Bullock Texas State History Museum
Mis-'Adventures of Jody Shanan'
RECEIVED Wed., Sept. 2, 2009
Hi Gerald,
In regards to your article in "Day Trips" [Aug. 21] about the Alamo Village and its fame for producing classic movies, there was a movie made there that definitely deserved a Golden Turkey Award. Back in the late Seventies, when I was going to graduate film school at UT, my film teacher announced that there was a full-length film being made where The Alamo had been filmed. They needed some help. I immediately signed up and went out there to Alamo Village. The movie: The Adventures of Jody Shanan. The horses the "Indian" actors rode were terrified of all that gunfire! Some Indians fell off when the horses spooked and jumped sideways. Most quit and walked off the set. So I volunteered to be an Indian. Besides, I didn't like my present chores: move this; run and go get that. They dressed me up like an Indian (a male one, though I'm a female) and gave me a horse and a fake gun to shoot while attacking the town folks. Then, toward the end of filming, they needed a little kid to run in to the sheriff's office yelling, "Sheriff, sheriff – they found Jody!" Since a lot of actors had left, I got to be that "little boy" (like I said, I'm a female), but the makeup person did a good job. The Adventures of Jody Shanan played in Austin for about a week before it cratered.
In regards to your article in "Day Trips" [Aug. 21] about the Alamo Village and its fame for producing classic movies, there was a movie made there that definitely deserved a Golden Turkey Award. Back in the late Seventies, when I was going to graduate film school at UT, my film teacher announced that there was a full-length film being made where The Alamo had been filmed. They needed some help. I immediately signed up and went out there to Alamo Village. The movie: The Adventures of Jody Shanan. The horses the "Indian" actors rode were terrified of all that gunfire! Some Indians fell off when the horses spooked and jumped sideways. Most quit and walked off the set. So I volunteered to be an Indian. Besides, I didn't like my present chores: move this; run and go get that. They dressed me up like an Indian (a male one, though I'm a female) and gave me a horse and a fake gun to shoot while attacking the town folks. Then, toward the end of filming, they needed a little kid to run in to the sheriff's office yelling, "Sheriff, sheriff – they found Jody!" Since a lot of actors had left, I got to be that "little boy" (like I said, I'm a female), but the makeup person did a good job. The Adventures of Jody Shanan played in Austin for about a week before it cratered.
Dana Mardaga
