One of the great actors of the early period of cinema. He (1892-1967) was born in South Africa and died in New York City. Here he plays two villains and goes up against some seriousheroes, Robin Hood (played by Errol Flynn) and Zorro (played by Tyrone Power). Too bad for him. I first saw these classic 'pictures'* ["The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) and "The Mark of Zorro" (1940)] when I was real young and have loved them ever since. * That's what my grandmother (b. 1918) calls movies.
This is probably the most famous corny song in the history of recorded music. To induce sarcastic sentiment and laughter, one need only dramatically sing "we are the world". The video is corny, as if it could help it given the song. The facial expressions are notorious solicitors of condescension and mocking impressions. I remember this song from my youth, I was 5 or 6 and it was a sizable hit. Its supreme corn and cheese was not as glaringly apparent then as it is now, but I was young and unsettled in my misnagdishways. The video is a charming test of one's knowledge of early 1980's pop stars and I freely admit some characters are beyond my powers of identification. I've come to believe that left-wing American identification with the third world is ultimately paternalistic and not to be trusted, as it will never go anywhere, and inevitably leads to a strange worldview that promotes self-hatred and praises ignorance and corruption, and compels college-educated people to embrace conspiracy theories that usually feature evil Zionists. I firmly advocate leaving the resolution of great historical problems to Heaven, while urging all people to treat all people with respect and compassion. Having said that, I will also say that I wholeheartedly believe bad guys who cannot be re-educated should be killed and I wanted to applaud in the theater when the first Soviet helicopter was shot down in the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" (2007).
Well, Sam Cooke is essentially without equal according to my impoverished intellect. He had a savvy courage in performing this [I've always thought of as corny] song by a well-known and respected Jewish entertainer (Robert Zimmerman), but the background dancing is hopelessly banal and out of place, but some (the Chasidim) hold its better than crying. In 1964, this song had real and timely context, and the Black-Jewish united front that it flowed from must have made the hater-types very unhappy and prompted them to complain about radical content on television.
Enter Orson Welles (1915-1985) as Cesare Borgia and Tyrone Power (1914-1958) as his agent. These are two legendary figures in the American movie tradition and this movie is a worthy piece of art on many levels (for example it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design). The movie deals with the political-military life of pre-modern Italy and the designs and covert operations of a playful and deadly notorious warlord (Borgia). Tyrone Power plays a capable and ambitious covert operator [the mob called them button men, because they press your buttons], who is dispatched on a mission that tests the content of his character and eventually sends him on the path of the ba'alteshuvah. This scene comes early on in the movie and sets the stage for the story.
I went to California in January and bought two DVDs for little money at Moe's Books in Berkeley. Both titles are worthy classics, in chronological order: "Santa Fe Trail" (1940) and "The Longest Day" (1962). I forgot these movies in California and happily they were mailed to me here in New York, and they arrived today. I am featuring 4 scenes (4-7) from "Santa Fe Trail" (1940) here for general purposes. It is a good movie with an impressive cast: Errol Flynn (1909-1959), Raymond Massey (1896-1983) [I strongly advise all to watch his performance as Abraham Farlan in the surreal "A Matter of Life and Death" (1946)] as the abolitionist John Brown, Olivia deHavilland (b. 1916) [the only surviving star from "Gone With The Wind" (1939)], and yes, the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) [who plays the young George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) of Little Big Horn (1876) fame], and Alan Hale (1892-1950). The movie tells the story (albeit with many factual problems) of cavalry soldiers fighting John Brown's anti-slavery insurgency in the Kansas territory in the period before the American Civil War.
The song by Bob Dylan is well-known. The fact that it (and its author) appear in the 1973 movie "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid" [which was directed by Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) and starred James Coburn (1928-2002) and Slim Pickens (1919-1983)] is less well-known. The scene is a contender. The action and dialogue are noteworthy on their own merits, but joined with the powerful song, the scene reaches a sublime height. It offers us a profound dramatization of a myth that Americans used to live intimately with.
