Coronado: A Montage Film (1996/2022)

A Film By Rob McHenry

Camera and Editing: Rob McHenry

Music: Joel Sanderson

Consultant: Ben Urish

Photographer, filmmaker, and former Wichita Film Society Chairperson Rob McHenry had beenone of the cinematographers on Palacky: Montage VII. In 1996, McHenry shot footage of theroadside attraction in Northwestern Kansas known as Coronado Heights.

In 1936 the Works Progress Administration built a stone castle at a site marking the supposedarea where explorer Francisco Coronado gave up searching for the Seven Cities of Gold. Over theyears the castle became something of a tourist location and destination for schoolchildren's field trips.

In 2021 McHenry returned to the project, completing it in 2022. His subtle editing hints at theanomaly of a stone castle in the middle of a prairie as people and pets go about their leisure activities. Artist and composer Joel Sanderson supplied the music score as he had for Palacky: Montage VII.

The Montage Series

By Ben Urish

Beginning in 1951 Wichita, Kansas had a vibrant and adventurous film society. The WichitaFilm Society (WFS) was a focal point for those interested in the cinema arts and was both aninstitution of education, exhibition, and a hub for other aspects of the local art and theaterscenes.

By the late 1950s, the WFS had several members and frequent patrons who wanted to makefilms of their own and in 1959, three of them formed Montage Productions, named after theirinterest in the films (and film theories) of Sergei Eisenstein and V.I Pudovkin. The films in theseries eventually were tied together by two broad and broadly defined attributes: 1) they were aboutpeople or places (or both) in Kansas, and 2) the films were artistic representations of other artisticrepresentations, broadly defined. The series lasted until 1965 by which time the members' careerstook them away from Wichita and each other. Each film had its premiere at a WFS screening.

Credits as they appear in the films and a brief synopsis of the films are printed below.

In the early and mid-1980s, I researched the history of The Wichita Film Society and as aresult, came across the information about the Montage films written here.

Through other local filmmakers and former WFS members, I was able to get in touch with CorbanLePell, Wayne Sourbeer, Richard Wright, and Bruce Conner. They shared their memories andinsights and either loaned me copies of their films or told me where to find them. Eventually, the WFS rescreened their films for the public along with more recent films by local filmmakers.

I then got the idea to try and finish their unfinished works and began to read up on thetown of Nicodemus, the subject of one of their unfinished Montage Productions.

Soon, however, I decided to make a film of my own, in more or less the same style that they hadused. That film is listed here as well. Years later, former WFS chairperson Rob McHenry also madea film inspired by the Montage series and that film is also listed here.

The leader of Montage Productions was Wayne Sourbeer, who later went on to be a notedphotographer and also to make several award-winning documentaries and other films, as well asbuilding a successful career at PBS. His awards included winning an Emmy. When contacted inthe early 1980s he related that he had made the film Starry Night, about the noted Van Goghpainting and he reported that he thought of it as being “Montage-like” in form and purpose.

The other two members were Richard Meyer and Richard Grove. In addition to their work withthe WFS and Montage Productions, they began a film class, assisted other local filmmakers, andeven started another alternative film series at a local Wichita theater with university professor WalterMerrill who was a major supporter of both the Montage group and the film and art scene in Wichita.Meyer went into television work eventually being a station director while Grove ran various artmuseums and became a museum Education Specialist for the U.S. Office of Education. He ofteninstituted film programs as part of his work.

Art & Music

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Randie Stone’s Flower Houses (Seattle)

McHenry, Rob - Montage VIII: Coronado Heights, Director’s cut

Sabo Tabby Kitten ( IWW Song)

Русская Марсельеза (Гимн Петрашевцев) Russian Marseillaise ( Anthem Of The Petrashevists)

Painting Midstream. Xiao Qian Teng

One Hour Of DPRK ( North Korean) Performances Of Chinese Songs

One Hour of Ecuadorian Communist Music

One Hour Of Music Emma Goldman

One Hour Of Music Daniel Ortega Saavedra