Columbo Episode: Any Old Port in a Storm

"Columbo" was a television crime drama series set in Los Angeles, the original episodes of which were broadcast on NBC. The show was revived later with new episodes and broadcast on ABC. The basic format of the series was that the audience was shown who the killer was right in the first few minutes of the episode, as the crime was being committed. The crux of the show was HOW Lieutenant Columbo, an expert, but somewhat eccentric, Los Angeles Police Department detective, would catch the killer.* The killers were not people from Skid Row (hic... 'scuse me!), but rather from the upper levels of society (hic... 'scuse me again!). This episode has always been a favorite of mine, certainly helped along in that regard because it featured English actor Donald Pleasence, a favorite actor of mine; and, because the story had a good deal about wine (hic... damn I can't stop! Maybe some Chianti will help?). The episode was first televised in 1973.

Main Cast for this episode:

Peter Falk: Los Angeles Police Detective Columbo
Donald Pleasence: Adrian Carsini
Julie Harris: Karen Fielding
Gary Conway: Rick Carsini
Joyce Jillson: Joan, Rick Carsini's fiancée
Vito Scotti: Maitre d'
Monty (Monte) Landis: Wine steward


Adrian and Rick Carsini are half brothers. The family has been in the wine business for many years, and when their father died, he left Rick the land on which the vineyards and the winery had been built, but he left Adrian the money he had saved. The two men are very different, with Rick liking parties, scuba diving, sports cars and women, and Adrian liking wine, including the collecting of wines from various eras, some of which are very expensive. He also demands that the winery make high quality wine, some of which is not even sold to the public, but rather kept for private use. Adrian has a pretty serious personality. Rick's lifestyle leads him to need money at times, and he and Adrian clash over it. Karen is Adrian's long time secretary.

One Sunday, as Adrian prepares to fly to a wine auction in New York City, he meets with three other wine lovers from the wine industry. Rick goes to Adrian's office because he needs some money, as he is planning to get married in Acapulco, Mexico; his fourth marriage. Adrian wants his guests to try a special wine he has for them, but when he goes to his office to get it, Rick is there waiting to ask for the money. The two exchange some barbs, but the real crux of the matter is when Rick tells Adrian that he is going to sell the land to another wine producing family, the Marino brothers, a family detested by snobbish Adrian, because they produce cheap wine; "the 69 cents a gallon Marino brothers," Adrian calls them. Just for perspective, in 1973, you could buy a glass of beer in many neighborhood bars for about 10 to 15 cents. Adrian tells Rick that the Marinos don't really make wine, "they don't even make good mouthwash," but Rick counters with, "But they make money!" He recounts how Adrian has spent loads of money on fancy bottles of wine he will never drink. The heated exchange and Rick's plan to sell the land to the Marino brothers brings Adrian to pick up an object and hit Rick over the head, knocking him unconscious. Adrian takes the wine to go out to his guests, but Karen comes in. She tells him that she sees Rick's car out front, but Adrian says Rick went to another part of the winery, and he quickly tells her to go pack more clothing, as they will be staying in New York longer than first anticipated. Adrian later returns and drags Rick into the climate controlled wine vault, where he binds and gags Rick, then switches off the air conditioning system. Since he will be driving his own car to the airport, he puts Rick's car into his garage. He and Karen leave for the airport to fly to the wine auction. On the plane, Adrian tells Karen to send Rick a wedding gift of $5000, a pretty decent sum of money in 1973 (between $28,500 and $29,500 in 2019 value. Everything between Adrian and Karen is very proper, and it's tough to imagine Carsini could ever love anything but wine, although there are little moments where Karen seems to want more than a purely secretary-boss relationship. 

At the auction, Adrian spends thousands of dollars, including $5000 for ONE BOTTLE! As the plane lands back in Los Angeles, Karen asks Adrian if he will need a ride, but he tells her he brought his car. He asks if she brought her car, and she answers that she didn't, "I'll take a cab," to which Adrian says, "Right." She looks a bit hurt.** When Adrian returns home, he goes to the wine vault where Rick is dead. He takes his body and puts scuba diving gear onto it, then he puts the body into Rick's sports car, loads a bicycle into the trunk, and he drives to the coast, where he tosses the body over a cliff and into the Pacific. He uses the bicycle to return home. Rick's fiancée has already gone to the Los Angeles police to report Rick missing, but she ends up talking with Detective Columbo, who is a homicide detective. Columbo likes her, but he doesn't seem to give the case high priority. Then later, Columbo goes to the coast after a report of a body being found. Rick's car is still there. Columbo is told on the scene that it is Rick's body, and he feels badly for the girl, but he's also told that it's an apparent accident, and that while scuba diving, Rick hit his head on a rock, knocking him unconscious, and his oxygen ran out. At that point, it "seems" Rick's death is accidental. Later, as Columbo sits in a bar watching the 11 o'clock news, the story about Rick's death comes on with a detail that Rick died 6 days before. In typical fashion for Columbo, he goes to the pay phone and calls for information to find out if it had rained on the day of Rick's death, but he's told there won't be any one available to help him until the next day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Soooo, Columbo hangs up the phone and simply announces loudly, "Excuse me!" The people in the bar look toward him and he asks his question about rain on that one day. No one can answer. 

The next day Columbo goes to the winery, and before going in to see Adrian, he uses a phone to call about the weather info. We don't actually know what he's told, but he's very happy as he makes a note on his little note pad (a regular part of Columbo's routine when investigating). He meets Adrian's secretary, Karen Fielding, and she directs Columbo to the lab, where Adrian is talking with one of the lab people. *** Columbo and Adrian go to Adrian's office. Carsini gives Columbo some wine and the detective asks some questions, but along with Karen's help, he finds out that Adrian had been in New York City when Rick died. We do learn the weather information Columbo sought for the day Rick died, which included showers and even heavy rain. Columbo wonders why no one reported seeing the flashy sports car sitting there on the coast for several days, and why Rick would leave the top down when he went scuba diving on a day when it rained. Columbo had left the winery number if there was information from the medical examiner, and as he prepares to leave a call comes telling him that Rick had not eaten for 2 days prior to his death. Karen hears Columbo's side of the brief conversation, but Columbo repeats some of what he's being told.

Columbo talks with two of the men who were at the winery the day Adrian left for New York City. He finds that Adrian left the presence of the men for a while. He then goes to a wine expert to learn the basics about wine, including about Carsini's wines. Off he goes to the winery again, where he impresses Adrian with his newly acquired knowledge of wine. He then comments that he learned about wine used for investments. Carsini tells him about the $5000 bottle of wine and Columbo asks if he can see some of the expensive wines Carsini has. Adrian takes him into the wine vault and explains that he uses the air conditioning to prevent the wine from overheating on hot days. Columbo asks to use the phone and he goes and calls his wife to find out some details about a recent unusually hot day. He also asks Adrian how someone would get out of the vault, if locked in, but Adrian assures him the door only locks from the outside. To prove it to Columbo, Carsini leaves him in the vault and goes out and closes the door. Columbo easily gets out. As the two men walk to Columbo's car, Carsini asks when his brother's body will be released, and Columbo tells him the police haven't released the body because Rick's car had been out on the coast for all of those days and it rained, but there were no watermarks on the car. Carsini has been gradually getting more concerned by Columbo, but this makes him realize there are flaws in how he tried to cover up the murder.

Columbo goes to Karen's residence and asks her about the day she and Adrian left for New York City, and if she saw Rick come and leave. Karen lies and answers that she had seen Rick come in and then leave. Columbo now assures her that he's "wrapping up the case." He uses her telephone to call Adrian to apologize to him and to invite him and Karen to dinner at a fancy restaurant the next night. Always the master of making people feel uncomfortable about false testimony, Columbo leaves her apartment, "apparently satisfied," but then taps on her window to ask her how long she has worked for Adrian. She answers "12 years." Columbo comments that "you must like him very much." As was his intention, his question and remark leave her wondering if he really meant he was "wrapping up the case." But there's still the expensive dinner, right?

