Gangway, Lord, (The) Here Come the Brides Book

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Gangway, Lord, (The) Here Come the Brides Book

© 2015 Jonathan Etter. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopying or recording, except for the inclusion in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

On the cover: The cast of Here Come the Brides — seated, left to right, Joan Blondell, Bridget Hanley; standing, left to right, David Soul, Robert Brown, and Mark Lenard. Courtesy Bridget Hanley. Inset photo: Bobby Sherman.

This version of the book may be slightly abridged from the print version.

Published in the USA by:

BearManor Media

PO Box 71426

Albany, Georgia 31708

www.bearmanormedia.com

ISBN 978-1-59393-506-1

Edited by Lon Davis.

Cover Design and eBook construction by Brian Pearce | Red Jacket Press.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Introduction

Prologue: The Real Golden Age of Television

Part One: The Men Who Developed Here Come the Brides

Chapter 1: Created by N. Richard Nash

Chapter 2: Executive Producer — Bob Claver

Chapter 3: Written by William Blinn

Chapter 4: Directed by E.W. Swackhamer

Part Two: Perfect Casting from Top to Bottom

Chapter 5: Starring Robert Brown

Chapter 6: Co-starring Bobby Sherman

Chapter 7: Co-starring David Soul

Chapter 8: Co-starring Bridget Hanley

Chapter 9: Co-starring Mark Lenard

Chapter 10: And Joan Blondell

Chapter 11: With Henry Beckman (and the HCTB Fans)

Chapter 12: With Susan Tolsky

Part Three: The Semi-Regular Cast of Here Come the Brides

Chapter 13: Brides

Chapter 14: Loggers

Part Four: Behind The Scenes

Chapter 15: Renee Valente — I Love Actors!

Chapter 16: On The Set

Part Five: The Original Run of Here Come the Brides

Season One

Season Two

Chapter 17: The Legacy of Here Come the Brides

Postscript: Bridget Hanley, Robert Brown, and the Here Come the Brides Fans

On The Air

About the Author

To my sister, Sally Jean Etter Christman, who started me on the right path.

Acknowledgements

When I began writing the behind-the-scenes history of the TV series, Here Come the Brides, I figured I’d be done with it in a year. That was before I started talking to Brides leading lady Bridget Hanley. Not only did Bridget provide me with a wealth of information about her fellow cast members, the Brides episodes, Brides directors, guest stars, etc., but she brought an enormous amount of excitement and enthusiasm to this project. Just as importantly, more than once, when I felt I had conducted my last interview on the subject, Bridget asked me to do more. And just like her Brides character Candy Pruitt, Bridget Hanley got her way.

The great enthusiasm and support of the fans from the Here Come the Brides Yahoo group was another reason I decided to take this project even further than planned. I am grateful to Teresa — the list owner — for creating the Brides Yahoo group in the first place. Very special thanks are also due to Kim Motteler and Kathy Roberson, and an all-around thank you to the rest of the Brides gang on and off the group.

To Brides star Robert Brown: Thank you, sir, for taking the time to answer so many questions, provide pictures and write the foreword. Thanks, too, to series semi-regulars Dick Balduzzi and Mitzi Hoag for providing pictures and other materials, and making themselves available for quite a few interviews. A special thank you to both semi-regular Karen Carlson and executive casting director Renee Valente for opening more doors. To series co-star David Soul, the author greatly appreciates your taking the time out from your very busy schedule to discuss your work on the program. And, series regular Susan Tolsky, thank you for being open to so many interviews!

Ditto series semi-regular Robert Biheller, story editor/episode writer William Blinn (truly a great help to this author), wardrobe man Steve Lodge, guest stars Michael Forest, Don Pedro Colley, Marvin Silbersher, and Lynda Day George.

Additional thanks to executive producer Bob Claver, series semi-regulars Eric Chase and Buck Kartalian, Robert Brown stunt double/guest star Dave Cass, guest star/guest director Lou Antonio, guest stars Angel Tompkins, Susan Silo, guest writers Larry Brody, Dorothy C. Fontana, Bridget Hanley’s frequent stage co-star, and friend, actress Lee Meriwether, and Brides casting director Burt Metcalfe. To the late Henry Beckman’s friend, Hillary, I very much appreciate your information concerning the last years of Mr. Beckman’s life, and thanks so much for giving me your permission to use Mr. Beckman’s remarks to the Brides Yahoo group in his chapter. To the International Myeloma Foundation’s Unknown Patient, thank you for allowing me to reprint part of your interview with Ann Lenard for the Mark Lenard chapter. Dewey Webb, how many times have you come through for me, buddy? I was really happy to get that Joan Blondell information. Thanks also to Mercer Girls historian Peri Muhich for her information concerning the Mercer Girls, and for her permission to reprint Asa Mercer’s letter to the New York Times. Not to mention Bill Endres and his English 102 class/University of Arizona students Nitin Patel, Teresa Gingras, Andrew Thompson, and Kristen Phillips for their superb research on Old Tucson Studios.

Extra special thanks to director Ralph Senensky for allowing me to use a portion of his April 18, 2006 e-mail to Talking Television host Dave White for the introductory chapter to this book. This chapter would not have been possible had it not been for the invaluable information provided by the following, additional interviewees: directors Robert Butler, Paul Wendkos, Bruce Kessler, the late Sutton Roley, the late Gerald Mayer, the late stunt coordinator/second assistant director Bill Catching, plus casting director Lynn Stalmaster, and actors Ken Swofford and William Windom. Thanks as well to producers Arthur Gardner and Bruce Lansbury, and actor Peter Mark Richman for their guest commentaries in the HCTB episode guide.

To the editors and publishers of the 1968-70 issues of TV Guide, I am very much in your debt. Had it not been for your excellent magazine, with its detailed program listings, TV Teletypes, TV Crosswords, and so forth, I could not have constructed so vivid an account of the impact Here Come the Brides made during its original prime-time run. For providing pictures for the introductory chapter and other sections of the book, I would like to thank Bridget Hanley, Joan Busund, Jerry Ohlinger’s Movie Material Store, and Collector’s Book Store. Special thanks to my cousin, Amy Kasrprzak, and her husband Robert Kasrprzak for doing the photo scans, (and for them doing so quickly, Bob! Wow!)

