dual personalities

Tag: movies

October 11, 2022

Dry bones rattlin’

by chuckofish

It is that time of year when we take a backward look at the bygone days of our youth when Halloween mattered…This annual glance was initiated by my looking for the witch costume that my mother made in 1986 for daughter #1 who was two at the time. It was her first Halloween costume and she wore it for many years…

Eventually daughter #2 inherited it and wore it multiple times…

(The politically-incorrect Indian costume was also made by my mother, but for me in 1962 to wear in a Peter Pan play at school.)

Our hope is that wee Katiebelle will wear the witch costume this year. It would please her great-grandmother. (Adorable pictures to follow, since–glory be–I found the costume!…)

In other news, we watched The Birds (1963) and Rear Window (1954), two Alfred Hitchcock movies suitable for October viewing. We enjoyed them both despite having seen them many times. It is kind of easy (and amusing) to make fun of them while watching, but they are classics, nevertheless, well made and suspenseful. And, of course, The Simpsons take-off of The Birds (and The Great Escape) in “A Streetcar Named Marge” is also a classic.

The author of this article makes a good analogy comparing daily Bible reading to the ongoing painting of the Golden Gate Bridge. “Does this persistent act of painting our hearts and minds rest solely with us? Does our perseverance in studying the word of God come about merely through our own willpower? As the apostle Paul often says, ‘By no means!’ It is a joint endeavor between God as the Master Painter and us.”

This was part of my daily Bible reading assignment yesterday–always a mood changer:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

–Philippians 4: 4-9

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October 4, 2022

“Time bends. Space is boundless. It squashes a man’s ego. I feel lonely. That’s about it. “*

by chuckofish

Today we celebrate the birthday of movie actor Charlton Heston (1923-2008). Heston was made for the movies. With his fantastic 6′ 5″ physique and imposing persona, he was best playing historical (or biblical) characters or adventurers, especially ones who wore skimpy costumes. It was definitely a plus if he could take his shirt off.

Ben Hur
The Ten Commandments
Planet of the Apes

He was also great in The Naked Jungle (1954)–although he is never naked–and The Secret of the Incas (1954) where he served as the prototype for Indiana Jones.

He was good in westerns too, such as The Big Country (1957) where he is naked.

There are plenty of good movies to choose from–and bad ones too…

Earthquake
Major Dundee

I leave that to you to choose.

*George Taylor in Planet of the Apes (1968)

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October 3, 2022

“O hushed October morning mild”*

by chuckofish

My weekend was a nice quiet one. The weather was beautiful. I went to a DAR meeting and to Target for the first time in a couple of years to buy a second car seat. On Saturday afternoon the OM and I attempted to install it, along with our other car seat in the SUV, but failed. Seriously you need an engineering degree and the strength of Hercules to do this. I accept that I lack these things, but it frustrates the OM mightily when he is unable to do such tasks easily. We had to ask the boy to come over and use his man strength and general know-how to accomplish this not-so-simple chore. C’est la vie.

I needed the two car seats because I wanted to pick up the wee twins and take them to church on Sunday so they wouldn’t miss again when their Dad was working. This I did. And all by myself since the OM went to the baseball game–the last home game of the season**. He would have benefited from hearing the sermon which was on the third commandment:

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

–Exodus 20:7

There was a lot of blaspheming during the carseat installation incident on Saturday.

Anyway, the twins were great and I got them in and out of their carseats (another engineering feat) and home safe and sound. Lottie filled me in on all the gossip.

It is October so I am beginning to watch some of my favorite Halloween-ish movies, i.e. ones dealing with the supernatural. First up was The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) directed by Joseph Mankiewicz.

Rex Harrison stars as the ghost of a sea captain who appears to Gene Tierney’s young widow Lucy Muir when she moves into his Gull Cottage and dictates his “memoirs” to her. George Sanders is the children’s author who temporarily steals Mrs. Muir’s heart. Edna Best is Lucy’s devoted maid and Natalie Wood plays her daughter. It is a wonderful, subtle and genuinely haunting movie, beautifully photographed by Charles Lang. The score by Bernard Herrmann is perfection. Every time I see it, I like it more. This time I was struck by how much Gene Tierney reminded me of my friend Nicki, who died in January. This made me even more sad, but the OM had left during the opening credits, so I was free to weep throughout the movie.

