I came to Kanab because it is central to the natural wonders I’ve
been showing, in part, on this blog. I
didn’t expect to leave my home near Hollywood and land in a town that has hosted
over one hundred movies. Most of them
are westerns and television series from the 1950s and 60s. The town clogs with movie fans once a year
for the festival they call Western Legends Roundup. It ended yesterday.
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| Ed Faulkner, born 1932 |
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| Peter Brown, born 1935 |
Several stars from those old shoot-em-up westerns rode into town for the event, and I played the part of a sneaky photo grabber. Here I am with two stars. Notice their birth dates and my lack of a birth date and how well preserved we are.
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| Rob “Gabby” Doudel— Gabby Hayes look alike |
A Gabby Hayes look-alike took us on a bus to see the movie set where Gunsmoke was filmed every week for some fifteen years. The set is quite run down.
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| Long Branch Saloon, better known as Miss Kitty’s Saloon in Gunsmoke |
Some of you may be old enough to recognize the Long Branch Saloon, better known as Miss Kitty’s Saloon in Gunsmoke. And of course the gallows still stands with even a piece of rope remaining.
The old buildings will soon disappear with the stars, as some of them already have. I like the ancient feeling of pictures taken from abandoned places, even if they were never built to last.
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How haunting, your words..."Something satisfying about being among history that is already fading from memory."
ReplyDeleteI do remember Miss Kitty's saloon, Gabby Hayes, and the gallows! They were so much older than us, but not really.
They were a part of us, our family and our values, as many of the facts were left to the imagination. I didn't know what Miss Kitty's occupation was until I was in my twenties. To me, this was the last of television innocence and now it is, indeed, a fading memory as abandoned buildings disappear and we, the audience, prepare to exit stage left.
Yes Stevie, watching those old buildings crumbling away is like being witness to a page of history being ripped from the book. Already many of them are just piles of rubble. In perhaps three years no recognizable building will remain.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon, I think you look charming and like the young starlit amidst the oldies. You look you are having fun... hope to see you in not too long, before we leave for our faraway places... ~ Kathabela and Rick
ReplyDeleteI have never been starstruck. I think they are just people, often sub-optimal. But it was fun getting to know Ed Faulkner; he is unpretentious and just an ordinary guy, it seems, doing what poets on site do but onstage, or onhorse.
Deletehehe you still look charming anyway. I don't even know who anybody is, but I know you!
ReplyDelete