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| It was my distinct privilege to attend the Golden Boot Award ceremony last week that honored Bobby Hoy. The Golden Boot is the most prestigious Western genre award that recognizes the elite of that special fraternity of actors, stuntmen, writers, directors who contributed significantly to the Western tradition in films and television. Here's a link that provides more detail about the legacy of the Golden Boot Award. http://www.goldenbootawards.com/legacy1.html It is disheartening to realize that the ranks of this exclusive alliance are becoming increasingly thinned by the inexorable march of time. For those of us who grew up during the 50's and 60's, the Western experience, especially on television, was an important part of our lives. I was advised that it was uncertain that there even was going to be another Golden Boot ceremony. Thanks to the Golden Boot fraternity ,rallying round, there was one more... and it was for Bobby Hoy. For those who are not familiar with Bobby's work, he is a legendary stuntman and actor with over sixty years in films and television. Bob's big screen credits include: A Star is Born, Man of a Thousand Faces, The Defiant Ones, Operation Petticoat and Spartacus. Beginning with Ambush in 1950, Bob performed stunts and/or acted in a plethora of oaters and appeared in just about every Western television series over the last half century, including creating the role of Joe Butler during the four year run of The High Chaparral. As Robert Fuller (Wagon Train, Laramie) said as he handed the Golden Boot Award to Bobby, “When Bobby was on the set, you knew that there was going to be no problems with the horses or the stunts.” For more about Bobby's career, here's a link to his website http://www.bobhoy.com/default.htm Bobby is also a special pal. I met him during the outset of my Charles McGraw biography odyssey. McGraw's significant other, Millie Black, told me if I wanted to know more about Charlie: "Go find Bobby. He was like Charlie's kid brother" I contacted Bobby and we spent the better part of a day in a Tarzana coffee shop. He regaled me with wonderful stories about McGraw along with numerous anecdotes about the famous (and infamous) who worked in movies and television when Studio City was a tavern-laden hamlet wholly sustained by show biz folk. We subsequently became friends and lunched regularly at Cafe 50's while taking in some of the vintage films screened at the Egyptian Theatre. There wouldn’t have been much of a Charles McGraw tome without Bobby’s contributions. He’s a prince of a fellow and it was a joy to witness his long-overdue moment of peer recognition. Here are some pictures from the Golden Boot Award event courtesy of photographer Kelly Chippendale http://www.chippendale.shutterbugstorefront.com/ 
Here's a group of the Golden Boot Fraternity. Morgan Woodward is in the foreground (in white hat and crutches- remember him as the prison guard who snuffed out Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke? ) second from right. A couple people down from Morgan with the white beard is Gregg Palmer (Magnificent Obsession, The Creature Walks Among Us among hundreds of other credits, most of them Westerns). 
Another group shot with Bobby's wife, Kiva (one of the all-time Earth bound angels) in the center sitting on the lap of legendary tough guy actor William Smith whose career began as a boy extra in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) and, over 275 film and television credits later - according to IMDb- continues working into 2010. There's Robert Forster, second from the right. 
Here's the poster that everyone signed for Bobby. 
Here's a still of Bobby from The Legend of The Lone Ranger (1981) Don't ask me what the flowers are for. 
