Wednesday, February 01, 2017

#1 "Movin' On!"

We were at Circus World when I got a call from Mr. Feld saying a TV Producer (D'Antoni/Weiss) had contacted him regarding an elephant for a for a Show called "Movin' On".
All the Ringling elephants were on the road so we worked out a deal (or I should say my wife worked out a deal) then she and Ben took "Anna May" up to Charlotte where filming was already in progress.
On their arrival, the Press People staged this shot of "Anna May" and the episodes Guest Star, Keenan Wynn checking into the Hotel.

4 comments:

BARBARA WOODCOCK said...

The producers that did "Movin On" were the same that did "Bullitt" & "French Connection." The history for the French Connection says the car Chase Was Life Threatening, also In "Bullitt." The Director of Movin On was "Leo Penn," ( father of Sean Penn), writer, director, & actor, quite famous in his on right. Keenen Wynn & Anna May were the guest stars. Keenan Wynn didn't have to be on the set for the first two days we were working. But he came and watched Ben & I, and our actions and how we spoke to Anna May and how we moved around her. Later he came to me and said he would like to ask me a favor. Of course I said anything that I could do I would. He said that the director wouldn't listen to an old worn out actor. So if I could tell him that Anna May would respond better if he used the same words we used when talking to her it would go better. I told him he was right and that I would do as he ask. The name they were going to use for her was Stella. So I talked to Leo Penn and told him that. Leo said that it made sense, so they changed her name to her own, and we used the proper elephant language. ( I never did read the script. I told Leo Penn that I hadn't. He said it didn't matter that the way that Anna May worked we just winged it.) He would tell me what he wanted either the night before or in the morning, and we did it. When we threw Ben on the police car,( as a policeman) we trained her for that in thirty minutes or less. She had it the first time.....Barbara....

BARBARA WOODCOCK said...

The first picture, they were going to take out a huge glass that went from floor to ceiling. I told them they didn't need to do that as she could just crawl through the double doors. ( which she did.) They gave her a suitcase with Movin On to carry in. We stopped at the Guest Service Desk, to give her a newspaper, the phone just happened to ring. Anna May picked it up and handed it to the manager, I Did Not tell her to do that. I think she was padding her part. It wowed them. Then we went to the desk to check in I had told them to have a paint brush to sign in with, which she did. Then on her own she picked up the bill held it up to look at, then crumpled it up and threw it on the floor. She seemed to know that she was ON. Keenen convinced Anna May that he was a bull man. She listened to him. It sure made it easier. It was so much fun. And Ben stood back and let me handle things.....Barbara.....

Paul Gutheil said...

Wonderful!!

Unknown said...

Hi Barbara,I'm associated with the Producers of Movin'On.We have a small Official Museum in North Carolina[Wake Forest].Any way we could contact you? Movin'On Creator/Executive Producer Barry Weitz recently attended the Opening of the new Museum. Please contact me at MOVINONFAN@YAHOO.COM or via Facebook at Movin'On "In Tandem" Museum.....Thank You! Bill