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Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 23 June 2008 Nick Spark Hits: 4245
People often ask me how you make an historical film like this one. It's simple, I tell them, you just have to be organized. When you're dealing with thousands of pages of documents, hundreds of photographs, miles of feet of film footage, and scores of interviews, it's easy to get overwhelmed. So organization is key. Making a film like this one, after all, comes down to sifting through all these haystacks to find the few needles needed to make your acupuncture work.
Now, it was after doing a lot of research and our first round of interviews, that I began to concentrate on the organization problem. By then, even though we'd only scratched the surface in terms of what we hoped to do, we already had a lot of material to go through. Seven large binders full of photocopies sat on my shelf...precariously I might add.
What was in these binders, you might ask. Well, the first couple contained word-for-word transcripts of everyone we interviewed. That's a lot of paper, depending on how garrulous each person was! Other binders contained transcripts of interviews done with Pancho by several different individuals in the late 1960's and early 70s, a transcript of the night she spoke to the Lancaster EAA (see 6-03-07 entry), a copy of Pancho's unfinished autobiography supplied courtesy of the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate, and dozens of other documents, from personal letters to and from Pancho, to her FBI file.
Photo (Above): The four books we ended up making while working on the film. No, they are not books you can buy (now or in the future), but for us they may as well have been on the New York Times bestseller list. We poured over them like kids on Harry Potter!
Photo (below): Interior of the "Archive" book, containing newspaper clippings about Pancho.
Now, I hate binders. As you work with them, pages start to rip and fall out on the floor. They're awkward, and hard to transport. I kept wondering, is there any way to work, such that I won't have to carry twenty binders in the back of my car?
Well, while I was writing the script, I read about something that sounded like a solution. There was a new internet-based company that printed out large documents in book form -- and for cheap!
I looked at the website, and thought it looked good. And, after some trial and error, I was able to upload the transcripts onto their servers, and ordered up some perfect bound books. Just for the heck of it, I used some of our nicest-looking photos of Pancho on the covers. Guess what? The transcripts came out beautifully. They were not only easy to read, but they were half the size of the binders -- and printed on both sides!
In short, they completely exceeded my expectations. I soon ordered additional sets for the director, Amanda, and our editor Monique.
I don't mean to be immodest, but we quickly discovered that these books were a godsend (yes, I love it when an idea works out). They were compact, very readable, and flexible. We could write in the margins of the pages, and quickly flip to what we needed. We could also -- since we each had identical books -- always be "on the same page". Literally!
The next challenge would be a bit more significant: to make a book out of the photos, photo negatives, and scrapbooks in the collection of the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate. I knew this would be a daunting task, since the Estate only had a small percentage of these materials in digital form, and many of the originals were fragile. Fortunately for us, a wonderful woman named Pam Dotson, who had some experience with photographic archives, expressed an interest in helping out. Pam ended up scanning hundreds of images, including a lot of the most fragile negatives, and organized them by era.
Photo (above right): The interior of our photographic archive book. The "3" in the corner matches a folder in our Final Cut Pro project, and signifies that this page is covered with photos from the 1930's era.
Still, even with Pam's assistance, it took us literally hundreds of man (and woman) hours to get the job done. That was okay, though, because it had to be done. All that scanning was not just going to create a book. Once everything existed in digital form, we could get it into Final Cut Pro and start editing our movie.
After getting all of the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate's photos and clippings into digital form, we decided to bite the bullet, and add hundreds of other items to our hard drives and, eventually, our books. These included photos from other private collections as well as USC, UCLA, the L.A. Public Library, and a score of other public archives across the United States.
The scanning effort ended up being prolonged, since every week something new seemed to arrive in the mail. It was a judgment call, but once I'd determined we had achieved "critical mass", we made proof sheets using all our digital files. We saved them in Portable Document Format (PDF), created a huge document containing all the pages in roughly chronological order, and uploaded that to our internet publisher...
Photo (above left): Close-up of the page seen earlier. Notice the jotted note on Cliff Henderson's photo. Yes, in this library you are allowed to write on all the books!
It took some doing, but pretty soon we had two "archive" books. The first contained newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other textual material such as Pancho's letters. The second consisted entirely of still photo "thumbnails". These would prove to be invaluable in the cutting room. Whenever we needed a photo to help illustrate a story point, we could flip the pages of this book...and boy did we flip them...for over nine months it seemed like that's all we ever did!