Adrian takes Karen in his car as they go off to meet Columbo for dinner. Carsini tells Karen how they've always been very proper in their behavior with one another, and how she always calls him, "Mr. Carsini." So he says that she can call him "Adrian" for the evening, and perhaps even beyond. They meet Columbo at the restaurant and have their dinner. Carsini tells Columbo again how impressed he is by the detective's quick learning about wine and by Columbo's great selections of wine for the dinner so far. Now for dessert and Columbo's selection of a dessert wine. He calls over the wine steward and tells him he wants a bottle of "Ferrier Vintage Port, 1945." Carsini openly says that it's highly doubtful the wine steward has such a rare wine in the restaurant's wine cellar, but after a short wait, the wine steward arrives and says, "We had one bottle." He pours a glass for Columbo, who likes it and who says in his working guy way, "Drinks all around." Carsini is totally excited to try the wine, but when he takes a sip, he turns surly, saying, "This is dreadful," and he goes on to say that the wine has been exposed to a temperature over 150 degrees; and thus, it is spoiled. He loudly admonishes the wine steward, bringing the maitre d' to the table, who also then bears a further outburst from Carsini. The check is forgiven and the trio go outside where Columbo and Carsini discuss the wine and heat a little further. Columbo now drops a remark certain to catch Carsini's attention. He mentions that when Adrian and Karen were in New York City, the temperature one day in Los Angeles shot up to 109 degrees, and that he and his family had to return early from a picnic, due to the extreme heat. Carsini obviously takes note. Then Columbo drops another bomb. He thanks Karen for helping him close the case on Rick's death by telling him that she saw Rick come to, and then leave, the winery on the Sunday she and Adrian left for New York. As Adrian and Karen prepare to leave in his car, he asks her why she lied to Columbo. She tells him, "I thought I was helping you." Eventually she tells Carsini she is now his "partner," and that she wants "more than $700 a month and 2 weeks paid vacation," and that if Adrian did kill his brother, she understands, because Rick wanted to take away "the only thing you've ever loved." Carsini has many things going through his mind and he tells her they'll talk more the next day.

Carsini goes to the wine vault and assembles the many valuable bottles of wine. He takes the wines to the coast and begins tossing them into the ocean. When he returns to his car for more wine, Columbo is there waiting. At first Carsini tries lying, but Columbo has him. The detective tells Carsini that the one super hot day did him in, as, with the air conditioning turned off in the wine vault, the temperature in the vault soared upward over 150 degrees and ruined Carsini's wine collection. He tells Carsini further, that the day he was left alone in the wine vault very briefly, he took a bottle of wine... a bottle of, "Ferrier Vintage Port, 1945." So, it was Carsini's own bottle of wine that he himself declared to be spoiled; oxidized by the heat. Columbo had had the wine steward cooperate about the bottle of port. Columbo tells Carsini that he deliberately mentioned the 109 degree day as they were leaving the restaurant, because he knew it would get Carsini's attention, and that he would likely dispose of the ruined wine. Carsini mentions the irony to it all, as he says that he is one of the few people in the world who could have determined that the port was bad from overheating. Carsini says he'll confess and he tells Columbo how Karen has been "turning the screws" on him. In an absolutely great scene, Columbo takes Carsini back to the winery and stops the car. He reaches to the back seat and brings out a bottle of wine, "Montefiascone," which Carsini says is appropriate for the final course. Columbo has two wine glasses and the men have a glass of wine together. There's no hatred between them.

* The Columbo character became known and loved for his rather basic working guy ways. His tie was often crooked, he wore an old wrinkled raincoat, he smoked (or sometimes chewed on) cigars, much to the dismay of many around him, and he drove a late 1950s gray Peugeot automobile, which sputtered at times, and which badly needed a paint job, at the very least. In this episode, in fact, Columbo proudly tells a valet parking attendant, "I've got over a hundred thousand miles on it. You take care of your car, it'll take care of you." In those times, 100,000 miles was considered a major milestone in the life of a car. And by the way, the attendant has trouble starting the car to park it. The car and its owner go together.                     

** As I mentioned, at times Karen seems to want more from Adrian than her relationship with him as his secretary. She handles many of his personal affairs, and she even carries his checkbook. Remember too, Adrian tells Karen to send his brother a $5000 check. We eventually learn that Karen makes $700 a month, and 2 weeks paid vacation. Karen has also been witness to Adrian's extravagant spending on expensive wines. This by a person who makes $700 a month.     

*** The lab technician is played by Rand Brooks, a well known face, if not necessarily a well known name, as he played Scarlett O'Hara's first husband, Charles Hamilton, in 1939's "Gone With the Wind." When I was a kid in the 1950s, Brooks played in the television series "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," about a boy and his German Shepherd dog at Fort Apache in the Old West.

Photo is from the Universal Home Entertainment Season 3 DVD 

WORD HISTORY:
Any-This little word has a number of meanings, depending upon usage. Like many of its Germanic relatives, it often means "one" or "some." While this might seem strange to modern English speakers, this word literally meant "one-y" in Old English, and was spelled "aenig." It was simply formed by "aen," meaning "one," and "ig," a common Germanic suffix, which eventually in English morphed into a "y" sound. It goes back to Indo European "oinos," which meant, "one, singe, individual," which gave Old Germanic "ainagas," meaning, "one only, of one." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "aenig," as mentioned above. Old Saxon, the part of the Germanic Saxon dialect that remained on the Continent (its other part sailed with the Saxons who went to Britain and combined with other Germanic dialects there to form English), had "enig," and Old Frisian, another Germanic dialect closely related to English, had "enich." Old English "ænig" then became "eny," before moving to the spelling "any," but English kept the pronunciation "eny" as the pronunciation! German has "einig" (meaning "some, any"), but it was once spelled "einic," but like English with "eny" and "any," some German dialects have "eenich," while others have "aanich." German also has the compound "einigermaßen," the adverbial use of which means, "somewhat, to some measure or extent," Low German has "enig," Frisian no longer commonly uses a form of the word, but some Frisian speakers apparently still use "eenich/ienich," Dutch has "enig," Old Norse had "einigr," but its  descendants didn't continue with forms of the word, except Icelandic, which has (had?) "einigur," which "seemingly" is antiquated.  

Tarzan's New York Adventure

When I was a kid the Tarzan movies featuring Johnny Weissmuller were released for broadcast on television. They were a big hit, especially among the nation's kids, and it wasn't uncommon to hear a, "AhhhhhAhhhhAhhh" Tarzan call on the street every once and a while. Weissmuller played Tarzan in 12 movies; 6 for Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) in the 1930s and early 1940s, and 6 for RKO Pictures in the 1940s. The character of Tarzan was developed by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs and he eventually made an agreement with MGM to allow them the use of the idea of the Tarzan character and of the general setting, but NOT the use of his actual Tarzan stories; thus, the differences between Burroughs Tarzan and the Tarzan portrayed by Johnny Weissmuller, which became THE image of what many people thought of as Tarzan. Burroughs' character of Tarzan became a school educated man, and Jane was from the United States, not from England, as Maureen O'Sullivan's Jane was (O'Sullivan herself was born in Ireland).* There was no chimpanzee named "Cheeta" (various spellings, like "Cheetah," but I settled for "Cheeta"), although some of Burroughs' stories had a small monkey named "Nkima." Anyway, this last Tarzan film of the MGM series has not always been treated kindly by film critics, but the public, including me, has held it close (the series shifted to RKO Pictures for another 6 films). There are some funny scenes where Tarzan and Cheeta meet modern civilization. In a number of episodes of the series Cheeta is identified as female, but most of the chimps used in the role were young males.

Main cast:

Johnny Weissmuller: Tarzan
Maureen O'Sullivan: Jane
Johnny Sheffield: Boy
Charles Bickford: Buck Rand (circus)
Cy Kendall: Colonel Sargent (circus)
Virginia Grey: Connie
Paul Kelly: Jimmy Shields (pilot)
Chill Wills: Manchester Mountford (circus animal trainer)
Russell Hicks: Judge
Howard Hickman: Tarzan's attorney
Charles Lane: Attorney for the circus

Three Americans, Buck Rand (a hunter and animal trapper), Manchester Mountford (an animal handler/trainer) and Jimmy Shields (pilot), with some African laborers, land by plane not far from the tree house home of Tarzan, Jane and Boy.** They want to trap lions for a circus in the United States. Boy is fascinated by the airplane, but Tarzan is mistrustful of any such intruders into his domain and he goes to the men and tells them to leave by next morning. Boy's curiosity is just too much for him to contain, and, without permission, he goes to the camp of the men. They see how he manages animals, and Buck wants to take him back to the US for the circus, something opposed by Jimmy Shields. With Boy still present, a local African tribe attacks as the men prepare to take off. Tarzan and Jane hear the attack and go off together to find Boy. While swinging on a vine together, one of the tribesmen cuts the vine, causing Tarzan and Jane to plunge down onto a ledge surrounded by tall grass. The Tribesmen set the grass afire, and Buck assumes Boy's parents are dead, which gives him the perfect excuse to take Boy along.

