CONWAY — “Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin’ Judge,” a film by Larry Foley, will premiere on Arkansas PBS and myarpbs.org/live Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m. The film tells the story of the wild and violent frontier days in and around Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Indian Territory, when Judge Isaac C. Parker sent 79 convicted felons to die on the gallows.
The award-winning film, released in 2020, blends a first-person narrative by actress Jennica Schwartzman playing Ada Patterson, a reporter for the now defunct St. Louis Republic, with documentary storytelling featuring scholars from eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas. The real Patterson interviewed Parker, played by Bill Rogers, who was bedridden with kidney disease.
Because he had access to the microfilm of the original 1896 article written by Patterson archived at the Museum of Missouri History in St. Louis, Foley said he felt the best path to recount the events was to combine the storytelling elements.
“I can’t improve on this,” Foley said, referring to the St. Louis Republic article. “This could be bad if we got bad actors, but I knew Jennica would be perfect for Ada Patterson and Bill Rogers, who I’ve known for many years, was what I believe to be an accurate portrayal of Judge Isaac Parker.
“I wanted to be precise with everything, and I knew techniques shouldn’t take away from the story. I knew if we could get the right actors, then this would be a great film.”
Foley went through additional extensive research in an effort to make the film as accurate as possible, “digging into photos at Fort Smith and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City” as one example.
"Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin’ Judge” is not just a historical account; it's a journey into the complexities of a time and a character that shaped the very fabric of Fort Smith,” Arkansas PBS Executive Director and CEO Courtney Pledger said. “Larry Foley’s meticulous research and commitment to authenticity, combined with a talented cast, bring to life the fascinating and contradictory legacy of Judge Isaac Parker.”
Encore presentations of “Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin’ Judge” will air on Arkansas PBS Sunday, Dec. 3, at 10 a.m. and Monday, Dec. 4, at 8 p.m.
Foley received the Mid-America Regional Emmy Award for Best Director for “Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin’ Judge.”
Larry Foley has been writing, producing and directing documentary films for more than 40 years. His films have earned eight Mid-America Regional Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and 24 Emmy nominations in writing, journalistic enterprise, history, cultural history, special program and community service. His films have also received four Best of Festival of Media Arts awards from the international Broadcast Education Association.
