Saturday Man Movie

In the 1989 movie Farewell to the King, Nick Nolte plays an American deserter following the fall of the Philippines. Washed up on the Borneo coast, he is taken in by a native tribe and eventually becomes their king. And life is great there despite the war, until a British officer shows up with a radio, which eventually causes the remote "kingdom" to discovered by the Japanese.

In this scene, Nolte's a bit cheesed with Capt. Fairbourne after the Japanese strafe the village after they track his radio signals.




And the best lines of movie history come at about 1:09, when Learoyd is asked: "What do you want?"

Capt. Fairbourne: What do you want.
Learoyd: Freedom, to be like we are.
Capt. Fairbourne: Anything else?
Learoyd: Guns. So they can't take the freedom away.
Capt. Fairbourne: Well, I'll see what I can do.
Learoyd: And grenades, mortars and mines, so they can't take the guns away.

When I first saw this movie and heard that exchange, I jumped up and yelled "YES!!!"

My then-girlfriend was not amused, however several people in the theater seemed to be.

Great movie. A bit slow to start, and a bit choppy at times, story-wise, but some great gun scenes and lots of cool jungle combat. Find it and watch it.

Saturday Man Movie

In 1964's The Killers, Ronald Reagan played Jack Browning, a wealthy criminal planning a big heist. (It was the only time he ever played the part of a villain during his acting career.)

In this role, he had to give an insolent young Angie Dickinson what she had coming when she defied him in front of his men.

Afterwards though, he said that it was easily the most distasteful thing he'd done in Hollywood. He really wasn't that sort of guy, even in pretend-land.

But at least in the movie, he got his in the end, courtesy of mortally-wounded hit-man Lee Marvin. And so did she.

Two other favorites of mine, Norman Fell and Claude Akins, also starred in this movie adaptation of a Hemmingway story.

Saturday Man Movie

In Hannie Caulder, Robert Culp is bounty hunter Thomas Luther Price. Here, he sits down at a card game with some bad guys who don't know who he is...at least until Raquel Welch comes in and gives his identity away.

Bad girl. Go to my room.

Saturday Man Movie--Bond!

Remember when we had a real James Bond? I still say that Sean Connery owned the role, and here he is in Goldfinger, trying to save the Fort Knox gold supply from a nuclear bomb. And Oddjob, Goldfinger's prime henchman, is standing in his way.


Take notes, Daniel Craig. Then go away.

Saturday Man Movie

in 1966, John Wayne starred in El Dorado, basically a remake of his earlier Rio Bravo. Both movies centered around a sheriff and friends battling a rich rancher who has them outnumbered and outgunned. In Rio Bravo, he's got Dean Martin, Walter Brennan and Ricky Nelson to help him. In this one, he's backing up Robert Mitchum, Arthur Hunnicutt and a young James Caan makes an appearance and then stays to help. And here's Caan's entrance, as "Mississippi".

Frankly I'm not sure which of the two I like best, because both were great. This one is special to me though because it's the last movie my father and I watched together back in September, 2012. I'd flown up to spend the week-end with him, and we watched the Tigers lose another game, then this came on, and I stayed to watch it even though it was getting late. We enjoyed this movie, and he seemed to be doing so good. We made plans for my next trip up, but it was only a couple of weeks later that I got the call and flew back again, this time for the funeral. So I guess I like this movie better than the other one, if for no reason than because watching it was the last thing I ever got to do with my father.

Another great scene:


That was a good movie, wasn't it, Pop?

Saturday Man Movie

Ah, the good old days. Back when cops got respect the old-fashioned way...

Saturday Man Movie

Haven't done one of these for a while, since it's getting harder and harder to find clips, but this trailer for Winchester '73 just couldn't be ignored. It's the story of real western man Lin McAdam who wins--the loses--a special 1 in 1000 Model 1873 Winchester rifle. The rifle changes hands several times afterwards, each time bringing death to the man who acquires it.



Made in 1950, this one had a big-budget cast. James Stewart. Rock Hudson. Shelley Winters. Dan Duryea. Charles Drake. Stephen McNally. Will Geer. Jay Flippen. Tony Curtis. James Best...Worth watching just to see all of these folks.

A note I found on Wikipedia lists James Best as the last surviving cast member.

He was the last one. And now he's gone, too.

The entire cast of this movie is dead of old age. Makes you think, doesn't it?

On Persistence and Motivation.

I looked outside today and caught Miss Belle with her head and front paws jammed between the rear porch steps, doing her best to get under the back porch in an effort to circumvent the fencing that surrounds the dog pen as said fencing ends at the porch rails. She's just a bit too big to fit, but she was sure giving it the old college try util she looked up and noticed me watching her from the window.

That's it. No more Steve McQueen movies before bed for her.

