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." 

Big Jake, The Conflict of Change

I first saw this movie many years ago, as it was released in 1971. As with some other pictures starring John Wayne in that general era, it had a theme of old versus new; a subject that really never goes away, as change and the fear of change drive many of the adversarial relationships in the world. With the movie, it is not only because of Wayne's age (he was in his mid 60s when he made this film), but also because of the turbulence of the mid to late 1960s and into the early 1970s, when talk of  "the generation gap" was quite common. The changing attitudes of society on many subjects, and the conflict with previous generations over these changes, are reflected in the movie. In this western, by this time a film genre itself straining under advanced age, and set in 1909, Wayne plays "Jacob McCandles," an aging rough and tumble cowboy, estranged from his wife, Martha, who is played by long time friend and often co-star, Maureen O'Hara (their last film together), who has made their ranch into a multimillion dollar operation. Here we have a successful businesswoman versus Wayne's not so financially successful character, who is seen wandering around on horseback, accompanied by his dog, which he calls, well, "Dog" (don't forget, Tarzan called his adopted son, "Boy"). Anyway, rising "feminism" was one of the great changes, and fears, of the era in which this picture was made, a change not easily accepted by many men, even to this day (think Donald Trump).

Anyway, Jacob's 8 year old grandson, played by Wayne's real life son, Ethan, is kidnapped by a ruthless band, led by John Thane, played by Richard Boone. McCandles is unaware he has a grandson... hey, I told you he was wandering around, which is likely a good thing, since if he'd been around, the boy might have been named ... "Grandson." Martha contacts Jacob, who has been ... oh, I think I told you he's been wandering around on horseback. He goes to meet Martha by train, and as his horse is being brought off, one of his sons, Michael, played by Robert Mitchum's son, Christopher, is riding along on a motorcycle (horse, motorcycle ... change, get it?). The kidnappers have demanded one million dollars, a staggering amount for 1909, but Martha reassures the questioning Jacob that, "we have that much, and many times that amount." Since Jacob's sons have not seen him since they were kids, Martha introduces Jacob to Michael and James, played by another of Wayne's real life sons, Patrick. Jacob's oldest son, Jeffrey, played by Bobby Vinton, has been badly wounded by the kidnappers and, thus, is not with Martha. Jeffrey is the kidnapped boy's father.

When alone, Martha shows Jacob a large trunk holding the ransom. Jacob is to take the trunk and follow a map left by the kidnappers for delivery of the ransom at a town in Mexico, and bring the boy home safely. After some trouble, which I won't get into,* both James and Michael accompany their father. It is then we see Michael has a new automatic pistol he brings along. It fires several shots in just seconds, and it is contrasted with the old fashioned six shooter. Michael also has with him a new rifle with a telescopic sight for long range targets. This is contrasted with Jacob's "Greener," a type of shotgun produced in England by a company of that name (still in existence). Shotguns are for short range targets. Jacob also is accompanied by his long time friend, Sam Sharpnose, an aging Apache, played by John Wayne's close personal friend, Bruce Cabot, who died within about a year of making this picture. He too carries a Greener, as well as a knife, and he tells Jacob his eyes are too old to see far off targets.

I won't go further, except to say, the little group sets off, but many people know about the one million dollar ransom, and when the leader of the kidnappers, John Thane, meets the group, he tells them they have to keep the ransom money safe, until they hand it over for exchange of the boy, or that they will kill the boy. Thane is unaware Jacob is the boy's grandfather. Jacob has been out of that part of Texas for so long (we're told 9 years and 4 months), that throughout the film, when people find out he is Jacob McCandles, they always say, "I thought you were dead," bringing various remarks from Jacob like, "That'll be the day," or, "Not hardly."

This is a good movie, and it shows the strains on society in those times, including the very nature of the overall movie; that is, there ARE bad guys in the world, and combatting them is dangerous and requires people who will risk their lives and be tough to defeat them. Both James and Michael are "squeamish," I believe was the word used by Jacob, about having to kill other men. This is an issue still with us today, as now decades later, the world is connected like never before, but this has also provided an opportunity for all sorts of "bad guys" to hurt others, through scamming, or outright killing, including terrorism.

* The Texas Rangers have bought several automobiles and a segment of the story covers the old versus new theme by contrasting the use of these automobiles with horses.

