Chrisforliberty's Blog

I took a three hour round trip (over Memorial Day weekend) to Pall Mall (pronounced /ˈpæl ˈmæl/ pal mal by residents) in order to a pay visit to the Sgt. York Historic Park. It was long overdue.

Most people are already generally familiar with York’s exploits during World War I in large part due to the movie plus some general readings here and there. To get more in-depth about his life, I suggest checking out “Sgt York: His Life, Legend & Legacy“.

Much of his later life was spent seeking to improve the welfare of his fellow beings through improved education, economic opportunities and sharing the gospel of Christ. He stated once “When I die, I had rather it be said about me that I gave my life toward aiding my fellow man than for to be said that I became a millionaire, through capitalizing on my fame as a fighter. I do not care to be remembered as a warrior, but one who helped others to Christ”.

“You know, George, you’d have made a great Marshal for Napoleon, if you’d lived in the 18th Century.”

“Oh, but I did, Sir Alex, I did.”

(Based on a dream)

I’ve known for quite some time that I am not of the 21st century. My body is here, but my mind and spirit are elsewhere. I would have been a farmer/frontiersman in the 18th century. Otherwise, I would be working as a newspaper reporter during the Roaring 20′s reporting on the exploits of the New York Yankees, Red Grange and Al Capone. When the night rolled around, I would have put on my hat and three pieced suit, hit the speakeasies and kissed away. Given that I would have been a reporter with my nose to the ground, I would known of every nook, cranny and password in town. Then I would have moved to Hollywood where I would have worked for the next 40 or 50 years. On top of that, I would have married Barbara Stanwyck and probably had affairs with Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr and/or Joan Leslie. If you are going to cheat on your spouse (in my case, we could talk it over), you had better make it worth your while. I probably would have been making films for the war effort or traveling in order to document the war while passing around copies of “War is a Racket”.

The following is a partial conversation I would have had if we had that moment in time when we could have met. The setting is a cafe/tavern in Casablanca. George would have be smoking a cigar and enjoying brandy.          I would have been a non-smoker (rare in the 1940′s) and carrying around a bottle of Old No. 7.

“George. Congratulations on your speech this morning. Do you really think we can win this war. I mean, those Germans are not to be messed with.”

“Well, Chris. In our present state of being and mind, no! But God have it, I will whip these boys into the finest son of a bitches God has ever known. By God, I will.”

“I wish you the best. If anyone in this army can do it, it is you. Granted, I don’t care for your profanity and I hate war. But I appreciate your tactfulness and outright display of honesty. I can tell you don’t walk around with a fashion consultant and speech writer.”

“I am my own man. How’s life with Barbara?”

“It is good all things considered. We still get the same love bugs and twinkle eyes even after knowing each other for almost 15 years. I will never forget laying eyes on her the first time when “The Locked Door” came out. Little did I know that within a few months, I would be heading to Hollywood and the rest is history. I was fired from my job all because I expressed interest in writing a series of articles on what was causing the Stock Market crash. Apparently, economics is a subject matter that only experts should know about. I mean who gets excited about fractional reserve banking, interest rates or manipulation of gold prices?”

“Gold! I love Gold! What’s Barbara doing nowadays?”

“She has recently accepted a part, something to do with insurance. It isn’t titled yet. Given the average timetable for movies, it should be out in another year or so.

“Insurance? Yeah the stuff people get excited about. I’m sure she will make people get excited about insurance.”

“George, when do you think the war will be over?”

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but if we get our act together given what potential we can muster from our industrial might, discipline and duty, we could finish before the decade is out. Speaking of time, I need to check on the barracks very soon. Those boys shouldn’t be getting too excited about their posters. Because they won’t be around if I find them.”

“Forgive them for being young. You only live once.”

“You live forever. I was alive in the 1st century before Christ, the 9th, the 16th, 18th and fought alongside Stonewall Jackson too.”

“I need to leave now. My boss is expecting my script by tomorrow afternoon and you have barracks duty. So I will let you go.”

