Memorial Day 2012

In Memoriam

Col. Robert Malcolm Elliot

11/8/1929 - 2/14/1968

Photo of Robert "Wild Bill" Elliot from The Graham AFB Class 55-I Yearbook

Photo restored and courtesy of Dave Rickard

Just over 44 years ago, Captain Robert M. Elliot, was assigned to the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Korat Airbase in southern Thailand. He was due to come home after flying his 100th mission by the end of March 1968. But on the morning of Valentine's Day, February 14, 1968, his wife Billie awoke that morning in Hampton Roads, Virginia with the oddest feeling that her husband, Robert, had come to see her, to tell her he was gone. Her daughter, Julie, was crying, having felt it, too.

Halfway around the world that same day, Capt. Elliot's F-105D Thunderchief was number two in a flight of four. They were to make successive runs on their target near Hanoi. As Elliot was pulling off the target during one of his planned runs, his aircraft was struck by a surface to air missile. He radioed that he was hit, but the rest of the flight did not see any parachute or hear emergency beeper signals indicating that he was able to eject from the aircraft. Elliot was declared Missing in Action, and was posthumously promoted to the rank of Colonel.

His wife and family fought and lobbied hard with the Pentagon for years to find him or his remains and put their fears to rest. Fears that they were wrong and he might be wounded and tortured in a POW camp.

Finally in December 1999, The Pentagon announced that using DNA analysis and dental records, the Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii said that remains taken from a Vietnamese grave near the crash site are those of Air Force Colonel Robert M. Elliot.

Colonel Elliot's headstone in the Missing In Action section of Arlington National Cemetery was buried with him in new plot in the cemetery, Section 66, Grave 5652, on April 21, 2000. 

Rest in piece Col. Elliot, we honor you in remembrance this day, for giving the ultimate sacrifice for your country.

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In interviewing Lt. Colonel Russ Rickard, USAF (Ret.), who flew the F-102 Delta Dagger seen in the amazing beginning credits of every Steve Canyon Episode, he told me of another pilot he knew, at the time in 1958 who was also a young lieutenant flying "Deuces" out of George AFB in Victorville California. They had both flown F-102's for the Disney feature THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (1961) and other Hollywood efforts and had become good friends. Lt. Colonel Rickard went on to describe the spectacular long fast climb up up up from the George AFB runway seen during the end credits of every Steve Canyon episode. He told me that wasn't him flying the Deuce, that was his friend, a helluva pilot, and his name was Colonel Robert "Wild Bill" Elliot.

Here's the end credits from the much anticipated Steve Canyon episode "Operation Intercept" with Col. Elliot's stratospheric climb...and featuring a double-whammy of the repeated opening sequence at the very end featuring the flying skills of Col. Russ Rickard!

MORE on Colonel Elliot and Lt. Colonel Rickard in Volume 3 of THE COMPLETE STEVE CANYON ON TV, which is days away from going to the factory for manufacture. Stay tuned within the next several weeks for some big announcements!!

John Ellis
Hollywood, California

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To read more about The Complete Steve Canyon On TV Volume 3, click here and here (and also check earlier posts elsewhere on our blog).

NOTE that even though domestic and overseas shipping rates have gone up AGAIN recently, we are going to keep the $19.95 (postage-paid) price for the time being. I am certain however that we will have to change pricing for all of our DVDs following the release of Volume 3.

ALSO NOTE that only those that Pre-Order Volume 3 will get the special three volume slipcase (mailed in the same package) for free (as our gift to those who have supported us by pre-ordering)...once we release Volume 3 you will have to order ALL THREE VOLUMES of Steve Canyon as a box-set (which comes in the slipcase)!

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SUPPORT our effort 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 shipped to all pre-order purchasers when it is released (currently early summer 2012) 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 removed - Pre-Orders Expired

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.

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89038818/ http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/89038818/

The Latest...

Just a quick update to let everyone know that I expect to wrap up the last few things remaining to be done and then submit the master disks to the factory before the end of this month. Then it should be manufactured and ready to ship within a week or two. Fingers crossed.

