Washington Post: The 34 best political movies ever made

[Joseph McBride]

I saw RIO BRAVO on its first release in 1959, when I was twelve. I told Hawks that "the only

reason I went to see it was because Ricky Nelson was in it. At that time I didn't know

who you were."  He said, "I didn't know you appreciated

music so much."  I enjoyed the singing of Nelson and

Dean Martin (and still do), but what startled me as a kid was the entirely

accurate portrayal of alcoholism in the Martin character. My

parents were alcoholics, and it was a hellish upbringing. I recognized

for the first time in a film a real depiction of life. The scene of Martin

pouring the drink back into the bottle made a great impression on me.

Edited February 6, 2020 by Joseph McBride

[David Andrews]

8 minutes ago, Joseph McBride said:

I saw RIO BRAVO on its first release in 1959. I told Hawks I went

to see it because I was a Ricky Nelson fan. He said he didn't know

I appreciated music so much. What startled me was the entirely

accurate portrayal of alcoholism in the Dean Martin character. My

parents were alcoholics, and it was a hellish upbringing. I recognized

for the first time in a film a real depiction of life. The scene of Martin

pouring the drink back into the bottle made a great impression on me.

I watched El Dorado last night.  I had thought Only Angels Have Wings was the closest Hawks came to injecting screwball comedy into an action film, but I was wrong.  I still think Rio Bravo is the more historically significant picture because it responds to High Noon, and Martin playing the drunk for pathos is the more important performance.  If you could slam the two Leigh Brackett scripts together, with a triad of Wayne-Martin-Mitchum, something earthshaking might have occurred.

Edited February 6, 2020 by David Andrews

[Ron Ecker]

I watched El Dorado again recently, and there's a really funny bit that I didn't remember. There's a shootout and one of the bad guys runs away limping. I think it's the Caan character who says, "I think I wounded one of them. He ran away limping." And the Mitchum character says, "He was limping when he got here."

 

 

[James DiEugenio]

Fruitcake Wayne hated Spartacus also. 

Surprised he didn't make a counter to that, maybe showing how kind the Romans were to their slaves?

What do you expect from a rightwing nut who tried to justify the Vietnam War, and got the White House's full cooperation in doing so.

But chickenhawk Wayne was hoisted on his own petard.  The Green Berets was released about five months after the Tet offensive.

[David Andrews]

19 hours ago, Joseph McBride said:

I saw RIO BRAVO on its first release in 1959, when I was twelve. [...] but what startled me as a kid was the entirely

accurate portrayal of alcoholism in the Martin character. My

parents were alcoholics, and it was a hellish upbringing. I recognized

for the first time in a film a real depiction of life. The scene of Martin

pouring the drink back into the bottle made a great impression on me.

I'm sorry for your troubles, Joseph.  I'm constantly seeing past situations with family and friends in films, more so as I get older and rack them up.  I haven't been able to bring myself to watch Marriage Story, for instance.

I suspect Hawks knew the drinking life as well as anybody.  I don't suspect him of being compassionate about anything, however.  I've seen his video interviews, and he strikes me as a businessman who stayed at the top by putting nuts on bolts in a way that simulated meaning.  Then again, I've seen and read John Ford interviews, and I have no idea how such a man produced My Darling Clementine and the darker parts of The Searchers.

Edited February 7, 2020 by David Andrews

[Ron Ecker]

12 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Fruitcake Wayne hated Spartacus also. 

Surprised he didn't make a counter to that, maybe showing how kind the Romans were to their slaves?

 

I assume that Wayne hated "Spartacus" because Kirk Douglas hired Dalton Trumbo, who was blacklisted, to write the screenplay. 

According to Wikipedia, JFK crossed an American Legion picket line to see the movie, helping to end the blacklist. 

 

 

[Joseph McBride]

Re John Wayne: You have to learn to separate the man and the artist. If you only

like artists who share your political views and behave impeccably,

you will like very few artists, and your life will be impoverished.

[W. Niederhut]

4 hours ago, Joseph McBride said:

Re John Wayne: You have to learn to separate the man and the artist. If you only

like artists who share your political views and behave impeccably,

you will like very few artists, and your life will be impoverished.

As a psychiatrist, I have had to hold my nose to watch Tom Cruise movies.

My wife, a psychologist, feels the same way.

As for John Wayne, DiEugenio said it well.  I despise the right wing jingoism.

I feel the same way about Clint Eastwood, after seeing his moronic RNC lecture to the chair in 2012, (and American Sniper.)  And I grew up admiring Clint Eastwood, after seeing The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly at a drive-in the year it came out.  (I've probably watched that flick 20 times in my life.)

[Ron Ecker]

1 hour ago, W. Niederhut said:

As a psychiatrist, I have had to hold my nose to watch Tom Cruise movies.

My wife, a psychologist, feels the same way.

As for John Wayne, DiEugenio said it well.  I despise the right wing jingoism.

I feel the same way about Clint Eastwood, after seeing his moronic RNC lecture to the chair in 2012, (and American Sniper.)  And I grew up admiring Clint Eastwood, after seeing The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly at a drive-in the year it came out.  (I've probably watched that flick 20 times in my life.)

Try Jon Voight, who has said that "God answered all our prayers" with Donald Trump, "the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln."

 

 

[Pat Speer]

All this talk of old westerns led me to flash on Fort Apache, a movie filmed down the road from where I currently reside, a mile or so this side of Spahn Ranch. I went hiking there this past weekend. While a western, the film touched on other issues, chiefly the corruption of power. Most people think Henry Fonda never played a bad guy prior to Once Upon a Time in the West. They need to watch Fort Apache. It's been awhile since I watched it, but as I recall (the notorious liberal in real life) Henry Fonda gets drunk on power, and foolishly leads his men into unnecessary battles with the Apache, and it falls upon (the notorious right-winger in real life) John Wayne to put an end to the hostilities and save the day. 

They were actors, after all. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by Pat Speer

[David Andrews]

9 minutes ago, Pat Speer said:

All this talk of old westerns led me to flash on Fort Apache, a movie filmed down the road from where I currently reside, a mile or so this side of Spahn Ranch. I went hiking their this past weekend. While a western, the film touched on other issues, chiefly the corruption of power. Most people think Henry Fonda never played a bad guy prior to Once Upon a Time in the West. They need to watch Fort Apache. It's been awhile since I watched it, but as I recall (the notorious liberal in real life) Henry Fonda gets drunk on power, and foolishly leads his men into unnecessary battles with the Apache, and it falls upon (the notorious right-winger in real life) John Wayne to put an end to the hostilities and save the day. 

They were actors, after all. 

Wayne taking the small-c conservative view of strategy.

[W. Niederhut]

2 hours ago, Ron Ecker said:

Try Jon Voight, who has said that "God answered all our prayers" with Donald Trump, "the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln."

 

 

Yes, Jon Voight must be high on the list for the next Birther Trump Medal of Freedom, along with Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs...  😬

[Cliff Varnell]

Jon Voight and James Woods are my favorite right-wing-wacko actors.

[Ron Ecker]

2 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

Yes, Jon Voight must be high on the list for the next Birther Trump Medal of Freedom, along with Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs...  😬

Yep, the Medal of Freedom ain't what it used to be.

Reagan gave it to Frank Sinatra, before Ronnie found out (or did he ever know?) that Frank had called him "a stupid bore" and called Reagan's wife Nancy "a dumb broad with fat ankles."

 

 

[David Andrews]

53 minutes ago, Ron Ecker said:

Yep, the Medal of Freedom ain't what it used to be.

 

Obama gave it to Joan Didion, which was a good call.