Movies | dual personalities

Deep thoughts for Friday

by chuckofish

Ah, it is Friday again. Per usual I have no big plans for the weekend. I will be working on filling my kitchen with good vibes (see here.)

Father’s Day is Sunday, so hopefully we will see the boy and daughter #3 at some point, but nothing is on the calendar yet. I guess it is time to wrap up some Old Spice!

Anyway, here are a few things to think about to put you in the mood for celebrating with your OM:

“Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” (Ron Swanson, Parks and Recreation)

Our own pater was not one for handing out advice. (I could have used some.) In fact, he was not one for chatting with his kids. I guess that’s a pity, but certainly not uncommon. I had Ward Cleaver and John Wayne to stand in and I am not complaining.

As far as appropriate movies for the Father’s Day weekend, I would suggest:

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) with Gregory Peck as one of the best fathers ever,

The Bicycle Thief (1948) with Lamberto Maggiorani as a father who can’t catch a break in De Sica’s classic,

East of Eden (1955) with Raymond Massey and James Dean as dueling father and son,

or Rebel Without a Cause (1955) with Jim Backus and James Dean as dueling father and son,

Big Jake (1971) starring John Wayne and two of his real-life sons and Christopher Mitchum (son of Robert) in pursuit of kidnappers,

and Life is Beautiful (1997) with Roberto Benigni as the best father ever (next to Atticus Finch) who tries to protect his son emotionally and physically from Nazis in a concentration camp.

There are plenty more, but these are the ones that come to mind.

Have a good weekend. See you on Monday when I will be able to say, “In the immortal words of Julius Cesar, ‘I left, I did nothing, I returned.’” (Larry David)

10 Comments

June 8, 2016

Trouble in River City

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of stage and screen actor Robert Preston (June 8, 1918 – March 21, 1987). You remember him in This Gun for Hire (1942) with Veronica Lake, don’t you?

He was the good guy. Alan Ladd was the bad guy. It’s a great movie, but no one noticed Robert Preston because the young Alan Ladd stole the show.

He was also Digby Geste in Beau Geste (1939) with Ray Milland and Gary Cooper.

And he was the wagon master in How the West Was Won (1962) who couldn’t get Debbie Reynolds to care, no matter how hard he tried.

Of course, he will always be remembered as The Music Man (1962). He finally got everyone’s attention in this one.

He won the Tony Award in 1958 for originating the part of Prof. Harold Hill on Broadway, but, of course, the studio wanted Frank Sinatra to make the movie. Meredith Willson, bless him, held out for Preston and he made the film.

Mothers of River City, heed that warning before it’s too late! Watch for the telltale signs of corruption! The minute your son leaves the house, does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee? Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger? A dime-novel hidden in the corncrib? Is he starting to memorize jokes from Captain Billy’s Whiz-Bang? Are certain words creeping into his conversation? Words like “swell” and “so’s your old man”? If so my friends, ya got trouble!

So tonight let us toast the great Robert Preston, who only got better with age, and watch one of the fine aforementioned movies.

And, hey, I almost forgot, Robert Preston played Steve McQueen’s father in Junior Bonner (1972)!

Done and done.

5 Comments

June 1, 2016

“Darling, we’ve all got to pack up some time or other. It isn’t when we pack up that matters; it’s what we do while we’re here.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the 73rd anniversary of the sad day in 1943 when the plane in which Leslie Howard was riding was shot down by Nazis. He died along with the other sixteen people on the flight from Lisbon to Bristol when the camouflaged airliner came under attack by a schwarm of eight V/KG40 Ju 88C6 maritime fighters.

The son of a Hungarian Jew and an English mother, Leslie Howard was a shell-shocked British veteran of WWI when he took up acting after the war. In America he came to embody the perfect Englishman on stage and on screen. He was a good polo player as well.

A great patriot, he worked feverishly as a British propagandist and, some say, spy during WWII.

So you see, he died as heroically in real life as he did in many of his films and on stage. Here he is as Hamlet (onstage in New York, 1936). I bet he was pretty great.

Of course, it goes without saying that tonight we will toast LH and watch The Petrified Forest (1936).

But you could watch Pygmalion (1938)

or The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

or Outward Bound (1930)

or even Gone With the Wind (1939), a movie he kind of hated.

