John Wayne | dual personalities

May 27, 2014

“I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”*

by chuckofish

Oh, I do love a three-day weekend, don’t you?

That extra day just makes a huge difference. Saturday and Sunday were filled with the usual activities: Estate sale-ing where I found this vintage needlepoint pillow

“He’s just a dandy-lion”

and this little garden armadillo with a broken ear and tail.

I went grocery shopping and the boy came over to borrow tools. I went to church, did yard work and laundry. Then the boy and daughter #3 came over for a Memorial Day bar-b-que on Sunday night.

We sat outside and drank beer. Then ate inside–James Beard’s steak and onion sandwiches that were one of my mother’s specialties.

We had a fun evening (and cake). If you are wondering, we had our Memorial Day bar-b-que a day early, because they were going to the Cardinals game on Monday. It was the 5oth anniversary re-match World Series game with the Yankees (can you believe it’s been 50 years?!) and everyone got a World Series replica ring.

On Monday I read leisurely and then proceeded to clean out the bookshelves in the den. Quelle dusty job. I moved some books around and made many, many trips to the basement and to the second floor. I found some books that daughter #2 might like to add to her shelves and I found some others that can be moved to the give-away box. In the cabinets below the bookshelves I rearranged and straightened the photo albums. I threw some stuff away like all our VHS tapes of recorded from TV Miami Vice episodes. I found a few long-lost gems, but a lot more things that are in the why-have-I-kept-this-all-these-years category. I was in a clear-it-out mood. Zut alors! The corner looks nice and refreshed.

While I was doing this I half-watched some rather schmaltzy war movies on TCM, including The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) made during WWII with Irene Dunne. They pulled out all the propaganda stops with this one! It was enjoyable though, because Irene Dunne is always good and it had the MGM line-up of supporting stars including Frank Morgan (the Wizard of Oz) who personified the all-American American. When the American troops arrived to save the day in both WWI and WWII while the band played Sousa, even I got a little misty-eyed.

But it being John Wayne’s birthday, I had to cleanse my palate with something better.

I chose True Grit (1969).

Excellent choice.

*Ned Pepper in True Grit (1969)

8 Comments

May 26, 2014

By the dim and flaring lamps

by chuckofish

Today is Memorial Day and also John Wayne’s birthday!

You can watch war movies all day on TCM. Twelve O’Clock High (1949)–one of my favorites is on tonight, followed by another great one, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

Or you can choose to watch John Wayne movies.

Either way, have a good day and take some time to remember the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

Here is a great rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, written by Julia Ward Howe in 1861 to the tune of “John Brown’s Body”:

Have you ever read all the lyrics to this wonderful hymn? Well, here they are:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:

His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:

His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:

“As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal”;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,

Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me.

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,

While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,

Our God is marching on.

(Chorus)

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

Our God is marching on.

And here is a special prayer from the BCP for today:

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

3 Comments

May 6, 2014

“See what the boys in the backroom will have And tell them I’m having the same.”*

by chuckofish

On this day in 1992 Marlene Dietrich died. She was 91 and had lived quite a life.

[Dietrich’s gravestone in Berlin. The inscription reads “Hier steh ich an den Marken meiner Tage“–“Here I stand at the milestone of my days”.]

Marlene Dietrich stands out in the history of film as one of the few German actresses who attained international significance. I just watched her recently in the 1942 version of The Spoliers with John Wayne and Randolph Scott. She really steals the show, even with John Wayne opposite. She is exotic, beautiful, smart, and likable–not always the case with the femme fatale type.

Dietrich, a staunch anti-Nazi, became an American citizen in 1939. The U.S. Government awarded Dietrich the Medal of Freedom for her war work. Dietrich has been quoted as saying this was the honor of which she was most proud in her life. They also awarded her the Operation Entertainment Medal. The French Government made her a Chevalier (later upgraded to Commandeur) of the Legion d’Honneur and a Commandeur of the Ordre des Artes et des Lettres. Her other awards include the Medallion of Honor of the State of Israel, the Fashion Foundation of America award and a Chevalier de L’ordre de Leopold.

