opposite Paul Newman. 

 

Barbara Rush

 

Next was Coleen Gray.  She first made a splash as the good girl opposite carny grifter Tyrone Power in NIGHTMARE ALLEY (1947).  She got her feet wet in westerns the next year, co-starring with Victor Mature in FURY AT FURNACE CREEK, then entered the big-leagues playing John Wayne’s romantic interest in the Howard Hawks classic RED RIVER.  She’s appeared in numerous western and civilian films since then, guest-starring on nearly all of the major western series, and starred opposite Hugh Marlowe in a frequently overlooked top-of-the-line oater, Charles Marquis Warren’s THE BLACK WHIP.     

 

Coleen Gray

She was followed by Jacqueline White, best known for noirs like CROSSFIRE and THE NARROW MARGIN, but who starred with Randolph Scott in RETURN OF THE BAD MEN, and with Tim Holt in RIDERS OF THE RANGE. 

 

Jacqueline White

Looking much as she did in MIDRED PIERCE was beautiful Ann Blyth, who would be attending screenings of both PIERCE and KISMET during the festival.  Her only feature western is Zane Grey’s RED CANYON, but she appeared on five episodes of WAGON TRAIN.  I asked her if she had a favorite western role among them.  “That’s always so hard to just pick one.  I’ll get back to you on that.”

 

 

Ann Blyth

 

 

Marvin Kaplan

 

Comedian Marvin Kaplan of IT’S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD was next, and then I was talking to former child star Jane Withers, who would be the special guest at her film, GIANT, the next night.  Of all the stars entering the Chinese that night, she was probably the only one who would be walking by her own footprints in cement.  I asked her which was her favorite western, SHOOTING HIGH, with Gene Autry, or GIANT, with Rock Hudson and James Dean.  “Oh, bless your heart for knowing about both!  I did five westerns as a kid, and I loved them all, oh gosh, because cowboys are my favorite people in the world.   Monte Hale and Gene Autry and Roy and Dale were always very close friends.  Roy and Dale and I became neighbors years later; our kids all went to church and Sunday School together.  I’ve had the most unique and interesting life of anyone I know.  And I’m so grateful – I’ve just had my 87^th birthday, and Fox Home Entertainment is rereleasing all my early Jane Withers films from the ‘30s and the ‘40s, and I’m just thrilled.”

 

Jane Withers

 

 

Jane's footprints

 

Next came the great Theodore Bikel, who appeared in episodes of HOTEL DE PAREE, WAGON TRAIN, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKE, and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.  When I asked him what his favorite was, he said, “I can’t tell you.  Some of them I liked.” 

 

Theodore Bikel

When I asked Karen Sharpe Kramer about her favorite western, she might have said MAN WITH A GUN (1955), where she starred opposite Robert Mitchum, or JOHNNY RINGO (1959), her western series, but I wasn’t surprised at her answer.  “HIGH NOON, of course.”  She’s the widow of producer/director Stanley Kramer, who made HIGH NOON.  “I like THE SEARCHERS, I like TRUE GRIT as well.  But HIGH NOON has something to say, which I think is important.  So I would always search out a movie that would leave you with something, instead of just being entertaining.” 

 

Karen Sharpe Kramer

I next saw Wink Martindale, DJ and game show host who, a few decades ago, had the number one record in the country, not a song, but a spoken recording.  I asked him, “When are you going to do another recording like A Deck of Cards?” 

 

 

Wink Martindale

 

“Oh, I don’t know!  That was one of those rare ones – you don’t find those very often.  Would you believe that was recorded in 1959?  Or was it 1859?”

“Off-subject, let me ask you, what’s your favorite western?”

“I think it would be HIGH NOON, without any question at all, because I loved Gary Cooper’s performance in that; great story.” 

Next came beautiful Anne Jeffreys, Marion Kerby to those of us who grew up watching TOPPER, still lovely at ninety.  “Which is your favorite of all your westerns?”

 

Anne Jeffreys

“Ahh…NEVADA (1944), with Robert Mitchum.”

“Terrific.  Any favorites among you Wild Bill Elliot films?” 

“No, except with Gabby Hayes.”  There are eight of those to choose from. 

 

Mitzi Gaynor

 

By then the staffers were trying to hurry the guests into the theatre – we glimpsed Mitzi Gaynor, Marge Champion, France Nuyen, Tippi Hedron , Robert Hays, Eva Marie Saint and film historian Kevin Brownlow zipping by.  Although Barbra Streisand lives in town, she didn’t attend the screening.  She was in New York, at another event, presenting an award.  Cher filled in for her, doing the introduction to FUNNY GIRL.    

