In Defense of Buffy Sainte-Marie

20 Aug 2025 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

What I am going to say will be very controversial.  Many people reading this blog will take umbrage at my opinions.  The good thing is that you will not be charged any fees for my opinions.  You are free to take them or leave them.

Perhaps if I were a Native American or a member of a Federally Recognized Tribe my words would carry more weight.  However, I am not an Indigenous person.  As far as I know, I have no Indian relatives and no Indian blood in me.  I do not claim to have an Indian Chief in my ancestry or a relative who was an Indian Princess.  I also must issue the following caveats.  I am a fan of Buffy Sainte-Marie.  I not only respect her, but I admire her.  I will tell you why in a little while.

Now I understand the charges against her quite well.  I have talked about cultural appropriation as an evil done by either stupid or misaligned people.  I do not believe that America ever did right by the people that we stole this land from by genocide, fake treaties, and scams.  As a resident of Arizona, I still see tribal people being taken advantage of when it comes to mining, drilling and water rights.  If an Indian might make some money on something worth selling, there will be a bunch of rich fat White people who want to screw them out of it.  I hear White people say, “It’s a shame we broke all those treaties with the Indians.”  These well-meaning people should get their heads out of their asses.  We are still breaking treaties made many years ago with the Indians.  When it comes to profit, there is no limit to the perfidy of some White people.  I think it was Sitting Bull who said, “I believe in Christianity, but I do not see many White People practicing it.”  I think the same can be said of many so-called Christians today.

But lets return to the subject of this blog.  Buffy Sainte-Marie passed herself off for many years as a Native American.  She has now been outed by relatives and others who seem to take great delight in maligning her.  I am going to try to offer a defense for her in this blog.  I have already said that I am a fan of hers.  I bought all of her albums back in the sixties and seventies.  I went to a tent concert she did up in Northern Wisconsin a few years ago put on by reservation people.  I have never personally met Ms. Sainte-Marie, nor have I ever corresponded with her.  I am not getting paid one penny for the viewpoints I am offering.  I have already confessed to being White so you can accuse me of bias if you like.  I prefer to think that I have always stood up for the underdogs in my life.

Let’s look at the three of the main charges against her in more perspective.

  1. She is not a real Indian
  2. She took awards that could have gone to real Indians
  3. She sang songs and agitated for Indian rights when she is really not an Indian.

 1.  She Is not a Real Indian:

There is an old adage which says, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.”  In my eyes anyway, Buffy Sainte-Marie looks like an Indian, acts like an Indian and sings Indian like songs.  What’s missing here is Buffy does not have the right set of genes.  Genes or no genes, she is more of an assimilated Indian than many Indians I have known who live off Reservations.  Years ago, we assumed that an Indian could be assimilated by going to an Indian School, wearing White clothes and forsaking their native language.  They could then be accepted as a White person by the larger White community.  At least this was the logic following the Indian wars and the ongoing efforts by White communities of both the USA and Canada to assimilate the Indigenous peoples.

Well, Buffy Sainte-Marie did a reverse assimilation.  She assimilated herself into the Indigenous culture in Canada and was even accepted by a Canadian Tribe.  Records show that she was adopted by a Piapot First Nation family in accordance with Cree law and traditions.  Members of the Piapot family have supported her claims.  Whether she was accepted or adopted into the tribe, she is an assimilated Indian by any stretch of the imagination.

2.  She took awards that could have gone to real Indians:

I am not quite sure I understand this criticism.  Buffy Sainte-Marie did take awards that were earmarked for native accomplishments both socially and culturally.  Specific awards and honors received by Buffy Sainte-Marie that were designated for Indigenous people include:

  • Four Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards: She received these awards at a time when they were specifically designated for Indigenous musicians.
  • Two Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Music Awards: These awards were also designed to recognize Indigenous artists.
  • Four Juno Awards intended for Indigenous people: For example, she won the Juno for Indigenous Music Album of the Year in 2018 for “Medicine Songs”.
  • Four Indigenous lifetime achievement awards.

Many of these awards for Buffy have since been revoked by  the authorities issuing them.  Most of the awards concern her musical skills.  I hear the claim that a Real Indian could have won these.  This rings hollow to me.  During the sixties, Buffy is the only folk singer that I knew or ever heard who sang “pro-Indian” songs.  Her “My Country Tis of Thy People Your Dying” and “Now that the Buffaloes Gone” made as much impact on my awareness of Native American issues as did Dee Brown’s book “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.”  Dee Brown was also not Native American.  He was a White author from the American South.  He was born in Louisiana and raised in Arkansas.  His best-known work, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” detailed the history of American expansionism and its impact on Indigenous peoples.  Should we take Dee’s book off the shelf?  More’s the pity if you do folks since I never heard one peep during my high school history classes on how much shit we did to Native Americans.  Buffy’s songs and Dee’s book were some of the first major influences upon my White life in terms of the real truth about Indian history.

In March 2025, CARAS announced that it was revoking Sainte-Marie’s Juno Awards and her induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame based on the finding that she is not a Canadian citizen and therefore doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria, according to Variety.

3.  She sang songs and agitated for Indian rights when she is really not an Indian.

Here  I would like to judge Buffy Sainte-Marie on the basis of the good that she did for Native American causes and not the bad that she did.  Yes, she lied about her genes and her lineage.  Yes, she continued to insist that she was a true Native American.  She had either brain-washed herself or she really came to believe that she was an Indian.  I certainly do not know the answer to which motive guided her.  I know some of her relatives accused her of trying to smother the truth of her ancestry even by threatening them with a lawsuit.  Shame on Sainte-Marie for this.  Should she have been quicker to apologize?  Yes, I think so.  But does this make Buffy evil?  Does she deserve to be stripped of awards that she earned not by being Native American but because of the songs that she wrote and the messages that these songs sent.

 From “Now that the Buffaloes Gone” by Buffy Sainte-Marie

Oh, it’s all in the past you can say

But it’s still going on here today

The government now want the Iroquois land

That of the Seneca and the Cheyenne

It’s here and it’s now you can help us dear man

Now that the buffalo’s gone.