Yes, she was quite a gal and deserves a toast tonight. Here she is singing “Lili Marlene” in german. I seem to recall my pater getting weepy over this one.

*See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have by Frank Loesser from Destry Rides Again

4 Comments

April 23, 2014

The man in the arena

by chuckofish

On this day in 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt made a speech on the subject of “Citizenship in a Republic” at the Sorbonne in Paris. One notable passage on page seven of the 35-page speech is referred to as “The Man in the Arena.”

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

These are good words to remember from our most active and hard-working president!

So did you take my advice and watch Stagecoach last night? I was feeling ~~a little~~ very down in the dumps because daughter #1 had returned to NYC that morning, so I knew it would be just the ticket to put me back on track. And it was.

It’s amazing how a little bit of sagebrush drama,

exquisitely told by the master of the genre,

with a generous dose of this guy

in the part that blew open his career can do that. It is such a great movie with such finely drawn characters.

And have I mentioned that the OM gave me this for my birthday?

Yes, #22…

Life is good, right?

Okay so I like the strong silent type. I get it. The man in the arena.

9 Comments

April 21, 2014

“Well, I guess you can’t break out of prison and into society in the same week.”*

by chuckofish

I hope everyone had a blessed and happy Easter. I had a birthday thrown in as well, so it was a super special weekend.

I even found this on my desk Friday morning at work:

My cup runneth over!

Daughter #1 came home and we went straight to Steak ‘N Shake from the airport.

We took a long walk in our flyover town and watched Ben-Hur as planned–all four hours in one sitting.

The Easter Bunny arrived on schedule in the morning.

After church we met the boy and daughter #3 at the flyover faculty club for brunch.

Afterwards we had a little birthday celebration with presents. And we watched one of my favorite movies:

If you haven’t seen this film recently, I suggest you do!

Such a lovely weekend!

Also, I have been remiss in not mentioning that TCM’s Star of the Month for April is (appropriately) John Wayne!

One of my Top Ten favorite movies, Stagecoach (1939) is showing tomorrow (April 22) at 8:00 p.m. (EST) so set your DVRs.

Have a good week!

*The Ringo Kid, Stagecoach

4 Comments

April 11, 2014

Fat baby Friday

by chuckofish

I am not a royal watcher. I mean, I like them and I think Kate Middleton is lovely and such a nice change from the usual wannabee types and all, but really I don’t understand why Americans are so taken with aristocrats and European royalty.

Having said that, this picture of George, the royal baby, is just too cute. The three of them seem happy and to actually like each other, don’t you think? And isn’t that nice?

Well, fat babies aside, let us take note that earlier this week was the birthday of Ward Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960)–character actor extraordinaire. As you know, Bond made 23 movies with John Wayne. So don’t you think you should pick one of them to watch this weekend?

Here they are in "Salute" (1929)--their first movie together. They appeared with fellow team members of the whole USC football team

Here they are in “Salute” (1929)–their first movie together. They appeared with fellow members of the USC football team.

Ward Bond is one of those actors who just turns up all the time in movies–and not always with John Wayne. He was Bert in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Morgan Earp in My Darling Clementine (1946) and John L. Sullivan in Gentleman Jim (1942). He played a cop in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). He even had a substantial part in Joan of Arc (1948) with Ingrid Bergman. (Who’s idea was that?) He was in Gone With the Wind (1939) for pete’s sake! In fact, Bond appears in more films on the American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Movies List than any other actor. Quite a career!

Check out a full list of his movies here.

Have a great weekend!

8 Comments

March 7, 2014

Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.*

by chuckofish

I am looking forward to some good Lenten movie viewing! Are you? In the past we have watched a combination of straightforward religious films such as:

The Robe (1953)

Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

and, of course, Ben Hur (1959) on Good Friday/Holy Saturday.

We also watch movies with a general theme of sacrifice, such as:

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Chariots of Fire (1981)

Shane (1953)

and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

I have been trying to come up with some new ideas: Sling Blade (1996)?

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)?

Buffy, season 5?

This is harder than you think. Just google “films about sacrifice” and see what you get! Titanic! And, no, you will not find me watching Son of God (2014) with the “hot” Jesus, put together by those people responsible for the unwatchable “The Bible” TV miniseries.