To my mother, Ruthanne Etter, sister Betsy Etter, and everyone else in my immediate, and not so immediate family, guys, thanks as always for bearing with me as I once again drove you crazy with another Jon book project!

I’d like to extend an extra special thank you to my editor, Lon Davis, for his advice and constructive criticism, and would be most remiss were I not to thank Brian Pearce for his extraordinary work in designing this book. And, finally, to my publisher, Ben Ohmart, a huge THANK YOU for your tolerance and patience, helpful criticisms, and unwavering enthusiasm and support. Ben, every writer should have a publisher such as you!

It was a female role in that era, hundreds of years before women’s lib, but not women’s lib with the angst. It was women’s lib with some semblance of a heart, and still a certain vulnerability. I think that if there was anything wrong with women’s lib… when it first started, it was so driven that it lost a lot of the humanity. [1]

Here Come the Brides leading lady Bridget Hanley

Bridget Hanley (as Candy Pruitt) at the wheel of the Seamus O’Flynn. courtesy bridget hanley

"Today, as I examine my HCTB’s ‘memory file cabinet,’ I see clearly Jason, Josh, and Jeremy giving all they had in their hearts and souls fighting to protect all those young women from the east coast [The Brides] who depended on The Bolts to watch over them and keep the bad guys away. It goes without saying, the implication being; all the evils and hardships of everyday life wouldn’t happen while they were living with them on Bridal Veil Mountain.

The women were cared for as if each and every one of them were part of a family. Jason Bolt reminded the world how truly valuable the family should be nurtured and treated. ‘Respect’ is the first word that pops into my mind. It’s the story of life as we dreamt it should be from the very beginning of time. Isn’t that what all those ancient religious tomes spoke about from all the corners of the planet?" [2]

Here Come the Brides star Robert Brown

Foreword

As I sit here looking back through the rapid passage of over forty years, my memory-bank has been miraculously refreshed, especially as I think of director E.W. Swackhamer, producer Bob Claver and author William Blinn.

I can vividly see in my mind’s eye the Columbia Pictures soundstage, located on a backlot in Burbank, California. I was first met at the guarded entrance gate by the former film star, Jackie Cooper, who had become an executive in the film business. At the time, he headed the executive lineup at Screen Gems Productions, which was the name of the company I was about to work for. We drove in together and he gave me a friendly tour of the sound stage and as we walked out through the large sliding doors, he said, Next, let me show you the best dressing room we have on this lot, bathroom and kitchen included. It was built for Kim Novak, when she worked here years ago, and guess what?… It’s yours. He then presented me with a painted metal parking sign with my name on it. I’m embarrassed to admit it remains, to this very day, hidden somewhere under something in my dusty garage store room.

Most of the episodic filming of HCTB was created on that twenty-five acre parcel on which a characterful 1860s Seattle set was carefully constructed. It consisted of Lottie’s (Joan Blondell) Bar, the brides’ living quarters, church and steeple, jail house, Clancey’s (Henry Beckman) ship, dock, etc. It also had a small pond hidden behind some tall trees. One scary day after lunch during the second season a fire whipped through the trees and the entire cast and crew heroically fought the flames, and won the day. Another victory for all of us brought the cast and crew even closer together. If the current script we were filming required new and different exteriors, cast and crew would drive for hours to various remote settings. On those many journeys all the passengers got along with each other beautifully. On a daily basis, the warmth and respect we all shared together, on and off camera, richly colored the actors’ honest style of performing before the lens. Warmth and respect was the rich fuel that drove all our creative engines as we shot each colorful episode of Here Come the Brides.

HCTB’s director E.W. Swackhamer was my oldest and dearest friend. We had been drama students together in New York City twenty years earlier. He married lovely Bridget Hanley (Candy) at my home in Brentwood, California, in 1969. While filming the pilot we needed an eighteenth-century New England-type set. So, with producer Bob Claver’s gifted help, off we went to MGM’s old backlot in Culver City which was just a short thirty minutes drive from Columbia Pictures. That was where Jason Bolt and his brothers, Josh & Jeremiah (David Soul & Bobby Sherman), captured the imagination of Candy Pruitt (Bridget Hanley), Ms. Essie (Mitzi Hoag), and all the other unmarried young women, to find protective, loving, wood-chopping mates. Jason eloquently convinced the women to travel with him on Clancey’s three-masted schooner which was headed down around Cape Horn over to the Pacific Ocean, then finally northward bound to Seattle all the way up to the Washington Territory. Later that year I was told that our rented HCTB sailing vessel somehow had sunk out there on the high seas. Lucky for us we came home with dry clothes after filming that first episode.

Looking back at yesterday’s TV happenings, I realize that they are colored by today’s memories. The ones that give me the most pleasure come from fan letters from the viewers who, back in the late 1960s/early 1970s, were still in their teens, dutifully watching Here Come the Brides on a weekly basis. Today they have children of their own and, with the aid of the new Sony HCTB first year-twenty-six episode disc album, have led the way for their growing family to also enjoy some interesting aspects of each show. I’m told by the many mothers and fathers how their families felt safe and sound sitting there watching the Brides confronting the Bolt brothers with their problems. While the loggers in town still behaved as they always did. After work, they could always be found at Lottie’s, attempting to understand that curious unanswered: What makes a woman… a woman? question. They, meaning all the Seattle men, including Jason, Jeremiah, and Joshua, were simply perplexed young men, vainly attempting to fathom life’s not-so-clear query; whereas, the Brides led the way to understanding that timeless mystery of MAN vs. WOMAN, etc.

I wonder if those of us from yesterday’s world, who are still young at heart, think that today’s teenagers might be able to identify with the romantic innocence of all the young women, happily, looking for husbands in the HCTB TV series. I hope so.

