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The History of the Marshal
As was previously mentioned, while the Village was still open, Paul
Bell (a Village undertaker at the time), Curt Daniels and Randy Mitchell
formed a gunfight group called the "Guns of the Old West", but
was eventually changed to "Guns-West" (it's final moniker). At
the time, Curt Daniels was majoring in Television and minoring in Drama at
San Jose State College. Curt did not lack confidence in his ability to put
a show together and was the producer for their first big show: the Fiesta
De Las Rosas. Curt hired bullwhip artist Mark Wennger from Southern
California to beef up the show and asked Chuck Lowe to become the MC. What
the Guns-West group learned from that experience was that they were a much
stronger team with Chuck's involvement.
This Marshal History written by Allen Weitzel and the Fall Guys, with additional notes by Ed Hutton, Joseph Zukin, Jr. and Wild Bill Kelsey. |
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Aside
from Randy Mitchell and Curt Daniels, some other notable entertainers
earned their spurs as FV entertainers: Steve Stroth, Bob Moulthrop, Bill
Perry, Tom Gaylord and Don Gwinn and Tim Cole to name a few.... (sorry if
we left someone out; there have been so many great ones).
Paul Bell left and he kept the
rights to the original name in exchange for the other gunfighters keeping
the set. This eventually (in part) led to the creation of the Fall Guys;
the group stayed together after the park closed. Chuck clearly emerged as
the leader in terms of group
organization and negotiations with management, and clearly the creative
force in the comedic and narrative elements of the Fall Guys shows.
Choreography and staging of the stunts was always a group effort. Curt was
a major contributor to this part of the act. There are many stories, some
of them painful, of Randy and Curt learning to duplicate (by trial and
error) stunts they had seen in movies. It was at one of these sessions (in
Curt's parents' backyard) that gave birth to the famous flying drop-kick,
a move that took it's inspiration from pro wrestling and not B-Westerns.
When the Village closed in September of 1980, the Fall Guys remained
together. Chuck added many former Village employees to the Fall Guy crew
list; Allen, Clyde, Bill Perry, Steve Stroth and Bob Moulthrop to name a
few. The Fall Guys still perform from time to time as schedules permit.