Feminist Western showing at Murphys Creek Theatre
By SUNNY LOCKWOOD
For The Union Democrat
Calaveras County is cowboy country. Just look at the number of Stetsons around town and the miles of barbed wire keeping foothill cattle off the roads. Hollywood has long recognized our old-West culture through TV and movie westerns filmed here, starting with Cecil B. DeMille’s 1917 film “A Romance of the Redwoods.”
The 1958 movie “The Big Country” and the trailer for the TV show, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” were also shot here.
And this weekend, a new Western, with a fresh twist — a feminist sensibility — will be shown at the Black Bart Playhouse in Murphys as a fundraiser for the Resource Connection’s Calaveras Crisis Center.
Filmed in Sheep Ranch, Vallecito, Murphys and other Calaveras locations, “A River of Skulls” portrays the consequences of sexism, racism, class and social upheaval during the Gold Rush era, themes as fresh and familiar as this morning’s coffee.
The sometimes-violent treatment of women and children in the film gives it a certain timeliness.
That timely truthfulness about women’s experience made “A River of Skulls” an excellent fundraising vehicle for the crisis center.
Kelly Fraguero, program director for the Resource Connection Calaveras Crisis Center, said this weekend’s screenings will introduce people not only to the new movie, but also to painful themes that dominate some women’s lives.
Fraguero said a portion of the ticket price will go to the Crisis Center to provide emergency safe haven for local women and children caught in violent situations.
Fraguero and former Sheep Ranch resident Suza Lambert Bowser — who wrote, directed and produced “A River of Skulls” — have worked together to present the weekend’s screening event.
At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, “A River of Skulls” will be shown at the theater at 580 S. Algiers St. Tickets — $10 for adults, $7.50 for seniors — are available at the Resource Connection Crisis Center (754-0692 and 754-1300) and at the theater (728-8422).
The full-length feature presents Eula Jane Seeley, a young white woman, and Jack Rivers, a half-Mexican, half-Native American man, struggling to find their way in a world of hardscrabble mining camps, boom towns built with sudden wealth, bustling hotels, banks and brothels and the intense dynamics of racial assimilation.
Bowser, who is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and holds master’s degrees in theater (from Tufts University in Boston) and literature (from Humboldt State University), said she’s been fascinated by women’s lives during the Gold Rush era.
“The Gold Rush gave women more independence,” Bowser said. “A woman here could actually own a hotel. That’s amazing compared to what women were allowed to do back in the well-established east. I think my film will reveal the blood, sweat and tears of people who tried to make a life here during very chaotic times.”
Fred Baker, an owner of the Sheep Ranch Hotel and a lifelong friend of Bowser’s, is an executive producer of the movie.
“Shooting this movie was really like the old days, with donations coming in from folks from all over,” he said. “A lot of the costuming came from the show ‘Deadwood.’ The clothes had been stored in the Sheep Ranch old dance hall. We made the hall Sheep Ranch Production headquarters.”
Bowser said nearly 200 people from Calaveras and Tuolumne counties took part in the film. From donating authentic buggies and other equipment, to playing bit parts in various scenes, locals helped Bowser in ways large and small.
“In making this film, I learned about the generous and hospitable spirit of the people who live in Calaveras County,” Bowser said.
After this weekend’s screening, “A River of Skulls” will be shown at the Diablo Valley Film Festival.
Writer Sunny Lockwood lives with her husband near Angels Camp. Her column, a new weekly feature of The Union Democrat,
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/20100812100817/News/Local-News/Feminist-Western-showing-at-Murphys-Creek-Theatre