Robert Brown

(Jason Bolt)

1. Bridget Hanley — telephone interview — 2007

2. Robert Brown — by e-mail — 2007

Introduction

In one of the required history courses I took at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, my fellow students and I were asked to read a number of books on one event or historic figure. Following this, we were to present a paper in which we gave examples of the points on which the books agreed, and those on which they differed. When there was disagreement, it was our task to explain why this was so. It was also incumbent upon us to determine what in the books was true, and what was not.

This emphasis on researching a subject (getting as close to the truth as possible), was reinforced by yet another required course. Here, we had to thoroughly research and discuss a subject in the greatest depth imaginable. Every piece of information we could find, every book, every article, had to be read and examined. Then, on the completed paper, each and every source that had been referenced was to be listed.

When I graduated from WSU with a B.A. in history, I began writing and researching books about television and motion pictures. Time and again, I found myself going back to the all-important lessons that I had gleaned during my college studies:

Exhaustively research a subject.

Identify what is truth, and what is fiction.

Discuss the subject within the context of its time.

Discuss the subject from as many different points of view as possible.

Compare and contrast — always, always, always.

These five research tools have been assiduously employed throughout the research and writing of Gangway Lord, (The) Here Come the Brides Book. As I stated very clearly to more than one of this book’s interviewees, my number-one objective is to provide an accurate and honest account of that classic television series. While some of the revelations contained herein may not please Here Come the Brides fans, I would rather run that risk in favor of presenting the truth. For me, a television series as good as Here Come the Brides deserves nothing less.

Jonathan Etter

The storybooks all tell us that women are romantic, and men are practical. Well, they’re full of shit, I’m sorry. Men are romantic — they’re fools, they’re fucking fools; women are less romantic. The women are the practical ones — they learn it in child-rearing; the guys aren’t all that involved in child-rearing. But the gals…they’re the ones who pick up the cleaning and turn on the sprinkler, and all that stuff. They’re much more realistic.

Robert Butler (Co-creator: Remington Steele, Director: The Fugitive, The Invaders, Bonanza, The Virginian, Star Trek, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Columbo, etc.)

Prologue

The Real Golden Age of Television

Perhaps no television series better illustrated director Robert Butler’s point than the 1968-70 ABC/Screen Gems western/comedy/drama, Here Come the Brides. The show featured three strong female regulars: straw-boss of the one hundred brides, Candy Pruitt (series leading lady Bridget Hanley); her resourceful, danger-loving friend Biddie Cloom (co-star Susan Tolsky); the show’s most frequent voice of reason — saloon owner/businesswoman Lottie Hatfield (veteran actress Joan Blondell); and semi-regular Mitzi Hoag in the role of schoolmarm (and later mayoral candidate) Miss Essie Halliday. Here Come the Brides was the perfect conclusion to a decade in which trail-blazing actresses such as Jessica Walter and Melody Patterson were proving young attractive women could be more than decorative objects, and the perfect opening to a decade when a new generation of actresses began enjoying the results of their efforts.

Loosely based on the true story of the Mercer Girls — a group of courageous young women who forsook the comforts of their civilized New England towns and cities to make a new home in the primitive late nineteenth-century Northwest Washington territory — HCTB (as its very devoted fans refer to it), with its episode after episode, multi-part storylines, huge ensemble cast (Robert Brown, Bobby Sherman, David Soul, Mark Lenard, Hanley, Blondell, Henry Beckman, Tolsky, et al), high production values, and talented guest stars, writers, and directors, was among those quality television productions of the 1960s and ’70s which made these two decades what director Paul Wendkos calls the Renaissance in American television. [1] Wendkos is not alone in his opinion.

I have felt for a long time that the ‘Golden Age of Television,’ usually restricted to those few years of live telecasts from (mainly) New York, actually lasted much longer, stated prolific television series director Ralph Senensky in an April 18, 2006 letter to KSAV ‘Talking Television’ radio host Dave White. "That the filmed television of the fifties (Lucy et al) and the sixties and seventies also were golden.

"Will Geer (Candy Pruitt’s grandfather, Benjamin Pruitt in the HCTB episode, A Dream that Glitters) on the set of The Waltons one day called me a television pioneer. At the time, I laughed at the idea. With the perspective and objectivity that time provides, I realize that those of us working in television during those years were pioneers. It was a very exciting, creative time." [2]

Enthusiastic people like HCTB writer Larry Brody made it so. Brides was the very first TV series for which Brody wrote. I was 23 years old and just off the plane in L.A., remembers Brody. "But I’d already sold several short stories and a novel while at the University of Iowa, so I had an agent who introduced me to Sylvia Hirsch of the William Morris Agency. Sylvia was the best television agent in the history of the medium. Everyone knew her and everyone trusted her. This made her terrific at getting new talent a break.

"Within 6 weeks of arriving on the scene, I had a feature film deal at MGM, and that seems to have gotten the attention of (HCTB director E.W. Swackhamer’s assistant) Stan Schwimmer, who brought me into BRIDES. Some writers would’ve thought TV was a step down from what I already was doing, but I loved television and had always wanted to write TV and not films. Go figure." [3]

Brody’s fellow writer, and friend, Dorothy C. Fontana, also enjoyed writing for television. Guaranteed television immortality thanks to her work on the much-beloved Star Trek, Fontana wrote in quite a few other genres as well, including the westerns Bonanza, Big Valley, Lancer, High Chaparral, and Kung Fu.

