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NEW POST (12/12/16)
I'm bumping this thread with a new subject heading so that I can get the word out that Billy Chapin's memorial service will be on Monday, December 26, at 11:00 AM, in the Monroe Street Christian Church, 4150 Monroe Street in Los Angeles. Per Billy's brother Michael: "Please note, family, friends, AND fans are invited on the 26th."
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ORIGINAL POST
I was very saddened this morning to wake up to the loss of Bill Chapin.
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/billy-chapin-dead-child-actor-night-hunter-dies-1201933160/
I only got to meet him face to face one time, the evening in 2002 when a screening at UCLA served to introduce their restoration of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER and the launch of my book about the film. He was very shy, and although he didn't feel up to talking with the crowd, I'd like to think their warm applause and, in fact, the film itself, touched his heart and perhaps enabled him to appreciate the fine work he had done when he was so young in 1954.
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In the 1955 biopic A MAN CALLED PETER, Billy Chapin played "Peter John Marshall," the son of U.S. Senate Chaplain the Rev. Peter Marshall (Richard Todd) and his wife Catherine (Jean Peters). Henry Koster directed the film. Alfred Newman's score was released by Film Score Monthly in 2001.
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Chapin played "Steve Martin," the son of Victor Mature's character, mine manager "Shelley Martin," in the 1955 crime drama VIOLENT SATURDAY. Young Steve has been in a fight with other boys because he is jealous that his best friend's father fought at the front, while Shelley was enlisted by the government to increase his copper production during the war. Richard Fleischer directed the film. Hugo Friedhofer's score was most recently released by Kritzerland in 2012.
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In THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, Billy Chapin played "John Harper" the son of executed killer and bank robber "Ben Harper" (Peter Graves) and his wife "Willa" (Shelley Winters). The film was directed by Charles Laughton. Walter Schumann's score has only appeared as backing to a Laughton-narrated story album released by RCA.
I leave it to Preston Neal Jones to verify the veracity of the following anecdote, from the IMDB:
Robert Mitchum tried explaining to Billy Chapin that he needed to better understand his character and his relationship to the preacher. Chapin, who had a reputation for brattiness, replied, "That's probably why I just won the New York Critics Circle prize." Charles Laughton bellowed, "Get that child away from me!" and from then on Mitchum patiently directed the boy in their scenes together.
(Chapin had won the N.Y. Drama Critics Award as the most promising young actor of the year for his performance in the 1951 play "Three Wishes for Jamie" on Broadway.)
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In the 1956 western TENSION AT TABLE ROCK, Billy Chapin played "Jody Burrows," the young son of crippled stagecoach stop operator "Ed Burrows" (Joe DeSantis). The film was Chapin's final feature film appearance. Charles Marquis Warren directed the film, which has an unreleased score by Dimitri Tiomkin.
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Thanks, Bob, for inviting my comment. Mr. Mitchum, whose colorful and entertaining stories are often best enjoyed with a dose of salt, told a similar version of that tale which I quote in my book. However, anyone who has the rare privilege and pleasure of seeing all ten hours of surviving out-takes, as I did while researching my book, can readily see that Laughton remained very much a hands-on director of Billy Chapin -- and every other actor involved -- throughout the length of the shoot. A lot of that Laughton/Chapin collaboration can be viewed in Robert Gitt's documentary about the out-takes, "Charles Laughton Directs 'The Night of the Hunter,'" on the Criterion DVD/BluRay.
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The Billy Chapin Memorial has been posted on Youtube, officiated by sister Lauren Chapin, featuring memories shared by brother Michael Chapin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRsiEr3G3_c
With the camera focused on the pulpit, you can't see the surroundings, but Michael's son, Doug, (who shot this video), decorated the service with enough posters of Billy's films that it looked like a series of FSM posts by Bob DiMucci. Michael, like Billy and Lauren, was an actor, (he has an unbilled role in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER), and his presentation is what I would call to your attention, more than anything else in this church service.
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On the other hand, I was jarred when he told me be is 80 hears old -- doesn't look or act it.
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Posted: |
Feb 6, 2017 - 6:01 AM
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By: |
JCGIII
(Member)
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Thank you for posting. Michael was an impossible act to follow. Very eloquent, sincere, and moving. The rest? If folks haven't heard a sermon lately, go for it. I read her book. Can't blame him for avoiding publicity. Hope he found some peace, and that she sincerely forgave him. I'm a little cynical though.
The Billy Chapin Memorial has been posted on Youtube, officiated by sister Lauren Chapin, featuring memories shared by brother Michael Chapin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRsiEr3G3_c
With the camera focused on the pulpit, you can't see the surroundings, but Michael's son, Doug, (who shot this video), decorated the service with enough posters of Billy's films that it looked like a series of FSM posts by Bob DiMucci. Michael, like Billy and Lauren, was an actor, (he has an unbilled role in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER), and his presentation is what I would call to your attention, more than anything else in this church service.
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