Shane by A.B. Guthrie, Jack Schaefer was nominated for most of the important Oscars in 1954: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for both Brandon De Wilde and Jack Palance, Best Director -George Stevens and Best Writing, Screenplay for A.B. Guthrie Jr. furthermore, this is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, you can find multiple notes on films from the NYT 1,000 List on my blog and YouTube channel the blog is here https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

Shane by A.B. Guthrie, Jack Schaefer was nominated for most of the important Oscars in 1954: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for both Brandon De Wilde and Jack Palance, Best Director -George Stevens and Best Writing, Screenplay for A.B. Guthrie Jr. furthermore, this is one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, you can find multiple notes on films from the NYT 1,000 List on my blog and YouTube channel the blog is here https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

8 out of 10

 

Shane is an impressive motion picture, with a role model of sorts at the center, Shane, the gun fighter (oops, this is already a contradiction in terms) who defends the weak, fights the strong and rich (for 1889) and thus displays a string of character strengths as we find here https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/search?q=seligman

 

Martin Seligman is the co-founder of Positive Psychology, in 2000, and he has researched character strengths, one of which is Courage, with its components: bravery, integrity, zest, resilience and we see those in Shane the personage, and the movie, which is a ‘classic western’, the narrative takes place in 1189, in Wyoming

I cannot help but wonder if this is a blue or red state, which makes all the difference these days for this biased reviewer, although we should note that within individual states, the cities are mostly blue, and the countryside is red, the division is between good and evil in my mind, hence this is a leitmotif here, present now

 

Indeed, it might explain why I have been banned, some notes of mine have been deleted, I explain this through the strong reaction that my view of Orange Vader provokes in (MAGA) people, who then flag, complain and eventually have been banished, in the manner of those who are beaten by ICE, though I am safe

Aristotle https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/01/aristotle-in-ninety-minutes-by-paul.html and other divine philosophers insisted on the fact that we need all the virtues, knowledge brings virtue, and then virtue brings happiness, Shane does not have them all, but we see quite a few, I think of resilience, patience

 

The hero arrives at this farm, where Joe Starrett struggles to make a living, alongside his wife Marian (played by a super star of the day, Jean Arthur) and their son, Joey…the latter is played by a very young actor, perhaps eight years old, who was nominated for The Oscar, only to show you how crooked these notes are:

I must say that I could not stand him

 

This land, and that of other people in the area is wanted by a group of mafiosi (they would be MAGA today) who use force, they beat, and then start murdering the brave ones who refuse to leave, they even hire a gunslinger -portrayed by Jack Palance, nominated for an Oscar himself – to kill the leader of the opposition

There is even a suggestion (maybe it is more than that) of a rather forbidden love, between Shane and Marian, they keep it within the norms, nothing happens, but Joey shouts after the cowboy ‘my mother wants you, come back’ and I could not help, with my perverted mind, to give this sexual significance, which maybe it had

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html – 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 benefits 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…’