• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Saturday, March 6, 2021
43 °f
Platte
57 ° Mon
59 ° Tue
65 ° Wed
50 ° Thu
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

That time when hollywood movie-making came to Platte City

Ivan Foley by Ivan Foley
October 2, 2019
in Between the Lines
9
SHARES
214
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Downtown Platte City. Also known as East Hollywood.

Say what?

RelatedNews

Commissioners, judgeships and Petticoat Junction

Investigations, rolling outages and building south

Concerts and conspiracy theories and such

Forty-five years ago this month, in October of 1974, a movie was being made in the streets of historic downtown Platte City. The movie, known as “Bucktown,” starred Fred Williamson, a former player for the Kansas City Chiefs. Some of you will remember Williamson had a brief stint–in fact, a very brief stint–as the third man in the booth on Monday Night Football telecasts.

But in 1974 Williamson was starring in a movie with scenes filmed in Platte City. Bucktown is essentially a police story, a small town drama focusing on one man’s fight against crime and corruption. It was directed by Arthur Marks, who was the producer of the Perry Mason television series for 10 years.

The female star in Bucktown was Pamela Grier (more on her later, she has a bit of a fascinating background).

Scenes for Bucktown were filmed in and around the Platte County Courthouse, the Platte County Jail (the county jail back then looked nothing like the one today, keep in mind), and on Main Street.

Heck, even the back door of The Landmark building was worked into the movie. That’s right. On Monday night, Oct. 14, 1974, a scene was filmed in back of The Landmark office. In the movie, the back door of the newspaper office was portrayed to be the door of a saloon. I feel like our back door kind of got typecast in that role, as it hasn’t been asked to appear in any movies since then. Hollywood producers, please hit me up.

This is cool stuff: For a scene in Bucktown, a wall was built just east of the Platte County Jail for an armored car to drive through in an escape scene. According to the Oct. 18, 1974 edition of The Landmark, other scenes for the movie were filmed along the Platte River, in Leavenworth and in Kansas City.

Here’s the best part: Thanks to the internet, you can watch Bucktown anytime at your leisure. Just go to YouTube and enter Bucktown in the search box. You’ll see a choice pop up labeled “Bucktown 1975 Full Movie.” Click on it. The movie runs one hour, 16 minutes.

You’re welcome, America.


Pam Grier, the actress who starred in Bucktown alongside Fred Williamson, has a fascinating story. Grier moved to Los Angeles in 1967, where she was initially hired to work the switchboard at American International Pictures (AIP). She is believed to have been discovered by director Jack Hill, who cast her in his women-in-prison films The Big Doll House (1971) and The Big Bird Cage (1972). While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s “blaxploitation” movies, playing bold, assertive women, beginning with Jack Hill’s Coffy (1973), in which she plays a nurse who seeks revenge on drug dealers. By appearing in the movie Coffy, Grier is considered to be the first African-American female to headline an action film. In his review of the movie Coffy, noted critic Roger Ebert praised the film for its believable female lead. He noted that Grier was an actress of “beautiful face and astonishing form” and that she possessed a kind of “physical life” missing from many other attractive actresses. Grier subsequently played similar characters in the films Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby, and Friday Foster (both 1975).

In later years, Grier turned to television. She had a recurring role on Miami Vice (I loved that show) from 1985 to 1989 and made guest appearances on Martin, Night Court, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

In her personal life, Grier was linked with basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabaar from 1969-71 in a relationship that began when the player was still known by his original name of Lew Alcindor. Soon after they began dating, Alcindor converted to Islam and changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He proposed to Grier, but gave her an ultimatum to convert to Islam. He reportedly told her “If you don’t commit to me today, I’m getting married at 2 this afternoon. She’s a converted Muslim, and she’s been prepared for me.” Grier said, “I think I’ll pass,” and Jabaar got married later that day.

By the way, I’m paraphrasing those conversations. Full disclosure: I wasn’t actually there, just so you know.

Grier later was linked romantically with comic Freddie Prinze (Chico and the Man) from 1973-75, but that ended due to her concerns about Prinze’s depression and drug addiction. She is reportedly one of the last people the troubled Prinze spoke with before he fatally shot himself in 1977. Grier was in a relationship with star comedian Richard Pryor from 76-77, according to her memoirs.

