Last week was the 61st anniversary of Academy Award-winner Joan Fontaine visiting McAllen to perform in a traveling Broadway production.
Hollywood’s connection to the Rio Grande Valley didn’t end there, however, as this week marks the time Brownsville held its first ever world premiere for a motion picture 77 years ago; the concinnity consisting of Hollywood glamour and border culture was prevalent through plenty of festivities leading up to the premiere.
On the evening of March 8, 1949, Brownsville kicked off the world premiere of Ray Enright’s “South of St. Louis” — a Technicolor Western film set during the Civil War in Brownsville and Matamoros.
Starring one of the most famous Western actors — Joel McCrea — and Alexis Smith, the film’s movie stars arrived in the Valley by train on the night of March 7, 1949 alongside Warner Brothers’ studio and Interstate theater representatives.
Prior to the premieres the following night at the Capitol and Queen theatres, there were festivities throughout the day between Brownsville and Matamoros as a way to emphasize “international goodwill,” according to archival reporting from The Brownsville Herald.
The ceremonies began at 10 a.m. on March 8, 1949, when the movie stars were taken to Palmetto Ranch, where the last battle of the Civil War occurred in May 1865 (it was a Confederate victory). Among the people at the ceremony there was Atemiges Orive, whose grandfather owned the land where the battle was fought.
Festivities continued in the afternoon at the center of Gateway International Bridge where Texas Good Neighbor Commissioner Tom Sutherland and Consul Javier Osornio C. exchanged American and Mexican flags.
According to the Texas State Historical Association, the Good Neighbor Commission was established in 1943 as a state agency to handle social, cultural and economic problems of Mexican Americans in the state as well as to strengthen political ties of Texas with Mexico and other Latin American nations.
Due to its duties gradually being absorbed by other agencies and budget cuts in 1987, the commission was ultimately abolished.
During the bridge ceremony, there was a tablet commemorating 100 years of peace between Texas and Mexico while a “Friendship Plane” painted with the crossed flags of the two countries flew over Gateway.
Other festivities included a plane ride over Brownsville and Matamoros, the movie stars being presented with souvenir sarapes, visits to local ranches in Willacy County, and of course, personal appearances with excited fans in Brownsville and Harlingen.
Brownsville Herald editor Mary V. Wallace was able to speak with Smith amid the busy schedule, noting that the Canadian-born actor was “as poised as a true Southern lady.”
Smith told Wallace that she liked Brownsville so much that she wished they had filmed the movie on location rather than the Hollywood set version with hills.
“I like the small premieres best, though, because in a small town, one can get to know the people better,” Smith said.
As for McCrea, the Valley folk purchased a registered Brahma bull calf from the J.A. Garcia ranch in Kenedy County. The Western star had a 3,000-acre cattle ranch in California at the time, but quipped it would be considered a backyard in Texas.
The calf was given to McCrea, who apparently had picked out the animal himself and lassoed him in a corral.
“Observers said he appeared to know how to use a rope,” the Star said in its March 10, 1949 edition.
The movie stars ultimately departed Wednesday night on March 9, 1949 to reach San Antonio for various appearances there before ending the Texas tour in Austin on March 12, 1949.
And if you’re an avid fan of classic Hollywood flicks (like me), or simply enjoy watching movies (like me), then I’m happy to report that “South of St. Louis” can be watched for free on YouTube right here.
Here are various stories regarding the Valley hosting its first-ever world premiere of a motion picture while also celebrating its binational friendship from The Brownsville Herald and Valley Morning Star archival editions between March 8-10, 1949.
Brownsville Goes Hollywood Tonight With World Premiere
Alexis Smith And Joel McCrea, Stars Of ‘South Of St. Louis,’ Here For Event
The Brownsville Herald (March 8, 1949)
“South of St. Louis”, Technicolor saga of Civil War days in Brownsville and Matamoros, will be given a two-nations premiere here Tuesday night (March 8, 1949) when personal appearances by Alexis Smith and Joel McCrea, stars of the film, climax day-long ceremonies emphasizing international goodwill.
