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Post by Greg C. on Oct 21, 2005 6:09:02 GMT -5
have fun!!
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Post by neferetus on Oct 26, 2005 11:52:35 GMT -5
Spotlight focuses on ‘The Alamo’ once more By Brian Argabright Del Rio News-Herald Published October 22, 2005 Forty-five years ago, director, and star, John Wayne set out to make a little movie history just 30 miles east of Del Rio. The film that Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon and hundreds of others brought to life was “The Alamo”, the retelling of one of Texas’ greatest historical events. Released in 1960, the film went on to be nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won one, Best Sound. It also made a tourist attraction out of the set. Instead of tearing down the buildings that replicated the historic Spanish mission, the nearby town of Brackettville, led by Happy Shahan, decided to turn the set into what is today known as Alamo Village. Tonight, Alamo Village will once again play host to a cast of hundreds, as the set will screen the 1960 epic for friends, family and admirers of the film and its surviving stars. Friday afternoon the first contingent arrived in Del Rio to begin reminiscing about their work four decades ago. Dean Smith, a Texas sports legend and a veteran of more than 70 television shows and films, and Jim Brewer, whose Hollywood legacy began with “The Alamo” and continues with “Clean Sweep” which is being shot in Austin, were on hand to greet members of Wayne’s family as they arrived at Del Rio’s International Airport. His youngest daughter, Marisa Wayne-Ditteaux; his oldest granddaughter, Anita Swift; his youngest granddaughter, Carmela Wayne-Ditteaux; and his son-in-law, and assistant director on “The Alamo,” Don LaCava, represented Wayne, who passed away from cancer in 1979. While Smith and Brewer are frequent visitors to the area, this will be the first visit in many years for LaCava and Swift, who was an extra on the film when she was a child, and it will be the first visit for Wayne-Ditteaux and her daughter. “I remember working with all those great people. It was just a good group that worked well together,” said LaCava. “I was in on the film from its creation. I helped find the money to make it as well as other things. I think it’s the end product, rather than the filming itself, that stands out. We had a hard time getting it made. People thought we just wanted to do another western.” Smith, who played running back at the University of Texas and won a gold medal in the 1952 Olympics as a member of the U.S. 4 x 100 meter relay team, played about 15 different characters in the film and served as a stunt double for Frankie Avalon. He said that growing up, all he wanted to was star in a Western. “It was pretty exciting for me, being a kid from Texas,” said Smith, who still calls Texas home. “Every time I see the movie, I think I can see me taking a shot at myself in a couple of the scenes.” Brewer, who boxed professionally before trying his hand at films, played Col. William Travis’ gun captain. He had only one line — “The guns are primed and ready, sir!” “I must have said it about 100 times,” said Brewer. While the Hollywood landscape has changed, and Westerns have taken a backseat to big explosions and computer enhanced effects, Wayne’s daughter said “Alamo” harkens back to a time when films were larger than life and told stories that all Americans could relate to. “As with every movie my dad played in, it’s a terrific legacy I can pass onto my children, and I’m sure most Americans feel the same. It’s something another generation can look at and be proud of.” A celebration of the film will be held tonight on the actual set where “The Alamo” was filmed. Alamo Village organizers will show an original cut of the movie on a large outdoor screen. Activities begin at 5 p.m. with the movie starting at 8 p.m. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit Kinney County American Cancer Society Relay For Life. For further information, call 830-563-2580. _________________ Just a few of the folks who showed up for the VIP gathering in the Alamo Village cantina. (Photo courtesy of Davy Webb.) I'll be posting a few photos of my own, just as soon as they come back from the lab.
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Post by Greg C. on Oct 26, 2005 17:06:38 GMT -5
welcome back!
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Post by neferetus on Oct 26, 2005 17:18:25 GMT -5
That book you see sitting on top of the cantina table is John Farkis' new history of Alamo Village. Chuck full of old photos and new information on the making of THE ALAMO, the book did not remain on the TRADIN' POST shelf for long, this past Saturday.
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Post by neferetus on Oct 26, 2005 17:26:10 GMT -5
Alamo Mo Jones, preparing the Waynamo film for showing, Saturday, October 22, 2005. (photo courtesy of Rob Jones.)
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Post by neferetus on Oct 28, 2005 9:01:07 GMT -5
Nefarious Ned, with Mike Waters and the original Waynamo flag. Mike had a nice display set up of some of his Waynamo memorabilia, as well as some genuine Alamo-releated historical artifacts and knives.
