dual personalities

Tag: Richard Farnsworth

February 26, 2016

Deep thoughts for Friday

by chuckofish

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Do you have plans for the weekend?

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

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

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

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

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

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

GRUMPY OLD MEN, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, 1993

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

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

GREY FOX, Richard Farnsworth, 1982

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

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

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

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

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

Can you think of any others?

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

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

Have a good weekend!

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October 11, 2013

Pick me out a winner, Bobby

by chuckofish

All the excitement of post-season baseball has made me think of baseball movies. I can’t say it’s a favorite genre of mine. The popular ones like Bull Durham and Field of Dreams just don’t do a lot for me.

But I do love The Natural (1984), an adaptation of Bernard Malamud’s 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford.

the Natural

The Natural was nominated for four Academy Awards: Actress in a Supporting Role (Glenn Close), Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel), Art Direction (Mel Bourne, Angelo P. Graham, Bruce Weintraub), and Music* (Randy Newman). Kim Basinger was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Of course, it won nothing. And why wasn’t Barry Levinson, the director, nominated? Or Robert Redford? Please. That was the year Amadeus won a lot of awards. Best Picture. Best Director. Remember F. Murray Abraham? Neither do I. He won the Best Actor Oscar.

Well, I like Robert Redford in this movie. He played baseball in college and so maybe that is why he is very believable as a player.

Redford-natural-1984

He underplays to perfection the part of the guy whose life didn’t turn out as he expected. And he is supported by the kind of cast John Ford would have been proud of: Robert Duvall, Wilford Brimley, Richard Farnsworth, Darren McGavin. (And the ladies are pretty good too: Glenn Close and Kim Basinger!)

Speaking of Richard Farnsworth–I just love him.

Farnsworth on the left with Wilford Brimley in the dugout.

Farnsworth with Wilford Brimley in the dugout.

Farnsworth (1920–2000), you know, began his career as a stuntman, playing a bit part in Gunga Din and a soldier in Gone With the Wind. Through the years he played countless dusty cowboys in films ranging from Red River to Blazing Saddles.

The cowboy in the background--Farnsworth was the real deal..

The cowboy in the background–Farnsworth was the real deal.

He continued as such for thirty years, before being “discovered” in his fifties. He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Comes a Horseman (1978) and for Best Actor for his final film The Straight Story (1999). It goes without saying that he didn’t win either.

I guess I got a bit off the track there. Don’t act like you’re surprised.

So my Friday movie pick is The Natural. It is a fable of success. Some critics hated the storybook ending, but to me it is like all great baseball games–it ends happily and with a victory. Goodness trounces Evil.

Gus Sands: If it isn’t enough, tell us what you had in mind.
Roy Hobbs: To hit away.

Truth, Justice and the American Way, thank you very much.

Of course, I won’t be watching The Natural tonight. I’ll be watching actual baseball. (Cards vs. Dodgers)

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Swing away, Dave.

* By the way, Randy Newman’s musical score is one of the best of all time.

3 Comments