From “My Country Tis of Thy People Your Dying” by Buffy Sainte-Marie

When Columbus set sail out of Europe, then stress

That the nation of leeches that conquered this land

Are the biggest and bravest and boldest and best

And yet where in your history books is the tale

Of the genocide basic to this country’s birth

Not many people would have the courage to pin such lyrics whether Indian or White.  In my neighborhood, it is dangerous to put up a Democrat for office sign.  Many American “Heroes” have said that the “Only good Indian is a dead Indian.”  What exactly besides sing has St. Marie done for Indigenous people?  I asked ChatGPT this question and received the following reply:

Major Contributions Beyond Music

  1. Trailblazer on Sesame Street
  • From 1976 to 1981, she became the first regular Indigenous presence on Sesame Street, aiming to teach children that “Indians still exist.” Native News Online+12Wikipedia+12Teen Vogue+12
  • In a landmark moment for representation, she famously breastfed her son on air in 1977—likely the first such instance ever shown on television. Teen Vogue
  1. Educational Advocacy & Philanthropy
  1. Pioneering Electronic and Multimedia Art
  • Her 1969 album Illuminations was groundbreaking—using Buchla synthesizers and quadraphonic technology to forge a new sonic frontier. It’s now seen as a pioneering work in electronic and experimental music. Pitchfork+2Vogue+2
  • She also embraced early computer technology—using Apple II and Macintosh systems in the early 1980s to record music and produce visual art. Wikipedia
  1. Media Representation & Hollywood Influence
  • In 1968, Buffy insisted that all Indigenous roles in her episode of The Virginian be filled by Indigenous actors—a first in Hollywood. She held firm despite managers’ objections and succeeded. Teen Vogue (Teen Vogue interview referenced in images)
  1. Humanitarian Voice & Global Activism
  • As a vocal participant in the Red Power movement, she provided a platform for Indigenous concerns through grassroots concerts tied to the American Indian Movement. PBS+5Teen Vogue+5Teen Vogue+5Native News Online+1
  • Her humanitarian spirit led to widespread recognition, including an Oscar, Golden Globe, and honorary doctorates for her work spanning activism and arts. PBS+13Wikipedia+13Teen Vogue+13
  • Through media such as the documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On, she continued advocating for Indigenous rights, touring, and raising awareness well past her prime—into her 80s. muskratmagazine.com+11PBS+11Wikipedia+11

In Summary

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s legacy encompasses far more than her powerful protest songs.  She broke new ground in television, revolutionized arts and education, fought for authentic Indigenous representation, and used her influence to empower Indigenous voices globally.  Her initiatives—from Sesame Street to the Cradleboard curriculum—continue to shape conversations around identity, learning, and equity.

John’s Conclusions: 

Go ahead.  Say “so what.”  Say “who gives a damn.”  Tell me she is a liar and a hypocrite.  Tell me all her good works should be erased because she wanted you to believe that she was an Indian.  Tell me she is not really an Indian and that someone else would have done all the stuff that she did anyway.  Tell me that you can cast the first stone at her for lying because you have never lied in your life.

That’s all I have to say folks.  A courageous humane person made a big mistake but the good that she did and still does should not be forgotten.  If you want to tell me how bad a person she is, tell me what you have done lately for the benefits of our Native brethren.  I don’t think all the awards and recognition that she received should be given back to her.  That is the past.  What I do believe is that she should be given a special award for White people who have contributed to Native American Causes.  Like the Jewish people have their “Yad Vashem” to recognize non-Jews who helped save or give their lives for Jews, perhaps we need a similar hall in our country for people who helped Native American causes or even gave their lives to protect Native Americans.  Here are two examples in case you are wondering if such people ever existed.

  1. Samuel Worcester (1798–1859)
  • A Christian missionary from Vermont who worked among the Cherokee.
  • He defied Georgia state laws aimed at forcing the Cherokee off their lands and was arrested in 1831.
  • His case, Worcester v. Georgia (1832), went to the Supreme Court, which sided with him and affirmed Cherokee sovereignty.
  • Although he survived prison and lived out his life, he endured years of hardship and persecution for standing with the Cherokee at great personal risk.
  1. Edmund D. Pepperman (1901–1930)
  • A white civil rights attorney in Oklahoma who represented Native clients against oil companies and corrupt guardianship schemes during the allotment era.
  • He was murdered in 1930 while investigating abuses connected to Osage oil wealth.
  • His death highlighted the dangers faced by allies who tried to expose exploitation of Indigenous communities.

Buffy’s Song – A Poem by ChatGPT and John P. 

She sang not only with a voice,
but with the marrow of her bones—
a cry against forgetting,
a hymn for nations silenced.

In ballads of resistance,
she wove the stories hidden
beneath the treaties broken,
beneath the trails of tears.

Her guitar became a council fire,
her words—sharp arrows of truth,
piercing the walls of power,
lifting the dreams of the young.

She stood for the water,
for the mothers and the missing,
for children stolen by schools
that tried to burn away their tongues.

Scholar, warrior, poet,
she gave her strength to voices
that history tried to hush,
but could never erase.

Buffy sang of survival,
not as a whisper of sorrow,
but as a thundercloud rising,
a promise of dawn.

And still her song endures—
a river that refuses to dry,
a drum that will not fall silent,
a flame carried in countless hands.

For every child who learns their language,
for every elder whose story returns,
for every Indian standing proud—
her music lives,
a sovereign heartbeat,
forever strong.

How to Use Product or Service Reviews to Get the Best Deals

24 Jun 2025 1 Comment

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Everywhere you look today there are reviews telling you how other people feel about a product or service that they have purchased.  A good friend of mine refuses to read reviews.  She argues that it is a little like going into a restaurant and asking a server “What is good today?”  I see her point to some extent.  What do I care about what others think about something?  How do I know the server likes the same thing that I like?

Growing up on the East Coast, I love seafood and spicy food.  Relocating to the Midwest in later years, I found half the population in states like Minnesota and Wisconsin where there are thousands of lakes and millions of fishermen who say, “I don’t like fish.”  I used to ask them, “why?” I don’t anymore because I already know the answer.  “They taste too fishy, they will say”  I want to reply, “Oh, do you dislike steak when it tastes too steaky?  Or hate potatoes that taste too much like potatoes?”   But it would be useless.  About the same use as challenging someone to eat something spicy when they say it will give them an upset stomach.  Somehow, millions of Americans believe that spicy foods cause upset stomachs.

The opinions that inhabit the brains of other people should lead all of us to be very cautious when reading reviews.  Let me give you two examples of bad or stupid reviews I have read.  Then I will tell you the secret for finding useful information from reviews.  Information that will lead you to be able to make purchases nearly 100 percent of the time that provide the quality and reliability that you are looking for.  You see there is both art and science to reading reviews.  Most people merely rely on one or the other and obtain less than optimal results in their choices.

