Rio Bravo by Leigh Brackett – one of the classic motion pictures with John Wayne in the leading role, in the same league with Stagecoach, my take on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/02/stagecoach-based-on-story-by-ernest.html along with a few thousand other reviews - 9 out of 10

 

Rio Bravo by Leigh Brackett – one of the classic motion pictures with John Wayne in the leading role, in the same league with Stagecoach, my take on this is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/02/stagecoach-based-on-story-by-ernest.html along with a few thousand other reviews

 

9 out of 10

 

Well, this should be an unqualified 10 out of 10, only I hesitated before putting it in, then there is that line from The Unbearable Lightness of Being https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-unbearable-lightness-of-being-9-put.html by Milan Kundera, at least I think it was there, a statement on genius and rara avis

 

We tend to use genius without discrimination, when in fact we should limit the word only for Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Einstein, maybe Tolstoy, and not say to all soccer players in a good day, the man who makes a rare, good joke ‘you are a genius, or even worse, ‘you are such a, or an incredible genius’, it cheapens the thing

There is also Thomas Mann https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-magic-mountain-is-classic-that.html who wrote along similar lines, in a short story, one personage speaks about the people who insist ‘my love is so great, there are no words to describe it’, when this is in fact preposterous and not genuine

 

Words like love, friend, have no correspondent in real life, says the aforementioned character, we can only find love, friends in art, literature, because these are symbols of such grandiose, immense feelings that when we test, the supposed love, or alleged friend, we see that they do not correspond, rise to the meaning

Then there is the work of Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-kings-english-guide-to-modern-usage.html The King’s English, and the observation that you have words that have lost, changed their meaning, one example is infamous, originating from infamy, but arrived at the same value as famous

 

There is another reason to skip the ten out of ten valuation for Rio Bravo – not that it matters, and to just put it in here, just in case I get distracted and never even say a few words about the movie, it is a fabulous film, the fight between good and evil, with a lot of character strengths on display, courage, loyalty, resilience and so much more

 

There is also the politics of John Wayne, a dominant thespian decades ago, when he was for what, ten or more years the most popular actor in the US, and one of the most famous around the world – in a film documentary they talk about how influential this fellow was, in general and in the army in particular, they had pictures of him

 

I mean, he did not fight in the war – others did, I think James Stewart was remarked for his contribution, and there were more – but because of the roles that covered WWII as well, you would have army barracks with John Wayne as a role model, indeed, what he projects in Rio Bravo and so many more movies is impressive

Another great western is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance-based.html however, he seemed to have been somewhat radical, perhaps even retrograde, I have read that there was this confrontation, he seemed to have leaned on the right, maybe part of MAGA

 

At some point, there was a competition between the old style, westerns say, and more modern films, dealing with the contemporary problems, such as Midnight Cowboy, with Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voigt, the latter is Angelina Jolie’s father, and one of the few big names in Hollywood (a has been, to be mean) to like Trump

Midnight Cowboy is about a hustler, Jon Voigt, who comes from the south, unpolished, actually a red neck, and tries to make money as a male prostitute (sex worker, you would have to call him today, by the way, Belgium has just become the first country to offer benefits to sex workers, pension, coverage and all that)

 

In New York, he meets this small-time crook, Dustin Hoffman, who is gay and very sick, and implausibly, they form a sort of partnership and then they become good friends, now, how do you judge in a competition between Rio Bravo and Midnight Cowboy, they were not really made in the same year, but still, a quandary alright

On one of those talk shows, I have seen Michael Caine telling some funny stories, some of them included in his book https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-elephant-to-hollywood-by-michael.html The Elephant to Hollywood, about his incredible chance of getting there, then helped by Shirely MacLaine, he is off to heaven

 

He encountered John Wayne, among the crème de la crème, and it was something along the lines of they are at the r4est room, and John Wayne tells him never to wear suede shoes, because there would be a fan at some moment, who will see him, when they pee, and as he will move around, he will ruin the shoes…

There was a story about a snake, I was going to say an anaconda, but whatever it was, it was meant to be a joke between The Duke (John Wayne was known by that name) and Henry Fonda, I think it was, only it backfired, the one who placed the snake, did not know that the target of the prank was not scared of them…

He gave it to the author of the joke, who was Afraid of snakes, so there you have it…Rio Bravo is monumental – it came to mind – in quiet a few ways, only learning about the persona of some thespian or another does not help enjoying him on the screen – most of the time there are negative aspects connected with male actors

https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/trumbo-written-by-john-mcnamara-based.html

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”