PAY UP; Boston Mayor, Martin J Walsh seen pressing the button raising the Big Apple Circus tent on City Hall Plaza in March, says the city will now adopt
more stringent accounting practices to make sure City Hall Plaza rental fees are
paid on time.
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Of the many films dealing with the life and career of
Annie Oakley, one of the best is Annie Oakley, starring Barbara
Stanwyck and released by RKO in 1935.
Like most Hollywood bio-pics, it blends fact with fiction in order to
tell a good story.
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The story gets underway with an actual historical event:
the shooting match between 15-year-old Annie and professional sharpshooter Frank
Butler (Preston Foster) who, for some reason, was renamed Toby Walker for this
film.
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In the film, a talent scout (Melvyn Douglas)
who witnessed the match between Annie and Toby Walker/Frank Butler hires her for
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.
(In reality, Annie didn’t join Buffalo Bill’s show until 1885 when she
was 25.) Here, Buffalo Bill (Moroni
Olson) meets Annie for the first time.
[Barbara Stanwyck’s portrayal of Annie was very much in
keeping with the real Annie, who was modest and retiring and not at all like the
raucous character portrayed by Ethel Merman on stage and Betty Hutton on
screen. She was very respectful of other
people and endeared herself to Buffalo Bill and many of the performers in his
show.]
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An unusual amount of care was taken to recreate the
Buffalo Bill Wild West Show for this film.
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Out on the midway, Buffalo Bill presents two free tickets
to a visiting friend (played by Andy Clyde.)
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These tickets are personally punched by
Bill, who refers to them as “Annie Oakleys” because they resemble playing cards
with Annie’s bullet holes through the spots.
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In 1935, there were still plenty of people around who had
seen performances of the original Buffalo Bill Wild West
Show. Perhaps this explains why
the filmmakers went to considerable lengths to recreate an authentic performance
on screen. While other films have
included the Wild West Show in their plots, none of them gives such an extended
look at what it must have been like.
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This extra attention also extends to the music played by
Buffalo Bill’s Cowboy Band during the performance. Authentic show music was used including
Saddleback Galop and Whip and Spur Galop (both by
Thomas S. Allen) and The Red Man (by Sousa.)
(To Be Continued)
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Here are a set of photos of the Circus Carl Bush which is called since this year «
Deutscher Nationalcircus » or German National Circus in English. I saw the show
in Darmstadt, Germany a few weeks ago. I caught the last performance in that
city so a large part of the show's equipment was already on the road to the next
lot.
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Natascha Wille-Busch presented a fluid white Arabian Horses liberty (6 animals)
including a pony that did a nice routine with large hoops.
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"Carla" and "Maschibi" the show's Elephants were presented by Manuel Frank.
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The last act was a large Horse liberty (6 Friesians and 6 Arabians) under the
command of Manuel Frank.
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This was no doubt the last time
Butler fiddled with this layout. As you see he used rubber cement to put the
Sells & Gray title over the earlier lettering and it has discolored over the
years.
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Here is that window card mentioned regarding the same art as the Lewis Bros. from Brad Timberlake.
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This Clown and Midway design must have started with Barnum & Bailey, then the combined shows, then everyone started using cheap-o copies.
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