I Just Watched...

[LornaHansonForbes]

I still recall watching Jaws 3-D in the theater in all of its 3-D "glory". Ahhh, the memories.

 

I think some of my earliest memories are watching that film when I was six years old in 1983. I am seriously, seriously bummed out that in order to view the recent Blu-ray in 3D you have to have a very complicated hook up system with all sorts of special bells and whistles as well as 3D glasses.

 

I have been told the effects actually look amazing when you see them the way they were supposed to be seen.

[laffite]

It's been really quiet around here lately, so allow me to pour some gasoline on the conversation by coming out with the fact that I turned off MON ONCLE after about 50 minutes.

 

I just did not get it. I did not get it at all.

 

Come at me, Bros.

 

I would advise meditating for about 30 minutes to clear all normal thoughts. Then turn on the movie---fast!---and try to let it come to you while your head is completely devoid of thoughts. The World of Mon Oncle is unique. Only Tati seems to be able to do this. He created his own genre. A shift of normal consciousness is required. Just to let you know, there are many others who don't get it either. I get it because my mother liked it. My mother was a casual movie watcher without special insight regarding unusual movies but that didn't stop her from laughing all the way through. It's not about getting it or not getting it, it's a matter of achieving the correct wave length.

[EricJ]

It's been really quiet around here lately, so allow me to pour some gasoline on the conversation by coming out with the fact that I turned off MON ONCLE after about 50 minutes.

 

I just did not get it. I did not get it at all.

 

Come at me, Bros.

 

Depends, how were you on M. Hulot's Holiday?:

Basically, the silent-comedy character Jacques Tati played in all his films was the confessed inspiration for Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean (check out "Mr. Bean's Holiday" if you don't believe me), and it's easier to understand Tati's M. Hulot character if you were able to spot Terry Jones doing his own faithful homage to Hulot's holiday in that Python sketch:

 

While Tati's humor is a little slow and quirky, and requires a good long attention span, like watching the hands of a funny clock to see if they move, there's still a 50's Frenchman trying to imitate silent Charlie Chaplin, and throw in his own oddball satire on modern 50's life in the process.

 

(Once you figure Hulot is the boy's Oncle, imagine what the Poor Little Modern Kid is learning from his rumpled, old-fashioned black-sheep relative.)

 

I think some of my earliest memories are watching that film when I was six years old in 1983. I am seriously, seriously bummed out that in order to view the recent Blu-ray in 3D you have to have a very complicated hook up system with all sorts of special bells and whistles as well as 3D glasses.

 

I have been told the effects actually look amazing when you see them the way they were supposed to be seen.

 

Not really that complicated--If (like me) you've been using a Playstation 3 or 4 to watch Blu-rays, they were already software-upgraded to Blu 3D players for free back in '11, and after that, it's about getting the screen.  Otherwise Blu 3D players aren't hard to find either, and they still play everything else.

 

You should still be able to find a decent "3D compatible" screen if you, ahem, look (shoots dagger-glances at Samsung constantly trying to convince the industry that 3DTV is "dead" so we'll all jump on curved 4K UHD), and the only complicated thing to understand about that is Passive vs. Active.

Passive uses a similar system to what theaters use, so you can literally use those souvenir glasses you buy in the theater at home, but not sure if anyone still uses that system--Active is more common, and involves the right battery/rechargable electronic glasses designed to synchronize with the signal.  (And thus give each eye exactly the picture they should be seeing, for perfect 3D if the film mastered it right.)  One or two pairs already come with the set, Best Buy or Amazon has any others if you need them.

80's 3D didn't always do it well, but they knew they had to deliver the in-your-face gimmicks like a lot of our modern post-Avatar movies forgot how to.

 

It was a big leap-of-faith early adopter commitment when it came out, but it shouldn't soar over anyone's head.

I've been fighting the same war against persecution for six years (just why we're persecuted, I'm working on for next week's blog), but we're starting to make some inroads.

 

So:  That's two.  Anything else you wanna know?  

[Sepiatone]

Didn't watch the whole thing,was busy getting the Mrs. ready for sleep when it came on after THE LONG, LONG TRAILER, but caught a bit of SCARED STIFF with Lewis and Martin.

 

In the corner of my eye I caught, in the opening credits, the name GEORGE DOLENZ.  I mused, "I wonder if he's any relation", thinking of course, of MICKEY DOLENZ of MONKEES fame.  So I did a little WIKI searching and found out indeed, he WAS Mickey's dad! 

 

Hmm....small world indeed.

 

Don't ever recall seeing or knowing of George before in any movie.  Anyway....

 

Didn't seem so terrible of a flick, and watched it just long enough to notice FRANK FONTAINE show up!   Playig a drunk of course, and left me also wondering if he was down at the docks looking for Mr. Dennehy. 

 

 

Sepiatone

[wouldbestar]

Sepiatone:  George Dolenz was in:  My Cousin Rachel, The Last Time I Saw Paris and on TV The Count of Monte Cristo all of which I have seen.  He was very good in the films and I liked the series although it's been a while since I've seen it.  imdb has a list of all his credits.

 

Mickey was his wife's son by a previous marriage whom George adopted.  He went by Mickey Braddock when he starred on Circus Boy so as not to trade in on the family name.  George died young in the early 60's; by 1967 when The Monkees  began Mickey was Dolenz on and off screen.   

 

Just found the series on YouTube.  Will watch some later after laundry.

[EricJ]

Mickey was his wife's son by a previous marriage whom George adopted.  He went by Mickey Braddock when he starred on Circus Boy so as not to trade in on the family name.  George died young in the early 60's; by 1967 when The Monkees  began Mickey was Dolenz on and off screen.  

 

In one Monkees episode, the gang is visiting a circus, and the character of Mickey keeps humming "'It's great, it's colossal, it's the best show on earth...'"

"What is that?"  "I dunno, keeps running through my head, for some reason."

[Movie Collector OH]

I would advise meditating for about 30 minutes to clear all normal thoughts. Then turn on the movie---fast!---and try to let it come to you while your head is completely devoid of thoughts. The World of Mon Oncle is unique. Only Tati seems to be able to do this. He created his own genre. A shift of normal consciousness is required. Just to let you know, there are many others who don't get it either. I get it because my mother liked it. My mother was a casual movie watcher without special insight regarding unusual movies but that didn't stop her from laughing all the way through. It's not about getting it or not getting it, it's a matter of achieving the correct wave length.

 

I recorded it just because I think it was you who had that in the avatar.  Anyhow I look forward to getting around to seeing it.

[cigarjoe]

Siesta (1987) Lynchesque Film Soleil

 

 

"Somewhere, and I don't know where, I turned a corner and there was no turning back. Somewhere I made a mistake" 

 

Siesta is a updated version of a woman's noir. The story is told exclusively from a woman's perspective and in a non linear fashion. It's art house, experimental, surreal, symbolic, dreamlike, erotic, low rent Lynchesque, if you will. The film has got in-your-face style. 

 

The film is odd, whacky, atmospheric, and mind tripping. It's full of religious symbolisim and ancient mythology. It definitely needs to be watched more than once to fully appreciate it. Each character Claire encounters are more than they seem. 

 

The end has a twist but most of us will sort of guess it in advance, I know that I did. Miles Davis performs the haunting score. Sex And Death - Siesta. It is available on an R2 DVD from Germany in English. Worth a watch especially for Barkin fans, a 6-7/10. If this was ever to be shown on TCM it would be in the late late night, early morning hours, wink, wink if you know what I mean, it's not family time fare.

 

Full review with some screencaps here in Film Noir/Gangster thread and also with extremely NSFW screencaps here  http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/09/siesta-lynchesque-film-soleil.html 

 

[Sepiatone]

Sepiatone:  George Dolenz was in:  My Cousin Rachel, The Last Time I Saw Paris and on TV The Count of Monte Cristo all of which I have seen.  He was very good in the films and I liked the series although it's been a while since I've seen it.  imdb has a list of all his credits.

 

Mickey was his wife's son by a previous marriage whom George adopted.  He went by Mickey Braddock when he starred on Circus Boy so as not to trade in on the family name.  George died young in the early 60's; by 1967 when The Monkees  began Mickey was Dolenz on and off screen.   

 

Just found the series on YouTube.  Will watch some later after laundry.

 

WIKI lists the MONKEE as  George Michael "Micky" Dolenz Jr. , and makes no mention of any adoption.  It doesn't, when looking at JANELLE JOHNSON's  bio, mention that she was married  before she married Dolenz.  So I'm thinking some TV exec came up with the BRADDOCK name thinking it sounded more like an AMERICAN kid's name.  And incidentally, THE MONKEES began in '66.

 

Sepiatone

[midwestan]

I had never seen it before this week, but I rather liked "Background to Danger".  Practically anything with Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in the cast is a watchable film to me.  One aspect of the film I liked was that the scenes involving the Turkish language in print and some dialogue.  It wasn't always dumbed down to the audience.  Sure, there were some translations provided, but overall, the movie gave you the feel that the Turks were being convinced or coerced to choose between siding with Germany or the Soviet Union, or to side up with the British and French, or stay as neutral as possible since the country had taken its lumps earlier in World War 1 followed by a successful secular revolution.

 

I was struck by the scene where George Raft enters the tobacco shop in Ankara.  The father (in profile) reminded me of Clifton Webb, although it was clearly not him, while his son had an Alec Baldwin-type quality in his look.  I don't know where the film was shot, but I was imagining some of the scenes shot at the palace/embassy could have passed for the back yard of some swanky estate like Pickfair!

[wouldbestar]

WIKI lists the MONKEE as  George Michael "Micky" Dolenz Jr. , and makes no mention of any adoption.  It doesn't, when looking at JANELLE JOHNSON's  bio, mention that she was married  before she married Dolenz.  So I'm thinking some TV exec came up with the BRADDOCK name thinking it sounded more like an AMERICAN kid's name.  And incidentally, THE MONKEES began in '66.

 

Sepiatone

 

I stand corrected.  I got the misinformation from a magazine article of the 60s.  Thanks for setting me straight; I really appreciate it. 

[film lover 293]

"9 To 5" (1980)--Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman, directed by Colin Higgins.

 

Intermittently funny comedy gets off to a good start with the theme song sung by Parton.  The plot is about three ordinary working women and their evil boss.

 

Fonda is miscast but ok as the overwhelmed newbie who has a disastrous first day on the job.  She just doesn't seem the "timid mouse" type, no matter how loudly her clothes scream she is.

 

Parton made her film debut in 9 to 5, and gave a good performance as the secretary the office assumes is Harts' (Coleman) mistress.  She has the films' most memorable line (the one that was featured in television commercials and the film's trailer).

 

Tomlin is a delight in the film; her lines aren't always funny, but her delivery of them is.  She has the films best sequence, where she imagines killing Hart while starring in a Disney film, with animated accomplices. 

 

 I saw the film on archive.org.  Technical note--the copy I saw was from a videotape, and there were problems with the picture graying/whiting out at the movies' end.

 

Aside from technical problems, film is an ok watch.  2.5/4.

[EricJ]

"9 To 5" (1980)--Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman, directed by Colin Higgins.

 

 

I remember how much we liked this film when it came out, just because of Lily and Dolly (Jane seemed to be trying way too hard even back then), but thinking back on the gags now, it's amazing how Lifetime-Network ugly most of the soapboxing humor would be today if it was intentionally trying to preach to the female demographic.  (ahemghostbustersremake)

Lily cynically feminist-bashing Disney Snow White sweetness-and-light, how gender-paranoid and 1980 is that?

 

What kept it from being divisive was that Colin Higgins, fresh off of "Foul Play", had a natural TV-sitcom sense of how to keep things light and fun.

Part of it was Parton's natural ability to play to an audience for fun, while Fonda and Tomlin believed they were changing the world, and Higgins managed to use that fun screen presence again in Best Little Warehouse in Texas before his career ended early.

[film lover 293]

"Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" (1957)--Starring Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr.  Directed by John Huston.

 

Marvelous WW II film, set in the South Pacific in 1944, on an island three hundred miles from Fiji.  Mr. Allison (Mitchum), sole survivor of from his submarine, washes up on an island.  He meets Sister Angela (Kerr), who was left behind when the ship that was supposed to take her from the island left without her.  A Japanese plane flies over while on a reconnaissance mission.  Film goes from there.

 

Mitchum and  and Kerr (she was nominated for an Oscar) are both excellent and have chemistry, as film gradually turns into a love story/comedy.  Mitchums' encounter with a turtle and Kerrs' introduction to sushi are especially memorable.

 

Oswald Morris did the fine cinematography.  John Huston wrote the Oscar nominated screenplay.  Four different composers were responsible for the musical score, which verges on being "Cute".  I saw the film on archive.org.  Very good film.  3.5/4

[cigarjoe]

Requiem For A Heavyweight (1962) New York-Boxing Neo Noir

 

"Sport? Are you kidding? If there was headroom they'd hold these things in sewers."

Requiem For A Heavyweight easily slips into Pantheon of the Great Boxing films and additionally to the select few that are also Noirs, i.e., The Set-Up (1949), Champion (1949), The Harder They Fall (1956),  Killers Kiss (1955), Bio Noir, Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), Body and Soul (1947), and Bio Neo Noir, Raging Bull (1980).

The story originally debuted as a teleplay in 1956, with Jack Palance in the lead, it also had an uplifting ending. This 1962 big screen version is decidedly darker and melancholic. The 1962 film opening sequence is a fighters bar called a "Graveyard" the denizens are glued to a TV, we hear a prisefight, this segues into a POV of the fight in progress the camera against Cassius Clay, an homage to Robert Montgomery‘s Lady In The Lake (1947), and Dark Passage (1947).

 

All said and done you get the feeling that the actors actually did train and fight together for 17 years, their relastionships are that believable. The screencaps are from the Columbia Pictures DVD. 10/10  

 

Full review with more screencaps here in Fillm Noir/Gangster board here and with all screecaps here http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/09/requiem-for-heavyweight-1962-new-york.htm

http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/09/requiem-for-heavyweight-1962-new-york.html

[scsu1975]

The Virginian (1914)

 

First of two silent versions, this one is directed by C. B. DeMille, stars Dustin Farnum as the Virginian, and runs just under an hour. Compared to the 1929 Gary Cooper version, this one isn’t bad, although Farnum probably could have dropped a few pounds. Still, he’s a likable hero. This version contains the “baby swap” sequence, as does the 1929 version; in each case, I don’t get why this is even in the film, since it just seems too stupid and a waste of time. I guess it’s supposed to be funny, but I didn’t see the humor. The hanging sequence is over pretty quickly; we get to see the shadows of the hanged rustlers, and that’s an effective scene. In the final shootout, Farnum shoots his gun like he is swatting at flies. I’ve seen this weird motion in other silents, and wonder who came up with this, because I can’t figure out how someone could aim while doing this.

 

I just found the 1923 version online, so I may take a look at that when I can. If someone has already seen it, I’d be curious to know if it’s worthwhile.

[Fedya]

"9 To 5" (1980)--Starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, and Dabney Coleman, directed by Colin Higgins.

You forgot Sterling Hayden as the big boss in the finale.

 

This is the sort of film I watch and think that if Hollywood had done it in the golden age (cleaned up a lot, of course!), it would have been as a really entertaining B-movie. The plot: three secretaries discover their boss is embezzling, and decide to get back at him -- makes for good B-movie material. I can imagine Warner Bros. casting someone like Guy Kibbee in the Dabney Coleman role, with someone like Aline MacMahon as the new employee. Glenda Farrell would be one of the other two women, and then there might be somebody like Lola Lane.

[Sepiatone]

PUBLIC WEDDING(1937)

 

Yesterday on TCM.  Until seeing this, I only knew WILLIAM HOPPER from a couple of cheezy "B" Sci-Fi flicks, and PERRY MASON (and as Natale Wood's Dad in "Rebel Without A Cause") .  Didn't know of such a busy and varied movie career before then. 

 

Was very good looking back then, and not a BAD actor really, so I wonder why he didn't have more "golden era" cred.  By that I mean when the discussions here wander to "golden era"  stars and "hunks", HIS name never seems to crop up.

 

Sepiatone

[midwestan]

PUBLIC WEDDING(1937)

 

Yesterday on TCM.  Until seeing this, I only knew WILLIAM HOPPER from a couple of cheezy "B" Sci-Fi flicks, and PERRY MASON (and as Natale Wood's Dad in "Rebel Without A Cause") .  Didn't know of such a busy and varied movie career before then. 