All those westerns were fun to write, says Fontana. "By the time I left Star Trek [before the third season], I had a fair body of credits to my name, and many were westerns. My agent got busy sending me around for interviews and to pitch, and I was lucky in being able to come up with stories that suited the producers. I did three Bonanzas, two for Big Valley for producer Lou Morheim, two for Lancer for my old boss, Samuel A. Peeples, two High Chaparral for producer Don Balluck [writer of the HCTB episode, Wives for Wakando.] On the Kung Fu, I only had a story sale. These shows all had a different tone and style, and it was interesting and challenging to be able to write for them. Any freelance writer has to catch each show’s style and how the actors work together as a cast, how they project their characters — and then you bring in a guest actor or a strong situation to challenge them. The shows then had very small staffs — usually an executive producer, a producer, perhaps an associate producer and/or story editor. Most often, I worked directly with the producer, who was almost always also a writer and a hands-on producer of the series. Almost all of them were men. I have to say I earned a ‘degree’ in writing working with these talented people because they all had something about writing to teach me." [4]

Adds Larry Brody: "I watched every episode of Here Come the Brides because, dammit, I loved TV. Also, I wanted to learn as much as I could about writing, and by seeing episodes of a series I’d written for I could learn more about tailoring a script for the specific needs of a show." [5]

If Larry Brody was exposed to good writing through series like Here Come the Brides, Brides story editor/episode writer William Blinn could see that television was open to good storytelling through early ’60s series like Route 66. Created by Naked City’s executive producer Herbert B. Leonard and his associate, Stirling Silliphant, the great difficulties in producing this constantly on-location, across-the-United States series were considerably lessened by the speed with which Silliphant could produce a script. Like Bonanza, the stories on Route 66 ranged from comedy to drama. Incredibly, the majority of the one hundred-plus episodes were written by Silliphant.

Another fast writer was 12 O’Clock High/FBI/Cade’s County producer Charles Larson. I adored Charles Larson, enthuses 12/FBI series director Ralph Senensky. He was just so adaptable and so fast. Many times the script you were handed during your prep period was not the script you ended up shooting. Charlie was very good at character studies; he just rewrote and deepened the interactions between the people. He did so much rewriting, but he would not take partial credit. Some producers did that, that way they could claim a percentage of the residuals. [6]

A guest star on The FBI, plus other Quinn Martin series including Cannon and The Streets of San Francisco, Here Come the Brides co-star David Soul was able to give good performances on those programs thanks to his early television work in series like Brides. What a good way for a young actor to learn, says Soul. "You’d learn from the construction people, from these people who had been around, working for some time. The studios actually carried their crews — a crew got assigned to the show, and the degree to which such things [as Brides and other complex, production-heavy pieces including The FBI, McCloud, The Monkees] could be done with such alacrity and quality was amazing. The crews were what made the shows. We had some great people" [7]

Among them, HCTB star Robert Brown’s stunt double Dave Cass, men’s costumer Pat McGrath, and director of photography Fred H. Jackman. Other series such as Star Trek had creative stuntmen, including the late Bill Catching. Catching doubled for Leonard Nimoy in the first season of Trek. Remembers Catching, "Everybody on Star Trek didn’t know what the hell they were doing. I did about the first eighteen. I said, ‘What in the hell is this stuff? What kind of shit is this? How did I get into this? This won’t last a year.’ And it’s still on the air." [8]

Starting his lengthy TV career on syndicated shows such as The Cisco Kid, and ZIV-TV’s I Led Three Lives and Sea Hunt, Bill Catching eventually moved into acting roles in Bonanza, Kung Fu, and McCloud. On McCloud, Catching also served as the program’s stunt coordinator. Bill Catching’s longevity in the business had much to do with the practical approach he took to his work. Stuntmen were trying to teach the actor how to move like they do, he explains. I thought, ‘That doesn’t seem right to me.’ So when I went to double somebody, I would watch them, how they walked; I would pick up something from their movement that I would put in my action for them. I really and honestly think that’s why I worked so much. Assistant directors and production managers would say, ‘Get Catching. He can double anybody.’ [9]

Among them, McCloud guest Jaclyn Smith!

Not too surprisingly, Smith was fond of Catching. Brides’ Bridget Hanley felt similarly about Dave Cass. Hanley also enjoyed the extras and the crew. She thought very highly of the series’ guest casts as well. We were very proud to have the people that we had on our show, states Hanley. I think we got the cream of the crop. A lot of good character actors. [10] A lot of the guys were out of New York, remembers David Soul. We had people like Daniel J. Travanti and Philip Bruns. Dick Balduzzi, Vic Tayback — real character actors. We had a collection of fine actors and actresses, like Kathleen Widdoes. The people acting in television — there wasn’t a lot of positioning and positing. We were real people who just happened to be actors. People who had other interests. [11]

Casting directors such as Lynn Stalmaster and Brides’ Renee Valente were among the folks responsible for television’s fine guest casts. The business was so much fun in those days, says Stalmaster. "I loved actors who would not play it in the conventional, stereotypical way. I find the word, ‘type’ abhorrent. That started with me on Gunsmoke. I’d always give actors an opportunity to play characters other than what they were identified with." [12]

With a performer like HCTB guest star Lynda Day George, typecasting was never a problem. I never was typecast, declares George. I never gave anybody that opportunity. If somebody gave me a character that I’d done before, I wouldn’t turn it down. I’d just find another character to do. I may have done something similar, but it wouldn’t be the same. And I have to say I was very fortunate when I did those characters, because when I did them, I was able to surprise folks. So, those folks were pleased; they expected something different from me each time I worked. They weren’t afraid that I was gonna just keep repeating the same character over and over and over. But I never knew what I was gonna come up with until I looked at the script. I had to come up with something fast. You don’t have a lot of time when you’re working in television. [13]

That was especially true when one was doing a half-hour action series like The Felony Squad or a 1950s series such as The West Point Story. Recalls West Point (and two-time HCTB) guest Michael Forest, They had only two and a half days to do a half-hour show, so they had to really hit it, and hit it hard — they would do two shows in a week. One would finish at noon — they would start the next one at one or two o’clock in the afternoon — sometimes they’d go a whole three days on a half-hour show. Some of those shows had a lot of production value that they had to deal with. They couldn’t be wasting time. So you’d better know your lines and get it done, then they could get it in the can. I mean television was kind of rough and tough. [14]

Directors like the late Sutton Roley added to the stress. Known for his extreme close-ups on actors, Roley’s ‘You Are There’ style was perfect for WWII series such as Combat and Rat Patrol. Having directed more than one war series himself (among them 12 O’Clock High and Garrison’s Gorillas), the late Gerald Mayer has nothing but praise for the directors who did such series. Those were tough shows, states Mayer. "Lots of production. I just remember Garrison as a tough show. That series didn’t go. It was a good series. Just too expensive. Those [war] shows were damn hard to do. Because you’ve got guys marching, you’ve got long lines [of soldiers] to cover, lots of actors to accommodate, and you know, creating reality out of a handful of actors is a real problem. You have to shoot them, and reshoot them, and somehow make it seem like three times as many guys as there really are. It’s a real pain in the ass. But a lot of guys were very good at it. The guys who did The Rat Patrol, guys like Sutton Roley and John Peyser, were terrific at it." [15]