Finally, here is yours truly flanked by two close friends of Bobby. Shirley-she's the pretty one on the left- is a jewel. Although I knew Shirley previously, I was surprised to discover that she was the younger sister of the late actress Constance Moore. Beauty runs in the family. 2/8/2010: Sad news. Bobby Hoy passed away early this morning. He leaves a loving family and a legion of friends and colleagues who will miss him greatly. R.I.P. | | |
| While resolving that I will not be at the screenings of Red Light and Walk a Crooked Mile at Noir City in San Francisco this Thursday because work beckons, my thoughts turned to... The Noir City opener this weekend in San Francisco. A better weekend of darkness could not be imagined! After the opening night double header of Pitfall-one of the seminal film noirs, IMHO and Larceny on Friday, Saturday brought the debut of the restored print of Cry Danger (funded by the Film Noir Foundation, btw) followed by another Bill Bowers scribed jewel, The Mob. The Cry Danger screening was special. Not only was this underrated film in spectacular shape thanks to the stellar efforts of the UCLA restoration team, I brought my pal, Richard Erdman up to the Castro Theater to share in the good vibes. Dick has the best part in the film as a smartass drunken sidekick to Dick Powell. He shared a dirty joke and several yarns about the film on stage with Eddie Muller after receiving a standing ovation from an appreciative 1200 people. Really a special evening. In between it was enjoying the wonderful cuisine and hospitality with close friends that makes San Francisco one of my all time favorite burgs. I am looking forward to returning to the Noir City this weekend to introduce screenings of Armored Car Robbery and Inside Job. Open up those Golden Gates! Jean Simmons I was startled, not shocked by her passing. Jean was a relentless smoker for a very long time and everyone knows what that means. When she came to the Egyptian Theater nearly a decade ago for a screening of Angel Face, (the last time that ever happened- she loathed the film because Otto Preminger treated her so brutally) Simmons smoked continually while intermittently munching on a burger in the green room. I spoke with her at length for my bio on Charles McGraw. Once Jean concluded that I was ok, she relaxed and conversed easily about everything including the two subjects she had previously told me not to ask her about: Otto Preminger and Howard Hughes. She was beautifully gracious to phone me out of the blue over a year later to tell me that she loved the book, particularly the chapter on In Cold Blood and Richard Brooks, her second husband whom she still loved dearly. Jean was a witty, dear person who had her share of troubles. She was a terrific actress and one of the most beautiful faces ever seen on screen. I will miss her. Have Gun Will Travel I've been watching this program via Tivo off of the Western Channel on and off for the past several weeks. Although now over 50 years old (Judas Priest!) I am consistently impressed on how good an episodic show Have Gun truly was. Much of the quality is due to Richard Boone. As Paladin, the unforgettable Boone mug complemented a formidable acting talent that effortlessly projected menace, humor, and compassion with equal dexterity. Add to it, the tightly wound scripts that were churned out by the likes of Steve Fisher, Jack Laird, Irving Wallace and Gene Roddenberry. Like an old home week for film buffs, the HGWT episodes are invariably peopled with about every familiar character actor who was drawing breath at the time. It also not too much of a stretch to consider this venerable program as sagebrush noir. Paladin is a nineteenth century Philip Marlowe with black hat and gun. A gun for hire who prefers reason over brawn, Paladin lives by his own code of honor, is beholden to no one and has an easy way with the ladies. And I dig the card! . Let Me Tell You How I Really Feel: The Uncensored Book Reviews of Classic Images' Laura Wagner, 2001-2010 In her own way, Laura Wagner, noted writer and book reviewer is as tough as Paladin. Her uncompromising, and often unsparing critiques of film books from Classic Images have been compiled in a tome that is essential reading to safely navigate the endless deluge of film star biographies and genre anthologies. It is an unfortunate circumstance that awful books about vintage film stars and their milieu have proliferated at an alarming rate. Miss Wagner's unstinting regard for the value of accuracy, authentic research and quality prose illuminates the good, the bad and the ugly amongst the current crop of film books and represents a public service for the inquisitive buff. | | |
| I watched Soldier in the Rain (1963) for the second time in my life this week. The initial viewing was on a local New York television station some four decades ago. I was many things different back then starting with “impressionable” followed by “young”. Soldier in the Rain resonated with me as a soulful vibe back in the long ago… and I discovered that it still does. 
The film, based on William Goldman’s novel, comes to life through the wonderful texture of the friendship between the Army lifer, MSgt Maxwell Slaughter, played with seamless verve by Jackie Gleason and the cone-pone, simplistic Sergeant Eustice Clay, portrayed by an amazingly unaffected Steve McQueen. 