 

 

Marge Champion

 

I rushed off to see a movie, chose ROAD TO UTOPIA, a north-western comedy set in the Klondike Gold Rush, starring Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour.  It was introduced by Greg Proops, one of the improvisational comedians from WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY?, who gave an excellent talk about the chemistry of Hope and Crosby in the ROAD pictures, and that underscoring the humor was the ruthlessness of their attempts to cut each other off in the pursuit of both money and Lamour.  It was hysterical.

 

France Nuyen

 

Next week, in Part 2, I’ll discuss the screenings of RIVER OF NO RETURN, HONDO and DELIVERANCE.

LEE VAN CLEEF IN ‘THE GRAND DUEL’ ON DVD

 

Blue Underground has just released a beautiful new version of 1972’s THE GRAND DUEL, starring Lee Van Cleef, directed by Giancarlo Santi from Ernesto Gastaldi’s screenplay. It’s one of the best of the Spaghetti Westerns from the end of the cycle. This was Santi’s first film as a director, but he’d made his bones as assistant director to Sergio Leone on THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, as well as the excellent DEATH RIDES A HORSE.  Screenwriter Gastaldi has a staggering 121 writing credits, from cult horror favorites like VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA and WEREWOLF IN A GIRLS’ DORMITORY to Westerns like the ARIZONA COLT and SARTANA series, but is probably best known for MY NAME IS NOBODY – he even did uncredited script-work on Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA. 

 

The story revolves around wanted man Philip Vermeer (Peter O’Brien aka Alberto Dentice), hunted for murder by ex-Sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef), and a passel of bounty hunters.  The dead man, Samuel Saxon, referred to as ‘The Patriarch,’ and only seen in dramatic black & white flashbacks, has three sons, a businessman; a lawman; and a flamboyant, syphilitic pock-marked ne’er-do-well, all of them obsessed with Vermeer’s capture and punishment.  Clayton is convinced Vermeer is being framed, and they join forces to learn and expose the truth.

 

 

 

 

Shot in unfamiliar and striking locations by Mario Vulpiani, edited by Roberto Perpignani, who also cut LAST TANGO IN PARIS and IL POSTINO, the film is full of striking compositions and sequences, among them Van Cleef slyly tipping Vermeer to the location of the bounty hunters, a remarkable chase shot from overhead, a nighttime attack on a stage-coach stop, and the wonderfully staged ‘grand duel’ at the end of the film.  There is also a sometimes haunting, sometimes thrilling score by Luis Bacalov and Sergio Bardotti.

'Killing of the Old Man' sequence

 

 

 

The degree of corruption in the town is striking, and because this is so common to the sub-genre, over the years, many American viewers have bristled at the sense that many Spaghetti Westerns are anti-American.  I think this is a misreading of the intent.  I think the corrupt and degenerate brothers who run the town, like the hooded thugs in DJANGO and the homosexual ‘Zorros’ of DJANGO KILL! are not references to America at all, but to Italian Fascism, which had, until a short time before these films were made, enslaved Italy.

 

from the duel

It would be disingenuous of me not to also mention that screenwriter and film historian C. Courtney Joyner and myself provide a commentary track, which has been well-reviewed (I didn’t  realize that people actually reviewed commentary tracks) and here are a couple of links for reviews of this version of THE GRAND DUEL: from 10K BULLETS, and from DVD LATESHOW.   Also included is a Spaghetti Western Trailer Reel featuring some of Blue Underground’s other fine releases.   The official release day is May 21^st.  The price is $14.98.  You can learn more HERE.
 

50^TH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘HUD’ AT AUTRY SATURDAY, MAY 11^TH

On Saturday at 1:30, HUD will have its 50^th anniversary marked with a screening at the Autry as part of their What is a Western ? series.  I’ve never seen HUD, but I’ve been hearing about it for years.  It earned three Oscars, for Best Actress Patricia Neal, Best Supporting Actor Melvyn Douglas, and Best Black & White Cinematography by James Wong Howe.  It stars Paul Newman as a selfish and reckless cowboy who risks his family’s ranch over a feud with his father.  Curator Jeffrey Richardson will introduce the film, discussing HUD’s unflinching social commentary as part of the Western genre’s transformation in the 1960s. 

“FILL YER HAND BRADLEY COOPER, YOU SUNUVABITCH!”

More headaches for the trouble-plagued set of JANE GOT A GUN, the new western starring and co-produced by Natalie Portman.  First, on the day the cameras were to roll in April, director Lynne Ramsey was a no-show. Then lead villain Jude Law quit because Lynne had quit.  He was replaced by Bradley Cooper – right after his SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK success.  But now Cooper is leaving because of his previous commitment to David O. Russell.  More details coming soon!

