dual personalities

…as with joy they hailed its light, leading onward, beaming bright;

so, most gracious Lord, may we evermore be led to thee.”*

As you know, yesterday was the feast of the Epiphany. We got to sing “We Three Kings” in church and the Gospel lesson was the story of the Three Wise Men. The rector preached on the question, “What is it that you are seeking?” It is an important question to ask yourself.

Earlier in the weekend I went to an estate sale and bought a few books and a silver tray. I rescued some old lustreware plates, the kind that no one wants these days–$2 for four plates!

I am not “seeking” more old things per se, but sometimes they are thrust upon me.

After that, I cleaned up my office, throwing away and/or recycling a lot of paper that builds up over the year. I did a lot of straightening up and filing. And the OM helped me take down the outside Christmas lights.

Then the wee babes came over on Sunday night to celebrate their mommy’s birthday

with meatloaf and ice cream cake.

Hello, Pan Am?

Of course, the babes found all the things I had put away. They love to pull books off the shelves. That is their duty as two-year-olds.The wee laddie is really into Jung.

Then we watched Three Godfathers (1948) as is our tradition on Epiphany. It is a great tradition because the film is so great.

There were three wise men, Bob, and I’m one of ’em.

I especially noticed how really great it is as I had just watched Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) the night before. The contrast is striking! Okay, I may have thought this VistaVision drama was great as a child…the song as sung by Frankie Laine is stirring…but the movie–direction, acting, screenplay–is terrible. It is one of those westerns that takes itself very seriously, way too seriously. But what is it saying? That is never clear. Burt Lancaster (Wyatt Earp) plays the marshall as a super-straight-laced, duty-bound good guy who is just boring.

Mustn’t react to fiery redhead, Wyatt. That would be wrong.

On the other hand, Kurt Douglas (Doc Holiday) chews the scenery unashamedly in search of a motive and finds none.

Was Ringo there?

He feels nothing but contempt for his girlfriend, but he is still enraged by her leaving him. What? Does he love her after all? Um, no. His actions clearly suggest otherwise. He is just a jerk, then, right? Both of our heroes are kind of jerks. In fact, the only hint of affection in this movie is between Doc and Wyatt, and we don’t want to go there, right? Well, the only character for whom I felt any sympathy was Jo Van Fleet as Kate, the whore. She is treated badly by everyone, but she still tries to help Doc, whom she loves even though he never appreciates her. Their scenes together at least have a little life in them.

Why don’t you put a rope ’round my neck, and pull it when you want me?

The Clantons are just standard bad guys.  All the minor characters are stereotypes played by the B team.

It is such a mish-mosh! Really, there is no reason to watch it other than the great song by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington which you can hear here. While I was watching, I kept thinking about My Darling Clementine (1946) which in my opinion is the only good movie about the OK Corral. There is plenty of motivation in that movie, as well as character development and great acting. There is darkness in this movie and light. There is contrast. There is affection and friendship, loyalty, love. The real stuff.

Walter Brennan as Ike Clanton, abusive father par excellence

[Interesting side note: John Ireland is in both movies as a member of the Clanton gang. File that one away for trivia night.]

So I guess my point is: watch either John Ford movie (Three Godfathers or My Darling Clementine) to see what a great movie is. Skip the 1950’s next-best-thing-to-color television (Gunfight at the OK Corral).

P.S. Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the death of President Theodore Roosevelt. Join me in a toast!

He’s not afraid.

*Hymn 119