Elfdog

The live cowboys and indians didn't really fight that much. The indians did charge the train and the fort at Ft. McHale. The animatronic old dude at Tommy Fry's cabin caught an arrow in his chest. The bad guys were the train robbers who stopped the train at the village and kidnapped Miss Jessica. The script varried...sometimes at the actors' whims, so you may hear a number of versions as to what actually happened. The guns were real and professionaly modified. They shot only blanks but made a serious noise. A part of the actors' jobs was keeping the guns clean...the blanks discharged downward out of the barrel and really did get dirty fast. I have some Super8 silent film but it is a pain to get it transferred and the quality isn't that great.

It was in the off season but as I recall the winter of '74-'75...it was a mess. We had to get out a bunch of electronic stuff and lower the light towers before they could put up the new skin. I left the park in fall of '76 and never looked back so I am no help on 1977.

The interior shot was from 1972. The man 2nd from the left is Dorian Harewood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_Harewood The theater changed colours because an ice/snow storm caused a deflation which then ripped the envelope on a light tower and it had to be replaced.