They Went Thataway
Encyclopedia
They Went Thataway is a non-fiction
book written by James Horwitz
and published in 1976. It analyzes the Western film genre from a nostalgic, yet jaded point of view.
The book takes the form of a quest
journey, with Horwitz using the idea of researching and locating the old western actors of the past for a writing project. However, Horwitz uses the journey as a way to reconnect with his much more innocent past, and wonders what happened to himself and the world around him.
The book carries a heavy anti-Establishment
sense to its narration, with numerous references to Richard Nixon
, Gerald Ford
, as well as the just-concluded Vietnam War
.
and westerns
, and re-enact them in their play throughout the week. It also becomes a metaphor
for his lost youth, as well as for the fans of the old movie westerns who grew up and moved on.
As the section advances, Horwitz muses on a stay in the legendary Hotel Chelsea
in New York City, as well as on his brief life in Paris. He decides to escape New York, and to hunt down the surviving western heroes of his youth. For his pilgrimage, he takes along some relics of his "Front Row Kid" past--his Hopalong Cassidy
boots and spurs; his favorite Gene Autry
records, and his Lone Ranger comic books. As he drives across the country, he stops off at a variety of places that he had known only through western movie legends: Dodge City and Tombstone, only to find them too modernized.
, was a western, despite being filmed in New Jersey. A bit-player in that movie, Bronco Billy Anderson, ultimately formed his own production company, Essanay Studios
, and brought the western to the West, namely California
. Other early screen legends that followed in Anderson's path included William S. Hart
, Tom Mix
, Fred Thomson
and Ken Maynard
, whose funeral Horwitz attended after failing to reach him in time for an interview. Horwitz analyzes their careers, especially their successes and failures out of the saddle.
Early on, Horwitz intended not to interview John Wayne
, despite the fact that he was a fan of his (even admitting that his friends would question his sanity if he admitted that to them). He decided that Wayne's conservative politics
and adamant support of the Vietnam War ruined the image of his hero, and Wayne was still a popular performer who had not 'disappeared' like many of the other film legends.
Horwitz covers Hopalong Cassidy
's career with detail, in particular the seminal image of William Boyd
as the original "man in black". Other performers Horwitz recalls with nostalgia includes Tex Ritter
, Audie Murphy
, and the role that television played in the death of the old-time Hollywood cowboys.
refusing to release the mailing addresses of the now-retired stars, nor even tell him who is alive or dead. So, he is forced to leave his contact letters at the Guild office, of which several return unanswered (and one informs him that Allen "Rocky" Lane was deceased). He then places an ad in the Hollywood Reporter, asking for any of the actors willing to participate in the writing project to contact him.
While in Hollywood, Horwitz attended the funeral of western hero Ken Maynard
, partially out of respect, but also as a way to meet screen legend Gene Autry
, Horwitz's childhood idol. He described the service as depressing, with only about seventy-five mourners--many of them dressed in full-Western costume (Autry, who allegedly had supported Maynard though his last years, did not appear at the funeral). The funeral motivated Horwitz to track down as many of the surviving actors as he could before they died before their stories could be told.
Horwitz's first interview wound up being Autry, after an article documenting a brief encounter with him was published in Rolling Stone
. Autry proved to be a friendly man, though unwilling to give out much information as he was planning his own autobiography at the time. What distressed Horwitz the most was that Autry had not aged gracefully, and that his once-melodious voice was now rough and harsh.
Other interviews went poorly. Producers William Witney
and Sol Siegel refused to discuss their western past, and Jay Silverheels
' agent flatly rejected Horwitz's request. An attempt to interview Clayton Moore
, aka The Lone Ranger
was a tremendous disappointment, as Moore was unwilling to discuss anything except the Lone Ranger, and even then he suggested Horwitz use information from old interviews, as Moore would not offer anything that hadn't been said before. An attempt to interview Lash La Rue
ended when he found that LaRue had just been arrested for drunkenness and drug possession.
Horwitz also makes a stop at the Roy Rogers
Museum (after repeatedly being refused an interview) , where he is overwhelmed by the collection of kitsch
and memorabilia (he even considers stealing a Hopalong Cassidy
drinking glass just like one he had as a child) until he sees Rogers' horse Trigger
, stuffed and mounted, a sight that disgusted him.
The interviews that went well for Horwitz included:
Horwitz ends the book at the site where Tom Mix died in a car accident. He takes out his childhood cowboy boots, tries to polish them, and leaves them at the monument marking the location. He felt that such a sacred place was a good place to leave a memento of his childhood, and of memories that "went thataway".
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book written by James Horwitz
James Horwitz
James Horwitz is a non-fiction writer, known for his book They Went Thataway.Raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Horwitz contributed several articles to Rolling Stone magazine during the early 1970s. He also contributed to Penthouse, High Times, and Time Out during the same time period...
and published in 1976. It analyzes the Western film genre from a nostalgic, yet jaded point of view.
