Leo Carrillo Film Festival 2009 - Night 4

 

Leo Carrillo Film Festival 2009 Night 4       Above:  Michael, Vinnie, and Tina arrive early to set out a 'claim' on the area for the rest of the group to join later! At the Left: Charles Balteria, Recreation Specialist from the Parks & Recreation Department for the City of Carlsbad, who 'hosts' the activities each evening! Below:  Charles and his staff set up the inflatable screen platform up against Leo's Hacienda! Bottom:  An uninvited guest peacock attends our Picnic Dinner! Last night Tina and I were among many who attended the fourth film evening of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival...   This time it was on a Saturday evening instead of the usual Friday evening.  It happened that since the 2009 Festival had been cancelled earlier this season, that a Friday evening wedding had been scheduled to take over the grounds where the Films are shown. However, attendance for this film showing was even larger than usual, probably because it was on a Saturday night!  Or perhaps because the featured film for the night was 1943's 'Phantom of the Opera'?! For those younger persons in the crowd, I was wondering if they would be expecting a 'HoRRoR film' instead of what this turned out to be... which was more of a 'romantic melodrama with comedic flair' instead!  Here is the trailer to the 1943 film 'Phantom of the Opera': http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi110887193/  As you can see by the trailer, Leo Carrrillo had 5th billing in this film, behind Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster, and Claude Rains who were the headliners. This film was actually a main feature instead of a 'B' movie, which several of the films that Leo played in would be considered to be.  However, even with 5th billing, Leo actually just had approximately 11 lines in the film!  He was Madame DuBois' vocal instructor in this film. Charles Balteria, (pictured above top left), has been the public 'face' of the Film Festival for at least the two years we have been attending.  Our thanks to him for being a good public speaker and great 'host' each evening!  Last night before starting the main film he told us that Universal Pictures lavished Technicolor on this film, one of the first films to use color. Even though Leo had only a few lines in the film, I would have to say that the film went over very well with the audience in attendance.  This film was Universal's long-awaited remake of the 1925 Lon Chaney classic! However, Claude Rains who played the title role and was always a fine character actor, had refused to wear the kind of grotesque makeup that other Universal Pictures actors like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff were wearing in other Universal films for this movie.  He was very leery of being 'typecasted' in this film, and would only allow makeup wizard Jack Pierce to apply a very moderate non-hideous scar. Additionally, since it was 1943, the murders that took place were done very quickly and the film pace moved on, not showing every detail. Truly this was done very effectively and without being overly sensationalized.  You would almost think you were watching a romantic comedy / melodrama, especially with the 'Love Triangle' aspect in the film.  Or would that be 'Love Quadrangle' with three main male characters in love with the female lead?! Tina, my youngest son Vinnie, and I also invited a couple with their young son to join us last night.  Below photos show Vinnie (shown at left in the bottom left photo), Alex (shown at left in the bottom right photo - the boys took turns shooting the photos) and then Michael, Tonya Mantooth, Dale Strack, and Tina.  