Clay idolizes Slaughter as the consummate inside operator with the plush air conditioned office complete with executive desk and Pepsi machine. He would love to emulate his hero, but knows he never can. The naïve Southerner compensates by repeatedly conjuring up get-rich schemes for the pair of them when his hitch is up. If only Maxwell would ditch the stupid Army and join him on the outside, they’ll have it made. Clay’s absurd notions tend make Walter Mitty a pragmatist and his much wiser pal humors him along as he looks forward to hearing about the next screwball idea. For his part, Slaughter is an ultra-confident sharpie who seems to have his world licked, but inwardly knows he is a lot closer to the end than the beginning. The Army's equivalent of a Zen Master, he becomes distinctly uncomfortable while briefly pondering his future. Letting his guard down for a moment while the two are having ice-cream at the base PX, Slaughter confides, “Eustice, I’ve always been fat. It’s not funny. Do you know what it is like to be the only fat kid on the block? I remember that world and I am not looking forward to joining it again." The naïve Clay doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand that his hero is vulnerable and Slaughter quickly changes the subject as the moment passes. The two men finally agree to meet at an island that Slaughter visited briefly during World War II. It is the G.I. version of Nirvana. “The women who live there”, enthuses Slaughter as McQueen’s eyes open wider than Peter Lorre’s “wear nothing at all and their breasts… well Eustice, they’re inverted upwards! Just when you start to wonder what the hell this movie is really about, Bobby Jo Pepperdine, a bodacious Southern belle played by the perfectly-cast Tuesday Weld enters the picture. After a brush with the law involving Bobby Jo and a pair of hardass M.P.s, Eustice decides to fix up his best buddy Maxwell with the teen-aged Bobby Jo on a double date. Gleason, an extraordinarily underrated dramatic actor, is at his best opposite Weld as both of them come to terms that their relationship cannot be sexual- Slaughter is a man with a moral compass- but is nonetheless affectionate. There is a sequence at an amusement park that is wonderfully touching and beautifully played by both actors. Talk about incongruously delightful: Jackie Gleason and Tuesday Weld having a private moment together! 
Although brutal reality and tragedy inevitably intrudes into the relationship between the two soldiers who, aside from the Army, had nothing in common but their friendship, Soldier in the Rain is a sweetly whimsical movie with unusual nobility and charm. The director of Soldier in the Rain, Ralph Nelson, is a largely forgotten filmmaker. A pioneer of early television- Climax! Studio One Playhouse 90- his transition into feature films in the early 1960’s couldn’t have been more distinguished. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), Lillies of the Field (1963), Fate is the Hunter (1964), and Charly (1968) comprise pretty heavy lifting for any director. Add to it, the great Blake Edwards who produced and co-wrote the screenplay with Maurice Richlin. Although Edwards was already busy with The Pink Panther (1964), he believed in Soldier in the Rain enough to give it his all. To pursue this line of thought: In 1963, Jackie Gleason was still the king of television and although he had been Oscar nominated for The Hustler (1961), his indelible image of comic excess reinforced weekly-“LIVE FROM MIAMI BEACH, IT’S JACKIE GLEASON’S AMERICAN SCENE MAGAZINE!” gained nothing from a dramatic role in a modestly budgeted Allied Artists production. Clearly The Great One believed in Soldier in the Rain as did Steve McQueen who was red-hot coming off of The Great Escape. Unfortunately, timing means both everything and nothing. Soldier in the Rain was released on 27 November 1963; five days after the assassination of President Kennedy. No one was thinking about movies or much of anything after November 22nd. Soldier in the Rain quickly disappeared from public view. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover Soldier in the Rain had been recently reissued in DVD via the Warners Archive Collection. Something that always stayed with me from when I originally saw the film was Gleason responding to McQueen’s salutation of “See you later Maxwell” with, “Until that time, Eustice, until that time.” I am glad that this particular time…and film has come back around to me again. Speaking about the Warner’s Archive, another notable film that hit the street this month from WB that was previously available only via TCM and bootleg DVDs is The Woman on Pier 13 (1949) aka I Married a Communist. I am fond of this movie and screened it at two different festivals over the last several years. Produced at RKO by the redoubtable Howard Hughes, whose hatred for Commies-domestic, foreign and reputed-was legendary, The Woman on Pier 13 is more than a Red Scare period curiosity piece. 