Here’s the soundtrack suite from the movie. According to Wikipedia it was Bernard Herrmann’s personal favorite.

So watch The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, forebear to swear, and enjoy the lovely fall weather (if the hurricane missed you.)

Thanks, Mommy, but I prefer Toll House to these organic, gluten-free cookies

*”October” by Robert Frost–read it here.

**In his final Busch Stadium at-bat, Albert Pujols hit homerun #702 to tie Babe Ruth on MLB all-time RBI list. And the crowd went wild.

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September 22, 2022

Thursday musings

by chuckofish

It is finally cooling off in flyover country–thank goodness. Fall is officially here by the way, so I am ready to switch to turtlenecks anytime soon.

Meanwhile I am immersed in bible study–both my daily reading and my weekly study of Hebrews. Phew. It is a lot. Currently in Ezekiel, The Lord is saying things like:

“Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you.”

–13:8

Things never change. Isn’t that oddly comforting? I think so too.

Also, in case you were interested, I am now a person who uses “Bible Safe Gel Highlighters”.

In other news, since Tuesday was Sophia Loren’s birthday, I watched Legend of the Lost (1956) starring John Wayne, Rossano Brazzi and Sophia. Even though it was beautifully filmed on location in Libya by Jack Cardiff, directed by Henry Hathaway and boasted big international stars, it was not a box office hit.

It has always been a favorite of mine. Sophia, who looks sensational even when hot and sweaty, and John Wayne make an appealing and believable pair. The duke is a match for Sophia any day and she seems to appreciate that.

Last week I watched Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)–another re-telling of the real-life mutiny of the HMS Bounty in 1789 by Fletcher Christian–when it was on TCM. Shot in widescreen Ultra Panavision on location at enormous cost, it nevertheless flopped at the box office and I can understand why. Most critics blamed its star Marlon Brando, who was mocked for his English accent and foppish airs. I was prepared to laugh as well, but I have to say I thought Marlon was pretty good. Sure, he was a pain on set and terrible to work with, but his acting was fine and he is really, really handsome.

He tried to play Fletcher Christian as a man who was changed by his experience aboard the ship and he does that rather well. He is not a hero at the beginning, but he is by the end. (Contrast this with Clark Gable’s 1935 portrayal in which he is a hero from the get-go.)

However, I found the movie to be slow, and despite all the sturm and drang of fighting the weather and the elements, boring. Also, Trevor Howard as Bligh left a lot to be desired. Anyway, I did watch the whole thing, so that says something–probably that Marlon Brando held my interest.

Truman Capote wrote an interesting profile of Marlon Brando for The New Yorker in 1957 called “The Duke in His Domain,” which I re-read after seeing this movie. He seems to prove the point he made another time when he said, “The better the actor, the more stupid he is.” Whatever. Brando was a good actor.

3 Comments
September 13, 2022

A little venting

by chuckofish

Yesterday afternoon I went over to an old friend’s house to watch a movie on her huge-screen TV. This is something we do now that we are retired. My rude daughter #1 calls them “playdates”. Anyway, we watched the newest Jurassic World movie, Dominion. It was the extended version–two hours and 40 minutes. When I got home I wrote a detailed review of how really bad it was, and then my computer froze and I lost my review when I rebooted.

Well, it is probably just as well. I undoubtedly would have offended someone with my thoughts about emasculated men and genetically altered female clones who can procreate by themselves, and idiots who declare, “Science is truth!” but the minute they get in a tight spot are screaming, “Oh my God! Oh my God!” Irony unintended.

I’m sure Chris Pratt was paid a bezillion dollars for his twenty minutes of screen time, but he should bow out of any further sequels. The scene where he is rounding up dinosaurs on horseback (all CGI) was just embarrassing.

And once you’ve seen one dinosaur chomp someone’s head off, you’ve seen them all. Ho hum.

Anyway, after that I had to cleanse my palate with a good old fashioned John Wayne western–in this case The Comancheros (1961).

Equilibrium adjusted.

I finished the new Longmire book, Hell and Back, by Craig Johnson, and I have to say, I was disappointed. It was okay, but not up to his standard. I guess Johnson, at this point, is just churning them out one-a-year for his publisher. As one Amazon reviewer concluded his negative take, “And Henry says ‘I’m.'”–all aficionados know, Henry never speaks in contractions. A rush job and inadequate editing. Sigh.

Back to Richard Scarry

I liked this post. “My tendency to want to please people urges me to take the sharp edges off the Bible, to bring fog into its clarity. But, such a road only leads to me as lord—and that is the path of destruction.”

5 Comments
September 8, 2022

Here in the spacious classroom of the world*

by chuckofish

I have been inspired by daughter #1 to read some David McCullough history, but first I have to read #18 in the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson. My copy of Hell and Back arrived in the mail on schedule on Tuesday and I dove right in. I’ll let you now how it goes.

I am also reading Dane Ortlund’s Deeper for our women’s book group at church. I am not really one for book clubs since I tend to be too critical and usually am triggered by people and their comments, but I thought I’d give it a whirl. It will be good practice on keeping my mouth shut.

Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Ecclesiastes 5:2

I watched the original To Be or Not to Be (1942) starring Jack Benny and Carol Lombard earlier this week and it really is a terrific movie. It is Ernst Lubitsch at his best. The plot revolves around a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their talents with disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It is a very funny, dark comedy about a not-very-funny situation. It is witty and light and never crosses the line into slapstick. Carole Lombard, radiantly beautiful and smart, was never better. (Sadly, she died before the movie was released.) And Jack Benny, who supposedly felt out of his depth, does a fine job as the hack actor who must rise to the occasion several times. Felix Bressart as Greenberg, who dreams of playing Shylock, stands out among the supporting cast, but they are all terrific.

Mel Brooks remade To Be or Not to Be in 1983 and, as I recall, it is a good movie too. But as comedies go, the original is one of the Top 10 best.

Also, I stumbled upon this old blogpost and I think the Oswald Chambers quote bears repeating.

P.S. John Wayne: An American Experience was voted the Best Museum in Fort Worth by the readers of @fwtxmag 🤠 (I voted.)

Have a good Thursday!

*Billy Collins, “The Only Day in Existence”

4 Comments
September 6, 2022

Chasing the clouds away

by chuckofish

It’s still rainy and gloomy here in flyover country, and we are pretty water-logged, but so far, no more flooding. Oy. Sunshine is promised for tomorrow. Anyway, we don’t mind the rainy weather. It gives us an excuse to stay inside and watch old movies and read old books.

Today we note the passing in 1959 of the popular English character actor Edmund Gwenn, who most people remember as Kris Kringle in Miracle of 34th Street (1947), for which he won an Oscar as best supporting actor. He played many memorable roles, however, such as Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (1940), Dr. Medford in Them! (1954), and Capt. Albert Wiles in The Trouble With Harry (1955). He co-starred with Lassie in three movies. And he played an Episcopal minister in Life With Father (1947) and in Mister Scoutmaster (1953). He was always great.

Two of his movies I have not seen are Undercurrent (1946) and Mister 800 (1950). I will try to find one of them to watch tonight.

And here’s a fun fact. His cousin in real life was the character actor Cecil Kellaway (who was more likely to play Catholic priests.)

Today is also the anniversary of the death of Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa (1910-98). Later this week I think I’ll watch Throne of Blood (1957), Kurosawa’s take on Macbeth with Toshiro Mifune, which I haven’t seen in a long time.

Writer Madeleine L’Engle also died on this day in 2007. I used to be a big fan of her writing back in the 1980s and I was thrilled to be able to hear her speak at my Episcopal church back then. A woman in the church who had been a classmate of her’s at Smith arranged the event. I came to realize that they were both women who had very high opinions of themselves and that is always ultimately unattractive. And now I doubt if I would agree with anything she believed. So it goes.

Have you seen this Instagram account? Everybody wants to be a cool kid I guess and be noticed as such.

And this made me LOL:

Yikes.

And…do you remember…

Bless the Lord, O my soul!
    O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2     covering yourself with light as with a garment,
    stretching out the heavens like a tent.
3 He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
    he rides on the wings of the wind;
4 he makes his messengers winds,
    his ministers a flaming fire.

Psalm 104: 1-4
4 Comments
September 5, 2022

“Here I raise my Ebenezer”*

by chuckofish

Our Labor Day weekend has been very rainy and gloomy. C’est la vie. We still had fun. Daughter #1 came in to town to have lunch with an old friend on Friday and then we visited several antique malls.

This is our idea of a good time. It was a lot of junk, but daughter #1 found a few things accidentally.

