Bob Burns On Board

August 28, 2010, Burbank California:

Bob Burns brandishing one of his many original Steve Canyon treasures in his house-cum-museum in beautiful suburban Burbank last Saturday.

Well it finally happened. We've been talking about it since way back in 2006 and last Saturday my associate Tom Swyden and I finally got together with Bob and Kathy Burns and shot an interview with Bob for inclusion within the documentaries I am working on for Volume 3 of THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV!

Here's a a little peek featuring Bob as well as a promo for the Volume 3 episode "The Bomb":

"Bob Burns On Steve Canyon"

Bob will also be providing audio commentary on that episode as well which should be a lot of fun! I also shot interview footage that afternoon with famed illustrator and cover artist Stephen Hickman, Stephen's brother musician Lance Hickman, and Visual Effects maven Pat McClung, all big Steve Canyon fans, and we're glad to have them on board for Volume 3.

Now the promo for "The Bomb" has a bit of an interesting story. It was actually finished about ten months ago BUT was a casualty of the fatal hard drive crash that I reported at that time. I can tell you that it was really depressing to lose all the work that went into creating it (and other things).

Well when Bob and I were recording his interview I suddenly got an idea how I might resurrect this promo in spite of having lost all of the original files and media. Working from a text file I had saved to another drive (that listed all of the pieces), I was able to recreate it piece by piece by hand using a different formatted version of the episode that we had on another hard drive. It took a while but I am glad to report I feel much better now that it has been restored for your viewing pleasure.

It's interesting that had this not happened it would have gone out last year without Bob Burns mighty presence to give it that extra touch...so it worked out ultimately to everyone's advantage.

"The Bomb" was directed by Walter Grauman and written by John Hawkins, with star Dean Fredericks and series regulars Jerry Paris and Ted de Corsia PLUS guest stars John Anderson, Virginia Christine and Dabbs Greer.

Three boys, a clubhouse, a little red wagon and a live 250 lb. general purpose bomb! (Left to right) Gregory Irvin, Steve Wooten and Ricky Klein in a scene from "The Bomb", which aired Thursday March 12, 1959 on NBC primetime.

Here's another image from "The Bomb", this time a cool stereo 3D image for all you cats with two different colored lenses in your glasses:

3D anaglyph image from "The Bomb", which aired Thursday March 12, 1959 on NBC primetime. Use red/blue 3D glasses to view (with the red lense over your left eye). 3D process by John Ellis.

While we're at it here's another rare image from our files:

Steve Canyon (Dean Fredericks, left) with Dr. Francis Arnold (Barry Atwater) in a composite studio publicity shot from OPERATION MOBY DICK, which aired November 8, 1958 (available on Volume 1). Photo courtesy the family of Dean Fredericks.

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So to wrap this post up, work is proceeding apace on Volume 3 as I get closer to having all of the interviews and commentaries recorded. I will be trying to post more often to keep everyone apprised of the current status and final release date for Volume 3...it IS approaching...relentlessly...resolutely...and we are just as excited about it as you are.

Stay tuned.

John Ellis

Pacoima, California

P.S. Again, I recommend (if you want to stay "in the loop" and you haven't already) that you 1) Subscribe to this (our official website) using the form you find over on the right hand sidebar, so you can keep up with what is going on. 2) We also have a Steve Canyon page on FaceBook that we post to regularly with updates that are "on the fly" or too minor for this blog (our regular website). Much much up to date info there!

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Volume 3 News Update

In Memoriam

Doris Jane Gossett 1940-2010

My sister Doris Gossett (left), my daughter Sara and myself (John Ellis), Thanksgiving 1985, Alexandria, VA. Photo by Cindy Weinstein.

My sister, Doris Gossett, passed away last month at the age of 69, after succumbing to a long term battle with type 1 Diabetes.

I was stunned: I didn't really expect this as she had survived so many "life threatening" health issues over the years (including a simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant, deep staph infection and so many other things). Doris was a bona-fide mathematical genius who was "drafted" by the Naval Research Laboratory while in college in the early 60's and worked with them for her entire adult life.

