three amigos

I never got enough of these guys.  They were so incredible in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, I had hopes that Leone would throw them together somewhere down the trail. That was never to be.  Eli Wallach only appeared in one of Leone's Dollar films.  He was brilliant. Van Cleef was in the first and last of the trilogy.  His career was revived after those films.  Eastwood's rise never stopped.

Leone did offer Eastwood and Wallach roles in Duck You Sucker (aka: Fistful of Dynamite).  Eastwood declined because he felt the role was too close to his Man With No Name character in the Dollar films.  James Coburn picked up Eastwood's part and Rod Steiger ended up with the part written for Wallach.  That would've been interesting to watch.  Coburn did a great job, but the film seemed hollow without Wallach playing the bandit. 

Leone originally intended an opening farewell at the beginning of Once Upon A Time in The West.  Leone wanted to kill off his three Dollar stars at the beginning of his new Western trilogy. Sergio intended to have Eastwood, Wallach and Van Cleef to be the three gunmen waiting at the train station at the first of Once Upon A Time In The West.  Wallach and Van Cleef agreed to do it, but Eastwood refused. 

I wonder how many other young men like me waited and hoped that Eastwood, Wallach, and Van Cleef would one day be in a Western together again.  It was a secret hope of mine.  Sergio Leone was an admirer of John Ford.  John Ford had what people referred to as his 'stock company'.  Wouldn't it have been nice if Leone had picked up on that idea from Ford.  Leone did use actors over again, but why dust his boots off of these three amigos?

Chuck paints a ceiling

Tonight I watched THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (1965) with Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison.  I've had this movie on my 'to watch list' on Netflix for about three months and didn't even know if I had the interest to finish it once I started.  I vaguely remember seeing this movie many years ago, and only remembered a continuous argument between a pope and a painter.  I didn't recall anything else about it, but wanted to revisit it in my adulthood, as someone with more of an attention span and interest for such arguments.

I was really fascinated at how great this movie really is.  To me, this is Charlton Heston's greatest piece of acting.  I realize that Charlton work is shadowed by his role as Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and as Judah Ben Hur in BEN HUR, but dog-gone it, his Michelangelo is his masterpiece.  I've always enjoyed movies with Chuck, from Moses to the Omega Man, but I always thought of his acting as a little stiff ~ a little lofty.  I'll admit it's been my misperception all along, because the man had a face that could've been chiseled and smoothed by Michelangelo himself.  Maybe I placed him in my mind as more the big movie star rather than that of a great actor.   Now that I've seen The Agony and the Ecstasy as an adult, I have completely changed my view of him.  This man was a great actor!

Heston wasn't stiff, or lofty, no striding in this film.  Chuck's Michelangelo seemed more like a blue collar worker who was passionate about his craft, demanded pay for his work, and didn't mind giving his employer a piece of his mind if he felt the quality of his work was compromised...even if his employer was The Pope.

Kudos also to Rex Harrison who played Pope Julius II.  Harrison has played many memorable characters throughout his career, but this Pope peering up to Michelangelo peering down from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were incredible film moments.  Iron sharpens iron, and these two great actors delivered brilliant sparks flashing against each other throughout this film. They were just wonderful together.

Now that I've revisited and enjoyed the ecstasy of The Agony and the Ecstasy, I am going to have to revisit another one of Irving Stone's book to movie LUST FOR LIFE that starred Kirk Douglas as Vincent Van Gogh.  I remember it being a great movie.  I must watch it again after having not seen it in over thirty years.  I'll get back to you.

the robe revisited

I noticed Netflix made the 1953 movie THE ROBE available.  I remember television networks showing this movie every year around Easter.  It's been a long time since I'd watched it and I had almost forgotten about it.

THE ROBE is a fictional story that tells the story of the Roman soldier who won Jesus' robe in game of dice.  It's a good story for what it is and was worth revisiting.  It's is a dramatic film that was one of many Biblical epic productions of that time.  I felt it a little over-dramatic, much like most of the Biblical epic films of it's day, but the movie still has it's merits.

Most Biblical based films were that way until Johnny Cash's GOSPEL ROAD (1973) and the television mini-series JESUS OF NAZARETH (1977).  These movies seemed to bring the Son of God down to Earth more so than the huge productions that preceded them.

Interesting note about THE ROBE is that it was the first film shot in CinemaScope and actually had a sequel, DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS (1954). Throughout my life I had never seen the widescreen-letterbox version, rather the standard 1.33 ratio that was altered for television.  The visuals in the movie are quite stunning and worth watching again just so you can get big picture originally intended.  I also just learned that Jeff Chandler was originally considered to play Demetrius before Victor Mature.  Chandler would've made a great Demetrius, but Mature played his melodramatic part well.

squad 51

Jack Webb followed his successful Dragnet with Adam-12 and then to Emergency!.  Like the two previous shows, Emergency! focused on the lives of two civil servants, going day to day doing their job.  Unlike Webb's previous productions, Emergency focused on the lives of two paramedics, John Gage and Roy DeSoto, rather than law enforcement officers. 

