rohanaka
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Posts posted by rohanaka
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48
"People are strange...when you're a stranger".... and... when you wander around w/ your shirt unbuttoned all the time too...
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Hi there, little Miss Butterscotch!!!!
plenty of chicken noodle soup
My dad always used to tell us to eat the soup with LOTS of pepper in it when we were sick.... it helps you "sweat" out the germs... ha... Everybody always talks about the "old wives' tales"... sounds like we should swap "Old Dad's Tales" instead.... Ha.
do you really have a personal chef!?
Of course I do... doesn't EVERYONE???? :-)
And if you read in the Movie Rambles thread... I am soon to be hiring a personal secretary as well. You know us Ladies of Leisure... so many bon bons... so little time!!!! HA! :-)
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Thanks for the cheesecake
Ha. Wendy...glad you liked them... I had my personal chef whip them up for you. I'd have made them myself... but wanted to spare you the germs...
PS... Thanks for the well wishes... the look in that dog's eyes... pretty close to how I have felt all last week.... ugggghhhh. ha.
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Well.... I am starting to think I need a private secretary.... ha!
TWO count them TWO films I have wanted to see again for some time were both on in the last couple of days... and I missed the beginnings of BOTH of them. HA. One was on TCM on Friday... (Only Angels Have Wings) and the goofy part is that I had even asked TCM for a REMINDER so I could tape it!! I did however only miss the first 15 minutes or so before I hit the record button.. So since I have seen it before, at least it was not a total loss...
BUT.... the second film.... OH!!!! a total surprise... PBS showed How Green Was My Valley last night... and of course since I am more or less "allergic" to anything that smacks of organized preparation... ha.... I never bother to check the local tv listings to see what might be coming on on any given channel... and this was just a "Lucky" find for me instead... BUT again... I missed the beginning!!!!!!! UGH! But this time... instead of taping the left over... I decided to sit and watch what was still left of what I have always considered to be a WONDERFUL story.
I know we have chatted on Ford and his "family" themes many times... but THIS one is all about family. Oh sure... it is about love that was not meant to be... and fighting church hypocrisy... and even dealing with socio-economic struggles in a coal mining community... but mostly... it is about how FAMILY is at the center of our lives and behind almost everything we are and how we are shaped by that as we grow up... At least it seemed to be that way to me...
Wasn't that little Roddy McDowell...just so... wonderful?? He had the most expressive eyes... You could just see him taking it all in as he interacted with each individual family member... learning, developing, growing.... and becoming the man that they would all have made him into in the end.
Some "mini spoilage"...
My FAVORITE part of the whole movie is when he goes to Bronwyn... and asks her to let him live there so she can "do' for him that way she used to care for her husband... laying out his clothes and preparing his food, etc. THAT almost broke my heart and yet it was so sweet and funny the way he sat there all grown up.
The other parts of this movie are also VERY deep and touching... the relationship between Mr. Gruffydd and Huw.. and between Gruffydd and Angharad... Was Maureen O'Hara EVER any more beautiful?? Even in black and white... VERY heartwrenching.... And of course... the big showdown between the preacher and his hypocritical flock... VERY emotionally charged... (an excellent way of contrasting HIS real faith and their shoddy imitation of the real thing.)
And I LOVE the way the older sons love their parents... respecting them enough to leave when they disagree... and respecting them enough to stay as well... and when the last two boys leave after they are fired... and they have their father start reading the scriptures and they set there mother in her chair... laying her head back... oh... it was BOTH a way of offering comfort to their parents and to themselves as well.. it was the last mental picture they wanted of their folks before they left
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There are just so many wonderful images in this film... and so many wonderful aspects to all the characters... and of course a LOT of humor ( I love the "boxing lesson" for the cruel schoolmaster.. "He has NO aptitude for knowledge!" HA! ) and the MUSIC... oh... VERY much an integral part of the whole package...
One of these days I will watch and try to get this thing on tape ALL THE WAY through...of course I will have to hire that secretary first and then THEY will be the one who has to worry about remembering to check the TV listings and then STILL remembering to RECORD the movie....EVEN AFTER TCM REMINDS THEM that it is coming ON!!! HA!
Because again...THAT is what happened with... Only Angels Have Wings... but THAT is another ramble for another time... ha. :-)
Thanks for letting me ramble!
Message was edited by: rohanaka
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in the end, the movie to me, is about good versus evil and confronting that evil boldly and up front with no spin involved
Jake...That has always been a VERY appealing aspect for me with a lot of Westerns. And you are right...though it has been a while since I watched it, as I recall, Shane is an excellent example of these sorts of themes.
And I never knew there was any sort of debate over the ending....as in... What really happens to Shane... I won't say what I THOUGHT happened to him... but I once saw the Negotiator... w/ Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey... and that whole "debate" over the ending of Shane played a big part in that film. And now every time I see the clip that you provided where the little boy is calling him back... I am torn as to which way I think it really went... one of those little mysteries in life that may never truly be solved.... ha. :-)
Actually... the whole ending of that movie is a source of family fun for me. I have a nephew named Shane... and though he is teenager now, we still tease him from time to time because when he was a VERY active, typically rambunctious toddler... we used to go around behing him imitating young Mr DeWilde. "Shane....Shane.... Come back!" Ha! ( His nickname in our family used to be "Shane, Shane, come back Shane.") Poor kid... he may never recover! ha. :-)
Thanks again, Chris and Jake for bringing up this title again... I will look forward to getting a chance to maybe see this one again sometime soon.
PS... Ms Cutter: my favorite TCM programming event was more than a few years ago when they had Every Western Ever Made except Shane month
HA!!
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Hey there, Molo!! Glad to hear you are getting in the nice weather... Glad to hear your mom is doing well too.
It was a very "spring-ish" day around here too... The QT and the kidling spent half the afternoon out in the yard picking up all the sticks and yard "stuff" and goofing off. I think they had a lot of fun Sadly.... I spent it all inside... I am still fighting the "gunk"... blech.
I will look forward to the Webster Ramble.. no REALLY...this time.. let's really ramble...ha.! And maybe the sound on TCM will be better... I remember on the library vhs tape... it was like all the sound on the whole film was the same volumn...soft stuff, back ground noises, and dialogue...it was hard to listen to sometimes...and hard to hear others...
PS...I will only break out my rope if I HAVE to... Truthfully... my BETTER weapon right now is my "germs" . HA!! If I breathed on anyone...well.. it would be "curtains" for them for sure... but don't worry.. I would never use that weapon of choice on a friend... HA!! So you are safe ....
But I might however save one of these little germies for the next time I need to tell somebody annoying what I really think of them... It could come in handy...the way I feel right now... a germ could be worth a thousand words... Ha. :-)
Have fun with the gum balls!!! (wouldn't it be nice if they really WERE gumballs... you could make a killing selling them to all the kids in the neighborhood!) :-)
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OH sure Jake... as if I wasn't already "blubbery" enough after Jimmy Stewart's poetry reading.... Ha. Seriously, though... it is a GREAT ending... Well worth watching again. Thanks. :-)
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Glad you liked the youtube, young'un. :-) I posted another link I found for you over in the cinematography thread... enjoy.
PS... I looked for a clip on youtube of Jimmy singing on Carson...but found this instead... he should have been a poet in that movie... he is MUCH better than he was w/ the singing... (pss..grab a tissue)
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Hi Wendy... here is a link to the site where I found the first picture that I posted (from Night Passage) It has a really good pic of that river shot you are mentioning along w/ a better version of the picture I posted and several other nice shots...
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews37/night_passage.htm
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It never occurred to me how much work a simple scene like this took......
That is what makes "movie magic" so much fun... they take what seems impossible and make it look like "no big deal"...
PS... I love the image of Ford " chewing on his handkerchief"... I bet he had a LOT of soggy cloths collected in the clothes hamper at the end of the day... ha. Just fills in another missing piece to that whole "Fordian puzzle" thing for me. The more I hear about him, the more I wanna hear. :-)
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Chris...It did not look to me like he was really playing that accordion at the time... but I might not be the best judge...who knows...