The following are two reviews I have actually read myself.  The first deals with my searching for a new pair of running shoes.  Most reviews unless noted are based on five stars with five being the highest rating.

“I gave these shoes a two star.  They looked good but they did not come in a wide range of colors.  My wife said though that they make me look like a super runner.”

I am a functionalist when it comes to running shoes.  I have been running for nearly fifty years and used more pairs of running shoes than I can count.  I have bought just about every brand of running shoe ever made.  When I buy a running shoe, I buy it according to the type of running that I will be doing.  Will I be on the street, then I want a shoe with more cushion.  Will I be on wooded trails, then I might buy a more minimalist shoe like a Vibram Five Finger Sole.  Will I be on rocky mountain trails, than I want a shoe with more support and a rock sole plate inside like the Merrill’s that I recently bought.

I do not find a correlation with quality and price when it comes to running shoes.  The only correlation that exists in the running shoe industry is with price and fashion.  Many people who run like to look stylish and wear the latest most popular running shoes.  They will pay two or even three times for a new fashionista shoe than it is really worth.  They are often more interested in the colors available for shoes than the quality of the shoe.  Hence, it is buyer beware if you are looking for shoe ratings.

The next stupid review I want to describe was for a book that I was looking at on Amazon.  I was surprised that someone rated the book with a one star until I read the review.

“I gave the book a one star as soon as I saw the title.  No book with a title like this one could be any good.  The cover was also very dumb looking.” 

The only thing dumb about this book was the moron giving the review.  I do lots of reviews on travels and places that I have visited.  I review tours, hotels, concerts, train rides, restaurants etc.  I would never ever want to tear someone’s place or product down with a review that is incompetent and downright mean.  Yes, I think it is mean spirited to write a one-star review unless you can document or back it up with some facts that support your rating.  Facts and circumstances that would justify a one-star review.  Furthermore, I think it is always imperative that you try to deal with the provider before you leave a nasty review.  Speak to the owner or manufacturer or manager before you leave a review that can hurt their business.

The world of reviews is full of problematic reviews that tell you little or nothing about the product or service.  On the other hand, many low rated reviews can provide a wealth of information that will be useful.  Similarly, many high rated reviews can either give you good data or be a waste of time.  The review by a runner that says “I do not run but I rated the shoes high because they came in a wide range of colors” is not likely to be useful to anyone running twenty or more miles a week on hard rocky terrain.

Lets look at the two elements of a review that you should take into consideration.  The first I will call the “Science.”

Simply, how many reviewers have reviewed the product and what is the mean and distribution of data around the mean.  A product with too few reviews could be biased for a number of reasons.  Friends or even employees might have been talked into writing reviews to make the product look good.  I do not trust reviews based on less than 100 reviews and generally I want to see a review with more than 500 reviews.  I trust a larger sample size more than a smaller sample size.

Next, I look at the distribution of ratings.  It is not enough to know that a product received a 4.5 rating overall since the distribution might be lots of high ratings together with some very low ratings.  The average is not always a good figure to rely on.  As the saying goes, if you have two people in a room and one is starving to death with no food to eat and the other person is enjoying an entire chicken to eat by themselves, than on the average there is ½ a chicken per person in the room.  I want to buy a product with a rating that has less spread than a rating with an equal number of ones and fives.

The second part of finding your great product or service is the “Art” part.  It is the reading of the reviews to discern what people liked and disliked about the product.  No one should be buying a product or service without some idea of what they hope or expect it to do for them.  You want to have some expectations of what you are buying in terms of quality and reliability and sometimes style or fashion.

Reading the bad reviews as well as the good reviews can give you invaluable information on how the product performs and what it is capable of doing.  If there are videos that have been submitted showing the product being sold (These can also often be found on YouTube), I will always watch these videos to get more information about the product.  It might be a great product or even a fantastic product, but it might not be great or fantastic for me.  I think it is imperative to match the product or service to your own needs and wants.

I may reject high ratings as well as low ratings for a variety of reasons.  Often, people have unrealistic expectations about the product.  When it comes to movie reviews such as those on Rotten Tomatoes, good reviews might be useless if the movie does not fit into the genre of films that I like.  I tend to like movies that have more plot and character development.  Movies that are short on car chases and action shootouts and high on interesting dialogue.  My choice of movies does not reflect mainstream attitudes today with the current penchant for horror and action flicks.

The major categories of products and services that I purchase include the following.  I will briefly provide a few caveats concerning each of these areas.  A lot more could be said but a few comments should suffice to give you some thoughts.

  • Books

Books are very trendy and fashionable.  Always read a review to see if the content matches your interests and not because it is the “book of the month.”  Popularity does not necessarily equal a good read.

  • Movies

Rotten Tomatoes has its ratings based on two categories.  Critics and Viewers.  A movie might be high in one and lower in the other, high in both or low in both.  I tend to look for the high in both categories but sometimes I have found a great movie that was low in both categories.  Many very popular current films will be high in both categories, but I do not like very many of the current films out there.  I try to look more into the aspects of the film and plot and characterization that resonate with my film choices.

  • Hotels

This is a very difficult product to judge because a hotel is more than just a room.  It is convenience to other areas, amenities, staff, food, service, clientele, ambience and location.  It is very difficult to find ratings on hotels that are very high, and it is one area where I might concede a correlation between price and quality.  That said there are many bargains out there when you get away from the big chain hotels and find small independent operations.  The one that we stayed in called the Zags Hotel in Portland fell into this later category.  It was relatively inexpensive but one of the most fun hotels we have ever stayed at.

Many people are very critical when it comes to hotels and motels.  Some want walk in showers and feather pillows and others don’t care about the showers or pillows.  You must read between the lines when selecting a hotel or you will be very disappointed.

  • Restaurants

Ratings on restaurants are also very problematic.  I blame restaurants for this to some extent since they often create their own problems.  Even the best restaurants in the country have days when everything is just off.   Service is bad, food not up to standards and ambiance bad.  One common review I have read goes as follows, “Used to be great place to eat, food and service have gone downhill.  Would not come back again.”  This review might be followed by another that reads “Great place to eat, food was excellent, service was beyond expectations.”

Two things that restaurants cannot control are the expectations of diners and the behavior of staff both in the kitchen and out of the kitchen.  Many diners act like they are monarchs and should not have to wait five minutes for any service.  I have read so many bad reviews on restaurants where I have had great meals and service that I can only wonder at what happened to the other diner to cause such negativity.  Having been in the customer service sector myself, I can tell you that there are customers that you could never satisfy in a million years.  Thus, I would take any restaurant reviews with a dose of probability.  What are the odds I will get a good meal and good service tonight?  Like with the weather, it will never be a one hundred percent accurate forecast.

