dual personalities

Tag: movies

October 5, 2020

“His eye is on the sparrow”*

by chuckofish

I had a quiet weekend. There were no margaritas and no wee babes. I went to an estate sale and to TJ Maxx. I swept out the garage. I moved my plants inside from the Florida room. (We turned the heat on!) I put my spring/summer clothes away and got out my turtlenecks.

I started reading Marilynne Robinson’s newest book, Jack. It takes place in St. Louis.

St. Louis was quite a town. He wondered if Della had ever seen Eads Bridge from down by the water. It. looked like the walls of Troy. Gigantic, tawny stones, soaring arches. Of course, the stones themselves would be as ancient as the stones of Troy, and the fossils in both of them older, by the measure of the little lives that had fallen into whatever it was, clay by the color of it. And the eons they had spent evolving so they could end up there.

I literally slept through Marooned (1969), a movie I had not seen since I saw it at the movies back in the day. (I still haven’t seen it.) Despite Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, Gene Hackman, James Franciscus, David Janssen, and John Sturges directing, this movie about three American astronauts stranded in space could not hold my attention. Maybe I’ll try again.

And maybe not.

I watched Key Largo (1948) which is a great movie. It is my favorite of the Bogart/Bacall films and, as I’ve said many times, Claire Trevor is spectacular. Lauren Bacall takes a backseat in this movie, allowing Claire to shine in the spotlight, but in her own quiet way, she was never better and she looks great. Edward G. Robinson is pretty swell too as a bully and a coward.

In one of the filler segments on TCM, the six hosts talked about what movies they watch in order to feel better in trying times. It was interesting and, not surprisingly, their choices to me were quite banal–but the point is, to each his own. The two women picked musicals that lifted their spirits and the men all picked their favorite movies–you know, The Godfather, Taxi Driver etc. I would agree that comfort to me comes in the form of my favorites, be they comedies or dramas. I happened to watch part of The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) while I was folding laundry, and felt much better having seen ol’ Steve McQueen drive that dune buggy on the beach. Faye Dunaway laughs and loses her cool and squeals in terror and then laughs. It seemed very real.

A quiet weekend at home is fine. I enjoyed seeing texted pictures of my busy grandchildren playing soccer…

at the playground…

and taking walks in the stroller…

Pax vobiscum or “Well, my friend, are you ready to do me this service?”.

And now it is Monday and we’ll start another week with a little help from Marvin Gaye, hopefully on the right note:

*”I sing because I’m happy/And I sing because I’m free

His eye is on the sparrow/And I know Jesus watches me” (Harvey Fuqua)

7 Comments
October 2, 2020

“To go with the drift of things, To yield with a grace to reason”*

by chuckofish

It is October! We are “back at school” but still on Zoom. Sigh. Thankfully, the weather is beautiful and fall-like and it is Friday. The leaves are turning, but we won’t hit peak for weeks here in flyover country.

The boy came over yesterday afternoon to help haul things out to the curb for (another) bulky trash pickup. We got rid of a lot of ‘stuff’ that daughter #1 and I bagged up over the last few weekends, plus some big items that were just taking up space.

The wee laddie accompanied his dad and when I was tidying up the living room before they went home, I found him …

…in the bag of Beanie Babies! Quel nutball!

I thought this article was typical of Apartment Therapy and there “must do,” right now, apocalyptic, “as the climate crisis grows more dire” attitude to everything, but it did get me thinking. If you had to leave home because of an emergency, what would you grab?

This was a thoughtful post about Raskolnikov and the Gospel of Luke and includes this provocative line, “Just prior to this, my mother had revitalized her commitment to the local Episcopal church after years of shoddy attendance.”

This is so true.

TCM will be celebrating 30 years of The Film Foundation in October so I am looking forward to watching a lot of good movies. Last night I watched one of my favorites: La Strada (1954), Fellini’s masterpiece.