I googled DeWilde after I read your post on him...because I wondered why I had not heard any more about him as an adult... Tragic story there...(though you may have already heard it) He had some promising starts as a kid and might have gone even further (even w/ a music career) but sadly died in a traffic accident (in the early 70's) at age 30... what a loss.
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Suddenly, a car comes driving AROUND THE GAZEBO in which our wedding ceremony was taking place.... guess who?
Lucky for Jim you were not married in a hot air balloon!!! He would have had to parachute in or something!! Ha. :-) I imagine it is funny now.. but right about then, Jim would have been on my hit list for sure... Ha.
PS....
*Happy 3000 Ms Favell!* Here's a little something to celebrate.... (None for Jim though... that's what he get's for showing up late! Ha.)
Enjoy! 
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Hiya Molo!! Long time, no chat!!! Thanks for the well wishes... I hope all is well with you... I have had a blechy week... but maybe the worst will be over soon.... Yech!!
Anyway... guess what I WAS able to do today while I was "suffering" ha... I went through the rest of February in the TCM schedule.... to see what films I wanted "reminders" for..
And guess what film is coming on FEB 23... I believe at 8PM if I recall... our old friend Dan'l Webster will be on... I wonder if the sound will be any better when they show it than it was on the tape I had...I remember you saying something about the sound quality too. Anyway... maybe we can finally get that ramble in. I wouldn't mind watching it again before we chat... you know... since it has been SUCH A LONG TIME....ha. Now where did I put that rope???? Ha.
Well... I am off to go practice my knot making .... I haven't threatened you or the Grey Guy in a while... I must be getting rusty... Ha.
Seriously.... though... have a nice night!! Hope all is well. :-)
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Hello there, Chris...
just butting in a bit..
Been sick off and on this week
Hope you are feeling better. We are fighting the "germ-ans" around here this week too...Blech.
I had to crack up when I read about folks blaming YOU for the music mix up... Over time no one but you will likely remember why things ended up that way...but can you imagine the bride and groom on their golden wedding anniversary...watching the movie of their wedding...
"What WAS that crazy music guy thinking???" ha... Even though it wasn't your fault, at least you will give them a smile on their anniversary to enjoy...Now that's got to be worth something...ha. :-)
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Hiya Chris...
Knowing other works by Murphy it can be a little tough to buy him as a villain but you get used to it. and come to accept it.
It wasn't so much that I had a hard time buying him as a villain...it just took me a while to maybe find out what he really had to do w/ the whole scheme of things... Again..there was so much "background story" for everybody that you don't really get a full idea of where the story is headed because it is too hard to figure out where it's been... It was almost like picking up a book and starting somewhere along chapter 3 or 4 ...you don't know where the story is going because you missed how it began... (does that make sense)?
Brandon de Wilde from "Shane
Now that I did not know... I have only seen Shane all the way through once...and it was a VERY long time ago. But I have seen that clip of the little boy chasing after him about a gazillion times... but now that you've put his name on the boy in NP...I can see the resemblance.
One other bit I never quite "bought" (along w/ Stewart's music) was the way this kid keeps holding on to that box lunch... almost all the way to the end of the movie... and never once looked inside to get a bite to eat. He even holds onto it when he gets taken back to the gang of thieves...after he is yanked off the train. Even if I believed the kid would take this awkward shoe box everywhere he went, despite all that was going on...I had a hard time buying the "bad guy" who more or less kidnaps him off the train would let him keep it with him without even wondering what was inside... Anyway... I guess (without getting too "spoil-ish") they had to keep the box w/ him to let Stewart's ploy work out ok... but still seemed a bit far fetched.
So was that really Stewart playing the accordion then? I knew it was his voice...but did not know he was really playing... When it comes to acting choices, I guess sometimes it is better to listen to the director than others. It is a shame to hear that this was so "instrumental" (ha...no pun intended) to the end of what seems to have been such a good working collaboration between the two men.
