dual personalities

Tag: James Garner

February 26, 2016

Deep thoughts for Friday

by chuckofish

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Do you have plans for the weekend?

I will probably watch more episodes of The Rockford Files because I cannot get enough, it seems, of watching ol’ James Garner struggle in and out of that Firebird.

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He tries gamely to make his aging athlete’s body do what he wants it to do, but the camera frequently catches him limping after some bad guy or another.

Well, I guess I can relate to the aging PI.

Anyway, I thought I would choose a movie with an aging hero in it for my Friday movie pick, but it’s not so easy to think of one! If you google “Movies about old people” or some variation on that theme, you get a list of terrible movies like On Golden Pond (1981)–the worst!

So here are a few suggestions of movies I like that feature an aging hero/heroine(s)–but no wimps or sentimental stereotypes:

Grumpy Old Men (1993) with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon–a classic.

GRUMPY OLD MEN, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, 1993

Gran Torino (2008) with Clint Eastwood as a snarling old badass. Darn good.

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The Grey Fox (1982) with Richard Farnsworth in his first starring role at age 62–but good luck getting your hands on this one! I don’t think it has ever been released on DVD. Actually any movie with Richard Farnsworth would work in this category.

GREY FOX, Richard Farnsworth, 1982

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991) with Jessica Tandy as the amazing Ninny Threadgoode.

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Another along this line is Elizabeth Patterson as Miss Eunice Habersham in Intruder in the Dust (1949)–but then no one was better at writing old ladies than William Faulkner.

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True Grit (1969) with John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn or Rooster Cogburn (1975) with both Wayne and Katharine Hepburn–both playing aging badasses.

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Tom Horn (1980) with Steve McQueen in his last movie. This is a pretty sad one, because Steve was dying in real life and you can kind of tell. But it’s a good one, for sure.

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Here’s Steve with Richard Farnsworth and two lucky old ladies

Can you think of any others?

All of these oldsters make the forty-something Jim Rockford seem pretty young and with it in comparison. And me too.

Of course, if you prefer a more highbrow pursuit, you can read what Ralph Waldo Emerson had to say about Old Age here.

Have a good weekend!

3 Comments
February 25, 2016

Throwback Thursday–snow day edition

by chuckofish

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Here is a snapshot of the dual personalities fifty years ago–circa 1965–in Forest Park. There’s not a lot of snow in evidence, but by today’s standards, it’s a snowpocalypse.

We had a snow day yesterday, in fact–all the schools were closed.

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A heavy, wet snow fell–we had about 4 inches in the morning–but it turned to slush very fast.

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I went out to shovel our front walk and it was like shoveling a slushie. But a lot of people lost their power when tree limbs fell on power lines and transformers blew. It was kind of a mess.

Since I am still recovering from my bad cold/cough/flu/whatever, I was glad to stay home and, except for my brief foray into the yard, take it easy.

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Sometimes there is nothing better than a Jim Rockford marathon.

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Nothing makes the present look better than a trip down memory lane into the 1970s when detectives talked on pay phones, everyone smoked,

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used styrofoam without guilt and drove cars that guzzled gas like nobody’s business.

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No offense, Jim. You were the greatest. Even though nothing ever worked out for you, even when you solved the crime and nabbed the bad guy.

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I mean, did you ever get paid? By anyone?

Have a good Thursday!

4 Comments
July 22, 2014

“This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message, I’ll get back to you.”

by chuckofish

When I talked to daughter #1 on Sunday, she told me that James Garner had died.

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“You’ll have to break it to dad gently,” she said. Then we chuckled because it has been a family joke for years that the OM has a bit of a thing for old James Garner. I always thought this man-crush was odd because JG always reminded me a lot of the OM’s pater and their relationship was, shall we say, less than familial. But let’s not get too Freudian about it all…

James Garner, you will recall, was the star of the hit TV series The Rockford Files and Maverick and some good films including The Great Escape (1963), The Thrill of it All (1963) and The Children’s Hour (1961). He was only nominated once for an Oscar–for Murphy’s Romance (1985)–and, of course, he didn’t win. (William Hurt won that year for Kiss of the Spider Woman! Remember that one? Me neither.) He was miscast a lot–he played Philip Marlowe in Marlowe (1965) and Ira Moran in Breathing Lessons (1994). Frequently you had the feeling he was the second or third choice for a role.

But you had to hand it to him for being a working actor for all those years–1956-2010–that’s impressive. He didn’t seem to care if he had top billing; he just wanted the work. He gave the impression that he didn’t take his profession too seriously–he knew he was no Olivier–but it paid well and, despite the physical trauma of stunt-work, it wasn’t too hard.

“I’m a Methodist but not as an actor,” he wrote in his autobiography The Garner Files. “I’m from the Spencer Tracy school: Be on time, know your words, hit your marks, and tell the truth. I don’t have any theories about acting, and I don’t think about how to do it, except that an actor shouldn’t take himself too seriously, and shouldn’t try to make acting something it isn’t. Acting is just common sense. It isn’t hard if you put yourself aside and just do what the writer wrote.”

A refreshing attitude, to be sure. He had “exasperated” down to a “T”. You can read all about his career here.

My mother was a fan of those Polaroid commercials he did with Mariette Hartley in the ’70s. Remember those classic commercials? (Remember those cameras?!) She thought they were great and I’m sure she bought at least one Polaroid because of them.

 

Anyway, I settled in and watched several episodes of The Rockford Files–Season One on Sunday night.

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Rockford in all his Sansabelt, poly-wool glory

I find it very comforting to watch The Rockford Files with its car chases through the banal southern California scenery and the really bad ’70s apparel, home decor and hairdos, because I can imagine my parents watching it. It was one of their favorite shows. The 1970s (worst decade ever!) was the decade of my youth after all–when I graduated from high school and went to college. So The Rockford Files is nothing if not familiar.

So rest in peace, James Garner. We’ll miss you. And the walk down memory lane with the The Rockford Files just may continue tonight…I highly recommend it.

Into paradise may the angels lead thee; and at thy coming may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem. 
–BCP, Burial of the Dead, Rite I

6 Comments