“Its purpose is – how should I know? If I knew, I’d be…the Almighty, who knows everything. When you’re born. When you die. Who knows? No, I don’t know what this pebble’s purpose is, but it must have one, because if this pebble has no purpose, then everything is pointless. Even the stars! At least, I think so. And you too. You have a purpose too.”

I will be on my own this weekend, so it will be a quiet one. Believe me, I need one! How about you?

*Robert Frost, “Reluctance”

6 Comments
September 29, 2020

Oh you blundering blunderer!

by chuckofish

Lot’s of famous actors were born on this day: Greer Garson, Gene Autry, Trevor Howard, Stanley Kramer, Brenda Marshall, Madeline Kahn…the list goes on and we could toast any of them. But I’m going to focus instead on someone who died on this day: the actor Edward Everett Horton, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1886.

Over his long acting career, Horton frequently played an eccentric friend or a butler…

…and you might remember his distinctive voice as the narrator of “Fractured Fairy Tales” on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959-61).

But who can forget him as the medicine man, Roaring Chicken on F Troop (1965-67), a show my DP and I loved as children?

With Frank de Kova (left) as Chief Wild Eagle

Indeed, Horton was one of those wonderful character actors who always stood out and added so much to every movie/TV show he was in.

Here’s a classic scene with the also great Eric Blore from Shall We Dance (1937).

Well, I am happy to remember Edward Everett Horton today and to toast him…with a pipkin of porter… a beaker of beer?

Enjoy your Tuesday!

(The painting is by Winslow Homer, whose birthday is today.)

4 Comments
September 25, 2020

The last rose of summer

by chuckofish

Well, summer is really over. Our fall term starts on Monday and I am trying hard not to panic as the reality of a full-fledged online session looms. I am no Zoom expert, but I suppose people expect me to be. I will be winging it per usual.

It was a hard week and after I crashed each night I watched some old movie or another. I saw one really bad one–Going My Way (1944) which, of course, won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, Best Script–good grief!

There was nothing “best” about this movie, but I guess people were in the mood for schmaltz as WWII bore on. This was phoney baloney all the way. Phooey. Even the song “Going My Way” (which also won the Oscar) is totally forgettable.

Bing Crosby plays Father Chuck O’Malley, who is transferred from his parish in East St. Louis, Illinois to a struggling church in New York City in order to help a “lovable” old priest played by Barry Fitzgerald, who pulls out all the Irish malarkey stops. I forced myself to watch the whole thing, but it was hard, like doing penance.

Going My Way was the highest grossing picture of 1944 and that obviously counted for a lot.

Every Catholic in America must have gone to see it, twice. Two great movies from 1944–Double Indemnity and Laura–didn’t even make it into the top 10!

We also watched Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951) which is the third in the Mr. Belvedere series starring Clifton Webb. (I read about this one here.) It is about an Episcopal old folks home where everyone is depressed, including the clergyman who runs it and the resident nurse who loves him.

Mr. Belvedere arrives (to do research) and turns things around. In my opinion, this is a much better movie, mostly due to the presence of Clifton Webb. But everyone is better. The direction is light and the story moves right along. Although there is no Irish crooning, Mr. Belvedere does get the nursing home residents to sing. It even features Zero Mostel in an early role.

Well, I am ready for the weekend. And I am taking my cue from the @madcapcottage boys:

I like that 2 pm rule. I guess I need a kicky sweater.

Have a good weekend!

6 Comments
September 4, 2020

“Hey, Ma, how ’bout some cookies?”

by chuckofish

Raymond J. Eastwood
High Plains Range Land, 1950

A glorious three-day weekend is upon us. My office is officially closing at Noon today so it’s actually a three and a half day weekend! One more Zoom meeting to go and then I am free to putter around my house to my heart’s content. (Daughter #1 is driving home this weekend so I will do more than putter.)

Yesterday we had the electrician in our house all day fixing numerous things and (finally) installing a new ceiling fan in my ‘office.’ Hopefully nothing will break for awhile. Now we will have light in the basement again, so we have no excuses for getting back to work on all those boxes.