STOP THE PRESSES! Dean Fredericks as Col. Steve Canyon is reporting the good news in this post to the Big Thunder Air Force Base Newspaper! He and Airman Featherstone are ordering extra copies of all the DVDs to help support the effort!

REMEMBER that the only way to get the full-series slipcase is to pre-order Volume 3...once it is released the slipcase will only be available if you buy all three volumes together as a set...AND we are raising the prices on all of the DVDs when Volume 3 is released. You have been warned...

...AND here's a picture I forgot to share from last December...

By the way, here is Apollo The Dog on sentry duty in our driveway guarding all of the Volume 3 shipping materials when they arrived last December...12 big boxes (delivered to us on a freight pallet by truck) that have been waiting since then to safely carry all the DVDs and slipcases to all of those shrewd enough to have pre-ordered.

Yeah that's me trundling down the driveway to tip the driver of the truck.

Hey, here's a brand new promo below for the very last episode ever filmed, SABOTAGE! 

ENJOY this NEW CLIP from the 1st episode on Disc #2 of Volume 3, "SABOTAGE"!

Director Walter Grauman said that guest star Frank Maxwell complained that Dean Fredericks kept looking at the top of his head (instead of making eye contact)...well...when you look at them standing side by side you can see why: he (and James Drury) towered over Maxwell. Here's another frame from the episode, you be the judge:

Unknown performer standing far left, Robert Sampson as Sgt. Walsh (sitting), Dean Fredericks as Col. Steve Canyon middle, James Drury as Lt. Muller behind Canyon, and Frank Maxwell on right as Major Barr. in the Big Thunder control tower in the 34th filmed episode of Steve Canyon, "SABOTAGE", directed by Walter Grauman.

Here's a nice frame with "Century Series" goodness right out of that same episode:

F-100 about to take off in the Steve Canyon episode "SABOTAGE". Those F-100's are BEAUTIFUL planes aren't they? Lots of F-100 action in this final show of the series! The episode was directed by Walter Grauman.

Again, Harry and I want to thank you all for your patience and unflagging support. Note that once Volume 3 is out, I will be posting probably on a near-daily basis here, with tidbits and trivia and thousands of pictures! And contests, with chances to win scripts and other items that were used for the series. We have so much stuff it's kinda unbelievable...but true.

###

SUPPORT our effort 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 shipped to all pre-order purchasers when it is released (currently early summer 2012) 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)

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.

Our Latest V3 Update!

First, everything is fine, the slipcases are here and ready to go out with the Volume 3 DVDs (when the DVDs are ready...and they will be ready VERY soon). This is what's going on:

Just so everyone understands, the slipcases are a GIFT from me to everyone who has kindly pre-ordered V3 and have been waiting patiently. They cost over $2000.00 to have made. They are being shipped with V3 because to send them separately it would cost at least another $1200.00 MINIMUM! The only way to get the slipcase is with the V3 pre-order. On the date I release V3, the only way to get it will be to order the box set. I sent out a handful of the slipcases "for review", and I am both relieved and appreciative of all the wonderful responses.

Also note that I am being forced to raise the prices of all volumes on that day, because the shipping costs have gone up a number of times since we started and we can no longer absorb those costs.

Dean Fredericks as Col. Steve Canyon on left, Jerry Paris as Major "Willie" Williston (hangin upside down in the inverted cockpit of an F-104), Bert Freed as Captain Dunn (face hidden) and director Walter Grauman on right, during on-set rehearsal for the 31st Steve Canyon episode, "THE TRAP", photographed during the week of February 18, 1959.

Please understand that the reason we started offering V3 as a pre-order was because we were pressured by many fans to do so...it was against my better judgement, but I thought "how long could it take?".

Skip ahead to late last year, again due to pressure to release it "in time for Christmas" and again flying in the face of my better judgement, I committed to a December release date. It wasn't quite done to my satisfaction (i.e. the bonus materials) but I was exhausted from the long push to satisfy everyone and said "done is good" and thought that would be it.

We've been lucky with many aspects of the overall project, but we must have a guardian angel, as when the quality control issue came up, it actually saved V3 from total ruin. I hadn't had time to carefully check every aspect of the discs and packaging, but when I started going over them, it turned out there were more flaws than I could believe! Had it been manufactured that way we wouldn't have had the funds to redo the whole thing and that would have been disastrous!