An episode of a half-hour series (e.g. Rat Patrol) was shot in three days or less; as for hour-long shows (e.g. Combat), they were made in six or seven days. Without question, working in filmed television could be exhausting. As Rat Patrol/Immortal star Christopher George and O.K. Crackerby/Bracken’s World regular Laraine Stephens made clear to the interviewer chatting with them in a promotional TV spot for their upcoming 1969 big-screen feature, The Thousand Plane Raid. Television, you just go and go and go and you never stop, George said. Time Stephens added, was a huge problem. Time. A schedule to be kept. When you work, added George, you lose twenty to twenty-five pounds and your nerves are shot and it’s…you never have any time for yourself. [16]

Especially, if, as in the case of Here Come the Brides leading lady Bridget Hanley, one was doing a play like Under the Yum Yum Tree. Remembered Hanley in a 1975 fan newsletter, That’s kind of grueling. You do your show. It gets over at 11:30 and by the time you unwind it’s 1:00 in the morning. Then you get up at 4:00 [a.m.] to do your film. [17]

The pressure was fierce, adds Brides guest star/director Lou Antonio. I think at one time, and Jud Taylor was president of the Director’s Guild at the time, they did an actuary — you know, a life expectancy actuary, and (according to) the actuary of assistant director and directors in episodic television you would live to be forty-nine years old. I got glaucoma from all the pressure. [18]

I found that as a director, I would get burned out, adds Gerald Mayer They were doing thirty shows a year. They were grinding schedules. You had three, possibly four days [to prepare]. You reported to the location, ready to shoot at sun-up. The minute there was enough light to shoot, you rolled the camera. You’d do the night-shooting on Friday, if you could contain your night-shooting to one night. Actors had to have a twelve-hour turnaround, the crew a ten-hour turnaround. [19]

Gerald Mayer was very good when dealing with actors. That was not the case with HCTB director Nicholas Colasanto. Remembers Brides semi-regular Robert Biheller, Colasanto was from the John Cassavettes school. I don’t know where he came off. He kept on telling me that I was like the juvenile delinquents I used to play, embarrassing me in front of this group gathered there. He was an ass! The thing was for me to come in and say, ‘Josh, something’s going on down at the barn. Better come quick!’ You know, a typical Corky scene, and Colasanto — the son of a bitch — made a big friggin’ deal out of it. I mean there were people standing around, people who’d come to watch the shoot, and every time I’d come in and do this, he’d go, ‘CUT! What the hell is that? What are you doing What d’ya think, you’re a juvenile delinquent like you use’ta be? You’re acting like a juvenile delinquent here!’ Then I’d do it again. ‘CUT!’ And he would give me shit. It got to the point where I was pretty pissed. So finally after we got the take, I went to Robert, and I said, ‘This guy is giving me trouble, and I don’t know why, but it’s ridiculous.’ Robert said, ‘I’ll take care of it,’ and he did. I don’t think the guy ever worked on the show again. So I can’t say enough about Robert Brown. Robert Brown was a real gentleman. A real good guy." [20]

Robert Brown did his best to keep a friendly mood on the Brides set. I was aware of other actors coming on stage with us, says Brown, so I tried to make them feel as though they’d been there all along. That way we kept the sense of camaraderie, I guess. So it had a sweetness to it. Swackhamer helped to do that. He created the tone; I kept it going for him when he wasn’t on the set and other people were doing the job. [21]

Accommodating Brides guest stars such as Man of the Family’s Angel Tompkins further eased the strain of production. In my illusion, my fantasy, or reality, there’s courtesy, camaraderie, appreciation, says Tompkins. An interaction, as if you were on stage and the audience was watching. That’s my world that I choose to live in, and I can’t always create it. But that’s the one I keep working for. So, for me, it is about camaraderie, it is about friendship, it is about meeting people of like interests. Nobody had to agree with anybody else but my concept of when you went to work on a show, you got hired because you were not only qualified, but there was something friendly about you that appealed to the people who were hiring in such a way that you fit in the ensemble of the regular cast.

Showing consideration for the crew was very high on Angel Tompkins’ list. I was taught early on make friends with the crew, says Tompkins, [to] be gracious and friendly to the crew. And to the cameraman and the gaffers; in terms of the lighting and so forth, they’ll all help you out.

Tompkins could also help a show thanks to her ability to work amidst chaos. Actors that can rehearse in total chaos — those are people that generally do comedy, explains the actress. They can ad lib a great deal. I can do that. But when you’re doing more serious stuff, and you’re trying to do difficult moves, it’s hard for you to remember everything. If the dialogue is not working well, it’s difficult to spew out — you have to work twice as hard. When the production is going great, when the producers and the directors have everybody on the set working with a sense of awe and wonderment, then it’s easy, the actors are just fine. But when there’s chaos on the set and rancor and disrespect coming from higher up down to the grips and props, when wardrobe is being driven crazy, the actors have to work twice as hard because you don’t know where it’s coming from, you don’t know where the discord is coming from, you don’t know if it’s an opinion about what you’re doing, you don’t know what the mumbling and the grumbling behind the lights is all about while you’re trying to rehearse. That’s why they demand ‘Quiet’ on the set. Because [noise] does interfere with the acting process. [22]

Like any television series, Here Come the Brides had its share of production problems. Women’s costumer Betsy Cox definitely had her work cut out for her. As the number of brides Jason Bolt and his brothers brought back to Seattle numbered one hundred, there were times Cox had to dress some sixty-seven actresses!