Understand, please, that there most likely WOULDN'T be a restoration of STEVE CANYON if not for her. Doris not only raised me for a few years when I was very young but also sparked and continued to fan into flame my lifelong interests in the arts and sciences. She always encouraged me to do what interested me (as unlikely as it might seem for a farm kid from Ohio to succeed in these varied fields).

When I was 8 years old she took me up in her Piper Clipper and let me take the controls for a few terrifying yet cool moments I will never forget. When I was 9 she gave me a REAL paleontologist's rig (not a toy) for hunting and preserving fossils (which was one of my passions and still is). When I was 10 she gave me a "chemistry set"...not a "Gilbert" kid's set but many boxes of REAL erlenmeyer & florence flasks (and other pro lab gear), but more importantly a mortar and pestle, which I used for years (especially in my career in motion picture special effects).

She bought me many books on art and aircraft and military subjects and also my first plastic model kit (a midget racer). When she saw my finished build of it, she said "John it's very nice, but you aren't supposed to cut the decals apart and glue them on, you put the decal sheet in water and then they will slide right off and onto the model!". She was always so loving and so darned cool and her passing has affected me profoundly. I miss her dearly.

Doris was a big supporter of my illustration/writing/motion picture work and the Steve Canyon Restoration Project. She urged me to boldly initiate the Steve Canyon Project when others that I knew were warning me against doing it. They said that it was too risky and that I would be disappointed and that it just "wouldn't work out"...well Doris was right and the nay-sayers of doom were wrong, and so I just wanted you all to know just who she was, the part she played in this and how she has affected all of us and our love of The Steve Canyon Television Series.

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Having said all of that (which has been very hard to write), I am sorry to report that I am still behind on the finishing of Volume 3. This is a MAMMOTH undertaking any way you look at it and is a tough task for me all by myself and with so little money that I have to work on additional paying jobs to help to fund this (and to keep a roof overhead and the lights on).

At the urging of many of you I plunged ahead with pre-sales and projected completion dates though I was uncomfortable trying to predict when it would be finished. One factor in all of this is trying to get critical materials that have been promised and recorded interviews that have also been promised...some for YEARS. I'm pleased to say that I finally was able to travel out of state and pick up some 200 images of Dean Fredericks' early life and military career, and to complete my interview with his daughter on camera. I only have a few local interviews to shoot then I will have all the pieces to complete Volume 3 as envisioned.

Exciting New Stuff:

On the upside we have uncovered even more phenomenal documents, photos and individuals during this period which continues to enrich the documentaries for Volume 3.

Dean Fredericks during basic training late 1942.

We now have a number of much needed (and never before seen) images of Dean Fredericks from the war years. We have also uncovered many new STEVE CANYON images along with vital information about the filming of the shows.

During the filming of OPERATION DIPLOMAT at Rogers Dry Lake (near Edwards AFB, CA) during the week of September 17, 1958.

Behind the scenes pictures from STEVE CANYON are rare, but we have managed to pull together quite a few unique and interesting images from several episodes...

Dean Fredericks (left) going over the script with Director Don Taylor during the filming of OPERATION DIPLOMAT at Rogers Dry Lake (near Edwards AFB, CA) during the week of September 17, 1958.

We also have managed to find a number of rare behind the scenes images and production stills from some of Dean's other films...

Dean Fredericks (center) with actor Richard Weber and famed WWII fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (seated) during the filming of THE PHANTOM PLANET (1961). Thanks to Drew Cook for identifying Pappy Boyington!

The most important materials by far...and the things we have been lacking until now, are images from Dean's life prior to becoming an actor in the early 1950's. This has made it hard to work on a documentary about his life, but now (as of this week) due to the kindness of his daughter, we now have many images of his mother and father and his older brother Bud.

Dean Fredericks (right) with his older brother Edward "Bud" Foote when they lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles circa 1932. Bud was a pilot and a member of "Merrill's Marauders", who were like the Rangers and later the Green Beret. Bud was killed in Myitkyina, Burma in July 1944. He received the Bronze Star for bravery and other honors.

