Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
HOLLYWOOD Q&A
Q: In the opening credits of “Gunsmoke,” Matt faces a guy in a gunfight. Who’s the guy and what’s his background?
A: A good TV show intro quickly tells you what you need to know about the main character or characters and the world they inhabit.
And “Gunsmoke’s” intro, which remained largely unchanged (with a few small exceptions) over its legendary 20 years on TV, is indeed a good one.
It shows Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness, “The Thing From Another World,” 1951) having a gun duel with a generic bad guy and still standing at the end. Viewers quickly get the message that Matt leads a dangerous life, surviving by the speed of his gun hand — that’s what they need to know about Matt going in.
And it seems to say that we don’t need to know much about his opponent, who is only seen in the distance and whose face we can’t make out. Dressed in a dark hat, vest and pants, he is a representation of all the bad guys Matt has to face on a daily basis.
That’s all we need to know about the character, but two of the actors who played him had a bigger impact on the show.
For the first nine seasons, the bad guy was played by Arvo Ojala, a Hollywood gunplay consultant who helped teach series star Arness himself how to shoot. His expertise was such that he even held a patent for a type of quick-draw holster.
The intro was slightly updated with Season 10 — it was now shot on a soundstage instead of outdoors, and Matt was actually shooting at a different actor (though it’s still hard to tell). This one was played by Fred McDougall, an experienced stuntman and often-used background extra on the show.
Another version was shot later on featuring a third actor, named Bill Strathman, as Dillon’s dueling partner. Nothing more is known about him, which, ironically, maybe makes him more suited to the job of anonymous bad guy.
Q: Are they going to make a sequel to “Hotel Artemis”? I thought it was great and would love to see more.
A: I hate to say it to a fan, but you’re in the minority saying you want more of “Hotel Artemis” (2018).
The sci-fi action film starred Jodie Foster (“The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991) as a nurse who runs a secret, members-only emergency room for criminals only. Despite her typically topnotch performance — which was about the only well-reviewed element of the film — the film tanked at the box office, failing to earn back its $15-million budget.
That said, you aren’t alone in expecting a sequel. It engages in the sort of world-building that sci-fi often does to kick off franchises, but it just didn’t do the numbers to justify it.
If you’re really aching for more “Hotel Artemis,” oddly enough some of the negative reviews might help. A number of them called it “derivative” of a much more successful film series: the John Wick movies.
2014’s “John Wick” starred Keanu Reeves (“The Matrix,” 1999) as a retired assassin on a revenge mission that often took him to a hotel that sounds a lot like the titular one in “Hotel Artemis.”
Unlike “Hotel Artemis,” “John Wick” has spawned two sequels so far, and there’s a third one on the way. “John Wick: Chapter 4” is due out in March 2023.
Q: Is Kenneth Branagh going to continue doing Hercule Poirot movies?
A: Director/writer/actor Kenneth Branagh (“Murder on the Orient Express,” 2017) has another Poirot movie in the works right now, though you wouldn’t know it by the title. “A Haunting in Venice” is filming right now and is scheduled for release in September.
The casual Agatha Christie heads reading this are probably wondering which book that is, while the superfans know that was not, in fact, a Christie novel. But the plot synopsis, which says it will follow the famed Belgian sleuth as he investigates a murder at a seance he was invited to, reveals it to be an adaptation of her 1969 novel “Hallowe’en Party.”
Branagh’s two previous outings as Poirot didn’t monkey around with the titles — “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017) and “Death on the Nile” (2022) took their names directly from the books.
But the superfans, at least, will know that those films became progressively looser with the details. And that tradition seems poised to continue with “A Haunting in Venice,” since the source novel had nothing at all to do with Venice. The supposed haunting took place in boring old England.
It could be that Branagh remained in love with Poirot, but also with the destination-based elements of the previous films. While most of Christie’s Poirot stories were set in England, some of the most popular ones (including “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Death on the Nile”) saw him take his crimesolving act on the road.