The Brayle vest. Guy William Gane III hand sewed the light-blue vest he wore as Lieutenant Herman Brayle. Sydney Elizabeth Wiemer applied theatrical blood, and Brian “Speedy” Merrick created the bullet-strike effect. Gane agreed to donate the vest for display at Monterey Pass Battlefield Park. Funding for the shadow box and final display remains in progress.
The Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield and the Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum have agreed to accept the vest for display. Funding and final display arrangements remain in progress.
One object, many layers of the production
The vest carries several stories at once: Guy’s hand sewing and costume design; Brayle’s character; Sydney’s makeup work; Speedy’s practical effect; the death scene; the recovery of the body; and the effort of the people who created the film. Preserving it turns a screen object into a piece of public memory.
The proposed battlefield marker. A commemorative marker has been proposed for Monterey Pass Battlefield Park to identify the landscape where major scenes were filmed. It has not been commissioned or installed. A possible location is near the pavilion area, close to the scene involving the psychologically wounded Union soldier.
The Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield and the Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum have agreed to accept a commemorative marker if the project proceeds. The proposed location is near the pavilion area, close to the filming site of the psychologically wounded Union-soldier scene. The cost of a high-quality field marker may prove prohibitive and could prevent the marker from being acquired or installed.
Marking the place where the film was made
The outdoor marker and the museum display serve different purposes. The marker would identify the Pennsylvania landscape where filming occurred. The vest display would preserve an artifact made and transformed for the screen. Together with the book, website, interviews, photographs, and production archive, they can preserve evidence of how the film was created.
Special thanks. The Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield Park and the many people whose location support, meals, lodging, transportation, hospitality, preservation work, and practical assistance sustained the production.