The book takes the form of a quest
Quest
In mythology and literature, a quest, a journey towards a goal, serves as a plot device and as a symbol. Quests appear in the folklore of every nation and also figure prominently in non-national cultures. In literature, the objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and...
journey, with Horwitz using the idea of researching and locating the old western actors of the past for a writing project. However, Horwitz uses the journey as a way to reconnect with his much more innocent past, and wonders what happened to himself and the world around him.
The book carries a heavy anti-Establishment
Anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine New Statesman to refer to its political and social agenda...
sense to its narration, with numerous references to Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974...
, as well as the just-concluded Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
The Front Row Kid
Serving as the title of the book's first section, the Front Row Kid is a phrase that Horwitz uses to describe the children of his youth, and how they would congregate at the local movie theaters and watch the latest movie serialsSerial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
and westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, and re-enact them in their play throughout the week. It also becomes a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
for his lost youth, as well as for the fans of the old movie westerns who grew up and moved on.
As the section advances, Horwitz muses on a stay in the legendary Hotel Chelsea
Hotel Chelsea
The Hotel Chelsea, also known as the Chelsea Hotel, or simply the Chelsea, is a historic New York City hotel and landmark, known primarily for its history of notable residents...
in New York City, as well as on his brief life in Paris. He decides to escape New York, and to hunt down the surviving western heroes of his youth. For his pilgrimage, he takes along some relics of his "Front Row Kid" past--his Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
boots and spurs; his favorite Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
records, and his Lone Ranger comic books. As he drives across the country, he stops off at a variety of places that he had known only through western movie legends: Dodge City and Tombstone, only to find them too modernized.
The Wild West Tale and the Hollywood Cowboys
The second section of the book is a thorough analysis of the advent of the western movie, and focuses on the early, deceased cowboy film legends. Horwitz notes that the first true American movie, The Great Train RobberyThe Great Train Robbery
- Events :* Great Gold Robbery of 1855, took place during a train and sea journey from London to Paris on May 15* Great Train Robbery , took place near Linslade in England on August 8...
, was a western, despite being filmed in New Jersey. A bit-player in that movie, Bronco Billy Anderson, ultimately formed his own production company, Essanay Studios
Essanay Studios
The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture studio. It is best known today for its series of Charlie Chaplin comedies of 1915.-Founding:...
, and brought the western to the West, namely California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Other early screen legends that followed in Anderson's path included William S. Hart
William S. Hart
William Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
, Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
, Fred Thomson
Fred Thomson
Frederick Clifton Thomson was an American silent film cowboy who rivaled Tom Mix in popularity before dying at age 38 of tetanus.-Birth and athletic achievement:...
and Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
, whose funeral Horwitz attended after failing to reach him in time for an interview. Horwitz analyzes their careers, especially their successes and failures out of the saddle.
Early on, Horwitz intended not to interview John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, despite the fact that he was a fan of his (even admitting that his friends would question his sanity if he admitted that to them). He decided that Wayne's conservative politics
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
and adamant support of the Vietnam War ruined the image of his hero, and Wayne was still a popular performer who had not 'disappeared' like many of the other film legends.
Horwitz covers Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
's career with detail, in particular the seminal image of William Boyd
William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
as the original "man in black". Other performers Horwitz recalls with nostalgia includes Tex Ritter
Tex Ritter
Woodward Maurice Ritter , better known as Tex Ritter, was an American country music singer and movie actor popular from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter family in acting...
, Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy was a highly decorated and famous soldier. Through LIFE magazine's July 16, 1945 issue , he became one the most famous soldiers of World War II and widely regarded as the most decorated American soldier of the war...
, and the role that television played in the death of the old-time Hollywood cowboys.
Headin' Them Off at the Freeway
This section of the book documents Horwitz's journey to Hollywood, where he gamely tries to locate the surviving Western film stars. Almost immediately he confronts barriers, as the Screen Actors GuildScreen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
refusing to release the mailing addresses of the now-retired stars, nor even tell him who is alive or dead. So, he is forced to leave his contact letters at the Guild office, of which several return unanswered (and one informs him that Allen "Rocky" Lane was deceased). He then places an ad in the Hollywood Reporter, asking for any of the actors willing to participate in the writing project to contact him.
While in Hollywood, Horwitz attended the funeral of western hero Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard
Ken Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
, partially out of respect, but also as a way to meet screen legend Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
, Horwitz's childhood idol. He described the service as depressing, with only about seventy-five mourners--many of them dressed in full-Western costume (Autry, who allegedly had supported Maynard though his last years, did not appear at the funeral). The funeral motivated Horwitz to track down as many of the surviving actors as he could before they died before their stories could be told.