THE WRAP UP

That’ll have to do for today.  Happy Cinco de Mayo, and happy birthday to my mom, to Monica Lewis, and to Will ‘Sugarfoot’ Hutchins.  With Saturday being Stephanie’s and my 28^th wedding anniversary, I’m a little surprised I got this posted and written tonight.  Next week I’ll have part two of my TCM Fest coverage, and soon I’ll have reviews of  a Pat Buttram biography, the home video release of BORDERTOWN, and ‘HOWDY KIDS!! A Saturday Afternoon Western Round-up’ from the Shout Factory.

Happy Trails,

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright May 2013 by Henry C. Parke – All Rights Reserved

MELODY RANCH HOSTS 20TH ANNUAL COWBOY FESTIVAL!

On Saturday and Sunday, April 20^th and 21^st, the Veluzat family’s Melody Ranch welcomed fans of western art, movies, poetry and culture to the 20^th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival.  The event, which started two decades ago as strictly a cowboy poetry festival, held in the Santa Clarita High School Auditorium, has grown by leaps and bounds.   When the 1994 earthquake toppled the auditorium, the Veluzat family offered the use of what had once been the Monogram Movie Ranch and then Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch.   It’s been the Festival’s home ever since, and that weekend is the one chance the general public has each year to visit Southern California’s finest western movie town.

Indian posing for visitors

 

Visitors posing for Indian

And boy, did they visit!  I haven’t seen any official numbers, but everyone I spoke to confirmed that it was the largest attendance on record – I arrived on Saturday at noon, and had to wait on line fifty minutes for the shuttle bus that transports visitors to the ranch.  Happily, the ranch is so big that once you arrive, even with thousands of visitors strolling along the famed western street seen most recently in DJANGO UNCHAINED, you never felt mobbed.  And while I waited, in addition to studying the program schedule, I read a 12-page booklet I’d been handed, called MOVIE MAGIC AT MELODY RANCH.  Written by Leon Worden, it gives the most clear and concise history of filmmaking and television production at the ranch that I have read.

 

 

Dodging horses and lariats, I spotted a new addition to the event (actually added last year), a display by the Art Directors Guild.  Walking across the porch, where artists sketched free while-you-wait ‘Wanted Posters’ of visitors, I entered the storefront and found a striking collection of film production art, including set sketches from BIG HAND FOR A LITTLE LADY; designs from DEADWOOD, THE MISSOURI BREAKS and SILVERADO; Albert Brenner’s costume designs for ZANDY’S BRIDE and MONTY WALSH; blueprints for a Mission building from THE MASTER GUNFIGHTER; and a three-dimensional paper model of the western street for DJANGO UNCHAINED.  

 

BIG HAND FOR A LITTLE LADY

 

Costume designs for ZANDY'S BRIDE and MONTY WALSH

 

Unidentified saloon design

 

Paper model of the western street for DJANGO UNCHAINED

 

 

At 2 p.m. I hurried over to the hangar-like building that houses the Melody Ranch Museum, which contains props, sets, vehicles and other production-related displays.  There by the big saloon set was the dedication ceremony for a framed display honoring two series that were filmed extensively at Melody Ranch: GUNSMOKE and DEADWOOD.  Writer/historian Julie Ann Ream, whose uncle Glenn Strange played the bartender at the Longbranch for many years, was coordinating the event.  Attendees included DEADWOOD regulars Geri Jewell and Ralph Richeson; GUNSMOKE – AN AMERICAN INSTITUTION author Ben Costello, and Inga Ojala, daughter of Arvo Ojala, the man whom Marshal Dillon would out-draw and shoot at the opening of every GUNSMOKE episode (Arvo was a legendary quick-draw artist, who taught Jim Arness how to shoot him).     

Julie Ann Ream with several men I'll need her to i.d.

 

 

A closer look at the GUNSMOKE and DEADWOOD display

 

Ralph Richeson, Ben Costello, Inga Ojala

 

Speaking of quick-draw artists, there I ran into quick-draw champion gunslinger Joey Dillon.  Joey trained Joseph Gordon Levitt in gun use for the recent LOOPER.  I asked him what his next film was.  “REACH ME.  It’s a cop drama, modern day, starring Thomas Jane, Sylvester Stallone, Kyra Sedgwick, and Nelly.  Tom Jane does some quick-draw gun-twirling, so they had me on-board to help teach him how; then they gave me a part as a gang-banger that he gets to kill.”  Sounds a little Arvo Ojala and James Arness to me.   I mentioned to Joey that I’d recently interviewed Thomas Jane (you’ll be seeing the interview here shortly) about his next project, MAGNIFICENT DEATH FROM A SHATTERED HAND, a western he co-wrote, and will direct and star in with Jeremy Irons and Nick Nolte.  “I’ve read it.  We did a lot of talking about it when I was doing this other movie with him, so we’ll see.”   