  • Cars

I have never made a bad purchase with a car.   I also put car salespeople on my list of top unreliable people to deal with.  I realize that they are in a very high-pressure business and that this is part of the problem.  They don’t get the sale then little Andrea goes hungry.  This means that they are liable to exaggerate claims on what they are selling.  A worse problem is that due to the myriad complexities of the vehicles they are selling you, they will probably be a let less informed about the vehicle than you would expect.  I have hardly ever been sold a vehicle new or used wherein the claims provided by the salesperson matched later expectations.  Despite this discrepancy, my tendency to research the cars I am going to buy and to spend a great amount of time looking at comparable vehicles has helped me be very satisfied in my choices.  The few discrepancies have been irritating but ultimately very negligible in the overall product choice.  One example is a follows.

In 2018 we were shopping for a car to replace our 2009 Honda Civic that had 235,000 miles on it.  We decided to buy a new Honda Accord as it came stock with the new safety package that Honda had developed.  All the new bells and whistles for braking, cameras, adaptive cruise control and other safety features.  One thing I wanted for sure was the built in GPS system.  The salesperson assured us that GPS was standard on the Accord we were looking at.  We bought the car and two weeks later we still had not figured out how to get GPS on the console.  The salesperson had assured us that all we had to do was download the right software.  Turned out that the car did not support GPS regardless of what software we downloaded.  When you buy a car, it is always “Caveat Emptor.”

  • Merchandise

We purchase a great deal of merchandise on Amazon these days.  It is very convenient to peruse their products and their shipping and return policies are excellent.  Since January of 25, we have placed 129 orders with Amazon.  There is such a range of merchandise that it is very difficult to give hard and fast rules about reviews.

Certainly, the science of reviews as I described should be paid attention to.  The number of reviews along with the distribution of ratings is very important.  As to the art of the review, it is imperative that you have a good idea of what you want and that you research the various product options as thoroughly as you can.  This means that if you are buying clothes, check other online sellers out.  The same goes for furniture, appliances, hardware and pharmaceuticals.

The range of ratings for many items prohibits a simple decision.  For almost every product, you will find many people who love it and many people who hate it.  Know the features and benefits that you are looking for and select the product where people rave about these features.  If style is not important, then you may not care about color choices in running shoes.  On the other hand, if reliability is important than look for reviewers who have used the product for several months or even years.  I have seen too many reviews where a product such as a running shoe worked great for two weeks and then fall apart.

Conclusions:

It is not easy wading through myriad reviews to find anything bordering on absolute “truth” about a product.  I like to say that fifty percent of drugs work fifty percent of the time with fifty percent of the people.  The same might be applied to ratings and product reviews.  Some will love the product and swear that it cures old age, and some will swear that it was garbage and not worth the money.  Who is right is the mystery that you will need to solve.  Using ratings to help decide on a product choice is a great adventure in the swamp land of American consumerism.   Think of it as the last great adventure in life.

John’s Top Ten Almost Forgotten Great Movies – Part 2

30 Jan 2024 2 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

John’s Top Ten Almost Forgotten Great Movies – Part 2

Here we are folks.  My Final Five in my list of “Top Ten Almost Forgotten Great Movies.”  As I did last week, I will briefly describe each movie and also explain what it was that appealed to me about the movie.  Why am I listing it as a “Great Movie?” Why do I think you would not be wasting an evening to watch this movie on Hulu or Amazon Prime or Netflix or perhaps find it on YouTube?  Even if you have seen these movies, any of them are well worth watching two or three times.  IMHO.

executive-suite-use-lakjdfklajs-e1632191516317

  1. Executive Suite – 1954

It is the early 50’s.  Some people would call this the era of “Happy Days” in America.  We were the kings of the world.  Europe, Asia, Russia were still recovering from the ravages of WW II. Africa was a developing country, and we were exploiting South America and the Mideast to get the oil and resources needed for our factories.  Our American economy dominated the world.  Everything was bought and sold in the USA except some cheap Japanese goods.

Deming was working with Japan under Mc Arthur to help them rebuild their economy.  He promised them that if they followed his methods of Quality and Statistical Process Control (SPC), they would come to dominate the world market in ten years.  Ten years was still far away by American standards.  Profit and mass production ruled the psyches of almost every major CEO in the USA.  Underneath the soft underbelly of our production-oriented economy was a split that was opening up that would destroy business as we knew it.  It was a split that Deming was aware of and tried to warn us about, but he was regarded as an old fogey who was behind the time.

This split was a battle between Quality and Quantity.  It involved a choice between getting it right or just getting it out the door as cheaply as possible.  Deming told companies that they could have mass production and also quality by using Statistical Process Control.  They laughed at him and as they tossed him out their doors, they told him

“That’s impossible.  You can’t have quality and quantity both as the same time.  We do not have time for SPC.  We only have time to make as many products as fast and as cheap as we can.  Our buyers are waiting for our products.” 

And that brings us to the “Executive Suite.”  The battle as seen by manufacturers between quality and quantity is the very plotline of the movie.  “Executive Suite” had what today would be known as an “ensemble cast.”  William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Frederic Marsh, June Alyson, Walter Pidgeon, Nina Foch, Shelley Winters, Dean Jagger, Tim Considine, Paul Douglas, and William Bouchey were just a few of the great actors that were in this movie.  The movie went on to be nominated for four Academy Awards at the 27th Academy Awards in 1955

The basic plot of Executive Suite is very simple.  The Tredway Corporation, once renowned for its fine products has fallen on hard times.  The CEO (Avery Bullard) has just died, and since he did not name a successor, his Board of Directors must elect a new CEO.  The company once known for its quality products has lost customers.  In his later years, Bullard had “Lost his way” in the words of his chief production engineer played by William Holden.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) played by Frederic March had helped the founder take the company down the road of cheap products to be mass produced.  William Holden described the Controller’s strategy as “fly specking” every penny to cut costs.  The battle for the CEO is waged in and out of the board room as prospective candidates try to enlist the aid of other board members for votes and proxy votes.  The actual battle comes down to quality or quantity.  This battle would play out in many board rooms across the USA from the fifties to the early eighties.  Who will win?

In real life America, cost cutting, and finance won out until the Japanese started “eating our lunch.”  By 1980, when NBC published its Special Report, “If Japan can why can’t we?”, thousands of US companies had lost market share to the emerging Japanese quality juggernaut.  I joined Process Management International in 1986 and met Dr. Deming at a seminar in San Francisco where I became one of his willing workers and acolytes.  Dr. Deming was sometimes called the “Father of Japanese Quality.”  The Deming Prize, (the highest award for quality in Japan) was named after Dr. Deming.  He was quite a thrill and inspiration to work with.

So, who or what will win out in this low-key but thrilling movie?  Watch it and see.

Cmw3mrxUsAA-wza

  1. Glengarry Glen Ross – 1992

The movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” was based on David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize–winning play of the same name.  Mamet in my opinion is one of the greatest playwriters of all time.  He is also a filmmaker and author.     You will never go wrong watching a film based on his stories or plays.  They are always thought provoking and run against the grain of “action movies” and “shoot-em ups” that seem to dominate screens today.

Like “Executive Suite”, this movie also features an ensemble cast of some of the best Hollywood actors in history.  The cast includes:  Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin, Ed Harris, Kevin Spacey, and Jonathan Pryce.  The film was a box office failure.  Nevertheless, many critics consider it one of the best movies of the 1990s.

Glengarry Glen Ross is about competition in the sales industry.  The setting is a real estate office.  The five salesmen are told by the sales manager Kevin Spacey, that a super salesman (Blake) from home office is coming down to “motivate” them.  Blake (Played by Alec Baldwin) rips the men apart in a no hold bars speech that questions their virility and masculinity.  He then tells them that only the top two closers will be kept on and the other men will be fired.  When challenged by the salesman Dave Moss (Played by Ed Harris) Blake says:

“And to answer your question, pal, why am I here?  I came here because Mitch and Murray asked me to.  They asked me for a favor.  I said the real favor, follow my advice and fire your fucking ass, because a loser is a loser!”

The dialogue in the film is often tough, raw, insulting, and difficult to listen to.  You feel sympathy for the men who must do anything to make a “close.”  “Closing” is making a sale.  If you have ever dealt with real estate salespeople, car salespeople or insurance salespeople, you know how tenuous their link to integrity can be.  In the “Ten Least Trusted Professions in America, three of the top ten include the professions I have noted above.  My experience with these three professions would certainly support their inclusion in the top ten.  The following comments in respect to the three professions noted are from Insider Monkey.

  1. Insurance Salesperson

“Insurance salespeople may face trust issues as they often demand potential hidden fees.  They are also blamed for misinterpretation of policies and tend to always prioritize their commissions. It is hence inevitable that such a behavior creates doubts about their transparency and customer-centric approach.”

  1. Used Car Salesperson

“Used car salespeople are distrusted due to their dishonesty, selling faulty vehicles, and pressure tactics. This creates skepticism about their integrity and the quality of their sales.  It is hence one of the least trusted professions in America.”

  1. Real Estate Agents

“Real estate agents are perceived to be responsible of potential conflicts of interest, commission-based motivations, and pressure to close deals quickly.  Some past instances of dishonest practices in the US have also contributed to this narrative of lack of trust.  Hence, it is one of the least trusted professions in America.”

The plot revolves around the efforts of the salespeople in this firm to obtain a set of leads which they hope will secure their jobs.  Politics, greed, and corruption become normal parts of their lives.  In a space of 24 hours, some of the men are willing to pull out all stops to keep their jobs.  The dialogue is hard rough edged street vernacular.  The men are victims of an exploitative capitalist system where getting a sale is more important than integrity.  A perfect reflection of art imitating life.  Every day we see examples of a system that rewards greed and perfidy and where lies and cheating are taken for granted.  You would probably not be surprised to find that Lawyers and Politicians are also in the top ten least trusted professions in America.  Ask yourself “What are they selling?”

national-ww2-museum-carmen-jones-film-screening

  1. Carmen Jones – 1954

This movie was a combination drama, romance and musical.  It was an Americanized remake of the Opera Carmen by George Bizet.  It had an all-Black cast that included some of the great African American actors and singers of the day.  Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Olga James, Pearl Bailey, Joe Adams, Diahann Carroll, Roy Glenn, and Brock Peters.  Some of the Tenor and Bass lyrics were dubbed in by African American singers like Marvin Hayes and LeVern Hutcherson.  Some of the Soprano lyrics were dubbed in by the wonderful Marilyn Horne who was White.

The screenplay by Harry Kleiner is based on the English lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II, from the 1943 stage musical of the same name.  The original score from Carmen was in French.  The place setting for Carmen was Spain.  Escamillo was a bull fighter.  Don Jose was a soldier and Carmen was a Gypsy.  In the remake, Escamillo becomes a boxer named Husky Miller whose lyrics are dubbed in by Marvin Hayes.  Don Jose becomes Joe, a soldier played by Harry Belafonte whose lyrics are dubbed by LeVern Hutcherson.  Carmen becomes “Carmen Jones” a cigarette girl played by the uber sexy Dorothy Dandridge.  Dandridge’s lyrics were dubbed in by Marilyn Horne.

I love opera.  I grew up on an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.  My father had all of Caruso’s 78’s.  People on my block sat outside on Saturday nights singing opera on their porches.  I loved listening to Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Enzio Pinza, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Franco Corelli, Mario Del Monaco and much later Placido Domingo and of course Luciano Pavarotti.  Saturday afternoon was opera in the afternoon on the radio.  I always dreamed that if I was reincarnated, I would come back as a great Italian tenor.

“Carmen Jones”, whether you want to call it a movie or stage play, was still a tragic opera.  The handsome soldier Joe is engaged to be married to the sweet girl next door Cindy Lou, played by Olga James.  He is seduced by the cigarette girl Carmen and deserting his post runs off with her.  Tragic operas do not end “happily ever after.”  I will say not anymore about the plot.

Carmen is the “no good girl” that men lust for.  She lives for the moment.  She loves for the moment.  She seduces whoever takes her fancy for the moment.  She sings a famous aria, “The Habanera” in which she proclaims:

If you don’t love me, I love you

Beware

But if I love you, if I love you

Beware

The bird you thought you’d surprise

Flapped its wings and flew away.

I have seen some operas made into musicals like Madame Butterfly into Miss Saigon and La Boheme into Rent.  These were adapted for a modern audience and the lyrics translated into English.  I have never seen any as well done as Carmen into Carmen Jones.  The music and lyrics embody the essence of the original opera to a degree that I would not have thought possible.  For instance, in the Bizet Opera, Escamillo sings in the famous “Toreador Song”:

The bull goes, he comes

He comes and strikes again

By shaking his banderillas

Full of fury, he runs

The circus is full of blood.  

(The original lyrics are sung in French)

In Carmen Jones, Husky Miller the boxer sings “Stand up and Fight”:

Stan’ up an’ fight

until you hear de bell,

Stan’ toe to toe,

Trade blow fer blow,

Keep punchin’ till you

make yer punches tell,

Show dat crowd watcher know!

Until you hear dat bell,

Dat final bell,

Stan’ up an’ fight like hell!

The movie musical opera “Carmen Jones” has every bit of the drama, passion and musical quality of the original opera Carmen.  I will not say any more because I am very biased here.  Watch it when you have a chance.  Whether or not you love opera, if you love music, you will love Carmen Jones.

download (1)

  1. Captains Courageous – 1937

“Captains Courageous” is the story of a young, spoiled child who learns humility and compassion for others.  It is a sad but ultimately heart-warming story of the bonding between a rough immigrant sailor Manuel played by Spencer Tracy and a rich privileged child Harvey played by Freddie Bartholomew.  Again, another ensemble cast of great actors make up this film.  You may remember names like Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, Mickey Rooney, John Carradine, Spencer Tracy and a then 13-year-old child actor named Freddie Bartholomew.  Freddie was nominated in 1999 as one of the 250 Greatest Male Screen Legends by the American Film Institute.

The film took twelve months to shoot and took place mostly at sea.  From a story by Rudyard Kipling, the plot revolves around the transformation of a young boy named Harvey played by Freddie Bartholomew.  He is picked up by a fishing boat after falling off his father’s yacht.  He demands to be returned immediately to his father.  The fishermen refuse since it is financially impossible for them to stop their work and just go looking for the brat’s father.  There is always the question of whether or not the boy is really telling the truth about his father being so rich.  He is put to work for the first time in his life with chores and responsibilities.  Freddie goes from spoiled brat to mature and responsible young man.

At first, he refuses to do any work, so they refuse to feed him.  In time, he begrudgingly starts to do the work assigned.  He is taken under the wing of the great Spencer Tracy who plays Manuel an itinerant fisherman.  They form a bond which is touching, and the end of the movie will bring tears to the eyes of even the most hardened cynic.  Spencer Tracy won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in this film.  The movie was also nominated for three other Academy Awards.  That is all I am going to say.  Go do yourself another favor and watch one of the great movies of all time.

download (2)

  1. 12 Angry Men – 1957

I can identify with this movie because I was a jury foreman in 1996.  Three months after the trial ended, I was hauled into court facing a possible charge of jury tampering.

“Appellant was convicted of disorderly conduct and acquitted of assault in the fifth degree.  Appellant moved to dismiss based on legally inconsistent verdicts.  The court denied appellant’s motion.  Prior to appellant’s sentencing, the court presented the parties with a copy of ‘Observations on Quality in the Courtroom: By a Juror,’ written by jury foreman Dr. John Persico, Jr., which alleged racial bias and misconduct by the jury.  Appellant moved for a new trial, but the motion was denied.” 

Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (1996).

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN COURT OF APPEALS

C9-97-1608

State of Minnesota,

Do I have to say it?  I am starting to sound repetitious.  It had an ensemble cast.  Awesome lineup of some of the best actors to ever step foot in Hollywood.  Some of the twelve jury members included Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Sweeney, Martin Balsam, Jack Klugman, E. G. Marshall, Jack Warden, and Ed Begley.  “12 Angry Men” is a 1957 American legal drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, adapted from a 1954 teleplay of the same name by Reginald Rose.

The film tells the story of a jury of 12 men as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a teenager charged with the murder of his father.  At first it appears that eleven of the jurors believe that the boy is guilty.  One holdout Juror 8 played by Henry Fonda still has a reasonable doubt.  His nemesis Juror 3, played by Lee J. Cobb angrily disagrees and becomes the antagonist to Fonda’s protagonist.  The battle for conviction between the two jurors finds the other jurors torn from one side to the other.  Evidence is presented.  Logic versus emotions creates rages in the jury room.  Not one juror can escape the heated arguments that ensue.  The conflict highlights the moral dilemmas that face all of us when we must decide the life or death of another human being.

“12 Angry Men” received acclaim from critics, despite a mediocre box office performance.  At the 30th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.  It is regarded by many as one of the greatest films ever made.

If you have ever been on a jury, you may have some empathy for the “12 Angry Men” in this movie.  My jury misadventures helped me to see the strengths and weaknesses of the jury system.  A jury is only as good as the people on it.  But as Hubert Humphrey once said, “A democracy is a system that achieves extraordinary results with ordinary people.”  In the end, there will never be enough extraordinary people to make a difference.  We will always have to rely on the common man and common woman to keep our democratic system of government strong.

Conclusions:

 A great movie needs a stellar cast.  It needs a great script.  It needs a great screenplay.  It does not need people murdered or shot in one scene after another.  It does not need endless chase scenes.  It does not need grotesque scenes of people getting their bodies torn limb from limb.  Perhaps subtlety is a lost art.  One of the most moving and sad scenes I ever saw in a movie was from a Gary Cooper movie.  He arrives home after a band of Indians have attacked his home.  The house is in flames.  He goes looking for his wife.  He finds her on the other side of a rock fence.  You do not see her body.  You only see the look on his face.  It is heart breaking.  I get teary eyed just thinking about it.  You do not need to see her broken battered bloody body to know what happened to her.

That’s All for Now Folks! 

Leave a comment if you enjoyed my writeups or just go watch the movies. 

John’s Top Ten Almost Forgotten Great Movies – Part 1

17 Jan 2024 4 Comments

by Dr. John Persico Jr. in Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

download (1)I woke up this morning thinking about the upcoming Oscars on March 10.  Like many people, I love movies.  I have watched almost every best movie Oscar winner since the silent movie Wings won the first award in 1929.  I have researched lists by noted critics for movies to watch from the “Greatest Horror Movies of All Time” to the “Greatest Westerns of All Time” and the “Greatest Foreign Films of All Times.”  Many foreign made movies have English subtitles which you soon forget are there.  I have watched every Foreign Film that won an Oscar for best Foreign Film.  Movies can motivate us, educate us, make us laugh and make us cry or just help us enjoy a day with a loved one.

Years ago, I purchased a few of “Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guides” and “The Great Movies by Roger Ebert” to help me find movies that were highly rated to watch.  I now use Rotten Tomatoes Online to help me select a movie for what Karen and I call “Friday night at the movies.”  We pick a movie on Friday night and instead of eating at the dining room table, we set up a table in the living room and watch a movie while we eat.  Sometimes with popcorn and sometimes not.  I try to select movies that on Rotten Tomatoes receive a high score by both the critics and the general public.  My goal is to find a movie that scores above 90 percent in each category, which is quite rare.  Most of the time, we have to settle for one that is maybe a 70 by the audience and a 60 by the critics or vice versa.  A lot of our choice depends on the plot, actors and how unique we find the movie to be.  We don’t let the critics alone decide on our choices and have often been surprised by the quality in a low rated movie.  These days many highly rated movies must appeal to a younger generation since neither Karen nor I enjoy the constant shoot-outs that are ubiquitous in movies.  It is rare to see a movie where someone is not being killed.

Over the years, I have watched many movies.  Some good, some bad and some ugly.  Like most of you, I have my favorites.  However, there are many movies that were great movies but over time, have been forgotten.  Thus, I want to give you my list of Top Ten Forgotten Great Movies.  I will give you an explanation why I think they were great and what I enjoyed about them.  Many of them were recognized as great movies “back in the day” but today they have been forgotten or at least Almost Forgotten.

You will not find on my list “The Wizard of Oz”, “Gone with the Wind”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, or “Citizen Kane”.  These are all great movies, but they are hardly forgotten.  I wanted my list to include movies that you most likely have not seen.  There are some exceptions on my list.  The original “King Kong” has been remade at least four times since it was first released in 1937 and Kong has grown from a 25-foot ape to a 200-foot ape.  Each remake he gets bigger and bigger.  Everything today must be bigger.  Witness the size of a MacDonald or Burger King hamburger.  Some of the other movies on my list have also been rewarded with modern remakes like “12 Angry Men” and “Moby Dick.”  However, I am betting that you have never watched the original.  In my opinion, most remakes cannot touch the originals.  Do yourself a favor and if you enjoy a good movie seek out the original.  I will list the dates of the originals to avoid confusion.

Before you select a great movie, you need to think a little about what goes into the making of a great movie.  Of course, great actors are important but what else?  One expert said that “All great movies are based on great stories.”  I think there are some exceptions to this rule but in general I think the aphorism holds true.  But what then makes a great story?  One noted writer said that there are three main elements to a great story.  They are:

  • Compelling and interesting characters
  • An exciting and absorbing plot
  • A narrative arc that is engaging

If you can take these elements to the big screen and put them into visuals that are dynamic and intriguing, you just may have a hit.  I plead that this is not the only pathway to a great movie, but it is certainly one that has led to many big hits.  Please follow me as I start on my list and see what I think makes the following movies so great.

images

  1. Moby Dick – 1956

Perhaps the biggest fish story ever told even considering The “Meg” which graced our theaters in 2018.  The “Meg” was a story about a prehistoric shark that was 75 feet long.  The “Meg” was typical of the “Jaws” like imitators which so often are popular today.  More adventure and suspense than human interest or human passion.  In the movie version of Melville’s novel, “Moby Dick” was a white Sperm whale who was also 75 feet long.  However, in Melville’s novel “Moby Dick” was implied to be over 90 feet long.

Melville’s “Moby Dick” is a brilliant story about obsession, revenge, and passion.  Captain Ahab is out to kill the giant white Sperm Whale named Moby Dick who bit off his leg.  His pursuit of revenge is nothing short of horrifying.  He will do anything to assuage his anger at Moby Dick.  He risks his ship, his crew, and his life to get his revenge.  The actor who played Captain Ahab was the renowned Gregory Peck who the American Film Institute named the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

The opening line of the novel and movie “Call Me Ishmael” is among the most famous in American Literature.  A book which was initially disparaged and ignored has since been hailed as one of the greatest pieces of literature in American writing.  It has been sliced and diced by more pedants and critics than I could describe in twenty books.  However, the movie does a good job of following the novel and if one picture is worth a thousand words, then this movie is surely a decent portrayal of the main plot concept.  Basically, the final question you are left with is “Where does revenge get you?”

images (1)

  1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – 1954

I was eight years old when this movie was released.  “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” is a classic science fiction adventure based on a novel of the same name by the famous French writer Jules Verne.  It was one of the first adventure fantasy movies that I can remember seeing.  There is an earlier version of the story made into a silent film that was released in 1916.

I was fascinated by the roles played by Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre, and Paul Lukas.  The brilliant inventor and idealist Captain Nemo is played by James Mason.  Kirk Douglas played Ned Land, a sailor and master harpooner.  Peter Lorre, one of my favorite actors of all time played Conseil, the devoted assistant to the marine scientist Arronax played by Paul Lukas.  You could not have assembled a better cast.

The animation in the film was a step forward from previous movies.  The vivid ocean adventures take place deep in the ocean depths.  The animation makes you feel like you are in the Nautilus and diving with the sub.  The film won two Academy Awards for its art direction and special effects.  The story plot occurs in the middle 19th Century.  The novel by Jules Verne was released as a sequence of stories between 1869 and 1871.  This was a good fifty years before submarines were capable of such depths or abilities as depicted in the movie.  In his paper “The Design of Jules Verne’s Submarine Nautilus” — 2011, Stuart Weir writes that:

“Only near 1960 did submarines begin to equal the performance of the fictional Nautilus, 90 years after “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas” was published.  Less appreciated is the technical merit of Verne’s submarine design, a concept so detailed that it could be used to build a submarine, one with faults but no worse than submarines made by engineers of his day, and in many ways correctly indicating future developments.”

Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Lewis Stevenson, and H.G. Wells all fueled my keen interest in Science Fiction and Science Fantasy.  As a young boy, they took me along with their adventures to places that I could only dream of going to someday.  To Mars with John Carter, to find buried treasure with Jim Hawkins, to solve the murders of the Rue Morgue with C. Auguste Dupin and to dive deep beneath the sea with Captain Nemo.  In my mind, I lived in these stories.  I was the hero saving the world, changing wrong to right and finding the riches discarded by others.

download (2)

  1. King Kong – 1933

King Kong is really a version of the Beauty and the Beast story.  Beauty and the Beast is a story about a young prince that is cast under a spell.  His spell can only be broken by true love.  The spell keeps him ensconced in the body of a hideous beast.  The story “La Belle et la Bete” was by the French author, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve.  It was published in 1740 and was based on a 16th Century romance between a French court servant and a man with incurable hair growth.  Disney adopted the story for an animated movie and made it quite popular.  It is still one of the most remade movies ever.  The story line has been adopted by numerous film makers all over the world and many remakes use a slight variant of the theme with some unique plot twists.  I lost track trying to count all of the remakes or variants of this story.

