Clyde Ware WV Civil War film to be shown in Huntington 8/5
Clyde Ware second from left. Scott, Princeton filmmaker far left. To the right of Ware is me and on far right Kevin Carpenter, filmmaker and prez of WV FFFF. This photo was taken at the 2002 WV Intl. Film Fest in downtown Charleston. Ware was given a lifetime achievement award by WVIFF.
Clyde Ware is one of WV’s most productive contributors to Hollywood film and television. On August 5th, at 7 PM, Iwill be introducing his amazing independent film “No Drums, No Bugles, ” made entirely on location in Doddridge County in 1971 with a then unknown actor, Martin Sheen. The film was shown a few years ago finally at the WV Cultural Center in Charleston, and now - it’s finally made it to Huntington! It is part of a series of programs programmed in support of the Huntington Museum of Art’s exhibition of “Civil War Photographs from the David L. Hack Collection.”
Several years ago Chip Hitchcock produced a nice biography of Ware with clips from some of his more famous films including “Coward of the County,” which he wrote and directed. Ware is one of the most creative Hollywood director/writers in its Golden Age, writing for popular Western series like “Gunsmoke” and “Raw Hide.” He is also a novelist, writing more than half-dozen novels.
He was born in West Union, Doddridge County, on Dec. 22, 1936. His father was the high school’s janitor so he grew up poor. However, he was fiesty, and wrote a book about how his life was lived in small-town West Virginia.
I first met Clyde when he was in Charleston with Jack Palance, the star of his made-for-TV film, “Hatfields and McCoys.” I met him again, and worked with him for several months when he moved back to WV from Hollywood to make a film he called “Rough Diamonds.” He ended up shooting a preview version of the film, meant to be shown to investors. Jesse Johnson, a Charleston filmmaker/leader of the Mountain Party, was his main local agent.
Ware shot “No Drums” and a second film, “When the Line Goes Through,”the next year, both starring Martin Sheen.
Here is a description of the film, posted at the NY Times website -
Review Summary
During America’s Civil War, wealthy citizens on both sides routinely bought their way out of military service. However, people who avoided military service out of principle, then as now, were rare. History records that one such man was Ashby Gatrell of West Virginia, played here by Martin Sheen. Since West Virginia was a border state, its citizens enlisted on both sides of the conflict. Gatrell was reluctant to kill friends and relatives, as he would have had to do no matter which side he joined. Instead, he spent three years hiding in a cave, occasionally gleaning information about the progress of the war from comments made by passers-by. The whole movie is seen and told from his point of view, and other people are usually only glimpsed. This unusual film was directed by novelist-turned-filmmaker Clyde Ware, and features authentic music of the period and the region. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