In fact, we flipped so hard that (despite being fairly well-made) our books began to fall apart. Amanda, Monique and I have all had a cover or two come loose, and Monique's transcript file is a wreck. I told her recently that if it bothered her, I'd be happy to order up another copy of the transcripts, so that she wouldn't have to content with all those loose pages. To my surprise, she declined, explaining that she'd written too many important notes in the book. Maybe the thing to do, she said, would be to put all the pages in a binder!
Photo (right): A page from the transcript book.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 12 June 2008 Nick Spark Hits: 4801
It seems incredible to think that an aviatrix, rancher and mother like Pancho Barnes would have an FBI file, but that's the case. Exactly how Pancho ended up commanding the attention of Attorney General Warren Berger and then FBI director J. Edgar Hoover -- well, it's a tawdry and sad tale.
The circumstances were these: in the early 1950's, the Air Force decided to expand Edwards AFB, and take Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club and her neighbor's properties under imminent domain (see 3.3.07 Production Journal). Just about the same time that was taking place, Pancho's friend Col. Albert Boyd, who had been the commander at Edwards, left for a new assignment. His replacement, General Holtoner, did not get along with Pancho, and the feeling was pretty much mutual.
Holtoner never visited Pancho's guest ranch, but he did hear some rumors about what went on there. Rather than investigate personally, he decided to do something dramatic: he put Pancho's off limits to Edwards personnel. That hit Pancho in a very bad spot -- her pocket book. Pancho's hostility towards the General soon reached towering altitudes.
Holtoner's actions can be viewed through other lenses, than just the fact that he simply didn't like Barnes. The Air Force was a new branch of the Armed Services at the time, having only recently separated from the Army. No wanted any hint of scandal to strike the nation's strategic arm. From Holtoner's perspective, having members of his command frequenting an establishment called "The Happy Bottom Riding Club" may have been risky. Secondarily, Holtoner was a starchy, if accomplished, officer. Pancho had been very close to Al Boyd, who left very big shoes to fill at Edwards. Maybe, too close. Holtoner may have viewed her as an inappropriate friend to have, and a link to a previous commander who he now wanted to supplant. Needless to say, Holtoner didn't want to fraternize with her.
Image at left: General Holtoner. He may have been an accomplished pilot, but Pancho didn't care for him, and the feeling was mutual.
It wasn't just Holtoner who had gone starchy. The Air Force itself had become regimented and was transitioning from having "journeymen pilots" like Chuck Yeager (who only had a high school diploma) to having pilots who had gone to college and, in some cases, had advanced degrees. The entire service was transitioning into the modern era of rules, performance reviews, and IBM punch cards. (To read more about this, all you have to do is pick up a copy of The Right Stuff.)
The 1950's and the coming of the Cold War tamed America's post-WWII euphoria, and produced a much more conservative society. Senator McCarthy and his hearings into the Communist conspiracy in American government, and a host of other perceived threats, affected the outlook and actions of the entire American society. It easy to see how a person like Pancho, who had always lived in a free-wheeling, larger-than-life, fun and outrageous way, might run afoul of these changing times.
Anyway... It wasn't long after the eminent domain dispute was made public, that Holtoner began making some noise about Pancho's ranch. He'd apparently interviewed some of his staff about the place, and come to certain conclusions about it. Whether he initiated it or not, the accusations about Pancho's place eventually drew the attention of the U.S. Attorneys. They asked the F.B.I. to launch an investigation into Pancho's business dealings, and to determine whether the Happy Bottom Riding Club was more than just a guest ranch.
The results of that investigation are summarized in Pancho's F.B.I. file, which we retrieved from the archives under the Freedom of Information Act. Some of the information in it, will be revealed in a forthcoming Production Journal. Stay tuned!
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 04 June 2008 Nick Spark Hits: 4546
As you’ll read in future editions of the Production Journal, making a documentary film does not necessarily just mean shooting interviews and sifting through archival materials. Every now and then, we get to do something a bit different! That was the case when, recently, we got together with director of photography Clay Westervelt for a special “shoot.”
Some back story on this. During a screening of our “rough cut” of the film a few months ago, Clay had made an interesting, and highly creative, suggestion. In Clay’s mind, the segment of the film recounting the fire at Pancho’s ranch (see 1-16-08 production journal) and its aftermath wasn’t dramatic enough. His suggestion? Shoot something that would evoke that terrible day, and give a sense of what was actually lost in the fire.
Sounds like a great idea. But just how do you do it — when you have no money to spend on building sets and doing a re-enactment? Simple, said Clay: burn some photos of Pancho and the Happy Bottom Riding Club, and shoot them with a video camera in slow motion!
