30 hillviews fall/winter 07

Transcription

1 30 hillviews fall/winter 07

2 Lonesome Dove The trail leads to Texas State by Michele M. Miller Photographs by Bill Wittliff On March 17, 1988, in an old warehouse in Austin, Texas, Lonesome Dove director Simon Wincer shot the preliminary film tests of Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones in costume. These were the first steps toward bringing aging Texas- Rangers-turned-cattle-drivers Augustus Gus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call to life for millions of CBS viewers those who tuned in because they already loved the heroic saga of Larry McMurtry s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and those who would be new converts after coming to know his unforgettable characters over the course of the eight-hour television broadcast. Looking for a New Cook hillviews 31

3 Bill Wittliff, Lonesome Dove s screenwriter and co-executive producer, was there from the beginning, shooting film of his own. Wittliff took thousands of photographs during the making of the miniseries not as stills but with an artist s eye and the best of his images are starring in an exhibition and a new book, bringing the sweeping visual imagery of the television epic to the printed page at last. Wittliff photographs on view from the new book Now through March 30, the Wittliff Gallery at Texas State is displaying 60 of Wittliff s toned Lonesome Dove prints in concert with the recent publication of his third monograph, A Book of Photographs from Lonesome Dove. Tenth in the Wittliff Gallery Book Series with UT Press, the 188-page volume features more than 100 of the images, with a foreword by Larry McMurtry, an introduction by Stephen Harrigan, and a roster of the cast and crew. In the afterword, Wittliff himself recounts landmark moments from the production and filming. The archive of the Lonesome Dove photographs a total of 215 prints from almost 5,000 negatives were gifted to the university by Bill and his wife Sally, founders of the Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography and the Southwestern Writers Collection, both of which are located on the top floor of the university s Alkek Library. Generously, the Austin couple are donating author royalties from the book s sales to support both collections. The Lonesome Dove Collection is highlighted in a new exhibit room dedicated to the film production archives. Archivally printed and signed by Wittliff, Lonesome Dove photographs can be purchased through the Stephen L. Clark Gallery in Austin and the Andrew Smith Gallery in Santa Fe. The trade and sales of these prints benefit collection acquisitions. Permanent exhibit room houses expanded displays from series Texas State is also home to the major Lonesome Dove film production archives, which are held at the Southwestern Writers Collection. The Wittliffs donated Bill s materials, and he convinced many of the crew to do the same, including production designer Cary White, costume designer Van Ramsey, property master Eric Williams and executive assistant Connie Todd (who is now head curator of the Collections). The result is a near-complete production record, from the first screenplay drafts, costume sketches and set designs to the final script pages, principal props and costumes, production notes, and every printed take, adding up to almost 80 hours of film dailies. This past October marked the grand opening of a new permanent exhibition space, the Lonesome Dove Room, where fans old and new are now experiencing a large portion of the popular archive. Documenting the creative process behind the film are various revisions of Wittliff s teleplay, drawings and swatches of the authentically created costumes and an illustration of the Lonesome Dove Trail, showing the Texas-to-Montana route and stops along the way. A good many of the principal outfits are out on view, with highlights such as Call s black hat (worn by Tommy Lee Jones), Lorena s petticoats (worn by Diane Lane), and Deets Union cap and patchwork pants (worn by Danny Glover). Visitors are also getting an up-close look at the Hat Creek Cattle Company sign, the burlap-wrapped prop of Augustus 32 hillviews fall/winter 07

4 Top: Gus Pursued, picturing McCrae as he is chased by Comancheros and Kiowa. Above: Word of Gus Death, with actor Rick Schroder as Newt Dobbs in foreground. hillviews 33

5 Usually people work on movies for the most personal of reasons some for money, some for love or camaraderie, some for ego, some just to get out of town.... Lonesome Dove was, I believe, unique in this respect: People wanted to work on it not so much for what they thought they could get out of it, but rather just simply to be a part of it. It was a testament to how much they loved Larry s novel. BILL WITTLIFF one-legged body and the arrows that led to the character s untimely demise. For exhibit hours and more information about the Lonesome Dove photographs and archives, visit the collections online at or call Top, in photograph entitled Augustus, actor Robert Duvall played Augustus McCrae in the Lonesome Dove miniseries. Above, the series other major star, Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow Call is photographed in one of the first film tests for the series in The collections have already begun planning the th anniversary celebration of the show s airing, which promises to be a stellar event. Keep an eye on the website for details and updates. Bill Wittliff Bill Wittliff of Austin is a distinguished writer and photographer whose previous monographs, La Vida Brinca and Vaquero: Genesis of the Texas Cowboy, were also published by UT Press. His images have appeared in magazines and anthologies and have been exhibited in the United States and abroad. With his wife, Sally, he founded Austin s highly regarded Encino Press and the Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography and the Southwestern Writers Collection at Texas State. As a screenwriter and producer, his credits include Lonesome Dove, The Perfect Storm, The Black Stallion and Legends of the Fall, among others. A graduate of the University of Texas, Wittliff is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a past board member of the Sundance Institute, a board member of the Austin Film Festival and a member of the Texas Philosophical Society. He is also a past president and fellow of the Texas Institute of Letters and a recipient of major awards for writing, filmmaking and book design. A 2002 recipient of the Texas Book Festival s Bookend Award, he was recently honored with the Texas Medal of Arts and the TIL Lon Tinkle Award for Excellence Sustained Throughout a Career. He serves as editor of the Wittliff Gallery Book Series with UT Press and has recently completed a film script, Flying Tiger, about Lt. Gen. Claire Chennault. All photographs were taken in 1988, Bill Wittliff, and are part of the Wittliff Gallery permanent collection. 34 hillviews fall/winter 07