Wednesday, September 14, 2011

And, it turns out that Wayne and Martin still has chemistry ever.



Hey pallies, likes today ilovedinomartin returns to puttin' the accent on international Dino-devotion 'cause in our Dino-surfin' we found an outstandin' review of 'nother Dino-classic western, "The Sons Of Katie Elder," scribed by Norwegian Mr. Jacob Olsen at his blog tagged "Filmantrop."

Simply am likes in total awe of the many and varied ways the life and times of our Dino likes keeps gettin' lifted up all 'round the globe. This film review by Mr. Olsen likes speaks such such Dino-truth when he pens these thoughts concernin' the partnership of our most beloved Dino and the Duke, who had first words together on "Rio Bravo"......"And, it turns out that Wayne and Martin still has chemistry ever. Indeed the team of Martin and Wayne is so so powerful on the big screen...and you can see how much these giants of shoot 'em outs have such deep respect for each other.

ilovedinomartin is delighted to say our appreicato for Mr. Jacob Olsen doin' his part to keep Norwegians attached to our Dino. Have included the English translation of Mr. Olsen's thoughts followed by the original script in Norwegian. To view this in it's original format, as usual, just clicks on the tag of this Dino-post. Dino-diggin', DMP



The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

In 1965 was the golden age of western movies largely over. This did not mean that those who were still being produced was necessarily tedious repetitions of the movies they had seen before, rather the contrary. Sergio Leone had already last year for fully entered the field with Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars) and its sequel came the following year. Spaghetti genre was established. Also in the mother country the U.S. leading the trend to new forms of expression, represented by directors like Arthur Penn and Martin Ritt. At the same time many of the old western directors still going strong.

Henry Hathaway directed his first westerns back in 1932, and in 1965 he managed to be 67 and had as many as 15 copies of the hall. Although there is rarely any rattles up one after another of his films in the western guns, so he was eg. behind movies like the excellent Garden of Evil (1954) and How The West Was Won (1962), where he directed three of the sequences.

In The Sons of Katie Elder, he had basically a very grateful task. He got work to reunite John Wayne and Dean Martin, who had been a huge success with Rio Bravo six years earlier. And, it turns out that Wayne and Martin still has chemistry ever.

The film opens with John Elder (Wayne) returns home to his mother's funeral, only to find that the home farm is taken over by a cynical land baron (James Gregory). His father died a few years back, and none of the four sons is the best mother's children. It is thus that there is not only about the good against evil, is one of the film's strengths. It is clear that several of the brothers has a past that no one will speak out about, these are character traits that were perfected by directors like Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher. It builds up relatively slowly towards the final settlement that we know must come - the end of the film is by no means revolutionary, but it is not obviously how it goes for everyone involved. The play has been approved, even more than that especially from James Gregory.

The film was a surprisingly pleasant acquaintance who recommended not only for lovers of the genre.

Memorable scene: John Wayne, drag George Kennedy with a notched shaft. It's baseball stroke of the battle, and Kennedy will remain. :-)

The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)

112011I 1965 var gullalderen for westernfilmene langt på vei over. Dette betydde ikke at de som fortsatt ble produsert nødvendigvis var kjedelige repetisjoner av filmer man hadde sett før, snarere tvert om. Sergio Leone hadde allerede året før for fullt kommet på banen med Per un pugno di dollari (A Fistful of Dollars) og oppfølgeren kom året etter. Spaghettigenren var etablert. Også i moderlandet USA førte den nye trenden til nye uttrykk, representert ved regissører som Arthur Penn og Martin Ritt. Samtidig holdt mange av de gamle westernregissørene fortsatt koken.

Henry Hathaway regisserte sin første western allerede i 1932, og i 1965 var han rukket å bli 67 år og hadde hele 15 eksemplarer under salen. Selv om det er sjelden noen ramser opp den ene etter den andre av filmene hans i westernkanoner, så stod han f. eks. bak filmer som den svært gode Garden of Evil (1954) og How The West Was Won (1962), der han regisserte tre av sekvensene.

I The Sons of Katie Elder hadde han i utgangspunktet en svært takknemlig oppgave. Han fikk arbeide med å gjenforene John Wayne og Dean Martin, som hadde hatt en enorm suksess med Rio Bravo seks år tidligere. Og, det viser seg at Wayne og Martin fortsatt har kjemien inne.

Filmen åpner med at John Elder (Wayne) returnerer hjem til sin mors begravelse, bare for å finne at hjemgården er overtatt av en kynisk landbaron (James Gregory). Faren døde for noen år tilbake, og ingen av de fire sønnene er mors beste barn. Det at det dermed ikke kun handler om de gode mot de onde, er en av filmens styrker. Det er tydelig at flere av brødrene har en fortid som man ikke vil snakke høyt om, dette er karaktertrekk som ble perfeksjonert av regissører som Anthony Mann og Budd Boetticher. Det bygger seg relativt sakte opp mot sluttoppgjøret som vi vet må komme – avslutningen på filmen er på ingen måter revolusjonerende, men det er ikke selvsagt hvordan det går for alle involverte. Skuespillet er godkjent, ja, mer enn det spesielt fra James Gregory.

Filmen var et overraskende hyggelig bekjentskap som anbefales, ikke bare for elskere av genren.

Minneverdig scene: John Wayne drar George Kennedy med et hakkeskaft. Det er baseballtakter over slaget, og Kennedy blir liggende. :-)

4 comments:

Always On Watch said...

The first Dean Martin film I ever saw! I saw it over and over again -- and actually memorized ever single line that our Dino uttered.

This film never grows old for me. And the musical score (Elmer Bernstein's work) is exquisite.

dino martin peters said...

Hey pallie, likes thanks Miss AOW for that Dino-testimony....how wonderful to know your deep fondness for our Dino in this stellar western...keeps lovin' our Dino...and thanks ever so much for your continued support of the ilovedinomartin mission!

Always On Watch said...

DMP,
I love your web site! Cheerful and bringing back better days.

Often, I wish that I could turn the clock back to those days.

dino martin peters said...

Hey pallie, likes Miss AOW, you and me both ma'am...oh, to return to the days when Dino walked the earth....it's pallies like you that make ilovedinomartin continue to be the place to lift up, the life, the times, and the legacy of our most beloved Dino! Keeps lovin' our lovin' man!