Cheeta comes to the rescue as Tarzan and Jane regain consciousness by giving then access to a heavy vine so they can climb out of danger. Then comes the bad news, as Cheeta talks to Tarzan, telling him that Boy has been taken away on the airplane. Tarzan vows to find Boy and get him back. Now the fun begins... Tarzan takes Jane and Cheeta to a city where he thinks the men may have taken Boy. Before they enter the city, Jane tells Tarzan that she's afraid, especially for Tarzan, because they are about to enter civilization, "a place where mens' minds are more twisted than the worst underbrush in the jungle," and "that everywhere we'll be met by lies and deceits... Your directness and honesty will only be handicaps..." She has Tarzan promise he will listen to her as she guides him through civilization. Inside the city, it turns out the men indeed were there and one of the officials has record of the plane, which is bound for New York City piloted by Jimmy Shields. The airport official tells them there is a mail plane that will be leaving to connect with a plane to New York City the next day and that arrangements can be made for them to book passage on the plane. Tarzan and Jane have brought gold nuggets to pay for anything they need, which now includes clothing from a Chinese tailor shop in the city. Tarzan's size poses a problem for the shop, which has to make a suit for him.

Tarzan, Jane and Cheeta fly to New York City. As the plane flies over the skyscrapers (Jane says, "a man made jungle") Jane tells Tarzan this is where people live, which prompts him to ask, "Why?" Jane tells him they live there to concentrate their efforts and to get things done in a hurry to save time. Tarzan wonders why they need to save time, which brings Jane to answer, "Oh darling, you're asking something all the sages haven't been able to answer." The plane lands and Tarzan and Jane must go to the custom's office. Cheeta causes a stir outside the office as she watches a man get a cup of water from a water cooler, then she takes about 10 paper cups and flings water around the waiting area, much to the laughter of the people there. The three leave this office and go outside to take a taxicab to the hotel where they've been told Jimmy Shields stays. Tarzan calls the taxi a "house on wheels," and he proceeds to rock the taxi back and forth, naturally to the great annoyance of the taxi driver, who then gets more perturbed when he meets Cheeta. In the taxi Cheeta is curious about the radio, which she switches on. The drums of a rumba type song come forth and Tarzan tells Jane this is a war dance song. Jane explains that the sound is coming from what is called a radio. Tarzan turns the radio dial and the station is changed to where the high pitched voice of a female opera singer blares out, prompting Tarzan to say, "Woman sick, cry for witch doctor." This brings the great reply from Jane, "You should be a critic, darling."   

In the hotel the front desk clerk is worried by Cheeta, who watches his every move, including when the clerk rings the desk bell to summon a bellhop. Cheeta mimics the clerk's action, but not with just one ring, but with about 10 rings, which brings the entire bellhop staff running to the front desk. Jane learns from their bellhop that Jimmy Shields goes to one of the nightclubs where his girlfriend is a singer. Jane calls the club, prompting Tarzan to ask why Jane is talking into this device. She explains that it's a telephone and she tells him the basics about its use. The custodian at the club tells Jane that the club doesn't really get busy until later in the evening, so Jane tells Tarzan they must wait. Of course all of this has not gone unnoticed by Cheeta who picks up the telephone after Tarzan and Jane go to unpack their suitcase. The hotel telephone operator thinks the number to the club hadn't been completed and puts a call through to the nightclub again. The custodian answers again and he and Cheeta have a funny scene on the telephone, after which, Cheeta gets into Jane's belongings like cold cream, lotion, perfume and nightgown. Left alone in the other room, Tarzan explores the bathroom, where he turns the water lever on the shower. Seeing the running water, Tarzan steps into the shower, clothes and all.

Jane and Tarzan leave for the nightclub, but leave Cheeta behind; at least they think they've left her behind. The clever chimp goes out the window and uses a pole to get to the canopy over the hotel's front door. When Jane and Tarzan get into a taxi right in front of the hotel, Cheeta jumps onto the taxi's roof. Off they go to the nightclub, where Cheeta gets onto the canopy covering the club's entrance, where she watches Jane and Tarzan go into the nightclub. They talk with Jimmy Shield's girlfriend, Connie, and she explains to them that a man from the circus, named Sargent, posted bond for Boy to enter the country,*** and that he has Boy at the circus, which is not very far away. A commotion is heard, along with Cheeta's laugh, and Tarzan and Jane find their chimp has gotten into the mens' hat check, tossing hats everywhere.

Meanwhile at the circus, Colonel Sargent and Buck Rand receive a telegram from a circus offering them $100,000 for the rights to use Boy in their circus, but they must meet the buyers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in a few days. In order to get the airfare to Rio, they plan to cheat the circus workers out of their pay. Just then Jane and Tarzan pull up in a taxicab. Buck goes to get Boy out of sight, while Sargent gets a pistol and prepares to stop the couple from looking around. After Jane tells Sargent they know about the bond he posted, Sargent pulls the gun on them. Tarzan lets out his famous yell, which is heard by Boy, but Buck puts his hand over Boy's mouth to prevent him from answering. The call brings Cheeta to an open window behind Sargent. Tarzan speaks to her in "Cheeta talk" (I don't know what else to call it), and she picks up a walking stick and smacks Sargent over the head with it. The circus workers have gathered around to defend Sargent (they are not aware of the plan to cheat them out of their pay). The police show up with Jimmy Shields and Connie and the situation quiets. Jimmy and the policeman tell Tarzan and Jane they need to use the law to get Boy back.

In court, Jane and Tarzan have an attorney who explains the situation to the judge. Sargent has applied to adopt Boy, and he and his lawyer contend that the jungle is not a proper place to raise a child. Tarzan testifies how he has taught Boy the basics of life: how to get food, water and how to be happy. That he wants nothing people have. Sargent's attorney asks Tarzan if he can read, and Tarzan answers that he can read the trail in the jungle and the clouds in the sky. Tarzan turns the tables when he asks the attorney if he's ever heard of "kinsinoopa" (my best spelling by the sound). The man naturally is confused, but Tarzan says it cures snake bite and that even babies in the jungle know that. Even the judge smiles. The attorney brings the matter back to the law versus a "jungle code," and also the idea that the jungle is wild and threatening to Boy's life. Tarzan's attorney objects, citing that 35,000 people had been killed in automobile accidents in the past year, and that the number is only for the United States. He asserts that the jungle should not be the issue, but that only proper guardianship for Boy should be considered. Jane takes the stand. While testifying, she slips up and says that Boy was not born in the jungle and that she and Tarzan raised Boy after his parents were killed in a plane crash. The attorney calls her a liar and turns and points to Tarzan, calling him a liar too. Tarzan's anger boils over and he grabs the attorney and tosses him. The judge adjourns the court until the next day, but Buck and Sargent have to head to Rio or they will not get the $100,000; so, they leave the court for the circus to get Boy and then get the plane for Rio.

Tarzan is despondent, and Jane tells him she now realizes she was wrong to have him trust the law, that she should have let him get Boy his own way. Now with Jane's approval, Tarzan smashes through a window and goes out onto the building's ledge, which is several stories above ground level. Through climbing, jumping and swinging on rope, Tarzan eludes the police and gets a taxi to cross the Brooklyn Bridge and get to the circus to find Boy. With the police in pursuit, Tarzan goes to the top of the famous bridge and dives into the water below. Jane, Connie and Jimmy have also been trailing and see Tarzan dive off of the bridge. Even though Jimmy thinks Tarzan couldn't "make that dive and live," Jane tells them to head for the circus, where Tarzan will be.

