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Idaho Falls Public Library
457 W. Broadway
Idaho Falls, ID 83402
(208) 612-8460
fax: (208) 612-8467
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 |
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W. Wilson Rawls
Dreams Can Come True
Rawls and the movie
"Where the Red Fern Grows"
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In 1974, a movie was made from Rawls' best selling children's book, Where the
Red Fern Grows by Doty-Dayton Productions. Some of the following
pictures and information was extracted from materials loaned by the Cherokee
National Heritage Center and from articles printed in the Post-Register in
1974.
"Where the Red Fern Grows"
Starring:
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James Whitmore as Grandpa
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Beverly Garland as Mother
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Jack Ging as Father
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Lonny Chapman as Sheriff
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Stewart Petersen as Billy
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Cast List:
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Jill Clark
as Alice
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Jeanna Wilson
as Sara
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Bill Thurman
as Sam Bellington
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Bill Dunbar
as Ben Kyle
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Rex Corley
as Rubin Pritchard
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John Lindsey
as Rainie Pritchard
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Garland McKinney
as Mr. Pritchard
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Robert Telford
as Station Master
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Charles Seat
as Carl Brown
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Roger Pancake
as Shopkeeper
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Marshall Edwards
as Preacher
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Wilson Rawls as the Narrator
Production Staff:
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Produced by Lyman Dayton
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Directed by Norman Tokar
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Screenplay by Douglas Stewart and Eleanor Lamb
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Executive Producer: E. Ellis Dotty
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Childhood Memories Relived
"Talented movie actor, James Whitmore, plays one of the lead rolls in the movie
version of Wilson Rawls' book "Where the Red Fern Grows." A new face in the
movie, playing another lead role, is young Stewart Petersen of Cokesville, Wyo.
Rawls is pictured above with the two actors. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rawls found all
of the cast to be "extremely pleasant and interesting." This picture was taken
on location while the movies was being shot in Oklahoma."
(The photograph is courtesy of the Cherokee National Heritage
Center. The caption is from a feature story printed in the Post-Register of
March 17, 1974.)
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Wilson Rawls and Stewart Petersen
Photo from New Era Magazine April 1974 issue.
Extracts from Post-Register article
of March 28, 1974:
"Where the Red Fern Grows" is a true story written by the Idaho Falls author.
He grew up in Oklahoma and recalled the days of his youth when he and his
hounds hunted the Ozarks night after night for raccoons.
"The book, and now the movie, has captured the warmth and spirit of this
Oklahoma family and what two beautiful dogs can mean to a 12-year-old boy.
"Stewart Petersen, a Cokeville, Wyo., boy, was in his first movie playing the
lead role of Billy Coleman."
For the movie, a recreation of Rawls' homestead was
constructed by the Cherokee Indian nation, it was then
moved to an Indian village where it is a tourist attraction..
Photo from New Era Magazine April 1974 issue.
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This information was drawn from the materials collected by Madelaine Love in
1997 as a part of the "Woodrow Wilson Rawls: Dreams Can Come True" research
project funded by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council and the Idaho Falls
Public Library. The original interview tapes and transcripts, photographs and
other materials are housed in the Idaho Room of the Idaho Falls Public Library
and used with permission. Any use without permission is expressly forbidden.
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