Hi readers. Thanks for coming by.
I was watching one of the half-dozen movies I consider the best of the 20th Century [and this one, thus far] for the 20th time a few days ago. Kate Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine and wossname, Peter O’Toole or someone as Henry II. Loving every minute of it, but I was finding the guy who played Richard 1 fairly distracting.
I went back half dozen times to watch him speak, his facial features and the way he mouthed words. Something damned familiar about him. Out of place.
So finally I ran the credits and discovered the reason. This was Hannibal the Cannibal from Silence of the Lamb, and various other not-too-bad movies I’d watched without recognizing it was Richard 1 I was seeing.
Well now, that was fun. Here was young Richard before he went off crusading, becoming Lionheart, getting himself held hostage in France, Being away while his idiot brother, John, made himself the darker piece of the Robin Hood legend.
Yeah, there it all was, old Richard the Cannibal and Lackland John, a Magna Carta looming out there a few decades away.
But that would be what? 1215 or so and those would be years with a lot of history packed inside them Lion in Winter would be nearer 1167, 68, and all those brothers and their parents squabbling with enough venom to satisfy most purposes over who would be the heir to the throne.
Great movie. I was trying last night to remember what the several other movies are I considered the best every… Jeanne helped me remember a few which I’ve mostly forgotten now. But one was The Rainmaker, with Kate Hepburn and Burt Lancaster.
Another was Doctor Strangelove, with Peter Sellers and one heck of a cast.
I’ve tried to persuade Jeanne to watch most of my favorites sometime during the almost-20 years we’ve known one another, so maybe she can add the ones I’m forgetting.
But if she can’t, you’d gift yourself a couple of hours of pleasure if you call up your library page and put Lion in Winter on hold. Likely as not they still have a copy somewhere in their system.
Gracias,
Old Jules
So Far From Heaven 
I will have to find it!
A fun fact – in the beginning of Dr Strangelove they are flying over what became my home in 1975. It is amazing to see Destin, Florida so empty and beautifully undeveloped. I won’t go home again.
Won’t go home again? Trying to remember, wasn’t it Tom Wolfe who wrote
You Cannot Go Home Again
I’d never thought about where they filmed Strangelove. Thanks for the info. Gracias Old Jules
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Thanks for the reminder. I need to go through my old videotapes and re-watch this one.
Hi Swabby…….. I’m thinking you won’t regret it. Gracias, Old Jules
Hi Jules,
Good to hear/read fromyou again, my old friend! It sure is a great movie. 🙂
Take good care of yourself,
Pit
Hi Pit. Thanks …. same to you. Didn’t you and I discuss a mutual fondness for Hans Helmut Kirst tomes once? I got the hungries a while back to re-read the Gunnar Asche books, …… tried to find them by inter-library loans and whatnot…. they’re high dollar used at Amazon these days…. but I’m surprised to report most of his books are long out of print and unavailable except Night of the Generals and one other I can’t recall the name of now, though I did get it ILL and read it. Too bad. I love those Gunnar Ashe books back in the early 1960s. Gracias, Old Jules
I don’t recall us having discussed this author, Jules. In fact, I must admit that I don’t know him.
Ah…. sorry. Must have been someone else. https://www.amazon.com/s?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=hans+helmut+kirst&sprefix=hans+helmut+%2Cstripbooks%2C1284&crid=3KL2TH41QMKPQ Old Juiles
Never mind! Thanks for the link, 🙂
I think you might enjoy him even though he’s not enjoying a lot of popularity these days. Good seeing you amigo. J
🙂
It’s good to have you back, Jack. Other two AH gems are Dead of Night, and the much more recent Human Stain, based on Phillip Roth. Cheers
Thanks. I don’t recall either of those but I’ve just called up the library site and will put them on hold. Gracias, Old Jules
We talked about Night of the Iguana, and I remember you recommending On the Waterfront, also Paint Your Wagon.
I post a lot on WordPress, so when you post I’m reminded of the special feeling one gets when an old friend posts after a long pulse. At our age that makes one pulse.
Thanks amigo. I’m hoping I’ll get back into the swing of things before a lot more time passes. Gracias, Old Jules
Missed you. It is about time you post something. Glad you are back.
Thanks Dizzy. Good seeing you, too. Gracias, Old Jules
Jules, as far as I am concerned, you are a lion in winter. I hope you are able to enjoy a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
I was doing a google search about weevils getting into oatmeal and found your blog. HAHAHAHA. now you’re book marked .
Miss you Jules!
Thanks! (from Jeanne). Old Jules is still around, just not blogging at the moment. Pity, I say!