Although the film’s premise that the threat of domestic Communism was personified by a gang of waterfront gangsters led by Thomas Gomez and William Talman (his film debut, btw) is patently absurd, The Woman on Pier 13 plays extremely well. The entertainment value is principally due to the triangle between the angst ridden Robert Ryan, an appealing Laraine Day and one of my favorite noir fatales, Janice Carter. Carter, who seduces Ryan’s brother (John Agar) into becoming a fellow traveler, primarily labored in the trenches of the Columbia “B” unit playing a series of tawdry, backstabbing waitresses, models and nightclub chanteuses. Metaphorically speaking, if femme fatales were hotels, Stanwyck and Crawford might be the Ritz Carlton, but Janice Carter is Courtyard by Marriott; always credible, dependable and frequently underrated. Carter’s sexy élan really makes The Woman on Pier 13 go.  | | |
| Eva Marie Saint and her husband, documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Hayden, have made a donation to have dinner with a lucky contributor to the Children's Neurobiological Solutions research foundation at http://www.cnsfoundation.org/site/PageServer A worthy cause and a nice gesture by a great star. Here are the details. http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/cns2009/catalog_items/108217 | | |
| In addition to my article about Phil Yordan, (here's a link to the Film Noir Foundation website, http://www.filmnoirfoundation.org/), here are some other interesting details gleaned from my research about Yordan: Claimed to have watched every movie with Jean Gabin who served as a model for his Western characters in Anthony Mann’s movies. Believed that The Bravados wasn’t successful because director, Henry King, was too old. Wanted to use the standing sets from Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) for something called, Luke the Magnificent for $1million from Paramount but Samuel Bronston turned him down. His approach toward Joan Crawford to convince her about the script revisions on Johnny Guitar: “I’ll do anything you want. Anything you want, I gotta do” During his glory days with Samuel Bronston, Yordan lived in a Paris apartment that had 28 foot ceilings in a 2 story complex at the foot of Avenue Victor Hugo. Originally tried to cast Richard Burton as Jesus in King of Kings (1961), but after having trouble with his agent, used the $200,000 ticketed for Burton to cast all eight principal actors except the title role that ended up going to Jeffrey Hunter. Yordan on Method Acting: “If you asked a New York actor to sit during a scene, he would ask ‘Why’? ‘Why should I sit down?” I’m standing. What is my motivation to sit down’ I cured that by telling the asshole if he stood and the other actor sat we couldn’t get both of their faces in a close shot”. Producer Sam Bischoff: “Nice fella, but this is a guy that should be running a bookie joint”. Yordan and the King Brothers
Frank King was like a “300 pound Chinaman with a fresh cigar between his lips and his file desk drawer was filled with chocolate peanut Hershey bars. He was puzzled why he was overweight. Maurice King had an undistinguished career as a pugilist and subsisted principally on black coffee.” “The rumor persisted that they were gangsters. They weren’t, but they did own a string of slot machines. If they had any other illegal enterprises, I never found out about it.” “I had to repeat my offer to Mama King in Boyle Heights when I asked for a cash advance to live on. She had to approve each film. She treated me like the fourth King Brother (God, help them).”
About his long term friend and colleague, Bernard Gordon: “Had Bernie been given a proper budget, I truly believe he could have been a vital force in cinema” On screenwriting: “Do not drown your script with endless dialogue and long speeches. Every question does not call for a response. Whenever you can express an emotion with a silent gesture, do so. Once you poise the question permit it to linger before you get a reply. Or better yet, perhaps the character cannot reply, he or she has no answer. This permits the unspoken response to hang in midair’. “Don’t let an actor pull a gun or knife without using it”
About himself: “I guess I was a whore whose services were always in need”.
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