 

Joey Dillon demonstrating the sideways spin

Michael Biehn popularized in TOMBSTONE

I hurried back to the western street, looking in on the various entertainments and businesses that lined the boardwalk.  There were several places to have your picture taken in a western way, from the low-tech stick-your-head-through-hole-and-grin style, to a green-screen set-up offered by one of the event’s sponsors, Logix – Smarter Banking.  They also gave away a cool flip-book of a gunfight shot on that very street.

There were many choices for western clothes and cowboy hats, and one innovator had a vast collection of women’s shoulder-bags made from the long part of cowboy boots.  The delicacies offered along the way included kettle corn and jerky, which all cowboys know combine all the major food groups.

Shoulder-bags made from boots

 

Sampling gourmet jerky by Papa Nacca's

 

Ed Erlac

 

At the bend in the road I reached the Buckaroo Book Shop.  Drifting inside (I do a lot of drifting and moseying in western towns), I met western novelist Ed Erdelac, who writes the Merkabah Rider stories about a Hasidic gunslinger – you can learn more about him HERE .

Steve Deming

Beside him was cowboy poet Steve Deming, who told me that he became a poet out of necessity.  “When I was eleven years old, I found myself unable to afford a Mother’s Day card.  So I wrote a poem; and she loved it so much that she encouraged me to continue writing poetry.  So when I got into horses about thirty-five years ago I changed to the ‘cowboy poetry’ genre.”   His recent book THE SOURCE – POEMS OF THE TRAIL, won the Academy of Western Artists’ poetry book of the year award You can learn more about Steve’s poetry HERE.   

Peter Sherayko and Lenore Andriel

In front of the book store, a table was covered with all the different foreign editions of the DVD of YELLOW ROCK, the multiple award-winning Western shot at both Melody and nearby Veluzat Ranch.  Co-writers and co-producers Steve Doucette and Lenore Andriel were there – Lenore also stars in the movie, opposite Michael Biehn and James Russo, taking a break from writing their next western script, which might be either prequel or sequel to YELLOW ROCK.  To learn more about YELLOW ROCK, see the trailer, or purchase the movie, go HERE.  Coming soon is Randy Miller’s original score on CD.

 

Steve Doucette

 

Another Yellow Rocker, Peter Sherayko, who wrote the book – actually two books -- on western movie authenticity, was eager to talk about his next project, THERECKONING OF SCARLET WATERS , on which he’d just signed on as a producer and actor.  He’ll be portraying TEXAS JACK, the same real-life gunfighter he played in TOMBSTONE. 

Also there was actor David R. Booth, and White Wing Entertainment producer Terri Marie.  Terri was a protégé of the excellent director Irvin Kershner, perhaps best known for his STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.  But he also directed RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HORSE, and 35 episodes of one of the best western series of all time, THE REBEL.  Kershner tried to put together one more western film before he died in 2010, and now Terri Marie is trying once more with that project.

 

Barn facade, with soundtage B beyond

 

Continuing on the street, passing the Children’s Corral and the Rancho Camulos table – the historic ranch where the novel RAMONA was both conceived, and later filmed by D. W. Griffith – I passed through the open door of a barn, which turned out to be a façade, and soon found myself in the land o’ food.  There was a wide and appetizing array of chow, from burgers to Mexican food to Indian fry-bread specialties, but as usual I headed straight to the Cowboy Cultural Committee, where I got their famous peach Cowboy Cobbler, cooked in Dutch ovens, and got a ten dollar cup of coffee: every year they have a new tin coffee-cup design, and my wife could not be less pleased that I have found something new to collect and cram into the kitchen cupboard.  On the other hand, it comes with as many refills as you can drink for both days. 

brewing cowboy coffee

The focus of the festival has shifted more and more away from cowboy poetry to cowboy music, and next to the Gold Rush Food Court is the Melody Ranch Stage, the biggest of the four venues that present continuous music from its finest practitioners.  Among the excellent acts I was privileged to hear perform that afternoon were Native American musician Tracy Lee Nelson; The Band of the California Battalion, a recreation of a Union Civil War brass band; Fort Worth singer/songwriter Ginny Mac; and a pair of legendary and brilliant bands, The Sons of the San Joaquin and Riders in the Sky.  I didn’t manage to see Baxter Black, Don Edwards, Hot Club of Cowtown or The Saddle Cats, but heard great things about all of their performances.