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Another Ramble for my James Stewart Westerns Collection... I got to watch Night Passage last night... I would not put this one among my most favorites for Stewart...but I did enjoy the story more or less.
Stewart had his work cut out for him in this one... It was VERY hard for me to buy the whole "traveling music man" aspect of his character... mainly due to his singing. We all have our strong suits... and I would say that after having watched... singing was not quite so high up on the list of things he was good at (both as the character he was playing...and as the actor PLAYING the character.) I know... I sound awfully judgemental. Obviously I don't make MY living off my singing voice either (but maybe I should if HE was doing it..... ha.)
But to be fair... in the film... his "music" career was sort of a "fall back" job due to losing the job he was REALLY good at... so I guess I shouldn't be too critical...
So... having said all THAT... there were parts of this story I liked very much. It was an interesting "twister" from time to time... never quite sure who to trust, never quite sure that even after I trusted them, I was right... Almost everyone in this film had a lot of "past" story that I almost wish was more of the plot because it might have made for a more interesting tale altogether.
But I liked Audie Murphy...eventually. It took me a while to warm up to his character.. And Dan Duryea was ok as the villian but...well... he needed his pin stip "gangster" suit. I've seen him in other westerns..but for some reason this time, he just did not seem to be enough out of the city to be a "desparado" for me... though he did make a really good "whacko".
I REALLY liked the boy... and the whole friendship between him and Stewart. And I liked the way the film ended more or less.
But having said all of this... for sure the best thing to me about this whole entire film...The SCENERY.... Whoa Baby was it beautiful... especially the shots going up the mountain on the train... one of the nicest parts of this whole entire film. The colors are not "vibrant" neccesarily (Chris... there is a lot of "brown" in this one too) But they blend well and compliment each other... especially contrasted against the sky or the river...almost everything is a solid color (even in other areas of the film..like the sets and also in the wardrobe... not too many "prints" on the ladies' clothes etc.) but it worked for me on this one...
(Now.... don't freak out because right in the middle of this clip Jimmy Stewart speaks (I think) Spanish... NOT because he is really speaking 'Spanish but because whoever did this youtube must have wanted it in Spanish... ha.) But again...take a look at the SCENERY... especially when they are on the open car on the train... (oh...and hold your ears if you need to, 'cause Jimmy is gonna sing. :-) KIDDING! only kidding...really he's not that bad. But I am glad he spent more of his career as an actor, not a singer...ha.)
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separate warm and cold light, color and lack of color
Hi Jack.... I recently watched Night Passage as a part of my "James Stewart Westerns Collection" DVD set that I got for Christmas(I will ramble on the movie some other time)... there are some really good images in that film...and a few scenes caught my eye with relationship to what you had described in some of your posts here...
I looked up the cinematographer... and I know now why things were so interesting looking...he has quite a nice list of films to his credit... It's your old buddy (already mentioned) Mr. Daniels...
William H. Daniels
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200125/
I found this picture by googling the movie.... it turned out a bit small...but maybe you can see some of what I was noticing...again..with relationship to what you had already brought up about dark and light... hope this matches what you had in mind...
There is a scene...a bit earlier than the one I'm posting where she first gets to the little barn area where this part of the story takes place...and the night skyline behind her is just so dark blue and yet is still lit up compared to the dark of the barn... it really caught my eye, anyway... Thanks for helping me to remember to take a closer look. :-)
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Ha! Wendy that is way too cute.
We didn't watch the Super Bowl...(I know.... such heresy.... I am going to probably be hit by a flying football helmet or something for that one any minute now...) but we are just not much for "pro" sports around here... We do like sports...just more into high school or little league type events... I feel fortunate to be married to someone who looks at it the same way as I do... if one of us was all gung ho about watching and the other wasn't... well... I am glad that is not on the table for us... ha.
