Republic Pictures 75th Anniversary, part 2

OK, today is the second installment of my day at the Republic Pictures Anniversary at CBS Studios over in Studio City, California. A few more photos this time, and maybe a little less talk. First a logo:



There were two performance areas, each with singers and musicians from the Western Music Association. Here are Jason "Buck" Corbett and some of the boys:

Jason "Buck" Corbett

A number of those present were in period costumes. Here's a guy taking advantage of a photo op with someone who could have just walked out of the Longbranch Saloon. Notice how she thoughtfully uses her fan to cover his midrift.

Photo op with a Miss Kitty

It was a work day at the studios, and over on Mary Tyler Moore Avenue, in the shadow of the sound stages, a piece of scenery was on the move:

Here it is coming . . .

There it is going . . .

Over on St. Elsewhere Street, there was a big room filled with autograph tables and people gathering around old movie actors or their descendants. Here an elderly celebrity in cowboy outfit and six-gun was entertaining a gathering of fans.

Autograph hunters

At the corner of St. Elsewhere and Mack Sennett Avenue, Nudie had parked his Bonneville. It gleamed in the sun. Notice the horseshoes and revolvers over the headlights. Behind is a little covered wagon with costumes made for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

Nudie's Bonneville

Here's the commissary where Laurie and I braved the hungry hordes for burgers and fries. This guy had the grill fired up like a flame thrower. Notice the misters overhead.

The grill cook assembling Laurie's burger

A bunch of folks from as far away as Maryland were together at a table of Roy Rogers fans, including these look-alikes of Gabby Hayes and a latter day Dale Evans.

Roy Rogers fans

Back on Gunsmoke Ave, a gang in period garb (except for the one on the left, who's from another period) were gathered for a group photo. The ones in the black hats had been lingering in the shade of a tree most of the day and from a distance looked like a congregation of Wyatt Earps.

Ready to put the wild back in Wild West

The guy in front with the six-shooter was doing a dance to a rap song as I arrived in the morning. It gave an anything-goes twist to the spirit of the day. Anyway, Republic Pictures wasn't exactly known for its high seriousness. On the way out, I found John Bergstrom closing out a set of his songs. Here he is singing "Throw Down the Box" from his new CD.

John Bergstrom singing his western songs

It's a fine little song with a refrain that recalls a line from countless B-westerns with stage hold-ups. The sentiment in the song was authentic, by the way, and so were the straw bales in the foreground.

Thanks for coming along.

Coming up: Stewart Edward White's The Westerners (1901)