”Oh the white tops are a rollin’ rollin’, and the big wheels keep on turnin’”*

by chuckofish

I hope you had a lovely weekend. I puttered around, planted some more annuals in pots on the patio, trimmed ivy, tidied up the house so that the wee twins could wreck havoc in it again…the usual.

The highlight was going to my new church with the boy and getting to spend a few hours together–an unusual thing since he is almost always working or in the midst of twin-created havoc. We had coffee afterwards at Bread Co. and had a real conversation. Super. Nice.

I watched some PGA tour action on TV and a couple of good movies, including Stagecoach (1939) and Wagon Master (1950), both directed by John Ford.

Stagecoach is, without a doubt, 96 of the best minutes ever put on film. Orson Welles called it textbook filmmaking and he was right. It is tops in storytelling, character development, acting, action, romance, cinematography, score–it has it all.

Wagon Master is also about a (bigger) bunch of misfits (Mormons, outlaws and stranded medicine show con artists) going on a journey and meeting up with impediments along the way. Even without John Wayne or, really, any star, it is a lyrical yarn with meaty characters, beautifully photographed.

I recommend them both, and seeing them together, is an interesting and worthwhile undertaking.

I also re-read a good bit of Harry Carey Jr.’s memoir about his life as an actor in the John Ford “stock company” which was somewhat enlightening about the behind-the-scenes goings-on of making Wagon Master and other Ford movies. John Ford was an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, as they say. But he sure made good movies.

The wee twins came over Sunday night and annoyed the OM and even prompted me to give them another mini lecture on the doctrine of total depravity. They look innocent enough, but…

We had fun, of course, and the boy got a second helping of tortellini.

And so, sleepy, cowpokes, goodnight.

*Travis and Sandy, singing in Wagon Master.