Meanwhile, Buck and Sargent have arrived at the circus and take all of the money and go to get Boy, but Manchester Mountford has followed them to the circus and uses a pistol to get the two crooks to let Boy go, before Buck grabs Mountford, and the gun goes off, wounding Mountford. Boy goes to the top of the high wire with some of the circus men chasing. Tarzan arrives and makes his call, and Boy responds. Tarzan goes to the high wire, but the circus men are able to capture him and lock him in an animal cage. Boy is then captured too, and Buck and Sargent take Boy to their car to head for the airport. Tarzan can't get out of the cage, but he calls on help from the circus elephants, which bend the bars of the cage allowing Tarzan to escape. He then leads the elephants to stop Buck and Sargent, who are hemmed in by the advancing elephants. Tarzan jumps from one of the elephants into the car, knocks out the two crooks, grabs Boy and they jump to safety as the car overturns into a ditch. Jane, Connie and Jimmy pull up and take Tarzan and Boy away. Tarzan says goodbye to the circus elephants, who trumpet their goodbye to him.

Tarzan goes back to court, and the judge sentences him to a couple of months in jail, but suspends the sentence due to the circumstances of the case. Tarzan and company return to Africa and we see Cheeta using a judge's gavel to "lay down the law" to the elephants.  (NOTE: For more information on the Tarzan series, this is the link to a previous article:   https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2009/03/tarzan-escape-from-reality.html      

* Maureen O'Sullivan left the Tarzan film series after this movie, "Tarzan's New York Adventure," to spend more time with her husband (John Farrow) and children (she had 2 at that time, but 5 more were born, including Mia Farrow, known to many of my generation). Maureen O'Sullivan died in the late 1990s at the age of 87. After O'Sullivan's departure, MGM ended the series, but RKO Pictures took it for the last 6 films, but visually omitting Jane from the first 2 movies, saying she was off in England during the war (World War Two). They then hired Brenda Joyce to play Jane, and she was an American, although I don't believe that is ever mentioned in the 4 remaining movies she did with Weissmuller. She also played Jane in a later film with Lex Barker as Tarzan.

** "Boy" was added to the Tarzan series in 1939. The movie code of the those times, and likely many in the public, would never have permitted an unmarried Tarzan and Jane to have a child, so the child was found by chimps after a plane crash which killed the parents and the pilot. American Johnny Sheffield (his father was from England) was given the role to play "Boy." Johnny Sheffield died in 2010 at the age of 79.

*** They say the immigration bond was $5000, which was quite a sum of money in the early 1940s. I did a quick check, and while I got a couple of different results (not with a huge discrepancy), in 2019 value, it would be equivalent to more than $85,000!

Photo is from the 2005 Turner Entertainment/Warner Home Video DVD set release

WORD HISTORY:
Adventure-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain, and while there are ideas about its overall source, I will leave this out, at this time. It goes back to Latin "advenire," which meant, "to arrive, to come to," the future participle of which was, "adventurus," meaning, "that which will arrive," and the feminine form of which, "adventura," used as a noun, meant, "something about to arrive;" thus also, "something about to happen." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "aventure," which meant, "a happening, an event, a happening by chance." English borrowed the word from French as "aventure" seemingly in the late 1100s or very early 1200s. Early on the word began to take on a more menacing meaning, "something that happens by chance, including death." This then led to "a dangerous or risky undertaking," but by the 1500s the meaning had softened to "an exciting happening in one's life." By about 1600, the "d" was inserted by influence of Latin, to make "adventure." Interestingly as to spelling, German borrowed the word from Old French initially as "aventiure," but the spelling then became "abentiur," but exactly why the "b" was used is not understood. Perhaps from a misunderstood pronunciation in a German dialect that then spread and prevailed? To this day, German spells the word with a "b:" "Abenteuer."

The High Chaparral Episode: The Stallion

"The High Chaparral" was a western television series originally broadcast on NBC from 1967 until 1971. It was created by David Dortort.

Cast:

Big John Cannon, the owner of the High Chaparral: Leif Erickson
Buck Cannon, Big John's brother and therefore, naturally, Blue's uncle: Cameron Mitchell
Blue Cannon, Big John's son: Mark Slade
Victoria Cannon, Big John's wife and daughter of a wealthy Mexican landowner: Linda Cristal
Manolito "Mano" Montoya, Victoria's brother: Henry Darrow
Chatto, son of Natchez: Clive Clerk*
Natchez, Apache chief: Michael Keep

This was a great episode of "The High Chaparral." The story is fictional, but it uses the historical Apache chief Natchez as one of the main characters, even though the real Natchez would have been a young man in the 1870s, the general time frame setting of "The High Chaparral."

Blue Cannon (aka, Billy Blue or Blue Boy) pursues a magnificent wild black stallion, but before he can rope the horse, Chatto, the son of Apache chief Natchez, gets a rope around the great horse, only to have the rope break. Blue chases and ropes the horse. Chatto is not far behind and he feels the horse is his. Blue and Chatto fight and Blue pulls his gun, but just then, Natchez and several of his men ride up. From the opposite direction comes Blue's father, Big John Cannon, and ranch hands from the High Chaparral. Big John and Natchez have an earlier agreement to try to keep the peace, but this incident is about to put that agreement to the test. Blue tells his father what happened, and Big John has Manolito tell Natchez that Chatto lost the stallion and that Blue caught it, so it is his. Chatto does not want to give up the horse, but his father does not want an incident that could lead to war. Chatto angrily dashes away to his own horse.** Natchez and his men ride off, but Buck says he doesn't think they have heard the last about the possession of this stallion.

When Blue takes the horse back to the High Chaparral, he prepares to train the horse for riding, but Buck brings him a set of hobbles, which restrain a horse's legs, and thus, its movement, to allow a person to put a saddle on them, and then begin to get the horse to accept a rider. At first Blue decides to call the horse "Windy," but later when Big John talks to his son, he proposes a new name, "Sirocco," a word meaning, "a hot, dry wind from the Sahara Desert." *** Big John also tells Blue that a horse such as "Sirocco" should be won over and not be broken in the usual manner. Blue takes his father's advice and spends days working with the stallion to win him over, which he finally does. One day as Blue and the ranch hands eat and Sirocco is tied up nearby, Chatto sneaks in and takes the stallion. Blue chases after him, but Sirocco is too fast and eventually Blue has to temporarily abandon the pursuit. In the meantime, Chatto names the stallion "Santana" and treats the horse well, developing a good relationship with him, just as Blue did.

Big John goes to see Natchez and neither wants an incident that will provoke war, but John tells him that Blue is willing to kill to get the horse back. Natchez and his men show up where Chatto has been keeping the stallion. Natchez wants to keep the peace, but his son will not give up the horse, and the young Apache men choose to side with Chatto. War may be approaching. Blue returns to the ranch and Buck prepares to have the ranch hands ride out with Blue to find Chatto and the stallion and to provide support for Blue if things turn ugly. Blue takes off without Buck and the ranch hands, but they soon follow after Blue. Natchez goes to the High Chaparral alone and tells Big John about his men siding with Chatto, which could mean war. Big John and Natchez go out together to try to resolve the situation and to keep the peace.

Blue finally spots Chatto on the stallion and a chase begins. Buck and the men are also not far behind, and the young Apache men leave their camp to find Chatto, as Big John and Natchez race to intervene. Chatto draws his knife and waits for Blue above the trail on a large rock. He leaps down at Blue and the fight is on as Buck and the men continue to close in. Chatto is able to hop on the horse to try to get away, but Blue hops on the stallion too. Their fight continues until they both fall off the horse and fight on the ground. The Apache men appear on the ridge above where the two men are fighting, and Buck and the ranch hands appear nearby. Buck wants to let the two men fight it out, but the Apache men begin to slowly descend from the high ground. Buck and his men also begin to move in. Natchez and Big John ride up and Natchez grabs his son and Big John grabs his son. Big John comes to a decision to see if the two young men will let the horse decide which man it wants to go with. Blue and Chatto agree to the plan and both are confident the horse will choose them. The horse is released and both men call to him, Blue using "Sirocco," and Chatto using "Santana." The horse turns and moves one way, and then the other. Up on the high ground the stallion's former herd appears.... the stallion runs to the herd! Blue and Chatto are stunned. Blue takes his father's horse and begins to chase after the stallion, but John tells him, "Some things are just naturally born to run free." Blue agrees and Natchez looks at Chatto. Blue rides over to Chatto and tells him to get on. He reaches out and Chatto reaches out and Blue pulls him up onto the horse; there will be no war. The stallion appears on the high ground.   

