Penn State's legendary football, Joe Paterno, has succumbed to cancer at 85. What a sad end to a life well-lived save for a huge blemish. One wonders if the recent scandal hastened the spread of the disease. With his wife and career gone, he may have felt he no longer had reason to live. How I wish he had used his power to get that creep of an assistant fired. Fortunately, there will be no black mark beside his achievements in the college football record. Rest in Peace, Joe Pa.
Netflix has been one of the greatest pleasures. I used to watch three DVDs per week. Now that my list has diminished I've cut back to one. And I don't restrict myself to popular films. The best I've seen lately was the Italian I Am Not Afraid. I'll watch foreign, independent films, and B flicks long forgotten. Such was the case last night. The Hoodlum was surprisingly hardcore for 1951. What I loved about it was its fearlessness in presenting the case that some people are simply bad. And what actor better to star in such a story than Lawrence Tierney, whose hell-raising limited him to 100 credits. Many will recognize him as Elaine's scary dad, Alton Benes, in one of the many memorable episodes of Seinfeld. He also had a key role in Reservoir Dogs (1992). His most famous part was in Born to Kill (1947), although he was outdone by his co-star, Claire Trevor, who was so memorable as the alcoholic ex-singer in the classic Key Largo (1948). I think The Hoodlum is Tierney's finest work. He was self-assured and riveting throughout. There was a great bookend in the film. His mother, played by Lisa Golm, begs the parole board for his release at the start, then excoriates her incorrigible son on her death bed at the end. Tierney's brother, Edward, played his screen brother, a straight-arrow. Somehow Lawrence lived to the age of 82. Edward died at 55. I wonder if he too lived the high life. On a scale of five, I rate The Hoodlum three-and-a-half. It is rated 6.2 out of ten at IMDb. The print was not in good shape.
The only way I was going to sell books on this cold, sunless day was if I was able to set up shop at the curb beside my car. I spent half the time in the back seat. I thank the gentleman who purchased the book in Russian, which had the double whammy of Stalin and Hitler on the cover. I also thank the woman who bought four books for her kids, and Bad News Billy, who selected three DVDs and a miniature Bible. Yesterday he received a $125 ticket for parking in a No Standing zone, and his twelve-year-old grand-daughter is into hip hop and failing all her classes.
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