This week we watched a couple of old Charles Bronson movies: Breakheart Pass (1975) and Red Sun (1971). Breakheart Pass is a good western/mystery-on-a-train story written by Alistair Maclean and directed by Tom Gries. Red Sun is also a western with the added attraction of Toshiro Mifune as a samurai who joins forces with Bronson to retrieve a ceremonial Japanese sword.

Both movies offer lavish productions, good casts and excellent music. I enjoyed them. However, I can never watch a Charles Bronson movie without thinking of this:

Tomorrow is the birthday of Missouri native and legend Jesse James (1847-1882). Everyone knows that he and his brother Frank were American outlaws, bank and train robbers. Disenfranchised ex-Confederates, they wrecked havoc across the Midwest, gaining national fame and often popular sympathy. Jesse James has been portrayed in film by Tyrone Power, Roy Rogers, Rod Cameron, Audie Murphy, Clayton Moore, Robert Wagner, James Keach, Robert Duvall, Kris Kristofferson, Colin Farrell, and Brad Pitt, just to name a few. I tried to watch the Brad Pitt version of the Jesse James story, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) in preparation for this post, but it was unwatchable. I cut my losses halfway through. Like many 21st century films, it was more interested in the look and sound of the movie than the story or the characters. There was not one likable or interesting character. It was slow, it was boring. Worst of all, it was filmed in Canada and did not even look like Missouri.

There are many museums and sites devoted to Jesse James across the U.S. including several in his home state. The James farm in Kearney, MO is a house museum and historic site operated by Clay County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. One can’t help but think his mother would be proud. I may have to add Kearney to my bucket list.

One of my favorite blogs, which I have read for years and whose author I admire, is ending (at least for the time being.) Times change and we roll with the punches and I applaud her decision to focus (without guilt) on her large and exuberant southern family. You go, girl!

I thought this piece from one of my favorites was very on point. “We have to decrease and defund our inner police so that Jesus can increase in us.” (Did you get the reference to John 3:30?) SO true!

Have a joy-filled weekend. Love where you are and who you’re with.

6 Comments
August 4, 2020

Masters of the trivial

by chuckofish

The Things

When I walk in my house I see pictures,
bought long ago, framed and hanging
— de Kooning, Arp, Laurencin, Henry Moore —
that I’ve cherished and stared at for years,
yet my eyes keep returning to the masters
of the trivial — a white stone perfectly round,
tiny lead models of baseball players, a cowbell,
a broken great-grandmother’s rocker,
a dead dog’s toy — valueless, unforgettable
detritus that my children will throw away
as I did my mother’s souvenirs of trips
with my dead father. Kodaks of kittens,
and bundles of cards from her mother Kate.

by Donald Hall

Trivial, we all know, means “of little value or importance.” Yes, it is true, most of my things are of no monetary value. But trivial in any other sense is in the eye of the beholder. To each his own, I say. I love my trivial pursuits.

The OM and I watched a great movie the other night–Kes (1969), an English film directed by  Kenneth Loach and based on the novel A Kestral for a Knave by Barry Hines. It is ranked seventh in the British Film Institute’s Top Ten (British) Films.

The story is about Billy Casper, a neglected working-class 15-year-old who finds solace and meaning training a kestrel, and it packs quite a punch. It is not an easy film to watch–so dreary and sad and sometimes it’s like watching a movie in a foreign language, so hard to understand are the Yorkshire accents–but it is well worth the effort. A wonderful film. The boy is perfect. We had DVR’d it on TCM, but you can rent it on Amazon Prime.

The world is more than we know.

“He knew then what it was that Liz had given him; the thing that he would have to go back and find if ever he got home to England; it was the caring about little things–the faith in ordinary life; the simplicity that made you break up a bit of bread into a paper bag, walk down to the beach and throw it to the gulls. It was this respect for triviality which he had never been allowed to possess; whether it was bread of the seagulls or love.”
― John le Carré, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold

6 Comments
August 3, 2020

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho*

by chuckofish

Yes, today I am back at work–still at home of course–but doing my thing remotely.