* Clive Clerk was a young actor in the 1960s and early 1970s who was in several episodes of NBC's daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives," as well as in episodes of other shows. In the 1970s, he chose to concentrate more on interior design and art. He met actor and writer Tom Tryon when he did the interior design and decorating of Tryon's New York City residence. The two became romantically involved for a time.     

** In an error made during filming, we see Chatto run toward his horse, which is facing him, but then the view changes to Chatto jumping onto the horse (probably a stunt man was used), which is turned around. They had to clearly see this when editing, if not before, but they likely felt it wasn't worth the time and effort to shoot the scene again.

*** "Sirocco" is a word from Arabic, but its borrowing by English in the early part of the 1600s is from either French or Italian. The story in "the High Chaparral" episode has Big John say it's a French word, but from what I found in just a brief review, is that a number of histories say English took the word from Italian, and they also say French got the word from Italian. The thing is, it looks as if many of the southern European languages (Greek, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and others) borrowed the word from North African sources, which is not terribly surprising, because this dry, hot wind blows across the Mediterranean Sea into southern Europe, sometimes powerfully so.

Photo is of the 2018 Shout Factory High Chaparral, Season Two DVD set

WORD HISTORY:
Stallion-This word for a "strong male horse," often with the additional notion of, "strong male horse used to sire offspring," is related to "stall" (a place for animals, later also, a small enclosed area for merchants to sell things), a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "stel," which had the notion, "to place, to put, to set." This gave Old Germanic "stallaz," meaning, "place, place for standing;" thus also, "place for an animal to stand." This gave Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect, "stal(l)," with the same meanings. This was taken into Old French to form "estalon," meaning, "a male horse kept in a stall for breeding purposes." This became "estaloun" in the Norman dialect in England. It was borrowed by English in the early 1300s as "staloun," before the change to "stallion" in the 1400s. (I inadvertently left this out: "Stallion" replaced the original English word for such a horse, "hengist." German still has "Hengst," meaning "stallion," and the figurative, "stud.")      

Law & Order Episode, Season 8: Thrill

NBC's "Law & Order" had some disturbing episodes; after all, the cases involved murder. This episode was more disturbing than usual, and I've never forgotten it. Even though the episode displayed a disclaimer about the story being fictional, there is little or no question that it is loosely "based" upon the real "thrill killings" of two men delivering pizza to a remote address that took place in New Jersey just a few months before the "Law & Order" episode. The murders in New Jersey drew national attention. 

Two young guys, Joey Timon and Dale Kershaw, played by Rob McElhenney and Michael Maronna, respectively, call in an order for fried chicken for delivery to a vacant commercial address on a little used street one evening. A 20 year old delivery man, Matt Wheeler, played by Bryan Greenberg, brings the order and he is shot and killed; his money and valuables are not taken, and the police find the address for the delivery is a vacant business place. The murdered man's parents, played by James Handy and Suzanne Costallos, are naturally devastated. The police detectives, played by Jerry Orbach,* Benjamin Bratt and S. Epatha Merkerson, track down the two young guys and they eventually arrest both of them. A female friend of the two men is interviewed by the police and she says the two had talked about wanting to kill someone, just to see how it feels! The legal question becomes, "Which one pulled the trigger?" A witness saw one man chasing the delivery vehicle and shooting, but he can't identify which man it was; so, the authorities can't prove conclusively that both men were present at the driver's murder, nor can they prove which man it was who was seen chasing the vehicle. This leads the separate defense attorneys for the two prisoners to develop a strategy to blame the other guy, figuring that will get their own client off. Executive assistant district attorney Jack McCoy, played by Sam Waterston, gets a court order allowing the district attorney's office (DA) to record phone calls for the guys in jail. To guarantee that only their calls are recorded, they have them put in isolation, where even visitors are separated from the prisoners by glass, having to talk to the prisoners by phone. Timon's uncle, played by Jan Munroe, comes to visit him and the prisoner tells him how scared he is. The uncle tells him he has to take responsibility for his actions and the nephew tells him he shot the delivery man, but he does not implicate Kershaw, and in fact, he never even mentions his name. The uncle tells his nephew that God forgives him. The DA's office is happy, because they now have an admission, but Timon's attorney files to have the recording suppressed, as the uncle is a priest, and they claim the nephew made the confession to his uncle not as his uncle, but as a priest. The Catholic archdiocese goes to court to have the tape suppressed and destroyed. After some wrangling, the judge won't allow the tape to be used against Timon, but he will allow it to be used for Kershaw, because it supports his claim of innocence (remember, during the admission of guilt, Timon never mentioned Kershaw's name). The dead man and his family are Catholic, and the parents can't understand how the Church is helping to protect a murderer.** 

Kershaw's attorney asks the judge to have two separate trials so he can use the tape for his client's defense. Timon's attorney naturally objects, but the judge grants separate trials. The defense attorneys believe there was only one shooter, so only one defendant can be guilty. If one defendant is convicted, the other will go free. Sooooo, McCoy decides to start the two trials simultaneously and argue that both men are guilty of firing the bullet that killed Matt Wheeler! As McCoy's boss, Adam Schiff, played by Steven Hill,*** asks, "You're familiar with the laws of physics?" The judge allows the simultaneous trials, with the second trial to be conducted by assistant district attorney Jamie Ross, played by Carey Lowell. With the recent developments, Timon wants to make a deal with McCoy, and he agrees to testify in court and tell what happened when Matt Wheeler was killed. In return he gets 20 years to life imprisonment and the promise of incarceration in a prison near enough for his mother and uncle to visit him.

In court, Timon tells that he fired first, but that Matt Wheeler pulled away. Kershaw grabbed the gun and chased after the delivery man shooting him. The two pulled the dying young man from his car and stood and watched him die. The Wheelers sit and hear how their son was murdered. Kershaw is convicted and given 30 years to life imprisonment. The Wheelers are allowed to speak. A distraught Mr. Wheeler says that his life has stopped with the murder of his son. He turns to Kershaw seething with anger, but his words won't come out. He takes his seat. Mrs. Wheeler says she agrees with the Church, that Kershaw and Timon deserve God's love and protection, and that she hopes God will watch over them "in that terrible place you are going." As McCoy and Ross leave the courthouse, McCoy asks Ross if she could forgive the two men as Mrs. Wheeler did, and she answers, "No." McCoy agrees that he couldn't forgive them either, but he then asks, "What does that say about us?"  

* Jerry Orbach was a long time actor, primarily on stage and on television. He starred in "Law & Order" as Detective Lenny Briscoe from 1991 until 2004. He died from cancer near the end of 2004.

** "Law & Order" tried to show us in many episodes how our laws do not always work perfectly, but that most of them try to give us protections against too much government power at any level of government. If we suffer at the hands of crime, as the parents lost their son in the story, we're hurt, angry and distraught. We want the guilty to pay and we want them to pay regardless of any rights they may have. That's understandable, very serious emotions are involved, but in the end, the hope is for cooler heads to prevail and to mete out justice according to the law. It isn't easy and the system is not perfect, and don't forget, in spite of the protections that have been assembled since the country's founding for those accused or suspected of crimes, people end up arrested and convicted of crimes they did not commit. The percentage of such failures seems to be small, BUT how about we convict you of something you didn't do. Remember, for much of history (including still today), people were sent to prisons or even executed because that was the wish of nobles or dictators, and those so sentenced had no recourse to have such punishments even reviewed, let alone have the punishments reversed.

*** Steven Hill was a long time actor and starred in "Law & Order" as District Attorney Adam Schiff from 1990 until 2000. He passed away in the summer of 2016 at the age of 94.