Surprisingly, I did not encounter anyone who identified King Kong as a variant of the Beauty and the Beast theme.  This is somewhat surprising since one of the most famous lines from the 1933 movie occurs at the end when the greedy entrepreneur Carl Denham says “Oh no, it wasn’t the airplanes.  It was beauty killed the beast.”  Perhaps because the idea of love between a giant gorilla and the ravishing beauty Ann Darrow played by Faye Wray is incomprehensible, few people see the resemblance to the Beauty and the Beast theme.  Yet it is quite clear in the movie that Kong had some type of attachment to the voluptuous Ann Darrow.  And in some ways, Ann showed an affection for Kong.  Albeit I would think it was more platonic than romantic.  Nevertheless, one of several scenes cut out of the original movie was deemed in violation of the movie industries moral codes concerning sexual activity.  Quite clearly some of the producers saw a value in implying some sexual overtones to the movie.

In terms of moral values, the movie is a showcase for greed, avarice, and the human proclivity to turn everything into a profit.  The entrepreneur Denham says “”We’ll give him more than chains.  He’s always been king of his world, but we’ll teach him fear.  We’re millionaires, boys.  I’ll share it with all of you.”   Yes, he would share it all right.  In the financial accounting of Capitalism.  “One for you, two for me.  One for you, three for me.  One for you, four for me.” 

This movie is a tragic opera.  A tale of love impossible.  A story where you know the ending is going to be bad for someone.  You care about Kong.  He may be violent, but it is because of the way he is treated.  He is a victim of exploitation, and you end up rooting for him.  From atop the Empire State Building, you cheer for him to knock the planes down that are trying to kill him.  At the end of the movie, you are sad.  The bad guys walk away, and the good guy is dead.

download (3)

  1. Story of the Weeping Camel – 2004

I am less amazed that I have this movie on my list then I am that I watched it in the first place.  A story about a family of nomadic shepherds in the Gobi Desert and a camel.  The list of actors included the following whose names are definitely not household words or even pronounceable in the USA.  The cast includes: Ikhbayar Amgaabazar, Zeveljamz Nyam, Amgaabazar Gonson, Chimed Ohin and Janchiv Ayurzana.

You would not expect to find this movie on a list of bestselling movies.  The movie is categorized as a docudrama, being part real and part staged.  Nevertheless, the Tomato Meter on Rotten Tomatoes had the Critics giving it a 94 percent rating and the Audience giving it an 87 percent rating.  The documentary was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Documentary at the 77th Academy Awards.  The plot is about the reconciliation of a mother camel and her initially rejected calf.  The story follows the adventures and efforts of the nomads to help reconcile the mother with her calf.  The story is very touching, and you get into the lives of the nomads and how devoted they are to their animals.  At the end of the movie, you are doing as much weeping as anyone in the show.

I am always moved by movies like this when I think of our American claim to exceptionalism.  I have been to over forty countries now and I am embarrassed by such claims.  Everywhere on this planet are exceptional people.  Many who live very mundane or humdrum lives (at least as many Americas would describe it) but who persist with love and compassion for things that we take for granted or even abuse in the USA.  Watch this movie and you will know what I am talking about.

download (4)

  1. Petrified Forest – 1936

The Petrified Forest has the Trinity of Archetypes characteristic of some of the greatest movies or stories in history.  The Feeler, the Thinker, and the Doer.  You will find this Trinity in the Wizard of Oz with the scarecrow wanting to think, the lion wanting the courage to act and the tin woodsman wanting a heart to feel.  You will find it in Gone with the Wind.  Scarlett O’Hara, the strong independent woman who can’t make up her mind who she loves.  Scarlett proclaims emotionally, “I’d cut up my heart for you to wear if you wanted it.”  Rhett, the dashing brash fighter who wants to go off to war.  Ashley the soldier who does not believe in war and logically proclaims that “Most of the miseries of the world were caused by wars.”  You will find this Trinity in Star Trek.  Kirk, the impulsive captain who abandons his ship at the drop of a phaser.  Spock, the logical thinker who analyses everything in mathematical terms.  Bones, the ships surgeon who has the most regrets and remorse when things go wrong.  “Compassion.  That’s the one thing no machine ever had.  Maybe it’s the one thing that keeps men ahead of them,” says Bones with great emotion.  It might be a stretch but perhaps it was this Trinity which made Christianity so popular.  You have God the Doer who builds the universe and world in seven days and creates everything known to humans.  Jesus the Teacher who preaches and speaks in parables and metaphors.  And the Holy Ghost who cannot be seen but only felt.

The Petrified Forest is the story of three such archetypes who collide one night in a rickety old café in the middle of nowhere.  That nowhere being a fictional town called Black Mesa in Arizona, at the edge of the Petrified Forest.  Leslie Howard who played Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind is again a protagonist as Alan Squier.  Alan is a failed writer who cannot make a living doing the only thing he knows how to do.  Gabrielle played by the great actress Betty Davis plays the diner owners daughter who dreams of leaving Black Mesa and going to France to be a painter.  She is entranced by poetry and literature.  Whereas Alan looks logically upon words to convey thoughts, Gabrielle is enamored with the mere idea of being an artist or poet.  She is fascinated by Alan who manages to portray a sophisticated man of the world aura.  And then Humphrey Bogart shows up as Duke Mantee.

In the role that made his bones, Bogart plays a gangster who takes what he wants when he wants it.  His character is the “man of action.”  He is a cold calculating and unemotional killer.  He does not deal in logic or analysis but solves his problems with a gun and bullets.  The interaction between these three archetypes is nothing short of mesmerizing.

Alan Squier: The trouble with me, Gabrielle, is I, I belong to a vanishing race.  I’m one of the intellectuals.

Gabrielle Maple: That, that means you’ve got brains!

Alan Squier: Hmmm.  Yes.  Brains without purpose.  Noise without sound, shape without substance.

Alan Squier: Tell us, Duke, what kind of a life have you had?

Duke Mantee: What do you think?  I spent most of my time since I grew up in jail.  And it looks like I’ll spend the rest of my life dead.

The is the end of Part 1.  If you have enjoyed my nostalgic trip through some of my favorite movies, stay tuned for Part 2 where I will cover the next five movies on my list.

  1. Executive Suite – 1954
  2. Glengarry Glen Ross – 1992
  3. Captains Courageous – 1937
  4. 12 Angry Men – 1957
  5. The Oxbow Incident – 1943