John Wayne | dual personalities

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.

6 Comments

November 22, 2013

This is how my mind works

by chuckofish

So we all have been preoccupied recently with the year 1963, especially with the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.

So I got to thinking about what would be an appropriate movie to recommend as this Friday’s pick.

So I looked up the top-grossing films of 1963. You would not believe what fun movies are on that list! Indeed, many are favorites of mine. There is hardly a serious drama in the bunch. Here are the top 16, starting with #1:

Cleopatra, How the West Was Won, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Tom Jones, Irma la Douce, The Sword in the Stone, Son of Flubber, The Birds, Dr. No, The V.I.P.s, McClintock!, Charade, Bye Bye Birdie, Move Over, Darling, Come Blow Your Horn, The Thrill of It All,

and #17: The Great Escape.

I’ve missed him, have you?

It is kind of eye-opening. It was a different world back then and the movie stars were different too–Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine, John Wayne and Steve McQueen and this guy:

Albert Finney, you were adorable

Not to put too fine a line on it (or to be disrespectful), but it was all downhill from November 22, 1963. The world became a depressing and chaotic place.

I was just in the second grade that fall, but I have to say I have always gravitated to the early 1960s time period as a favorite era (see above list of movies).

Flyover blondes and me

I guess I was happy then. My parents were still fairly young and seemed happy and not un-hip to me. We had moved into a new (old) house. Things were on an upward trajectory. I suppose that’s why.

ANYWAY, How the West Was Won has always been in my Top Ten list.

I went to see it at the movies with my best friend Trudie Glick (her birthday party) and it was practically the first movie I had ever seen at the movies. My 12 year-old brother, of course, had already seen it and he gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up. He told me about all the really good parts. I was pretty bowled over by it–remember, it was in Cinerama–and especially loved the magnificent musical score by Alfred Newman. It is the soundtrack by which I have judged all soundtracks since.

Charade, starring Audrey and Cary Grant, is another all-time favorite of mine.

This rom-com is bright and light and much-copied. The original is always best! Stanley Donen’s direction is perfect–he made some great movies with Audrey Hepburn. And Cary Grant is on his A-game. Plus there is all that and wonderful European scenery and Henry Mancini music.

Move Over, Darling and The Thrill of It All are both terrific Doris Day vehicles, even with the B-Team James Garner (i.e. not Rock Hudson). The Thrill of It All in particular has been a favorite of our family: Happy Soap saved my life!

So I leave it to you which movie to pick, but I recommend them all (maybe not Son of Flubber). No conspiracy theories for me this weekend.

8 Comments

October 15, 2013

Two of my favorites

by chuckofish

Here’s a picture to make you smile on Tuesday: Steve McQueen drunkenly embracing an amused John Wayne.

“I love you, man.”

4 Comments

May 24, 2013

The toughest man south of the Picketwire

by chuckofish

Sunday is John Wayne’s birthday–so you know what I’ll be doing to celebrate!

Marion Mitchell Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979) was born in Winterset, Iowa, but his family relocated to California when he was four years old.

A local fireman at the station on his route to school in Glendale started calling him “Little Duke” because he never went anywhere without his huge Airedale Terrier, Duke. He preferred “Duke” to “Marion”, and the name stuck for the rest of his life.

He attended Wilson Middle School in Glendale. He played football for the 1924 champion Glendale High School team. I think I read somewhere that he was president of his senior class. Of course he was. According to Wikipedia, he applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted. Well, their loss. Instead he attended the University of Southern California (USC), majoring in pre-law. He was a member of the Trojan Knights and Sigma Chi fraternities.

He found work at local film studios when he lost his football scholarship to USC as a result of a bodysurfing accident. Initially working for the Fox Film Corporation, he mostly appeared in small bit parts. His first leading role came in the widescreen epic The Big Trail (1930).

A star is born. Hello, John Wayne.

His career rose to further heights in 1939, with John Ford’s Stagecoach making him an instant superstar.

Wayne would go on to star in 142 pictures.

My “Top Ten”–make that Eleven–Best Films of John Wayne would include:

Stagecoach (1939)
3 Godfathers (1948)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Rio Grande (1950)
The Quiet Man (1952)
The Searchers (1956)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
El Dorado (1966)
True Grit (1969)

Eight of these were directed by John Ford. What a great team! Has there been another like it in film history? I think not.

Three of these would be on my “Ten Best Movies of All Time” List.

There are so many other really good movies which do not make the top eleven, but are eminently entertaining. Consider:

Tall in the Saddle (1944)
Fort Apache (1948)
Red River (1948)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Hondo (1953)
Blood Alley (1955)
Legend of the Lost (1957)
The Comancheros (1961
Hatari (1962)
How the West Was Won (1962)
Donovan’s Reef (1963)
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
The War Wagon (1967)
The Cowboys (1972)
The Shootist (1976)

John Wayne is great at all ages, in all decades of his stardom. I contend that even a bad movie with John Wayne is entertaining and worth watching. And I always feel better after I’ve watched one.