We also have images of Dean after the war and between that time and when he began acting. All of this is SO VERY important to the proper telling of the story of Dean Fredericks on Volume 3.

So where do we stand?

I ask you to bear with us and give us a chance to complete Volume 3 the way it NEEDS to be completed. Though I am SERIOUSLY RELUCTANT to promise another finishing date at this point...I really have no choice but to say that I am HOPEFUL to be finished and releasing by the end of summer/beginning of fall of 2010. That's about the end of September/beginning of October. BELIEVE ME, I wish it were sooner but again I am literally going as fast as I can with this without the money, resources and manpower to grease the wheels of progress.

AGAIN, we are NOT a major studio (I work out of my own home), and while I used to be able to work for days on end without sleep, I have discovered that I am physically incapable of doing that any longer at my age. BUT I AM COMMITTED to finishing this project...and those that know me know my tenacity and focus and dedication to each and every project I have ever been involved with. I appreciate your support and patience and good humor, and I can say that The Complete Steve Canyon On TV Volume 3 DVD is coming! and it will be well worth the wait!

John Ellis

Pacoima, California

P.S. Again, I recommend (if you want to stay "in the loop" and you haven't already) that you 1) Subscribe to this (our official website) using the form you find over on the right hand sidebar, so you can keep up with what is going on. 2) We also have a Steve Canyon page on FaceBook that we post to regularly with updates that are "on the fly" or too minor for this blog (our regular website). Much much up to date info there!

P.P.S. Thanks to Tom Swyden, Laura Lozano and Rick Slugoski for their support above and beyond the call of duty of late on this project. Thanks also to the steadfast support of Harry and Yo, without whom Col. Canyon would still be sitting in the dark...

Happy Independence Day!

Big Thunder Bulletin: Brewer Brothers Model Kit Expo

Just a quick bulletin from the Big Thunder Control Tower this time...

Abel Fernandez and I (John Ellis) will be appearing at the Brewer Brothers Model Kit Expo tomorrow (Sunday June 13th, 2010) at:

The Old World Village

German Hall & Restaurant

7561 Center ave. #49

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Admission $5 (free for 12 & under)...open to the public from 9am to 3pm...Rare & hard to find model kits, Military ephemera and lots more!

I'll be there all day (from 9am to 3pm) and Abel will be there from approx 11am on. Come on by and meet us and get an autograph from Abel and find out the latest on Vol 3...and OTHER news...see you there!

Here's Abel Fernandez in the Steve Canyon episode THE FIGHT. Abel also co-starred (as Agent William Youngfellow) with Robert Stack in THE UNTOUCHABLES for 5 years from 1959 to 1963!

Dean Hess & Steve Canyon

Happy Memorial Day!

Colonel Dean Hess, USAF
I think it fitting on this Memorial day to FINALLY be getting to the long promised post on Korean War icon and hero Dean Hess.

Dean Hess taken in his home on March 14, 2009.
On March 14th of 2009 I had the pleasure to sit down with Dean Hess in his home and reminisce with him on his involvement with the Steve Canyon TV series.

From left, author James H. Farmer, Dean Hess and John Ellis. Photo by Calane Farmer, March 14, 2009.
My friend James Farmer (and associates Chuck Carson and Michael McMaster) had invited me to tag along with them that day to their taping of interviews at the Air Force Museum for their documentary "By Faith I Fly", the story of Dean Hess. I had never been to the Air Force Museum and spent about as much time wandering in amazement as I did watching them shoot their footage of Col. Hess, Sgt. Joe von Rembow, Col. Mike Bellovin and Col. Ernest Craigwell (whom I had shared breakfast with that morning and had listened to his USAF tales with great interest). I was then invited to join them at Dean Hess' home for lunch and further interviews to be recorded there.