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Post by neferetus on Oct 28, 2005 13:50:10 GMT -5
Teresa Champion, the Cantina table dancer in THE ALAMO, performs a flamenco dance, with her husband Curro on the guitar.
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Post by Greg C. on Oct 28, 2005 16:44:28 GMT -5
thats the same woman?
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Post by neferetus on Oct 28, 2005 17:16:33 GMT -5
Yes, it is. Don't mean to be telling a lady's age, but Teresa was 20 years old when she did the table dance in THE ALAMO. During her performance at the filmfest, she even replicated that dance, while her husband, Curro played the guitar----just like he did in the film!
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Post by neferetus on Oct 29, 2005 9:09:06 GMT -5
Alamo Mo, setting up the projector for the showing of THE WAYNAMO---one week ago, today.
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Post by neferetus on Oct 29, 2005 11:10:04 GMT -5
The Big Screen. Gettin' near showtime!
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Post by Greg C. on Oct 29, 2005 13:52:18 GMT -5
how many people showed up?
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Post by TexasMac on Oct 29, 2005 21:34:02 GMT -5
Great pictures! I wished I could have made it there.
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Post by neferetus on Oct 31, 2005 16:32:59 GMT -5
how many people showed up? Marshall Rich Curilla has not yet come forward with an official head count, but someone in the barbecue line said that there were at least 250 VIP tickets sold alone. Each VIP ticket-holder got a commemorative director's chair to sit in with THE ALAMO 1960/2005 on the back, while all the other seats shown in the above photo seem to have been filled.
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Post by Greg C. on Nov 1, 2005 7:13:35 GMT -5
do they usually get that many?
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Post by neferetus on Nov 1, 2005 10:11:57 GMT -5
do they usually get that many? This was a special event and not likely to be repeated. Last year's event---which did not promise the Wayne family, or many of the film's players-- brought around 500 folks to Alamo Village. (Rudy Robbins and Dean Smith were the guests of honor, then.) This year's film showing brought Rudy Robbins, Dean Smith, Jim Brewer, Curro and Teresa Champion, John Wayne's daughter, Marissa Wayne-Ditteaux, Granddaughters Anita Swift and baby Carmela Wayne-Ditteaux and Wayne's son-in-law Don LaCava, an assistant Director on THE ALAMO. (As a child of 2, Anita Swift appeared in THE ALAMO in the scene where the women and children are being evacuated from the fort.) Of course, other Alamo-related luminaries, such as Jack Edmonson, Mike Waters, Texas Bob Reinhart, Tom Lindley, John Farkis and of course, Rich Curilla, made the day extra special. And let's not be forgetting, Davy, Alamo Mo, Rob Jones, John and Sharon Hinnant, Alamo Bill, Robert Lee, Ron Gross, mjtakadad, Kitcraft and Son, and Nefarious I! Marissa and Carmela Wayne Ditteaux in the Alamo Village Cantina
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Post by neferetus on Nov 9, 2005 8:58:59 GMT -5
In this still of the finale from BANDOLERO, Jimmy Stewart looks down upon his fallen brother, Dean Martin, while Raquel Welch looks up. The scene takes place inside the Waynamo compound's plaza. A row of adobe buildings was constructed in the center of the plaza to make it look like a street, while over to your right stands the Long Barrack with all of its plaster knocked off to make it look even older still. After production, the adobe buuildings in the plaza were left to melt away in their own good time. The Long Barrack however, was replastered and remains that way, even to this day. The BANDOLERO well was removed by set designer Roger Ragland during the pre-production phase of ALAMO THE PRICE OF FREEDOM.
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Post by Bromhead24 on Nov 9, 2005 18:25:15 GMT -5
Thats the well that Alex Baldwin as Travis was standing on while holding off thousands of soldados with his sword and a repeating flintlock pistol....before he was dispatched by several bayonets.
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Post by neferetus on Nov 10, 2005 12:04:35 GMT -5
Thats the well that Alex Baldwin as Travis was standing on while holding off thousands of soldados with his sword and a repeating flintlock pistol....before he was dispatched by several bayonets. Yes, it's nickname was THE NORTH WELL.
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Post by neferetus on Nov 12, 2005 23:46:35 GMT -5
This past October, during the week of the Waynamo filmfest in Brackettville, Mo packed so much visit into so short a period of time, that he had lapses where he did not even know where he was.
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