Aha, the man who never was, got on to Ang Lee's latest set, and has many tales to tell so I won't talk out my tail, so let's listen up and be transported to the world of Ang Lee...
Well, Harry, you won't believe this one (but you should) - I'm having a hard time digesting everything as it is. Suffice it to say that I have got more news from you from a most impeccable source - Your Truly - Here's what happened. Business took me unexpectedly into Kansas City and as fate would have it a business meeting scheduled for Thursday fell through and I was left with a full day to kill. Being easily bored I contacted one of my Nibelung (code-named: Miss Mae) who has been feeding me info on Ang Lee's picture -
well, she had the day off and said, "Hey, you want to know what's going on, why not come up to the set with me?" Whoa!!!!! How can I pass this one by??? I will try to get as much down here in as much detail as my still reeling brain can recall.
So, off we go to Pattonsburg, Missouri which is waaaaaay out in the boondocks (about two hours north of Kansas City), cross a narrow, one lane bridge into the deserted town limits and there it is, huddled in the trees - the set for "Ride With The Devil" We threaded our way along the dusty gravel road in heat that must have been 90 degrees with 855 humidity, the sky very hazy, dust choking everything, went past the piles of flood-wrecked cars and collapsed buildings and soon arrived at the dining area - just in time for lunch (this you would like, Harry). I must say that it is one of the better- organized location shoots (as far as being orderly and well laid out for functionality and accessibility) that I have ever seen. High marks for their location coordinator/supervisor.
Got my little yellow badge and wandered towards the dining tent filled with cast and crew and kick-butt music (yes, MUSIC, more on that in a minute). Well, our timing couldn't have been better. What a treat to be wandering among folks all decked out as Civil War characters - in the background it seemed like there were hundreds of horses and riders all armed to the teeth and looking very fierce, savage and dirty. I don't know who did their costumes but boy was it convincing! These guys looked fierce (and no overweight guys either - these people really looked lean and mean!) So, there we are with our lunch in the dining tent - (Four Star catering doing the honors serving Cornish game hen on real china!!)
We slip into the tent passing Jonathan Brandis who is just heading out and my friend, who has been working as a lowly PA (and thus able to see most everything) pointed out the cast of characters. What a crew! There at one table was THE MASTER himself - Ang Lee - in a red T-shirt and baseball cap next to him, Producer Bob Colesberry in Civil War get-up, and on the other side, James Schamus, the screenwriter. At the next table over - there are Jim Caviezel (Black John, the gueriila leader or "the Devil" of the title), John Ails (spelling?) who has just been cast as Quantrill. There were fellows she identified as Stephen and Matt (sorry Harry, my mind shorted out and I forgot their last names but do remember that their roles are as Babe Hudspeth and Turner Rawls. I did remember Jeffery "Basquiat" Wright, Slipping into the tent in heavy boots and a t-shirt comes Jonathan Rhys-Myers (drawn by the music). Simon Baker-Denny is there too looking very suave and very different from his LA Confidential look with long blond hair and beard - very much a cross between D'Artagnan and Custer.
All of the principle actors are gathered around an older fellow who Miss Mae says has been acting as a historical advisor to the principles. Mae whispers to me that the actors are buzzing about their advisor's Custer book "A Road We Do Not Know" which is now being looked at by three studios (so this is the deal I told you about before, Harry, I finally get a look at him and to tell the truth he looked like I would imagine a "bushwhacker" to look like - long, curly hair and beard like Baker-Denny's) and they are talking about who would be best for which role. Overhearing a snatch of conversation the betting is running for Phoenix Pictures to pick this one up. One of the actors says "We don't want the suits to option this one and then sit on it. Some of those people are really gutless wonders. If they had their way they would spend the next two years sinking every goddamn boat they could find as long as they could get a couple of dreamy-eyed teenagers to sit in it and make out while it goes down." Another one says; "Jesus, if Costner does it, his will be the only mug we see up there for two hours. No way!"
Now, (it gets better) while all this is going on, the tent is jumping because there are special guests today - a Celtic music group - who are knocking them dead! The lead singer is Connie Dover (drop-dead gorgeous and with a voice like an angel), a fellow named Roger is playing a mandolin, a young fellow everyone calls Paddy on the Irish drum, another fellow on guitar Zann (?) and an Irish button accordion player named John Whelan (in full "bushwhacker" gear). Whelan is standing on a table playing to the crowd while the tent fills with unbelievably driving rythms. Jonathan Rhys-Myers - who the other actors call "Irish Johnny" is screaming his lungs out and thumping his feet with gusto as is Jim Caviezel. Simon Baker-Denny sits there with a huge grin on his face soaking it all in, his boots tapping the beat. At the next table Ang Lee is conversing with his guys and listening hard to the music while pointing animatedly to the script. My friend later says that some of this music will wind up in the film...and that Ang Lee wanted everyone to hear what he had in mind (good thinking and apparently they hit a nerve because the actors seemed to love it). Now, Harry, from my point of view, if you liked Celine Dion's bit for Titantic you'd better brace yourself because Celine (good as she is) can't even hold a candle to this woman....whoa! Just dynamite.
After we finish our lunch we wander down to the shooting set which is made up to look like the main street of Lawrence, Kansas. Very much a trip back into time. There are hundreds of heavily armed horsemen loitering just on the outskirts of town and, as we move closer in we find smaller groups of mounted ruffians clustered at strategic places up and down main street. A quick word on Main Street - if the set is any indication, Harry, this is going to be one hell of a film. These folks have got it nailed and no expense has been spared. Not your typically cheesy wild west town set this is detailed down to the nails, the shoe shine chairs, the crates and barrels , the wavy glass, even the handbills (appropriately weathered) are correct in every detail.
Now a note on costumes - again, they've nailed it - from typical civilian attire to diverse military equipment (righth down to the spurs and saddles) they've got this one down cold. A very surprising and incredibly well done detail is something which my friend called a "Border Shirt" an oversized, overshirt with large pockets to hold extra ammunition and which is in evidence on many guerillas. We haven't seen this particular item of clothing since "The Outlaw Josey Wales." High marks for both set design and costuming. Now I love a movie that has atmosphere and this set practically oozes it.
Now I only had time to stay to watch them shoot one scene but it too was really top notch. The raiders come roaring through the town dragging townspeople into the street and herding them along while other raiders, whooping, shooting and smashing, loot stores of everything from bolts of cloth and liquor to dressmakers' dummies. We slip down an alley to watch the central action as Black John (Caviezel) wheels around on horseback screaming for someone to fight back. He confronts a dazed old man (who turns out to be the producer Bob Colesberry in costume) and roughs him up calling the townspeople cowards. Across the street Pitt Mackeson (Rhys-Myers) drags a man from a building, throws him down into the street and guns him down without blinking. Very dramatic and enough to send chills up your spine. Looking across the alley I can see Ang Lee flanked by Caviezel and Schamus (with singer Connie Dover looking on) as they go over the scene and reshoot it a couple more times - each time ratcheting up the impact. Amazing work and a treat to watch.
Unfortunately, Harry, the clock was ticking, the coach was turning into a pumpkin and the horses into rodents. It was time to go back to the darn real world. So, Harry, it wasn't much but it was a wonderfully delicious appetizer. As it worked out, the business meeting finally came off and it was then it was time to head back to home base.
The very observant
Man Who Never Was