Whatever movie you choose, Leslie Howard will be terrific in it. I’m not biased or anything.

*R.J. Mitchell in Spitfire (1942)

Photos all from Google.

2 Comments

May 31, 2016

Grace and peace to you

by chuckofish

Did you have a wonderful three-day weekend? Mine was quite pleasant. I went to a couple of estate sales and I showed great restraint, which always makes my puritan soul happy.

I rescued one piece of vintage needlepoint–a little Victorian foot stool with K’s in the design.

And I got a giant fern at the grocery store for $12.99.

I went to church and read the prayers of the people. I had lunch with my BFFs and caught up with them before they head off to distant and exotic lands. I also caught up with laundry and cleaning and yard work–all the things that go with home ownership.

I finished Nashville Chrome by Rick Bass which is really more creative non-fiction than fiction. Halfway through I realized that “the Browns” were a real sibling singing group popular in the ’50s and ’60s, not a fictional group imagined by the author. (Jim Ed Brown also had a solo career–remember “Pop a Top”?)

Anyway, the book is reasonably well written and readable–although Bass uses the word ‘incredibly’ as an adverb way too much, a real no-no in my book.

I watched a couple of good movies. Spotlight (2015) about “the true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core,” which actually won the Best Picture Oscar this year, is quite good.

Everyone in it is good and Billy Crudup gives a stand-out performance in a small part. It is directed with care and restraint by Tom McCarthy. Maybe a little too much restraint, if you ask me…but effective.

Anyway, I looked up Tom McCarthy to see what else he has done and so watched The Cobbler (2014)–a picture excoriated as the worst film of the year by critics. It was a total box office bomb and a disaster for its star Adam Sandler, but I liked it.

It is the story of a fourth-generation Jewish cobbler on the lower East Side, who is bored with his life when he stumbles upon a magical heirloom that allows him to become other people and see the world in a different way. I have no idea why people hated it so much. Perhaps they expected something different from Adam Sandler–over-the-top vulgarity and crude, slap-stick humor? This movie has none of that. (I’m not sure it was even rated R.) It is thoughtful and sly with good performances all around. Dustin Hoffman even makes an appearance. Perhaps it hits a little too close to home? Well, I say, give it a try on Netflix Watch Instantly.

On Memorial Day the boy and daughter #3 came over for a BBQ. Although all the TV news stations said it would rain all weekend, it never rained until the OM went out to barbeque. Haha, no kidding.

C’est la vie. Happy Tuesday.

3 Comments

May 2, 2016

Stir up, O south, the boughs that bloom…”*

by chuckofish

…Till the beloved Master come…”

How was your weekend? Mine was quiet and restorative, but also a little sad, since I was thinking always of the weekend before when so many people were visiting. C’est la vie.

I finished E.L. Doctorow’s The March, which, again I say, is so good and wise and well-written.

I did a little yard work, but it was pretty wet and rainy. It is certainly looking lush in flyover land.

I watched a few movies: Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), which I finally got my hands on…

(This film recreates the famous raising of the flag on Iwo Jima scene, taken on Feb. 23, 1945, by photographer Joe Rosenthal. The three surviving flag raisers make a cameo appearance during this scene . Rene A. Gagnon, Ira H. Hayes and John H. Bradley are seen with John Wayne as he instructs them to hoist the flag (Wayne gives the folded flag to Gagnon). The flag used to recreate the incident is the actual flag that was raised on Mount Suribachi.)

and Learning to Drive (2014), a little film starring Ben Kingsley as a Sikh taxi driver/driving instructor and Patricia Clarkson as a book critic whose marriage is falling apart.

Both supplied an entertaining diversion, but were not super great, if you know what I mean. Sands of Iwo Jima features John Wayne saying “Saddle Up!” continuously, so it wins as far as I’m concerned.

I went to church and was a reader–my passage was from Revelation 21 by John, the Revelator, so that was fun. The first lesson was from the book of Acts where Paul goes to Philippi in Macedonia and goes down to the river to pray and meets Lydia. All this made me want to watch O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) which I did.

It was a good choice. (And the last good movie George Clooney made.)

(This is how my mind works.)

*Gerald Near, Christ Has a Garden Walled Around

3 Comments

April 29, 2016

“Heroic, is it? Bedad, it’s epic! Ye begin to perceive the breadth and depth of my genius.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of author Rafael Sabatini (April 29, 1875 – February 13, 1950). He was born in Italy, the son of an English mother and an Italian father–both opera singers, which explains a lot.