We watched The Wizard of Oz (1939) on Saturday night and were once again reminded what a wonderful movie it is. And let’s remember, it’s 83 years old! Almost an antique! It is one of my top five favorite/best movies ever. It is perfect. The technicolor! The details! The acting! Judy Garland! The Munchkins! Toto! No CG!

Good lord, I hope they don’t go through with plans for a “a modern reimagining of the iconic musical.” This would be a huge mistake. It is always a disaster to “re-imagine” something that is perfect. Just no.

But, yes, it is wonderful. Watching it on our big tv, I noticed several things for the first time. For instance, did you ever notice that in the scene where Dorothy and her three compadres enter the scary forest in search of the witch, the Scarecrow is carrying a handgun? He is. Anyway, it is worth watching again for the 100th time.

The boy and his family came over after church on Sunday to celebrate Labor Day with a barbecue. It was raining, but we had fun anyway.

Looking at the rain and breaking in the new sofa

Everyone enjoyed the burgers and hotdogs and a Tippins creme pie for dessert. It’s the little things, right?

Well, enjoy your day off if you have one today. Watch an old movie. Read a poem about work:

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown,

The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,

The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

–Walt Whitman, “I Hear America Singing”

And this is a good illustration. “If a non-christian wants to know why we believe that the Bible is God’s word, there’s a lot of things that we could talk about.”

*Baptist minister Robert Robinson (1735–1790) wrote “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” at age 22, not long after his conversion, which was influenced in part by the preaching of evangelist George Whitefield. The meaning of Ebenezer originates more than a thousand years before Christ, during the ministry of the prophet Samuel, who played a pivotal role at a key juncture in the history of God’s people. Read all about it here.

2 Comments
August 30, 2022

Balm in Gilead

by chuckofish

Last week I mentioned in a post that Toshiro Mifune is one of my Top Five favorite actors. That got me thinking and when I had lunch with the boy on Thursday we discussed the topic at length. I explained that by Top Five, I meant my personal favorites, i.e. not necessarily the most handsome or most gifted actors. Just my favorites, the ones I will always stop and watch when one of their movies is on TCM etc. This explains why I have seen Bullitt so many times.

After much thought, these are my five:

  1. John Wayne–no surprise there.

2. Steve McQueen

3. Leslie Howard

4. Toshiro Mifune–

5. Paul Newman

That is a pretty great list, am I right? And none of it is a surprise to readers of this blog. (Errol Flynn almost edged his way in.) All five made some great movies and even the ones that are not so great boost my spirits.

I guess it is sad that there is no one on this list born later than 1930, but what can I say?

If I had to add a “modern” fave, I would go with this guy:

How about you?

I will also note that today is the birthday of Virginia Lee Burton (1909-1968), artist, author and founder of the textile collective Folly Cove. Her book The Little House has always been a favorite of mine and I will toast her tonight.

P.S. On Sunday when the wee bud and I were walking around the outside of the house “looking for things,” he said, “Let’s go in the nature room.” I thought that was kind of brilliant.

Have a great day. Watch a good movie. Read a good book. Look for things outside.

8 Comments
August 9, 2022

Here I’ll stand though he should win*

by chuckofish

You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,

with you I shatter horse and rider, with you I shatter chariot and driver…

-Jeremiah 51:20-21

Sorry, I couldn’t resist another look at the boy.

In other news, I was sorry to hear that historian David McCullough had died. I admired him a lot. Here’s a short interview he did at Baylor University when he was there to give a speech in 2016. I was interested to see that he is a re-reader. “I think that reading is essential to not just education but to a good life, and I read a lot. I have to read so much history and biography as part of my work, but when I’m reading for pleasure I read fiction and reread fiction that I’ve read 20 or 30 years ago, and I find I don’t necessarily react to it as I did then –– whether I think it’s better than I thought it was then, that sort of thing. “

And, by the way, I watched The Buccaneer (1938) last night. It was a rousing adventure loosely based on the real-life pirate Jean Lafitte (Frederic March) who sided with the U.S.A. at an important juncture in American history.

Cecil B. DeMille was a real pro at mastering a cast of thousands. All the actors, especially Akim Tamiroff, perform admirably, but March is hampered by a bad fake French accent and he’s no Errol Flynn. Having said that, however, I think it’s a better movie than the Yul Brynner remake of 1958. Definitely worth watching!

The God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.

*Homer, The Iliad (Robert Fitzgerald, translator)

4 Comments