The wardrobe people really worked hard, praises Brides star David Soul. You had all these loggers and brides. Sometimes, you might have fifteen characters on the set. That’s a lot of people on the set. It was a very scaled-up production. [23]

Cox faced other difficulties, too. Remembered Bridget Hanley during an on-line chat with the HCTB fans, when Susan [Tolsky] and I would return from lunch, Betsy Cox would have to put double-sided tape on the bodice V of our dresses because otherwise they would pop up and put someone’s eye out. It was mortifying. [24]

While Hanley and Brides story editor William Blinn might not have liked it when there were fewer muddy streets during the second season; chances are Cox was not as upset. The mud certainly took its toll on the women’s costumes. We went through more pairs of Mary Janes than you can imagine, laughs Hanley, and our socks, I’m sure they never got them clean. Or the hems of our dresses, as we came screaming out of the dormitory, or marching out of the dormitory, or crying out of the dormitory, or sneaking out of the dormitory. I don’t know how Betsy Cox ever got them clean. [25]

Bridget Hanley’s Brides co-star Susan Tolsky shared her friend Hanley’s admiration of Cox. Tolsky appreciated Cox for a further reason. Betsy Cox had migraines, like I did, states the actress. "She really got sick. I would get, like, queasy. Migraines are horrible. I got them at a very young age, and it’s horrible, there’s no relief. There was nothing you could take that would stop it, and I want to tell you there is a high incident of suicide among migraine sufferers. Only within probably the last five or six years did they develop a medication for migraines. [26]

Being very near-sighted as was Bridget Hanley, Susan Tolsky found doing a costume piece like Here Come the Brides visually and physically challenging. With the exception of guest Mary Wilcox in the first season’s A Jew Named Sullivan, and Meg Foster in the second season’s "Two Worlds," none of the Brides women were ever shown wearing glasses. Susan and I were both very near sighted, laughs Hanley, and whenever we came on camera, we would over-shoot our mark unless they left big BOULDERS in our path. In fact, I spent a great deal of time falling down. I still do. [27]

Thanks to the Los Angeles smog, Bridget Hanley didn’t have the option of wearing hard contact lenses. At the time, explains the actress, they only had the hard contact lenses; because of the smog and the heat, I wasn’t able to wear my lenses very often. I mean to wear them all day for a shoot, I just couldn’t. Susan Tolsky was the same way. She’d take her glasses off; I don’t think she ever had contact lenses. Anyway, when I was under contract, when I didn’t have my contact lens in or my glasses, because I didn’t want to wear my glasses a lot, I would just smile as I walked down the lot so I wouldn’t offend anyone.

Since both Hanley and Tolsky went without contacts or glasses, we were like two blind bats, laughs Hanley. We would — there was one show [Wives for Wakando] when we had to run into a shot from way back in the berm, screaming; I think Susan Howard was in that too, and I have a picture of all of us running and screaming. Anyway, Susan [Tolsky] and I were alone on this one shot, and they kept giving us marks, and we’d overshoot our marks because we could not see. She was counting on me to stop; I was counting on her to stop. Well, finally they put a big boulder there, and we were finally able to see it, but I [still] tripped over it. So we became the laughingstock; they would always kid us if we had long distance stuff to do. [28]

But it wasn’t just in action scenes, like Wives for Wakando, for which the Here Come the Brides directors might find it necessary to reshoot the same scene more times than usual. Remembers Tolsky: we were all in Lottie’s [the town saloon run by Joan Blondell’s character], late in the day, and this is such an actor’s nightmare. There was Bobby, David, Bridget, and me, I think it was the three Bolts and Bridget and me. We were in Lottie’s, at a round table, and of course’s it’s very difficult to shoot a round table, because you shoot a master, and then you’ve got to do all of your coverage. And it was late in the day. Well, we had to get this scene, of all of us talking about something, the guys had beer, the girls had something called Sarsaparilla — I think it was root beer — because I don’t drink and I never have. Well, the worst thing that could happen not only to one actor…is, we got the giggles. We started and each time we heard, ‘Okay, okay. Settle down. Speed. Action,’ one of us would start laughing. And the guys had beer. So they kept sipping the beer trying to get the scene. Well, the day goes on, and it’s getting late in the day, and they’re drinking more beer. And we’re laughing. It took us so long to get that scene, and me, I’m the worst. I can’t help it, but if I start, it was like you hold it in, and you just do a spit take because you can’t hold your laughter back. It took — I’m not kidding you — it took close to an hour to get the scene done, so that by the end of that, they [the guys] were so lit. We just, we were sipping root beer, so we didn’t have a problem, but they were having just the best old time. We could not stop laughing, and the thing that’s so funny, too, is that our director, what was so funny is that directors try everything, they cajole you, [imitating the director laughing], ‘Okay now, You got it out of your system,’ and when they did that, we’d start laughing. And then they’re ‘All right. Everybody! You’re costing money!’ And they start screaming. But it doesn’t matter what they do. As soon as we hear, ‘Speed. Action,’ that’s it. We’re laughing. So, that beer — those guys were getting it down. [29]

Reality wasn’t always fun, however, as evidenced by Brides guest and director Lou Antonio’s experience on Naked City. Recalls Antonio, "Bobby Duvall and I played the sons of Sylvia Sidney and they [the Naked City company] didn’t always go by the rules apparently. We had to shoot blanks out of two machine guns from a moving car in Harlem. So, we were going along these streets, Bobby and I, without a police escort. They didn’t know we were a movie company firing blanks from these two machine guns, because these plainclothesmen kneeled down and came up on us; there’d been a murder the night before. No one had told them we’d be shooting this show. That was pretty spooky. To see guys pulling pistols on you. Thank God we were going fast." [30]

Quite familiar with the methods of Screen Gems, thanks to his work on other Gems series like Route 66 and The Monkees, Lou Antonio was greatly impressed by the way his fellow Here Come the Brides directors managed to meet the show’s deadline. That was a heavy show, declares Antonio. I don’t know how the directors did it. With that rain, and all of those…if you had the cast sitting around a table, man, with that many regulars, you had to do something like eight close-ups. And, because of the pressure on that, and so much to do with rain and horses and eight regulars, and no budgets, and only six days, the crew was fast, they had to be fast; the directors had to shoot simply.