The main two-nations ceremonies are scheduled for 1:45 p.m. at the center of Gateway Bridge where Texas Good Neighbor Commissioner Tom Sutherland and Consul Javier Osornio C. will exchange U.S. and Mexican flags.
Bridge Ceremony
Gen. Juan Celis Campos will present McCrea and Miss Smith with sarapes from Mexico. Mayor H. L. Stokely of Brownsville and Mayor Ernesto E. Elizondo of Matamoros will exchange greetings, and McCrea will be made an honorary captain of the Mexican Rurales by Elizondo.
In observance of International Brotherhood Week, Joseph Rubinsky, Matamoros civic leader, and Sam Perl, Brownsville civic leader, will also exchange greetings. The ceremony will take place before a tablet commemorating 100 years of peace between Texas and Mexico while a “Friendship Plane,” painted with the crossed flags of the U.S. and Mexico, flies over the bridge.
Street Dance
At 6:30 p.m. the street in front of the Capitol theater will be roped off for the dance of the viejitos (dance of the old men) performed by children in Charro Days costume.
At 7 p.m. Robin Pate will introduce the dignitaries from both Mexico and the U.S. who participated in the day’s ceremonies, and Miss Smith and McCrea will make a brief street appearance.
The stage show with the two stars is set for 7:45 p.m. at the Capitol theater and for 8 p.m. at the Queen theater. Radio commentator Jim Wiggins will be master of ceremonies for the stage shows. “South of St. Louis” will be shown in both theaters to insure ample seating.
Newsreel cameras will be focused on all major events.
Arrive Here
McCrea and Miss Smith arrived by train Monday night (March 7, 1949), escorted by six Texas Rangers. They were accompanied by Warner Brothers’ studio and Interstate theater representatives.
Brownsville civic leaders in Charro Days costume greeted the stars. They were presented with a sombrero and sarape by Arnulfo Valle, president of the Kiwanis-sponsored Key Club, and escorted to their hotel by maids of honor and guards of honor dressed as Chinas and Charros. A mariachi band joined the escort.
Miss Juanita Fernandez, a graduate of Brownsville Junior college and now an airline hostess, was chosen Monday (March 7, 1949) as queen of the premiere festival.
To Battlefield
At 10 a.m. Tuesday (March 8, 1949), McCrea and Miss Smith with their escorts, were taken to Palmetto Battlefield where a Confederate detachment won a battle 28 days after the actual end of the Civil War.
The stars were escorted by a sheriff’s posse and Texas Rangers. At the battlefield, McCrea and Miss Smith were made honorary members of the posse after meeting old settlers and DAR members in colonial costume who followed in a caravan of cars.
Air Tour
After the battlefield tour, the old settlers, Rangers and representatives of the press boarded an airliner for a flight over Brownsville, Matamoros, the battlefield and the Rio Grande. Wire recordings were made at the airport for radio broadcasts.
Premiere Of Movie Brings Out Throngs
South Of St. Louis Gets First Public Showing In World
The Brownsville Herald (March 9, 1949)
Mobs of movie fans surrounded a klieg-lighted platform before the Capitol theatre Tuesday night (March 8, 1949) to catch a glimpse of Alexis Smith and Joel McCrea, stars of the Civil War saga “South of St. Louis.”
Other throngs crowded into the Capitol and Queen theaters for onstage appearances of the two stars and the premiere showing of the technicolor documentary of Civil War days in Brownsville and Matamoros.
Newsreels Taken
Newsreel cameras were focused on day-long ceremonies which took place in connection with the two-nations premiere.
U.S. and Mexican dignitaries including Texas Good Neighbor Commissioner Tom Sutherland and Consul Javier Osornio C. participated in a demonstration of international goodwill at Gateway bridge Tuesday afternoon (March 8, 1949).
Tuesday morning McCrea was escorted to Palmetto Hill battlefield near Brownsville for a ceremony on the site of the Confederates’ last stand in the war between the states. Atemiges Orive, whose grandfather owned the land where the Palmetto Hill battle was fought, looked on at the ceremony together with many old settlers and DAR members in colonial costume.
