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If you're a fan of Classic
Movies and Television
we invite you to join us at the next...

June 5 - 7, 2008
Whispering Woods Hotel and
Convention Center
Olive Branch, MS

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Latest
News Items
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May
11th --
We
are pleased to announce that a new guest has been added to the festival!
Bob Hoy will be joining us in
just a few weeks.

Bob
Hoy is equally at home being an actor and
a stuntman. He also brings an unique look at the history of
the Lone Ranger - having been
a part of two chapters of the Masked Man's
legacy!
Bob
was a stuntman who doubled forJay Silverheels
on some of the episodes of the classic TV series as well as being
part of the evil Butch Cavendish gang
in the 1980's feature film adventure of the Lone
Ranger.
You
may also recognize Bob from his regular
role appearing as Joe Butler on the
TV western, "The High Chapparal".
Bob
is looking forward to meeting the fans and guest at this June's
festival!
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May
10th --
We
have unfortunately had another guest cancellation which sometimes
occurs as festival time approaches and guests re-evaluate their
opportunity to appear.
Fred Foy regrets that he will be unable
to attend due to health reasons. He sends his apologies to
his legion of Lone Ranger fans.
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April
23rd --
We are saddened to
report the recent passing of a previous Memphis guest. Kay
Linaker left us on April 18th at the age of
95.
Ms.
Linaker was a
guest of the Memphis Film Festival in 2002 - the year we welcomed
several co-stars who have worked with Buck
Jones. Her visit and participation in the festival's
panel discussions will always be fondly remembered by the fans.

As a
character actor, Kay also made numerous
appearances in films including being honored for her several appearances
in the Charlie Chan series.
Our prayers
and thoughts go out to her family and friends.
Kay
Linaker
(1913
- 2008)
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April
22nd --
We
are pleased to announce another new guest has been added to this
year's Festival. Michael Chapin
will be joining us in June to celebrate the 75th anniversary of
The Lone Ranger!

Michael
Chapin will be
sharing his experiences working with Clayton
Moore on the classic series in an episode entitled "The
Star Witness".
Michael
Chapin
has also had a lot of experience working with other western film
stars as well. Please check out more information about Michael
on the GUESTS PAGE for the latest information
!
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April
21st --
A
very special guest has been added to this year's festival - a guest
who brings some unique contributions to the history of the Lone
Ranger!
Claudia
Barrett,
a popular guest who has joined us at Memphis a few years ago, will
be joining us again.

Claudia
will have an unique insight into the television exploits of the
Masked Man because she had the pleasure
of working with both actors who portrayed the Lone
Ranger - Clayton Moore in "Colorado
Gold" and John Hart in
"The Sheriff's Son".
Plan
to visit with Claudia this summer!
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April
20th --
Unfortunately,
we have recently seen a few of our scheduled guests cancel their
appearance at this June's festival. Guest cancellations are
a normal situation every film festival must deal with and the Memphis
event is no exception.
Dick
Beals
has announced his cancellation due to a personal conflict.
Delores
Fuller
has had to cancel her appearance due to a recent health problem.
Lisa
Montell
has had to cancel due to a scheduling conflict.
Please
check back to this site as the festival will soon announce replacements
for these guests.
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April
16th --
We
are really excited to announce that Jack Larson
will be joining us at one of the panel discussions during this summer's
festival.
He will be appearing via a live phone hook-up in our special
Superman panel discussion which will
also include his series co-star, Noel Neill
in person!

Jack,
as everyone knows, played "Jimmy Olsen"
in the 50s television series. In fact, he is the hands-down
favorite of every actor who has ever put on the bowtie to play that
famous role.
Besides
being a regular on the George Reeves
series, he appeared in other film projects centered upon the Man
of Steel including an episode of "Superboy",
"Lois and Clark" and a pivotal
appearance in the recent blockbuster film, "Superman
Returns".
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April
11th --
Another
tribute to our departed friend, Mitch Schaperkotter,
has been written.
Mitch
was a special friend. I actually met him and his wife, Wanda,
in the early 1970s before the first film festival was held in Memphis
in 1972. He was working with the Post Office but was also showing
B western movies and old movie serials at the old Bristol Theater
on Summer Ave. in Memphis. In more recent years, we often rode together
on the two-hour trip over to Dewey Derricks
house in North Little Rock on the first Saturday of each month to
watch westerns and serials. On those trips we had good conversations
about the movies, series and TV shows, Memphis and life in general.
As everyone who knew him knows, he was a great fellow to be around
and will be greatly missed.
Jimmie
Covington, Memphis, TN
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April
7th --
The
tributes continue to pour in honoring the memory of our dear friend
and film festival pioneer, Mitch Schaperkotter.

