dual personalities

Category: Movies

July 3, 2015

I hear America singing*

by chuckofish

Chris and Tom

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Well, tomorrow is my big brother’s birthday. Here are some pictures of him celebrating his birthday in the olden days. Time was when he was usually off fishing somewhere. When he found himself in flyover country we would celebrate in fine fashion.

Last year my dual personality and our better halves visited our bro in Michigan. We couldn’t do it this year. I will miss them.

Our fourth of July at home will definitely be low-key. We’ll toast our forefathers and listen to some Sousa marches. Perhaps we will light some sparklers. Yes, it will be pretty lame.

But don’t feel too sorry for me. I plan to binge-watch John Ford’s cavalry trilogy: For Apache (1948  ), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950).

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You could do worse, but hardly much better.

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And here’s good news: Shirley Temple is Star of the Month on TCM! Here’s a list of the movies they’re showing. Time to set your DVR.

Have a great weekend!

*The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published in Brooklyn, New York on July 4, 1855.

4 Comments
July 1, 2015

“It’s 80% script and 20% you get great actors. There’s nothing else to it.”*

by chuckofish

Today is film director William Wyler’s (July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) birthday.

Kirk-Douglas-visiting-Charlton-Heston-director-William-Wyler-and-Jack-Hawkins-on-the-set-of-Ben-Hur

Kirk Douglas clowning on the set of Ben Hur with Charleton Heston, Wyler and Jack Hawkins

Wyler, you will recall, is the most nominated director in Academy Awards history with 12 nominations. In addition to that, Wyler has the distinction of having won the Academy Award for Best Direction on three occasions, for his direction of Ben Hur, The Best Years of Our Lives, and Mrs. Miniver. Only John Ford, who won four Oscars in this category, has won more.

Wyler also has the distinction of having directed more actors to Oscar-nominated performances than any other director in history: thirty-six. Out of these nominees, fourteen went on to win Oscars.

The list of his films is truly impressive. He made romantic comedies and religious epics and westerns and war movies and even a musical with Barbra Streisand!

My favorites are: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946),

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Roman Holiday (1953),

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The Big Country (1958),

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Dead End (1937),

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and, of course, Ben Hur (1959).

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There are a lot of other great ones to choose from, but these are my favorites.

I will raise a glass to old William Wyler and watch The Big Country tonight. This film is marred, mostly by the presence of Carol Baker and the annoying character she plays, but I can overlook this, because Gregory Peck is at his most dreamy and he is ably supported by Charlton Heston at his smoldering best. And the music is great.

Which reminds me…of this. Sacrilegious, but funny. Can you spot the OM’s doppelganger (twice)?

*William Wyler

3 Comments
June 12, 2015

“For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”*

by chuckofish

Finally Friday again. Yay. I have a few things of interest to note.

On June 10, 1915, the Astor Theater in Times Square presented the first documented public exhibition of three-dimensional motion pictures. In honor of the centennial of 3-D the Museum of Modern Art is celebrating “3-D Summer.”

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For those of you in NYC, you can go to the MOMA this weekend to see Hondo (1953) on the big screen in all its 3-D glory. They’ll be showing it through July 4 on selected dates, so, hello, check your calendar! (The Duke’s daughter-in-law will be introducing the showing on Saturday.)

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The rest of us will have to be satisfied with watching it on our TVs. C’est la vie. I have blogged about Hondo before. It is well worth watching again.

I must note that Christopher Lee (1922–2015) has died at the age of 93. The 6’5″ actor served in the RAF during WWII and afterwards had a long and semi-distinguished career as a movie actor. I say semi because many of his movies from the 1950s on were horror films of the Dracula variety. I read through his entire list of his film credits and couldn’t come up with many to recommend (besides, of course, the LOTR trilogy which I cannot watch anymore).

However, he did play “Bernard Day” in Scott of the Antarctic (1948) which is a favorite of mine.

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That same year he played a “Spear Carrier” in Olivier’s Hamlet. Coincidentally, Peter Cushing also appeared in this Hamlet as scene-stealing “Osric”.

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Well, you can watch a whole bunch of his movies on TCM on Monday if you are so inclined. You have to give him props for being a working actor all those years!

In other news, the new McDonnell Polar Bear Point opened recently at the St. Louis Zoo. We have been without polar bears at the zoo for several years and we have missed them.

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So now we have Kali, a two-and-a-half year old bear, who looks so cute…until…

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Yikes. I need to go check out this new (and very fancy) bear enclosure soon.

Have a good weekend and stay hydrated!

*Isaiah 18:4 (KJV)

6 Comments
June 5, 2015

Friday movie pick: the show must go on

by chuckofish

Yesterday at school it was my pleasure to host Hovey Burgess, who came to talk about the history of the circus in the U.S. Among other things, Hovey teaches in the Graduate Acting program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He taught for years in the drama division of The Julliard School as well and Robin Williams was one of his students. Hovey choreographed and appeared in Popeye (1980).

He has also been a part of our own flyover Circus Flora since 1991.

Anyway, although he was giving a lecture on the history of circus, Hovey wandered off the track a bit, and at one point he talked about seeing the movie Trapeze (1956) when he was fifteen and living in Kankakee, Illinois.

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He went back every day for a week and this was when he decided to make the circus his life. This got me thinking about how things like this happen and how important books and movies and the arts in general are.

So my Friday movie pick is to watch Trapeze or some other great circus movie, such as The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

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or Circus World (1964)

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or Big Top Pee Wee (1988)!

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Skip anything involving Joan Crawford and Water for Elephants (2011).

Have a good weekend! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready.

4 Comments
May 29, 2015

” I’ll buy the drinks when it’s over.”*

by chuckofish

I have been in social overload this week with a huge work event finally coming to fruition. So this exhausted introvert will be taking it easy this weekend. For sure.

Since Saturday is the birthday of film director Howard Hawks (1896–1977), I suggest we watch one of his many good movies. There are a lot to choose from.

You could go the screwball comedy route: Twentieth Century (1934) or His Girl Friday (1940) or Ball of Fire (1948).

Barbara Stanwyk and Gary Cooper in "Ball of Fire"

Barbara Stanwyk and Gary Cooper in “Ball of Fire”

Or you could go with Bogart and Bacall: To Have and Have Not (1944) or The Big Sleep (1946).

Le grand sommeil The big sleep 1946 rŽal. : Howard Hawks Humphrey Bogart Lauren Bacall Collection Christophel

Bogart and Bacall in “The Big Sleep”

And then there’s always his legendary collaborations  with John Wayne: Red River, (1948), Rio Bravo (1959), Hatari (1962) or El Dorado (1967).

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in "Red River"

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in “Red River”

John Wayne, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan in "Rio Bravo"

John Wayne, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan in “Rio Bravo”

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James Caan, RObert Mitchum, Arthur Hunnicutt, and John Wayne

The best crew ever: James Caan, Robert Mitchum, Arthur Hunnicutt, and John Wayne in “El Dorado”

See what I mean about excellent movies? It may be time for a Howard Hawks Marathon.

For a whole list of possibilities go here. Hawks, who was born in Goshen, Indiana by the way, was only nominated once for an Academy Award for Best Director–for Sergeant York (1941)–not one of my favorites. He didn’t win. Typical.

*Mr. Melville in Red River (1948)

2 Comments
May 27, 2015

“Nothing’s too good for the man who shot Liberty Valance.”*

by chuckofish

So did you hear that over the Memorial Day weekend a new John Wayne Museum was opened in the Duke’s birthplace, Winterset, Iowa?

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Wayne’s daughter, Aissa Wayne, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, actor Christopher Mitchum, and Wayne’s biographer Scott Eyman were all present at the event.

Cutting the ribbon during the grand opening ceremony for the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winterset. Left to right: Barry Corbin (actor & Birthplace board member), Aissa Wayne (John Wayne’s daughter), Joe Zuckschwerdt (Birthplace & Museum President), and Christopher Mitchum (actor). 5/23/2015 Photo by John Pemble

Cutting the ribbon during the grand opening ceremony for the John Wayne Birthplace Museum in Winterset. Left to right: Barry Corbin (actor & Birthplace board member), Aissa Wayne (John Wayne’s daughter), Joe Zuckschwerdt (Birthplace & Museum President), and Christopher Mitchum (actor). 5/23/2015 Photo by John Pemble

The centerpiece of the gallery is a collection of memorabilia from Wayne’s life, including scripts, costumes, set pieces, posters, personal correspondence, an original Andy Warhol painting and a custom-made 1972 Pontiac station wagon.

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Executive Director Brian Downes with the custom Duke-mobile

Winterset is the county seat of Madison County, where, you may have heard, they have a lot of bridges.

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Three films have been shot there: Cold Turkey (1971), The Bridges of Madison County (1995 ) and The Crazies (2010).

But it is best known as the birthplace of John Wayne.

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(George Washington Carver was also born there. He has a museum at the Tuskegee Institute.)

Well, I may have to add Winterset to my list of flyover places to visit.

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*The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

3 Comments
May 22, 2015

“Saddle Up”*

by chuckofish

Well it’s almost Memorial Day! Can you believe it? As you know, this is a day for remembering the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Many people visit cemeteries and memorials. We like to watch war movies.

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I grew up watching war movies. I like them. My dual personality suggested I watch the HBO series The Pacific (2010), which is a companion piece to their Band of Brothers series.

