Moonlight on the Prairie (Warner Bros.) (1935)

PUBLICITY 200 Wild Horses Rounded Up For Big Film Stampede Outlaws Make Trouble for Their Handlers in *‘Moonlight on the Prairie’ A two day train ride from Flagstaff, Arizona, to Bakersfield, Calif., tended to make two hundred head of wild horses wilder than usual. The horses were used in a wild horse stampede in ‘‘ Moonlight on the Prairie,’’ now showing at the................ Theatre. This is the first of a series of six Western features to be made by Warner Bros. with Dick Foran, the singing cowboy, in the stellar role. The animals were rounded up in Coconino County, Arizona, and taken to Flagstaff from which point they were shipped to Bakersfield, the nearest depot to Kernville where the stampede sequence was staged. Twelve handlers the supervision of Art Hudkins, an expert horseman, participated in the round-up of the horses. “Among the horses were several outlaws,” said Hudkins. “One got away before we could get a bridle on him. Another, a jet black stallion, gave us plenty of trouble. We finally got a bridle on him in Arizona but it took plenty of fight to get him into the freight car. “During the fifty mile trip from Bakersfield to Kernville the stallion occupied a trailer that was pretty much of a wreck before the trip was over. “The animal was well worth “11 of the trouble. He acted as the leader of the wild herd in the stampede scenes. “Tt’s a good thing that Director D. Ross Lederman had five cameras in position for these scenes for the stallion finally broke away and when I last saw him he was headed for the Nevada state line and it looked like he was breaking all race track records. “Tf the task of rounding up these horses was an easy one, the handling of them when they left the cars at Bakersfield was one of the toughest jobs I have ever had. “Wild horses are really not so wild as they are frightened. Of course, when you get hold of an outlaw, you can be sure of trouble, particularly if it is a stallion. “We knew that the black stallion would give us trouble so we handled him individually. There is no telling what might have happened if we had tried to lead him with the rest of the herd. “The horses were all well behaved on the train but when they detrained at Bakersfield they were the wildest animals I have ever seen. “Tt took two days to travel the fifty miles to Kernville by driving them, counting all the time we lost in getting those back that broke away from time to time. “Tt was the first time I have had to handle wild horses after a train ride so I am led to believe that this ride made them wilder than usual.” “Moonlight on the Prairie” is packed with romance and thrilling action with the spirit of the “Old West.” Dick Foran is not only a hard riding, two fisted, two gun cowboy, but has an excellent voice. He sings catchy songs written by the song team of M. K. Jerome and Joan Jasmyn and Vernon Spencer and Bob Nolan. Others in the cast include Sheila Mannors, George E. Stone, Joe Sawyer, Gordon Elliott, Joseph King, Robert Barrat and under Dickie Jones. The story and sereen play are by William Jacobs. Page Ten Catchy New Airs Sung by Foran in Western Drama “Moonlight on the Prairie,” the Warner Bros. picture which COMES TONCNG 805. cena theatre EG Se rar , introduces a new type of Western drama. It has all the rough riding, thrilling action and daring situations of the old Westerns, but adds to this the songs of the cowboys of the ranges in their saloon and dance hall rendezvous and around the campfires on the prairies and in the mountains at night. Besides old time melodies, two new songs are introduced, strong with the flavor of the Old West. One is the theme song, “Moonlight on the Prairie,” written by two Western born lads, Vernon Spencer and Bob Nolan. The second song is ealled “Covered Wagon Days” and was composed by M. K. Jerome and Joan Jasmyn. Both are sung by Dick Foran, the singing cowboy, who is the star of the picture. Foran was born in the East and is a graduate of Princeton University, but has spent many years in the West and is adept at riding, and throwing the lariat. Foran is supported in the picture by Sheila Mannors, native Californian. Others in the cast include George E. Stone, Joe Sawyer, Gordon Elliott, Joseph King, Robert Barrat and Dickie Jones. D. Ross Lederman directed. Dick Foran Biggest Film Cowboy Dick Foran, the singing cowboy of Warner Bros. production, “Moonlight on the Prairie,” now showing at the ........ theatre, outstrips in size any of the old time cow punchers, including Fred Thomson, Tom Mix, Jack Holt and Buck Jones. He is six feet three in his socks and weighs more than 200 pounds. Foran is an Easterner and a graduate of Princeton University, but he has spent years riding the mesas of California, and ean ride and rope a steer. Sheila Mannors Tames Wild Coyote Sheila Mannors, feminine lead opposite Dick Foran, the singing cowboy in Warner Bros.’ Western, “Moonlight on the Prairie,” probably has the only tame eoyote in captivity. heila Mannors in ‘Moonlight on the Prairie” Mat No. 101 —10c The shyest of the wild folk of the wood, the animal is almost impossible to tame. Yet Sheila managed it. She caught it when a cub, and spent hours every day with it. Now it follows her about like a dog. Singing Cowboy Feminine fans who are crowdWUGETO IVC GS. ee Theatre see Warner Bros.’ “Moonlight on the Prairie” may be attracted by the thrill and romance of the story of the Old West. More likely however, they go to see the 6 foot 3 inch, 200 pounder, Dick Foran, the singing cowboy, who makes his debut as a star in the film. Mat No. 105—10c Indian Cowboys Do Rough Riding Stunts in Film Unfenced cattle country — a real open range where branding is essential in order to identify ownership—exists within a half day’s easy motor car drive from the center of Hollywood. D. Ross Lederman, director of the new Warner Bros. western picture, “Moonlight on the Prairie,’ which comes to the........ theaiTe;, On .23 onus , visited this nearby, yet still primitive, section while scouting for locations for the picture. To reach the range, one must drive up a winding dirt road to a relatively high summit and then cut down by “dug-ways” to the big expanse of the 4000-foot reservation mesa of the Cahuilla Indian tribe. About 50 Indian families comprise the tribe and these are scattered over the broad mesa. Several of the Cahuilla braves, all of whom are expert horsemen and cowpunchers, were engaged to appear in the picture. Dick Foran, the singing cowboy, is starred in “Moonlight on the Prairie,” the first of a series of six new western features. It is filled with thrilling action and glowing romance. Others in the cast inelude Sheila Mannors, George E. Stone, Joe Sawyer, Gordon Elliott, Joseph King, Robert Barrat and Dickie Jones. Foran Makes His Own Air Conditioned Car Dick Foran, singing cowboy star of Warner Bros. Western, “Moonlight on the Prairie,’ which comes*“to >the. ii.2. 6s. theatre’ on). 9.25 ,» found one way of keeping cool when he had to cross the Mojave Desert in the mid-day heat on the way to location. He bought two three-hundred pound cakes of ice, covered them with burlap and set them in the back of his sedan. Then he borrowed a small automobile fan and with the fan blowing on the ice he made the desert crossing in comparative comfort. Introduces Romance With Song In New Type Western Dick Foran Sings, Shoots, Fights and Rides in **Moonlight on the Prairie” They’ve always, semi-facetiously, been called ‘‘horseoperas.’’ But since the silent cinema days when Westerns were the movie topliners of Hollywood, nobody ever associated any sort of music with these pictures, unless the symphony of horses’ hoofs and banging six-guns could be so considered. Now that there is a real revival of interest in Western stories, as evidenced by the popularity of magazine fiction of that type, Warner Bros. have produced a new type of Western film in “Moonlight on the Prairie” which comes to the......... RN GAtTers Weyer os “The introduction of music into a Western drama is, when you consider it, the most natural thing in the world,” commented D. Ross Lederman, the director, when discussing the fact that several songs will be heard in the film. “Just consider how much music there always has been in the colorful and romantic West,” continued Lederman. “Countless cowboy songs, plaintive