Photo is from the 2003 Paramount Home Entertainment DVD


 WORD HISTORY:
Old-This common word, related to the second part of wor"ld" (the ending was once spelled both "old" and "uld," before the contracted "ld") and it is also distantly related to the first part of "altitude," goes back to Indo European "altos," which had the notion of "grown up, tall." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "altaz," also meaning "grown up." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "eald" and "ald," depending upon dialect, and these later became "old." The other Germanic languages have:
German "alt," Low German Saxon "oolt," West Frisian "âld," Dutch "oud" (no "L"), Danish "ældre" (elder, older, elderly), Norwegian "elder" (elder, older), Icelandic "eldri" (older, elder), Swedish "äldre" (older, elder).

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Another Great Movie

This is another good film from veteran director, John Ford. While dating to 1962, the film covered a major issue still being debated to this day, the role of force in law; more specifically, the need and use of guns to enforce the law. In the case of the movie, one of the main characters is a lawyer who was born, raised and educated in the eastern part of the country, who sees the written law as being most important, while the other main character is a western born and raised rancher, who is used to defending himself and others by force.

The basic story is about a highly respected U.S. senator, Ranse Stoddard, played by James Stewart, who returns to his western state* from Washington, D.C. for a funeral few people know anything about. He gives an interview to some newspaper men about his life and the life changing event from 25 years before; the killing of Liberty Valance, played by Lee Marvin, a brutal, gun slinging, whip brandishing leader of a band of outlaws, who controlled the town. This event propelled Stoddard to his eventual position in the U.S. Senate. Ranse and Liberty meet early on, as Valance and his outlaws rob the stage carrying Stoddard, and Valance severely beats the attorney, who is making his first trip out west. Stoddard vows to use the law to see Liberty Valance punished, but he finds the marshal, played by Andy Devine, is totally unable to enforce the law against such a ruthless man as Valance, as the marshal is merely a token of law who loves to eat. In fact, the marshal is TERRIFIED of Liberty Valance and his band. Only one man seems to have the respect of the outlaws, Tom Doniphon, played by John Wayne, a rancher who is a gunslinger in his own right. During the story, Doniphon is preparing to ask a waitress at the local restaurant, Hallie, played by Vera Miles, to marry him, but when Doniphon brings in the badly injured Stoddard, Hallie tends to the lawyer's wounds, and a connection begins to develop between the two.

As events proceed, the state is about to hold a convention dealing with statehood and the town's people select Stoddard as one of their two representatives to support the statehood effort. Many big ranchers don't want statehood and they hire Liberty Valance to intimidate the town and to force himself in as a convention delegate to vote against statehood. Valance humiliates Stoddard in a confrontation in the restaurant, and though he himself is then humiliated by Doniphon, the stage is set for some major confrontation between Valance and Stoddard, who eventually sees he needs to take up a gun to deal with Valance; that written law itself is not enough. While he practices firing a gun, and is also helped by Doniphon, Stoddard is woefully ill prepared to take on Liberty Valance in a gunfight.

Meanwhile, the publisher of the town's newspaper, Mr. Peabody, played by Edmund O'Brien, and the town's other pro-statehood delegate to the convention, publishes a front page story at great risk to himself about Liberty Valance's lawlessness, something Valance retaliates over, and this sets up the major confrontation between Valance and Stoddard. So as not to spoil the story for those who haven't seen the movie before, I will stop here, but this is a movie well worth seeing.

* The state's name is never given, nor is the state of his birth, only "back east."

Photo is from the 2009 Paramount Home Entertainment DVD

Word History:
Shoot-Like its close relative "shot," this word goes back to Indo European "skeud," with the notion "to project, to throw, to thrust outward, to move quickly." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skeutanan," with the same general meanings. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceotan," with the meaning, "hurl an object, cause an object to thrust outward, to move quickly," and also "to make a payment," likely from the notion of "handing over (projecting) money or goods to someone." This then became "shoten," before the modern form. The noun meaning, "a young plant," came from the verb in the 1400s, again with the notion of "thrusting up through the soil." The other Germanic languages have: German "schießen," Low German Saxon "scheten," Dutch "schieten," West Frisian "sjitte," Danish "skyde," Icelandic "skjóta," Norwegian "skyte" and Swedish "skjuta." Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish have all kept the "k" sound, while the other Germanic languages have all softened the beginning of the word.

