Author Topic: This is the West, sir.  (Read 42858 times)

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #110 on: February 19, 2014, 10:02:12 PM »
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid




That's no Mitten Butte. That's the Great White Throne, 263 miles to the west, towering behind Angels Landing; a most popular and precarious hike.

Angels Landing - Who could have ever conceived of such a trail as this, it is like an island in the sky often surrounded by low lying clouds. The actual path is a half-mile of narrow rock protruding out of Cathedral Mountain. Angels Landing is a rival for the best known landmark in Zion National Park, the Great White Throne. Climbers scale the big wall, hikers walk the steep path leading to the narrow and arduous fin and sightseers stand in awe at its stunning nobility. A group of four men, F. Fisher, V. Fischer, E. Bingham and C. Hirshi were exploring Zion in 1916 when upon looking up at the great monolith, Frederick Fisher exclaimed, "only an angel could land on it," and the name Angels Landing stuck. Elevation: 5785 feet.


This here is Zion National Park country and Butch and Sundance traipse all over it. The title of the movie could just as easily have been called The Great Chase; 23 minutes of gallivanting through and around all manner of landmarks. Alas, The title was already used in a 1962 movie and The Great... was pretty tapped out in the 1960's and 70's anyhow. I guess during those two decades they believed, "Everything you see, or think, or say is Great!" :P

The Great Imposter 1961
The Great Chase 1962
The Great Escape 1963
The Great Killing 1964
The Great Race 1964
The Great Sioux Massacre 1965
The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery 1966
The Great Silence 1968
The Great Bank Robbery 1969
The Great Battle 1969
The Great White Hope 1970
The Great Waltz 1972
The Great Gatsby 1974
The Great Waldo Pepper 1975
The Great Houdini 1977
The Great Smokey Roadblock 1977
The Great Bank Hoax 1978
The Great Gambler 1979
The Great Bank Robbery 1969


It's a good thing then that the title ended up as it did. There was a time though, the working title was The Sundance Kid and Butch Cassidy. Try saying that without tripping up. Trying to categorize this Western has me tripping up. Is it a buddy movie, a tragicomedy, an antihero or revisionist study? They ran away, for Pete's sake! If the answer is yes, then Ballyhoo! It's just so doggone pretty and funny and irreverent and dreadful that I don't particularly care to put it into a box and wrap it up.

With only 26 minutes of music throughout the film, it grabs the spotlight and how! Bacharach style is as hard to pin down as the movie's. A perfect fit. For being so outside that box, it won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head won Best Original Song. Burt Bacharach said he wanted the song to represent Butch Cassidy's life and have his playful personality come through.

Crying's not for me
Cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'
Because I'm free
Nothing's worrying me


Always the dreamer. Even up to the end.

Corndog

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17025
  • Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, golly what a day!
    • Corndog Chats
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #111 on: February 19, 2014, 10:24:06 PM »
The Great Review 2014 ... by Sandy
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #112 on: February 19, 2014, 10:32:43 PM »
 :))

Whenever I think about how great you are Corndog, I want to quote your signature, "Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly!"

Thanks so much

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #113 on: August 02, 2014, 12:09:14 AM »
The Searchers




Sweet mother of all Mitten Butte sightings! And I thought Fort Apache utilized Monument Valley to the hilt. This film pulls out all the stops with VistaVision and Technicolor and every angle of the Navajo Tribal Park, from John Ford's Point to the Three Sisters, incorporating every nook and cranny. It's a gorgeous film through and through and it mesmerizes me. But there's a story that goes along with the beautiful surroundings and it's just as captivating. What's going on with John Wayne's character? He has so many layers that I can't get to them all. What's the back story with him and Martha? That mended coat speaks volumes as well as their tender looks. There's some chemistry going on for sure. Nothing is spelled out with him, but his determination and unhinged moments leave me speculating a great deal. What a rich, wounded, indomitable character is Ethan Edwards. If that's not enough to pack into a picture, John Ford throws in some other signature moves of levity (way more than I would have anticipated), Ward Bond! and of course, music. The opening song sets the stage, compliments of The Sons of the Pioneers.

Now, a man will search for fortune
Of silver and of gold
The silver he finds in his hair
While a wary heart grows old
Ride away, ride away, ride away


The beginning and ending scenes of this movie are imprinted in my soul. The wind blowing the dresses and his signature walk. The Western genre's charm captured in two beautifully framed snapshots.
« Last Edit: November 21, 2015, 07:52:14 PM by Sandy »

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #114 on: August 02, 2014, 12:17:41 AM »
Yes! Love it. Best John Ford movie, best John Wayne performance, best everything. Love Ward Bond's beat up old duster. And damn, is it pretty.
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #115 on: August 02, 2014, 12:21:37 AM »
I'm not a fan of The Searchers, but that last scene and last shot is one of my favorites ever. It means more to me than all of Henry Fonda's chair work in My Darling Clementine or the speech framed by hats that closes out The Ox-Bow Incident. That final image is as important to the Western as the Liberty Valance quote that opens your Marathon.

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #116 on: August 02, 2014, 12:29:51 AM »
That is a bold and beautiful statement about the ending scene, 1SO and I am in complete agreement. :)

Love that you love this movie Junior!

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #117 on: August 02, 2014, 12:32:32 AM »
I hope you watched an HD version of this. It's remarkable how good it looks.
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

Sandy

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12075
  • "The life we build, we never stop creating.”
    • Sandy's Cinematic Musings
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #118 on: August 02, 2014, 12:44:26 AM »
It was a blu-ray from the library, so felt fortunate that they had it :).

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: This is the West, sir.
« Reply #119 on: August 02, 2014, 12:49:49 AM »
Oh man, that's great. I hope it gets a theatrical re-release soon. That'd be glorious. Maybe the (not really) racism is holding that back?
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

 

love