The gospel lesson yesterday was the loaves and fishes story in Matthew 14:13-21, a straightforward telling of one of Jesus’ miracles.

(I have been to this site near the Sea of Galilee where the loaves and fishes episode took place. I have the magnet to prove it.)

Five thousand fed and baskets of leftovers–all from five loaves of bread and two fish. There will always be enough if we share with our neighbors as Jesus commands us. Remember, Bunyan’s rhyme is true spiritually as well as providentially:

“There was a man and some did count him mad,
The more he gave away the more he had.”

Here’s a sermon on the topic from Charles Spurgeon.

In other news, not much has happened on the homefront. We’ve had a lot of rainy days and so I haven’t ventured outside much and I haven’t seen the wee babes in weeks except for a brief visit when they dropped off my belated Mother’s Day present.

Thanks, guys!

I finally ‘drove my Cooper’ after three weeks of not in order to go to Michael’s for a curbside pickup. It was easy-peasy. We also took a drive to Lone Elk Park for something to do, but never saw a single bison. Ho hum. Par for the course.

FYI August is always “Summer Under the Stars” month at TCM, so there are lots of good movies to DVR this month. Olivia de Haviland has her day on August 23.

Try to enjoy your Monday.

*It’s home from work we go…(Frank Churchill and Larry Morey) The expression “heigh-ho” was first recorded in 1553 and is defined as an expression of “yawning, sighing, languor, weariness, disappointment”.

5 Comments
July 28, 2020

“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”*

by chuckofish

We all have our coping mechanisms. People tend to credit me with being a very calm person, but let me tell you, that is only because I have been practicing/pretending to be calm for years. Indeed, I have become quite good at controlling my blood pressure, and if watching Steve McQueen drive very fast keeps me from crossing the line, so be it and yay me.

The thing is, metaphorically speaking, if SMcQ is the green Mustang, I am the green VW Bug that keeps turning up in this scene. Men like the OM wish they could be the Mustang, but I am content and happy to be the VW.

Lately I have been entertaining/calming myself by watching British war movies from the 1950s, mostly black and white ones starring John Mills and a host of great British supporting actors. I watched Dunkirk (1958) and The Colditz Story (1955), the latter which I had never seen. It is the true story of allied prisoners in Colditz Castle who made many attempts to escape captivity from the arrival of the first British prisoners after Dunkirk in 1940 until the liberation of the castle by the Americans in 1945. Colditz was a “special” camp, designed by the Nazis to hold high-risk and politically important prisoners.

Next on my list** is Reach For the Sky (1956), the amazing true story of RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader who, after losing both legs, flew a British fighter plane during WWII. He was also, coincidentally, a POW at Colditz.

Anyway, these are all good movies and I recommend them. Of course, if you prefer the Big Hollywood rendering, there is always The Great Escape (1963) which boasts a British cast and SMcQ.

Well, the point of this blog is to say that we all need to find our coping mechanisms during this more than usually difficult year and indulge in them. Hopefully you find some equally innocent and healthy way to deal with your stress. The following scene just says it all.

If that doesn’t help, maybe this little story from Henry Ward Beecher will:

I remember when I was a young person attending school in the vicinity of Mount Pleasant. One day I sat on the side of the mountain and watched a storm as it moved through the valley. The skies were filled with darkness, and thunder began to shake the earth. It seemed as though the lush landscape were completely changed, and its beauty gone forever. But the storm passed quickly and soon moved out of the valley.

If I had sat in the same place the following day and said, “Where is that intense storm and all its terrible darkness?” the grass would have said, “Part of it is in me.” The beautiful daisy would have said, “Part of it is in me.” And all the other flowers, fruits, and everything that grows in the ground would have said, “Part of the storm has produced the radiance in me.”

Have you ever asked the Lord to make you like Him? Have you ever desired the fruit of the Spirit and prayed for sweetness, gentleness, and love? If so, then never fear the fierce storms that even now may be blowing through your life. Storms bring blessings, and rich fruit will be harvested later.

(Henry Ward Beecher quoted in Streams in the Desert)

*Psalm 4:8

**These films are all available to rent on Amazon Prime for $2.99.

3 Comments
July 27, 2020

“How good to rise in sunlight”

by chuckofish

As you can imagine, I have been doing a lot of snoozing, watching tv and reading as I recuperate from surgery.

High on my list of things to do, is watch episodes of Lovejoy, the British tv show from the early 1990s which starred Ian McShane as the antiques dealer/amateur sleuth. I also read the first novel in the Lovejoy series, The Judas Pair from 1977. It was great–full of details about the antiques trade and actual suspense! Lovejoy himself is a great character and, for once, the tv show is well cast with Ian McShane.

I am now waiting with bated breath for my lot of 10 Lovejoy novels, which I purchased on eBay, to arrive. Then I will be all set (for awhile.)

I know she was 104, but I am still very sad that Olivia de Haviland has died.

She was a beautiful lady, a great actress and a devout Episcopalian. They don’t make ’em like Olivia anymore. Aren’t we lucky to have a large array of Olivia’s films to remember her by! She made some classics in her long career. My favorites include: Captain Blood (1936), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Santa Fe Trail (1940), They Died With Their Boots on (1941), Devotion (1948), The Proud Rebel (1958) and a lot more.

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

And I have to say I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Regis Philbin who also died recently. He endeared himself to me when he co-hosted Regis and Kathie Lee, which I watched during the 1980s when I was home with three little kids. He even made me like (a little bit) The University of Notre Dame, which he loved so much. Going there had clearly meant everything to him, a smart-alecky kid from the Bronx, who made it to the Big Time. The man was a workhorse, a rare thing nowadays. RIP, Regis.

And here’s a poem for Monday–seize the day!

Dawn Revisited
by Rita Dove

Imagine you wake up
with a second chance: The blue jay
hawks his pretty wares
and the oak still stands, spreading
glorious shade. If you don’t look back,
the future never happens.
How good to rise in sunlight,
in the prodigal smell of biscuits –
eggs and sausage on the grill.
The whole sky is yours
to write on, blown open
to a blank page. Come on,
shake a leg! You’ll never know
who’s down there, frying those eggs,
if you don’t get up and see.

3 Comments
July 14, 2020

“Sweet July, warm July!”*

by chuckofish

I have been reading a little bit of this, a little bit of that…

The Walter Mirisch book is fascinating if you are at all interested in movies. Written by an extremely successful film producer (several Academy Awards for Best Picture), one learns how someone who can make brilliant decisions can also make dumbfoundingly bad ones and never understand why. The David McCullough book contains “portraits in history” ranging from Louis Agassiz to Frederick Remington to Miriam Rothschild. As I have said before, McCullough understands context better than almost anyone writing today. He does not judge his subjects, but he likes them (you can tell).

Did I mention that we watched The Brothers Karamazov (1958) Sunday night? I’m not sure I had ever really watched the whole movie. Of course, it is not the masterpiece that the book is–it is just the plot with some character development that we see. The spiritual aspects are mostly left out, although (spoiler alert!) Richard Basehart as Ivan does admit that there is a God at the conclusion of the story.

Nevertheless, it is very good. Yul Brynner is excellent and so handsome–really at the top of his game–his performance shows a lot of depth. Also, William Shatner is very good as the youngest, most spiritual brother. (And he is also very handsome.) There are also some casting mistakes (why did Albert Salmi have a career?), but on the whole, I was impressed by this adaption by Richard Brooks–well done.

[Also I will note that there is a line in the movie said by Grushenka–“All the truth adds up to one big lie.”–which is also a line in a Bob Dylan song. Of course, Bob.]

I am having some follow-up surgery this Thursday, but my DP, along with daughters #1 and 2, will pick up the slack, and I’ll be back soon.

“Be not forgetful of prayer. Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage, and you will understand that prayer is an education.”

–Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

*George Meredith, “July”

4 Comments