I've watched all the Dragnet shows and the characters are stoic and the scripts dry and often preachy.  Even Harry Morgan's Bill Gannon's comic lines were dry and added minimal warmth to the show.  Dragnet begat Adam-12 which was a little warmer, but still a little dry and impersonal.

Emergency! came along and there was more warmth to the show.  Sure there was all the professional tech jargon and proper procedure being exhibited that Mark VII Limited productions had become known for, but the characters of Emergency were warmer and more identifiable.  As the show progressed, the viewer got to enjoy the interaction, the community of people working together at both the Rampart General  and at L.A. Fire Station 51.  This community ~ the relationships were something new for Webb to show the audience. 

I enjoyed revisiting Emergency! this past month these three decades later.  As a youth I'd  watch the show for the rescues, but found myself enjoying it for the relationships portrayed within the story.  Should I dare relate the kind of community portrayed in this show likened those memorable characters in the old John Ford movies?  I think I'll pay the show that great compliment.  Watching Emergency! again, I really wasn't pulled in by the death defying rescues, but rather enjoyed the show for a different reason. 

The show, like all other Mark VII Limited dramas were formulaic, and limited in realism.  I do believe that Jack Webb was probably the first to try to bring a type of reality television to American audiences.  Funny thing is, as much as I enjoyed Emergency!, I couldn't remember any of the episodes from my youth.  This isn't so with Dragnet.  As dry and stoic Dragnet is, I easily remembered most of episodes some four decades later. 

I remember very little about Adam-12.  I am trying to watch them, but they are not as interesting to watch as Dragnet or Emergency!.   I don't know why, I can't just seem to get into it like I did the prior and latter.  What I have noticed is that Adam-12 is the series between the two, a little warmer than Dragnet yet not nearly as warm as Emergency!.  I remember thinking when I was a kid that Webb's casting for the Emergency paramedic duo reminded me too much of the casting for the Adam-12 patrolmen duo.  At first glimpse the Adam-12 duo Pete Malloy and Jim Reed seemed almost identical to Emergency's paramedics Roy DeSoto and John Gage.  Was it just me that thought that? 

There was a cookie cutter means in which all of Jack Webb's productions were made.  They were all shot quickly and in like fashion.  I thought it humorous that Emergency! partners seemed to be clones of Adam-12's partners.  But as Emergency! developed, Roy DeSoto and John Gage took on their own identity and unique relationship.  I read where both actors, Kevin Tighe and Randolph Mantooth, in real life became life long friends from their working together for seven years together as DeSoto and Gage.

Before Emergency! I'd never heard of a paramedic or an EMT.  The show spawned national interest in the idea, rescue squads started popping up all over the place thanks to that particular show.  Another thing I liked about the show is that several of the firemen on Emergency! were actually firemen.  These moonlighters turned out to be pretty good actors.  I really didn't know if I was going to enjoy the show like I had when I was a teenager.  It took me a while to actually get around to watching Season 1, Episode 1 on Netflix.  Once I started I didn't stop.  It was fun revisiting the Emergency!

more than 86

Don Adams was a comedian who started his career doing stand-up.  He's most known for his roll as Agent 86, Maxwell Smart on Mel Brook's and Buck Henry's Get Smart. Don was a funny guy who experienced a great deal of success with his bumbling wry-voiced secret agent character, but ended up being tied to it for life.  After the show he continued to work doing stand-up, voice over, and guests appearances on television shows.  He wanted to move on to dramatic rolls but he was stuck with Smart.  I know Adams would've done great with other type rolls as other comedians have since.  Nevertheless, Don had a successful career and has a place in television history as well as our collective memories.

Here's some more about Don Adams to add to your memories. I had read a while back that Don Adams was once a United States Marine Drill Instructor. Would you believe that he saw combat on Gualdalcanal and was the lone survivor of his entire platoon?  He nearly died after contracting blackwater fever and was hospitalized for over a year.
 
It wasn't until after his ordeals that he became a Marine Corps DI.  It's hard to picture this funny fellow serving in such a serious roll in life.  It would've been interesting to know how his sense of humor played a part in his wartime experience.  I know his story is larger than he ever let on.  Don is like countless other men who volunteered to serve and sacrifice ~ who return to civilian life to pursue their happiness without saying much about their experience.

Don Adams was definitely more than Maxwell Smart.