A really poor registration process led to my missing the pre-reception and getting inside within ten minutes of show time. Our very own soundtrack producer, panel moderator, and Oscar-nominated documentarian Nick Redman co-hosted the evening with the gentlemen who run the festival. So it comes as no surprise that the arrivals and after-party were accompanied by Jerry Fielding’s Wild Bunch soundtrack and portions of The Lawman were used as play-on music throughout the presentations.

 

Indeed, there was much attention paid to Mr. Fielding with a special tribute to his contributions to the film and an award presented posthumously and accepted on behalf of the family by his daughter Claudia (presented by Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia co-stars Isela Vega and Donnie Fritts).

 

Next, an award was presented posthumously to director Sam Peckinpah by Ali MacGraw, “the only woman to appear in two Peckinpah movies (The Getaway and Convoy) and survive.” Perhaps that should have been “American woman,” since Senta Berger and Aurora Clavel have both been in multiple films by the auteur filmmaker, but that’s picking nits. Melissa Peckinpah, one of his daughters, accepted on behalf of the family.

 

Then Keith Carradine presented the final award to Wild Bunch star Ernest Borgnine, apparently one of the few performers even nicer and more humble than Keith (they starred together in Emperor of the North, a film that Peckinpah had coveted directing). Ernie told tales of making Wild Bunch and its legacy which none of the collaborators ever anticipated.

 

Joining them on-stage were the surviving members of the film’s stunt team, as well as Peckinpah stock company players and Wild Bunch co-stars L.Q. Jones and Bo Hopkins. L.Q. told an anecdote about William Holden and Bo was his usual, quiet self. I had the pleasure of developing a script for Bo about 15 years ago that never got made but found him to be a soft-spoken and warm collaborator without ego. Others in attendance from the film included star Robert Ryan’s daughter, wardrobe man Gordon Dawson (now best known for writing and producing Walker, Texas Ranger), Peckinpah assistant and now producer Katy Haber, and other members of the supporting cast and crew.

 

The director’s cut of the film, projected digitally in a pristine condition, was warmly greeted by the several thousand in attendance. Every credit in the opening was applauded. Just as the applause was starting to get lukewarm about 2/3rds of the way in, Jerry Fielding’s composer credit came up and the crowd went wild again. It was so nice that his family was there to hear that. A few people even clapped for producer Phil Feldman’s credit (very few).

 

After the film, I went to the after-party and experienced some moments that will stay with me for life in a very small mental folder that includes having attended the memorial at the DGA after Peckinpah’s passing some 25 years ago and standing in the parking lot with Jason Robards, Brian Keith, Craig T. Nelson and some others as an albatross made a deposit over the lot that broke us up in laughter because we all knew we’d been visited upon by Sam’s spirit (but I digress).

 

Last night, I spent some time with Camille Fielding (Jerry’s widow) and their daughter Claudia. We talked some about what his music meant to so many of us, how many of his soundtracks (mostly produced by Nick) lined my shelves, and the contribution his music made to Wild Bunch. Claudia was delighted by the applause his credit got and how strongly people feel about his score to the film as well as his overall legacy. She then introduced me to Melissa Peckinpah. We talked about her father’s legacy as well. I described my having recently taken my daughter who has filmmaking aspirations to see Wild Bunch on the big screen and how the experience had impacted on her recognition of what could be achieved through story and image and editing. Melissa then asked me to tell my daughter to stay true to her vision no matter what. (She has no idea that I melted just then.)

 

Those of you who have met Nick Redman know he’s a true gentleman, a diplomat, with a wry sense of humor. This was my first introduction to him outside of his voice on DVD commentaries or his performances moderating at screenings. He put up with me and that’s the sign of patience. I do terribly in loud, crowded settings because I don’t have the ability to separate out the sounds in my vicinity from those in the surrounding room and therefore have to lean in close and ask people to repeat a lot to stay in the conversation. If Nick’s reading this now, that probably explains a lot about our discussions last night.

 

We talked about the evening, we talked about the future of his Wild Bunch documentary (only a portion of which made it to the most recent DVD due to the high cost of residuals), and we talked about my preferences for Silver Age over Golden Age scores. And I confessed (ducking my head) my preference of James Newton Howard’s King Kong score over Max Steiner’s Kong. He introduced me to Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary, and Bear and I tried to figure out how Burt Bacharach’s Butch Cassidy score beat Jerry’s Wild Bunch out for an Oscar. The age of pop scores had arrived in ’69. Soon, Oscars would be limited, for a time at least, to John Williams, Alan Mencken or any composer that used synthesizers…

 

Anyway, it was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime event and I’m grateful to the producers of the event, to Nick, and to Keith for making it so.