Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 4/6 - Bigs

Last night PBS in NYC ran a classic western, The Big Country (1958), directed by William Wyler and starring Gregory Peck, who co-produced. Charlton Heston, Charles Bickford, Jean Simmons and Carroll Baker brought their usual brilliance to the film, but the show was stolen by two of the supporting players, Burl Ives and Chuck Connors. The part was perfect for Ives: gruff, honest, fearless. Connors was excellent is the role of Ives' cowardly son. Ives was awarded an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the role. It was a banner year for him, as he was equally riveting as Big Daddy in the adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a part he also played on Broadway. I frequently conjure how he said "Mendacity." He has the best lines in The Big Country. Here's an example: "Teach your grandmother to suck eggs! I've been handling guns like this, flintlock and caplock, since before you were born." The scene where he crashes his enemy's party and delivers a scathing monologue has remained with me since I saw the film at the little Benson Theater circa 1960. Ives was also a successful recording star, cutting 30 albums for Decca. A liberal politically, he named names during the McCarthy hearings in order to save his career. It did not seem to hurt it. Here's a pic:

Connors was a Brooklynite, an altar boy at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bay Ridge, an excellent athlete who played briefly in the NBA and MLB. A first baseman, he had one fruitless at-bat for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 and 201 for the Chicago Cubs in 1951, hitting .239 with two HRs. It is believed he attained his nickname because he was frequently saying: "Chuck it to me, baby, chuck it to me." His first name was Kevin. He played for the Boston Celtics from '46-'48, and averaged 4.5 PPG. During WWII he was a tank instructor stateside. He appeared in 168 episodes of The Rifleman and 48 of Branded. He is a member of both the Cowboy Hall of Fame and The Hall of Great Western Performers. He was on the cover of TV Guide five times. Here's a pic:

Show of hands: How many people had UConn (seven seed) vs. Kentucky (eight seed) in the NCAA Final? These Machiavellian programs have won out again, although I'm not sure Connecticut is pulling the same shenanigans it did when Jim Calhoun was the head man. Two months ago, when Kentucky was struggling and actually seemed as if it would not make the field, writers at Yahoo Sports speculated that Coach John Calipari had worn out his welcome in the Blue Grass state. Now they're eating crow.

It was another of those days when all book sales were in Russian. Spasibo, folks, particularly those two who bought in bulk.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: 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 Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx