Veva Vonler - The Movie Lovers Tour of Texas. Reel-Life Rambles Through the Lone Star State

THE MOVIE LOVERS TOUR OF

TEXAS

THE MOVIE LOVERS TOUR OF

TEXAS

REEL-LIFE RAMBLES THROUGH
THE LONE STAR STATE

VEVA VONLER

Copyright 2005 by Veva Vonler

First Taylor Trade Publishing edition 2005

This Taylor Trade Publishing paperback edition of The Movie Lovers Tour of Texas is an original publication. It is published by arrangement with the author.

Maps courtesy of TxDOT-Travel Division

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.

4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706

Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Vonler, Veva.

The movie lovers tour of Texas : reel-life rambles through the Lone Star State /

Veva Vonler.1st Taylor Trade Publishing ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-58979-242-5

1. Motion picture locationsTexasGuidebooks. 2. Motion picture industry

TexasGuidebooks. 3. TexasTours. 4. TexasDescription and travel.

5. TexasIn motion pictures. I. Title.

PN1995.67.T4V66 2005

384'.8'64dc22

2005008692

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

To June Edwards Donowho,
who, even before I was born,
took me to the movies in Ranger, Texas

And to my leading men,
Bob and Kevin Huffaker
and Zach

I think a film made in 1923 or 1936 or 1975 tells you
more about the country and the city it was made in
than some of the history books.
MARTIN SCORSESE, 2003

She asked me, baby, whats so great?
How come youre always going on
About the Lone Star State?
LYLE LOVETT, WILLIS ALAN RAMSEY,
and ALISON ROGERS,
Thats Right, Youre Not from Texas

Contents

Preface: Movies with a Lone Star State of Mind:
Lights! Camera! Travel!

Acknowledgments

MY SINCERE THANKS go to Anne L. Cook and Brent Dollar of the Texas Department of Transportation, who graciously and efficiently provided the TxDOT maps and photographs for this book. I am also grateful to Tom Copeland, Director, and Carol Pirie, Assistant Director, of the Texas Film Commission, who patiently responded to question after question. Dozens of other friendly Texans, too many to list here, answered queries; but especially helpful were Rick Ferguson, Executive Director of the Houston Film Commission; Shelly Hargrove, of the Georgetown Convention and Visitors Bureau; Kimbra Peirce, of the Uvalde Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Troyanne Bush, of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce. Dan Eggleston, Jerry Cotton, and Gordon Smith were also most generous in sharing their knowledge of Texas films and suggesting additional resources. And, finally, I want especially to thank the two people who made sure I persevered in this book-writing adventure: Janet Harris for her unfailing encouragement and editorial expertise, and my husband, Bob Huffaker, for his love and fantastic cooking skills.

Foreword

IM A VERY LUCKY MAN. For twenty-two years, my job at the Texas Film Commission has been to sell Texas to filmmakers. Added to the fact that Texas pretty much sells itself, its been a lively way to make a living.

In the never-ending search for film locations, Ive photographed Texas from windmill platforms, small planes (including one with an open cockpit), helicopters, Humvees, hunting buggies, and bucket trucks. Ive worked with ranchers, Texas Rangers, actors, directors, immigration officials, screenwriters, judges, boll weevil inspectors, and folks that seemed to be some combination of all of the above.

Like Coca-Cola, Levis, and Lucchese, Texas is a brand known all over the world, by its name, its reputation, even its shape. Since the earliest days of the film industry, Texas has been prime real estate for the movies. Sure, theres the stereotypical Texas that Hollywood perpetuated for years; sometimes they even got it right, but many of those films werent even made in Texas at all. On the other hand, Texas locations have doubled on film for Morocco, Baghdad, San Francisco, Afghanistan, Nevada, Utah, Bolivia, and quite a few more, so I figure weve won a lot more than weve lost.

From Canadian to Brownsville, from El Paso to Port Arthur, Texans have seen on-location filmmaking up close, and enjoyed the fruits of the film dollars that get spent in the process. It never ceases to delight me to visit a film set thats shooting in one of our small towns. Its a welcome windfall, bringing with it community pride, involvement, and, oh yeah, those dollars I mentioned earlier. Just ask the people in Eagle Pass, Sanderson, Smithville, or Marfa, to name a fewtheyll tell you how exciting it can be to see your hometown on the big screen.

Now, with this book, you can enjoy an insiders look at Texas movies. At the very least, I hope it inspires you to stick around at the end of movies and watch the credits. You might be surprised at how often Texas shows up in the Special Thanks to... section. Even better, pack up this book and hit the highway for a Texas road trip. Even after all these years, theres still nothing Id rather do.

Preface

Movies with a Lone Star State of Mind: Lights! Camera! Travel!

FESS PARKER SWINGS his rifle in a fierce last effort to defend the Alamo in Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. John Wayne sets out to drive his herd of longhorns to Missouri in Red River. James Dean laughs triumphantly in Giant as he is drenched with black gold from his gushing oil well.

Gun battles. Cattle. Oil. These images probably spring to mind when you think of Texas movies. But in some of the thousands of productions filmed here since the earliest days of the movie industry, you will encounter less stereotypical aspects of the state. The Movie Lovers Tour of Texas guides you region by region with recommended films that convey the diversity in the landscape, in the people, and in the history of Texas.

You can visit the Gulf Coast with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan aboard shrimp boats in Alamo Bay. You can slog among the moss-draped cypress trees of Caddo Lake with Powers Boothe in Southern Comfort. You can admire the upscale neighborhood of Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment and then compare it to the inner-city streets of Jasons Lyric, each film offering a starkly different view of Houston. You can visit the glorious Big Bend with Willie Nelson in Barbarosa, or maybe youd rather join Kevin Costner and his band of new college grads on their Fandango road trip through West Texas.

In short, The Movie Lovers Tour of Texas invites you to travel around the state without leaving home. All you need for the Reel-Life Tours is a VCR or DVD player. But just in case you choose to hit the road, The Movie Lovers Tour also suggests itineraries that will take you to filming locations as well as to other movie-related sites. Each Real-Life Tour and each Travelogue points you toward intriguing destinations such as the actual last picture show in Archer City, a couple of North Texas banks that Bonnie and Clyde really held up, and the dance hall where John Travolta performed his heavenly dancing as the title character in