 Photo is of the 2015 DVD set for Season 8 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

WORD HISTORY:
Order-The ultimate origin of this word is unclear, although I'm presently persuaded that it is a distant relative of "arm," ^ as well as a number of other words. This takes "order" back to the Indo European root "ar," which meant, "to fit together." This gave Italic the root "ord/ored," meaning, "to arrange, to make an arrangement (of items)." This spawned Latin "ordo," meaning, "a pattern, a row, a series." Its accusative form, "ordinem," gave Latin-based Old French "ordene," which then became "ordre," meaning, "an arrangement (items put into a regular series), a law, regulation or discipline;" thus also, "people devoted to a religious way of life or discipline" (a religious order of adherents, but later expanded in meaning to include, "group of dedicated military forces, usually with some connection to religion"). English borrowed the word in the first half of the 1200s seemingly with two spellings, "ordre" and "order," with the latter then prevailing. The verb was derived from the noun in the 1200s. The word has taken on expanded meanings over time.

 ^ "Arm" meaning the body part and also meaning 'weapon,' both from the same original source, but with different overall histories. If correct, "order" would also be related to words like "armament," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from that language, to "armada," a Latin-derived word borrowed from Spanish, to "armor" and to "ordinance," both Latin-derived words borrowed from French, with "ordinance" having strong influence and reinforcement from Latin itself.  

East African Flatbread: Injera

"Injera" is a total part of the food culture in many areas of East Africa, and it is included in every meal. "Injera" is a crepe-like fermented bread used as a "base" for serving food, and also used to scoop up or to pinch off food for eating. It is sort of "pockmarked" on one side from the bubbles that form when the batter is cooking, and the texture is spongy. In East Africa the making of injera is usually more of a 2 or 3 day process, where many, but not all, use ground "teff," a flour made from the small seeds of a grass like plant common in eastern Africa. Teff flour is gluten free and it comes in light to dark colors, so you may see injera that looks like dark rye or buckwheat, or you may see injera that is lighter in color, even pretty much white. In some areas other flour types are used instead of teff, including sorghum flour, which is also gluten free.* The East Africans generally let the initial mix sit for 1 to 3 days to ferment and to acquire a "sour" taste for the completed injera, like sourdough is used as a "starter" for sourdough bread products. Since injera is commonly made with teff flour in Ethiopia, many people keep a "starter" to add to their next batch of injera batter. From what I understand, the starter batter, or sponge, does not typically contain yeast, but since just about all families make injera, I'm sure there are any number of variations to some ingredients and methods. This recipe here is a faster method, and it uses all purpose flour and whole wheat flour, both easily obtained at just about any grocery store, large or small. Teff flour and sorghum flour are available in many countries nowadays, if you want to be more authentic on the Ethiopian side. While this recipe doesn't use teff flour, it is still better than the recipe I used from a cookbook I had when I first made injera in about 1995, which was so bland, I never had the desire to make it again. I can't recall the exact year, but approximately 25 years ago, I visited an Ethiopian restaurant here in Cleveland, but whether they used teff flour, I have no idea. The food was delicious.   

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 package active yeast (1/4 ounce/7g)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups warm (NOT HOT!) water

Add the dry ingredients to a bowl, then gradually mix in the warm water. Use a stick (immersion) blender to make sure the batter is smooth. Or you can put the ingredients into a blender and add 1 1/2 cups of water to start, then gradually add more water until the batter is smooth and thinned. The batter should not be totally thick, nor thin like water, but rather on the order of heavy cream. Let the batter sit (covered) for about 45 minutes. Stir or blend it again to mix it well. Use a non stick skillet. I used a 9 inch skillet, but you can use larger or somewhat smaller. You don't really need any oil or butter, but I did see 2 recipes, out of about 30, use a little oil. Heat the skillet before adding the batter. I used medium high heat, but you can always adjust the setting once you see how the injera cooks. Use a ladle and pour the batter into the center of the pan and immediately tilt and shake the pan to spread the batter out evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Naturally the size of the pan and of your ladle is important here. You DON'T want the injera to be as thick as typical American pancakes, but they shouldn't be the more typical thinness of crepes, either. Once you add the batter and get it evenly distributed, you will see little bubbles form on the top of the batter. Cover the skillet with a lid or with foil, and let the injera cook until the top is set and there is no glistening from wet batter (this will not take very long). The skillet I use does not have a lid with it, but I have the lid a round casserole dish that fits almost perfectly over the skillet; so, improvise if you must. You do not flip injera, so the bottom side will be somewhat browned. In East Africa, injera is used for serving vegetables, stews or meats right on top of the spread out injera. Then, more injera is used to pick up the food when eating. The sauces, meat drippings or liquid part of stews will soak right into the serving injera, so you eat the serving "tray," if you get my drift.  

* Sorghum flour is from a grass plant. Americans may more readily think of "sorghum syrup," often simply referred to as "sorghum," a sweet syrup which is made from the juice extracted from the stalks of sorghum plants. The syrup was strongly associated with parts of the American South for about a century,  from pre Civil War times until the post World War Two era, when its production declined dramatically. It was, and still is, but to a lesser degree than in the past, commonly poured over fried cornmeal mush and grits, or used on biscuits.

WORD HISTORY: 
Hoof-This word has an uncertain ancient history, although it traces back to Indo European "koph," which meant, "hoof," but whether this was an original Indo European form is the question. There are some who feel the original Indo European form's meaning was not "hoof," but rather an action meaning like "beat," that then developed into a noun meaning "hoof," from the notion of the hooves/hoofs beating on the ground. Others feel Indo European may have borrowed the word from Middle Eastern or northeast African languages, where there were similar terms having to do with "animal feet, hooves." Anyway, the Indo European form gave Old Germanic "hofaz," meaning "hoof," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "hof" (long "o"). This later became "hufe" and "hoof." When I was a kid, there were Americans who pronounced "hoof" with a long "u" sound, which I "believe" is still the main pronunciation in England and other parts of Britain, and I wouldn't be surprised if some Americans still say it that way, but I haven't heard that pronunciation for quite some time. With other Americans, the pronunciation had softened to something of a short "u," which is now the most used form of pronunciation in the U.S. There were/are similar dual pronunciations for "roof," as I say it as if "rufe," with a long "u," but others said/say the much shorter sounding, "roof"), "woof" and "poof," for example. Also, when I was in school, the plural of "hoof" was "hooves," and it was pronounced with the long "u" sound. In more recent times I generally hear "hoofs," with the short sound, which is also used as a verb for a sort of slang term for "walk," as in, "My car broke down a half mile from home and I had to "hoof" it the rest of the way." Anyway, the other Germanic languages have: German "Huf" (long "u"), Low German Saxon "Hoof," Dutch "hoef," West Frisian "hoof" (seems to be, but I also found "hoef"), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "hov" and Icelandic "hófur."  

Rio Bravo: John Wayne & Dean Martin

This is a really good 1959 western movie produced and directed by Howard Hawks.

The film begins with a disheveled man named Dude, played by Dean Martin, entering into a saloon through the backdoor. He desperately wants a drink, and one man teasingly shows Dude his drink. The man is Joe Burdette, played by Claude Akins, who we later learn is the brother of a wealthy businessman, Nathan Burdette, played by John Russell. Joe tosses some money into a spittoon and Dude goes for the money, but suddenly the spittoon is kicked away by rifle toting Sheriff John T. Chance, played by John Wayne. The sheriff turns to Joe Burdette, but Dude grabs a piece of wood and clubs the sheriff with it, knocking him out. A couple of guys hold Dude while Joe punches him, and when a bystander tries to stop Joe, Joe pulls his gun and shoots the man, who it turns out, is unarmed. Joe then walks out and goes to a saloon owned by his brother, where the sheriff, still looking a bit dazed, enters and points his rifle at Joe. When the sheriff tells Joe he's under arrest, a man at the bar pulls his gun and intervenes to stop the sheriff. A couple of other men also step forward to protect Joe, but Dude has entered and grabs the gun of one of the men and he shoots the gun out of the hand of the man holding his gun on the sheriff. The sheriff knocks out Joe with his rifle and together with Dude, they drag Joe out of the saloon and take him to the jail.

