I also recommend Louis LÁmour's book "Yondering," a collection short stories set in the early 20th century interspersed with tales about his adventures as a merchant seaman knocking about the world of that time.
Emilio Fernandez as General Mapache in "The Wild Bunch"
Closely followed by Jorge Russek as Captain Zamora in "The Wild Bunch"
In turn closely followed by Afonso Arau as Lieutenant Herrera in "The Wild Bunch"
Perhaps overshadowed by Albert Dekker as the loathsome Harrigan in "The Wild Bunch"...
There were many similar language shortcuts practiced with telegraphy, since people paid by the word, they tried to eliminate unnecessary words like articles while getting their meaning across. Sometimes this was fun, like the time a journalist realized he had forgotten an important question...
A couple of tips on how this is done (always presuming that you have a working knowledge of the adventure pulps of the 20s-40s and their tropes). I read Tiki Tom's challenge and it sounded like fun. I had a slight knowledge of China in that time period mainly because my late father-in-law, John...
Of course "The Wolfman" (I don't think they ever say "Wolfman Jack" in the movie) is an amalgam of the DJs Lucas remembered from his California boyhood. I think using Robert Smith to play his old persona was Francis Ford Coppola's idea. Whatever, it worked wonderfully in the film.
"American Graffiti" is one of my favorites, too. My older brother is especially fond of it because he graduated in '62 like the guys in the movie. It's classic coming-of-age story. Growing up means, among other things. disillusionment. You find out the hard facts of the world and have to put...
The movie takes place in 1959. I was 12 in 1959, too. Stephen King and I were born within a few months of each other, so I've always been able to relate to his stories of kid life in the 50s and early 60s because I experienced the same things at the same time. Incidentally, nobody writes better...
Shanghai, 1925: The air stinks of violence as the tramp Sweet Lily cruises past the Bund, heading for her anchorage in Hangchow Bay. The rumors are ominous. Sun-Yat-Sen is dead. The government in Peiping has been overthrown buy the warlord Zang-Zou-Lin, who may be in bed with the Japanese. The...
I've noticed that people always seem to be uncomfortable with their own time. There are always new things to fear or be anxious about and they don't remember it always to have been that way. People always seem to look back nostalgically to an unrealistic past (like the Fifties, or the Roaring...
Sometimes the interpreter is remembered way better than the originator. As far as I know, Janis Joplin never wrote a song by herself (she co-wrote a few) but many songs are irrevocably associated with her. Kris Kristofferson wrote "Me and Bobby McGee,"but it's Janis's version everyone...
I have a Trackphone where every few months I have to buy a card to add minutes. I don't have an iphone or any of those others because there's nobody I want to talk to all that much.
I think Kilmer's performance is the best because he actually looks like a man dying of consumption. Mature was the buffest man in Hollywood in his day, and Douglas just didn't look sick enough, although his cough was great. Quaid made an almost suicidal effort to lose weight for the role, and...
One thing that makes this so hard is that we lump a great many film types under the category of "western." Some are grittily realistic historical films (The Wild Bunch). Some are political, about the times when they are made (High Noon) others are fantasies (anything Lone Rangerish). Yet others...
When I was in grammar school ('53-'59) we started every day with the Pledge of Allegiance and the flag salute. But this was in Catholic parochial schools. If anything the RC schools were even more patriotic that the public schools. I think this was because Catholics' patriotism and loyalty...
I get a huge kick out of all the creeps complaining about Obama not saluting his Marine guards when they salute. This is because the President is a civilian, and civilians don't salute. Look at old films of President Eisenhower. He was, one would think, a guy who knew a thing or two about...
There is a New Orleans accent that has the "er-oi" peculiarity and that most people only slightly familiar with either accent think sounds "Brooklynese." It may be common to many 19th century port cities, which were host to the same waves of immigrants.
On the subject of national anthems, they grew out of the nationalist movements of the 19th century. Ironically, "Deutschland Uber Alles"is the least warlike of them all. It's literally about wine, women and song. Everybody loves "La Marseillaise" because the tune is so great, but the lyrics...
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