The right photo also shows Brad Lousberg in the right foreground who was part of the Mens Group that 'sponsored' those from our Church that attended last evening also.    The below left photo shows Tina LoSasso, Dick Swenson, Tina, and Rev. Diana Swenson who attended also from the Church.  A good time was had by all who came to this second Mens Group sponsored Leo Carrillo Film Festival outing!   At the immediate top right is a photo of Tina LoSasso holding one of four prizes that was awarded by Charles Balteria during the 'Trivia Game' portion of the Film Festival!  This was held during intermission time between the Cisco Kid TV Show episode and the Main Feature Film. Tina is a very competitive person who loves to play to win, and was very pleased to be the 2nd winner after she answered a very hard trivia question.  She had to name two additional languages that Leo could speak fluently, out of seven total that Leo knew.  This after Charles told the audience three of the seven languages! Not to be outdone, Michael stood up and waved his hat on the last question; what were the names of The Cisco Kid and Pancho's horses???  And No, Pancho's horse's name in The Cisco Kid TV Show was NOT Conquistador!   So yeah, as you can tell by the number of blogs I've posted on Leo Carrillo's Ranch & Film Festival, Tina and I know our Leo Carrillo / Cisco Kid trivia, as we took home half of the prizes awarded last night!   As Tina would say "Woo-Hoo"! There is only One More Night of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival should you be in the Carlsbad, California area next week.  Next Friday Night... on October 2nd!   However there will be NO Blog afterwards from us, as Tina and I are planning to be at the Long Beach Comic Con (LBCC) Friday and Saturday, and possibly blogging or Facebook Mobile(ing) from there!  So you'll have to look elsewhere for what happened at the Film Festival next week! My thanks to Vinnie and Alex who helped me take photos at the Film Festival, (49 of them, so they can't be all used here!).  Plus our conversations with those we have met before at the Festival or just last night, like Denise, Anna, Sheila, Dee, Tina, Tonya, Dale, Dana and Greg.  Plus others from our Church who attended including Dick, Diana, Brad, and Debbie.  We've enjoyed the four films we've seen at the Film Festival this year and are sorry we won't be able to attend the fifth and final one next Friday... Which reminds me... For more info on the Film Festival or just to learn about the ranch, check out the web site at:  http://www.leocarrilloranch.org/  Plus, if You would like to belong to the 'Friends Of Leo Carrillo Ranch', please check out their web site at: http://www.carrillo-ranch.org/    AND Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films!   While You are here today... Please check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that most of our blogs are based on!  It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today! ~ Michael    "Hammering Out the Web For You Since May 12th, 1998!"   Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions; you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc PO Box 130653 Carlsbad, CA 92013               Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's NOTE:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768. All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. COMIC BOOK COVERS:  OK, I was so busy yakking about the film shown last night 'Phantom of the Opera' that Leo starred in that I didn't say much about Leo in The Cisco Kid TV Show.  So here's another comic book cover for you to view, issue #5 from Dell Comics' 'The Cisco Kid' series!  Cover dated Sept/Oct 1951!  If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.

 

Leo Carrillo Film Festival 2009 - Night 3

 

Leo Carrillo Film Festival 2009 Night 3       Above: The grassy sitting area which was the back yard of the Leo Carrillo Hacienda! At the Left: The Leo Carrillo Ranch BBQ and pool area! Bottom:  The Leo Carrillo Combo, with Leo as pictured as chef! Last Night Tina and I were among many who attended the third film evening of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival...   Which is leading me to once again blog about the great work that is being done at the Leo Carrillo Ranch in Carlsbad, California! I have blogged several times about Leo Carrillo:  his ranch, his 40 different Cisco Kid comic books from Dell Comics, his role as Pancho in the 156 episodes of the Cisco Kid TV series, and over 90 films that he had a either a major or character role in. However, what Tina and I enjoy most is walking the grounds of what remains of the Leo Carrillo Ranch, also known as 'Rancho de Los Kiotes', and attending the Leo Carrillo Film Festival each year! This Film Festival Season was cancelled earlier, but then with a $5000 donation from an anonymous member-donor in partnership with the City of Carlsbad and The Friends of Carrillo Ranch Inc, it was brought back. Thanks to that donor there were lots of others out there on the lawn last night to watch the 3rd night of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival!  Approximately 200+ persons gathered and watched another episode of The Cisco Kid that ran before the 1932 re-make film of Broken Wing that starred Leo Carrillo, Lupe Velez, and Melvyn Douglas. The original film was released in 1923.    The above photos show the opening credits of The Cicso Kid TV Show. An episode of Leo as Pancho in that TV series is shown each Film Festival evening before the main feature.  The nice thing for the younger members of the audience is that the TV show was originally filmed in color, even though it was originally aired for black and white TV sets!  The series ran for 156 episodes from 1950 to 1956.  Leo started portraying Pancho when he was 70 years old!  Leo passed away a few years later in 1961 at the age of 81. As I've stated here in my Blog before, it is really 'special' to sit under the stars at Leo Carrillo's Ranch and watch his TV Show episodes and then films he that played in.  That's because the Film Festival audience is actually sitting near the pool and cabana where Leo and his family used to entertain their guests, mostly from Hollywood, who would travel down to the ranch that once comprised the Eastern area of Carlsbad that we now live in!  Matter of fact Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon there at the ranch many years ago!  It is really nice that so many people have worked over the years to keep this little bit of local history 'alive' for the current generations to enjoy! The film last night was pretty funny, a Paramount flick with Lupe Velez as the love interest.  Leo was great in the role of Captain Innocencio Dos Santos.  It was a love triangle story with actor Melvyn Douglas as pilot Phil Marvin who comes crashing in to become the 'King of Hearts'.  You'll have to watch the film to see what went on in this love triangle film... I'll just say that Leo was great in the role, a leading one for a change, and just wouldn't 'shut up' during the whole film.   I could see why he was 'typecasted' during most of his years in films.  He played variations of that role so well, especially in this film.  This film was among 700+ films that Paramount sold in 1958 to Universal for TV rights distribution.   BTW, the Ranch hands also cooked hot dogs and had popcorn and candy to eat while watching the TV show episode and film for those that didn't bring food!  At the top right of this post is a placard showing the 'Carrillo Combo' for $4.00 for those that didn't bring a picnic dinner.  Of course Leo used to be a chef at his parties he would throw at the Ranch in earlier years, which is why I am publishing the picture of him on the placard here!  There will be two more weeks of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival should you be in the Carlsbad, California area, September 26th (Saturday), and then back to a Friday night on October 2nd!  The September 26th evening will be a special 'Phantom Of the Opera' showing of the 1943 film.  Which reminds me that I want to mention the below organizations before closing out this blog post... For more info on the Film Festival or just to learn about the ranch, check out the web site at:  http://www.leocarrilloranch.org/ Also, don't miss out on seeing what the Friends of Carrillo Ranch Inc have done, and take a look at possibly joining them and / or donating to their worthy cause at:  http://www.carrillo-ranch.org/ ! And Thank You to Gerry Streff, Archivist @ the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park, who emailed me after his 'Google Alerts' alerted him of my blog post.  I appreciate the kind words about my earlier blog post from last week!       PLUS, Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films!   While You are here today... Please check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that most of our blogs are based on!  It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today! ~ Michael @  http://www.ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com/   "Hammering Out the Web For You Since May 12th, 1998!"   Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions; you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc PO Box 130653 Carlsbad, CA 92013             Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's NOTE:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768. All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners. COMIC BOOK COVERS:  OK, so in keeping with this Blog post's theme.... here is The Cisco Kid and Pancho all tied up!   The comic book cover is from issue #35 from Apr/June 1957.  The Cisco Kid epsisode last night was about Pancho getting shot, and the bad guys coming back afterwards because they didn't kill him the first time. The film we saw last night was about Leo Carrillo as a Mexican official who just wouldn't shut up the whole movie... so seeing Leo as Pancho tied and gagged below is somewhat funny in retrospect!  If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.  I am also on LinkedIn with the same name spelling!