The scene shifts forward to the funeral procession for the man killed by Joe, while a wagon train, primarily carrying fuel oil and dynamite, is also entering the town. It's led by Pat Wheeler, played by Ward Bond,* and he's hired a young gunslinger named Colorado, played by Ricky Nelson,** as a guard for the wagon train. In a conversation between the sheriff and Wheeler, we learn that Nathan Burdette has blocked off the town with his men to prevent the sheriff from taking his brother elsewhere. Other Burdette men are in town to watch everything the sheriff does. The sheriff has only two men, Dude, his former excellent deputy, but a drunk for the last two years, after a broken relationship, and Stumpy, played by Walter Brennan,*** an older man hobbled by a bad leg and with a distinctive voice and laugh, who carries a double barrel shotgun. The sheriff uses Stumpy to guard Joe and the jailhouse. Throughout the film there are little comedic tidbits, as Stumpy is a cantankerous and outspoken older guy and Sheriff Chance is a pretty hard-boiled lawman who knows that mistakes and miscalculations can cost lives, including his own, because he and his men are facing a lot of hired gunmen; that is, killers. Chance loves to give orders and to appear strong, so no matter what anyone does, he tends to find fault with it, bringing Stumpy to repeatedly declare during the film, "There you go again... NEVER can please you!" Stumpy feels unappreciated, which leads to a scene where Chance finally gives Stumpy his due... a kiss on his balding head. 

The sheriff and Colorado have a bit of a shaky start when they first meet, with the young gunman standing his ground (verbally) against Chance's natural inclination to give orders. When Chance gives Colorado instructions about where to take the wagons, the young man turns to the man who pays his salary, Pat Wheeler, and asks him, "Is that how you want it, Mr. Wheeler?" Wheeler breaks into a big smile and gives his approval, but the sheriff isn't exactly thrilled by Colorado circumventing his authority. Later, Wheeler tells Chance he will ask Colorado if he will help the sheriff fend off Nathan Burdette's men and keep Joe in custody. Wheeler brings Colorado to Chance, then explains to Colorado how the sheriff needs help, but the young gunslinger tells Chance, "I'll tell you what I'm better at... minding my own business." Colorado walks away, which upsets Wheeler, but Chance says the young guy shows good sense.

We now meet a woman who came into town on the stagecoach, played by Angie Dickinson. We learn from Carlos (played by Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez****), the hotel proprietor, that the stage has a bad wheel and can't leave until it's repaired. It turns out the sheriff has a handbill describing a woman, fitting this woman's description, who is wanted for card cheating, along with a man. We see an unidentified man and this woman playing cards with some other customers in the hotel barroom. She leaves the table a winner, and the man then starts winning. Colorado busts the guy as a cheater, as he finds three cards missing from the deck up the man's sleeve. Chance won't apologize to the woman for suspecting her, but we later learn that she was not working with this man, but that she is the woman in the handbill, and the actual wanted man was her husband, who was killed a few months before. As the film progresses, in a turnabout from more "typical" stories where the guy pursues the girl, she pursues the sheriff, who at first is a bit befuddled as to how to handle the situation.

As Pat Wheeler walks toward the hotel that night, two shots ring out from a stable window along the street. Wheeler collapses dead. Colorado wants to help find his boss's killer, but he's rebuffed pretty sharply by the sheriff, "You had a chance to get in this and you didn't wanna. Stay out, we don't need ya!" Dude and Chance go off to find Wheeler's killer. Chance goes into the stable, while Dude waits outside. After gunfire erupts inside the stable, a man dashes out the side door and past Dude, who fires at the man, but does not bring him down. He sees the man run into Burdette's saloon, and Dude and Chance go into the saloon to seek out a man with muddy boots, as the man who came out of the stable stepped in a puddle. Dude thinks he may have wounded the man.

At first, the Burdette men in the saloon laugh at Dude as they have for the last couple of years of his heavy drinking. Then Dude happens to see some blood drip into a glass on the bar from the upper loft of the saloon. He turns and fires and Wheeler's killer falls dead to the main level. Dude is back, well somewhat, but he still struggles to overcome his need for whiskey throughout much of the story, as he goes through withdrawal from alcohol. When Stumpy takes a shot at Dude by mistake as he enters the jailhouse without identifying himself, Dude verbally ties into Stumpy as Chance stands and observes. When Dude walks away, Chance follows and tells him they won't be pampering him anymore. Finally some of Burdette's men strike by capturing Dude, then they approach Chance on horseback and pull their guns on him. The sheriff is helped out of his predicament by Colorado and by the card playing woman. He then goes and releases Dude. Colorado, having helped the sheriff, now becomes a deputy and the merry little band plan to await the U.S. marshal in the jailhouse.

Before retreating to the jailhouse, Dude goes to the hotel to take a bath and Chance goes to see "Feathers," as the card playing woman from the stagecoach is called. Several Burdette men take Chance and Dude prisoner, but promise to release them if the sheriff will release Joe. Dude tells Chance to go to the jailhouse with Burdette's men and tell Stumpy to release Joe, knowing that Stumpy will open fire. That's exactly what happens, as three Burdette men enter the jailhouse with Chance, who tells Stumpy the men have posted bail for Joe. Stumpy unloads both barrels of his shotgun on the men, killing two and Colorado, also in the jailhouse, gets the other. When Chance and Colorado go to the hotel to help Dude, the Burdette men have already left with Dude. Chance sends Carlos to set up a meeting with Nathan Burdette, who sends Carlos back with a message for the sheriff to bring Joe to the Burdette warehouse the next day, where they will exchange Dude for Joe.

Chance tells Stumpy he can't go along, as he fears for Stumpy's safety since he can't move well with his bad leg. So off go Chance and Colorado with Joe to the warehouse. The townspeople are gathered around to see what will happen. Chance calls for Nathan who comes out of his warehouse, where every window and door is manned by Burdette's hired gunmen. Burdette releases Dude, who starts walking slowly toward Chance, who is with Colorado in a barn across from the warehouse. Chance starts Joe walking toward his brother's warehouse. When Dude and Joe meet, Dude tackles Joe and moves him out of the sight of Burdette and his men behind the ruins of an old building. Gunfire starts between the two sides as Dude and Joe fight it out to the side. Dude knocks out Joe. Colorado tosses Dude a pistol, so the sheriff now has another armed man. The shooting continues and 5 Burdette men try to outflank Chance and company, who kill or wound 3 of the men, but the 2 men who succeed to make it through the gunfire begin to try to get behind Chance and Colorado, only to be met by the blasts from the two barrels of a shotgun and the high pitched laugh of Stumpy, who disobeyed Chance and came to the warehouse area, but remained out of sight. It turns out, Stumpy is right by one of the wagons loaded with dynamite that had been brought into town by Pat Wheeler. Chance makes his way to Stumpy to warn him to get away from the wagon and Stumpy takes a crate of dynamite along, as he and Chance move away from the wagon. Chance has Stumpy throw a stick of dynamite that lands in front of the warehouse and Chance shoots it, causing it to explode. Stumpy throws another that lands right in front of the building and Chance shoots it. Stumpy throws another at the front of the warehouse and Dude shoots it. In typical Chance fashion, he's unsatisfied with how Stumpy's been throwing the dynamite, so he now has Stumpy throw the dynamite directly at the building, and when Chance shoots it, a whole front section of the building is blown apart. Burdette and his men surrender.

The town is quiet and Chance goes to the hotel to see Feathers. At first he's still defensive with her, but that all changes.    

* In real life, Ward Bond was a close personal friend of John Wayne. I have to believe Bond's role as the leader of a wagon train in this film was specifically written for him to further promote the same role he played on a popular television show in those times called, believe it or not, "Wagon Train," where he played wagon master Seth Adams. It was a favorite of mine back then, and Bond's call of "Ho," to start the wagons became a well known image of him on the television series, and it was carried over to this movie. Unfortunately, Ward Bond died of a heart attack a year after the release of this film.

** Ricky Nelson was the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. The Nelsons, along with sons Dave and Ricky, had a popular television series during the 1950s and part of the 1960s. The show became something of a symbol in those days of the ideal American family (not that everyone agreed with that). Having been on the family television series for several years, Ricky was already well known to Americans when he was cast for this film in 1958 (the movie was released to theaters in the spring of 1959). Ricky was also a musician and singer who released a number of hit songs and albums over the years and he and Dean Martin do some singing in Rio Bravo. Nelson was killed when his private plane crashed in the mid 1980s.

