| OCR Text |
Show THE ZEPHYR/FEBRUARY-MARCH 2004 They all hoped to be the ones to be "baptized" by Charleton Heston (John the Baptist), a baptism in the--by now icy--waters of the Colorado. Heston, of course, wore a warm wetsuit under his robes. After three months in Page, boredom had set in and some of the younger actors had to be reprimanded for whooping it up and dropping out of character a bit too often in the presence of the conservative Page ladies who had taken on jobs as waitresses with our caterer, so as to be able to serve dinner to the "stars." The worst offences were the funny antics and table conversation of the comedy actors Roddy McDowall and Jamie Farr (of later "M.A.S.H." cross-dressing fame), as well as the rude, foulmouthed Robert Blake. All three had, for some obscure reason, been cast as Apostles. The dining and production tents, located the Wahweep Lodge stands foday. Production proceeded slowly as we moved into winter and as the available hours of sunshine for photography got shorter and shorter. The filming took place against the majestic setting of Glen Canyon, at times interrupted by some of the most spectacular thunderstorms I've ever witnessed, until, finally, a fierce blizzard forced the production to a grinding halt. Resumption of shooting would have to be postponed until spring, but...the waters of the Colorado were starting to rise behind the new dam and time was running out. Refusing to be stopped by a mere snowstorm, Stevens grabbed a shovel and ordered each and every one of us to follow his example and start shoveling to clear the snow off the sets. No sooner had the press had taken his picture, or he disappeared inside his warm office, leaving of us dutifully shoveling the hillside for the next four hours. That night it snowed again, but at that evening's production meeting Stevens still insisted that he'd approximately where Other problems arose. Due to all the delays, some actors’ contracts ran out, John Actors from the film relax in the dining tent at the Glen Canyon location. (Lto R) The 'apostles.' Peter (British actor Gary Raymond). James the Younger (Michael Anderson, Jr.) and Thaddeus (Jamie Farr--of later MASH fame)...Corporal Klinger was one of the last to see Glen Canyon! Wayne's, for instance. He played the Centurion of the Crucifixion and had to leave us before his remaining, lesser, scenes could be shot. The "Duke" hated to be doubled. So what to do? Simple. Just call in the screenwriters and have them write in a second --silent--“Night Centurion,” one who’d look just like Wayne: same uniform, same size, same shape, same gait, but with his face hidden by his Roman helmet. The audience would never realize it wasn't the Duke. But who could be found here at this remote location on such short notice? George Stevens looked at me from across the conference table. "Tony," he said, "you've got the same build and walk as Wayne." I protested that I was a researcher, not an actor! Stevens replied, "Neither is Wayne." So, my mother ended up admiring the back of my helmet as the Night Centurion, dragging Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate (played by Telly Savalas, the lollipop detective, "Kojak," of later T.V. fame). We had the day off on Thanksgiving and my friend, Max von Sydow, and I accepted an invitation by the local Mormon missionaries, who acted as "agents" for our Navajo extras, to share a Thanksgiving dinner with these same Navajo. The Mormons had also invited our Israeli Yemenite dancers. After a slow, bumpy, three-hour drive over unpaved trails we arrived at the mission station in the heart of the reservation. Accustomed as we were to the American opulence of such continue shooting through This was ridiculous, it just decided to plant a rumor to leaked to the press, "Not to home, Christmas till we finished, come Hell or high water! couldn't be done, but no one spoke up. That’s when I force his hand and get us home for Christmas. I quietly tell, but Stevens plans a surprise." That he would fly us since--this being a religious movie-- he wanted to make sure we could all celebrate Christmas with our families in our churches. The next morning, everything was covered with a fresh foot of snow, and my "leaked" story was all over the papers. Stevens was left with no choice but to fly everybody home for the Holidays. When we returned, having finished all our interiors in Los Angeles, the snow was gone and the smell of spring was in the air. We managed to finish filming just as the slow, rising water reached our area. We'd made it, and had celebrated Christmas at home with our families. As we prepared to leave Page, I looked back at the Glen Canyon desert where I had frozen at dawn, roasted at noon, choked on dust, been drenched by rain, and blinded by snow. But, oh... what incredible cerulean skies and endless panoramic sights; vistas of such immense proportion as to reduce men to the size of ants. Above all, I'd never forget the awesome silence, the nights of brightest moons and distant howling of coyotes, or the black-velvet, star-studded skies, enlivened by the flash of shooting stars. It was my last look at Glen Canyon, now gone forever. Tony van Renterghem is retired and lives in Flagstaff, Arizona where he still works as a writer. A view of Glen Canyon from the movie location camp, near Page. Today the Wahweep Lodge is on this same actors and crew to the film locations spot. These buses hauled feasts, the tiny sweet potato, thin slice of tough turkey, and meager portion of mashed potatoes reflected only too well the generosity, bitter poverty, and harsh living conditions of the Navajo. We felt touched and honored that they had wanted to share this meal with us. The Mormon missionaries were quite exited about having the Israelis meet the Navajo. After all, weren't Indians the Lost Tribe of Israel? So would they be able to understand each other's language and shared traditions, such as that the world had been created a mere 5,000 years ago? They didn't. The Israelis left the party totally bewildered. PAGEI5 Author Tony Van Renterghem with Max vov Sydow Israeli Yermemite dance group. and members of the |