Barbara Beaird returns as Lisa Karolyi in the 25th filmed episode of Steve Canyon, "IRON CURTAIN". This dark cold war story is part of the later episodes trend to be more like Milton Caniff's wildly popular Steve Canyon newspaper comic strip. View new promo video clip below!

I have finished the work on Disc #1 but am still working on Disc #2, which is close to being finished. I have spent every waking hour I could over the last three months going over every aspect of the discs and artwork, and making necessary technical corrections and updating a quite few things that I found that I just could not live with. I would have probably been done by now except that another hard drive died three weeks ago (even though it was only 6 months old!)...it took a week to get a replacement from Western Digital (thankfully under warranty) and nearly another week to get the software re-installed and the computer up and running properly again. There are additional technical aspects to this but that's for another discussion. The truth is we have had a number of challenges, computer issues and other. A number of people have reneged on promises to be interviewed for V3...I've held out hope even as late as last week for several of them (to be inserted into the documentaries) but they either cancelled at the last minute or did not respond. The interviews we have are great, but not all the ones I had originally hoped for will be included, and I doubt anyone will notice or care but me.

ENJOY this NEW CLIP from the 1st episode on Disc #1 of Volume 3, "IRON CURTAIN"!

I realize this is taking longer than anyone would like (especially me), but completing it PROPERLY has been my primary intention. I get really tired of having the promises I make get broken because of circumstance, but I know the product will be correct when it is finally ready. I understand that some of you are used to dealing with people that are quitters, that don't follow through, or keep their promises, or are just plain crooked. I get that. But that's not me. I started this project over 6 years ago and the only reason it's not a done deal quite yet is because of the STAGGERING amount of detailed work involved...especially for essentially ONE person! The necessity to make ALL the right decisions can be overwhelming for one person alone, especially when that one is as dedicated and passionate about the project as I am. I care so much about giving you what I know you deserve that I tend to put tremendous pressure on myself. The hours and the days just seem to sail by as I am immersed in providing the product I intended. I just have to be able to live with the finished product, period. I am NOT a perfectionist, but I have a responsibility to honor the people that poured their hearts into this series... and also to you, to deliver a worthwhile and proper product that you can enjoy.

Dean Fredericks as Col. Steve Canyon on left, Ross Martin as visiting dignitary Aly Brahma (middle) and Jerry Paris as Major "Willie" Williston on right, during an uncharacteristic quiet moment in the otherwise tension filled 27th filmed episode of Steve Canyon, "ROOM 313", directed by Lamont Johnson.

Updates have been sparse, I know...I detest having to explain, because to me it just sounds like all the other noise and excuses and whining and rubbish we hear in the news every day. Also, I am torn between taking time to provide updates, or work on completing the project. I also am going to resist predicting an actual date...I have been holding out to be able to just say "we made it"...but again we are very very close at this point and I can't wait to make the announcement. THERE WILL BE BOTH A MAJOR POST HERE AS WELL AS A CUSTOM EMAIL ONCE VOLUME 3 IS READY, COUNT ON THAT!

So if you're upset because you really want Volume 3 in your hands, please know it will happen very soon, and it will be great, and please allow me to use my time to give you what you want, what you deserve, what I promised, and which has always been a definite. I am always doing the best I can, and my partner says that my best is always excellent.

Ron Ely as Airman Pete Randall on left,Dean Fredericks (middle) as Col. Steve Canyon, and Claude Akins as Sergeant Brecker on right, between punches in the 32nd filmed episode of Steve Canyon, "THE SERGEANT". The episode was directed by Walter Grauman, and the fights choreographed by Abel Fernandez who plays Airman Featherstone in the series.

Also, thank you, all of you who have written to me and said for me to not worry, because you realize that if it weren't for me, you would never have seen this show again. I love the way I feel when I watch Steve Canyon, and I love being able to share that with those like you who appreciate this show as I do.

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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 shipped to all pre-order purchasers when it is released (currently early spring 2012) 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.