During lunch, one of Col. Hess' sons noticed my Steve Canyon cap and said to me "You know pops knew Dean Fredericks" and told me to ask his father about it. So I sat down between Jim Farmer and Col. Hess and asked him how he knew Dean Fredericks, and Hess said "Well I was the USAF Official Liaison to the Steve Canyon television series" and I suspect I looked like Jim Farmer did when I looked back at him...his mouth was hanging open! We had no idea! This was both serendipity and an amazing revelation! Who knew what secrets were held in Col. Hess' memories? While I continued to interrupt Dean Hess' lunch with questions, Jim Farmer went over and talked to his associates (Mike and Chuck).

Poster for the 1957 Universal International motion picture about Col. Dean Hess. (Universal International studios is also the place where Steve Canyon was made)
Jim returned and said to us that once they had finished taping his interviews with Hess and the others that (if Hess is willing) they would be glad to shoot an interview for our Steve Canyon documentary. Col. Hess agreed wholeheartedly and what follows is an excerpt of our talk that day:

Dean Hess interview excerpts
More of this interview appears in our documentary "Steve Canyon On TV" in the 3rd and final DVD of THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Coming in late June 2010 (at the earliest). We're sorry it is taking so long to finish, but as we've explained we do not have the resources of a huge studio behind us and are doing our best to make this as great and special as we can. Pre-orders and ordering our other products helps us tremendously...and helping spread the word to others does too. Thanks to everyone for their kindness and support and for sticking along with us in the co-pilot's seat!

I want to thank everyone that was involved that day for their assistance in making this meeting and interview with Dean Hess an enjoyable and enriching experience. Special thanks to Ron Kaplan and the National Aviation Hall Of Fame for helping to make this possible. Here's the official trailer for "By Faith I Fly", the documentary on Dean Hess by James H. Farmer, Michael McMaster, Chuck Carson and their Up In The Air Pictures :

Official trailer for "By Faith I Fly", the story of Dean Hess
Coming up more snippets and tidbits, clips, tips and news about THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 3...and even a few OTHER PROJECTS that are coming down the runway...! So stay tuned.

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THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV VOLUME 3!

RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! ADVANCE ORDER VOLUME 3 NOW FOR ONLY $19.95 PER DVD WITH SHIPPING AND HANDLING INCLUDED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!

This is a limited time offer and it includes worldwide shipping and handling!

Click button below to Pre-Order this DVD.
NOTE that you DO NOT need a PayPal account to purchase this item, there is an option to pay with any major credit card!

This DVD will be released and shipped to all pre-order purchasers approximately (at the earliest) late summer, 2010 via US Postal Service First Class mail or Global First Class Mail (for Non-US customers).

REMEMBER this DVD will ONLY be available directly from us (for the time being)...so reserve your copy TODAY!

By purchasing this and/or other items from this site you are helping us to get the COMPLETE Steve Canyon TV series out on DVD and we thank you for your support.

(NOTE that you must pre-order Volume 3 separately from any other items that we offer here...we apologise for the inconvenience but it is necessary for us to do it this way at this time)

Sorry, All Volume #3 Pre-Orders 

NOW CLOSED until the official release at the end of 2014.

(Order button will return at that time)

(NOTE: that if you are viewing this in an email you'll have to visit our website at http://stevecanyondvd.blogspot.com for this button to work properly)

Email us at Ye Olde Caniff/Canyon Shoppe if you have any questions, comments, or are in need of any assistance. Thanks again for remembering Milton and for making this project possible.

Updates from the Runup Pad...

Volume 3 News and More:

Tick, tock, tick, tock...

As many of you already know The Complete Steve Canyon on TV Volume 3 is going to be late. I am very sorry to say that it will be delayed until at least late May and possibly into June. The reasons for this are many and varied.

Due to a number of factors...not the least of which is the fact that we recently lost some of the critical computer files we have been working on for this volume for MONTHS. Before you advise "backup everything" we also lost our backup drive in the same accident. I have been scrambling to get caught back up but there is just too much (and too little money) to make this deadline.

Pre-orders for Vol 3 have been a tiny fraction of what they were for the other two volumes...and we realize it is mainly the result of our current poor economy...but the upshot is that we are trying to make each dollar count for far more result than is reasonable. We WILL make it and get Vol 3 out...just not quite as soon as we had hoped for.