Grier is still alive and apparently well at age 70. In recent years she started the Pam Grier Community Garden and Education Center with the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. The purpose is to teach people about organic gardening, health and nutrition.


Bucktown producer Arthur Marks is still alive. He is 92 years old and living in LA.


Finally, our movie’s star Fred Williamson is also still kicking at age 81. I’m old enough to remember his short stint in the booth on Monday Night Football when in 1974 he was initially chosen to replace Don Meredith. It was immediately clear this deal wasn’t going to work. Williamson was used on a few pre-season broadcasts but was quickly declared awful in the booth by ABC and he was replaced at the start of the regular season by Alex Karras. Williamson had played four season for the Raiders and three for the Chiefs, including on their Super Bowl I team.

Never shy, Williamson posed nude for Playgirl magazine in 1973. Williamson became an actor much in the mold of star running back Jim Brown. He acted alongside Brown in films such as Three the Hard Way (1974), Take a Hard Ride (1975), One Down, Two to Go (1982), Original Gangstas (1996) and On the Edge (2002). He later became a director and is still working today. During the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, Williamson frequently appeared on television as a spokesman for King Cobra malt liquor (“Don’t let the smooth taste fool you.”)

(Don’t let the smooth taste of this Between the Lines fool you. Things can get salty on Twitter @ivanfoley and on Landmark Live. Email ivan@plattecountylandmark.com)

Tags: landmark liveplatte cityplatte countypolicePublic Safety
Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley

Ivan Foley is owner/editor/publisher of the Platte County Landmark. Foley has been on the news beat in Platte County with The Landmark for 38 years, specializing in local government issues and accountability journalism. He has penned multiple award-winning investigative pieces. He provides weekly observations and editorial commentary in his Between the Lines column and serves as host of Landmark Live, a light-hearted videocast featuring newsmakers and events in the Northland. During his time at the helm of The Landmark, the newspaper has been awarded on multiple occasions for General Excellence in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. In 2016, Foley won the Tom and Pat Gish Award, a national honor given by the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Kentucky for displaying courage, tenacity and integrity in rural journalism. A big fan of the Chiefs and Royals, Foley resides in Platte County not far from KCI Airport.

Related Posts

Platte Landing boat ramp described as ‘dangerous’

Platte Landing boat ramp described as ‘dangerous’

by Ivan Foley
March 4, 2021
0

In January of 2017 it is alleged Toni Anderson, age 20, a college student from Wichita who had been living and working in Kansas City, was driving her car when she got disoriented and ended up in the Platte Landing...

Joe Vanover

County commissioner wants to be associate circuit judge

by Ivan Foley
March 4, 2021
0

When Ann Hansbrough was recently appointed to fill the circuit judge post vacated by the retiring James Van Amburg, it created a vacancy in Hansbrough's former spot of associate circuit judge. The process to name the new associate circuit judge...

Government transparency

Lack of transparency at the health department

by Landmark Digital Staff
March 4, 2021
0

EDITOR: Something shady went down at the Platte County Health Department and it deserves to be investigated. Local dentist and board of trustees member, Teresa Hills, sold her dental practice and left Platte County on Jan. 1, 2021 requiring that...

Petticoat Junction

Commissioners, judgeships and Petticoat Junction

by Ivan Foley
March 4, 2021
0

Eight folks have applied to become associate circuit judge in Platte County. The chosen one will fill the spot vacated when Judge Ann Hansbrough was recently named to circuit judge, leaving her associate judgeship to be filled by a process...

Next Post

Spooky event set at Weston Bend State Park

Popular News

  • Platte Landing boat ramp described as ‘dangerous’

    Platte Landing boat ramp described as ‘dangerous’

    91 shares
    Share 36 Tweet 23
  • Why the urgency for R-3 bond issue?

    30 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 8
  • Judge tells city to produce documents

    23 shares
    Share 9 Tweet 6
  • County commissioner wants to be associate circuit judge

    15 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4
  • City ‘finds’ 2,300 records, gives them to Jason Maki

    17 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 4
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Subscribe Online
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist