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[struth]

The Searchers, 1956..



Several film critics have suggested that The Searchers was inspired by the 1836 kidnapping of nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker by Comanche warriors, who raided her family's home at Fort Parker, Texas. She spent 24 years with the Comanches, married a war chief, and had three children (one of whom was the famous Comanche Chief Quanah Parker), only to be rescued against her will by Texas Rangers.James W. Parker, Cynthia Ann's uncle, spent much of his life and fortune in what became an obsessive search for his niece, much like Ethan Edwards in the film.

In addition, the rescue of Cynthia Ann, during a Texas Ranger attack known as the Battle of Pease River, resembles the rescue of Debbie Edwards when the Texas Rangers attack Scar's village.
...But, author Alan Le May's surviving research notes indicate that the two characters who go in search of a missing girl were inspired by Britton Johnson, an African-American teamster who ransomed his captured wife and children from the Comanches in 1865. Afterward, Johnson made at least three trips to Indian Territory and Kansas, relentlessly searching for another kidnapped girl, Millie Durgan (or Durkin), until Kiowa raiders killed him in 1871.

[struth]

Three Godfathers, 1948... another Ford western with john wayne etc...




oft made film this in early days...1916, 1919, 1930, 1936 and now 1948.

This film was dedicated to John Ford's friend and early star, Harry Carey, who died in 1947. At the beginning, stuntman Cliff Lyons is shown silhouetted against a sunset, riding Carey's favorite horse, Sonny, over the words: "To the Memory of Harry Carey, bright star of the Western sky..." Ford sent young Carey jnr home the day he shot this scene, as he didnt want to upset him.

[struth]

Blazing Saddles, 1974..

[Barry]

Good antidote to all that John Wayne stuff you've been watching.

[struth]

Good antidote to all that John Wayne stuff you've been watching.

Now I don’t have to tell you good folks what’s been happening in our beloved little forum. Sheriff murdered, crops burned, stores looted, people stampeded, and cattle raped. The time has come to act, and act fast. I’m leaving.

[struth]

Chinatown, 1974.. bluray.... one of the great hollywood movies...




At the time of filming, Jack Nicholson had just embarked on his longstanding relationship with Anjelica Huston. This made his scenes with her father, John Huston, rather uncomfortable, especially as the only time Anjelica was on set was the day they were filming the scene where Noah Cross interrogates Nicholson's character with "Mr. Gittes...do you sleep with my daughter?"

After several takes that never looked quite right, Faye Dunaway got annoyed and told Jack Nicholson to actually slap her. He did and felt very guilty for it, despite it being Dunaway's decision. The shot made it into the movie.

[struth]

blow out, 1981..

[struth]

In Which We Serve, 1942..

[struth]

more ww2, this time ... DUNKIRK, 1958....




When the troop ship taking the platoon home is bombed and sunk in Dunkirk harbor, the scene of the ship sinking is taken from The Cruel Sea (1953), which depicts the sinking of H.M.S. "Compass Rose".

The command center used by Vice Admiral Ramsey (Nicholas Hannen) was the actual bunker used during the operation. It's part of a large underground complex beneath Dover Castle. It's open to the public. The balcony in the cliffs is visible from the ferry terminal below.

Sir John Mills was fifty-years-old at the time of filming. The British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940 were a professional army, not conscripts (conscription (the draft) only began after Dunkirk to recoup numbers) therefore, Sir John Mills would be beyond the retirement age for a soldier, and would have been considered too old even for conscription, the maximum age being forty-five. The only soldiers aged fifty or above would have been senior officers, not frontline soldiers, and certainly not Corporals.

[Barry]

Chinatown, 1974.. bluray.... one of the great hollywood movies...




At the time of filming, Jack Nicholson had just embarked on his longstanding relationship with Anjelica Huston. This made his scenes with her father, John Huston, rather uncomfortable, especially as the only time Anjelica was on set was the day they were filming the scene where Noah Cross interrogates Nicholson's character with "Mr. Gittes...do you sleep with my daughter?"

After several takes that never looked quite right, Faye Dunaway got annoyed and told Jack Nicholson to actually slap her. He did and felt very guilty for it, despite it being Dunaway's decision. The shot made it into the movie.

Excellent film!