"The Searchers," One Of The Best Films Ever

If you are a person to scoff at movies of the "Western" genre, please do not do so with this movie. This is a typical Western with cowboys and Indians, but it isn't a typical Western with just cowboys and Indians. The story is much deeper and it was directed by prominent American director John Ford, the son of Irish immigrants to the United States. Ford directed many movies, and two other great ones were "Stagecoach" and "The Grapes of Wrath," which was adapted to the screen from John Steinbeck's famous novel. John Ford also had much to do with putting actor John Wayne into the public mind, and keeping him there. For those unaware, Wayne was a super box office draw for decades, even in the last few years of his life. From various interviews and stories I've read about John Wayne and John Ford, it seems it was Ford who got Wayne to walk with that swagger he became known for. Wayne also eventually became the main spokesperson and symbol for the Republican political side of the acting profession, which also included James Stewart, Fred MacMurray, Maureen O'Hara and a number of others, although being a Republican in those days was not the same as being a Republican today, since there were actually liberal Republicans back then, and conservative, even downright reactionary, Democrats too. John Ford had been a big supporter of Franklin Roosevelt, although he also later supported Richard Nixon, but Nixon was no Ted Cruz, either. I'm uncertain about Ford's political affiliation, but he could have been a Democrat or a liberal to moderate Republican.

"The Searchers" was released in 1956 and I don't believe I saw it at the theaters back then, although my father, or sometimes my older brother, took me to see movies in those days, especially Westerns, which were very common and popular. I remember first seeing the movie on television back in the 1960s, but I'm uncertain of the year, and thus I also don't recall if I saw it in color, as black and white televisions were very common in the 1960s, and indeed, most regular television shows were still filmed in black and white until 1965 and 1966.

The movie is set a couple of years after the end of the Civil War and it involves Ethan Edwards, a bitter and unrepentant returning Confederate soldier, played by John Wayne. Shortly after his return to his brother's home, Indians attack the home when Ethan and Martin Pawley, played by Jeffrey Hunter, are away with other ranchers who have gone looking for some cattle thought to have been taken by Comanches. Pawley had been raised by Ethan's brother and his wife after the boy's parents had been killed in an Indian attack several years before. The two Edwards' girls, one essentially in her mid teens and one younger, are missing from the smoking ruins of the Edwards' farm, and Ethan and Martin set out to find them; thus they become, "The Searchers."

The picture deals with racism as the Americans view the Comanches as about as low a life form as one can go. Even the "good" characters are tainted by it, as Laurie, played by Vera Miles, says the girls should be killed, if they are found, because of their having lived with the Comanches. The main "hater" is Ethan, and the sad thing is, the ideas represented in a film from the mid 1950s could still be put into a film today, with some prominent Republicans in the real life Ethan role, and with the target being black or Latino Americans, instead of Comanches. When the head of the local rangers asks Ethan to swear an oath of loyalty so he can deputize him, Ethan refuses, saying he already took an oath to the Confederate States of America. Of course, a little fact like there was no entity called the Confederate States of America after the Civil War didn't trouble old Ethan any, he was going to stay the course. Do you see some parallels to some Republicans today? And Democrats should cringe too, because when "The Searchers" was released, people like Ethan were largely in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY, but at least Democrats changed, ceding many of their racists and haters to another political party, the  .... well you know.

Ethan and his type are trying to stop change, including change that involves accepting people who are different from themselves. Ethan has contempt for his "adoptive" nephew, Martin, because he is part Cherokee. Ethan's bitterness and anger are so intense, he is bound and determined to kill his niece if he finds her, because, "she's been sleeping with a buck," a "Comanch," as he angrily and contemptibly calls the Comanches. Of course, the Comanches too were trying to halt change, to keep change from sweeping them and their way of life away, so they share a sort of common thread with the Ethans of the world, but the exact goals are competing, not common to the two sides.           

The picture is absolutely stunning in its breathtaking scenery. In my opinion, John Wayne should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Ethan, while although the film certainly has some of his Wayne persona, the character of Ethan is much deeper than Wayne's usual tough guy mannerisms and his no holds barred flag waving. If you haven't seen this film, I hope you'll watch it. It is on many lists as not only one of the greatest Westerns ever made, but also as one of the greatest films ever made.