I grew up watching John Wayne Theater on Saturday/Sunday afternoons. My parents were both John Wayne fans so we always went to the movies to see his newest film. The first “new” John Wayne movie I went to see at the movies was El Dorado. My mother was back east visiting her dying mother, so our father took my dual personality and me to see it. I’m sure if my mother had been home, we would have been deemed “too young”, but my father wanted to go, so he took us along. It was the summer after fifth grade (second grade for my sister!). It was so great. When I went home I looked up the poem “El Dorado” by Edgar Allan Poe and memorized it. I still know it by heart. Quelle nerd, I know.

When I was a graduate student at the College of William and Mary, John Wayne came to town to tape an appearance on the Perry Como Christmas Special. It was late in 1978. Completely out of character, I went down to Colonial Williamsburg, armed with my Kodak Instamatic, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Great Man. My guardian angel was with me that day. I ran into my hero coming out of one of the colonial shops. A small crowd was forming but people were respectful. I snapped a picture (where is it?!)–he was standing a few feet away. I started to cry. I could cry now writing about it. It’s silly, but it was just so great. He was very tall. He was kind and patient and smiled at everyone, even though he clearly was not well. He died the following June.

John Wayne’s enduring status as an iconic American was formally recognized by the U.S. government by awarding him the two highest civilian decorations. He was recognized by the United States Congress on May 26, 1979, when he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Hollywood figures and American leaders from across the political spectrum, including Maureen O’Hara, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Mike Frankovich, Katharine Hepburn, General and Mrs. Omar Bradley, Gregory Peck, Robert Stack, James Arness, and Kirk Douglas, testified to Congress of the merit and deservedness of this award.

On June 9, 1980, Wayne was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter, at whose inaugural ball Wayne had appeared “as a member of the loyal opposition,” as Wayne described it in his speech to the gathering.

So I know what I’ll be doing on Sunday–honoring old John Wayne by watching some of his movies. What is your favorite John Wayne movie?

Here’s a nice tribute TCM did with Harry Carey, Jr. (By the way, they are showing a whole slew of John Wayne films on Sunday starting at 6:45 a.m.–all war movies.)

9 Comments

February 22, 2013

Things happen

by chuckofish

One of the best things about being the Boss Lady is that I get to call a snow day every once in awhile. Well, yesterday was one of those days. It wasn’t Snowmageddon, but for our flyover state it was significant white stuff.

We started with sleet in the morning.

And continued as snow throughout the day.

I hunkered down with my little home version of a potbelly stove:

I read more of The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather and munched on Valentine’s candy.

I watched Stagecoach on TCM.

Ringo: I used to be a good cowhand. But things happen.
Dallas: Yes. Things happen.

What a great movie! What a great day!

Unfortunately, although I called a snow day for our students today, I have to go in myself. C’est la vie!

4 Comments

February 4, 2013

As Valentine’s Day approaches…

by chuckofish

I recently saw a post on another blog about the best screen kisses. This got me thinking, because, of course, I didn’t agree with the ones they had chosen. I won’t get into that, but I did think it was a good idea for a post, especially with Valentine’s Day fast approaching. You’ll want to line up your DVD viewing for February.

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara about to lock lips in “The Quiet Man”.

So here are the best screen kisses (in my opinion):

“The Adventures of Robin Hood”

The BEST: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). When Robin challenges Marian, “Then you do love me, don’t you? Don’t you?” we are right there with her answering, “You know I do.” It’s been 75 years since this great movie was made, and nothing surpasses it for its romance and handsome leading man and lady! Captain Blood (1935)–also with Errol and Olivia–is equally wonderful, but they only kiss once and she slaps him!

John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in “The Quiet Man”

The Quiet Man (1952) actually features several world-class kissing scenes, but John Wayne and Maureen in the rain is pretty special. You can tell they really enjoy kissing each other. John and Maureen were always a good fit.

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

Another kissing-in-the-rain scene, this time with Audrey, George and Cat. Eat your heart out, Ryan Gosling.

“Philadelphia Story”

Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story (1940). Who knew that Jimmy Stewart would steal the sexy-show from co-star Cary Grant? I remember my mother pointed this out to me many years ago–something about his hands and what he was doing with them. Hmmm. It’s always the quiet ones, right?

Honorable mention:

“North By Northwest”

Okay, we’ll give Cary Grant a hat tip for North By Northwest (1959) with Eva Marie Saint. He doesn’t look too uncomfortable in this one.

