The Sons of Katie Elder (Paramount Pictures) (1965)

Versatile Producer Hal Wallis Runs Gamut From Becket To Katie Elder’ The motion picture Academy’s announcement that his highly esteemed “Becket”? has won 12 nominations for Hollywood Oscars caught producer Hal Wallis with his boxoffice chaps on. He was making a Western,, but was unabashed. “Judging from the footage I’ve seen, it wouldn’t surprise me if this one took an Academy Award or two next year,” he said of his John Wayne-Dean Martin starrer, “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release in Technicolor and Panavision opening “Westerns, that are a cut above run-of-the-mill, have been done before, you know ‘High Noon’, with Gary Cooper, for instance; and ‘Stagecoach’, with Wayne, who in my opinion gives an immeasurably better performance in this picture than he did in that one. Duke has gained tremendously in authority as an actor.” To a man whose previous films have taken 32, count ’em, Academy golden boys and 100-odd nominations over the years, you’d think the “Becket” news might have come as a bit more of old hat. But not to Wallis. “Tt’s the same thrill every time,” said the producer who has twice won an Academy award bestowed far more discriminatingly than its Oscar—the Thalberg Trophy. “Besides, 12 nominations is a new high for me. It’s wonderful.” He admitted, all the same, that the “best picture of the year” nomination didn’t come as too much of a surprise to him. “Becket” had already walked off with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globe as best dramatic film, won a British Academy nomination in the “best picture” as well as five other categories, and taken the San Sebastian Film Festival’s accolade plus the palm in half a dozen lesser contests. In addition, his two stars were competing ‘with each other for “best actor” honors—Richard Burton, who played the title role of the archbishop pitted against his former crony, the king, and Peter O’Toole as Henry II of England. “Getting these two was something of a coup,” he said. “When I first talked to Burton about it, he wanted to know who would play Henry. I told him I was thinking of O’Toole, and that delighted him. Then I went to see O’Toole and he asked who would play Becket. I told him Burton—although that may have depended on whether he played Henry—and that did it. They both wanted to play it with each other, and were a mutual admiration team. In addition, Sir John Gielgud, cast as the King of France, was up for best supporting actor; Peter Glenville for best direction, Geoffrey Unsworth for color photography, Edward Anhalt for screenplay, and Laurence Rosenthal for musical score. AS many as 12 nominations have seldom come to one picture in Academy history. Wallis, as a producer, has worked as hard as any actor to avoid being “typed.” His record includes “The Life of Emile Zola,’ ‘Louis Pasteur,’’ ‘‘Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “King’s Row,” “Watch on the Rhine,” “Come Back Little Sheba,” “Rose Tattoo,’ — “Casablanca,” “Maltese Falcon”—Elvis Presley and Martin-Lewis pictures —and “Gunfight at the O.K. CorPeleg “Good Westerns are tremendously popular in every country of the world,” he said. “What’s more, they’re a legitimate art form. Ana ‘The Sons of Katie Elder’ is turn~~ out to be a picture I’m proud of. Wayne, Martin and Earl Holliman play three Texas prodigals come home from their wanderings to avenge their father’s murder, get back the ranch swindled from their mother, and give their kid brother (Michael Anderson, Jr.) his chance in life, with Martha Hyer opposite Wayne as the only woman in the cast of the production, filmed principally in the Pancho Villa country surrounding Durango, Mexico, under the direction of Henry Hathaway. . EE thes art Theatre. Still #10231/93 Mat 2C THE PLOT—John Wayne and Dean Martin star as two of the four brothers in Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release in Technicolor and Panavision opening ........ Gite aes. Theatre. The other sons are portrayed by Earl Holliman and Michael Anderson, Jr. Based on a story by Talbot Jennings about the efforts of four brothers to erase the black mark from their family name, the screenplay for “The Sons of Katie Elder” was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex. Henry Hathaway directed the film, on location, in the Pancho Villa country in Mexico. Dean Martin Talks About His Pals on “Katie Elder” Set Don’t mention “The Clan’ to Dean Martin. Dino made the reference on the set of Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,’ a Paramount release which opens ........ at the Ded S35. coos Theatre. “There’s no such thing—never was,” he said testily. “Just a bunch of pals, that all. Frank Sinatra and Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis, Jr., and Shirley MacLaine and me. “Then some wise guy dubbed us The Clan. I mean it’s become embarrassing. We’re trying to put a stop to people calling us that.” All the same, the BOP remains the most closely knit mutual admiration society in Hollywood, as demonstrated by its care and feeding of Martin during his long absence from the country doing “The Sons of Katie Elder” with John Wayne in Mexico. Martin is a gourmet, and the food at the little motel situated between the Embotteladora Coca-Cola and the Campo de Soft Ball at Durango, one-time base of bandit Pancho Villa, brought urgent pleas from the actor to his pals for tasty tidbits. Sinatra air-expressed him 40 steaks from the Las Vegas Sands at one crack; Davis, boxes of rare cheeses, bundles of sausages and tins of Vichy soisse; Shirley, all the makings for juicy pasta dinners which the Italian-American Martin personally cooked and served piping hot to Wayne, Martha Hyer, Michael Anderson, Jr., Earl Holliman, and director Henry Hathaway. Martha Hyer Discovers Brilliant Mexican Designer Martha Hyer, a shimmering figure on all the Hollywood bestdressed lists, is wild about