Ahhh, the miracles of the modern world. We quickly made a bunch of photo dupes at the local Costco, bought a small welding torch at Home Depot, picked up some used picture frames at Goodwill, and proceeded to burn through a stack of 8x10s. For effect, we mounted some of the frames on a weathered picnic table turned on its side. With its bare wood surface, it looked just like the wall of the Happy Bottom Riding Club!
Oh, and did I mention, I brought a fire extinguisher, just in case? That turned out to be one of my slickest moves as producer, since during the shoot we did have a little, uh, incident. Thanks to some quick reflexes, the damage was limited… (Hey Clay, sorry about your picnic table!)
Clay’s shots were exactly what the doctor ordered — stunning, emotional images that get across the intensity of the fire on a visceral level. Plus, we had a lot of fun, and no one got hurt.
Want to see the results? Well stay tuned, they are featured in our film in a couple of places.
By the way, special thanks to Markus Lodewyk who helped with the shoot, and provided the photos.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 21 May 2008 Nick Spark Hits: 4954
There's an old saying in the film business: "Casting is everything." Well, documentaries are no exception. We knew from the start, that if our film was to succeed, we'd need to find interview subjects who not only knew Pancho, but who were lively enough personalities to tell a story as big and wild as this one, properly. It took a lot of work, and consultation with many different people, to come up with our final list of interview subjects. Lou D'Elia of the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate, who has been compiling oral histories of many people who knew Pancho, was especially helpful, as was Barbara Schultz, the author of the biography Pancho, and Ray Puffer from the EAFB History Office.
When you make a film about a person like Pancho, who lived life large and met a lot of people -- and made an impression -- you're put in a difficult situation. Over the time we've been making the film, scores of people have contacted us about a friend or relative who "knew" Pancho. Typically, someone comes up to us, or phones or emails us, and gushes, "My uncle Don flew into Pancho's and has a wild story to tell you!" We've learned that most of these stories are just that: stories that have been whispered down the lane, and enhanced over the years. Even if they are not, they are usually not that exciting . . . except for the people who lived them.
Anyway, from our perspective, while a lot of people met Pancho, or visited her Happy Bottom Riding Club in the 1950s, or heard her speak at an EAA meeting in the 1960s or 70s, there are actually very few living people who actually knew her. Which is to say, people who really got along with her on a personal basis, and were in her inner circle. Fortunately, we believe we've managed to track down and interview nearly all of the people who fit that bill, who are still with us!
Photo: The X-1 team that broke the sound barrier. We managed to interview three of these amazing guys: Bob Hoover (second from left), Bob Cardenas (third from left), and Chuck Yeager (fourth from left).
Then again, there are a few we would have liked to interview, who we just missed . . . That's what happens when you make a film about events that happened fifty years ago -- you're lucky if anyone is around to tell the story. In fact, one of the inspirations for going forward with the film, was the fact that it seemed like enough people were alive and kicking, that we could preserve a bit of the Golden Era of Flight Test on tape. Most of the people we wanted to talk to, we got to talk to. But as the case may be, with a project like this, a few people dropped off our radar.
A good example is Chalmers "Slick" Goodlin, a friend of Pancho's from way back. Early on in the process of making the film, when we were doing our first set of interviews, I spoke with him by phone.
Just to give you a little background, Slick was the civilian who was hired by Larry Bell, to test the X-1 rocket plane circa 1946 at Muroc. That's where Slick first met Pancho. The two became good friends, and Pancho tracked Slick's progress as he pushed the X-1 higher and faster. As the plane entered the region of compressibility, approaching the sound barrier, the danger level increased markedly. Eventually Goodlin told Bell that he'd want a $150,000 bonus, if he was to attempt speeds above the sound barrier. Bell and the Air Force balked at the demand, and Chuck Yeager ended up being tapped to make the record-breaking flight. He'd receive his standard Air Force pay, $72 a month.
Slick, who was blessed with a voice deeper and darker than an oil well, was living in retirement in Florida when I spoke to him. He expressed a great deal of excitement about the film, and had quite a few fond memories of Pancho and her ranch. But most of what Slick talked about, was his anger at his portrayal in the movie The Right Stuff. Although he's not shown exactly as a villain, he's no hero, either -- and precisely for the reason that he wanted so much money to do what Yeager ended up doing for so little. "I was being asked to risk my life," Goodlin noted, "and it certainly wasn't out of line given that. But what they did in that movie, was totally inaccurate. They have a scene in the film where I met with Chuck Yeager at Pancho's place," he continued gruffly. "That simply didn't happen. I was nowhere near Muroc when Yeager came on board and we were never in Pancho's together."
