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.

###

Pre-order Steve Canyon Volume 3 (below) today!

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 (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.

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.

###

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.

###

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)

###

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

###

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.

More Volume 3 News From The Flight Line!

This past Sunday (January 10th) was an amazing day. Arthur Marks, director of 3 excellent Steve Canyon episodes from 1959 (among other things) invited myself, videographer Laura Lozano and TV archivist Peter Greenwood into his home to record his memories of working on the series.

(click images for larger view)

That's Arthur Marks in the foreground and me (John Ellis) in the background, sporting our flashy Steve Canyon accouterments!

We talked about many aspects of his work on the series for nearly an hour, which included details about his work on Perry Mason, I Spy and other leading edge TV series that he directed episodes of over the years. Portions of this interview will be included in THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 3 this coming spring. The full interview will eventually be available online.

Here's an actual frame from the interview of Arthur displaying his bound copy of his Steve Canyon teleplays.

During the interview I asked Mr. Marks if he had kept any memorabilia from the series, and he produced a bound volume containing the scripts for his 3 episodes that he directed for STEVE CANYON in 1959!

Here's a closer view of the gold leaf embossed leather cover to his bound volume of scripts. Arthur had all of his scripts bound this way over the years for his office library.

Following our video interview we recorded audio commentary for all three of his Steve Canyon episodes...marvelous facts and details emerged that we are sure that fans of the series will certainly enjoy as bonus materials on THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 3.

Here's a sample of the commentary track for THE MULLER STORY:

Note this brief clip features James Griffith, George Macready, James Drury & Dean Fredericks.

Here's a longer promo for another Arthur Marks STEVE CANYON episode, titled THE KOREAN STORY:

This clip features Wynn Pearce and Dean Fredericks.

And finally here is a previously posted promo clip from Arthur Marks 3rd directed STEVE CANYON episode (and arguably the most popular show of the series) OPERATION INTERCEPT:

Clip features Dean Fredericks, Jeanne Tatum, Jerry Paris and Ingrid Goude.

Thanks to Arthur and Phyllis Marks for their wonderful hospitality, and for taking the time to share some memories with us. And special thanks to Peter Greenwood for setting this up for us and making this a reality!

That's all for now...more news and clips coming right up! Next on the flight line is Dean Hess, who besides being a Korean War hero was the USAF Official Liaison to the Steve Canyon TV series!

###

Please help us keep on keepin' on ... advance pre-order yours today! (scroll down)

###

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 the week of December 5, 2011 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)

(button)

Click button above to pre-order

(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.

Stop The Presses! Volume #3 News!

This past Sunday (January 10th) was an amazing day. Arthur Marks, director of 3 excellent Steve Canyon episodes from 1959 (among other things) invited myself, videographer Laura Lozano and TV archivist Peter Greenwood into his home to record his memories of working on the series.

(click images for larger view)

That's Arthur Marks in the foreground and me (John Ellis) in the background, sporting our flashy Steve Canyon accouterments!

We talked about many aspects of his work on the series for nearly an hour, which included details about his work on Perry Mason, I Spy and other leading edge TV series that he directed episodes of over the years. Portions of this interview will be included in THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 3 this coming spring. The full interview will eventually be available online.

Here's an actual frame from the interview of Arthur displaying his bound copy of his Steve Canyon teleplays.

During the interview I asked Mr. Marks if he had kept any memorabilia from the series, and he produced a bound volume containing the scripts for his 3 episodes that he directed for STEVE CANYON in 1959!

Here's a closer view of the gold leaf embossed leather cover to his bound volume of scripts. Arthur had all of his scripts bound this way over the years for his office library.

Following our video interview we recorded audio commentary for all three of his Steve Canyon episodes...marvelous facts and details emerged that we are sure that fans of the series will certainly enjoy as bonus materials on THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV Volume 3.

Wowsers

So now the wait is over... you can advance pre-order yours today! (scroll down)

###

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 the week of December 5, 2011 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 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.

ReelStuff Redux

(click on image for larger version)

Here's fearless leader John Ellis at the REELSTUFF film festival in Dayton Ohio last Thursday, March 12th...just hours before our special presentation of the Steve Canyon standout episode OPERATION INTERCEPT. John also delighted the audience by "interviewing" Steve Canyon creator Milton Caniff interactively on stage by utilizing a promotional film Milton recorded in 1963. More on this later.

I'm back from the whirlwind Dayton excursion which will have some surprising benefits to Steve Canyon TV fans. We met two people at Reelstuff that will have an impact on the upcoming Volume 3. Suprisingly, it was revealed that famed Korean War flier Dean Hess was the USAF Hollywood Liaison Officer to our TV series, and we were able to shoot a brief interview with him for our Volume 3 documentary. Then our second new friend Marc Malis, Vice President of Television Casting at Universal Studios for many years, who is helping us to try and find some production materials from Steve Canyon that have so far eluded us.

I want to mention that I had a GREAT time meeting all of the fans that showed up, and it was a lot of fun having a chance to chat about the series. Ron Kaplan and the crew at NAHF are to be commended on putting on such a class-act of a show, and I appreciate and am honored to have been asked to participate. Hopefully we can be a part of next year's ReelStuff as well!

On Wednesday of last week my hometown newspaper, the Wilmington Ohio News Journal did a nice little front-page(!) article on me (and ReelStuff) that some of you might enjoy, you can find it here.

###

Note that though Volume 2 is a bit late in being released it IS COMING and hopefully before the end of this month...and it is (in our humble opinion) really terrific! Please understand that there is a huge amount of work involved and we are unfortunately understaffed and underfunded...but hey, we are doing the very best we can to make this worth the wait.

We recently recorded OUTSTANDING commentary tracks with Aviation Historian James H. Farmer and Star Wars alumni Peter Kuran, also actors Sylvia Lewis and Richard Anderson. We are also about to finish recording the remaining two (of four) commentaries with Abel Fernandez and Robert Hoy together for the episodes they both appeared in, and commentary with artist and entertainment historian Brad Ulvila...and more!

Please reserve your copy of Volume 2 today! It's coming (right around the corner now) and we need as many pre-orders (as well as sales of the Special Edition DVD, caps, and Volume 1) in order to help us to bring you the remaining two volumes.

###

Click the button below to pre-order THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON VOLUME 2 NOW!

ONLY $19.95 POSTAGE-PAID WORLDWIDE

THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV VOLUME 2!

RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! ADVANCE ORDER VOLUME 2 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!

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 on May 15, 2009 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.

(Now with NEW consolidated shopping cart!)

BUTTON

Click button above to pre-order

(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.