Sabatini wrote in English, and all in all, he produced 31 novels, eight short story collections, six non-fiction books, numerous uncollected short stories, and a play. I think I read Scaramouche way back when, but he is best known these days because of two great movies and a bunch of other not-so-great movies, which were inspired by his novels. I’m thinking, of course, of Captain Blood (1935)

and The Sea Hawk (1940)

both starring Errol Flynn and directed by Michael Curtiz.

But we mustn’t forget Scaramouche (1952) which starred Stewart Granger

and The Black Swan (1942) with Tyrone Power–

both not as good despite being filmed in flaming technicolor. (There are also quite a few old silent movies based on his adventure novels.)

Anyway, I suggest we all watch movies this weekend inspired by the stories of Rafael Sabatini. We could do a lot worse. I vote for Captain Blood which is full of action and good dialogue:

Arabella Bishop: Oh, forgive me for not recognizing you, Dr. Blood. You’re so changed… and for the better.

Dr. Peter Blood: The Governor tells me I have you to thank for that.

Arabella Bishop: You don’t sound very grateful, Dr. Blood.

Dr. Peter Blood: Do you suppose I’d be grateful for an easy life, when my friends are treated like animals? Faith, it’s they deserve your favors, not I. They’re all honest rebels. I was snoring in my bed while they were trying to free England from an unclean tyrant [King James].

Arabella Bishop: I believe you’re talking treason.

Dr. Peter Blood: I hope I’m not obscure.

Have a great weekend!

*Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

1 Comment

April 22, 2016

“What is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.”*

by chuckofish

A couple of days ago on the Man Repeller blog they asked the important question: What’s your movie dress?

Good question, but their answers weren’t that exciting. I mean how can you make a list like that and not include something worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s?

audrey-hepburn-breakfast-tiffany-street-scene

I could not find a good picture of the dress/hat ensemble Holly wears to visit Sally Tomato…but really, has any woman ever looked better than Audrey in this scene?

In fact, they never mentioned ol’ Audrey at all. How is that possible?

Audrey was mentioned in the comments section and there were other good suggestions, including Glinda in the 1939 Wizard of Oz. Here are a few more…

As a child I was struck by the dress Jane Fonda wears in the scene in Cat Ballou (1965) when she is about to be executed for murder.I loved that dress and it is the one I was thinking of when we chose the pattern for my “May Day” dress in 1974.

Clearly my friend Harriet was thinking the same thing.

Who can deny that there were many great dresses in the movie White Christmas (1954)–such as this classic number worn by Rosemary Clooney at the Carousel Club.

Great accessories too! Those gloves! The bottom of the dress was great too–it belled out to great effect…

Here’s another great dress worn by Rosemary in the Minstrel Show number–love those red bangles!

This more conservative green velvet cocktail dress is pretty great too. And I am loving that couch as well.

And who wouldn’t want to pull this dress out of the closet for a night on the town?

I know I have always wished I could. As you can see, the older I get, the more I relate to Rosemary rather than Vera-Ellen!

So…what’s your movie dress?

*Yves Saint-Laurent

GIF found here.

1 Comment

April 1, 2016

Fat baby Friday

by chuckofish

Move over Gerber baby, Avery Rose is here! And she’s adorable!

She arrived early in the morning on Monday. (Her mother and grandmother were not in church on Easter, so I knew something was up. Nothing gets by me.) Carla is not my first friend to become a grandma, but she is the first one who lives in town.

In honor of this occasion, my Friday movie pick is to watch a movie with a baby prominently featured. The pickings are amazingly slim.

There is this trio from the 1980s:

Three Men and a Baby (1987)

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Look Who’s Talking (1989)

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Baby Boom (1987)

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All three are amusing and so 80’s that they are fun to watch.

Another movie with a very cute baby (although you have to wait ’til the very end of the movie to see it) is the classic musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

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Of course the best movie with a baby as a main character/plot device is Three Godfathers (1948), so if you didn’t make it part of your Epiphany viewing, why not watch it tonight? I mean I ask you, what could be better than John Wayne and a baby?

John_Wayne - 3 godfathers

Can you think of any other good baby movies?