Here are some of the latest words of tribute we have heard:
Thanks for
the info on Mitch. I spent a
good bit of time talking with him when he was at the festivals.
In fact he gave me a tape of some Statler stuff I didn't have
and wouldn't charge me a dime. He was a great loss to the
old gang of film collectors.
Jim
McNeil, Wilkesboro, N.C
Thanks for
the sad news about Mitch Schaperkotter.
have lost so many old friends in recent years it seems like I'm
living on memories.
Colin
Momber, Editor-Publisher, Wrangler's Roost
In
addition, we find special tributes being written in the press and
on the Internet. Please feel free to read these obituaries:
John
Beifuss Blogsite (including additional photos
of Mitch)
The
Memphis Commercial Appeal (4/5/2008)
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April
3rd --
Mitchell
Schaperkotter,
along with Packy Smith and Wayne
Lackey, organized the first Western Film Festival held in
Memphis, TN in 1972. He continued to be involved heavily with the
festival, through its various incarnations, until as recently as
last year. He died after a long illness on April 2nd. He will be
buried on Saturday, April 5th.
Mitch
and his wife, Wanda, were an integral
part of the Memphis Film Festival, as it came to be known in 1980,
for a very long time. They were also well-known to western film
fans around the country. Mitch has
been collecting B western movies since the late 1960s and once managed
the Bristol Theatre in Memphis where he would screen them on 35mm.
His favorite cowboy was Eddie Dean.
Mitch and Wanda got to meet and know
Eddie and Dearest
Dean very well, and both were frequent visitors to the Memphis
festivals.
Mitch
had battled many health problems in recent years, but had always
come back fighting. He had an endurance and determination that few
possessed. His contributions to our festival and to western film
collecting generally cannot be measured. He will be greatly missed,
and we extend our deepest sympathies to his grieving wife.

Here
is what one of his many friends has said about "Big
Mitch"..
More
about Mitch: He, of course, was a major
cog in the operation of the Memphis Film Festival, helping it to
run on all cylinders. But, beyond that, however, Mitch
often was a conspicious force at Charlotte, Knoxville, and other
film conventions. He loved to refer to himself as "The
No. 1 Eddie Dean Fan". Along those lines, I'll forever
treasure a little gem of a tape I got from him. It is an account
of a singing Eddie Dean in great voice
as he performed at a California concert with many of his close friends
in attendance, including Roy and Dale,
Jock Mahoney and the spirit of such
greats as Roy Acuff and Jerry
Lee Lewis (via the words and music of Eddie
Dean). Furthermore, I'll always have images (literally) of
Mitch as he mixed it up through the
years with his friends and associates for the benefit of my out-dated
still camera before digital images came along........................Grady
Franklin
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March
25th --
2008
- This year will mark the 60th anniversary of the first
time MFF guest Noel Neill portrayed
her most famous character, girl reporter Lois
Lane!
Noel
first appeared as Lois in "Superman",
the 1948 Columbia serial. Since then, she has gone on to appear
in more different film and TV versions of Superman
than any other performer!
One
of her lesser known associations with this popular character was
an appearance she made with Jack "Jimmy
Olsen" Larson on a 1991
episode of "Superboy".
One
of her co-stars from that episode, Jeffrey
Breslauer, will be joining us at this summer's festival to
help commemorate Noel's remarkable
achievement!

Jeffrey
has established a successful career as an
actor, a puppeteer, voice actor and many other roles. We know
you will enjoy meeting this remarkable gentleman.
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January
20th --
In addition to the
exciting guests that will be appearing at this summer's Super-Celebration,
many special events are now in the making as well.
Among these events
is an exciting opportunity drawing for an authenic craftsman-made
replica of the holster set worn by Clayton
Moore as The Lone Ranger!

Check
out the 2008 Events Page for more details!
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| January
15th --
The flyer for
the 2008 Super-Celebration is now available!

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)
MEMPHIS
FILM FESTIVAL FLYER (PDF 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 readerfree, please
take the following link.)
Download
Adobe Reader
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October
15th --
ATTENTION WESTERN FILM COLLECTORS!!!
The festival is searching for a rare, hard-to-find Lone
Ranger film to show at next year's festival. It is "The
Lone Ranger Rides Again" - a film made in 1955 to celebrate
the 22nd anniversary of the Lone Ranger
and which starred Clayton Moore and Jay
Silverheels !
A more detailed description of this film may be found here.
If you have any information of where a print of this film may be found,
please contact Ray Nielsen
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Your help is certainly appreciated! |
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September
3rd --
Highlights
of the 2007 show are now available for your enjoyment!
Re-live
some of the fun times our attendees had as they celebrated the 100th
birthdays of John Wayne and Gene
Autry!
In
order to relive those memories of this show (or other past shows),
click on the Festival Highlights link on the left side menu or simply
click here !
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August
7th --
Plans
are well on the way for the the 2008 show!
It
promises to be a fantastic festival as we gather to celebrate the
anniversaries of two of America's greatest heroes - the Lone
Ranger and Superman!
Superman
will be celebrating his 70th anniversary since his first appearance
in Action Comics #1 in June, 1938!
The
Lone Ranger will be celebrating his
75th anniversary after he made his debut over the radio airwaves
on station WYXZ in Detroit on January 2nd, 1933!
Special
guests and events are being planned to make this a really SUPER-Celebration!
More
details will be available soon so check back often!
Hi-Yo
Silver Away!
Up,
Up and Away!
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The
latest and most complete book on the movie and television career
of Gene Autry is now available to all
his fans!
Authored
by noted western film historian Boyd Magers,
this book has been exhaustively researched using resources at Gene
Autry Enterprises.
Much of this material has never been previously published.
For
more information about this book including how to order an autographed
copy at a discounted rate, please click here!
This
is a must for every western film fan's library!
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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!
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For more information on the Memphis Film Festival send
a S.A.S.E to:
P.O. Box 87
Conway, AR 72033
or email: rnielsen@alltel.net
Last modified: 05/11/08
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