I want to stress that the quality of the release is what is most important to us and we will not rush just to meet an arbitrary deadline. We are a very VERY small operation and I pretty much do everything here, and am going as fast as I possibly can to prepare all of the materials we are all looking forward to seeing to wrap up the series on DVD.

Exciting New Stuff:

On the upside we have uncovered even more phenomenal information, photos and individuals during this period which continues to enrich the documentaries for Volume 3. One such individual (whom we have recorded a preliminary interview with) is Lt. Col. Russ Rickard, USAF (Ret.) who while stationed at George AFB in the late 1950's flew the F-102 for the Steve Canyon TV series. We're glad to welcome Colonel Rickard (and his son David who put us in touch with his father.

Lt. Col. Russ Rickard in front of his F-102 (as a self professed "young Lieutenant") while with the 94th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at California's George AFB. The Colonel told us about flying the plane for the Steve Canyon title sequence (and how it was filmed)...along with other sequences and pilots, as well as flying for the classic Disney feature "The Absent Minded Professor" and other interesting tidbits. Photo courtesy David Rickard.

I suggest (if you haven't already) that you subscribe to this (our official website) using the form you find over on the right hand sidebar, so you can keep up with what is going on. We also have a Steve Canyon page on FaceBook that we post to regularly with updates that are too small for our regular website.

Thanks to everyone we have heard from for your kindness and words of encouragement and I hope that you and those that have pre-ordered Volume 3 can be patient just a bit longer. Many of you that have written are EXACTLY who I thought of when I decided to tackle this most daunting project 4 years ago...and I am looking forward to your comments on the completion of this quest.

Again I apologize for our delay.

Conventions:

A snap from the Valley Con modelmaking convention from March 7th, 2010. From left, Abel Fernandez (Steve Canyon's "Sgt. Featherstone"), John Ellis (that's me), Jim Busby (Aerospace Legacy Foundation) and Russ Maharas (of the USAF Hollywood Liason Office). A great time was had by all! Abel especially enjoyed signing autographs and meeting and talking with a lot of fans at that show.

Tomorrow (Sunday March 21st) I will be at the Kit Collectors Exposition and Sale in Buena Park, CA to meet and greet and answer questions and will be showing clips from upcoming Volume 3. Click here and here for more info.

Joining me will be Aviation Film Historian James H. Farmer (who has provided commentary on numerous Steve Canyon Episodes on our DVD sets). 9am to 3pm, $5 admission (children under 12 with accompanying adult FREE). I'll be sporting my black Steve Canyon cap! Hope to see you there!

More info coming up...and I swear we'll get to the piece on Dean Hess...and sorry it just keeps getting pushed back. Stay tuned...

Valley Con 2010 - Model Contest and Swap Meet

Quick Note Dept: ABEL FERNANDEZ and I (John Ellis) will be attending this event in Pasadena, CA this Sunday (tomorrow) March 7th...a chance for local folks to meet Abel and get an autograph...and see some some clips from episodes and MORE coming in Volume 3! Also RUSS MAHERAS of the USAF Hollywood Liaison Office will also be joining us...come join the fun (it's $5 for all day and it opens to the public at 9am).

Here's Abel Fernandez in the Steve Canyon Episode THE FIGHT. Abel also co-starred (as Agent William Youngfellow) with Robert Stack in THE UNTOUCHABLES for 5 years from 1959 to 1963!

Click here and here for more information.

Date: Sunday, 03/07/10 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Open To The Public

VALLEY CON 2010 presented by the Pasadena Modelers Society See hundreds of models, including airplanes, cars, motorcycles, military vehicles and much more. Enjoy contests and 40 vendors selling sought-after models.

9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; $5 admission

Pasadena Convention Center 300 East Green Street Pasadena, CA 91101-2308 (626) 795-9311

See you there!

