July 20th --

Those of you who've ever attended the Western Film Fair in Charlotte or Winston-Salem, NC will be saddened to learn of the passing of the driving force behind that festival. Robert Wayne Short, 72, died July 20th after a battle with cancer. Our condolences go out to his friends and family.

You can raed his obituary by clicking here.

July 20th --

As you have been reading on the site lately, there has been a lot of news being reported recently concerning the Roy Rogers memorabilia auction.  Among this news was the active involvement of the RFD Network in the auction and their future broadcast plans of Roy Rogers films.

More detailed information concerning the auction and the RFD Network is now available.  A full report can be seen by clicking here.

Click the Play Button below to revisit the Roy Rogers TV show intro --

July 16th --

Latest update from the auction concerning the memorabilia from the closed Roy Rogers Museum in Branson, Missouri -

The auction has now completed.

         

Roy Rogers' stuffed and mounted dog, Bullet, fetched $35,000 at the second day of the NYC memorabilia auction.  It was bought by the same RFD-TV network which purchased Roy's horse, Trigger, yesterday.

Dale Evans' horse, Buttermilk, was sold for $25,000, less than 1/10 of what Trigger went for.  It was not immediately announced who bought Buttermilk.

"Nellybelle", Pat Brady's Jeep from the Roy Rogers TV series, sold for $116,500 to a New Jersey horse trainer named Pam Weidel.

The auction brought in a total of $2.98 million. No items went unsold.

One of major announcements as reported by Associated Press was that RFD Network will begin running Roy Rogers films in November, with Roy's son Dusty introducing them with Trigger and Bullet in the background.

July 15th --

This news item will probably be of interest to many of our attendess.  As some of you may know, the famous Roy Rogers Museum in Branson, Missouri closed down in December.  Much of the memorabilia that was stored at the museum is currently being auctioned off.

The MFF's co-sponsor, Boyd Magers of Western Clippings magazine, is attending the sale and gave this update report:

Trigger sold for $266,000 to RFD TV network based in Omaha, NB. Trigger's saddle supposedly sold for more than that.

Everything was selling for prices above expectations. Even a pair of Roy's sunglasses that had RR on them went for more than $1,000. The only itemshe was able to get on the first day were some scripts from the Roy Rogers' television series.

RFD, which calls itself "Rural America's Most Important Network," indicated it wants to buy other Rogers items with the idea of starting a museum of its own.

This photo taken at the auction shows Gil Perez, an employee of Christie's auction house, strumming one of Roy's guitars.

July 2nd --

The latest flyer for the 2011 TV Western reunion is already available!
This flyer shows the latest guest additions!

Already the festival is still several months away, many guests and events have already been set in place!

Feel free to download copies and print them out!

Help support the show by giving flyers to friends and family you believe will be interested in attending this exciting, fun-filled festival next summer!

MEMPHIS FILM FESTIVAL FLYER (JPG Format)

(Please note that one of these flyers is in PDF format. If you are unable to read it, it may be because your computer is not equipped with a PDF reader program. To download Adobe PDF reader free of charge, please take the following link.)

Download Free Adobe Reader

June 25th --

"The Cheyenne Reunion - Then and Now"

This very special montage was designed by Steve St. John to commemorate the first public reunion in 48 years of these great Warners Brothers stars, Ty Hardin, Clint Walker and Will Hutchins.  This historic event was held at this year's Memphis Film Festival.

Steve St. John is a photographer for National Geographic Magazine and a close friend of Will Hutchins.

June 24th --

Did you see those great looking "Gathering of Guns" T-shirts that some people were wearing at this year's festival?  

Many people did but were disappointed to find out that they sold out quickly and were no longer available.

The designer of these shirts, Jud Patterson, is now taking orders of a new printing of these fabulous shirts!  Sizes, pricing and order information is available at his website.

This offer will not be available for long (ending 7/11) so be sure to order today to get your shirts soon.

Besides, all the "in people" will be wearing these shirts at the 2011 festival!

June 22nd --

We are saddened to announce the passing of a long-time patron of the Memphis Film Festival - Helene Lentz.  Helene came to the festival for several years with her son, Harris, who is well-known for his many writing accomplishments.  He is also a regular contributor to Classic Images magazine.

Harris has a nice obituary in honor of his mom which can be found be clicking on this link.  While his words are better written, all we can add is that we have lost a friend who enjoyed her fellowships with friends and guests at the annual festival.  She will be be missed.

Our prayers and thoughts go out to Harris and her other family members.

Helene Lentz
(1923 - 2010)

June 12th --

The 2010 Memphis Film Festival was an astounding success - everyone who attended walked away with fun memories and good stories to share!

Several attendees have already posted their thoughts and thanks on the MFF Forum Page.  Please take a few moments to visit it and share your thoughts as well!

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Also - many have requested information about getting DVDs of many of the event's highlights - such as the banquet, panel discussions and other activities.

Good news - those materials are available for this year's and many other past festivals from our festival's videographer, Ken Wilburn!

You may contact Ken via the contact information below and he will be be glad to help your festival memories live again!

Ken Wilburn
Email: kjw@wantedcowgirls.com
Ph# (901) 763-3460

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Finally, please remember to continue to visit this site, the Western Clippings web site and the MFF Forum Page as new plans are announced for the 2011 Memphis Film Festival next June!

May 31st --

As we are about to "open the doors" to the 2010 edition of the Memphis Film Festival, we are saddened to announce the passing of one of the festival's most loyal friends and supporters - Vern Odell.

Vern has attended many of the festivals since his first one in 1972 and had hoped to make the trip from Indiana this summer to once again visit with his friends.  Although it was known he wouldn't be with us much longer, it was our hope he could have attended this festival one more time.

In honor of our friend, we will be naming the B-Western screening room after him this year.

God Bless You, Vern!

May 27th --

There have been many, many guests who have appeared at the Memphis festival over the past 35 years.  In fact, there have been over 300 guests making over 450 appearances.

Want to relive some memories of those shows?

Or, if you haven't been attending these shows for long, you may want to be surprised by the very impressive list of guests the festival has hosted over the years?

You can do that now - by checking out our new "Past Guests" page.  You can review the list of past guests by festival date or by an alphabetic last name.

Check out this page here - you will be impressed!