dual personalities

Tag: The Professionals

June 19, 2013

Did you know?

by chuckofish

Did you know that today–June 19–is Juneteenth?

What is Juneteenth, you say? Juneteenth is an annual observance to celebrate the date Union soldiers enforced the Emancipation Proclamation freeing all remaining slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.  Texas was the last state in rebellion, following the end of the Civil War, to allow slavery.

general-order-number-3

Although the rumors of freedom were widespread prior to this, actual emancipation was not announced in Texas until General Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas and issued General Order No. 3, on the 19th of June,  almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Freedmen's Memorial Monument to Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C. Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker at the dedication service on April 14, 1876, with President Ulysses S. Grant in attendance.

The Freedmen’s Memorial Monument to Abraham Lincoln in Washington D.C.
Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker at the dedication service on April 14, 1876, with President Ulysses S. Grant in attendance.

Although Juneteenth has been informally celebrated each year since 1865, it wasn’t until June 3, 1979, that Texas became the first state to proclaim Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) an official state holiday. “Juneteenth has become a day for African Americans to celebrate their freedom, culture, and achievements…It is a day for all Americans to celebrate African American history and rejoice in their freedom.” (The Library of Congress)

As of June 2012, 42 U.S. states (including my flyover state) and the District of Columbia have recognized Juneteenth as either a state holiday or special day of observance.

I say, sounds to me like a good reason to have a party.

At the very least, I think I’ll watch a movie with the awesome Woody Strode* in it.

Woody-Strode-0fe55

This might be the beginning of a beautiful new tradition.

professionals

The Professionals (1966) on Juneteenth. You know how I feel about this movie.

In case you didn’t know, Woodrow “Woody” Strode attended UCLA where he was a world-class decathelete and played football. He served in the US Army during World War II. Strode was also one of the first four black players to integrate professional football in 1946 when he played for the Cleveland Rams. Later he he played a Buffalo soldier in the 1960 John Ford movie Sergeant Rutledge. He appeared in over 80 domestic and foreign films in a career that spanned nearly 55 years, including Spartacus and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

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February 3, 2012

Friday movie pick: some men with guns

by chuckofish

The four professionals in their iconic pose

My Friday movie pick is The Professionals (1966), written, directed and produced by Richard Brooks. In it a group of mercenaries (Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, and the awesome Woody Strode) accept a lucrative assignment to recover a Texas millionaire’s wife (Claudia Cardinale) from a Mexican bandit (Jack Palance). But the mission doesn’t go as expected, and little about the setup is as it initially seems.

As with a lot of movies that came out in the 1960s, my first introduction to it was hearing about it after my big brother had gone to the movie theater to see it. (I was too young for the first go-round, so I had to wait to see these movies when they finally came on TV.) My brother had gone with his best friend Randy to see The Professionals. He was probably in the 9th grade. He loved it and re-told the entire story with relish to us little dual personalities. We didn’t get all the great lines he repeated, but we got the gist of what he was describing. And the gist was that this was one humdinger of a western! I couldn’t wait to see it!

In Bless the Beasts and the Children, Glendon Swartout writes about a group of misfit boys who steal out of summer camp on horseback to see The Professionals. They love it too, for “this is the marrowbone of every American adventure story: some men with guns, going somewhere, to do something dangerous. Whether it be to scout a continent in a covered wagon, to weld the Union in a screaming Wilderness, to save the world for democracy, to vault seas and rip up jungles by the roots and sow our seed and flag and spirit, this has ever been the essence of our melodrama: some men with guns, going somewhere, to do something dangerous.”

The heroes of this movie are also misfits, and maybe that is one of the reasons they are so appealing. They also frequently express existential thoughts in between skirmishes:

J.W. Grant: Your hair was darker then.
Rico: My heart was lighter then.

and

Bill Dolworth: Maybe there’s only one revolution, since the beginning, the good guys against the bad guys. Question is, who are the good guys?

and

Bill Dolworth: The cemetery of nameless men. We buried some fine friends there.
Rico: And some fine enemies.
Bill Dolworth: That was one hell of a fine battle. Out-numbered and out-gunned and still we held that pass.
Rico: Yeah, but who cares now… or even remembers?

and

Jesus Raza: Without love, without a cause, we are… *nothing*! We stay because we believe. We leave because we are disillusioned. We come back because we are lost. We die because we are committed.

A superbly written story of honor and adventure, the film features some of Richard Brooks’ best dialogue. (He was actually nominated for an Oscar for this movie!) Here are a few of the classic lines from The Professionals:

Maria Grant: Yes?
Bill Dolworth: Just wondering… what makes you worth a hundred thousand dollars.
Maria Grant: Go to hell.
Bill Dolworth: Yes ma’am. I’m on my way.

J.W. Grant: You bastard.
Rico: Yes, Sir. In my case an accident of birth. But you, Sir, you’re a self-made man.

To me, though, this movie is much more than some clever and witty repartee. It’s about four great characters (and a terrific woman) with guns, going somewhere, to do something dangerous.

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