“It was good to meet you and sleep well. I won’t if the boys aren’t asleep by midnight.”

I could literally write a book on the man known as “The Master of Suspense”. Plenty has been written about this rather unique individual and the role he had in shaping the motion picture industry. In a rather sad way, I am fairly certain that the “Hollywood” of the 20th century can’t be re-created.  But thankfully, in large part to restoration and preservation, the films of that era can be enjoyed by future generations for decades to come.

I first became a fan of Hitchcock after watching “The Lady Vanishes” as a 16 year old. My interest in the man and his work continues well into my 30′s. It is too bad I wasn’t born about 75 years earlier as I often say to myself.

Since time and space prevent me from writing a book about Hitchcock, I will just write what he has meant to me on a personal level. Aside from reading numerous articles and books on his style of film-making, the legendary lengths he went during pre-production and the MacGuffin, I’ve enjoyed the fact he was able to maintain his unique way of doing things even in an industry that while offering a creative outlet does tend to grow stale from time to time.  He was able to keep his independence from producers and was very hands-on, but not to the point of stifling the people he worked with. It is my hope future generations will come to learn and appreciate the era in which Hitchcock was part and parcel of. We can’t travel back in time. But we can enjoy it through his works.

Two Classic Hollywood actresses share birthdays today: Barbara Stanwyck and Ginger Rogers.

As best I can recall, Barbara Stanwyck is the first Golden Age actress I was ever exposed to, via The Thorn Birds (1983) in which she has perhaps the most memorable scene.

It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that I would reconnect with Stanwyck and this time, it would be her film career, which I had been vaguely aware of but hadn’t seen.  The first of these films that I was exposed to was Double Indemnity (1944).  While her 1940′s movies are the best known of her career, viewing her 1930′s work has been a constant, unfolding joy.  Stanwyck was brilliant at both comedy and drama.  She was taking roles that most other established actresses would not accept due to their “risk factor” such as Baby Face (1933) where she works her way up the corporate ladder and even upstages John Wayne.  While she may be best known for her dramatic roles, the “lighter side” of Stanwyck was what made me like her even more.

Stanwyck will never be thought of as a classic beauty, but as Sugarpuss O’Shea in Ball of Fire (1941), she has a sexy, playfullness about her that makes her wonderfully appealing.  Then again, beauty is a way of being, not merely looking.

Barbara Stanwyck’s legacy has grown bigger in the years since her death in 1990.  I confindently place her “up there” with other major actresses of the 1930s-40s.  Stanwyck was well-respected in her movie star prime, receiving four Oscar nominations but never winning.  The Academy finally honored Stanwyck with an honorary Oscar in 1982.

If I had the benefit of working in the movies at that time as I so often dream, “Missy” is one of the actresses I would want to work with the most and I even imagine going out to dinner with.

Ginger’s comedic ability is second to none as she had great timing and a snappy, breezy way of speaking that made her a great choice for what were referred to as “working gal” roles.   She could get into a catfight, moon over a dashing man, and of course hold her own with Fred Astaire.  She’s also the only actress of her era who could sing a Gershwin tune, dance while conveying a variety of feelings, and excel at drama and comedy.  I’m amazed at all the things that she could do well and she’s alone at the top in that respect.  The unfortunate aspect of Ginger’s career is that she turned her back on musicals and dancing which she should’ve kept at and could’ve continued doing, especially after her Oscar win in Kitty Foyle (1940), which put her on the top of the heap.

My interest in Ginger Rogers roles wanes considerably after 1945.  Less interesting roles and films did nothing for her career as well as some inconsistent performances that were strangely out of character.  However, from about 1932 to 1945 she was as good as anyone ever was or will be.

I wonder if her career decline may also have been in part to musicals just going out of style by the 1950′s.  Whatever the reason, she will always be associated with having one of the greatest on-screen tandems in movie history.

In her later years, she was mostly active in Medford, Oregon.  I could certainly see myself having conversations with her about movie production or politics.  I’m sure I would have even given dancing with her a try.