Instead we watched... The Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet... too cute... lots of puppies rolling around nipping and playing on a big "football field" covered in rubber balls and squeaky toys... with a Kitty half time show...thrown in for good measure. Though I have to confess I could only stand about 20 minutes of it at a time... we kept turning it in between commercials...but somehow the kidling always managed to notice we weren't turning it back to the show in a reasonable amount of expected time for the average commercial break... they do get harder to "pull the wool over" as the get older... ha.
I like Alice's idea... a football/swimming pool sort of game... that sounds like a lot more fun. :-) Except if the people watching were in pools... I would have to have one of those big "floaty" raft things... as I tend to swim like a rock... ha. :-)
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Well...after mentioning a couple of tunes over in the Western's Rambles... I went in and looked them up...sure enough... there's a youtube for almost every occassion.. Ha. :-)
(For those who don't know the reference... these are all songs that bring to mind matrimonial promises given and kept....)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Q-3rc-z3Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUFjFdRa4tI
(this is one that I did not mention in the other thread...but has also been a long time favorite... I actually got to sing this w/ a bluegrass band at my brother's wedding...though I am sure not nearly so well as is sung here...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIjj1mLa_38&feature=related
And the following youtube is for the one other song I referenced in westerns. Though NOT usually one thought of regarding "marriage" promises...there is an explanation over in western movie rambles for any who care...and for those who don't... well...just enjoy the music and think of this as a fun song to listen to as a change of pace after all the mushy "love" stuff. Ha. :-)
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Put down that ketchup dispenser right now! You two men have been carrying that thing around ever since he pulled that gag on us in the restaurant. And the whole time I have been worried you will get ketchup all over my chic, yet tastefully simple and perfectly pressed jacket.
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I had a book with candids of the different stars - it may have been one called "Hollywood and the Great Fan Magazines",
Wendy...You are always mentioning the most interesting sounding books. I bet you have a really nice collection.
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Thank you Chris, for your kind words... You are among the last of a dying breed of true gentlemen to be sure.
And early congrats on your anniversary. That is a milestone well worth celebrating!
I told her they don't expire and that my promise is as good now as then
You are about 9 years or so ahead of us, but that sounds like something the QT would say. It reminds me of the Steven Curtis Chapman song...I Will Be Here. (or the Randy Travis song...Forever and Ever Amen... :-) And it is VERY refreshing to find couples willing to stick with it through all the twists and curves life throws at them over time.
Around here...we call it "riding the waves". And sometimes the water is smooth...and other times it's a Tsunami... It is funny because sometimes we will be in the middle of something rotten and the QT or I will just turn to each other and one of us will start to sing beach music (Little GTO chorus...."Wa Wahhhh Wa Wa Wa Wa Wa Wahhhhh.") NOBODY else has a clue what we are doing...but it is one of those "insider" moments that one of us will use to make the other one laugh. And believe me, after a few Tsunamis....we have learned that humor whenever possible is a GREAT way to help keep things in perspective. :-)
Best wishes again on your upcoming celebration!
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Hey there, Jackie!
Would that we both could age as well as Ms. Barkley!
PS...hope you fair better than I though. Sadly...I fear I have already passed the "expiration date" on aging well...now I am going for more of a "holding up well...considering" sort of thing! HA! :-)
Movie Rambles
in Films and Filmmakers
Posted
My gosh my golly!!! MOLO!!!
You got ME all teary eyed just reading this BEAUTIFUL ramble.... WOW!!!!!!! Before I go any further.... GREAT screencaps. Very nicely done...
Robert Osborne's introduction said it was filmed on the Fox back lot in what is now Century City.
I would have never guessed that either. It seemed just like what you would have pictured a little Welsh village would be like... never having been to w a little Welsh village anyway...
The whole family had a quiet unspoken ritual of mutual respect it seemed.
That's a perfect way of saying it. Everyone was on the same page...even when they disagreed. The ties that bound them together went beyond whatever it was they were going through for the moment. And to me...that is one of the mainstays of what a family is all about.