“Gone With the Wind”

And even though Gone With the Wind (1939) is not one of my favorite movies, who can deny that Clark Gable knew how to kiss? Atlanta is burning and he is parting with Scarlett on the bridge–wow. Back then they really knew how to set up the scene and stage the actors to optimal effect. He looms over her, powerful and manly; they kiss. And then he leaves!

Best acting while kissing:

“Pillow Talk”

Rock Hudson, God love him, and Doris Day in Pillow Talk (1959) go away for the weekend–so risque, so great. And then she finds out who he really is. Ooooooh!

So what have I left out?

Because I felt like I should have something since 1961, but nothing came to mind, I decided to check out one of the kisses that was mentioned several times in the comment section of the other blog. The blogger had asked for readers’ suggestions, and several people mentioned North and South. I did some checking and discovered it is a BBC four-part adaption of the 19th century novel by Elizabeth Gaskell (not the Civil War soap opera from the 1980s). I watched it last weekend (4 episodes) and, boy oh boy, what a find!

Hello, Richard Armitage!

Let’s just say he is totally wasted as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit.

In conclusion, I give you the famous Montage of Kissing Scenes from the wonderful Cinema Paradiso (1988), which includes Errol and Olivia at least twice!

10 Comments

January 7, 2013

The Wise Men do their part

by chuckofish

Yesterday at Grace we had a Lessons and Carols with Holy Eucharist for Epiphany service complete with three little boys decked out in glittery kingly garb bringing gifts for the Christ child (see picture above sans boys). The only problem was, as usual, no one had bothered to tell the assigned lay readers that there was a change in the service which would affect them. I was a lay reader and this annoyed me, which in turn made me feel like a grumpy old lady, which contrary to popular opinion, I do not enjoy.

Once I recovered from my initial consternation, however, I was able to enjoy the service, which is a treat reserved, I guess, for when Epiphany actually lands on a Sunday. Anyway, it included the singing of many of my favorite hymns: We Three Kings, In the Bleak Midwinter, As With Gladness Men of Old, and The First Nowell. Also the wee bairns in the training choir sang and they are always adorable.

I was the first reader and read the first lesson:

I love being a lay reader, because I love the scripture. This is what keeps me going to church despite constant reservations and disagreements with all forms of organized religion. Also it was good to go to church on Epiphany and be reminded that epiphanies happen every day. Our task is not to MISS them!

It was also a great lead in to watching 3 Godfathers (finally).

This movie never disappoints. I was also reminded of the time back in the day when daughter #1 and the boy were shepherds in the “Christmas in St. Louis” parade. They rode on the float with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus and some sheep. That year there were also three wise men on real camels! One of the kings was our new daughter-in-law’s grandfather who was right out of central casting in the part of king/wise man. I wish I had a picture of him on his camel, but I’ll have to make due with this one of my children.

Little did that King on a camel know that his granddaughter would marry that little shepherd one day. Well, wise man or shepherd, we try to do our part.

We try to give Him our heart.

6 Comments

January 3, 2013

R.I.P. Harry Carey, Jr.

by chuckofish

I was busy last week and failed to notice that Harry Carey, Jr. had died on December 27. He was 91 and had lived a long, full life.

Rio Grande (1950)

Henry George “Dobe” Carey, Jr. (May 16, 1921 – December 27, 2012) appeared in over 90 films as well as numerous television series. Born in Saugus, California, he was the son of respected actor Harry Carey (1878–1947) and actress Olive Carey (1896–1988). As a boy, he was nicknamed “Dobe”, short for adobe, because of the color of his hair. He served with the United States Navy during World War II.

One of my pet peeves, as you may know, is Hollywood being such a nepotiz-town. There are way too many sons, daughters, nieces and nephews in the business, if you ask me. If they weeded out all the Ben Stillers and Drew Barrymores out there…well, I’ll end this rant now before I really get going. Sorry. But clearly Harry Carey, Jr. was an actor who owed his career to his father whose famous friends like John Ford were willing to insert his son into their movies. In this case, however, Junior seemed satisfied with being a character in the background. He excelled as a character actor in such movies as Rio Grande, where he was priceless teamed with Ben Johnson. When he did get a part with featured billing, he rose to the occasion, as in 3 Godfathers, where he played the guileless Abilene Kid admirably. He is also excellent in The Searchers as the clueless young man who elicits the wrath of Ethan Edwards.

Carey made eleven films with John Wayne and at least nine with John Ford– awesome career accomplishments in themselves! He also played ranch counselor Bill Burnett in the popular Disney serial Spin and Marty and an assortment of grizzled types in his later career which lasted through the 1990s.

I did not get a chance to watch 3 Godfathers over the holidays, so I think I will watch it now in honor of Harry Carey, Jr. Vaya con Dios, amigo!

I have to add that for years we have kidded my husband about being Harry Carey, Jr’s doppelganger (see top picture). But, oh my, what does the future hold?