Dargo

Yes James. Mr.R is correct. Wayne definitely says "I can live with it" to Stewart in the movie. I remember it well. (...though I can't recall if he added "Pilgrim")

Well, he DID always have Pompey ya know, Mr.R. (...well, OTHER than that stretch of time Pompey enlisted in the U.S. Army and went by the name of "Sergeant Rutledge" anyway!)

First, yes MissW, I think you've started a great idea for a thread here. Secondly, among many of the insightful replies you've received here so far, I found James' observation below interesting... ...as I believe he's picked-up on a factor of film-making which I have occasionally noticed contributes mightily to if I will find a certain film drifting into my "boredom scale"...pacing and editing. There have been many times while watching a film in which I sense the director is attempting to push the narrative toward the "artsy"(for want of a better term) and done by staying much too long(IMO) with a particular scene and long after the "point" of the scene has been grasped by the audience, and as if the director wants us to grasp every little significance from it. I've always felt this sort of thing begins to slide toward pretentiousness by calling attention to itself and also needlessly slows down the pacing of an often otherwise interesting story premise.

Yes James, I believe you were...being too harsh with your judgement of Tom, that is. However, and no offense here my friend, I have to add that I find the reason you've "softened" your view of him a little, the idea that the emotion of "guilt" instead of "loss" makes him somehow more "noble", to be of questionable reasoning for such, as it IS only human for people possessing many various degrees of "nobility" to succumb to fits of depression when their lives contain either emotion, be they once a "hero" or not.

Hmmmm...ya know Lynn, I've never gotten the impression that Ranse knew or even had an inkling he wasn't actually Valance's killer until that statehood convention years later. And, then once he found this out, what good would it have been to disclose this bit of information to anyone while Tom was alive, as it could have resulted with Tom being brought up on charges of murder. I also got the impression that Ranse never used his notoriety as the man who shot Valance for political gain either, as it seems to me his character would have always downplayed that, plus the idea that he was one of the few people in that territory and then state who had experience with the law and lawmaking, and thus I would think the voters would have taken that more into consideration when they voted. (...aah, but then again, I think we all know the many facile reasons many voters vote the way they do...and so maybe not, eh?!) LOL And secondly, the manner in which this story unfolds, Tom's actions are actually very similar to what Rick Blaine does for "the common good" in CASABLANCA, as he too goes out of his way to protect the man who would eventually take away the love of his life.

Okay James , while I agree with you about Wayne's characters not being "very nice" or "decent" in "The Searchers" and "Red River", I always thought of his role as Tom Doniphon in "Liberty Valance" as being a fairly decent sort. I mean, putting aside the question of if "bushwhacking" Valance from the alley is a "decent" thing to do(or as Edmund O'Brien once says in this film, "You call Liberty Valance A MAN?!") , you must remember that IF he didn't do that, then the little town of Shinbone probably would have(not "would of" btw..wink, wink) been under the tyranny of Valance and not fit for "decent people" to live in for a much longer time than it would otherwise. In fact, for most of this film, Wayne pretty much acts as the sole "enforcer of decency" in Shinbone. In other words, as that train conductor says as the final words of this film, "Nothin's too good for the(actual) man who shot Liberty Valance"!

ND, just a suggestion here, but the next time you attempt to watch "The Big Parade", I've found that to take special note of King Vidor's highly imaginative use of the camera(especially for its time) goes a long way towards helping one appreciate this classic film.

While I certainly loved and appreciated the manner you took in reminding people to "be nice" around here Mr. Admin(and btw, I think a better alternative to my "Jay Silverheels" joke to darkblue would have been to think of and use Tarzan's manner of fracturing the English language and not Frankenstein's Monster) I would like to ask you a question about this whole "going off-topic" thing in this thread. You see, I've just went back to the OP's original post in his thread and re-read it, and I while I COULD be wrong here, I got the impression that his thread was primarily started to just call attention to his being the originator of so many threads which receive a high number of "viewings", and not so much the question as to "what do thread views mean?". And so, as it seems to me that his thread title's "question" was offered up more in a rhetorical manner, and thus not apparently in an attempt to discover an answer to this query, I'm wondering here why going "off-topic"(and hopefully in a humorous fashion as I know you know I'm prone to around here) in this particular thread would or could be considered either "rude" and/or an "affront" to the OP or anyone else who's taken the time to reply in this thread? (...thanks in advance for taking my query seriously and responding to it...oh, and yeah...if you'd like to use a little humor in your reply, that would of course be viewed by me as an "added bonus" TOO!)

