I was hangin' with my homey, Bags, after lunch. We watched about an hour of the classic western High Noon (1952), which was controversial in its day. Legendary Hollywood figures John Wayne and Howard Hawks both detested the film. Wayne believed it was a veiled condemnation of the black-listing of the McCarthy era. Hawks did not like that the character goes about town pleading for help in opposing the four gunmen out to get him. Ironically, the Soviets condemned the film as "a glorification of the individual." Conservatives Ronald Reagan and Dwight Eisenhower respected it. It is Bill Clinton's favorite movie. He screened it 17 times at the White House during his presidency. The American left loved it as a condemnation of those who did not stand up to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Wayne helped get the screenwriter, Carl Foreman, blacklisted. Gary Cooper, the star of the film and a conservative, appeared before the committee but did not name names. In a great irony, Wayne accepted the Best Actor Academy Award for Cooper, who was unable to attend the ceremony. The film won three other Oscars: Editing, Scoring, and Song, Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin', written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, performed by Tex Ritter. As the opening strands played, Bags and I noted a similarity to the scratchy opening of Voodoo Chile. I couldn't help but picture Jimi Hendrix watching the flick, hearing the music, saying: "Wait a minute," and picking up his guitar. Anyway, time has proven Wayne and Hawks wrong. The McCarthy era controversy is remembered only by partisans, and the film endures. It is rated 8.2 of ten at IMDb, where many of the facts were culled, as well as at Wiki. The mere fact that Lee Van Cleef and Robert J. Wilkie are two of the gunmen makes it a winner in my book, especially when Van Cleef plays the harmonica!
The floating book shop had a nice session at its usual Saturday location in front of the Chase at Bay Parkway & 85th Street. Sue purchased a couple of DVDs and two employees of the bank bought books. But the highlight of the day was a visit from a burly neighborhood guy who always stops to chat after conducting business inside. Today his younger son accompanied him. He picked out a couple of fantasy novels and his dad had him read the first page of one to make sure he could handle them. Only seven, Mark did fine. The little guy writes a page each night in his diary. One subject was his fear of the dark and how he counted on his parents to protect him. Another was devoted to the teachers he hated. The kid has a future. I resisted spouting the song parody of Willie Nelson's Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys my mind conjures whenever I meet a young writer, wherein I substitute Writers for the last word.
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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