*** Long time actor Walter Brennan was then starring in a television series too, playing Amos McCoy on the show, "The Real McCoys." Brennan won three Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor during his career.

**** That's not a typo. The family name of both parents was "Gonzalez," and a common naming custom in Spain and its former colonies is to use both the father's family name AND the mother's family name.

Photo is of the 2010 Warner Brothers DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Slug-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the noun/verb for, "punch, hit." This word seems to be derived from "slay," a word from the Germanic roots of English, and that would also make it related to "slaughter," another word from the Germanic roots of English. "Slog" seems to be a variant of "slug," although it may also be mixed with the form of "slug" meaning "a snail-like creature." ^ "Slug" goes back to Indo European "slak," with the idea of "hit, strike, beat." This gave the Old Germanic spinoff "slakhanan," also with the meaning "to hit, to strike, to beat," but also with the extended meaning "to kill," from the notion of "hitting/beating someone until dead." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "slean," ^^ with the same meanings. The 1st and 3rd person past tense form was "slog" (2nd person=sloge, plural form=slogon, participle=slegen^^^) These forms were pronounced with a long "o" which eventually morphed into a short "u" sound.   

^ The meaning of "slog," "to walk heavily, ponderously;" also thus, "slowly," could be from the slow pace of a "slug" (snail-like creature), but it could also be from the idea of "heavy hitting, pounding of the feet when walking." This walking meaning "seems" to have developed in the second half of the 1800s.

^^ "Slean" is the old form of modern "slay."

^^^ I also have seen references to a participle form "geslegen/geslagen," but "perhaps" these were older forms??? As a point of reference, German still has "geschlagen" as the participle form of "schlagen," the close relative of "slay." 

East African Spice Mix: Berbere

This is a common spice blend used in many countries in East Africa, especially in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is so commonly used, many families make their own, so there are numerous variations to recipes for berbere (pronounced as if, "bur-bur-ah"), including for the "heat level." In East Africa, many of the spices are first toasted in whole form, and then they are ground, but to make this blend a little more simple, you can use already ground spices, but you can toast them in a dry skillet briefly, if you'd like, but take care not to burn the spices, which can happen quite quickly... ah, that's what I've been told. (Let me uncross my fingers before I move on.)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper or other hot red ground chilies
1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon mild smoked paprika (Spanish paprika is smoked)
1 teaspoon onion powder   

This is the hard part... haha  Put all ingredients into a jar or other small storage container, put the lid on the jar and shake the jar until the spices are well mixed. You should shake the container before each use.

WORD HISTORY:
Zen-This word, distantly related to "semantic," goes back to Indo European "dhyae," which had the notion, "to look, to see." This gave transliterated Sanskrit^ "dhyana," meaning, "meditation" ("mentally looking in a focused way at the various aspects of a subject, often regarding a god, or religion, eventually as part of Buddhism"). This was borrowed by Chinese^^ as transliterated "dzien" (by pronunciation), and this was borrowed by Japanese^^^ as transliterated "zen," with the deep mediation part of Buddhism meaning. Seemingly first borrowed by English circa 1730.

^ "Sanskrit" is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India.

^^ "Chinese" in its several forms belongs to the "Sino-Tibetan" language family. It's best known relative is Burmese.

^^^ For such a large language, the overall history and ties of "Japanese" to other languages is a bit sketchy, but it is part of the "Japonic" language family. Over time, some have attempted, unsuccessfully, to connect Japonic, and thus Japanese, to Korean. The similarities shared between Japanese and Korean have been generally assumed to be from borrowings due to contacts between the languages, not directly from a shared common ancestor.          

Kenyan Curried Cabbage

Kenya is a country in eastern Africa. It has a pretty diverse population and its official languages are Swahili* and English. Kenyans have much Indian influence in their cooking, with "chapati,"** a type of flatbread, being one of those influences. In the first couple of decades of the 20th Century, thousands of Indians went to Kenya when both countries were under British colonial rule. This curry is another of the Indian influences on Kenya. This is not a spicy "hot" dish, but if you like spicy heat, you could add a chili pepper or two to the recipe.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1 carrot, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon salt 

In a large skillet, heat the oil over low heat, then add the onion. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add the cabbage and carrot (it will look like a mountain, but it will cook down). Cook over low heat until the vegetables soften. Combine the milk, curry powder and flour, mix well, then add it to the cabbage/carrot and stir it in well. Cook for a couple of minutes, then season with salt and white pepper. 

* Swahili is a language of the Bantu family of languages, a branch of the broader Niger/Congo family of languages.  

** "Chapati" is easy to make:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/10/easy-flatbread-of-indian-subcontinent.html

WORD HISTORY:
Bwana-This word is distantly related to "abbot," a word borrowed by English from Latin long ago, but "abbot" is a word which traces back to the Middle East. While in modern times "bwana" has often been used in a comical or disparaging way in English, because of racism, its heritage is anything but comical or disparaging. It goes back to transliterated Semitic^ "ab," meaning "father," and "bna," meaning "our;" thus, "our father," "head of the family," and by extension, "leader." This gave its transliterated Arabic offspring "abuna," with the same meanings. This was borrowed by Swahili (see note * above) as "bwana," meaning, "leader, master." With European colonization of Africa and the exploration of remote areas of the large continent, English came into contact with the word "bwana" through Swahili, and it often came to be used by the African workers for the "white" leader of a safari. The word was borrowed by English in the last quarter of the 1800s.

^  The Semitic languages are a group of related languages "centered" in the Middle East and eastern Africa, but also spoken beyond those areas. The most common modern Semitic languages are Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew and Tigrinya, but in ancient times Semitic included Assyrian and Phoenician, which was spoken in the Middle East and in North Africa by the Carthaginians.    

Irish Potatoes: Colcannon

There are many variations to this recipe. Some people use savoy cabbage (it has wrinkled leaves), others use kale; further still, some include leeks and some use bacon mixed into the main dish. Others use crumbled bacon as a topping, and cheese is another topping used by some, as is a fried or poached egg (I kept the egg to the side, see photo below). Traditionally the dish has a lot of butter, but I hope the Irish forgive me, because I replaced half of the butter with olive oil. "Colcannon" also has milk, but some use cream. 

Ingredients (about 4 to 6 servings):

2 pounds white or Russet potatoes, peeled and diced (large dice)
2 1/2 cups chopped or shredded green cabbage (it will cook down substantially)
1/2 cup chopped green onions (also called spring onions or scallions, and use the green part)
3 tablespoons of butter (but more for serving)
3 tablespoons olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 cup warm milk (I use canned/evaporated milk, you may need more milk)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. While the potatoes are cooking, in a skillet, melt the butter and mix in the olive oil. Add the cabbage and green onions and cook over low heat until tender. Add the salt and pepper. The cabbage and onion mixture may get lightly browned, but remember, this is supposed to provide some green to the dish, although I must admit, I've seen colcannon with browned cabbage and onions. Drain the potatoes well and mash the potatoes with a potato masher, gradually adding a little warm milk as you go (potatoes can vary, so you may need more milk). Fold the cabbage/onion mixture into the mashed potatoes (this is why you needn't add butter to the potatoes as you mash them). With each serving, use a spoon to make a small indentation in the top and add a piece of butter.

Some have an egg with these potatoes, which is what I chose to do, along with a piece of toast...

WORD HISTORY:
Bog-This word is distantly related to the various forms of "bow": with the form that rhymes with "how," and meaning, "to bend the body," as well as to the noun for that verb; also the same pronunciation of "bow" for the noun meaning "the front of a ship;" and the form with a long "o," meaning "to curve," as a verb, and meaning "a weapon that shoots arrows," as a noun. These are all from Germanic and their relationship to "bog" is through Indo European. "Bog" goes back to Indo European "bheugh," which meant, "to bend." This gave Old Celtic the adjective "buggo," which meant, "easily bent, flexible, soft." This passed to Old Irish as "bog," meaning, "soft, soft from moisture." This then produced the Irish and Scots Gaelic noun "bogach," meaning, "marshy land" (thus, 'a bog'). English borrowed the word in the early 14th Century. The verb, often used with "down" ("bog down"), and meaning, "become stuck in the soft ground of a bog," developed in about 1600.