Danny's 17th Tunnel
The Great Escape — MOVIECLIPS.com

Thanks for sending the clip along, Stretch. You're officially a bad influence on that girl.

Seven Reasons To Go See American Sniper.

Even if something's wrong with you and you're not a fan of Chris Kyle, Navy SEALs, the U.S. Military, Clint Eastwood or America, there are still seven great reasons to go to the theater and plunk down your money to watch American Sniper.

Michael Moore hates it. (Well Duh. If it's pro-America, America's fattest hypocrite anti-capitalist millionaire is gonna hate it. But still..)

Seth Rogen hates it. (As if a guy who is only famous for playing sexually-frustrated potheads in cheesy movies really counts...)

Alec Baldwin hates it. (Actually I suspect that he just chimed in to get another fifteen minutes of fame, lest we all forget who this annoying elitist is.)

Bill Maher hates it. (I guess he's trying to show us that he's got more to say than just calling Sarah Palin the "C word".)

Russell Brand hates it. (Can anyone even tell me who this faggy Brit that looks like he gets his mail sent to a dumpster is?)

MSNBC hates it. (Not really surprising. MSNBC makes Al Jazeera look like Stars and Stripes.)

Jesse Ventura hates it. (Why? Because Chris Kyle kicked his America-hating ass, that's why!)

I plan to see it this week-end, but frankly, if that many top-tier gold-plated douchebags hate something, I can't help but like it, even sight unseen. Granted, I'm sure that much of their loathing comes from the fact that none of them can walk by a mirror without seeing the guy who is too much of a pansy to ever do the things that Kyle did, and that's got to sting.

Saturday Man Movie

In Hangman's Knot (1952), a young Lee Marvin's date with Donna Reed is interrupted by Randolph Scott.

Saturday Man Movie

In High Noon (1952), the town wants lawman Will Kane, played masterfully by Gary Cooper, to protect them and keep them safe...but when the bad guys come to get even, not one of them is willing to lift a finger to support him. Still, he sticks around and does what he has to do, alone and at great personal risk.



Almost an analogy for what's going on in some communities today, isn't it? Note that in the end here, Cooper throws down their tin star and leaves them to solve their own problems. Maybe today's cops should respond the same way when neighborhoods full of "the usual suspects" stage protests against them every time they do their jobs.

Saturday Man Movie

1979 had a few good movies. Warriors was one of them.

Made me want to go see New York City.

Satruday Man Movie

In Murder Inc., (1960), Peter Falk in his Pre-Columbo days is one heck of a mobster.



He was also a bit of a relationship expert. "I'm gonna tell ya somethin' 'bout women. I never knew one that didn't need a rap in the head. And pretty often."

Saturday Man Movie

In Hannie Calder, the movie actually revolves around a woman (and what a woman: Raquel Welch!) but it also features Hollywood greats Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam and Strother Martin as the three men who killed her husband and raped her in the beginning of the movie. Out for revenge, she meets Robert Culp, a bounty hunter, who teaches her to shoot. She's soon after the three, with predictable results.



Thanks for ther pic, Gunfreezone!

Robert Culp was always cool.

Saturday Man Movie

In Saharah (1943), US Army Master Sergeant Joe Gunn, played by Humphrey Bogart, leads a band of allied soldiers across the desert, battling the Germans and the elements in a fight for survival. Because they have almost no food or water, he makes the decision to ditch Giuseppe, an Italian prisoner.

Saturday Man Movie

In 1950, Gregory Peck was The Gunfighter, playing Jimmy Ringo, a fast gun who couldn't go anywhere without someone trying him on.

Left-handed and without even spilling his drink. That was cool.

Saturday Man Movie

Here, a real man plays a real man. Gary Cooper is Alvin York in the 1841 1941 movie, Sgt. York.

Saturday Man Movie

Once there was a time when people cheered cops who took care of business.

Today, people would line up to sue or cry that he's too militarized.

Saturday Man Movie

In Murphy's War(1971), Peter O'Toole is the last survivor of a German U-boat attack on his ship. Lusting for revenge, he finds a Grumman Duck and teaches himself to fly it as he hunts for the U-boat. The result? Some fantastic Grumman Duck aerobatics.

But the real "man" behind this "man movie" was stunt pilot Frank Tallman, who flew the Duck for real and nearly died during the filming when a rough landing went wrong. Tallman will always be remembered as one of Hollywood's great stunt pilots back before CGI existed and real aircraft and pilots had to be risked for great movies.

Oh, and did I mention that Frank Tallman only had one leg? Can't be too many one-legged pilots around now, can there?

Saturday Man Movie

I think that it was the movie Quigley Down Under that really made me appreciate Tom Selleck as anything other than a Magnum, PI character. Here, he plays American cowboy brought to Australia by land baron Marsden for a job that doesn't really work out the way that either had planned.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go practice some more with my .45LC