Poster photo by Julie Schachter, from her pinhole photography book, "Black Boxes" (available at amazon.com).
————
MY BOUNTY HUNTER is about an old man, Jefé, who is on the run from the law, holed up in an old adobe house on the outskirts of Death Valley Junction. Two dot.comers decide to hunt him down, to grab publicity for their fledging website launch of bountyhunter.com. It is never clear what exactly Jefé is wanted for, but as the chase proceeds we get to meet an array of his desert friends and hear their real-life stories. We're told about abusive fathers, fathers dying too young, and the loss of innocence when a dropped light meter entrused to a seven-year-old impacts the man he is to become. Marta Becket, first lady of the Amargosa Opera House, shares her story of the difficulty she had as a young woman, breaking free from her overly-possessive mother. The two bounty hunters (Stephen King and Dave Duffett) bumble their way along, learning more about themselves than how to catch a harmless old man who sells corn cob pipes.
---------------
A Feature Workshops Production ©2001. Written/Directed by Molly Ainsley, Dave Duffett, Morgan Schmidt-Feng, Lloyd Francis, Stephen King, Tim Kolarsick, Stephen Rubin, Rick Schmidt, Phil Smy and Chris Tow. Director of Photography – Morgan Schmidt-Feng filmsight.com. Editors Morgan Schmidt-Feng & Chris Tow. Produced by Morgan Schmidt-Feng and Rick Schmidt.
Marta Becket was a dancer first and foremost, but she became a painter as well (see her Amargosa Opera House characters/royalty that fill the walls, well presented in MY BOUNTRY HUNTER.). And she sold oil paintings on canvas and boards.
Biography
Marta Becket (August 9, 1924 – January 30, 2017) born Martha Beckett, was an American actress, dancer, choreographer and painter.
Marta Becket was born in 1924 in New York. As her father was a newspaper reporter, she was introduced to the arts at an early age, attending the best opera, ballet, and theater around. By the time she was three years old, she had developed a strong desire to dance. When she was six she moved briefly to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with her mother, and then to Philadelphia where she began developing as an artist under the guidance of Antonio Cortizas. By the time she was twelve she returned to New York, where she spent her high school years ballet dancing at Washington Irving High School. While amazing her dance teachers with her natural talent, she also studied piano and art. Becket had a successful career in New York as a professional dancer, and toured throughout the country performing her repertoire. In the spring of 1967 they discovered the Amargosa Hotel in Death Valley Junction, where she immediately felt as if time had stopped. The couple rented and renovated the tiny abandoned theater located behind the hotel, and opened its doors on February 10th, 1968, renaming it the Amargosa Opera House.
After a terrible flash flood in the summer of 1968, Beckett was inspired to paint an entire audience on the theater interior. The murals took her four years to complete. On the west wall, a marble statue is painted holding a scroll written in Latin which reads, "The walls of this theater and I dedicate these murals to the past without which our times would have no beauty. Fin 1972." Since this time, the Opera House has been featured on television, premiering on The Great Mohave Desert for National Geographic. After her completion of the theater walls, she moved on to the ceiling, which took her an additional two years. In 2001, the Las Vegas Art Museum exhibited a retrospective of Becket's art "spanning over six decades."
youtube movie with Marta Becket
Marta Becket paintings on Amargosa Opera House walls (interview with discussion).
Marta Becket's real-life story included in "My Bounty Hunter"
Marta Becket spoke a bit on camera with our lead actor, Jefe’ (she was still keeping herself fit into her 80s/90s for her ballerina-based shows).
———
MY BOUNTY HUNTER (70 min., ©2001) – featuring ballerina Marta Becket, Amargosa Opera House, Death Valley Junction. Some good real-life stories by Marta, Phil Smy, Jefe', Stephen "Jules" Rubin, etc.