Star in the Dust

I watched another old movie on Encore Westerns the other night. Seems that they have added a new bunch of old movies recently. They have added some Hopalong Cassidy classics. Those are pretty bad movies but still fun to watch. This movie, Star in the Dust, from 1956 caught my eye because it starred Richard Boone and a young Mamie Van Doren.  

The story was a gunman hired by the cattlemen had been convicted of killing a farmer. The cattlemen wanted to bust him out of jail and the farmers wanted to lynch him. The old sodbusters vs the cattlemen story. The local sheriff was hellbent on carrying out the sentence exactly according to the law. Not a minute early.

Richard Boone was the bad guy which was pretty much his movie career. He spent almost all of the movie in a jail cell and still managed to overact. John Agar was the moral law abiding sheriff. Mamie was the sheriff's love interest but her father was the rich banker on the side of the cattle interests. That caused conflicts and mistrust in the relationship. 

It's not much of a movie and to be honest, I didn't pay very close attention to the plot twists and the character relationships. 

There were no outstanding acting performances and the plot was one that was recycled many times. They even had a town minstrel who told the story with a song, a pretty bad song. Coleen Gray did the heavy lifting for the female part. Mamie wasn't called on to do much acting, she was there for her other assets. John Agar, who played the sheriff, was adequate as the star. He is more famous for being married to Shirley Temple. 

What I did notice is that several future TV stars were in the movie. Of course, Richard Boone was a big star for several seasons when he played Paladin on Have Gun Will Travel. Mamie's father/banker was played by Leif Erickson who went on to star in High Chaparral. Harry Morgan was a leader of the cattlemen. He achieved TV fame as Col. Sherman Potter in M*A*S*H. Paul Fix played one of the deputies. He later became Marshal Micah Torrance on The Rifleman.  

As usual with these movies, good triumphed over evil. The real bad guys, Boone and Erickson, wound up dead. The good farmers got justice over the evil cattlemen. The good sheriff, Agar, got the girl, Van Doren. The minstrel closed the movie with the ending verse to his song. 

Most old western movies are pretty corny and predictable but still fun to watch. You get to see many future stars when they were young and not necessarily very good. 

wjh

The Mule

We went to see this movie on a late Tuesday afternoon. We had the auditorium almost to ourselves. The Mule is a movie based on a true story of an old WW II veteran. It was produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. He is also the star, his first acting gig since 2012. Bradley Cooper co-stars as a DEA agent and Laurence Fishbourne as his DEA boss. Andy Garcia is the drug cartel kingpin. 

Eastwood plays Earl, a 90-year-old Korean War veteran. The backstory is that he is a somewhat famous horticulturist who specializes in daylilies. His flower and bulb business is ruined by the internet and his house and farm are foreclosed on. By this point, he is long estranged from his family. During his business days, he drove all over the country and compiled a perfect driving record. Through a friend of his granddaughter, he is recruited to be a mule for a drug cartel. Old white guy, no traffic violations, perfect mule. The plan is to make one run so he can at least help pay for his granddaughter's wedding. The run goes smoothly, the money is terrific so Earl decides to make another run. He keeps finding uses for this newfound money which requires more runs. He becomes a big man again because he helps others. Even some of his family starts to come around. 

He becomes a star mule and reaps the rewards of that. Then Andy Garcia gets killed and a new drug boss takes over. Also, the DEA  is closing in and there are family issues to deal with. I won't spoil the last part of the movie.

As usual, Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper are excellent. The other actors are fine but none of them have really large parts or stood out to me. There is some violence in the movie but this is not a big shoot-em-up. There are no big car chases although there is a kind of Smokey and the Bandit scene near the end. There are a few funny lines, some tense scenes, and some poignant scenes. There is also a lot of time spent in the pick-up truck driving across America. 

Eastwood plays a convincing old fart. Not much of a stretch since he is now 88 and pretty much looks it. There aren't any real highs or lows in the story. Few if any surprises either. It's a solid story about an old guy with many regrets and a few triumphs in the end. 

I think the movie is worth your time especially if you are an Eastwood fan. Not necessarily the Dirty Harry Eastwood but the Eastwood of the past couple of decades. I would rate it a solid B. Not great, not bad. 

wjh

Old TV

I was watching Encore Westerns late one night and a real gem came on. I use gem only in the context of nostalgia, it was not a great movie. It was Hills of Old Wyoming starring William Boyd from 1937. For you young folks, William Boyd played western hero Hopalong Cassidy for decades in movies and on TV. OK, again for the young folks, ask your grandparents who Hopalong was. This particular movie had an added bonus, it co-starred George "Gabby" Hayes. At one time or another, Gabby played the sidekick to just about every western star in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. This movie also featured Chief Big Tree who played the part of Chief Big Tree, a real acting stretch. The movie was fairly typical of the westerns from that era. Low budget, many continuity gaffes, weak story/script, and stereotypes and cliches for all the characters. The Indians were rather slow and easily influenced by the superior white men. Hoppy took on a slow staccato speech pattern with a strange accent when speaking to Chief Big Tree. Also, Boyd never took his hat off during the film so I don't know if his hair was completely white yet. He would have been about 42 when it was filmed. 

Boyd did over a couple of dozen Hopalong films in the '30s and '40s. The film series ended in 1948. Boyd bought the rights to all those films. In that year he rented one of those movies to a local TV station. It proved popular and eventually, NBC leased the whole library of movies. They made new Hopalong Cassidy TV episodes in the early '50s. There was also a radio program. Hoppy became a huge hit and began selling all kinds of merchandise like lunchboxes, plates, comics, dishes, cups, and of course, cowboy outfits. I had at least part of a Hopalong cowboy outfit when I was a kid. I remember the hat for sure but don't know if I had Hoppy holsters and guns or other outfit pieces.   

A couple of other interesting, at least to me, old TV facts from recent viewing were from Cannon and 77 Sunset Strip. 

A 1973 episode of Cannon guest starred David Jansen. The Cannon star was fat man William Conrad who was the narrator on The Fugitive TV show which starred David Jansen. 

During the '60-'61 season of 77 Sunset Strip, Richard Long joined the cast as a third private eye in the firm. He retained the character name and persona he used in the canceled Bourbon Street Beat detective series. In a '61 episode that featured Long, one of the guest stars was Peter Brock. Long and Brock would later star as brothers on The Big Valley.

Many of these old TV shows and movies don't really hold up very well but they are fun to watch. The stories are pretty thin and every show of a similar genre recycled the same stories. Like the old movie, the stereotypes are obvious and shocking. There was always a chance some future big star would be a young guest star or have a bit part. I wonder how the new programs and movies from 2018 will hold up in 50 or more years? 

wjh

College Football 2018-19 Bowl Games

Once again it is time for the college bowl season. It could also be named the silly season. Only three of the 40 bowl games actually count. You read that right, there are 40 bowl games this season. That is up one from last season because 39 is just not enough. The two semifinal playoff games this season are the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, actually Arlington, and the Orange Bowl in Miami, actually Miami Gardens. The championship game will be held at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Those are the three that count. The rest of them are exhibition games that are only good for bragging rights and recruiting. The schools may also make a few dollars if they are lucky. They may also lose money. 

Bowls used to be rare. Fifty years ago, there were probably only eight or ten games. A school had to be top 25 to get a bid. Now you only need to win six games, 50%, to be eligible. There are 125 FCS division football programs and 78 will play in bowl games. That is about 62% of the teams, very exclusive. If by chance there aren't 78 teams with six victories, they will let a five-win team or two play. With the inception of conference championship games, some teams play 13 games. A team with a 6-7 record still qualifies for a bowl. Gotta fill those slots so ESPN will have live programming to air. 

So let's get on with my observations about this illustrious bowl season. 

• The first six games will be December 15th, the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, the New Mexico Bowl, the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl, the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl, and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. All must see games packed with big-time football power schools.
• There will be four bowl games in the DFW area. The Frisco Bowl in Frisco, TX; the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth; the First Responder Bowl which is played in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas; the Cotton Bowl which is played at AT&T Stadium (aka Cowboys Stadium, aka Jerry's World) in Arlington. So, the Cotton Bowl game is not played in the Cotton Bowl stadium and the contest in the Cotton Bowl stadium is not the Cotton Bowl game. Clear?
• Orlando has three bowls, the  Cure, Camping World, and Citrus Bowls.
• Several places have two games, Tampa, New Orleans, and the Miami area.
• Once again there is a bowl game in that football hotbed Nassau, Bahamas. This year it is called the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl but is sponsored by the town of Elk Grove, IL, a Chicago suburb. Not sure what the name or sponsorship is about. 
• It's a tossup for the worst location. Boise and Detroit have games. Boise may win because that game is outdoors and played on a blue field. There is also the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. That could be pretty cold but at least it's in the Big Apple. 
• There are always some obscure sponsors scattered among the bowls and they insist that their name is in the title. This year we have Raycom Media, R+L Carriers, Cheribundi, Bad Boy Mowers, Quick Lane, Walk On's, and Nova Home Loans.
• Some bowls have incredibly long name as they try to get the sponsor's name included with the original name. The San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl, The Military Bowl Presented by Northrop Grumman, and The Rose Bowl Presented by Northwestern Mutual top the list. 
• Gator is back in the name this season. After four years of being The Taxslayer Bowl, it is The Taxslayer Gator Bowl once again. Of course, it was just The Gator Bowl for several decades and was played in the actual Gator Bowl stadium which is long gone.
• The Gasparilla Bowl has been moved from St. Pete's Tropicana Field, a terrible baseball stadium and worse football venue, across the bay to Raymond James Stadium, a real football venue that is home to the Tampa Bay Buccanneers and the Outback Bowl. A good decision unless the weather is really bad. Tropicana has a roof.
• The Cactus Bowl lost its name and is now The Cheez-It Bowl.   
• There is both a Military Bowl and an Armed Forces Bowl. Different days, different places. Each sponsored by large defense contractors. Cozy.
• There will be some of the made for TV bowls that will have about as many people on the field as in the stands. 
• Most of the venues are at least adequate nowadays. That was not always the case. The original Independence Stadium in Shreveport looked like a bad Texas high school stadium before the city rebuilt it. Hell, the old Gator Bowl was pretty spartan as was the Orange Bowl. 

The first game between highly ranked teams will be December 29th at The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl when #7 Michigan plays #10 Florida. Go Gators! That is also the date of the two College Football Playoff semifinal games. They are #3 Notre Dame vs #2 Clemson in the Cotton Bowl and #4 Oklahoma vs #1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl. 

I'm interested to see how Oklahoma does against Alabama. The Sooners score a ton of points but play in the Big 12 where nobody plays defense. Alabama does play defense.

The remaining big bowl games are on January 1st, the traditional date. The most interesting of those games may be #8 UCF vs #11 LSU. The non-Power Five Knights of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) against the mighty SEC Tigers. 

It's almost time to buy the snacks, chill the beer and get ready for some football. It shouldn't take much longer than about 125 hours to watch the 40 bowl games. I'm sure they will all be riveting. It will all be over on January 7th when Alabama beats Clemson for the championship.

Let's go bowling. I hope your team wins.

wjh 

Very Random Thoughts - November 2018

• "Tactical" pants are now a thing. Do we need tactical skirts? How about tactical undies?
• I used to be able to tell which college football teams were playing by their uniforms. Not necessarily so nowadays. With all the Nike, Under Armour, and adidas "special" uniforms, it's no longer obvious. 
• It seems that every college football team I follow plays at the same time on Saturdays. 
• If you don't believe in facts, then everything is an opinion. My opinion is that facts matter.
• Mass shootings are so common now that even the politicians don't bother with "Thoughts & Prayers" anymore. Not that a thought or a prayer ever stopped a bullet.
• I have no hope that our government will do anything about the epidemic of mass shootings. At least not until the majority of the population is either a family member, friend, or surviving victim of a mass shooting. The dead ones can't vote.
• Is it just me or do text messages to our children seem to be on a one, two, three-day delay? Sometimes maybe a week or infinity. 
• Black Friday sales now start in October. Too early? 
• According to TV commercials, PD (Peyronie's Disease) is the new ED (Erectile Dysfunction).
• Trump thinks you need an ID to buy cereal at the grocery store. Slightly out of touch with the common woman and man.
• Just when all the political campaign emails end, the shopping emails go into overdrive. 
• Has anyone ever learned anything in a postgame news conference? Cliches-R-Us and we've heard them all before. 
• The only good thing about Joe Tessitore doing Monday Night Football is that he no longer does SEC games. 
• Whatever happened to the coffin corner punt in football?
• It has been 55 years since JFK was assassinated. The day is still vivid to me. 
• How many TV shows have used the plot where the star had a twin or somebody who looked exactly like them? The other one was always a bad guy. 
• There will be 40 college bowl games this year. One more than last year because 39 is just not enough. They start on December 15th. 
• Remember when Christmas tree tinsel was made out of aluminum? We sometimes would salvage what we could from the tree and use it the following year. I also remember gathering up the scraps and rolling it into a metal ball. Can't do that with the plastic stuff around now.
• Is it just me, or do a lot of those big college football linemen look like they are in their mid 40's or older?
• Speaking of college sports, it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell if it was a football or basketball game by looking at the score.

wjh