Robert Francis Hoy - 1927-2010

Bob Hoy as Master Sergeant Pete Berger in Steve Canyon

Two weeks ago today, on Monday February 8, 2010 our dear friend and Steve Canyon cast member Bobby Hoy left us. He was claimed by pneumonia caused by a 6 month struggle with cancer. It was a bit of a surprise to me, even though he had been in and out of the hospital recently, he was such a tough guy! Ex Marine, stuntman and actor, director and founding member of the Stuntmen's Association of Motion Pictures to name a few of the things Bobby was.

Bobby's Golden Boot Award. (Photo by Ginny Shook).

He was a friend to many, some famous, some not. He treated me like he had known me for years when we met and I loved him for that. He wasn't afraid to make fun of himself or those around him which was also very endearing. He was so well loved by his peers that although they stopped giving out THE GOLDEN BOOT AWARD in 2007 (for significant contributions to the western film and tv genre) they gave Bobby the award in the hospital on January 28 which pleased him immensely.

Ken Lynch (as Sgt. Maconochie on left) and Bob Hoy in OPERATION BIG THUNDER. Bobby was terrific in "Steve Canyon". He said on several occasions that the series "gave a lot of opportunities to everyone that worked on (or in) them", a sentiment shared by (casting director) Gene Reynolds and Abel Fernandez.

"I played in STAR TREK with Leonard Nimoy. I played a rock!". Bob revealed (with his typical tongue in cheek humor) that he had played the Horta (in tandem with the creator of same, stuntman and good friend Janos Prohaska), one of the most famous creatures ever in that classic tv series. He was also cast in that same episode as the "pergium" miner and tunnel guard "Sam", the first person you see and hear in that episode (titled THE DEVIL IN THE DARK). This is arguably the best episode of the series to many, including star William Shatner, so it is fitting that Bobby was an integral part of it!

Bob Hoy middle right in the classic Star Trek episode THE DEVIL IN THE DARK as "Sam". Yes that's a familiar face standing in front of him, Ken Lynch (see previous image above).

"The casting director for Steve Canyon called me into his office. It was Gene Reynolds who would become a famous director and co-creator of both the "M*A*S*H" and "Lou Grant" tv series', Gene told me that he was hiring me as a regular for the series, and to just show up on set. I asked him why no audition, and he said he had no doubt I could do this, and if (Executive Producer) Mike Meshekoff threw a script at me and asked for an audition, to throw it back in his face and say "Gene hired me!". "

Previously unpublished pic of me pointing at Bobby and being flanked by Abel Fernandez, taken right after our second commentary recording session for Steve Canyon Volume 2 on Friday March 20, 2009.

That was the first time we gathered (with Steve Canyon co-star Abel Fernandez), at the office here to record commentary tracks on Thursday March 5th, 2009. We finished the commentaries on Friday March 20th. Both times I had coffee and doughnuts waiting, which we all enjoyed. I'm just saying that's the way it's done, you know? If you listen to the commentaries they did for Volume 2, you can use the following picture to visualize the fun we were having here:

Bob and Abel on the couch here in the office. Note the box of doughnuts between them that Abel has his elbow on...no doubt guarding zealously!

Bob had a great time with us, so much in fact that he stayed and provided commentary with Abel on an episode he wasn't even in, OPERATION SOUVENIR. Once during the recording he asked Abel (tongue in cheek) "You were in the military?" knowing full well that Abel was a paratrooper in WWII, and when Abel replied with a puzzled "Yeah?", Bob added "Which side?".

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Well, If you want to read more about this great man, brilliant stuntman, excellent actor and director who made our world a more fun and greater place, go to Bob Hoy on the Internet Movie Data Base. There are excellent tributes at The LA Times, and also at The Signal. Note also Bobby's website at BobHoy.com, which is maintained by the wonderful Ginny Shook, who put us in touch with him in the first place. Our sympathies go out to Kiva Hoy, Bob's devoted and loving wife of 22 years, and to Bob's son Christopher.

So long Bobby, you were a good troop.

A Hero By George!