Picture is from Warner Home Video, 50th Anniversary Edition

WORD HISTORY: 
Search-This word, closely related to both "circle" and "circus," goes back to Indo European "sker," which had the notion of "curve, bend." This gave Ancient Greek "kirkos," which meant "circle," and it was borrowed by Latin as "circus," which meant "circle." This produced the verb "circare," which literally meant, "to go around in a circle," but the actual meaning of which was "go about, travel about." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "cerchier," which meant "travel about looking for something." The word was taken to England by the Normans where it became "sercher," and it was borrowed into English in the early 1300s as "serchen," before it assumed its modern form. The noun "searcher" was derived from the verb seemingly a bit later in the 1300s. 

"The Longest Day" Very Good D-Day Movie

"The Longest Day" is a  star-studded movie* from the early 1960s available on DVD. The movie is "based" on a historical book of the same name by Irish historian Cornelius Ryan.** Rather than go with a straightforward retelling of the D-Day operation, Ryan chose to use the individual stories of some of the real people involved, on both sides, to tell the overall story of the great invasion of June 6, 1944. The movie was filmed in black and white, although I'm not really certain if that was a money saving measure for the expensive film, or if it was purposely done to give the movie a sort of newsreel feel or to make it more in line with films of the World War Two era, when color films were still pretty rare.

"The Longest Day" was filmed in the manner of the book, with individual stories used to paint a bigger picture. Remember, this is not truly a documentary, although there is most certainly a basis in fact to many of the scenes, but as with all such movies, scriptwriters consolidate real historical events into more limited numbers of scenes to get their point across. Several military participants from the real D-Day battle, both Allied and German, were consulted about the movie's filming.*** The movie only deals with the build up to the D-Day landings, including Eisenhower's decision to go ahead with the invasion, and then the landings themselves on that first day, including the glider landings and paratroop drops made in the overnight hours by the Allies. Scenes go back and forth from action scenes to scenes at German defensive positions and German headquarters, to show how the German commanders reacted to the initial reports of Allied actions.**** All in all, it is a pretty impressive film and well worth seeing.

* The cast includes for example: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Peter Lawford, Sal Mineo, Kenneth More, Robert Ryan, Gert Fröbe, Curd Jürgens and many, many more, including a number of French actors/actresses, and several German actors, known for their war movie roles, although not likely known to the general world public by name. NOTE: German actor Gert Fröbe became internationally known for his role in the James Bond movie, "Goldfinger." Fröbe's acting career was controversial for a time, as he had been a member of the Nazi Party during much of the 1930s, although he then seemingly halted participation in party activities before the war. A Jewish family praised him for his help in saving them from the clutches of the Gestapo. German actor Curd Jürgens was locked up by the Nazis during the war for his anti-Nazi views. For more on Fröbe, see: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/08/the-james-bond-movie-goldfinger-was-once-banned-in-israel/

** The title came from a quote by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who, about six weeks prior to the Allied invasion, had told his aide that the decisive battle would be "the longest day" for the Allies and for Germany ("Für die Alliierten und für Deutschland wird es der längste Tag sein").

*** There were still criticisms of the movie; for instance, one being that the dummy paratroops dropped to distract the Germans were too sophisticated in the movie as compared to the real dummies used by the Allies. Also, the movie strongly "suggests" that the Germans only used two aircraft to attack the Allies on D-Day, which was untrue, but the fact was, the Luftwaffe was limited in its use during the invasion. The most stinging criticism has been that Canadian forces are not even shown in the movie!

**** For those learning German or wanting to test their German skills, the German scenes are all realistically done in German (never fear, there are English subtitles), with these German scenes directed by Austrian actor-director Bernhard Wicki, who was imprisoned for a time by the Nazis in Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. There are also some French language scenes, also with subtitles.

WORD HISTORY:
Two (Twain)-This common word goes back to Indo European "dwoh/dwah/duwo," which meant "two." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "twaina," with the same meaning. This gave Old English "twegan," which was an old form (masculine, in grammar terms) of "two." This later became "tweyne" (the "e" blended with the "g" to produce the "ai" sound), before the modern version "twain." "Twegan's" feminine and neuter forms (again, feminine and neuter in grammar) was "twa," which then became "two" (the "w" was pronounced), where it has remained for many centuries, although the pronunciation later changed to "too/tu."  Low German, Dutch and Frisian once had "twene," Old High German had "zwene," and Old Norse had "tveir," all corresponding to English "twain." Low German and Dutch have "twee," German has "zwei" and "zwo," West Frisian has "twa," Saterland Frisian (a surviving form of East Frisian in northern Germany) has "two," Danish and Norwegian have "to," Icelandic has "tvö," and Swedish has "twå," all corresponding to English "two."

