The Actor and Director, 95, Will Talk About His Remarkable Hollywood Career at Village Books

Director, actor, assistant director, second-unit director, master property man. And now add ‘author’ to the long list of Micky Moore’s entertainment-industry endeavors. Moore, 95, and best known for his second-unit directing work on such films as ‘Patton,’ ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘The Man Who Would Be King,’ will sign copies of his memoir, ‘My Magic Carpet of Films: A Personal Journey in the Motion Picture Industry, 1916’2000’ (BearManor Media) on Tuesday, June 9 at Village Books on Swarthmore. ‘What’s amazing is that people all over the world know Micky’s name and what he worked on,’ said Judi Devin, Moore’s personal assistant of 10 years. ‘Today, we got an e-mail from a man in Uzbekistan asking for an autographed picture from the book. How remarkable is that.’ Drawing on a Hollywood career that spanned nearly nine decades, Moore’s life has intersected with some of the greatest film actors, directors and producers in the history of cinema. Born Dennis Michael Sheffield in 1914 in Victoria, British Columbia, Moore began working as an actor at 18 months of age. With his late brother, Pat Moore, Moore played in four films (no longer in existence) for the American Film Manufacturing Company’s Santa Barbara-based The Flying A Studios in 1916; the same year he moved with his family to Los Angeles at the dawn of Hollywood’s golden age. Joining the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation in 1916, he played in nearly 50 films through 1929 and worked with Mary Pickford several times. ‘He was a good actor,’ Devin says. ‘He went on to star in ‘Pollyanna’ in 1920, which was a very successful film for Mary. She was already a big star.’ In his early years, Moore often turned to director Cecil B. DeMille, who became his mentor and father figure and played a pivotal role at key turning points throughout his life. In 1933, after some lean acting years, he returned to the legendary ‘The Ten Commandments’ director, for whom he had worked steadily as a young actor, with an interest to start a new career. ‘He’s the one I went to in Paramount,’ Moore recalls. ‘I said, ‘Mr. DeMille, I’d like to get back into the business.’ He said, ‘You mean you want to be an actor?’ I said, ‘No, I want to be a prop man.” And so, beginning with DeMille’s ‘Cleopatra’ (1934), Moore worked as a prop master for such directors as King Vidor (‘So Red the Rose’) and Preston Sturges (‘The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek’). Essentially, the former child star had embarked on a journey which, from 1933 until 2000, saw him graduating from property master to assistant director to second-unit director. With ‘Rope of Sand,’ a 1949 movie starring Burt Lancaster and Claude Rains, Moore took the reins of a new role”second assistant director”capturing establishing shots, horses, vehicle chases”you name it! Moore’s book is brimming with anecdotes from his time working with such illustrious names as Gary Cooper, Katharine Hepburn, George Cukor and John Huston. He also worked with Elvis Presley on ‘King Creole.’ Moore writes: ‘There are stories from many people that put Elvis in a bad light. It’s hard for me to say anything but good things about him. The Elvis I worked with was always a hard worker, never too tired to put out his best…He was always polite, even a bit formal. From the start, when working as a first assistant on a picture with Elvis, he always called me ‘Mr. Moore.’ I would say, ‘Elvis, it’s Micky.’ To the last day I directed him in ‘Paradise, Hawaiian Style,’ it was still ‘Mr. Moore.” No less than Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the most commercially successful directors of all time, wrote the foreword to ‘Magic Carpet’ because Moore did second-unit work on the original three ‘Indiana Jones’ movies, including the classic truck chase scene from ‘Raiders.’ Using visuals culled from the movie and its storyboards, Moore’s book sheds light on filming the sequence, which was shot in Tunisia. ‘The whole opening of the script was the main shot when they’re coming down a mountain and jumping into the German truck,’ Moore says. ‘I had a wonderful crew and it seemed to work out.’ However, staging that truck chase nearly cost Moore his life. He writes, ‘The driver made too sharp a turn and the car went out of control’into a sand bank. It came to an all-too-sudden stop. My groin smashed against a rear spare tire.’ Moore was taken to London for an operation, but he came out of the ordeal intact, later working on the next two ‘Indiana Jones’ sequels. Moore considers Spielberg a generous director. In his book, he recalls Spielberg asking his advice on an area where he wanted to shoot the truck chase, and Moore advising against the poor terrain. ‘There was a short pause before Steven turned to Norman Reynolds, the production designer, and said, ‘Norman, you and Micky see if there are better locations to make the chase more exciting.’ This showed me that I was working with a director who was not afraid to delegate.’ Of all his Hollywood m’tiers, Moore preferred working as a second-unit director. ‘Going over the storyboards with the director, planning everything,’ Moore says. ‘It’s the best aspect of the job.’ Moore remembers working as a second-unit director on ‘Sometimes a Great Notion’ (1971) and urging star Paul Newman to take over as the film’s director at a time when actors were not encouraged to do so. ‘Micky is a little bit of a ‘Forrest Gump,” Devin says. ‘He was there at the right place at the right time and he gave Paul a little push.’ A resident of Malibu since 1950, Moore worked on Frank Tashlin’s goofball Bob Hope/Jane Russell western, ‘Son of Paleface.’ It was one of his first gigs as a first assistant director after working as a property master on the original ‘Paleface’ comedy. Moore speaks very highly of Hal Wallis, the Paramount-based producer behind many Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis films which Moore had worked on. He reserves a particular fondness for the nutty Lewis. ‘Jerry was a lot of fun to work with,’ Moore says of the legendary comedian and one-time honorary mayor of Pacific Palisades. ‘He was always up to some stupid thing. On one of the pictures, Jerry got my watch and he broke it. I said, ‘Jesus, Jerry that was a gift from my mother, who is not here anymore.’ He felt bad about it. He went out and bought me a watch that cost three times more than the one I had.’ Moore is particularly proud of his work on ‘Patton’ (1970), which won seven Academy Awards. His second-unit credits also include ‘Mame,’ ‘Airport ’77,’ ‘National Lampoon’s European Vacation,’ and even the notorious bomb ‘Ishtar.’ In the 1990s, Moore, who had worked on both versions of DeMille’s ‘Ten Commandments’ (including the famous 1956 remake starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner), was invited with his brother to the archeological site where they discovered the half-buried sets of DeMille’s original 1923 version buried in the sand dunes of California’s central coast. Moore’s last professional credit before retiring was 2000’s live-action sequel ‘102 Dalmatians’ (he had also worked on the 1996 original). Now retired from the movie business, Moore keeps active around his Malibu neighborhood. ‘He is more athletic than most of my friends,’ says Devin, 62, of Moore today. ‘He hikes in the hills here in Malibu. He swims at Pepperdine. I’m not that physically fit!’ He currently lives with wife Laurie and his children from his first wife, Esther, the mother of daughters Tricia and Sandy. Esther passed away in 1992. Moore has five grandsons and four great-grandchildren. Moore worked closely with Devin over a six-year period to produce his memoir. And he is looking forward to his Pacific Palisades book signing, where, Devin says, cinema lovers will be delighted to meet Moore and learn about his charmed career. ‘He’s one of those unsung heroes of the field who make the famous people look good,’ Devin says. Visit www.MickyMoore.com.

At 98, Murphy is the oldest member of the faculty at Palisades Charter High School, according to his colleague, school psychologist Bella McGowan. Well, not in human years, actually. You see, Murphy is McGowan’s dog, a Wheaten terrier, and the 14-year-old canine comes to work with her every single morning. ‘He started coming eight years ago,’ McGowan tells the Palisadian-Post. ‘I had him trained as a therapy dog. He has a policy written with his name, which allows him to be on campus all day. Right now, he’s lying at my feet, stretched out. ‘He’s provides comfort and unconditional love every single day,’ McGowan continues. ‘The kids love him. He has a wonderful personality.’ McGowan credits Murphy as an integral part of why she won a Lori Petrick Excellence in Education Award in May. ‘He’s probably more recognized at this school than I am,’ McGowan says. ‘Kids come just to cry in his fur.’ In order to apply for the Petrick Award, McGowan had to submit either a 10-minute videotape or a 2,000-word essay describing her teaching methods and missions. Of course, McGowan opted for writing the essay. ‘Most of what I do is confidential, and you can’t shoot a video of me working with a group,’ she explains. McGowan received her B.A. from UCLA and her M.Ed. from Harvard University. Before arriving at PaliHi, she worked as a school psychologist at various Westside schools, including a brief stint at Paul Revere Middle School. The West Los Angeles resident took a break only to raise her kids, now grown: her daughter Sarah Kate, 23, is taking up her mom’s line of work, studying clinical psychology at the University of Illinois; her son, Sammy, 20, is a history major at Brown University. ‘But the longest time I’ve worked at a school has been Pali for 13 years,’ McGowan says. ‘I love the community, the school, the staff. There’s nothing better than the adolescent.’ McGowan is the only psychologist on campus, and the number of students that she sees every day ‘range dramatically depending upon the situation.’ She estimates that she sees anywhere from a dozen students to 50 to 100 students if there’s a crisis on campus. Despite the town’s affluent reputation, ‘PaliHi is probably one of the most integrated schools you can walk through,’ she says. ‘That’s the misnomer, that because we’re situated in a wealthy neighborhood, most of the students are affluent. They’re not. We’re very diverse here. ‘Teenagers are the same anywhere that you go,’ McGowan says. ‘At Pali, we have a huge cross-section of students from over 100 zip codes, which makes for an energetic, diverse student body.’ Of course, over the past 13 years, the nature of teenage socialization has mutated dramatically. Thank technology for that. ‘Technology is the good news and the bad news,’ McGowan says. ‘Certainly, as a parent, I think that one of the greatest inventions was the cell phone. First, there was penicillin, then the cell phone. It provided immediacy, access to your child.’ Then came the down side: ‘Cyberharm, cyber-bullying, sexting, kids giving out too much information. Kids don’t seem to understand that anything you do on Facebook or on the Internet, you might as well be doing on a billboard. ‘Depression is a large problem,’ McGowan continues. ‘Two students passed away last year, the year before that a student, and two students who had just graduated, had passed away. The summer of 2007 was very difficult. ‘Typically, if there’s a crisis, I’ve come back to assist during the summer,’ such as when PaliHi student Dillon Henry died in a car crash on Sunset in July 2007. McGowan has also seen the economic meltdown adversely affect her students, ‘whose families are losing work. There’s a lot more distress and unhappiness in the last year. There’s a lot more stress. The best thing students can do is take care of themselves. If they’re doing what they need to do, they’re helping their parents ultimately.’ The PaliHi staff is about to go through a rough patch. Six teachers, four administrators (including the principal), and seven classified staff members, may be leaving this summer. Will it add to teen angst on campus? ‘For the students, no,’ McGowan says. ‘I think we have a highly compassionate staff. That’s remained constant all the years that I’ve been here. Overall, we have a very strong core of teachers and faculty to support the students. She notes that graduate students working toward their M.A degrees in psychology from Antioch University in Culver City will be working at the school on a weekly basis to counsel high schoolers. ‘Every single year I look to expand my group,’ McGowan says. ‘We’re going to work on our ability to intervene quickly.’ Back in 2004, McGowan told the Post, ‘This year, I’m starting a peer mentoring program to help ninth grade students feel more comfortable. I want kids to benefit from an upper-classmate’s experiences. I want them to feel safe and to learn how to talk to one another; these are important life skills.’ Five years later, her appetite to constantly improve her craft has not diminished. Last fall, McGowan reports: ‘Under the generous sponsorship of the Dillon Henry Foundation, 26 students and five staff members participated in a weekend retreat at the Ojai Foundation, and learned the meaning of ‘council.’ In the coming school year, I’m hoping that this council will be formally integrated into the ninth grade freshman transition program. Student mentoring will emerge from this and in partnership with another new program, Link Crew.’ She plans to spend the summer thinking of strategies for the year ahead. ‘I’m also going to a bullying conference in June to work on girl issues and bullying overall,’ McGowan says. ‘Every year, I try to hone my craft and learn new skills. Summer is a time to be reflective on how to improve next year.’ McGowan credits her family for keeping her grounded and supporting her as she applied for the Petrick Award, including her husband, Mark McGowan, a physician in Santa Monica. ‘Our 25th wedding anniversary is June 30,’ she says, beaming. As for the $2,000 grant that comes with her award, McGowan says, ‘I will give some of it back toward school beautification, toward a garden on campus.’ And just how will McGowan reward her loyal associate, that faithful canine colleague lying at her feet? ‘Murphy is rewarded every single day that he comes to work,’ McGowan says. ‘This is what keeps him young!’

Music Review

When co-director Linda Jackson learned that ‘La Boh’me,’ the debut production of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera, would be performed in the sanctuary of the United Methodist Church instead of Tauxe Hall, she worried. She was concerned that the decidedly free-spirited bohemian life might be in some way sacrilegious. She needn’t have fretted because on Friday night the sanctuary was indeed blessed with the rapturous music of Puccini’s score brought to its fullest beauty by the talented ensemble.   Under the imaginative supervision of stage director Kirk Smith, the altar and communion area magically disappeared into the dank, cold artist’s garret in Acts I and III, and the ribald joie de vivre scene at the Caf’ Momus. Updated to 1963, the costumes and set design reinforced the artists’ devil-may-care camaraderie and ingenious survival that describes the poor artist’s life. And in spite of the last minute change of venue, the cast moved fluidly in and around the stage, cleverly using the church columns and side door to dramatic advantage. The ‘set’ proved to be a creative space, but the triumph is the music and the brilliant cast. Jackson, a Pacific Palisades resident, brought different colors to her role, employing her warm and supple soprano to Mimi’s multiple moods: strong, hopeful and ultimately diminished by her illness. Gabriel Reoyo-Pazos, as Rodolfo, was Jackson’s match, not only in the sureness of his voice, but also in his tender focus.   The other pair of lovers, up and down in their affections for one another, were wonderful to watch. As Marcello, Gabriel Manro’s warm baritone brought a masculine passion to his role as supporter of Rodolfo and to his desire for Musetta (Diana Briscoe).   Briscoe pulled out all the stops, playing Musetta as the sexy provocateur who drives Marcello to fits. Her soprano was up to the demands of this character role.   Fellow Bohemians, David Hodgson (Shaunard), Herv’ Blanquart (Colline), Stanton Hunter (Benoit and Alcindoro) each established a clear character profile.   Perhaps the most praise should be for music director Galina Barskaya, who provided lively accompaniment on piano/synthesizer with respectful attention to the voices.   Friday evening’s full house was treated to spectacular opera with the added bonus of being close to home.   Bravas to co-director Jackson and co-founder/artistic director Ella Lee for the first in a series for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera. Future productions in the Palisades include ‘La Traviata,’ ‘Cosi fan Tutti’ and ‘Tosca.’

