CNN Golden Age Movies and John Wayne

We really tried to watch the CNN special about the movies. But it just wasn’t done very well. What could have been a great review of motion pictures turned in to a boring mess. In spite of that I really wanted to watch the segment about the golden age. Of course there was a segment about John Wayne. I think we saw every movie he ever made. One of my colleagues from the Midwest does a great walking imitation of John Wayne. Every time I see a mention of John Wayne on TV I take a photo and send it to him - just so he knows we are thinking about him. This time was no exception - except this time a movie was sent via text of the famous saunter. Immediately I always get a response. It’s funny the things that remind us of our friends and colleagues and it’s a good excuse to send a note. We have kept in touch since we moved thirteen years ago to DC. We also had a Beavis and Butthead connection but that’s a longer story. (Photos are taken from the CNN special.)

The John Wayne Portrait

We grew up on John Wayne movies. The Horse Soldiers was one of my favorites. I also worked with a guy in Milwaukee who loves John Wayne to this day. It always made me laugh when he did the John Wayne walk. When we moved to DC nine years ago, I stayed I touch with my colleague and usually see him when we visit Milwaukee. But in the interim - whenever there is a John Wayne movie on TV and we stumble across it - I snap a photo of it and message it to him. He can always name the title and include other comments as well. There must have been a John Wayne tribute a couple days ago on TCM. Several of his movies were being shown, but they were the movies more from the seventies and not the ones that are memorable. In any event, I sent off a few moments in time and within a few minutes my friend responded. It just so happened his son had just sent him a portrait of the Duke. So it got me thinking about taking a shot at a portrait too. So I did. But I haven't sent it to him yet. I'll need to wait for the next time. I don't want to ruin a potential surprise. That usually happens it is completely unexpected. 

The Fighting Kentuckian, John Wayne, Milwaukee, and Text Messages

One way to stay connected with people in Milwaukee is to remind them of the things that make them so dear and unforgettable to us. I had a colleague you liked to talk and walk like John Wayne. Yes, it's dopey, but we grew up watching John Wayne movies. So every time we happen to stumble across a John Wayne movie, I text him a photo of the scene off the TV. It has happened a few times, and I always get a response - not always at the time, but eventually he comes through. Since my husband also knows him, it's becomes even more of a game to try to come up with whatever zinger we can. This week we saw "The Fighting Kentuckian" and I not only sent a photo, but a movie clip of the duke walking and then spinning around. He finally responded yesterday as we were driving to brunch in McLean. So I sent him photos and videos along the GW Parkway. He was very hard pressed to come up with the name of the film. In the end it just reminded us of all the great folks we knew in Milwaukee, and how easy it really is to stay in touch. Whenever we visit the old home town we always try to connect, as we did this past summer. John Wayne is just an excuse to say hello. And we are never disappointed. 

North and South Meets The Cowboys

My husband was canvassing the television programs last evening when he stumbled across the miniseries North and South. As a Civil War fan, we watched it back in the 80's and particularly liked James Read. We have also travelled to Natchez, Charleston, and many more southern Civil War landmarks based on this interest. We liked most of the miniseries for television back then- Captains and the Kings, Shogun, Thornbirds, Lonesome Dove, etc. So I asked him to bring it on and we ended up watching episodes four and five to the end. It didn't matter that we didn't see the beginning. After that, we had time enough to watch another movie that we had in the queue. We used to watch the Encore Western movie channel a lot. In fact, I met and got a kiss from James Drury, The Virginian, a couple years ago! But we watched The Cowboys featured on AMC's John Wayne week. We haven't seen a western for quite a while and neither one of us had see this one. My family grew up on John Wayne, and westerns, and my husband loves Bruce Dern. My first recollection of John Wayne was in The Horse Soldiers - another Civil War story. I used to know a guy at work in Milwaukee that would do the John Wayne walk. It was quite hilarious. Some things just stick in your head. It was a nice ending to our Christmas holiday. Oh- did I mention we watched Robert Mitchum and Janet Leigh in Holiday Affair last week? (Photos from North and South and Holiday Affair are from Wikipedia)