The Searchers

 

Yes I can see why this is considered John Wayne's best work. Wayne is not a great actor, but I think he is playing someone close to himself. He was the grandson of a civil war veteran. A physically big man of perhaps unreconstructed views. When he throws a bag at someone or snarls at someone and utters a slur. That's Wayne

It looks glorious - the techincolor does a great service to a big country. There is the red dust of the desert and the bright white snow . There is a battle at a ford. Wayne's Irish and Scottish  ancestors would have understood. This is a story of an abduction. Of slavery..

Though we don't see it. Wayne really does a good job returning to camp after burying the body of a descreated young woman- a kinswoman he knew

A comic scene where an Indian woman believes she has been paid bride price for is used later to show the horror of the US Calvary's attack on an Indian camp

A heroic story without heroes

Strangers on a Train

 What was the last big film- based on a proposition? What if you were offered 1 million dollars for a night of passion with your wife? What if a stranger offered to kill the person standing in your way to happiness? 

Well in Strangers in a Train, a stranger on a train offers a man a deal- kill his father and he will kill his troublesome ex wife. There would be no motive. The police before DNA and cameras would have little to work on. Though not nothing- as the male lead a gifted amateur tennis player wants to marry the daughter of a senator there is a enough of a stink. That questions are asked

It is an elegant film, a product of a more civilised age. Everyone is dressed smartly - The lead is an aspiring tennis star. We see a tennis match played in DC. DC looks great in Hitchock, he is actually one of the few people to make it feel a lived in city. Yes you see the monuments- you also see people going to work

I note that everyone in Hitchcock seems to be a true crime buff, similar to rope. Particulary the young woman - the senators daughter. 

The film does a good job in making the murder victim- the tennis player's first wife seem both unpleasant and loose- but also showing the horror of a her murder. She was a dislikeable person- she didn't deserve to die for it. There is no illusion here. 

The ending has a spectacular stunt sequence.  A fight on a merry go round. Which I did find a little jarring. I stopped caring about the fight between the protagonist and the antagonist Once I realised Children could be hurt. The mothers dashing to their children who may well have been killed- made the events look small. 

I did like the book ending with the minister-priest

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Stone

 Many happy returns on your nupitals.

Peru 2025

 Next time do not stay in Los Olivos. You will have read this before. Yes, I should just get the metropolitano back and forth I should also go somewhere self catering- and get a Sim card

I did see Snra Rosa and her family which I enjoyed. I am pleased to have done so

I did get out of Lima. I saw a bit of the hills. I think we were near Chosica- where Porky's new train runs. Also the Lima drivers were terrible- with 

I did eat cuy, so that is ticked off the list. A pity El Matarina seems dead these days. 

I am pleased we went swimming 

I am disappointed we did not meet her- My daughters therapists from the Hospital of the Children

Peru Photos

 

I am sorry Ms Kelly

I had a brief moment of nostalgia lately. I recalled my French teacher at GCSE. Ms Kelly Who as a young 20 something was charged with teaching me French. I recalled an incident where I had written Mower les Grass or something, at the end of a worksheet. She had complained to a senior member of staff. He told me off. I had forgotten the context. I had basically let myself be used as a catspaw for someone else to raise havoc in her class. I was bored and it seemed fun. So she probably loathed me. Which I now realise she was correct to do so

Bridget Bardot

(28 September 1934 – 28 December 2025) Viva Maria- Where she plays a member of the Wild Geese. Venus in Asterix