Rare Pariscope weekly magazine, High Plains Drifter

Rare Pariscope weekly magazine, High Plains Drifter

As it's the 50th Anniversary of Clint’s first directorial western film, High Plains Drifter (1973) I wanted to bring something new to the Archive. So, this is a great opportunity to post this wonderful rare publication from France. Unfortunately, it is not one that I own – although I’d dearly love to have it in my collection.

Pariscope was a weekly magazine available at Paris newsstands between 1965 and 2016. Pariscope was a moderately-priced magazine, established in 1965. Hachette Filipacchi Médias sold the printed version of Pariscope to Reworld Media in 2014. After 51 years of publication, the final issue was published the week of 18th October 2016.

This particular edition (N° 276) from August 9th, 1973 featured a great cover shot of Clint from High Plains Drifter. The film was released in France on August 23rd, 1973. 

My Wife Maggie by Clint Eastwood: Original early 60’s feature

My Wife Maggie by Clint Eastwood: Original early 60’s feature

I was going through a large binder of cuttings and magazine articles at the weekend, and rediscovered this nice piece. It’s always been an article that I’ve never been able to pin down the source. I think I’ve been put off posting it here on the Archive – purely for that reason, perhaps hoping I might someday discover its origins. But I think I may have to concede on this one and admit defeat. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always felt it is from an American publication. What’s obvious is the fact that Clint was still making Rawhide at the time, so we can at least narrow it down to probably the early 1960’s. Rawhide ran from 24th December 1959 (UK) to 7th December 1965. Running for 3 pages, it’s a great little insight into Clint’s early beginnings and his meeting with Maggie. So, I thought it was about time to produce some good scans of the pages for reproducing here. I’ve never seen this piece on the internet before, and it’s not from any magazines I have in my collection – so this was probably passed on to me many years ago in this form – just the complete 3-page article. I have also added a further picture below that I’ve not posted on the Archive before. Whilst it is unrelated, it is however from the same period.

Below: Clint with Maggie at the US premiere of Carl Foreman’s The Victors, New York City, 19th December 1963

Juror #2 on hold because of the SAG-AFTRA strike

Juror #2 on hold because of the SAG-AFTRA strike

If you haven’t already read about it, Clint’s latest thriller, (which is rumoured to be his final directorial outing) Juror #2 (Warner Bros. Pictures) has been halted due to the recent SAG-AFTRA strikes.  

The film starring Nicholas Hoult as a murder trial juror who discovers he might be responsible for the victim’s death was slated to shoot in Georgia, a major hub for Hollywood film productions, but filming is suspended according to a source. The movie does not have an official release date as yet, but we did manage to find a still of Clint during early shooting of the film. Knowing how Clint likes to push on whilst filming, it is no doubt proving to be a frustrating period in the film’s production schedule.  

Firefox Video and Arcade game

Firefox Video and Arcade game

I’ve had a few photos and articles for this spin-off game on file now for a very long time, and thought it was about time to dig them out and post them here on the Archive for prosperity. I have to confess; I was never a ‘gamer’ myself and never really got into the whole gaming culture. 

However, it seems that the Firefox game proved to be a rather popular one at the time. I’ve provided a bit of information on its history below plus a selection of photos, a magazine feature, and a part of an article that I found in my files - I’m not too sure what happened to the first half, but should I rediscover it I’ll edit and add it to this post. 

Firefox was a 1984 shoot 'em up arcade video game based on the 1982 Clint Eastwood movie of the same name. It was produced in 1984 as Atari, Inc.'s only LaserDisc video game. Like Atari's first-person Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, Firefox came as both an upright and sit-down cabinet with a yoke style controller.

Firefox was primarily designed by Mike Hally and Dave Ralston, and programmed by Greg Rivera and Norm Avellar. The cabinet featured stereo sound with an additional headphone port and volume control in the front. All Firefox cabinets shipped with a 19" Amplifone raster monitor, and utilized an Atari quad-POKEY. Firefox's power requirements necessitated the use of two Atari AR-II power supplies.

To collect the LaserDisc video, developers Mike Hally and Moe Shore sifted through 20 to 30 hours' worth of footage shot for the film. Most of the resulting footage was first-person shots filmed from helicopters flying over Greenland and Scandinavia. Firefox shares a cabinet with I, Robot, although significantly fewer I, Robot machines were produced.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Firefox on their April 1, 1984 issue as being the third most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month. In the United States, it was the top-grossing laserdisc game on the Play Meter arcade charts in July 1984.

www.atarihq.com stated: After many months of development Atari finally unleashed its first laserdisc game, Firefox, at the Amusement Showcase International in Chicago in the Spring of 1984. Atari released Firefox shortly thereafter, but it came at a time when there was a growing resistance to disc games in the marketplace from operators who had already sunk thousands of dollars in such games, and were still waiting to show a return on their investment.