 

Was very good looking back then, and not a BAD actor really, so I wonder why he didn't have more "golden era" cred.  By that I mean when the discussions here wander to "golden era"  stars and "hunks", HIS name never seems to crop up.

 

Sepiatone

Hopper was also the loving, but naive father in "The Bad Seed" too!  His IMDB bio is pretty interesting.  He was in a lot of un-credited roles in the late 30's to the mid-40's, and if he was given a credit, it was usually as DeWolf Hopper (DeWolf was his middle name).  Hollywood insider Hedda Hopper was his famous mother, and he never was all that interested in pursuing a serious acting career (according to him).  Mother and son were apparently on two different wave lengths.  He died of a stroke at the age of 55, just four years after his mom.

[Sepiatone]

Hopper actually died(officially) from pneumonia, which was probably due to his stroke( like my Dad did too), as back then they may have not paid too much attention to aspiration problems caused by swallowing troubles due to strokes.

 

My wife is still working at stroke recovery, and had to go through(and still gets) several swallow evaluations in which her results made it neccesary to need to only be allowed thickened liquids( honey thick, in her case) to avoid the aspiration that can lead to the dangerous pneumonia.   I don't recall that ever being done with my Dad after HIS strokes, which he had some ten years after Hopper's. 

 

Of course, I'm just speculating on this, but after reading Hopper's official cause of death being pneumonia, and while in the hospital AFTER his stroke, it came to my mind.

 

 

Sepiatone

[LornaHansonForbes]

I watched SHANE again last night.

 

Each time I see it, I notice or remember some little detail about it that impresses me...this time around, it was the body language of the actors- which was terrific, almost have to wonder if some of the results Stevens attained were "happy accidents"- like Elisha Cook slipping in the mud as he walked to his final face-off with Palance, or the way the dog walks away when Palance first shows. Also very touching was the scene where Cook's character's little girl- not knowing any better- waves and smiles at the processsion bringing her dead father home, and her older brother takes her hand and lowers it, and where his widow collapses leaving the funeral and it caught by two of her women friends- the men watching from the steps of the saloon find this funny- something which honestly made me think of the current sorry state of our society where people gleefully take pleasure in the misfortune of others.

 

i will also say though, that every time I watch SHANE Jean Arthur gets on my nerves more and more; she's the absolute weak link of the film, and she stops it dead in its tracks near the ending with her GRATING VOICE as she begs Van Heflin not to take on Ryker and his men. Every time I listen to her shrieking like a dentist's drill, I can't help but think "yup, Van's thirst for danger and need to risk his life makes perfect sense to me."

[darkblue]

I watched SHANE again last night.

 

Each time I see it, I notice or remember some little detail about it that impresses me...this time around, it was the body language of the actors- which was terrific, almost have to wonder if some of the results Stevens attained were "happy accidents"- like Elisha Cook slipping in the mud as he walked to his final face-off with Palance, or the way the dog walks away when Palance first shows. Also very touching was the scene where Cook's character's little girl- not knowing any better- waves and smiles at the processsion bringing her dead father home, and her older brother takes her hand and lowers it, and where his widow collapses leaving the funeral and it caught by two of her women friends- the men watching from the steps of the saloon find this funny- something which honestly made me think of the current sorry state of our society where people gleefully take pleasure in the misfortune of others.

 

i will also say though, that every time I watch SHANE Jean Arthur gets on my nerves more and more; she's the absolute weak link of the film, and she stops it dead in its tracks near the ending with her GRATING VOICE as she begs Van Heflin not to take on Ryker and his men. Every time I listen to her shrieking like a dentist's drill, I can't help but think "yup, Van's thirst for danger and need to risk his life makes perfect sense to me."

 

Not to mention that hella-dork kid.

[Sepiatone]

Glad y'all brought this up here.  I was considering starting yet ANOTHER Shane thread.

 

But what I noticed in SHANE the other night........

 

Shane had a RING on the "ring finger" of his left hand that I never noticed in all my previous viewings.  Can't tell if it was silver or gold, but it made me wonder. 

 

Also, in Saturday night's version, I DID hear young Brandon yell, "BYE SHANE!"  as he rode off. 

 

And I wasn't struck by any "paranomal" impression as Shane rode OVER cemetary hill and disappeared from sight while riding down the other side. 