Allgood was very vivid in her role as the mother
I remember thinking this time as I was watching her that she was born to wear an apron... ha. And I mean that as a complement. I have seen her in several other roles... and she just has a motherly presense about her. I don't think I could have imagined anyone else but her in this character. And I agree about Crisp too... he was VERY on target as the dad... He kept the whole family in line... but still had a lot of fun getting "rowdy" with the sons when he thought he could get past the mother that is...She really did command respect from the whole lot of them. I love how she and he both talked to each other too. Very "unflowery" but usually very loving... And even when sometimes "snapping" at one another... NEVER disrespectful. Again.... there is that word "respect".
The relationship between Gruffydd and Angharad? Well I will just say I was more moved by Angharad's plight for some reason. I'm not really sure why yet.
Well I will "just say"... a whole lot more!! ha. OH! I wanted to kick him in the pants more than once.... When he finally tells her why he won't marry her.. I wanted her to give him a piece of MY mind. :-) ha.
It was as if he thought he loved her more than God... NOT possible by the way... but in HIS way of thinking... he was protecting her from the difficult life that often befell men in his profession back then (and still today as well). And by keeping her at a distance... he was basically saying that it was ok for the creator of the universe to leave HIM to live that way, but in Gruffyd's mind...he loved her "too much" to let her do without. As a result of his attempt to set his "will" over even God's in his attempt to "save" her from a life of poverty...she ended up far "poorer" than she would have been with him. Because even though she had EVERY little physical necessity in life... fine clothes, a wonderful house, travel, riches...all the "physical" wealth of the world... she ended up the "poorest" woman in town... It was so ironic... and VERY aggravating. (MEN!!! ha.)
It was interesting to me how the townspeople would come together in tragedy or celebration at times and at other times they resulted to nasty or even ruthless behavior. The scene were the lady is cast out of Church for example. I love how Angharad confronts Gruffydd about that. Telling him in her fiery way that the Bible says go and sin no more. While you are right when you talk of how Gruffydd calls out his flock in the climatic showdown. I ,like Angharad, was left wondering why he was so silent in this case.
I think there was a lot of ritual in this film. Not only in the Church and the weddings but it permeates through all things. The relationship between parent and child for instance seems established through time. These children would never act otherwise or else it would be like going against all they knew about how one was to act. It was something carried from generation to generation. There was ritual in courting, ritual in death, ritual in singing but there was also ritual in the men simply going off to work and coming back home everyday and in the way they ate their meals.
You are right on target... it was a way of life for them... and everybody had a role to play. And with regard to the way they could all be at each other's throats one minute and pulling together the next.... The town was a "whole" despite all it's different "pieces". And they came together at those pivotal moments...but still in their own seperate ways. Even the nastiest "pious" gossips or the lowest of sinners new what it meant when the awful whistle blew... and that was a bond for them that went further and deeper than anything else could...
But I agree about how Gruffyd took way too long to stand up to the deacons...and to deal with the gossips... In a lot of ways he was WAY too caught up in the "politics" of his position to do the right thing both by her and by his congregation... for me that was one of the most frustrating aspects of his character. But it could be argued that by sticking it out as long as he did...and not "bucking" the system...he was able to stay on and be there for those to whom he really was a help ... such as Huw. But in the end... when it finally was time for his big speech putting them all in their place it was WAY overdue... and likely ended up being too little too late... (I am such a sceptic sometimes. ha.)
The film got to me on an emotional level. I very seldom get teary eyed about a film. There was just something about this one. The characters, the sense of loss of home, of place, and of past. How it always remains alive in your heart for you to revisit. Ford seems to have a way with this sort of thing. A very beautiful film.
Very nicely put... and all very true... I can't honestly say that this is my all time FAVORITE Ford film... because there are a couple of others I would put ahead of it.. but it is certainly WAY up there for me... and the more I think on the family themes... I will say it is certainly among my favorite films of that nature as well. A very heartfelt story to be sure.
the film struck a very emotional chord with me. (Don't tell anyone )
Your secret's safe with me, my friend. :-)
And PS.... again I have to say... EXCELLENT use of the screencaps... well done! :-)