'Cannon Bob' adds a bang to the movie 'Emancipation'
OLD FORT - Bob Gillmor can say, from personal experience, that actor Will Smith is a nice guy. Gillmor met Smith when he built cannons for the 2022 historical thriller “Emancipation,” coproduced by and starring Smith. Gillmor built 15 guns for the movie and served as historical cannon adviser on the set.
“Will Smith was cool. He’s a hoot, a good guy,” Gillmor said. “He was just down-to-earth, one of the nicest guys you’d ever meet.”
Working on a major motion picture is nothing new to Gillmor, who has built cannons for several movies, including “The Last Samurai” and “Gods & Generals.” He most recently provided cannons for the upcoming “Bass Reeves” television series. The show, which is a spinoff of the popular “Yellowstone” series, stars David Oyelowo and Dennis Quaid.
Gillmor made three types of weapons for 'Emancipation'
Included in the “Emancipation” cannons were three 20-pound Parrott cannons, three 10-inch Columbiad cannons and three 13-inch mortar Dictators.
“The Dictator shot 200-pound balls,” Gillmor said.
Gillmor builds the cannons in his Old Fort foundry, Gillmor Ordnance, locally known as “The Cannon Shop.” All of his cannons function and are built to historic aesthetics, but they are constructed for efficiency.
“I make everything to work, but I learned a trick. I make the bodies aluminum with a high-tensile steel liner, and the carriages are made with recycled cedar power poles. The cannons can be moved easily, and the recoil is nice,” Gillmor said. “Adam Decker, a woodworker in Fremont, helped me design the Dictator. I used a cut-off LP tank. It was only 3,000 pounds instead of 30,000 pounds.”
Gillmor's interest in cannons began when he was young
Gillmor became interested in cannon making as a young man when he and his father restored guns at Oakwood Cemetery in Fremont.
“They let me use them for reenactments, and it snowballed from there,” Gillmor said. “We restored Old Betsy in the '90s, and I started the Hayes Encampment, and I realized no one makes cannons.”
With no formal training, Gillmor quickly became a nationally respected cannon expert, and his work has long been in demand inside and outside of Hollywood.
“I asked a lot of questions and figured it all out,” Gillmor said. “I make all of my stuff from scratch.”
Even with all of his knowledge, he is still faced with historic research for each new project to ensure the cannons he makes are authentic.
“I have books and books and books. If I need to, I go the Hayes Library, and there are a lot of things online,” he said.
When Gillmor is working on a movie, he advises the crew on the historically-accurate use of the cannons. While on set, where they call him “Cannon Bob,” he dresses in period costume in case he needs to step in to assist the actors during filming. He said he stays subtly in the background so he won’t get stuck as a regular who has to appear in multiple scenes. As a consequence, he rarely makes it into the final version.
“For ‘Emancipation,’ I’m on the cutting room floor somewhere,” he said.
Other projects Gillmor is working on include making cannons for a major restoration project at The Alamo, creating swivel guns for Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial, and making provincial marine swivel guns that will be displayed on Put-in-Bay. He is in talks with Paramount Pictures about traveling to Romania to provide cannons for “The Gray House” which will star Morgan Freeman and Kevin Costner.
Gillmor is in demand because his cannon expertise is rare. His knowledge has given him the opportunity to create a score of historic guns, and many of them fill his foundry.
“I’ve got cannons everywhere,” he said. “When I’m gone, it’s all gone.”
Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Gillmor adds a 'bang' to movie 'Emancipation'