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I always take her advice, so the OM and I watched the first two episodes and it was, indeed, impressive–the whizzing, zinging bullets flying by and all. I felt like I had actually been at Guadalcanal for several hours. And, thank you, that was enough for me. I was not really engaged with the characters–the traditional wop, spic, wasp, mic, and jew of all WWII movies. I mean I get it. War is hell. But it is too traumatic watching this series. I know my limits. Don’t judge me for having limits.

Therefore, I will go back to a few of my old favorites this weekend. I am really in the mood for classic black-and-white British movies like The Dam Busters (1955)–The story of how the British attacked German dams in WWII by using an ingenious technique to drop bombs where they would be most effective–

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or The Desert Rats (1953) with Richard Burton in charge of a disparate band of ANZAC troops on the perimeter of Tobruk with the German Army doing their best to dislodge them.

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These movies are tense and realistic and very powerful in their own, non-CG way. How will you celebrate Memorial Day?

There are certainly plenty of good war movies to choose from, and, of course, there is a Memorial Day Marathon on TCM.

We give you thanks, O Lord, for all who have died that we may live, for all who endured pain that we might know joy, for all who made sacrifices that we might have plenty, for all who suffered imprisonment that we might know freedom. Turn our deep feeling now into determination, and our determination into deed, that as men and women died for peace, we may live for peace for the sake of the Prince of Peace, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.**

Have a good weekend.

*Sgt. Stryker in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

** Prayer found here.

4 Comments
May 6, 2015

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

by chuckofish

So did you know that last Monday was Star Wars Day? May the fourth? Get it? May the fourth be with you.

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As a good Episcopalian, I always want to say, “And also with you,” but I digress.

The OM and I did not celebrate May 4 with a party or anything. Frankly, I was over Star Wars a long time ago. A long time ago.

But this is kind of funny. Especially #10.

On the other hand, we need to let these guys retire.

starwarscastIt’s too late for gracefully, but I’m just saying.

Anyway, after all this, now I am kind of in the mood to watch the original 1977 flick. I liked it in the first place because it is one big film homage to John Ford and better movies of an earlier era.

Han Solo even wears cavalry pants. And Obi-Wan says things like: “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”

Yes, it sounds like a plan. It’s not like there’s anything on the telly to watch.

Have a good Wednesday. May the Force be with you.

4 Comments
May 1, 2015

Smile Time

by chuckofish

A few weeks ago I posted a picture of John Wayne and I was reminded what a great smile he had.

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And that made me think of other great smilers of the silver screen.

Some  actors are really too cool to smile a lot, but when they do, we are grateful.

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And those English actors, with their British restraint and bad teeth, don’t flash their smiles constantly…but when they do…

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Zut alors!

errol-flynnAnd while there aren’t many, there are still a few guys around today whose smile can still make my day. For instance, Nathan Fillion

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Channing Tatum,

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and, of course, Mark Harmon, alias Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

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Funnily enough, the nerds are better looking now than the cool guys.

So, anyway–SMILE–it’s Friday!

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(Who did I forget? Discuss among yourselves.)

5 Comments
April 3, 2015

This and that

by chuckofish

Well, it’s Good Friday.

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Good Friday, BCP)

My Holy Week has been less than focused. It has been busy, busy at work, and I’m afraid I’m not the multi-tasker I once was–the result being that I am exhausted in the evening. I fell asleep during everything I attempted to watch this week, from Shogun (1980) to Peter and Paul (1981).

Last night I participated in the “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?” vigil, as I always do.

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In past years I have been late signing up so I always get stuck in the 4-5:00 a.m. or 5-6:00 a.m. slot., but this year I had the 9-10:00 p.m. slot which was a piece of cake in comparison. Which isn’t exactly the point–it being easy–but I was grateful anyway.

Tonight, of course, I will start Ben Hur (1959).

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Last year daughter #1 was home and we watched the whole thing at one sitting, but I think I will watch until the chariot race and finish up on Holy Saturday.

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What’s the rush?

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And don’t forget: Wolf Hall starts on Sunday night on Masterpiece Theatre! Mark Rylance looks right for the Thomas Cromwell part anyway.

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In past film renditions he has always been played as an evil, and therefore porcine, politician.

Leo McKern in 'A Man For All Seasons' (1966)

Leo McKern in ‘A Man For All Seasons’ (1966)

Please. I am hoping for the best. We shall see.

Also, tomorrow is our pater’s birthday. He would have been 93!

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Love this pose!

A toast would be appropriate and perhaps some bagpipe tunes.

And FYI there will be a lunar eclipse on April 4th!

Have a wonderful Easter! Hopefully the OM will accompany me to church on one of his two annual visits. Then we’ll meet the boy and daughter #3 at my flyover university’s faculty club for brunch. No cooking for me.

 

4 Comments