Westerns | dual personalities

Postcards from the weekend

by chuckofish

Another rainy, overcast weekend filled with busy-ness. When did February become such a busy month?

Among other things, the bud had the Pinewood Derby…

He got the “Spirit of Scouting” medal…

…but his car came in 4th out of 12 in the race, so he missed out on a podium trophy by three-tenths of a second. C’es la vie.

Meanwhile the movers came to daughter #2’s house two days earlier than previously arranged, so they had a last-minute scramble to finish packing the night before.

This gives them more time to drive to Illinois, so it’ll work out.

They left on Sunday and will arrive on Monday, in plenty of time to close on their house on Tuesday.

The OM and I are poised to drive over to help them unpack as soon as we hear when the movers are actually going to arrive (probably Wednesday) with all their stuff. Prayers for traveling mercies all around.

This week our Sunday School class on the Doctrines of Grace (TULIP) focused on Irresistible Grace–“the point at which the things determined beforehand in the mind and counsel of God pass over into time.” Or to put it simply: “He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6) I love this class!

After church the OM went to the Blues hockey game and the rest of us all went to see The Wizard of Oz (1939) on the big screen. (Check out Fathom’s Big Screen Classics series here.) As you know, it is one of my top 5 favorite movies, so I jumped at the opportunity. Wow, to see this great movie as it was meant to be seen was fantastic. The art direction is A++++ and on the big screen you can see every detail. The incidental music is awesome and Judy Garland is perfection. In fact, everyone in it is great.

The bud’s favorite part was the tornado in Kansas and Lottie’s fave was Glinda. We all agreed that Toto reminded us of Mr. Smith through the whole movie. I hope we can talk about it further sometime–they had to rush off to Lacrosse practice!

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite ancestors, John Wesley Prowers, the Colorado cattle king who was an early inductee into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Hall of Fame in 1963.

I like to celebrate by watching a really good cowboy movie. This year we watched Red River (1948), one of the best and a favorite of mine. As Roger Ebert wrote, “….’Red River’ is one of the greatest of all Westerns when it stays with its central story about an older man and a younger one, and the first cattle drive down the Chisholm Trail. It is only in its few scenes involving women that it goes wrong.” I have to agree.

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift are perfect as father and (adopted) son. Every time I see it I am so impressed with both of them. And Walter Brennan gives one of his best performances.

I also watched Kevin James’ Irregardless stand-up special on Prime Video. I think he’s funny and he seems really normal. No bad language or vulgarity. No politics. Probably having an old lady like me like your comedy routine is the kiss of death, but oh well.

So it was quite a weekend. What did you do? What did you learn? There’s no place like home!

4 Comments

July 26, 2021

“Hey Dude, how do you like them apples?”*

by chuckofish

How was your weekend? Ours was quiet. Daughter #1 arrived on Sunday after church. She is going on a business trip on Tuesday, leaving from our airport, so that is why she came into town at the end of the weekend. The boy and his family were in K.C. all weekend and came home on Sunday afternoon. We had the pleasure of the boy and the wee laddie’s company for a barbecue Sunday night…

…but the girls were too tired and stayed home. It is always interesting to see one twin without the other. They are two very different people indeed.

I watched Tombstone (1993) on Friday night. I had seen it back when it came out and I didn’t think it was a good movie then, but I thought it might bear watching again. I was so wrong. I had forgotten how really bad it is. First of all, it is totally derivative of classic westerns, but of all the obvious things: you know, lots of cloud filled sky and lawmen walking/riding four abreast.

Anyway, it was just a mess–a horrible bloodbath of a violent nightmare. The movie starts off with a gang of cowboys shooting up a happy Mexican wedding for no reason. Yeah, that happened a lot. The movie doesn’t even try to be realistic or to be historically accurate.

