Posts Tagged ‘elmo williams’
The Cowboy and “The Cowboy”
Posted on: January 16, 2015
“I was born to ride…”
In 1953 Robert L. Lippert commissioned a feature film to be directed by noted film editor, Elmo Williams (Academy Award winner for “High Noon”), who is still alive at 102. It was to star Lloyd Bridges, Lee J. Cobb, Marie Windsor and Luther Adler. Lippert, always interested in getting talent to work cheap, got three of the stars at a bargain rate because they were HUAC-tainted, and needed work.
Production commenced in Deming, New Mexico, and local real-deal cowboys were retained as wranglers. Among them, L.B. “Beau” Johnson, Robert Johnson, Ross May and Darrell Hawkins.
Both Williams and his wife, Lorraine, were fascinated by the cowboys who worked on the picture, and she envisioned a full-length documentary about cowboy life featuring the same cowboys who worked in “The Tall Texan.” The estimated budget was around $50,000 (under $500,000 in 2014 dollars), low because there was no need to pay for stars, sets or sync sound. The meager budget, even by Lippert standards, may account for why the penurious producer sprung for filming in color.
Both movies turned out very well, and made money. “The Cowboy” was particularly successful in the Southwest. Later, when it was released in 16mm, it became a perennial favorite at Indian reservations.
In 2004 I purchased the Lippert film library, and envisioned a DVD release of “The Cowboy” with the usual special features VCI Entertainment and I specialize in. But, what special features could I come up with?
Later on I got a phone call from Bridget Kelly who worked with filmmakers in New Mexico, asking if the movie could be shown to an audience in Deming. Of course I said yes, and inquired if she knew what became of the cowboys. She replied that four of them were coming to the screening!
A commentary track featuring the actual cowboys looking at the movie a half-century later…yessss!
It was arranged to get them together for a recording session. My wife, Donna, and I went to Deming and awaited the cowboys. The first one, Beau Johnson, arrived with his wife in an old car that didn’t look as if it had been through a car wash in 15 years; papers all over the dash, license plate hanging on for dear life. There he was, complete with faded Wrangler’s, old boots, sweat-stained hat, and a big silver buckle, speaking authentic “cowboy,” of course. Was he ever a warm and wonderful character. His passion was race horses, and he owned them…why bother with a new car when you own championship horses? Next came Beau’s brother, Robert, Ross May and finally Darrell Hawkins, great guys all. Hawkins even gave me a lesson on trick roping.
I had prepared for the recording session with lots of notes and questions to toss out to keep the guys talking throughout, hoping they’d make comments about what was occurring on the screen without much prompting from me. We rolled tape and Ross May, who had retired as a school teacher, took the lead as moderator…he was a natural…knew just how to keep everyone going as if he’d done it a thousand times. Tossed my notes in the garbage…didn’t need ‘em.
The result was great…a group of engaging old-timers reminiscing, often humorously, and with cowboy jargon, about an era that has, for all intents and purposes, long since passed.
Donna and I recently got a call out of the blue from Beau Johnson. Hadn’t spoken with him for many years although I had thought about him. He had been in the hospital, and I guess had survived a couple of brushes with death. His brother, Robert, is fine, but Ross and Hawkins are gone. Beau, still his jovial self, told us how much our friendship meant to him, which was totally unexpected, and touched us very much. He said he even kept a ribbon from a bottle of wine Donna gave him. Beau had another reason to call…a favor…asked if we’d call Elmo Williams and wish him a happy 103rd birthday. (It isn’t until next year, but we’ll be sure to call).
When we signed off, Beau told me he was born to ride a horse, and I told him “The Cowboy” commentary was the most fun I’ve ever had producing a special feature.
Additional DVD bonus features:
“The Making of The Cowboy” by Elmo Williams
Video booklet
“Ghost Towns of the Old West – the Deserts” narrated by Rip Torn
Photos:
Top: Beau and Robert Johnson from “The Cowboy”
DVD cover: Beau Johnson
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Lippert “Scores” Again
Posted on: April 10, 2013
When I think of movies like “Hellgate” (Lippert/1952), directed by Charles Marquis Warren, and “The Tall Texan” (Lippert/1953), directed by Elmo Williams (Oscar-winning film editor on “High Noon”), I marvel at how directors like that were able to produce really entertaining films on a minimal budget (and an even more minimal shooting schedule.)
David Schecter does the same, only he thinks of the composers, in this case, Paul Dunlap and Bert Schefter.
“Monstrous Movie Music” is the name of David’s company. He specializes in producing CD’s with music scores from lower-tier science fiction films, but there are a few “A” features as well. These movies were helped immeasurably by the gifted composers, who like their director and producer counterparts, relegated to the demands of low budgets and extremely tight production schedules.
Some bring back fond memories of my going to the movies as a kid at the State and Rio Theatres in Monterey, CA: “The Blob” (Paramount/1958) composed by Ralph Carmichael; “The Last Man on Earth” (AIP/1964), composed by Paul Sawtell and Bert Schefter; “The Brain From the Planet Arous” (Howco/1957), composed by Walter Greene. I remember as the end title on “Arous” came on the screen and thinking I’d just wasted $.50. My disappointment was forgotten after watching the co-feature, “The Alligator People” (API-Fox/1959), composed by Irving Gertz, exemplifying there is no accounting for the taste of an 11-year-old.
David Schecter is a champion of composers, especially the lesser-known ones, many of whom he knew personally, and dedicates himself to making their scores available. He and his staff have gone to the trouble of re-recording the scores utilizing renowned symphony orchestras in Poland and Slovakia when they aren’t releasing original soundtracks. He write superb liner notes as well.
Monstrous Movie Music:
http://www.mmmrecordings.com/index.htmlb
The movies themselves are available on DVD from VCI Entertainment:
“Hellgate,” starring Sterling Hayden, Joan Leslie, Ward Bond, and James Arness (one of my favorites), directed by Charles Marquis Warren, is part of the two-disc DVD collection titled, “Darn Good Westerns” Volume 1, featuring five additional titles, “Panhandle” (Allied Artists/1948) with Rod Cameron, in “glowing Sepiatone,” and four from Lippert Pictures, “Fangs of the Wild” (1954), with Charles Chaplin, Jr., and underrated actress Margia Dean in one of her best roles, “The Train to Tombstone” (1950) which is a Don “Red” Barry western, “Operation Haylift” (1950) with Bill Williams and Ann Rutherford, and “Wildfire – The Story of a Horse” (1945) starring Bob Steele, in Cinecolor, which was the first production from legendary exhibitor turned producer, Robert L. Lippert.
“The Tall Texan,” is a solid western starring Lloyd Bridges and Lee J. Cobb, with cool special features, including “The Making of ‘The Tall Texan’” by Elmo Williams (still alive at age 100!); audio reminiscences by Ross May, a wrangler for the movie; the original theatrical trailer, and Chapter 1 from “Secret Agent X-9” (1945).
On the subject of Elmo Williams, I highly recommend “The Cowboy” (Lippert/1954), a feature length documentary filmed in color. Both “The Tall Texan” and “The Cowboy” were made in Deming NM where in 2005 my wife Donna and I went to produce the commentary featuring reminiscences of four of the original cowboys who starred in the film. Listening to these authentic cowboys fifty years later is a hoot…worthy of a blog of its own.
*Usually credited as a Lippert production, it was actually an independent film from producer by John C. Champion (brother of Gower), under his Commander Films banner. Champion also produced “Panhandle.”
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