When Mike Munroe was a kid, he dreamed about the Old West, but saguaro cactus and desert landscapes were in short supply in New England.
“My heroes were Hopalong Cassidy and The Lone Ranger and Gene Autry and Roy Rogers,” the Sierra Vista resident said.
Life is full of surprises, however. After a long career with the American Red Cross, Munroe moved to the West and became a reenactor with the Tombstone Vigilantes. He also serves as a Western movie extra and an actor.
Now he has written a story that is being made into a movie. “Vengeance: A Tombstone Remembrance.” Munroe is the executive producer, writer and star. It’s something he never expected to happen when he was working and raising a family.
“It’s like a dream come true,” he said. “I didn’t ever think that I would do something like this. Just being in Tombstone and being in the Tombstone Vigilantes was a real big thing for me because of my interest in the Old West since the time I was a kid. I didn’t expect to write a script.”
Filming for this 90-minute movie is 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 17, at Harker Western Town and Museum. The scenes include a shootout between the bad guys and the sheriff and townspeople. The public is invited to watch for free.
Set in an 1890s Western town, the movie is about “a retired sheriff who opens a mercantile with his wife, Elizabeth, and while he’s away one day getting supplies, a gang comes into town, and they rob the mercantile and kill his wife,” Mike Munroe said.
“The story is about him tracking down this gang,” he said.
Diane Munroe, Mike’s real-life wife, plays Elizabeth. Being in a film wasn’t Diane’s dream, but she’s game.
“I die halfway through (the movie),” she said. “We were practicing that the other day, and we both started crying. They said, ‘Great! That’s what we need — the emotion to show.’”
Munroe came up with the idea for the story one sleepless night. The initial draft was 18 pages, but turning the story into a movie required more work.
“I soon found out that that’s nowhere near enough (material),” he said. “A movie is about a minute per page of script, so if you’re going to have a movie that’s 90 minutes, you need 85 pages or so of script.”
To get from the page to the screen, Munroe called in the big guns. Enter Tucson resident Mark Headley, whose acting credits include “The High Chaparral,” a 1960s-'70s-era TV Western series that was filmed at Old Tucson Studios.
These days, he’s behind the camera more than in front of it. Still, acting was a good education, because movies are more complex yet simpler than it looks like on TV. For example, the actors have a lot of downtime, while the crew works on solving technical issues.
Directors also do not say, “Lights, camera, action.” There’s more to it, according to Headley:
“Before you start shooting the first day, the director yells, ‘Quiet on the set!’ That’s for everybody: cast, crew and spectators,” he said. “Then the director says, ‘Roll camera, roll sound.’ The camera (operator) says, ‘Speed,’ when they’re shooting. Then I (as director) look at the actors and say, ‘Action.’ When the scene is over, I yell, ‘Cut!' If I want to do the same scene over again, I would say, ‘Everyone back to one.’”
The set, Harker Western Town and Museum, is owned by Rick Harker and managed by Headley. It’s a true surprise.
Passersby would never guess that behind a tall, wood fence in the middle of a South Tucson neighborhood stands the Old West. On 1 acre of ground is an Old West downtown, complete with a saloon, a dry goods mercantile, a post office, a saloon and a boot hill (which is actually flat). There are even carved wood headstones. It looks like the real deal.
Harker built it with friends’ help. To build the town, he and a friend rode around town in a truck looking for scrap lumber.
Munroe said he is surprised and gratified that folks are interested in being in the film. Some would give pause to being the main character — but not so much for Munroe.
“Being an actor, you have to have a certain amount of ego,” he said. “I’m not a person who blows my own horn, but I felt like I could do it. I could have a major role in a movie even though I’m 77 years old. I feel pretty good about it.”
The filming of “Vengeance: A Tombstone Remembrance”
WHEN: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17
WHERE: Harker Western Town and Museum, 6031 S. Fontana Avenue, Tucson
COST: Free admission
Hollywood wants you: casting call for paid actors
Actors are still being cast for several paid roles in“Vengeance: A Tombstone Remembrance.”
This is a non-union production.
Four men are needed and if cast, must be available for filming from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17 at Harker Western Town and Museum.
Roles include:
- Dick, 40s to 70s, mean, cold-blooded but smart.
- Ray, 30s to 50s, younger brother to Dick, whom Ray looks up to and wants to be just as mean and cold-blooded.
- The Kid, 18 to 30, brash and arrogant, defiant and disrespectful to everyone
- Carlos, Hispanic, fast and clean with a gun, not quite so ruthless. He is not Mexican but from Panama and gets mad when people call him Mexican. Much more intelligent than the others.
Auditions may be held in person, by Zoom, Facetime or a self-tape.
For information or to schedule an audition, email your name, age and the role you are interested in to director Mark Headley, markheadley12@yahoo.com.
Other parts will be cast after Christmas.
