Final Word On 'Chatham'

OK, last post about the movie "Chatham." Really.

A bit more digging today has turned up some more interesting stories about the antics of the film's major actors. Look for a report in this week's Chronicle of a more general nature, but here's some of the stuff that I won't be putting in the paper.

Carradine's little performance at Yellow Umbrella Books was apparently even more sensational than I'd realized. He did make folks buy his "Kill Bill" book before signing copies of "Cap'n Eri." He was (apparently) quite intoxicated. He left a sour taste in many people's mouths.

On Sunday, on his way out of town, Carradine reportedly stopped by The Squire, ordered a drink, and toasted the town. Perhaps that made up for some of his antics. Maybe not.

Carradine was certainly the most colorful cast member. A regular at The Squire, he was never kicked out of the restaurant despite rumors to the contrary. There was an incident early on where he lit up a smoke in the dining room while having dinner with director Dan Adams. When a freaked out waitress appealed to Otis for help, he went in the back and got a fire extinguisher. He went up to the table and told Carradine to put out the smoke (can't remember if it was a cigar or cigarette) or he'd use the extinguisher. "Do you want to die?" Carradine reported. "I figure I can get off one good blast before you can get out from behind that table," Otis replied. A standoff. Tension. Then Carradine caves, and snuffs out the smoke.

Despite all that, Carradine genuinely appears to have invested a lot in this film. He reportedly hired someone to video tape things behind the scene. Perhaps he believes this will be a big acting break for him, getting him out of genre roles and into more mainstream, leading man type roles. At 70, it may be a bit late. But I have to admit the guy has paid his dues (has anyone seen "Sonny Boy" or "Evil Toons" or "Waxworks II?") and does deserve some recognition among larger audiences.

That said, he will be remembered in Chatham. Bruce Dern and Rip Torn were more low-key. Torn was apparently enamored of shellfishing. One story has him totting his clam rake around the set, not because he needed it as a prop but because he didn't want to lose it. Dern was visible but I heard no real scuttlebutt about his off screen activities.

As I mentioned in previous posts, Jason Alan Smith charmed many people with his Southern manners and self-effacing personality. One local shop owner told me that he gave copies of his book of photos to the cast and crew, and only Jason stopped by the store. Smith also attended the memorial service for Wendy Costello, wife of the owner of The Squire, even though he'd only been in town a short time and had only barely met Richard. He's a young guy and has a big, possibly important career ahead of him, and to his credit didn't burn any bridges.

OK, enough about the movie. Read more if you like in this week's paper, where there will also be a story about how the film has boosted, at least locally, the reputation of Joseph C. Lincoln, the long-dead novelists whose book serves as the template for "Chatham."

Next time, I promise to get into some town politics, and will henceforth try to make regular postings and give Chronicle readers an opportunity to sound off about local issues.