Horwitz's first interview wound up being Autry, after an article documenting a brief encounter with him was published in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. Autry proved to be a friendly man, though unwilling to give out much information as he was planning his own autobiography at the time. What distressed Horwitz the most was that Autry had not aged gracefully, and that his once-melodious voice was now rough and harsh.
Other interviews went poorly. Producers William Witney
William Witney
William Nuelsen Witney was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the movie serials he co-directed with John English for Republic Pictures such as Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu.He directed many Westerns during his career,...
and Sol Siegel refused to discuss their western past, and Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels
Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk First Nations actor. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the faithful American Indian companion of the Lone Ranger in a long-running American television series. -Early life:...
' agent flatly rejected Horwitz's request. An attempt to interview Clayton Moore
Clayton Moore
Clayton Moore was an American actor best known for playing the fictional western character The Lone Ranger from 1949–1951 and 1954-1957 on the television series of the same name.-Early years:...
, aka The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
was a tremendous disappointment, as Moore was unwilling to discuss anything except the Lone Ranger, and even then he suggested Horwitz use information from old interviews, as Moore would not offer anything that hadn't been said before. An attempt to interview Lash La Rue
Lash La Rue
Alfred "Lash" LaRue was a popular western motion picture star of the 1940s and 1950s. He had exceptional skill with the bull whip, and taught Harrison Ford how to use a bullwhip in the Indiana Jones movies...
ended when he found that LaRue had just been arrested for drunkenness and drug possession.
Horwitz also makes a stop at the Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
Museum (after repeatedly being refused an interview) , where he is overwhelmed by the collection of kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
and memorabilia (he even considers stealing a Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....
drinking glass just like one he had as a child) until he sees Rogers' horse Trigger
Trigger (horse)
Trigger was a palomino horse, made famous in American Western films with his owner/rider, cowboy star Roy Rogers.-Pedigree:...
, stuffed and mounted, a sight that disgusted him.
The interviews that went well for Horwitz included:
- Sunset CarsonSunset CarsonSunset Carson, born Winifred Maurice Harrison was an American B-western star of the 1940s.-Early life, acting:...
, who Horwitz meets at a country western movie festival in Siler City, North CarolinaSiler City, North CarolinaSiler City is a town in Chatham County, North Carolina, United States. The population is right at 8,747 within corporate limits and 14,005 within corporate limits and ETJ...
, and prove to be a witty, giving man (even though he was robbed at a similar festival after a car accident) - Charles StarrettCharles StarrettCharles Starrett was an American actor best known for his starring role in the Durango Kid Columbia Pictures western series. He was born in Athol, Massachusetts.-Career:...
, "The Durango Kid", who actually contacted Horwitz himself because he was happy to still be remembered after twenty-two years in retirement - Russell HaydenRussell HaydenRussell "Lucky" Hayden was an American film and television actor.He was born as Hayden Michael "Pate" Lucid, son of Francis J...
, "Lucky" in the Hopalong Cassidy movies, who was a movie fan that actually became a movie hero himself, and who was trying to make a success out of an old movie set that he wanted to offer as a tourist attraction - Joel McCreaJoel McCreaJoel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned 50 years and appearances in over 90 films.-Early life:...
, who actually made a name for himself as an actor outside of westerns, but who retunerd to the medium he loved, and who starred in the last "true" old western, Ride the High CountryRide the High CountryRide the High Country is a noted 1962 American Western film. It stars Joel McCrea, Randolph Scott, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan and Mariette Hartley. It was written by N.B...
with Randolph ScottRandolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
(who refused to be interviewed by Horwitz, as a matter of protecting his privacy) - Jimmy WakelyJimmy WakelyJames Clarence Wakeley , better known as Jimmy Wakely, was an American country-Western singer and actor, one of the last crooning cowpokes following World War II...
, the "last" of the singing cowboys - Duncan RenaldoDuncan RenaldoRenault Renaldo Duncan , better known as Duncan Renaldo, was an American actor who portrayed The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950-1956 American TV series, The Cisco Kid.-Early years:...
, The Cisco KidThe Cisco KidThe Cisco Kid refers to a character found in numerous film, radio, television and comic book series based on the fictional Western character created by O. Henry in his 1907 short story "The Caballero's Way", published in the collection Heart of the West...
, who took Horwitz to see Diablo, his horse from the Cisco Kid television shows - Tim McCoyTim McCoyCol. Tim McCoy was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs.-Early years:...
, who was the last of the 'original' movie cowboys, who proved to be the most open and emotional about his career and life, and whom Horwitz devotes the most time in the text
Horwitz ends the book at the site where Tom Mix died in a car accident. He takes out his childhood cowboy boots, tries to polish them, and leaves them at the monument marking the location. He felt that such a sacred place was a good place to leave a memento of his childhood, and of memories that "went thataway".
Trivia
- On the paperback edition of They Went Thataway, Joel McCrea's name is misspelled on the cover ("McCrae").