Bonus: here is a clip with W.C. Fields, who was famously contemptuous of child performers, doing something that no one could get away with today:

7 Comments

March 11, 2016

“We must away ere break of day Over the wood and mountain tall”*

by chuckofish

Today I am heading east to visit daughters #1 and #2 in College Park.

We will cheer on daughter #1 on as she runs in the Rock ‘n Roll half marathon in D.C. Then we are heading to the Brandywine Valley in Pennsylvania for some museum and garden-going.

We will get our fill of N.C. Wyeth et al…

If you are looking for a good movie to watch in the meantime, I recommend Alleghany Uprising (1939) with a young John Wayne and Claire Trevor. I watched it this past week and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a highly politically-incorrect telling of a little-known piece of American history–

wherein a group of settlers in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Valley struggle to try and persuade the British authorities to ban the trading of alcohol and arms with the marauding Indians.

Some of the character actors are priceless–such as Wilfred Lawson as the Scotsman MacDougall, who really steals the show. A very young George Sanders is appropriately uppity as the British captain who doesn’t have a clue. I would put this film in the they-don’t-make-’em-like-this-anymore category, i.e. good entertainment with an excellent story and characters.

So remember, I will be off the internet through next Thursday. Maybe my dual personality will check in. I hope so!

*J.R.R. Tolkien

3 Comments

March 3, 2016

“A chiz is a swiz or swindle as any fule kno.”*

by chuckofish

Today is the birthday of Ronald William Fordham Searle, CBE, RDI (March 3, 1920 – December 30, 2011) who was a British artist and illustrator, best remembered as the creator of St. Trinian’s School

and for his collaboration with Geoffrey Willans on the Molesworth series.

We were very fond of Ronald Searle growing up and my family always read aloud the Christmas chapter from How to Be Topp on Christmas Eve.

Searle grew up in Cambridge. At the age of 19 he gave up his art studies and joined the Royal Engineers at the start of WWII. Searle was stationed in Singapore. After a month of fighting in Malaya, Singapore fell to the Japanese, and he was taken prisoner. He spent the rest of the war as a prisoner, first in Changi Prison and then in the Kwai jungle, working on the Siam-Burma Death Railway. He contracted both beri-beri and malaria. He was liberated in late 1945 with the final defeat of the Japanese.

I have a copy of his book Ronald Searle To the Kwai and Back, War Drawings 1939–1945, an amazing pictorial record of his war years, three of them in Japanese prisoner of war camps.

In it he recorded the “grafitti of a condemned man, intending to leave a rough witness of his passing through, but who found himself–to the surprise and delight–among the reprieved.”

Immediately after the war, he served as a courtroom artist at the Nuremberg trials.

Eichmann in court

Like many funny men, he had a very serious past.

So a birthday toast to Ronald Searle!

And another toast to George Kennedy who died last Sunday. Like Searle, he was 91 when he died and had a long, interesting life. A prolific actor of film and television, he won a best supporting Oscar for Cool Hand Luke (1967) and made several movies with John Wayne, including Cahill U.S. Marshall (1973), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and In Harm’s Way (1965). He also had memorable parts in Charade (1963), Bandolero! (1968) and The Dirty Dozen (1967).

Quite a career. Any of these movies are worth watching. As for me, it might be time to watch The Sons of Katie Elder again.

*Molesworth, “Down with Skool!” (1953)

2 Comments

dual personalities

Category: Movies

June 17, 2016

Deep thoughts for Friday

by chuckofish

June 8, 2016

Trouble in River City

by chuckofish

June 1, 2016

“Darling, we’ve all got to pack up some time or other. It isn’t when we pack up that matters; it’s what we do while we’re here.”*

by chuckofish

May 31, 2016

Grace and peace to you

by chuckofish

May 2, 2016

Stir up, O south, the boughs that bloom…”*

by chuckofish

April 29, 2016

“Heroic, is it? Bedad, it’s epic! Ye begin to perceive the breadth and depth of my genius.”*

by chuckofish

April 22, 2016

“What is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.”*

by chuckofish

April 1, 2016

Fat baby Friday

by chuckofish

March 11, 2016

“We must away ere break of day Over the wood and mountain tall”*

by chuckofish

March 3, 2016

“A chiz is a swiz or swindle as any fule kno.”*

by chuckofish