Given the tight budgets of Screen Gems, brand-new directors like Antonio would have to scramble around when they helmed a series episode. Remembers Antonio, "they only had one zoom camera — zoom lens, and when I directed The Young Rebels — with Lou Gossett and David Soul, I had a big battle scene. So I ordered the zoom lens because in those days, you didn’t have two cameras, they were just too tight, so I had to reserve one zoom lens. [When] I came in to work to shoot the battle scene, with my preparation of the zoom, the cameraman said, ‘They took it away from us. We don’t get it. They gave it to another company." [31]

That meant Antonio had to come up with something quick. That was when on-screen errors were likely to creep in. To this day, Brides fans chuckle about the scene of Jason Bolt and Miss Essie looking down on the people of Seattle from the window of her one-story house in the series’ seventh-aired episode, director E.W. Swackhamer’s Lovers and Wanderers. Just because it’s one-story doesn’t mean it can’t be up on a hill, responds HCTB executive producer Bob Claver. One never knows…people always like to play, ‘gotcha.’ I don’t remember where the exterior was, but if the exterior was up on a hill, then you get that shot. And Swack was a person…it would take a gun to his head to give up a really good shot because he did like pretty pictures. He didn’t do distorted angles — not too much, because I hate that. Because, here’s the point, you have a job to tell the story. I don’t want an audience saying, ‘Did you see that shot, that angle? That’s interesting.’ That’s no good — that’s not good storytelling, that’s distracting. I don’t like that stuff. I never use that as a director myself. And I don’t like that in my shows. I don’t like anything that you notice. I mean it’s silly: you’ve got wonderful actors, allegedly a good script, and even a guy like Scorsese, he does a lot of picture taking that is distracting to me, and I don’t know why he does that, cuz he’s so good. I mean, if it’s part of the storytelling, it’s perfect, but all of a sudden you’ve got a shot, and you’ve got an audience looking at a shot. That takes the audience out of the story; it has no value. [32]

Director Bruce Kessler saw it differently. If you’re in a set scene, where it’s a real set for a long time, it makes it more interesting if you change the angle a little, states Kessler. It makes the audience kind of blink and pay attention. [33]

I didn’t mind the stuff Swack did, admits Claver. He didn’t do too much camera stuff, he did wide shots, but not tricky, and if he was doing it, it was because he thought it would advance the story. If I saw it, and I didn’t like it, we had a talk about it, because that’s my job. But I don’t remember having any problems with Swack, ’cuz if we ever did start talking about it, there were never two people that would have gotten in a bigger fight than us two. We didn’t butt heads, but if we did, it would be a bad head-butting. [34]

Despite the character she portrayed, one wasn’t likely to ‘butt heads’ with Brides leading lady Bridget Hanley on the set of the series. Bridget was the height of ingénue grace and energy and fun, praises Brides story editor William Blinn. "She would try anything. She was not protective of the Bridget Hanley image. She was whatever was on the page. Whatever she was called to do, she would do. And if she had a problem, it was always voiced in the most reasonable and straightforward and cooperative way possible.

Bridget likes the process, continues Blinn. She likes being on camera. I don’t mean in an ego sense. She likes ‘What am I doing? What is my character about? How can I make this more interesting?’ She’s a member of Theater West, as am I, and it’s a delight to go in and see her work. And if you tell Bridget, ‘I want to have something read next Tuesday, but it’s a very small role,’ that doesn’t matter to Bridget. [35]

The acting bug bit Bridget Hanley quite early in life — in elementary school. Recalls the actress, The teacher gave us this assignment — I don’t remember what the subject was, but we could either write a paper on the subject, or write a play. So I went, ‘Ah-hah.’ I wrote a play that was later done as the Christmas show for the school, and of course, (laughing) I played the leading role! I went on to do more of those kinds of things in junior high and high school. And my first part in high school — my [older] sister got the lead; she was ahead of me in school — she got the lead in the school play. I was so jealous that I auditioned, and I got the part of the lady ambulance driver. When we did the performances, I got really great laughs. That was what hooked me. It was then when I decided that was what I wanted to do. I not only kept writing skits and things and starring in them, but I did all the school plays and all of that.

Because of her great love for acting, and her excitement concerning her Brides character, Candy Pruitt, Hanley always managed to keep the Candy character fresh and alive. I never got tired of my character, affirms the actress. Never! Because Candy…there was always something that she could do. Or [she’d come up with] a different way to go about it. I was just gifted with this incredible before-her-time woman, and I was thrilled. I mean to play someone who had such kind of courage and still could have the femininity just because of that era, who could still be a challenger of the male ego, go in for what she felt was right, and not be afraid to confront…and then, you know the romance with Bobby…so wonderful and dear and sweet. I really never felt curtailed in my character at all. [36]

Unfortunately, performers like Bridget Hanley became fewer and fewer as television entered the 1980s. And it makes you wonder… says Lynda Day George. My God! What the hell happened? Because, I look out there today, and it’s like a desert. Not because these performers that are out there right now don’t have the ability, but because they don’t do it! They don’t take another step! They do surface work. And that doesn’t…it doesn’t go anywhere. I mean…‘Come on, guys!’  [37]

Adds Susan Tolsky, Look at those people we had on the show. They were the heart…they were television actors. And whether they came from stage or not, look at the people that we had! They were astounding guest stars. Meg Foster — she had a career! My God, we just had amazing…I mean these are people who had series, and who had credits. So I think it was the tail end of an era that just is not there anymore. Because these people…I don’t remember people quibbling about money. We were so thrilled to be working, and that was not just because how young I was. We were thrilled to be working! We were in television. We knew. I don’t care how fresh we were in the business. I knew even then that I was now part of television history. I’m not talking about there’re gonna be books written about me, that’s not what I’m saying. It’s just that ‘I’m part of television history’ — I was very aware of that. And now, it’s like ‘How much money am I gonna make?’  [38]

See, explains George, that was a time when they had real actors on TV, instead of this adorable little thing that just came into town. Can’t act her way out of a paper bag, but she’s got a real cute backside — she looks great from behind, she caught some guy’s eye…she said, ‘Okay,’ and that was that. ‘I want to be a star. I can worry about acting later.’ I guess so. [39]