Queen Appears
Miss Juanita Fernandez of Brownsville, selected by the Junior Chamber of Commerce as queen of the two-nations premiere, appeared on the platform Tuesday night (March 8, 1949) together with the stars.
Another highlight of the day’s pre-premiere festivities was an airliner trip for old settlers, press members and the Texas Rangers who served as escorts for Miss Smith and McCrea. They flew over Brownsville, Matamoros and vicinity.
Bridge Ceremony
(Reynosa Mayor Ernesto) Elizondo and Mayor H. L. Stokely of Brownsville exchanged greetings at the center of the bridge, and Miss Smith and McCrea were presented with souvenir sarapes by Gen. Juan Celis Campos of the Army of the Republic of Mexico.
McCrea and Miss Smith are slated for personal appearances in two Harlingen theaters Wednesday night (March 9, 1949).
They will be on stage at the Arcadia theater there at 7 p.m. and at the Rialto theater at 7:30 p.m. Showing of “South of St. Louis” starts at 5:30 p.m.
Alexis Smith Would Like Stage If She Could Remember Lines
By Mary V. Wallace | The Brownsville Herald (March 9, 1949)
Following Alexis Smith around, grabbing a question here and there, and watching her being charmingly gracious to everyone, is a thrill.
Whether dodging down a Brownsville back alley or greeting a theater full of admirers before a dazzle of stage lights, the tall, beautiful Alexis is as poised as a true Southern lady, and in addition is as full of interest in life as a teen-ager (sic, teenager).
Born In Canada
Backstage at the Capitol, she said zestfully, “I feel fine,” when asked, then went out with a smile to tell the audience she was born in British Columbia, Canada, she had been in the movie business eight and one-half years. Brownsville looked different from the Hollywood set version with its hills, she liked Brownsville so well she wished they had come down here to film “South of St. Louis,” and she had just finished a western with Errol Flynn, “Montana,” and a movie with Clark Gable, “Any Number Can Play.”
Backstage again, she said this was her third premiere, the others being “Night and Day,” and “Dive Bomber.” “I like the small premieres best, though, because in a small town, one can get to know the people better,” she says.
Make Film’s End
After the Capitol appearance, Alexis, Joel McCrea, and company hurry through the alley behind the Capitol to enter the Queen Theater’s backstage just as the film is ending.
After an appearance here, Alexis and the others walk back to the hotel. As she goes, she tells more about herself, pausing to sign an autograph book for a little Mexican girl.
“Most people have a hard luck story to hand you about starving on Broadway or in Hollywood for years before making good, but someone just walked up to me and said, ‘Here’s a contract.’”
She studied dancing during her childhood in California and is an excellent ballet dancer. She has been offered the leading role in Scheherazade with Ballet Russ de Monte Carlo, but hasn’t been able to arrange a time for this with her work at the studio.
Spotted In Play
Dancing and acting seemed to go along together, and soon she developed an ambition to go to New York and go on the stage. She was in a play at Los Angeles City College when a talent scout saw her and introduced her to a movie career.
Does she like movie acting? “Yes! I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t.”
But she still has an ambition to go on the stage. She is just a little bit worried about whether or not she could remember a whole play-full of lines at one time, however. In Hollywood, she has only to remember a few pages of lines for each day.
Watched Movie
When Alexis and Joel McCrea entered the Capitol Theater to go backstage for their appearance, they came in the front door and slipped down the aisle almost unnoticed, then stood at the side door near the stage entrance for a short time watching the ending to the film.
The contrast between the real Alexis (or call her Mrs. Craig Stevens) and the Alexis on the screen was startling. Minus the red wig and gaudy makeup, blonde, quiet Alexis looked very little like the flamboyant screen Rouge. You had to look closely to see any resemblance. And that certainly indicates good acting.
