Carter Family Movie

[Sheephead Shawn]

Though very ambitious, I hope I live to see the day a movie is made of them, Marty Stewart as musical advisor, someone who's got the juice and skillset to do it right.

To illustrate the converse, the "Hank movie" that came out a few years go, that was shunned by Hank III, and rightfully so, it was horrible.

Scorcese maybe, aka Last Waltz Producer Director.............. he may have the chops.

One who has the depth and aptitude to get across the message of their impact and influence, with taste.............and sincerity as well as authenticity.

[Steve Roberts]

My daughter and I saw The Winding Stream documentary about the Carter Family several years ago at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It was good, with lots of music. I think it is available on Netflix.

[BradKlein]

I know there is a completed screenplay being shopped around. Maybe the Cafe can break the story if a deal is made!

[Willie Poole]

There have been movies made of other stars such as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Hank Williams and they seem to paint a picture that really isn`t close to the truth...The directors get information from rumors and hearsay and not much truth in that...And also we all know the stars from just what we seen and heard on some of their shows and records so we aren`r really a good judge either, maybe more truth than we realize...I know Marty idolized The Carter Family so he most likely would know most everything about them but would he include some of the "bad" things, if there are any? I would like to see such a movie myself...

Willie

[JeffD]

There is a graphic novel, well not a novel actually, it is factual, called The Carter Family Don't Forget This Song, by Frank Young and David Lasky. I really enjoyed it.

I am sure it would short cut the storyboarding. So many movies are made from graphic novels and comics these days.

[MikeZito]

Okay, maybe I'm losing my mind - but didn't Carlene Carter play her mom in a movie a few years back?

I SWEAR I remember seeing pictures from some movie that I thought was based on the Carter Family, but now when I do an internet search, I am coming up blank.

[Sheephead Shawn]

OK, I'll direct, am calling right now..................
Sandra Bullock (or Jennifer Connelly) to play Sarah
Warren Beatty to play AP
Kathy Bates (or if you want someone hot then OK Sigourney Weaver) to play Maybelle
My Man Jim Lauderdale handles the Soundtrack with Buddy helping ......................

Woo hoo, how bout that?

[Jon Hall]

I think it was Jewel that portrayed June Carter.

[allenhopkins]

OK: I would go see a Carter Family movie, you would too, perhaps a couple hundred thousand people world-wide might go.

Beyond that, what's the potential audience? There have been "bio" movies -- non-documentary -- on Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Loretta Lynn (the excellent Coal Miner's Daughter), Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, obviously Johnny Cash, others whose names don't immediately spring to mind. They've varied in accuracy of portrayal, and in commercial success. What militates against a Carter Family movie is public profile -- lots more people know Johnny Cash than Alvin Pleasant Carter -- and elapsed time since the Carters' era. Other than a limited number of folk and country aficionados, who's actually listened to their music, would know their names -- or, honestly, would get interested enough in the music and personal histories of more-than-century-old "hillbilly" musicians?

Surely there's plenty of drama in their story, and their music endures whether the general public recognizes that, or not. And no doubt a truly skilled screenwriter and director could coax interest from the general public, who presumably would have to be educated as to just whointhehell the Carter Family were.

I'm waiting for the Bill Monroe biopic, with a subject who's a good deal better known and more recent.

[MikeZito]

OK: I would go see a Carter Family movie, you would too, perhaps a couple hundred thousand people world-wide might go . . . Beyond that, what's the potential audience? . . . Other than a limited number of folk and country aficionados, who's actually listened to their music, would know their names

Fortunately, making a movie does not necessarially mean that it has to be a multi-gazillion dollar production that will be potentially shown in every multli-plex theater in the world . . . perhaps such a movie could be made on a reasonable budget and sold to television outlets like CMT, PBS, The History Channel, or a 'Movie Of The Week' on one of the big networks? (Do they still do the 'Movie Of The Week' on the big networks?)

Just a thought.

[rcc56]

The time to get the movie done would have been 20+ years ago, when all of A.P and Sara's children and Maybelle's children were still alive. The few people still living who knew any of the original Carters well are now getting way up there in age. A.P. passed in 1960, Maybelle in 1978, and Sara in 1979.

There is a pretty good biography of the Carters called "Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone" by Mark Zwonitzer. It has its weaknesses, though. The author usually refers to A.P. as "Pleasant Carter," but from what I've been able to gather, most of the people close to him referred to him as simply as "A.P.," or in June's case, "Uncle A.P."

When you think about the Carters, don't forget about Leslie Riddles, who taught Maybelle to fingerpick and frequently went off with A.P. on his song collecting excursions.

If a movie is done on the Carters, I hope they do a better job than what was done on Woody Guthrie in "Bound For Glory." Somehow Hollywood managed to turn Woody, one of America's greatest talkers, into a monosyllabic idiot. I hope they don't turn the Carters into hayseeds.

Norman Blake told me that Helen was the one who was most similar musically to Maybelle. He also said that he wished he had watched Maybelle more carefully when she was playing.

[allenhopkins]

..When you think about the Carters, don't forget about Leslie Riddle[s], who taught Maybelle to fingerpick and frequently went off with A.P. on his song collecting excursions...

And who ended up as a school crossing guard here in Rochester; I met him a time or two when he started playing again in the 1970's, just before he died. The fact that Carter took an African-American musician with him when he went collecting, supposedly because Riddle (singular, not plural, as far as I know) was adept at hearing and remembering the melodies of the songs Carter found, was quite unusual, though I'm not aware it caused controversy at the time. In any case, Riddle enjoyed a modest musical renaissance, largely through Mike Seeger's patronage, before his death.

Here's a YouTube of Leslie Riddle playing John Henry:

[rcc56]

Thanks for posting the Leslie Riddle recording.

I had seen it spelled both ways and didn't know which way was correct. I should have taken the trouble to look it up in a reliable source before posting. I just checked, and "Riddle" [singular] is indeed correct.