Adds Hanley, It was less about making money, and more about…it may not have been as devastatingly artistic as it’s become, because I think everything grows. But it was before television [was] so big, becoming bigger and better and all of that. I just find it so impersonal now. That’s too bad because [then] every studio had their own kind of personality, I don’t know how else to put it. I just feel very lucky to have experienced the fact that we were all like families - each studio had its own personality, and people gathered there to do their [the studio’s] kind of work; it was not all the same. [40]

In films at that time, they filmed two different pages a day of script, explains Susan Tolsky. We did ten to twelve, and we did it in a week. We did it in a five-day schedule, and we did exterior and interior. I mean that’s insane. [41]

Gifted writers, producers, directors, talented casts, and crews made that possible. Remembers Brides story editor William Blinn: The reality of the show was that it was collaborative. I think it was probably all a stew of people who came up with various things. It was me with a script, and Claver with a script, and [Paul Junger] Witt with a script. And we had some good directors that had thoughts. Directors like Bill Claxton could have cared less, you know, ‘just send me the script and let me know where I show up and I’ll shoot it for you.’ [But] Swack had a lot of good story ideas and stuff he wanted to do. He’d come in and say, ‘You know what you could do with this thing?’ and he’d have a twitch, or a contribution to make that would usually make everything better. I don’t recall Swack ever saying, ‘Okay, fine. I’ll shoot it.’ He’d always say, ‘Well, how about this? Can we do this?’ He had a very active and creative mind. [42]

Given the fierce competition in television amongst the three networks, not to mention ABC’s need for a hit television series, this was a very good thing. Not having been in the business as long as rivals CBS and NBC, ABC was more willing to gamble with a risky TV series such as Here Come the Brides. Noted Washington Post-TV Channels television critic Lawrence Laurent, the show lacked an established, big-name, box-office star, and cast two young singers (David Soul and Bobby Sherman) in straight acting roles. The lead female character was assigned to the little known Bridget Hanley. Even the important role of saloon-keeper Lottie was changed at the last minute."

According to Laurent, Here Come the Brides violated one of the cardinal rules in television: that a series must have a simple premise; a basic plot that can be summarized in 30 seconds or less. To Laurent, the show’s plot line was terribly involved. Yet, despite such dramatic flaws, which actually foreshadowed the multi-character, multi-part storylines which came to define such 1980s series as Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere, critic Laurent cited two reasons Brides defied the expectations for its failure. One is the larger-than-life, he-man zest that [Robert] Brown has brought to the role of Jason Bolt. The character appears on TV as a shaggy, cheerful bundle of windy competence that is rare among heroes in the 21-inch world. The other was the tuneful music that Hugo Montenegro wrote for the series. The plinky strains of ‘Seattle’ enliven the talk-filled episodes and make bearable the undistinguished writing. [43]

To be sure, Robert Brown’s portrayal of Jason Bolt, and the music of Hugo Montenegro were definite assets to Here Come the Brides, but anyone who saw first-season shows like A Jew Named Sullivan, The Stand-Off, A Christmas Place, or Democracy Inaction, would hardly call this undistinguished writing. HCTB guest star Angel Tompkins certainly thought highly of Brides. Explains the actress, "At that time [in the business], the attitude was, ‘women can’t be friends.’ You know, you have the top five [actresses] who always get called first, who go to all the auditions. Nobody talks to each other, everybody sits outside, looking at each other; nobody can be friends. Well, that’s a male myth — women, mothers, and grandmothers and daughters have kept this country running. And the women on that show…Here Come the Brides was a promise that a lot of women would actually be working together, that they would have a place to work." [44]

This attitude was reflected on Brides not just in Bridget Hanley’s take-charge/no-nonsense Candy Pruitt, or through semi-regular Mitzi Hoag’s role as schoolmarm Miss Essie, but through one-time characters like Kathleen Widdoes’ Dr. Allyn E. Wright, Linda Marsh’s Rachel Miller, and Stefani Warren’s Lulu Bright. When it came to one-time female characters, Brides writers such as Oliver Crawford, Jack Miller, Larry Brody, and Robert Goodwin certainly came up with some rich ones. In fact, the series concluded with a Miller story in which the three Bolt brothers and the rest of the men of Seattle go under contract to a woman who has such grand plans for Seattle that the town can’t help but expand.

The series itself expanded the western genre by setting its dramatic situation in the post-Civil War Pacific Northwest — an area of the country where there was considerable precipitation. A western series, with rain, or where it had just rained, was certainly a novelty. The show further displayed originality though the novelty of its concept. Not only did it begin with, and continue to play out an epic theme — the establishment of the town of Seattle — not only did it introduce one of the largest regular (and semi-regular) casts in television history, it frequently ran a number of (continuing) stories in each episode.

Brides’ uncommon (and risky) approach seemed to work. During its first season it moved from 48th place to 35th place in the Nielsens. In the process it drove Ivan Tors’ African adventure Daktari off the air. CBS replaced this series with the powerhouse variety show, The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour; as for NBC, it continued to stay with its longtime ratings winner — the quality movie-length western, The Virginian.

Here Come the Brides also garnered rave reviews very early in its run. Chalk it up as one of the fresher and entertaining freshman contenders going this fall, [45] said Variety’s Pit in his review of the pilot episode, Here Come the Brides. TV Guide’s Cleveland Amory was positively glowing in his December 28, 1968-January 3, 1969 review. Describing Brides as a logging-camp saga, handsomely awash with interesting and even new-fashioned characters, Amory then remarked about the pilot, This is the kind of comedy that the average show would make so corny that you just couldn’t bear it. But in this episode, saints be, you not only bear it, you grin and do so. [46]

Reviews of Here Come the Brides were almost as positive the second year. Said Variety’s Mor of the second-season premiere, A Far Cry from Yesterday: Photography and sets were of movie caliber…the acting was first rate throughout. [47] The show also did quite a few ahead-of-their-time stories such as A Crying Need, A Jew Named Sullivan, and Lorenzo Bush.

A definite factor in Here Come the Brides’ considerable success was story editor William Blinn. Having worked on the excellent Bonanza for a year as one of