Larry McMurtry, source for some of Hollywood's edgiest (is there such a word?) movies, is from Texas. The imdb lists Wichita Falls as his birthplace, but he claims Archer City as his hometown. (Archer City is but a few miles south of Wichita Falls). Lately the Peter Bogdanovich treatise of McMurtry's novel The Last Picture Show has been showing on cable. In the past few weeks I've watched it no fewer than two-point-five times (the point-five for the night we started watching it after the first half). The Last Picture Show was practically scandalous in its day, being released in 1971. It introduced us to Cybill Sheperd, both with and without her clothes. It was the debut of Randy Quaid. We also were treated to a young Jeff Bridges and equally young Timothy Bottoms. It was a classic "coming of age" film.
The town in the movie is called Anarene, and although there is such a place on the map, we were unable to find it while exploring the area this weekend. The movie itself was filmed in Archer City, Texas. Some of the buildings used in the film are still standing and Larry McMurtry now owns several of the buildings around the town square, having converted them to used book stores. We noted 4 of his stores yesterday.
But first, to get to Archer City we passed through a small town called Windthorst. It was founded by German Catholics in the 1800s and showcases a beautiful Catholic church on a hill, complete with grotto. Saint Mary's Catholic Church is truly old world styling. The sun was shining brightly through the stained glass windows and indeed shone this brightly no matter my attempts to dampen the glare.
This facade was so interesting and unique. However, the pole in front ruins the effect. The pole was only a couple feet away from the building so there was no possible way to capture a photo without it.
Archer City is the county seat of Archer County, Texas. The courthouse is made of the abundant limestone found in the area (and throughout much of Texas).
Here is the portion of the town square that was featured in The Last Picture Show. The Royal Theater is nothing but a shell now, but it reflects the local by-gone flavor all the same. In the movie the stores to the left were shown as well. I think one was the Alsup's Cleaners (in the movie).
This is Texas. A cactus variety growing at the base of the telephone pole at the street corner.
The next stop was the Clay County courthouse in Henrietta, Texas. I prefer taking courthouse photos in the winter months while the trees are dormant and leaves are absent. It allows seeing more of the structure without blockage by leaves.
Lest anyone think spring isn't here, looking closely one can see the green tint on the trees as the leaves begin to bud out.
While stopped at a state park, I started playing with the telephoto lens. This was taken on a bridge crossing the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.
I've always wanted to visit Archer City because of Larry McMurtry. Brokeback Mountain remains a captivating movie. Lonesome Dove was an excellent novel (and later a mini-series). Who didn't like Paul Newman in Hud? Now I can cross this wanna-do off the list!
No comments:
Post a Comment