I'm going to skip the Dean Hess post just one more time here to tell about something fabulous that just happened. First of all, this man is a hero:

(click images for larger view)

Actor, hero and friend George Stover

Now George may not look like Steve Canyon (i.e. "the hero type") but he really is and I'm going to tell you why: You wouldn't be reading this blog nor seeing any of these Steve Canyon episodes if it weren't for George. Back in the 1990's my pal George kindly introduced me to the Steve Canyon TV series (by way of the pilot film OPERATION TOWLINE).

For some reason the show just rolled around in the back of my subconscious until 2005. That's when I became intrigued (obsessed perhaps) with the lack of information available on the series and thus began my winding flight-path to where we are now with the recovery, restoration and release of the series on DVD.

ANYWAY, George recently found and sent to me his copy of the pilot film, which is the ONLY existing decent quality copy we know of that has (among other things) this:

Here's an actual frame from Milton Caniff's introduction to the Steve Canyon Pilot Film.

It's a minute and a half intro by the man himself, Milton Caniff, that was filmed in the summer of 1958 and attached to a few 16mm prints of the pilot that were screened at Air Force Bases around the world. It is very rare, and it replaces the low quality copy we have used to screen at Comic-Con, Reel Fest and other places! Even Milton Caniff's personal copy of the unaired version in our archive doesn't have these materials! But now we have it for inclusion in Volume 3, and it's all thanks to George!

Another frame from the "Stover" Steve Canyon pilot film

AND like I said, none of this would have likely happened and we probably wouldn't be enjoying ol' Col. Steve if George hadn't been so kind to me way back when. So let's raise a big mug of Ovaltine to George who has impacted all of us so generously today and yesterday. Thanks George! Note that George has appeared in MANY movies, including two of mine (INVADER and TWILIGHT OF THE DOGS) and several of John Waters' films. Click here to visit George's Internet Movie Database page for his full list of credits, and here to find his Facebook page.

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For a clip this time, here's one of the more popular Chesterfield Commercials from 1958:

Titled TEST PILOT, this commercial was produced by the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company (L&M) specifically for airing during the Steve Canyon series. Great planes in this one! This commercial can be found during the first commercial break of OPERATION JETTISON on THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 1.

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Ok, to wrap things up...so we REALLY REALLY PROMISE...next time on the runup pad is Col. Dean Hess, who besides being a Korean War hero, and the subject of the 1957 feature film BATTLE HYMN (see below), was the USAF Official Liaison to the Steve Canyon TV series!

Poster for the 1957 Universal International motion picture about Col. Dean Hess. (Universal International studios is also the place where Steve Canyon was made)

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Please help us lift off with Volume 3 ... advance pre-order yours today! (scroll down)

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Please Click the button below to pre-order THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON VOLUME 3 NOW!
ONLY $19.95 POSTAGE-PAID WORLDWIDE

THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV VOLUME 3!

RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! ADVANCE ORDER VOLUME 3 NOW FOR ONLY $19.95 PER DVD WITH SHIPPING AND HANDLING INCLUDED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!

This is a limited time offer and it includes worldwide shipping and handling!

Click button below to Pre-Order this DVD.

NOTE that you DO NOT need a PayPal account to purchase this item, there is an option to pay with any major credit card!

This DVD will be released and shipped to all pre-order purchasers approximately late summer, 2010 via US Postal Service First Class mail or Global First Class Mail (for Non-US customers).

REMEMBER this DVD will ONLY be available directly from us (for the time being)...so reserve your copy TODAY!

By purchasing this and/or other items from this site you are helping us to get the COMPLETE Steve Canyon TV series out on DVD and we thank you for your support.

(NOTE that you must pre-order Volume 3 separately from any other items that we offer here...we apologise for the inconvenience but it is necessary for us to do it this way at this time)

(Pre-order button removed)

(NOTE: that if you are viewing this in an email you'll have to visit our website at http://stevecanyondvd.blogspot.com for this button to work properly)

Email us at Ye Olde Caniff/Canyon Shoppe if you have any questions, comments, or are in need of any assistance. Thanks again for remembering Milton and for making this project possible.