Suggestions please!

*Cool Hand Luke, screenplay by Don Pearce and Frank Pierson

9 Comments

February 10, 2014

“Grant us strength and courage…*

by chuckofish

Talk about dark and dreary–that was our weekend! But it was brightened a whole lot by my Saturday outing to historic Kimmswick for lunch with my good friends.

We dined at the celebrated “Blue Owl” restaurant. Our food was yummy and the company, as always, hilarious. Carla, our intrepid social planner, drove as usual. It is great to be like a child on these outings and just follow along. I mean that. With all my heart.

The boy came over and burned a CD for me. It is the soundtrack to the movie Inside Llewyn Davis.

Yes, that’s Justin Timberlake singing. It is a wonderful CD and I highly recommend it. (Also highly recommended by daughter #1) How can you miss with T. Bone Burnett producing? Well, you can’t.

I have also been listening to the new CD Old Yellow Moon with Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell.

I believe it just won a Grammy in the “Americana” field. What is this field, you ask? I had never heard of it, but it seems to be a category where old singers are put so they can still win Grammys. I am not trying to be harsh but, c’mon, this is a straight on Country album. I think Steve Martin and Edie Brickell were nominated in this field too. Anyway, it is a good album and I especially like their cover of the Kris Kristofferson song “Chase the Feeling” which includes the classic line: “You got loaded again, Ain’t you handsome when you’re high.”

Speaking of music, I heard that my friend Andrew Hunt will be opening for none other than (be still my heart) Dwight Yoakam

in Austin, TX soon. He will not be with his band Johnny Appleseed, but some other guys. Boy, wouldn’t it be great to see that concert? Okay, Dwight may not be the heart-throb he once was, but neither am I.

Saturday night I watched The Commancheros (1961) with John Wayne and Stuart Whitman.

Stuart Whitman (who replaced James Garner, Charlton Heston and several others) and the Duke in that iconic faded red shirt, leather vest and kirchief.

Stuart Whitman (who replaced James Garner, Charlton Heston and several others) and the Duke in that iconic faded red shirt, leather vest and kerchief.

It is the last film directed by one of my favorites, Michael Curtiz (Casablanca and The Adventures of Robin Hood). He was very ill, dying as it turned out, during the filming of it and John Wayne stepped in and actually directed most of the movie. He took no credit for it, of course. Any film from this era of John Wayne westerns is always a winner in my book, especially when you have had it up to here (already) with X-Game sports at the Olympics.

At church on Sunday I was confronted with the fact that they have cut out a section of my pew (fifth row, epistle side) to accommodate oldsters with walkers. Carla had warned me about this, but still it was a bit jarring on Sunday morning. I had to find a new pew, and for oldsters like me, that is not easy! C’est la vie. I’ll live.

The boy and daughter #3 came over for dinner on Sunday night. I made Episcopal souffle, a nice salad and cut up a baguette for dinner. Perfect.

How was your weekend? Have a good week!

*…to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart”–BCP

7 Comments

January 24, 2014

Friday movie pick: “A man oughta do what he thinks is right.”

by chuckofish

As I mentioned earlier, daughter #2 sent me two Josh Ritter CDs to get me all set for the concert I am going to in February. I have been listening to them non-stop for a week or so and the song that has stuck with me is “Make Me Down”.

All that talk of making me down a pallet on your floor, has also given me an idea for this week’s movie pick: Hondo (1953) with John Wayne. You will recall that the Duke makes a pallet on Angie Lowe’s floor and, well, you can guess what happens.

John Wayne in the iconic Hondo pose with Dog

This is a movie that would have benefited mightily from a better director, but it is still a good western, based on a solid story by Louis L’Amour. Directed frenetically in 3-D by John Farrow with a sometimes snicker-inducing screenplay by James Edward Grant, it is carried forward by the inestimable effort of the Duke who swings manfully through the movie, chopping wood, shoeing horses, fighting Indians, etc. There is a lot of action in this movie–really too much for the simple love story it tells. You can see that they are trying to use the 3-D to its optimum effect and that they overdo it. What a shame.

3-D already. We get it.