LOL Yeah, well, it COULD have been worse, ya know Rich! (...uh-huh...at least the General is a LITTLE more animated and at least uses a LITTLE more inflection in HIS voice than did little Matthew Broderick when HE hosted HIS Friday Night Spotlight series, RIGHT?!) LOL

Actually Rich, while I think the General's statement could have been more clearly stated, I have to say I don't really think he was implying the thought that Germany was "an enemy" of the U.S. during the time AQOTWF was filmed and released, but more the idea that for a major Hollywood film to portray "The Great War" from the POV of a U.S. enemy during that conflict was somewhat of a groundbreaking proposition. In more modern times, perhaps a correlative thought might be Clint Eastwood's 2006 "Letter From Iwo Jima" and his presenting the same POV aspect from Japanese soldiers' perspective and how even in the 21st Century still seemed to mildly jar the sensibilities of some American moviegoers who would view that film upon its release.

Now THAT'S gotta be THE worst Jay Silverheels impression I've EVER heard!!! (...okay okay...read)

Yeah, that works for me too! Though I might add that I thought your words about the Middle East being in "the fix" it is in today because of the great western powers' postwar political maneuverings was especially well observed, and thus the reason I've always found that particular aspect of the often shown "Lawrence of Arabia" the most intriguing part of that film.

Well, I WAS going to reply to your very well written and observed first post here slayton, but then I realized you pretty much said what I would have in it. (...and so you didn't leave me much room here!)

Unfortunately yogi, Wayne would die at the much too much of the young age of 45 from a massive heat attack in 1959, and is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Morris_(American_actor)

Now why in the world are you guys so surprised about these little mistakes? I mean, just like that old saw about the term "Military Intelligence bein' an oxymoron", there's NOW a few folks around here who ALSO think the term "TCM Proofreader" is an oxymoron TOO!!! In fact, ONE guy around here even made THAT one of his "famous" "NEWS items" very recently on these boards, and so whatsamatter here?! Don't you guys ever read "The NEWS"???!!! LOL (...btw Lorna...loved watching that Tales from the Crypt episode...you're right, it was very well done, but I kept thinking about the real life troubles Eric Douglas had...maybe that's why he was so good in it)

So, in other words, you're sayin' my guess was wrong, huh?! (...yeah, I wasn't all that sure about it myself!!!)

In the same vein, this would be similar to how actor Wayne Morris, who so effectively plays the cowardly Lt. Roget in this film, in real life was awarded four Navy Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals during his military service in WWII.

Ya know, you just might have a point here, James. (...I mean, just look at what happened to Janet herself when she once met a guy at a seedy motel who had "Mother Issues" which he suppressed, RIGHT?!)

Exactly, Tom. That's exactly how I felt after I saw MIDNIGHT RUN when it first hit the cineplex. Before then, all I thought De Niro was capable of playing were those tightly-wound, intense and often violent characters, but I remember walking out of the theater thinking how well he played the role of the put-upon bounty hunter in that comedy. (...Grodin was never better also, I thought)

I think I know, James. That's the very same look Yul gave the camera when he was doin' those PSAs just before he very unfortunately died of lung cancer...and thus that same stern look he'd show whenever he heard Spike Jones' "Smoke That Cigarette" playin' on the radio. (...sorry, but that's the only guess I've got here...and as usual, I could be wrong)

Yep Rey, ya see what you COULD have done was just "Liked" darkblue's earlier comment when he made mention of this same thought, and then, and as you apparently realized later here, you wouldn't have contributed to the post count in this thing. (...and DANG IT...like I JUST did!!!) LOL

Ahem, excuse me here Andy, but I THINK you forgot to include MIDNIGHT RUN on that there list o' yours. (...and where Bobby showed some comedic chops within)

Yeah, but wasn't he terrific in that one Western he did? "Hard On The Trail" ?! (...aaah, ya see THIS is why you NEVER throw old material away...you never know when you can use it again!)

Yeah, you're certainly right here, ND. In fact, the ONLY movie I can think of with an even MORE downbeat ending(and maybe you'll agree with me here...and somethin's tellin' me you will) is when Richard Carlson shoots that poor ol' water-breathin' creature in that there Black Lagoon and then it sinks to the bottom! (...yep, now THERE'S ya a "downbeat ending", huh!)

Soooo, I guess I WAS the only one who thinks Svengoolie looks like Ron Jeremy then, huh. (...you people need to get around more)