2007
Memphis Film Festival
Special Events
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2007 Guests page
2007 Highlights page
Each year, the Memphis Film Festival strives to have a well-balanced film schedule that gives attendees great examples of the attending guests' work as well as some unusual, rare film finds.
In 2007,
however, the festival went beyond that traditional goal to celebrate the
100th birthdays of two of the cinema's greatest
stars - Gene Autry and John
Wayne! Much
of the festival will be centered around the careers of these two screen
heroes.
Just look at some of the
exciting things we were able to bring to our attendees...
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As you may have noticed as you reviewed our guest list, many of our invited guests worked with Gene Autry and John Wayne. They shared memories and stories of them in our panel discussion tributes. Many of them also attended special screenings of the films they made with Autry and Wayne as well.
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As it has
become a tradition at the Memphis Film Festival, our invited guests
also be participated in two classic radio reproductions during the weekend.
However, as a special treat, both of our radio recreations were
based on actual radio performances of Gene Autry
and John Wayne.
As many of you are aware, Gene Autry was
able to reach out to his legion of fans throughout the country in virtually
every media outlet including his popular movies, his long-running TV
series, his top-selling recordings and, not last of all, his popular
radio series, "Melody Ranch".
In 2007, we presented a recreation of one of his "Melody
Ranch" radio programs. (Below you will see a couple
of photos of Gene on the set of his radio
show - performing as well as working with the sound effects group.)
The obvious question became: Who could the festival possibly get to
"fill the boots" of the Singing Cowboy? Well, we were pleased
to have that cowboy music great, Johnny Western,
to lend his voice to this wonderful tribute!
This was a memorable event for all festival attendees!
Our second radio recreation had been selected to honor John
Wayne. The festival presented a radio adaption of "Stagecoach",
the film that presented Wayne with his breaktrough
role. In the golden days of radio, it was common for Hollywood
to present a condensed version of their major motion pictures for the
enjoyment of radio audiences.
Besides being a key point in John Wayne's film career, "Stagecoach"
also made radio history when it was broadcast. The radio adaptation
was the initial
presentation that began the series "Screen
Director's Assignment" on NBC Radio on January 9, 1949. The
show would later become known as the "Screen
Director's Guild" and "Screen Director's
Playhouse." It ended at the end of September in 1951.
"Stagecoach" was originally broadcast on the "Screen Directors' Playhouse" series. The episode was introduced and closed by John Ford, the legendary director who brought us "Stagecoach". Its leading cast members included Claire Trevor, Ward Bond and of course, John Wayne reprising his famous film role of "The Ringo Kid"!
Again, the festival was extremely fortunate to find someone who can give
us an excellent portrayal of "The Ringo Kid"
in next year's adaptation. None other than Gregg
Palmer, a good friend of Wayne and
who appeared with him in SIX films, stepped into that famed role.
(We were certain many of you remembered the incredibly life-like impression
of John Wayne that Gregg
did at the 2006 festival!)
These two radio show recreations were amongst the most memorable the festival
has had the pleasure of presenting!
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Besides our
film guests who had actually worked with the pair, there were special
appearances by film historians who have actively researched the careers
of these men and who had a lot of new, interesting stories to share
that many of us are unaware.
One of these film historians was Ronald L.
Davis, a retired SMU professor who has written biographies on William
S. Hart, John Ford and John
Wayne.
In his insightful
biography of John Wayne entitled "Duke"
(seen above), Mr. Davis focuses on the human
side of John Wayne as opposed to a simple
filmography. His information is based on in-depth interviews he
has had with both members of the Wayne family and people he worked with
in Hollywood such as Maureen O'Hara.
Another film historian who will be appearing at next year's festival will
be Boyd Magers, publisher of the Western
Clippings magazine. An established authority on the history
of Hollywood westerns, Boyd has been comissioned
by Autry Enterprises to write a book on the films of Gene
Autry which is currently available.
In addition, we were also happy to have a third film historian to join us in June. The Gene Autry estate has given Holly George-Warren the honor of writing the definitive book on the life and career of the cowboy hero. Her newly-published biography, appropriately titled "Public Cowboy No. 1" is the result of several months of dedicated research into Gene's illustrious life.
For more
in-depth information about this soon-to-be collectible classic book, check
out the Public Cowboy No. 1 information
page !
As you can see, the 2007 festival was as enjoyable as ever, but was also
very informative for the western film fan!
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Another very special treat for Festival attendees was a rare screening of the 3-D version of the John Wayne classic, "Hondo".
This special presentation included a filmed introduction by the Duke's daughter, Marisa. Fans enjoyed this rare screening of one of the landmark films of John Wayne's career!
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As you can
tell, the 2007 festival was packed with a lot of fun and activity!