Photo: Goodlin's signed publicity photo graced the wall of the Happy Bottom Riding Club. One look at his hair, you can see why he was called 'Slick' Goodlin.
It was clear from speaking to Slick, that Yeager's sonic boom haunted him his entire life. Yet it was also clear that he'd gone on to continue his career as a pilot, and had many successes. Few know it, but after leaving Muroc under a bit of a cloud due to his supposed greed, Slick joined the Israeli Air Force as a volunteer, and flew as a Machal pilot during the 1948 War.
Sadly, I never did get to hear more of Slick's friendship with Pancho, as he passed away just a few months after our phone conversation. At that time, we simply didn't have the money to pay for a trip to Florida to interview him.
(Incidentally, it's worth adding here as a footnote, that if you read up on the breaking of the sound barrier . . . it may have been a lucky thing for Slick that he didn't ever get to make the attempt. It's generally acknowledged that, if it wasn't for engineer Jack Ridley's incredible work during the Air Force's program, Yeager would not have made it past Mach 1.0. Ridley most likely wouldn't have been involved in the Bell program. So, it seems pretty clear that there was quite a good chance the only thing that Slick would have gotten to spend that $100K on, would have been for a really nice funeral. But who knows? Perhaps things would have worked out differently.)
Another person who I spoke to, but who we didn't get an opportunity to put on tape, was A. Scott Crossfield (photo at right). One of the best pilots of his generation, Crossfield had an incredible career. He was the first man to Mach 2.0, and the first to fly the X-15.
Scott wrote a nice letter in support of our documentary, and generously offered to sign a limited edition photo collage to help us raise some money. We were about to do another run of these prints, when we learned that Crossfield had been tragically killed in the crash of his single engine plane during an intense thunderstorm. It seemed ironic, and even a little unfair, that a man who had flown on the very edge of the envelope, had lost his life in fairly mundane circumstances. Such is the price that some do pay, to touch the sky . . .
There are other people we wished we'd been able to chat with, including Johnny Myers, the famed test pilot for both Lockheed and Northrop who frequented Muroc, who passed away in May. There are also a couple of people who, for various reasons, simply would not agree to be interviewed. Fortunately for us, most of them were peripheral to our story.
Despite some of the people we've missed, I can honestly say that circumstances have generally been with us. And while there are some people who narrowly missed our "short list", it was fun to meet them nevertheless, and learn a bit more about Pancho. You know there's another old expression, that the journey is more exciting that the destination, and that's true in the case of this film. When I think back on the amount of work it involved to winnow our list down, and figure out who was the most appropriate -- a lot of phone conversations, emails, letters. But also, it was a lot of fun. We cast a very wide net in our search for all these folks. We had to because, as they say, casting is everything.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 17 May 2008 Nick Spark Hits: 3985
Historical documentaries by their very nature involving loads of archival research and dozens of interviews, and as a result they are time-consuming and expensive to make. All of the monies for our production have come from donations from scores of individuals, granting organizations, and foundations. Each step of our project has come with significant hurdles. Raising the money to keep moving forward, is only one of the challenges we've faced.
Fortunately, hard work does have its rewards. Recently, Amanda Pope and I were informed that the film has won the Women in Film Finishing Fund grant. The film is one of six chosen nationally. This prestigious $5K grant will help cover some pressing costs, and get us one step closer to done.
The most exciting news about the WIF Grant is something we can't make public just yet! Let's just say, we called someone about the Grant, and something exciting has happened as a result.
We're still in search of more finishing funds. If you're interested in helping sponsor the film, or want to make a gift, feel free to contact us or use the "Donate" button on the website. All contributions to the film are tax deductible, and sponsorship opportunities are available. Plus, even a small gift may qualify you to appear in the credits of the finished film.
Last Updated: Wednesday, 12 August 2015 04:31 16 May 2008 Nick Spark Hits: 4445
The last two months have been busy ones, and not just in the editing room! We've been taking the show on the road — literally. Which is to say, we've been presenting a portion of the film at various venues locally to gather opinions about our "rough cut" and raise interest in the project.
Lucky for Amanda Pope and me, Southern California is a vibrant community interested in aviation, and aviation history. Some of the groups that have hosted us include the San Fernando and Camarillo Ninety-Nines, the Edwards AFB and Orange County EAA, the Santa Monica, San Diego and Los Angeles Quiet Birdmen, and the Flabob Airport's "movie night" crowd.