 

 

Leo Carrillo Film Festival 2009 Night 2   Above:  The BBQ area, the inflatable screen, and the Leo Carrillo Hacienda! At the Left: The Leo Carrillo Ranch Windmill at dusk! Bottom:  Tina, Michael, and Vikki! Last Friday Night Tina and I were among many who attended the first film evening of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival...   Which led me to blog about our evening there in conjunction with reviewing the HoRRoR Western Comic Book 'Boot Hill" Issue #1 from Main Enterprises the next day! Last night Tina and I just went with our neighbor Vikki to the second film evening, instead of with the group that was sponsored by the Men's Group the previous Friday.   Plus this morning I don't have a comic book to review! Sure I could probably take one of the forty issues of The Cisco Kid that were printed from January 1951 - October - December 1958 by Dell Comics and review that here, but I'll just post a photo at the bottom right of this blog post showing issue #29 that was more in keeping with last night's feature film co-starring Leo Carrillo as a fisherman. Instead I'll just mention that even without our larger group sponsored by the Men's Group, we had lots of others out there on the lawn to watch the 2nd night of the 2009 Leo Carrillo Film Festival!  Approximately 250 persons gathered and watched another episode of The Cisco Kid that ran before the 1941 re-make film of Barnacle Bill that starred Wallace Beery, Marjorie Main, and Leo Carrillo.    The above photos show the opening credits of The Cicso Kid TV Show episode that was shown last night.  It is really 'different' to sit under the stars at Leo Carrillo's Ranch and watch his TV Show episodes and then films he that played in. The Film Festival audience is actually sitting near the pool and cabana where Leo and his family used to entertain their guests, mostly from Hollywood, who would travel down to the ranch that once comprised the Eastern area of Carlsbad that we now live in!  Matter of fact Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon there at the ranch many years ago! The film last night was really good, a MGM flick with the great Wallace Beery.  Of course all of us had a good time, what with the wine and  picnic dinner that Tina and Vikki prepared.  The Ranch folks also cooked hot dogs and had popcorn and candy to eat while watching the TV show episode and film for those that didn't bring food.  There will be three more weeks of the Leo Carrillo Film Festival should you be in the Carlsbad, California area, September 18th (Friday) & 26th (Saturday), and then back to a Friday night on October 2nd!  The 26th evening will be a special 'Phantom Of the Opera' showing, of the 1943 film. My thanks to Denise who took a few photos of Tina, Vikki, and myself last night, (of which one is published above right).  And for the additional conversation with Denise's friend Anna, who just happened to enjoy and collect the old EC HoRRoR Comics.  Small World indeed when you make conversation with others sitting around you! Also, last night before entering the Hacienda, I talked with Allan Kindle who is on the Board of Directors for the Ranch.   Upon hearing of my interest in buying / selling / blogging about comics, he mentioned that he had gone to the San Diego Comic Con International about five years ago to look for Cisco Kid Comics for their exhibit at the Ranch itself!  Which reminds me... For more info on the Film Festival or just to learn about the ranch, check out the web site at:  http://www.leocarrilloranch.org/      Thanks again to all of YOU reading our current and archived blog posts!  We do blog daily on comic book creators, comic book reviews, and other pop culture news and events including some TV shows and theatrical films!   While You are here today... Please check out our new listings of comics, graphic novels, Comic Con exclusives and more pop culture items for sale in our online eBay Featured Store that most of our blogs are based on!  It's due to sales at this online store that keep us going with the ability to post blogs like the one you have read here today! ~ Michael    "Hammering Out the Web For You Since May 12th, 1998!"   Note: If you breaking into or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions; you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for review, send to: Make It So Marketing Inc PO Box 130653 Carlsbad, CA 92013             Thank You For Being One Of This Blog's NOTE:  This blog post is written for the IE Browser standards. Netscape, Firefox and the others serve the page up differently. The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768. All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.   COMIC BOOK COVERS:  OK, so in keeping with this Blog post's theme.... here is The Cisco Kid and Pancho on the water rafting instead of on horseback!   The comic book cover is from issue #29 from Oct/Dec 1955.  The film we saw last night was about fishermen from the San Pedro area of Los Angeles in 1941... so the below cover is showing Leo Carrillo (as Pancho) on or in the water again several years later!  If you are a Facebook member and want to join my Facebook Network, feel free to send a 'friend request' to 'Michael D Hamersky'.