True crime: Gumshoes, thugs and puppets

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Davenport Flagstop and damsel-in-distress Betty attempt to negotiate for Betty's sister's release in a scene from "Davenport Flagstop and the Case of the Golden Spike." The Triumvirate Theatre's full-length film debuts Friday.

Submitted photo

Meet Davenport Flagstop. Occupation: detective.

A gumshoe living in the shadow of his father, Flagstop has big shoes to fill, especially for a puppet. Out to show the citizens of Alaska what a good detective looks like, Flagstop embarks on his latest quest to uncover the famous golden spike that marked the completion of the Alaska Railroad and rescue Betty Meers' sister from her kidnappers. His quest will take him from snazzy nightclubs in Anchorage to the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy as he delves into the history of the railroad to find the missing golden spike.

"He's like Sam Spade," said Joe Rizzo, producer and voice actor of the Triumvirate Theater's latest full-length film, "Davenport Flagstop and the Case of the Golden Spike," adding that the film is set in present-day Alaska. "Davenport doesn't like change. He still wears fedoras and drives the 1936 Chrysler his dad owns."

Joe Rizzo and Tatiana Butler puppet in a scene shot at the Usibelli coal mine as director Ryan Cannon films the action.

Submitted photo

The film, produced in cooperation with the Alaska Railroad and funded by the Alaska Humanities Forum, spanned 1,500 miles from Nikiski to Nenana, where the railroad was completed, to educate kids and adults about the important role the railroad played in the history of Alaska. It will premier at the Triumvirate Theater in the Peninsula Center Mall at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and Jan. 11 and 12, with matinee performances on Saturdays at 4 p.m.

After their success with "Baranov's Castle" as a live puppet show and a movie last year, Triumvirate Theater sought to expand its scope by writing a story that incorporated the Alaska Railroad. And, with the help of Ryan Cannon, an independent filmmaker from Brigham Young University in Utah, Rizzo and his cohorts were able to add explosions, car chases and sweeping footage of the Alaska wilderness.

"We talked (Cannon) into coming up and filming (the movie) for the price of a trip to Alaska and to go fishing," Rizzo said. "The grant enabled us to spend time on this project, which added to the quality in terms of writing and production."

Rizzo, who played Sam Spade characters for "Casta Blanca" and "The Maltese Salmon" prior to Davenport Flagstop, said the film noir genre provided the perfect vehicle for educating the audience about the Alaska Railroad, especially since the golden spike that marked the railroad's completion in 1923 is actually missing. Rizzo said a detective would have to learn as much about the Alaska Railroad as his audience in order to be able to uncover the spike.

While uncovering the golden spike may make a good detective story, using puppets to tell the story added nuances you wouldn't find with a human cast to film production. For one thing, Rizzo said there were times when he forgot the actors were puppets and he began talking to them instead of the puppeteers. Another thing, said Carla Jenness, the film's co-producer, puppets can be a little creepy when no one's in them.

"They crumble," she said.

Jenness's husband, Chris, who provides the dialogue for the film's main villain, Lars Crookston, said the writing has to be more creative as well.

"Puppets can't show emotion," he said. "You have to convey that through the dialogue."

Getting the film from paper to the big screen also meant Rizzo and Jenness had to coordinate with Anchorage traffic control for the chase scene, as well as the Alaska Railroad itself in order to get access to many places vehicles can't get to.

"We were accompanied by Tim Thompson (railroad external affairs manager)," Rizzo said, adding that the film crew was also subject to the railroad's schedule. "We made him nervous when we flung a puppet from the train."

In addition to Rizzo playing the title role and Chris Jenness lending his voice to the villain, Nikiski High School senior Andy Gunter adds an unusual flair to the role of Lewis, Flagstop's ninja sidekick.

"That movie part was written for him," Carla Jenness said. "We did have several students helping with puppeting (including) Sarah Shoemaker."

The Smothers Brothers also make a special guest appearance in the film as the act at the nightclub, which just happens to be the top of Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage. Getting the Smothers Brothers to provide the dialogue in "Davenport Flagstop" was a feat that was surprisingly easy to accomplish, Rizzo said. After working hard with the group's agent, Rizzo was able to send the brothers a copy of the script in exchange for a recording of their dialog on a CD which was later worked back into the movie.

"Where there's a will there's a way," Rizzo said, adding that the things you think are going to be difficult turn out to be easy and the things you think will be easy turn out to be hard.

Premier tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for kids. Rizzo said the Triumvirate Theater is also gearing up for its big fundraising event in February by showing "Citizen King" at the Crossing and auctioning off items autographed by Jimmy Carter and Laura Bush. Carla Jenness said an autographed copy of the "Star Wars" score, signed by composer John Williams, will also be auctioned off.

After fighting rain in Seward, darkness in Fairbanks and other obstacles to get this film to the big screen, Rizzo and Chris and Carla Jenness say they feel they can do anything.

"The cool thing is once the work is done, it's done," Rizzo said. "You learn to appreciate any film you watch and you feel like you can do any project if you can make this happen. It's not like a play. You can always pull it out and people will watch it years from now."

Jessica Cejnar can be reached at jessica.cejnar@peninsulaclarion.com.