Tracy Lee Nelson

 

Band of the California Battalion

 

Ginny Mac

Son of the San Joaquin

 

Riders in the Sky

 

I distract Joey the Polka-King in mid-song!

After scalding my throat with as many coffee refills as I could handle, I made my way through the Trading Post and Mercantile Row areas, checking out their wares and visiting the booths of The Autry, True West Magazine, the William S. Hart Union High School District and others.  I ended my visit by dropping into the Buffalo Soldiers exhibit.  It was a wonderful way to spend a day, and like I say, it only comes along once a year, so don’t miss it!  It’s $20 for adults, and ten for kids, and if you want to make sure you know when the next one is coming, you can visit their website HERE and register for updates. 

 

WESTERN FICTIONEERS ANNOUNCE ‘PEACEMAKER AWARD’ NOMINEES

The Western Fictioneers, an organization of professional western fiction writers dedicated to traditional western storytelling, has revealed their nominations for their 3^rd annual Peacemaker Awards.  The Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Robert Vaughan, who started writing novels at the age of nineteen, fifty-five years ago.  Under various names he’s authored about 350 books, roughly a hundred of them westerns, the first being a Jake Logan entitled CHEYENNE BLOODBATH.  Among the competitive awards, nominees for Best Western Novel are CITY OF ROCKS by Michael Zimmer, UNBROKE HORSES by D.B. Jackson, APACHE LAWMAN by Phil Dunlap, and WIDE OPEN by Larry Bjornson.

The Best Western Short Story nominees are Christmas Comes to Freedom Hill  by Troy Smith, Adeline by Wayne Dundee, Christmas For Evangeline by C. Courtney Joyner, Keepers of Camelot by Cheryl Pierson, and The Toys by James J. Griffin.  Incidentally, the last three nominees were all published in SLAY BELLS AND SIX GUNS, a collection of creepy Christmas stories published by Western Fictioneers.

The Best Western First Novel nominees are HIGH STAKES by Chad Strong, WIDE OPEN by Larry Bjornson, RED LANDS OUTLAW – THE BALLAD OF HENRY STARR by Phil Truman, LAST STAND AT BITTER CREEK by Tom Rizzo, and SIPPING WHISKEY IN A SHALLOW by Mark Mitten.  The winners will be announced on June 1^st.  You can learn more about the Western Fictioneers HERE

 

TCM FANATIC - WESTERN NOW ONLINE!

And speaking of TCM (okay, nobody was), have I mentioned that the segment I was interviewed for is now viewable here?








THE AUTRY NATIONAL CENTER

Built by cowboy actor, singer, baseball and TV entrepreneur 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 permanent 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 Hollywoodwestern, 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.



WELLSFARGO 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.


WESTERNS ALL OVER THE DIAL


INSP’s SADDLE-UP SATURDAY features a block of rarely-seen classics THE VIRGINIAN and HIGH CHAPARRAL, along with BONANZA and THE BIG VALLEY. On weekdays they’re showing LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, BIG VALLEY, HIGH CHAPARRAL and DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN.


ME-TV’s Saturday line-up includes THE REBEL and WAGON TRAIN. On weekdays it’s DANIEL BOONE, GUNSMOKE, BONANZA, BIG VALLEY, WILD WILD WEST, and THE RIFLEMAN.


RFD-TV, the channel whose president bought Trigger and Bullet at auction, have a special love for Roy Rogers. They show an episode of The Roy Rogers Show on Sunday mornings, a Roy Rogers movie on Tuesday mornings, and repeat them during the week.


WHT-TV has a weekday afternoon line-up that’s perfect for kids, featuring LASSIE, THE ROY ROGERS SHOW and THE LONE RANGER.


TV-LAND angered viewers by dropping GUNSMOKE, but now it’s back every weekday, along with BONANZA.

AMC usually devotes much of Saturday to westerns, often with multi-hour blocks of THE RIFLEMAN, and just this week began running RAWHIDE as well.  Coming soon, LONESOME DOVE and RETURN TO LONESOME DOVE miniseries!


THE WRAP-UP

That’s it for this week’s Round-up!  I’ve been attending the TCM Classic Film Festival for the last four days, and I’ll have plenty about that next week, as well as my review of the new DVD restoration of THE GRAND DUEL, and hopefully my review of the new Pat Buttram biography.

Happy Trails,

Henry

 

All Contents Copyright April 2013 by Henry C. Parke – All Right Reserved