Hollywood renegade Sam Peckinpah’s favorite film was John Huston’s ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madre,’ and when he co-wrote and directed his own tale of avarice gone awry, the 1974 thriller ‘Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia,’ Peckinpah found a cinematic descendent of Humphrey Bogart in the character actor Warren Oates, whose volatile mix of machismo and vulnerability informed a tour de force performance.   Unfortunately, ‘Alfredo,’ considered the purest of Peckinpah’s films (i.e. no studio interference), tanked, taking down Oates’ shot at leading-man status in Hollywood.   Such is the story of the late Hollywood rebel Oates, as captured by author Susan Compo, who will discuss and sign copies of her biography, ‘Warren Oates: A Wild Life,’ on June 7 at 3 p.m., in Diesel bookstore, Brentwood Country Mart.   Before tackling ‘Warren Oates,’ Compo wrote a novel, ‘Pretty Things,’ and two short-story collections. The Pasadena resident was attracted to the challenge of trying her hand at non-fiction.   ’I always wanted to try writing a biography,’ said Compo, who searched to see if anything had been written on Oates, one of her favorite actors, who died in 1982. ‘Nothing. I couldn’t believe my luck that there really wasn’t anything out there.’   Compo interviewed a variety of celebrities who worked or crossed paths with Oates, including Dennis Quaid, Dennis Hopper and Mariette Hartley, and various Peckinpah collaborators. She also interviewed three of Oates’ four wives, as well as the actor’s four kids and other family members.   ’Warren was so different from his older brother, who is a straight business man,’ Compo told the Palisadian-Post.   A rebel all of his life, the Depoy, Kentucky native followed a stint in the Marines by chasing his muse to New York to become an actor. After a television career that included a pair of early-1960s episodes of ‘The Twilight Zone’ and various television Westerns, Oates found his hard-drinking, hard-living match in outlaw filmmaker Peckinpah.   ’They were fatal friends,’ Compo said. ‘Friends who weren’t good for each other, but they understood each other. Both were in the Marines, both were men’s men. They enjoyed a drink, liked women, and some may not realize this, but they really cared about their art.’   Oates played in Peckinpah’s 1969 masterpiece, ‘The Wild Bunch,’ opposite William Holden and Ernest Borgnine. Oates also had small roles in another Sam Peckinpah Western, ‘Ride the High Country’ (1962), and in the director’s Civil War epic, ‘Major Dundee’ (1965).   Unlike Peckinpah, Oates’ other major collaborator, underground filmmaker Monte Hellman, was ‘quiet, studied. They were much closer kindred spirits than him and Peckinpah.’ Oates worked on four little-seen films for Hellman, most notably ‘Two-Lane Blacktop.’   Despite ardent defenders in its day, such as emerging film critic Roger Ebert, Peckinpah’s ‘Alfredo’ bombed at the box office, which undermined Oates’ career.   ’The studios wouldn’t give him a chance,’ Compo said. ‘He wasn’t a handsome leading man and was on the cusp of the era when you still needed to be.’   Oates lost confidence in ‘Alfredo’ following its cold reception, according to his biographer: ‘He was really conflicted about the film. He didn’t live long enough to see the acclaim many years later. When it bombed, he told people not to see it.’   Although Oates played numerous supporting roles for directors as prestigious and diverse as Norman Jewison and Steven Spielberg, few filmmakers truly saw his leading-man potential and engaged him as much as Peckinpah had. By the late 1970s, Oates worked on ‘whatever he could get,’ Compo said. ‘He enjoyed working on ‘1941’ and ‘Stripes’ because it meant that the younger directors valued him.’   Drug and alcohol abuse took its toll on Oates, who died of cardiac arrest on April 3, 1982 at the age of 53.   ’What I was unprepared for while researching my book was how people loved him,’ Compo said. ‘They dropped everything to talk to me.’