a 20year-old designer she’s found at Juarez University’s art school in Durango, Mexico, where she was on location with John Wayne and Dean Martin for Hal Wallis’ “The Sons Of Katie Elder,’ a Paramount release in Technicolor and Panavision opening .......... at thet? ae Theatre. The film was directed by Henry Hathaway and based on a story by Talbot Jennings. “Camerena,” says the girl whose wardrobe rivals her collection of impressionist paintings, “uses color and design in a whole new concept —her creations are sexy without being immodest, if you see what I mean; and they’re the smartest things ever. I’ve told her to come to Los Angeles when she finishes school next year and I’ll guarantee her a start. And I’m her regular customer from now on.” Camerena not only spins some of her own cloth but mixes her own dyes, and Martha is featuring three of the flashing-eyed brunette’s frocks along with creations by famed designers in a high-fashion layout taken of her for Glamour magazine by noted Roman photographer Pierreluigi amid the Toltee ruins at Ferreria, near the location site. Opposite Wayne in “The Sons of Katie Elder,” she’s confined to gingham and such, but brought 14 of her own fashion outfits with her for the sitting. You can’t keep a good glamour girl down. John Wayne Sees Westerns As Powerful Folklore Tales John Wayne hitched up his gunbelt again for Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release which opens ....... at the ....... Theatre and explained what he admires about the world’s most popular type of movie, the Western. “Don’t ever,” he said, “make the mistake of looking down your nose at Westerns. They’re art—the good ones, I mean. Sure, they’re simple, but simplicity is art. “They deal in life and sudden death and primitive struggle, and with the basic emotions—love, hate, anger, fear. In other words, they’re made of the same raw material Homer used. In Europe they understand that better than we do over here. They recognize their relationship to the old Greek stories that are classics now, and they love ’em. But I don’t think that’s the reason they love ’em. “We love ’em, too, but not because of anything we stop to think about. “A horse,” he began his analysis, “is the greatest vehicle for action there is. Planes, automobiles, trains, they’re great, but when it comes to getting the audience’s heart going they can’t touch a horse. “He’s basic, too. Put a man on him and you’ve got the makings of something magnificent—physical strength, speed where you can see and feel it, heroism. “And the hero, he’s big and strong. You pit another big strong man against him, with both their lives at stake, and there’s a simplicity of conflict you can’t beat. “Maybe we don’t tell it with poetry like Homer did, but in one way we’ve even got HIM beat. We never let Hector turn tail and run from Achilles. There’s got to be a showdown. “Westerns are folklore, just the same as ‘The Iliad’ is. And folklore is international. Our Westerns have the same appeal in Germany and Japan and South America and Greece that they have in our country. “But don’t ever think they’re fool-proof, either. It takes,’ he grinned, “good men to make good Westerns. And besides that, they’re fun. I like making Westerns.” In the current one for Paramount, he’s a gunslinger again, the late widow Elder’s first-born, with Dean Martin and Ear] Holliman as her two other prodigals, and Michael Anderson, Jr., as her coddled youngest, whom she bundled off to the Colorado School of Mines just before she died. All return to the town of Clearwater, Texas for Katie’s funeral in 1899, and Ma is no sooner buried than the action begins. Some galoot, they learn, swindled Pa out of the ranch and killed him with a bullet in the back, and they aim to set things right again. The Western was filmed in Technicolor and Panavision at Durango, Mexico under the direction of Henry (‘“‘How the West Was Won”) Hathaway. Based on a story by Talbot Jenning, the screenplay was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss, and Harry Essex. Music is by EIlmer Bernstein and costumes are by Edith Head. * * HUMAN CLICHE—Found: a man who really wears two hats. Pancho Villa’s son, Jose Trinidad Villa, stand-in for both Dean Martin (good guy) and George Kennedy (bad guy) in “The Sons of Katie Elder,” wears his pearl-gray stetson over his black one between shifts on the Hal Wallis color Western, ready for either assignment. Filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, “The Sons of Katie Elder” was directed by Henry Hathaway. Based on a story by Talbot Jennings, the screenplay was written by William H. Wright, Allan Weiss and Harry Essex. Music is by Elmer Bernstein and costumes are by famed designer, Edith Head. Still #10231/46 Mat 1A THE GUNSLINGER — John Wayne stars with Dean Martin and Martha Hyer in Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release in Technieolor and Panavision opening MELEE ALS at the ...... Theatre. Henry Hathaway directs the film, based on a story of how four brothers try to overcome the legacy of their family name. A SENSE OF HUMOR — Cowboy Dean Martin’s explanation of chasing along when wrangler Tom Sutton galloped to the rescue and stopped new driver Martha Hyer’s buckboard while shooting “Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release ODCTUN Scere suet BGs CHE oor.. simcoea ttl « Theatre, was: “Son, I was in the same fix Martha was. My horse is courtin’ that mare Tom was ridin’.” Filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, “The Sons of Katie Elder” was produced by Hal Wallis and directed by Henry Hathaway. Mat 1B Still #10231/68 CALM AND COOL—Dean Martin enlightens a shocked Michael Anderson, Jr. in Hal Wallis’ “The Sons of Katie Elder,” a Paramount release in Technicolor and Panavision opening MIEMES at the ...... Theatre. John Wayne, Martha Hyer and Earl Holliman also co-star in this dramatic western aptly directed by Henry Hathaway.