The great stage actress Geraldine Page stars here in her first movie as Angie Lowe, a woman living alone with her young son in the midst of hostile Apache territory. Cast for her non-Hollywood looks, she is unfortunately not terribly appealing. Louis L’Amour wrote a compelling female character–unusual for mid-century movies–but somehow Geraldine, even though she was nominated for an Academy Award, doesn’t quite pull it off, which is also a shame.

Hondo is a movie that has received some criticism for its portrayal of Native Americans. Some of it is deserved. The white actors who play Indians look Italian and wear way too much body make-up. They say idiotic things like, “You have good man. Treasure him.” Really? (This is what I meant by “snicker-inducing”.) John Wayne-haters often cite this role, but his famous line–“Everybody gets dead. It was his turn.”–is always taken out of context. Hondo is part Apache and has lived with the Indians and respects their way of life. One wonders if these critics have even seen the movie!

Bottom line: this movie could have been so much better. John Ford did not direct it. Noted. But there is still a lot of good in it and, for me, any movie with John Wayne is worth watching. It is easy to see why Angie makes up that pallet on the floor for old Hondo. Who in her right mind wouldn’t?

There is also a great dog in this movie (see photo above)–really one of the great movie dogs of all time. His name, of course, is Dog.

9 Comments

December 5, 2013

That’ll be the day!

by chuckofish

Last weekend I ended up watching three of my all-time favorite movies: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Searchers and The Wizard of Oz. All three should have won Best Picture Oscars, but, of course, none of them did. For me, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1962) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) are perfect movies. I wouldn’t change a thing about either of them.

The Searchers (1956) is a great, great movie, but it is not perfect. It is arguably the pinnacle of the John Wayne-John Ford collaboration and is considered one of the greatest Westerns ever made. I watched it on TCM as part of their “Essentials” series, introduced by Robert Osborne and Drew Barrymore. I was curious to hear what they had to say. Robert Osborne, who has the best job in the world, can be quite a dolt, and he certainly was this time around.

Permit me now a little rant. Osborne said he preferred John Ford’s black and white films shot in Monument Valley. The technicolor photography of The Searchers was “lurid”. This is comparing apples and oranges. I love the black and white westerns as well, but The Searchers is a whole different scale and category. It is an epic. To give Drew credit, she said she felt like she was watching a work of art, and for once I agreed with her.

Osborne said a lot of other stupid things, but the most egregious comment was stating that John Wayne is at his most “Duke-ish” in this movie. John Wayne is not the Duke in this movie. He is a bitter war veteran who is eaten up with hate. The woman he loves has been savagely murdered by Indians along with her husband and son. He is heart-broken and angry and hell-bent on vengeance. Is this the Duke? Hardly. (As the boy explained, “The Duke is The Fighting Seabees.”)

No, John Wayne is acting in this movie and he is great. He should have won an Oscar for this movie. But, of course, Robert Osborne and Drew Barrymore never mention Wayne’s acting or anyone else’s for that matter. It is as if they do not expect there to be acting in a Western–there is only action, right? He did mention that for once Jeffrey Hunter had a better part than usual, but no credit was given to John Wayne.

As I said before, this is a flawed film. The great John Ford seems uneasy with the serious subject matter and he undermines Wayne’s great performance by frequently cutting from a dramatic scene to a haw-haw “my fi-an-cy” scene in an irritating way. Even at the denouement of the movie when Wayne’s character finally confronts his long-lost niece, Ford cuts immediately to Ward Bond with his pants down. Why does he do this? It is perplexing. It is, indeed, almost like two films: the one with John Wayne out on the trail and the one with the people back at home. When the two intersect, it is problematic.

But still, John Wayne is at his graceful best: throwing his hat, gesticulating and waving, galloping and shooting, and spitting out lines like,

“Well, Reverend, that tears it! From now on, you stay out of this. All of ya. I don’t want you with me. I don’t need ya for what I got to do..”

and

“What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don’t ever ask me! Long as you live, don’t ever ask me more.”

He does it all like no one before or since. He can tell you how he feels by moving one muscle in his face. I have heard that the Duke himself considered this his greatest role and his own favorite movie. Of course he did.