Last night it was the Whiteman Airport Association. The film was received warmly and the crowd even passed the hat -- well, actually, a coffee tin -- with the proceeds benefiting the completion of the movie. Thanks Whiteman!
Photo (left): Nick Spark presents a portion of the "rough cut" at the National Aviation Hall of Fame's Reel Stuff Film Festival.
We've also had a few special screenings. Recently, we were invited to present the film at the Allen Airways Flying Museum in San Diego during a Stearman biplane "fly in". The screening was attended by Brig. Gen. Bob Cardenas, one of our interview subjects, and the pilot for the B-29 that flew the X-1 to altitude. Bob thirlled the audience with the story of the day in October, 1947 when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. It was kind of amazing for folks to hear the story from an aviation legend who was actually there they day it happened! (Thanks so much to Bill and Claudia Allen for hosting us).
We also presented a portion of the film in Lancaster at the EAA, a screening that was attended by Barbara Rowland and Barbara Little, both of whom were good friends of Pancho.
It's always exciting to show the movie in the Lancaster vicinity, as there are often people in the audience who, like Barbara and Barbara, knew Pancho and have a story to tell. I'd love to pass along a couple of the stories I heard at the QB meeting up in Lancaster, in fact, but unfortunately they are of a slightly "blue" variety so I'll pass for now!
One of the most memorable presentations was not in Los Angeles at all, but at the National Aviation Hall of Fame's inaugural "Reel Stuff" Film Festival last month. This event, which is sure to become an annual pilgrimage for some, featured four days of aviation movies. Paco Chierici presented "Speed and Angels", a terrific documentary about U.S. Navy aviators (link) that will debut later this year.
Brian Terwiliger was there to show the sweepingly beautiful film "One Six Right" and to tease the audience with an excerpt from a forthcoming project — which looks even more stunning than his first (link).
Clay Lacy, the one-time United Airlines pilot who went on to have a spectacular career as a Hollywood aerial cinematographer, presented Top Gun and IMAX: Red Flag, and gave insights into his craft. The dean of aviation and an Academy Award winning actor, Cliff Robertson presented the memorable 633 Squadron. (Although not that well known, the film that apparently inspired a young George Lucas when he was scripting Star Wars -- the ending is virtually identical.) Aviation historian and author James Farmer introduced Col. Dean Hess, and presented Battle Hymn. This Korean War film was based on remarkable events from Hess' career in the Air Force. The cherry on this luscious sundae was The Battle of Britain, presented by the chief stunt pilot, the inimitable Wilson "Connie" Edwards.
Photo (below): Writer/producer Nick Spark (third from right) poses with (l-r) "IMAX: Red Flag" producer Pietro Serapiglia, National Museum of the USAF Theatre manager Mary Bruggeman, famed cinematographer and aviator Clay Lacy, Academy Award winning actor and flier Cliff Robertson, stunt pilot and raconteur Connie Edwards, (Nick Spark), "One Six Right" director Brian J. Terwilliger and Ron Kaplan, the master of ceremonies for the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
In the midst of all this celebrity and hoopla, I presented a portion of The Legend of Pancho Barnes. The whole thing made my spine tingle, and not just because I was surrounded by all these terrific filmmakers, actors, stunt pilots and movie cameramen. You see, Pancho was friends with no less than a dozen members or nominees of the Hall of Fame, all of whom are mentioned in the film: Amelia Earhart, Louise Thaden, Ruth Nichols, Will Rogers, Jimmy Doolittle, Cliff Henderson, Paul Mantz, Hap Arnold, Tooey Spaatz, Al Boyd, Chuck Yeager, Bob Hoover, Buzz Aldrin, etc. Pancho herself has been short-listed for the Hall, and certainly we hope our film can be one of the things that helps put her "over the top".
The film was well received, although there were a few members of the crowd who were ready to kill me for pushing the "pause" button after a mere 25 minutes! Ron Kaplan, the dashing Executive Director of the NAHF who put this whole event together, tried to calm the audience by making a remarkable offer: he invited us back to show the completed film at next year's "Reel Stuff". We'll be there Ron.
Wanna go? Better make your reservations for Dayton now. Based on the success of this inaugural event, I have a feeling next year's festival screenings will be standing room only.
Your tax-deductible donation can help make "The Legend of Pancho Barnes!" a reality.
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