Post by MemphisFFAdmin on Feb 5, 2010 23:23:23 GMT -6
Recently, we lost a good friend of the Memphis Film Festival - Dewey Derrick - who passed away at the age of 85.
Most people who've collected 16mm B western films and serials over the years probably encountered Dewey Derrick of North Little Rock, AR somewhere along the way. He'd been an avid collector since the mid-1970s and was very proud of his films. Bob Steele was his favorite cowboy, and he also enjoyed Tim MCoy, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, and Tom Tyler among others. He was involved with the Memphis Film Festival during the early 1980s, and continued to loan film to it for years afterward.
Dewey died on February 3rd. He was about 85 years old. He had been in ill health for the last year or so. He is survived by his wife, Lorene, and two daughters. He was active in Masonry for a long time.
I owe alot in my life to Dewey. He was the one who reintroduced me to B westerns, which I had enjoyed on television as a young boy in the early 1950s. They were only a part of my past in 1977, and I never dreamed I'd be able to enjoy them again until I saw a news story about Dewey and his collection on a Little Rock television station. I was intrigued that anyone could actually collect and watch these films, so I contacted the station to see if it could put me in touch with Dewey. I called him shortly thereafter, and he invited me to his home in the Rose City section of North Little Rock.
He had converted his garage into a screening room, complete with theatre seats and cowboy movie posters covering the walls. He screened part of a film for me that day, and invited me to come back when he showed a complete one to a small group of fans. I returned and continued to do so one Saturday a month for the next 30 years. Dewey would run a couple of serial chapters and would follow them with a two or more B westerns. More often than not, we'd be watching his films but occasionally others who collected would bring something of theirs along to screen. There'd always be a lot of great conversation afterwards about the films we watched, the characters featured in them, and how these movies still meant so much to us decades after they were made.
Because of Dewey, I first became aware of a film festival held in Memphis beginning in 1972. It was dedicated to B western movies, and I went to my first festival there in 1977. I can still remember being awestruck by meeting the likes of Monte Hale, Myron Healy, Iron Eyes Cody, Art Davis, Arkansas "Slim" Andrews, Penny Edwards, Jock Mahoney, and Foy Willing of Riders of the Purple Sage fame. Within three years, when the festival reorganized, I'd become a part of the organization.
Dewey taught me everything I learned about film collecting. He also introduced me to other collectors such as Norman York, Don Shofner, Charlie Boren, H.K. Garth, Mitchell Schaperkotter, and others who broadened my horizons. A year or so ago, Dewey's health got the best of him, and he was no longer able to show films at his home. We moved our group to my schoolroom in Conway, AR., but we still talked with him on occasion and tried to keep him up with what we were doing. There are about 10 of us now who are continuing the tradition Dewey started. He will remain in our hearts for as long as we're together.
---Ray Nielsen
Chairman, Memphis Film Festival
Most people who've collected 16mm B western films and serials over the years probably encountered Dewey Derrick of North Little Rock, AR somewhere along the way. He'd been an avid collector since the mid-1970s and was very proud of his films. Bob Steele was his favorite cowboy, and he also enjoyed Tim MCoy, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, and Tom Tyler among others. He was involved with the Memphis Film Festival during the early 1980s, and continued to loan film to it for years afterward.
Dewey died on February 3rd. He was about 85 years old. He had been in ill health for the last year or so. He is survived by his wife, Lorene, and two daughters. He was active in Masonry for a long time.
I owe alot in my life to Dewey. He was the one who reintroduced me to B westerns, which I had enjoyed on television as a young boy in the early 1950s. They were only a part of my past in 1977, and I never dreamed I'd be able to enjoy them again until I saw a news story about Dewey and his collection on a Little Rock television station. I was intrigued that anyone could actually collect and watch these films, so I contacted the station to see if it could put me in touch with Dewey. I called him shortly thereafter, and he invited me to his home in the Rose City section of North Little Rock.
He had converted his garage into a screening room, complete with theatre seats and cowboy movie posters covering the walls. He screened part of a film for me that day, and invited me to come back when he showed a complete one to a small group of fans. I returned and continued to do so one Saturday a month for the next 30 years. Dewey would run a couple of serial chapters and would follow them with a two or more B westerns. More often than not, we'd be watching his films but occasionally others who collected would bring something of theirs along to screen. There'd always be a lot of great conversation afterwards about the films we watched, the characters featured in them, and how these movies still meant so much to us decades after they were made.
Because of Dewey, I first became aware of a film festival held in Memphis beginning in 1972. It was dedicated to B western movies, and I went to my first festival there in 1977. I can still remember being awestruck by meeting the likes of Monte Hale, Myron Healy, Iron Eyes Cody, Art Davis, Arkansas "Slim" Andrews, Penny Edwards, Jock Mahoney, and Foy Willing of Riders of the Purple Sage fame. Within three years, when the festival reorganized, I'd become a part of the organization.
Dewey taught me everything I learned about film collecting. He also introduced me to other collectors such as Norman York, Don Shofner, Charlie Boren, H.K. Garth, Mitchell Schaperkotter, and others who broadened my horizons. A year or so ago, Dewey's health got the best of him, and he was no longer able to show films at his home. We moved our group to my schoolroom in Conway, AR., but we still talked with him on occasion and tried to keep him up with what we were doing. There are about 10 of us now who are continuing the tradition Dewey started. He will remain in our hearts for as long as we're together.
---Ray Nielsen
Chairman, Memphis Film Festival