The acting is pretty bad and also derivative. Powers Boothe offers a full blown imitation of Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance. Kurt Russell struggles (and fails) to be Henry Fonda. Was Bill Paxton going for Earl Holliman? 100%. I couldn’t help wondering what Sam Elliot, stiff and uncomfortable, thought of this mess. Only Val Kilmer attempts to make his part his own and his Doc Holliday is lost in the flood of violence and competing action. There are no good guys. Everyone is drowning in liquor, drugs and/or gambling. Nobody actually works. No one has a plan. The Earps just want to get rich so they can, what, settle down with their families? There is no ethical standard to judge right or wrong here. Is this the point, because, if so, it is a false point. This is a 20th century, post-Christian point, thank you, imposed on a revisionist dream of fake history.

The women are all cardboard and the actresses can hardly handle walking in their overly fancy dresses. Dana Delany plays a “modern” woman who has a crush on Wyatt Earp and doesn’t care that he is a married man. She just wants to have fun! Wyatt is attracted by this crazy idea (having fun, ordering room service) and to this liberated woman (who nevertheless rides side-saddle). It made me long for Burt Lancaster and his puritanical version of Wyatt Earp in the bad, but infinitely better, Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957).

All this made me want to watch My Darling Clementine (1947) which I will do soon. First I had to watch Red River (1948) on Saturday night in honor of National Cowboy Day. I almost cried, the contrast was so great. John Wayne and Montgomery Clift = perfection.

Sorry about the rant, but I despise movie makers who think a western is just an excuse to fire guns and kill a lot of people. There is talk of border ruffians in Missouri and lots of threats of violence, but only one person dies in Red River and he is trampled to death by stampeding cattle.

On a totally other subject, I liked this about going about your business in our rock-star culture:

But I say: Be nobody special. Do your job. Take care of your family. Clean your house. Mow your yard. Read your Bible. Attend worship. Pray. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Love your spouse. Love your kids. Be generous. Laugh with your friends. Drink your wine heartily. Eat your meat lustily. Be honest. Be kind to your waitress. Expect no special treatment. And do it all quietly.

You want to be a spiritual hero? Distinguish yourself? Ironically, you have to give it up. This sounds like “lose your life so you can save it” for a reason. Being nobody special will feel like losing your life, maybe the life you’ve dreamed of in front of the mirror…But to distinguish yourself in our world, you must be happy about being a nobody.
Matthew Redmond, The God of the Mundane

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

*Stumpy in Rio Bravo (1957)

5 Comments

August 30, 2019

“Come a-shootin”*

by chuckofish

Well, a long weekend is upon us and I, for one, am looking forward to it. As usual, I won’t be doing much and that’s okay.

Last week I watched a couple of good westerns, which I had never seen (or at least don’t remember seeing). The Westerner is a 1940 American film directed by William Wyler and starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport. Brennan won his third best supporting actor Oscar for his portrayal of Judge Roy Bean. Cooper plays a saddle tramp who tricks the judge out of hanging him and then tries to help the homesteaders.

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The script is good, the direction is great and it is a real pleasure to watch Gary Cooper ride around on the range. Back in the day, actors who appeared in westerns knew how to ride. (This is not the case in recent years and it is embarrassing to watch an actor try to maneuver a horse when he doesn’t know how.) Cooper grew up on a ranch in Wyoming and he he is truly one with the horse. Walter Brennan wasn’t so bad himself.

The other movie I watched, also about cattlemen vs. homesteaders, was Blood on the Moon (1948). Directed by Robert Wise and starring Robert Mitchum, Walter Brennan and Robert Preston, it is kind of a western film noir, dark and mysterious.

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In a plot twist, the cattlemen are not even the bad guys.

Anyway, I liked both films, so if you are in the mood for a good western, you might try either of these lesser known ones.

I have to admit, I have also been watching Jim Gaffigan stand-up comedy specials, which are available on Amazon Prime.

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He is an American stand-up comedian raised in Indiana and he is hilarious and G-rated. Gaffigan’s style is largely observational, and his principal topics relate to laziness, eating and parenthood. He is not political. He makes me laugh.

Comfort is where you find it.

Daughter #1 is coming home for the long weekend and will keep me company as I don’t do much. Hopefully the wee babes will come over for a visit. What are you going to be up to this weekend?

