Hollywood Studio Magazine (June 1970)

WILL DURANGO RIVAL HOLLYWOOD o ■ By Lou Dyer “KING OF THE GRIZZLIES” Continued from Page 14 and wrote the first Scout Manual. At the time of Seton’s death in 1946, at the age of 86, he had written over thirty volumes and his Santa Fe, New Mexico ranch housed over 13,000 specialized books, a gallery of 8,000 paintings and drawings and 3,000 mounted bird and mammal skins. In color by Technicolor, “King of the Grizzlies” with John Yesno, Chris Wiggins, Hugh Webster and Jack Van Evera was produced by Robert Lawrence Productions and Cangary Productions Limited for Walt Disney Productions. It waS directed by Ron Kelly and produced by Winston Hibler. Lloyd Beebe of Cangary was field producer. Jack Speirs wrote the screenplay from an adaptation by Rod Peterson and Norman Wright based on the book, “The Biography of a Grizzly,” by Ernest Thompson Seton. Winston Hibler narrates the Buena Vista release. “BLOODMOBILE DAY” Continued from Page 10 population. The poor turnout can be attributed to the erroneous idea that loss of blood is physically harmful, or even more important, because people are totally unaware of the need to replenish our constantly dwindling supplies. In our age of scientific medicine, blood is needed more than ever. Mike Kasperak, one of the United States first heart-transplant patients, needed over 289 transfusions, yet still, volunteer blood donors remain at a constant low. What does the future hold in store for us? What would happen if your own child needed an immediate „ transfusion and there was no blood to be had? We, as responsible human beings, could resolve a near tragedy such as this. How? By making sure that we all continue to participate actively in our own Motion Picture Blood Bank and perhaps people in other walks of life will follow our example. London and New York box offices receipts are proving that audiences are loving “WOMEN IN LOVE” which, in spite of the title, is a hetrosexual picture for hetrosexual people. Because of the excitement, United Artists brought star Oliver Reed to Los Angeles for the opening here next month. It will be Reed’s first trip to the U.S. and a short one, too, as he’s due in Spain soon for “Hunting Party”, also for U.A. .As most locations managers know, especially those who have been to Durango, there is a wealth of mountainous terrain, deep ravines with rippling creeks, stretches of wide open spaces, forest areas, beautiful waterfalls and a good-sized river at Rio Saltito, plus several Hollywood-set type Western towns from which to choose. Mexican and some American ranch owners are most accomodating, making their spreads available for rental at reasonable fees. Producer-director Bernie Kowalski of “Macho Callahan” said: “Weather-wise there is no place like Durango in the world, this includes Almeria, Spain. In six weeks of January and February we’ve had only two days of rain, and we were able to film both days because the rain was sporadic. “Ninety-nine per cent of the livestock we’ve used is Mexican and they’ve worked extremely fine for us. The terrain is great because it is so varied and there is no end to the locations that can be used. “As for cost factors, they can’t be compared. They are lower here in Durango and the Mexican crews are excellent. The crews have had some 15 years experience of working with U.S. companies and they are very capable. “What the government intends to do in building more facilities is fine. If they can maintain additional facilities in good order without losing financially, it’ll be a good thing. It might increase competition, but it’ll be healthy and could cause prices to go either up or down.” “Macho Callahan” Producer Martin C. Schute, who has worked on productions all over the world, said: “Mexico does have some very attractive areas. And the good thing about them is that you can obtain these at rather reasonable fees.” Last year three American films were produced in Durango. These are: “Joanquin Murrieta,” starring Ricardo Montalban for 20th Century-Fox Television; “The Undefeated,” starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson, for 20th Century-Fox Films, and “John Chissum and the Lincoln County War,” starring John Wayne for his own Batjac Productions. Durango’s economic gain from these three was “Murrietta” $500,000, “The Undefeated” $850,000 and “Chissum” $750,000, all figures in American dollars, of course. Durango Gov. Alejandro Paez Urquidi has announced plans to expand the local facilities, and these include two large Hollywood-type soundstages at a Cinema Center area near the new jet airport, now under construction. Also, next to the airport and the soundstages will be constructed a large hotel-motel complex, including a large swimming pool, golf course and some adjacent bungalows to house actors, if they wish to stay there. The soundstages are being built in conjunction with and cooperation of the management of Churubusco Studios, Mexico City. It may well be that Durango can house two and even three production units at one time. If this comes to pass, it means economic progress for the town, which presently appears to be much like the frontier towns of the old West. All shoe stores display cowboy boots, and boots can be made to order in some shops for as little as $10. Starting with “White Feather,” Robert Wagner-Debra Paget starrer, made about the mid-1950’s, some of the other motion pictures filmed in Durango are: “Robber’s Roost,” George Montgomery; “Tall Man,” Clark Gable-Robert Ryan-Jane Russel; “Commanche,” Dana Andrews-Linda Cristal; “Jeronimo,” Chuck Connors-Kamala Devi; “The Unforgiven,” Burt Lancaster-Audrey Hepburn; “The Wonderful Country,” Robert Mitchum-Julie London; “Major Dundee,” Charlton Heston-Senta Berger; “The Sons of Katie Elder,” John Wayne-Kirk Douglas; “Glory Guys,” Tom Tryon-Senta Berger; “The Scalphunters,” Burt Lancaster-Shelly Winters; “The Guns of San Sebastian,” Anthony Quinn-Charles Bronson; “The War Wagon,” John Wayne-Kirk Douglas; “The Rage,” Glenn Ford-Stella Stevens; “Five Card Stud,” John Wayne-Robert Mitchum-Dean Martin; “The Evil Gun,” Glenn Ford-Robert Kennedy; “A Man Called Horse,” Richard Harris-Corina Zopei; “The Law and Tombstone,” James Garner-Robert Ryan-Ernest Borgnine. Page 27