Accepting Change, Sometimes Grudgingly

Even John Wayne accepted change, albeit often grudgingly. In one of his later movies, "Big Jake," a favorite of mine, the story has many elements of the changing of the times, and of the Duke's gradual, but not total, acceptance of those changes. It was set in the early 1900s, and while horse travel still dominated, the automobile, a contraption viewed with contempt by Wayne's character, had entered the scene in the "Old West." The movie shows the limits of the modern vehicle, as the good guys, in automobiles, chase the bad guys, who are on horseback. Horses can climb much rough terrain, something automobiles cannot do. Both horses and automobiles need water and "fuel," with the fuel for horses being of the food variety, of course. Two of Wayne's sons* in the film like the new automatic handguns and rifles with telescopic sights, as opposed to Wayne's old-fashioned "six shooter," standard rifle, and "sawed-off shotgun." Wayne tells the one son to use the new rifle to shoot a deer that is off in the distance, but the son refuses to shoot the deer to make a point, displaying the emerging new morality.** When Wayne tells him "we need food," the boy then complies, astounding Wayne with his perfect shot at great distance. Wayne begins to accept the modern rifle as an improvement over the old. Wayne gets an old Indian friend to help him, and the two lament the disappearance of the buffalo from the American Plains, a travesty both progressives and conservatives could agree upon.*** In a poignant moment, Wayne tells him, "Things change."

In the final showdown, one son, armed with the automatic handgun, takes down a top gunslinger with a six shooter. The other son has the new rifle, but he misses the first shot, showing that new things aren't infallible, but he nails the bad guy with his second shot. In the end, the bad guys, led by veteran actor Richard Boone, are killed and Wayne's kidnapped grandson is freed (the "old" saving the "new"). Wayne's Indian friend is killed in the shootout, just as the Indians have also disappeared from the Plains.  

* One son played by the Duke's real life son, Patrick, and the other played by Robert Mitchum's son, Christopher.

** Things are not so black and white, as hunters associated with my family always sought to protect wildlife from abuse and overkill, but I get the point. 

*** As I've noted many times before, unfettered capitalism says, "Get the money, get the money, get the money. The hell with buffalo, the landscape, or Mother Nature." The scary question is, where would many of today's Republican leaders come down on such an issue?

WORD HISTORY:
Change-This word goes back to Indo European "kamb," which had the notion of "bent, crooked." This was passed on to its Old Celtic^ offspring, seemingly intact, as "kamb." Latin borrowed the term as "cambire," by which time the notion of "bent, crooked" had developed the secondary idea of "altered, changed," and the notion of "altered" then further developed into "change hands;" that is, "exchange, barter." This then became Latin "cambiare" and it was inherited by Latin-based Old French^^ as "changier," although still with the primary meaning "alter." English borrowed the word from French as "change" in the 1200s. The noun form has the same basic history, except the Latin verb produced the noun "cambio," meaning "an exchange, bartering." Old French inherited it as "change," which was then picked up by English in the early 1200s.The idea of "balance sum returned from a payment" (as in, "The price was $5.99, and here's the 'change' from your $10.00") developed in the late 1500s or the early 1600s.

^ Celtic is a branch of the Indo European family of languages. Its dialects were once widespread in Europe, but only a few survive as modern languages; for example, Scots/Scottish Gaelic, Irish (Gaelic), Welsh, and Breton (spoken in Brittany, France). These languages are all related to English, but further down the family tree.

^^ Old French was the dialect spoken in what is now much of France, part of Belgium, part of Switzerland, and part of Luxembourg. When the Romans conquered this area, circa 50 B.C., the area was largely Celtic speaking, but gradually Latin spread throughout, giving something of a mixture, but with Latin dominating. Germanic tribes conquered, settled, or traversed parts of the region, giving a Germanic layer to the language; in fact, the terms "France" and "French" are derived from the Germanic tribe the Franks, and "Burgundy" is derived from the Germanic tribe the Burgundians. Later still, the North Germanic "Northmen" raided, then settled in, an area that came to be called "Normandy," derived from "Northmen," as is the name of the inhabitants, the "Normans." All of these factors influenced Old French, and thus modern French, but Latin remained the primary component.