What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1285520
"Judge Parker was a fascinating man of many layers and, in my opinion, a good man who had a most difficult job." "Judge Parker is a complicated, complex and at times, contradictory personality," Foley appends. "The city was so sick of his sordid fame as the hanging judge that the mayor ordered the gallows burned down following his death. But that wasn't the end of the story. Last fall, Fort Smith dedicated a statue in his honor, celebrating Judge Parker, the community citizen. "The stories of Indian removal that resulted in the federal court, the outlaws and the marshals — they are all remarkably American," Foley adds. "You always start with a good story, and I knew we had that — a treasure chest full of them." So Foley undertook his research "with what we academics call the 'literature' review." "I read every book, newspaper article and story I could get my hands on," he recalls. "I poured through documents and web pages and archives. I scoured for old photographs and films. When I came across the St. Louis Republic story from Sept. 6, 1896, written by Ada Patterson, I thought, 'This might be the hook.' I found the entire story archived at the Museum of Missouri History in St. Louis; the museum sent the microfilm to the UA Library; and when reading it, I instantly knew, 'Yes! This is it!'" Patterson, says Foley, was a 29-year-old reporter "known for covering sensational stories." During her visit to Fort Smith, she interviewed Parker's hangman, George Maledon, a jailer, a guard "and other characters that must have been hanging around the courthouse when she was in town," he says. "I decided to tell the story in first person, beginning with a reenactment of Ada Patterson interviewing the infamous judge," Foley explains. "Both Parker and Patterson were gripping story tellers. It's not by accident that I decided Ada Patterson should narrate the story in first person, using her own words, much like the fictional Mattie Ross narrates the novel — and films — 'True Grit.'" Foley sought out California actress Jennica Schwartzman, who has appeared in Arkansas-made films "Gordon Family Tree," "The Man In The Trunk" and "Parker's Anchor," to portray Patterson. "I had the joy and pleasure of reading Ada Patterson's real words," she marvels. "I just can't believe how much history we get to experience with her news story. Reading Ms. Patterson's words, wearing period-accurate clothing, riding the trolley, walking in her footsteps, taking a walking tour she wrote specifically for me over 100 years later — it was all pretty overwhelming and the richest experience I've ever experienced on a film set. Larry Foley's dedication to historical accuracy as well as his commitment to the artists to bring that journey to life in our own time with his full support — he really is a treasure of a storyteller." See Foley Page 10 SEPTEMBER 6-12, 2020 WHAT'S UP! 9 Bill Rogers portrays Isaac C. Parker, the 19th century Fort Smith jurist known as the "hanging judge," and Jennica Schwartzman is Ada Patterson, a reporter for the St. Louis Republic who came to interview him on his deathbed, in Larry Foley's new film, "Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin' Judge." (Courtesy Photo/James Brewer) Portrayed by Jennica Schwartzman, 19th century reporter Ada Patterson steps off the Fort Smith trolley in Larry Foley's new film. (Courtesy Photo/James Brewer) Ada Patterson walks away from her interview with Judge Parker in "Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin' Judge." (Courtesy Photo/James Brewer)