 

And I too, found Arthur annoying in the end scenes, like her glass shattering shriek when Shane and Starret start fighting.  Even my "anonymous" wife wondered, "Why didn't she run out to try and STOP them instead of running over to the window to WATCH?"

 

 

Sepiatone 

[speedracer5]

Jailhouse Rock (1957) 

 

I watched this movie last night.  I'd seen the famous scene where Elvis sings the title song in front of the cell doors, but that's pretty much all I knew of the film.  Apparently, when viewing the "Jailhouse Rock" musical number, I never bothered to notice the fact that the "cells" have no walls, just the door.  I always assumed that Elvis sang this song while in jail--figuring that maybe he led some sort of crazy choreographed jailbreak or something.  I'm glad that this wasn't the case.  For an Elvis film, this film actually had a somewhat dark storyline.  Yeah, Elvis isn't the best actor in the world, but his persona works for the film.  This is the second Elvis movie that I've seen.  While I still prefer Viva Las Vegas, I found this film interesting and enjoyable.

 

The plot involves Elvis, a young man who gets off to a rough start when he fights a drunk man in a bar and inadvertently kills him.  The man had been accosting a young woman in the bar and Elvis didn't like it and punched him, which led to the brawl.  Anyway, Elvis ends up being convicted of manslaughter and is sentenced to 1-10 years in jail.  While in jail, he meets Mickey Shaughnessy (who I immediately recognized from Designing Woman), a has-been country singer who seems to have been in the clink for a while.  Shaughnessy hears Elvis sing and promises to teach him how to play the guitar. He later convinces Elvis to perform in an upcoming inmate variety show which is also televised. After the appearance, Elvis receives gobs of fan letters.  Jealous, Shaughnessy arranges to make sure Elvis doesn't receive his fan letters.  He then convinces Elvis to sign a "contract" promising to cut him in for 50% of the profits if Elvis becomes a star. 

 

After almost two years, Elvis is released from jail, he gets a job at a nightclub where he meets a beautiful young woman, Judy Tyler.  Tyler's story is tragic.  Just days after completing production on this film, her first big role, she and her husband were killed in a gruesome car accident.  She was only 24.  I really liked her in this film.  She also had a beautiful speaking voice.  I think she would have made something of herself in the movie business had fate not intervened.  Anyway, after hearing Elvis sing onstage (during an impromptu performance), she convinces him to record a demo for a local record studio.  Elvis' song ends up being stolen by another artist and he and Tyler form their own record label to produce his music.  Elvis' career takes off and his ego inflates with it.

 

I thought this was an entertaining film.  Elvis' character seems to be a bit quick tempered as he hits people frequently throughout the film.  I thought that Tyler's character somewhat evened out Elvis' character.  If he had a tendency toward being impulsive, she was more level headed and rational.  Shaughnessy's character was also interesting as he was a bit of a sleaze but you also felt bad for him as well. 

 

The songs in the film were good too, my favorite though being "Jailhouse Rock."  Which actually isn't performed in prison--it's part of a prison-themed performance planned for the television special that Elvis is to appear in.  Elvis "The Pelvis" is shown in all his glory in this musical number.

[cinemafan]

Glad y'all brought this up here.  I was considering starting yet ANOTHER Shane thread.

 

But what I noticed in SHANE the other night........

 

Shane had a RING on the "ring finger" of his left hand that I never noticed in all my previous viewings.  Can't tell if it was silver or gold, but it made me wonder. 

 

Also, in Saturday night's version, I DID hear young Brandon yell, "BYE SHANE!"  as he rode off. 

 

And I wasn't struck by any "paranomal" impression as Shane rode OVER cemetary hill and disappeared from sight while riding down the other side. 

 

And I too, found Arthur annoying in the end scenes, like her glass shattering shriek when Shane and Starret start fighting.  Even my "anonymous" wife wondered, "Why didn't she run out to try and STOP them instead of running over to the window to WATCH?"

 

 

Sepiatone 

 

with son David

 

I've noticed the ring before, not the finger it was on, but the size of it when he was in the fist fight with Chris (Ben Johnson) - ouch!  I have a feeling that it was Ladd's personal ring.  It looked silver to me.

 

Marian couldn't break up the fight - Shane was trying to save her husband's life by preventing him from going to meet Ryker and being killed for certain.