March 12, 2010

Non-Native cast in Cactus Creek

Enid filmmakers shooting new movie, ‘Cactus Creek’

By Robert BarronRick and Larry Simpson are ready to saddle up again for their fifth movie, "Cactus Creek.”

The latest adventures of Stormy, Texas and Cimarron will be filmed in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado.

Jack Quirk, of KJ Productions, returns as director of photography as the Simpsons film for the first time in high-definition full screen.

"We have some good people. We have nationally-known recording artist R.W. Hampton, Dino Lalli from ‘Discover Oklahoma,’ and the daughter of cowboy actor Tim Holt, Bryanna Holt. And we’re working on some others,” Rick Simpson said.

"Cactus Creek” is the continuing story of Stormy, Texas and Cimarron, who go to Colorado to rescue the Turner girls, who have been seen previously in Skeleton Creek productions.
Hollywood actor’s daughter to appear in Simpson film

By Robert BarronActor Tim Holt was among the top 10 money earners in 1951-52, and shortly afterward, he left Hollywood because he did not like the direction movies were trending.

Holt’s daughter, Bryanna Holt-Weidner, is continuing her father’s tradition of making family movies by appearing in the new Simpson movie “Cactus Creek.”
And:In the Simpson film, “Cactus Creek,” Holt-Weidner portrays Red Shawl, an American Indian mother of two children. As part of the script, her husband is a blood brother of Stormy Lane, one of the main characters in the movie played by Rick Simpson. Stormy finds her shot and rescues her, a scene in which a major shootout occurs.

This is Holt-Weidner’s first Simpson movie; she has appeared in other films.
Comment:  Didn't I see "Stormy Lane" on a soap opera once? The name sure sounds like it. <g>

Are there any Native actors in the Native portion of this movie? Not that I can tell. It looks like another pathetic case of non-Natives playing Natives.

None of the six Rick Simpsons listed in IMDB seems like a significant player. I wonder if this Rick Simpson is someone else. And if his movies are local productions that aren't distributed and go straight to DVD. The article kind of implies that.

For more on the subject, see Friday, Tonto, Jacob Black, et al. and The Best Indian Movies.

2 comments:

Bryanna said...

Rob, I am Cherokee on my Mom's side and Iroquois/Algonquian on my Dad's side (they traced our lineage back to Pocahontas). I am not 100% Native American, probably more like 1/8. Not real sure how much one needs to be to qualify for you but I am as proud of my Native American heritage as you are of yours. Thanks - Bryanna Holt Widener

Rob said...

I don't have any Native heritage to be proud of, Bryanna. And I'm not particularly proud of my white Anglo-Saxon Protestant heritage.

I've defined which people I consider actual Indians before. I prefer to see these people cast before those with only a small amount of Indian "blood."