Meredith's dining room was a jumble of racks of costumes, boxes of props and, of course, actors, when I arrived on another scorching summer afternoon. "It has been very busy here today," said Chuck, Meredith's Donald Sutherland look-alike husband - who makes a cameo as a civilian in the upcoming scene.
The day had already started at Clermont with a re-shoot of Lieut. Milbrowe's confrontation with John Mobberly...
... and now the actors had come to Meredith's house to change for the day's second shot: "The Ambush of John Mobberly." By the time I arrived, the actors were almost ready. After gathering last minute details like the correct hats, the missing guns and the proper boots, we all formed a convoy and headed for Dr. and Donna Roger's gorgeous property in Hamilton, Virginia.
Once we spilled out of our cars, Meredith instructed us to head up the hill to the pre-civil war bank barn to test the stability of the floor on the principal that if ten people stood on the floor boards and jumped up and down and no one fell through, then it would support the weight of a horse (Meredith checked with the horse owners among us for an estimate of equivalencies). After a few sideways glances, we figured, why not?
The test was, in fact, a success.
Lorenzo Bean once again brought his gun expertise and began loading the black powder guns along with Stuart Hickey and his dad, Michael. One of the actors, Lee Phillips, arrived with a small truck from the Hamilton Volunteer Fire Department (Co. 5) - in case the black powder started any trouble.
The scene unfolds as Mobberly walks his horse into the barn; three Loudoun Rangers and three civilians are waiting for him in the haylofts above. He hears the six guns cock and says, "Oh, Lord! I'm gone," which is apparently historically correct (Loudoun Ranger Briscoe Goodhart's The Independent Loudoun Rangers). Mobberly is then pummeled with three shots to the face (also accurate) and three to the back and falls, dead, from his horse.
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"This is a fun scene," said Meredith. "You read all these horrible stories about Mobberly and then, in this scene, you get to kill him. It's very satisfying."
Peter began filming Mobberly, played by John Power, as he rode his horse Charlie (Charlie Horse) on the approach to the barn. Just as a perfect shot was nearly completed, Charlie began to "use the facilities," or in laymen terms, poop - which caused everyone to break up laughing.
Initially the actors faced some gun-cocking challenges as well, once everyone moved into the barn. Meredith told them all to cock their guns at precisely the same time and on her signal so they could get a good sound recording. Instead, as Meredith dropped her hand (the signal), we heard a series of 6 clicks over a few seconds - and another burst of laughter. Have no fear, the men got it together and the sound recording was a success.
The next challenge came for John. He looked up, saw the six guns pointed at him and said, "Oh, Lord, I'm done," but his last word should have been "gone." Next take, he said, "Oh, Lord, I'm..." Maybe it was the heat, or perhaps all those loaded guns pointing at him. That's enough pressure to make me forget my name. Lorenzo suggested he could always say, "Damn! I'm in a tight spot!" - an "O Brother, Where Art Thou" allusion.
True story: a while before this ambush, Mobberly had shot a Loudoun Ranger, Sgt. Stewart, in the face (after he surrended), then walked his horse over the body and got off his horse to steal the Sergeant's boots (see Chronicle IX - One Bad Dude)...
...but Sgt. Stewart miraculously lived. And he was one of the six to ambush Mobberly in a barn up Long Lane at Lovettsville in April of '65. With that in mind, Meredith decided to have Sgt. Stewart (Dustin) filmed walking past the dead Mobberly and kicking his boot.
Only on the first take, Dustin tripped over the boot. I guess that was Mobberly's last laugh.
On the next take (no tripping), Meredith used her infamous contradiction. "That was perfect! Do it again!"
Another hot, yet exciting day.
Another wrap.