*Judge Roy Bean in The Westerner

3 Comments

October 7, 2016

Friday movie pick: saddle up

by chuckofish

Apartment Therapy had a post about 15 Autumnal Movies to Get You in the Mood for Fall. Of course I hadn’t seen a lot of the movies (i.e. all the Harry Potter films) but I thought it was a good idea. I tried to come up with my own list, but my interest flagged and I failed.

However, I am also seeing lists of the twenty best westerns, probably due to the release of the new The Magnificent Seven. This subject interests me, but most of these lists include movies I loathe. This, of course, is just my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own. But it got me to thinking of what my list of the 20 best westerns would actually include. (By this I mean movies that take place west of the Mississippi and therefore do not include Civil War movies such as The Horse Soldiers.)

My list does not include The Wild Bunch or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or anything with Clint Eastwood. I watched Hang ’em High (1968) recently and the only thing in it that I liked was Clint himself,

who is very attractive and worth watching, but the movie itself was terrible and a perfect example of why the genre was ruined. The only Clint Eastwood western I might include would be The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), but, as you will see, I did not.

Well, here is my list of the 18 best westerns. You won’t be surprised–I have blogged about most of them. They are distinguished by great screenplays that feature outstanding characters, excellent direction and fine acting. Most also boast wonderful cinematography, although a few do not.

Shane (1953) George Stephens

Stagecoach (1939) John Ford

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) John Ford

The Searchers (1956) John Ford

My Darling Clementine (1946) John Ford

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) John Ford

3 Godfathers (1948) John Ford

How the West Was Won (1962) various

Rio Bravo (1957) Howard Hawks

Rio Grande (1950) John Ford

Hombre (1967) Martin Ritt

The Professionals (1966) Richard Brooks

El Dorado (1966) Howard Hawks

The Plainsman (1936) Cecil B. DeMille

The Magnificent Seven (1960) John Sturges

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) Sydney Pollack

Red River (1948) Howard Hawks

Santa Fe Trail (1940) Michael Curtiz

As you can see, I have nothing on my list after 1972. The only western I can think of from those latter days is Silverado (1985), which I enjoyed very much at the time. However, it is an extremely derivative movie. There is nothing original in it. Even the performances seem to me to be impersonations of other actors.

If you ask me, I think television caused the western genre to go downhill fast. Characters became caricatures, plots were repetitive and violence took the place of plot. The genre was further degraded in the fifties when screenwriters tried to address 20th century problems–racial prejudice, McCarthyism, etc–by making them issues in westerns to dreary effect. Nobody seemed to care about authenticity anymore–they just wanted to make a point. Heaven’s Gate (1980)–one of the worst movies ever and the biggest financial debacle in Hollywood history–dealt the final death blow.

What did I forget? There are plenty of westerns which I find highly enjoyable and that deserve some special call-out, but do not rank as “the best”. These would include: Rocky Mountain (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), The Furies (1950), True Grit (1969), The Cowboys (1972), The Shootist (1976), The Big Country (1958), Monte Walsh (1970), Hondo (1953), Sergeant Rutledge (1960), The Long Riders (1980). And I did not include Lonesome Dove because it is a miniseries made for television and not, therefore, constrained to the 2-3 hour time limit of the others. But it ranks up there as a great western.

Anyway…there are two spots left in my “top 20”, so convince me!

Discuss among yourselves.

11 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

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.

8 Comments

dual personalities

Tag: Westerns

January 29, 2024

Postcards from the weekend

by chuckofish

July 26, 2021

“Hey Dude, how do you like them apples?”*

by chuckofish

August 30, 2019

“Come a-shootin”*

by chuckofish

October 7, 2016

Friday movie pick: saddle up

by chuckofish

January 24, 2014

Friday movie pick: “A man oughta do what he thinks is right.”

by chuckofish

December 5, 2013

That’ll be the day!

by chuckofish

February 3, 2012

Friday movie pick: some men with guns

by chuckofish