Stars of ‘South of St. Louis’ Due To Appear Today in Harlingen at Arcadia and Rialto
Valley Morning Star (March 9, 1949)
Joel McCrea and Alexis Smith, stars of South of St. Louis, who made personal appearances Tuesday (March 8, 1949) at the two-nation premiere of the film in Brownsville. Wednesday (March 9, 1949) will arrive here for similar appearances.
The personal appearance of the stars is scheduled at 7 p.m. on the stage of the Arcadia theater, and at 7:20 p.m. on the stage of the Rialto. The film itself will be shown beginning at 1 p.m. at the Arcadia, and at 5:30 at the Rialto. Up to 5 o’clock the Rialto will show its scheduled feature.
Miss Smith and McCrea are expected to arrive here sometime earlier Wednesday, with their escort of Texas Rangers, and Miss Juanita Fernandez, Brownsville, airline hostess chosen as queen of South of St. Louis. Miss Fernandez is a member of a pioneer Brownsville family.
The Hollywood visitors will leave Harlingen at 9:15 p.m. via Missouri Pacific for San Antonio, where they will make appearances Thursday and Friday.
In Brownsville Tuesday, Hollywood glamour and the romance of the Texas border country combined Tuesday night as the border city staged its first world premiere of a motion picture.
Stars Alexis Smith and Joel McCrea of the Warner Brothers Studio picture, highlighted its first public showing simultaneously at two Brownsville theaters.
Miss Smith and McCrea made personal appearances on a kleig-lighted (sic, klieg-lighted) platform in front of the Capitol theater as crowds surged and milled on the roped-off streets.
A large part of the throng turned out dressed either in colorful Charro costumes or in the garb of Texas cowboys.
The premiere climaxed a day of activities highlighted by ceremonies at Palmetto Hill, scene of the last battle of the Civil War, and at the international bridge, where officials of Brownsville and its sister Mexican city, Matamoros, met and exchanged greetings in keeping with the Friendship Day proclamation of Mayor H. L. Stokely. Both stars took part in these events.
South of St. Louis tells in technicolor a story laid in Brownsville and Matamoros during the Civil War days when cotton was smuggled across the Rio Grande to evade the federal blockade, and guns for the Confederate forces were smuggled back.
Film Stars Enjoy Tour Over Valley and Ranch Visits Between Show Appearances
Valley Morning Star (March 10, 1949)
Alexis Smith and Joel McCrea, stars of South of St. Louis, who arrived in the Valley Monday night (March 7, 1949) for the world premiere of the film Tuesday at Brownsville, appeared before packed houses here Wednesday night (March 9, 1949) at the Arcadia and Rialto theatres, and later entrained for San Antonio.
The stars arrived late for their scheduled 7 p.m. appearance at the Arcadia theatre, after a tour of the Valley Wednesday afternoon which included visits to the Garcia and Yturria ranches in Willacy county (sic, Willacy County).
McCrea has a 3,000-acre cattle ranch in California, which he said has no cats-claw brush, and which he said would be considered a “back yard” in Texas.
Master of ceremonies was James Wiggins, of station KABC, San Antonio, who interviewed Miss Smith and McCrea on the stages of the local theatres. The stars did not make street appearances here as at Brownsville. Back-stage, a group of high school newspaper students and autograph seekers was admitted, but the time schedule did not permit any but running interviews and photographs.
Miss Smith said she had enjoyed seeing the Rio Grande Valley, but bemoaned the effects of the January freeze. McCrea said he had been ribbed by members of the Texas Ranger escort about shooting more than six times with a six-shooter. He explained that a scene is filmed from more than one angle and when the picture is put together these various angles of the same scene may follow each other.
The stars left via Missouri Pacific Wednesday night for San Antonio for appearances there Thursday and Friday. They will end the South Texas tour at Austin Saturday.
At the J. A. (Alec) Garcia ranch about 17 miles northwest of Raymondville in Kenedy county (sic, Kenedy County), a registered brahma bull calf, purchased from Garcia by a group of Valleyites, was given to McCrea, who picked the animal out himself and lassoed him in a corral. Observers said he appeared to know how to use a rope.