Based, as you might imagine, on the 1983 adventure film of the same name starring Clint Eastwood, the game uses actual movie footage to simulate flying the famed Firefox fighter over treacherous ice fields, through billowing clouds, and in narrow crevasses. From the high-tech cabinet designs (both upright and cockpit) to its rousing original musical score; from the smooth disc operating system to its effective meld of filmed and computer-generated graphics, Atari had created one of the more technically impressive laser games of its time.

The game is operated by means of a two-handed Star Wars-type controller, equipped with cannon-firing trigger switches and missile-launching thumb buttons. What you control here is not the ship itself -- one presumes it's on automatic pilot -- but the on-screen cursor used to aim your weaponry. One nice feature here is that the cursor displays information regarding your fuel level and available missiles, eliminating the need to shift your eyes away from the action at any time. One bad feature is that at no time do you feel like you're actually in control of the Firefox ship.

Unfortunately, for all the technical wizardry Atari had demonstrated in creating Firefox, and for all the creativity the company had shown in adapting the movie storyline for video game use, all they're really come up with here is an elaborate target-shooting game. The early radar blasting stage of each part of the game is nothing more than an exercise in reaction -- as soon as a target pops up on the screen, you must shoot it immediately to avoid detection. Since this is the basic premise of the game, all a really skilled Firefox player will ever do is shoot at radar targets, which is certainly not the most exciting part of the contest.

The game is good looking, and offers some nice touches, such as Clint Eastwood's digitized voice, a variable game volume control, and other features. However, from a gameplay standpoint it's no better than average.

Below: Clint promotes the Firefox Arcade game

Below: An original 1984 flyer for the game

Below: The full 3 page article from Video Games Magazine, February 1984

Below: The sit-down cabinet version

Below: A part article from an unknown magazine which highlights Clint's involvement in the development of the game - and interestingly points out that Clint had a scaled model of the Firefox which he lent to the developers for use in the game play. 

A Fistful of Posters, the collecting bug and Pilgrimages. A fan’s Journey.

A Fistful of Posters, the collecting bug and pilgrimages. A fan’s journey by Travis Trewin.

It’s been great having Travis play such an active role and contribute to the Archive this summer. Travis had been promising to get this 30min documentary to me, and true to his word he delivered this morning. It was great to watch this featurette – which has a wonderful, old school feel about it, with nice, full-length clips (a genuine example of the past) as opposed to quick cutting, MTV style editing – which so often makes today’s featurettes look more like a music video! Instead, Travis has produced a refreshing and relaxed viewing experience which makes it a joy to watch. 

In this documentary Travis explores how one becomes a collector. Whilst it’s very much a personal account, it does however echo the sentiments for so many other collectors – how we became collectors, how the ‘bug’ grabs you and how it eventually becomes part of life. Travis also takes us on a journey to Spain, a Pilgrimage to many of the ‘Dollar’ film locations including Sad Hill cemetery – the location of the climactic sequence of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). It’s a place where many have travelled, and is certainly on my own list for a future trip. 

I’d like to thank Travis for sharing this and for his continuing contribution to the Archive. It’s great to have you on board.       

                                        

Flashback: Celebrating The Duke’s 40 years in film and that Paramount gathering

 Flashback: Celebrating The Duke’s 40 years in film and that Paramount gathering

I had these two photos (below) out yesterday so thought I’d put them to good use here. These photos are believed to have been taken during the West Coast premiere of True Grit at the Chinese theatre in Los Angeles on June 13th, 1969. Although according to the AFI, its original premiere took place in Little Rock, Arkansas the previous day on June 12th. The gathering of stars in attendance here seems to suggest that this was more likely to be the Los Angeles event. 

The premiere was also a good opportunity to celebrate John Wayne’s 40 years in films, as the cake displays The Big Trail 1929 – True Grit 1969. 

The stars included (left to right, Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Rock Hudson, Fred MacMurray, John Wayne, James Stewart (who was still making westerns such as Bandolero! and The Cheyenne Social Club), Ernest Borgnine (who’s latest film, The Wild Bunch would open in L.A. 5 days later), Michael Caine, and Lawrence Harvey. 