and picturesque, have formed one of the most characteristic earmarks of native American music. “They attest to the well-known fact that the waddie, on the range, around the branding fire, or after chow in the bunk-house, invariably turns to music as a solace for the hard life he leads. “The guitar—introduced to the American cow punchers by Mexican ‘vaqueros’—was the favorite accompanying instrument of the cow camps. Every western ranchhouse, also, boasted its wheezy ‘parlor organ’ or square piano. And many punchers knew how to play the mandolin, the violin, the accordion, the jews-harp and the harmonica. “Every dance-hall, every saloon —and these were the rendezvous of the ranchers and hands every pay-day—had its tin penny piano. The ‘professor’ who pounded the ivories in perhaps an off-key dissonance, was a characteristic institution of the hills, mesas, canyons and prairies.” As a matter of fact, it is emphasized, the theme song of “Moonlight on the Prairie’ was composed by a pair of veteran western lads — Vernon Spencer and Bob Nolan. This pair of singers and composers of ranch songs, who are members of the radio-famous “Sons of the Pioneers,” are chiefly celebrated within the last year for their hit song, “Drifting Along on a Tumbling, TumbleWeed.” Another song in the picture is “Covered Wagon Days” written by M. K. Jerome and Joan Jasmyn. Both are sung by Dick Foran, the new cowboy star. “Moonlight on the Prairie” is a thrilling romance of the “Old West” with plenty of hard riding, fast action and a stirring plot. Others in the cast besides Foran, include Sheila Mannors, George E. Stone, Joe Sawyer, Gordon Elliott, Joseph King, Robert Barrat and Dickie Jones. Sheila Mannors Knows Art of Woodcraft Sheila Mannors, feminine lead opposite Dick Foran, the singing cowboy, in Warner Bros. picture, “Moonlight on the Prairie,’ which comes to the........ theatre-ion: i. 0%. » proved that she knows her wooderaft as well as any cow puncher, while working on the picture. The company went on location at June Lake in the High Sierras. After work for the day was done Sheila mounted her pinto and rode for the snow line several miles away. D. Ross Lederman, the director, was greatly perturbed, fearing she would be lost, not being familiar with that section of the country. But Sheila, a native Californian, has ridden over prairies and mountains since childhood. She turned up at the film camp iate at night about when Lederman was planning a rescue expedition. Must Know Foran to Get Autograph Dick Foran, singing cowboy star of the Warner Bros. Western production, “Moonlight on the Prairie,” which comes to the theatre on.......... ; refuses to sign an autograph unless the person seeking his signature can eall him by name. On several occasions Hollywood autogrsph hunters asking for his signature at movie previews, largely attended by actors, mistook him for someone else. “T don’t know why they should want my autograph if they don’t know who I am,” said Foran. “So I pass them by unless they eall me by name.” Build Old Time Dance Hall for Picture An old time saloon and dance hall was erected at Warner Bros. studios for scenes in the Western feature, “Moonlight on the Prairie,” now showing at the RRs 2): Serer theatre. The place was modeled after a favorite rendezvous of ranchers, cow hands and rustlers of the Geo. E. Stone in “Moonlight on the Prairie” at the Strand Mat No. 103 —10c days of the Old West. The wreckage of the old building is still standing on the former trail, now a paved road, between Saugus and Independence, Calif. Here Dick Foran, singing cowboy star of the picture, and George E. Stone entertain the cowmen and dance girls with his songs. The production is the first of a series of new type of Western films being made by Warner Bros. Cowboy Prefers His Horse to Yacht Dick Foran, the singing cowboy starring in “Moonlight on the Prairie,’ Warner Bros. Western feature, now showing at the bEED ee , has decided to give up being a seaman and has sold his yacht. “Costs too much to keep up,” said Foran, “I like the mountains better anyway.” Foran spends most of his spare time galloping over the prairies and elimbing the Sierras on his horse.