At first glance, it’s Michael Caine who perhaps looks the most unlikely of the bunch. A working-class cockney actor appears almost ‘lost’ among such an array of Hollywood stars. But Caine would later explain, "It was quite weird. I came to do a picture with Shirley MacLaine and she wasn't there. She was working on another picture and she was just finishing up. She couldn't get there for two weeks. So, until we officially had the party welcoming me to Hollywood, I was in this very luxurious suite in the Beverly Hills Hotel and no one talked to me. No one came. They just paid the bills and that was it. So, I used to sit in the lobby looking for movie stars. That's where I met John Wayne for the first time and we became friends — not close friends, we hardly moved in the same circles, but we became very deep acquaintances" (from Caine's memoir, The Elephant to Hollywood).

…that Paramount gathering

This wasn’t of course the first time that The Duke had been pictured with Clint, Lee Marvin and Rock Hudson. They previously met up for a famous Paramount publicity still (taken at the studio) during the production of True Grit and Paint Your Wagon. Marvin can be seen still wearing his Ben Rumson beard; Clint was in full costume - as was Wayne and True Grit co-star Kim Darby who also appears in one of the photos shaking hands with Barbra Streisand. Also seen in one of these photos is actor Yves Montand and head of Paramount Robert Evans. I’m not sure what Rock Hudson was doing at the studio at this time, or Streisand and Montand. However, Paint Your Wagon was of course an Alan Jay Lerner co-production, and as Streisand and Montand would soon appear together next in Paramount’s ‘On a Clear Day You Can See Forever’, (also written by Alan Jay Lerner and adapted from his book), it’s quite possible that they were both at the studio for early pre-production discussions. 

It’s also interesting to note that the True Grit premiere photo clearly shows that Rock Hudson has since grown a moustache – as he would appear alongside John Wayne in their next movie, The Undefeated, a western for 20th Century-Fox which went into production some 4 months earlier in February, 1969.   

Clint Eastwood Photo Opportunity #40

 Clint Eastwood Photo Opportunity #40

I thought I’d dig into my Japanese cuttings to bring you this nice rare shot of Clint for the August Photo Opportunity. It’s a photo that has not been reproduced much and features Clint holding one of the original portrait paintings used in Play Misty for Me (1971). 

The painting was done by artist Don Heitkotter. Clint hired Heitkotter to paint a portrait of the actor, which is slashed to pieces in the film by an obsessed fan, played by Jessica Walter. “It was amazing, in a way,” Heitkotter said. “Eastwood was the most popular actor in Hollywood at the time, and Nixon was the most powerful leader in the world, and they both wanted my work. But I can’t say either was a blessing really.”

Although Heitkotter had fun hanging out on the movie set, he was paid a flat fee for his work, and therefore was not entitled to residuals when “Play Misty for Me” later became the most frequently shown movie on late night television from 1970-1985. He did get to meet both Jessica Walter and Donna Mills, the two female stars of the film, and even got his best friend a date with Walter.

Today (February 1st, 2008), two of the three paintings Heitkotter did for “Misty” hang in his San Juan gallery (*I believe the gallery has since closed); the other is owned by Eastwood. But while they may be the most famous of all the work displayed on the walls, they aren’t necessarily the most mesmerizing.

Around 2006, Heitkotter decided to sell his two paintings. The original painted portrait of lead character David Garver (played by Eastwood), a key prop in the 1971 film, went up for sale. Not only that, the stand-in portrait that was slashed in the movie by “Annabel” (Jessica Walter) is part of the deal.

A 2006 article stated that ‘Artist Don Heitkotter was commissioned by Eastwood to paint the portrait, which hangs in his shop in San Juan Bautista. On the floor below the painting sits the slashed version, its back facing gallery visitors, who are invited to turn it around. For fans of the flick, a chilling precursor to Fatal Attraction, seeing the two portraits in person is an unexpected treat in this small town about 35 miles northeast of Monterey. A black-and-white photo of Heitkotter with the cast hangs near the portrait’

‘Heitkotter, 77, who has works at Zantman Art Galleries in Carmel-by-the-Sea, among other places, says he has no formal art training. He was in the sign business, but wanted to be an artist, and gradually attracted a following. A friend knew Eastwood and hooked them up’

“We had dinner in Carmel and Clint asked me if I would to it,” Heitkotter says, noting he took the job for the publicity. He says Eastwood sent him photos from which he made sketches, and the actor “left it up to me how big to make it.”

Heitkotter says he’s not sure how much the two portraits might fetch, but hopes for enough money to close his shop, travel and see friends.

“I figure it is worth anywhere from $200,000 to $2 million,” he says with a laugh.

After a long search I wasn’t able to find out how much the paintings sold for. And unfortunately, it seems that Don Heitkotter has since passed.