I was awakened from a nap on the couch when Robert popped a movie into the DVD player. My glasses were off so I couldn’t see anything, but I knew the film from the first couple of chords in the orchestra.
- Me: Is that Hitari? (For those that don’t know, this is a 1962 safari film with mostly rugged male characters and the two women are straight out of the 1950s)
- Robert: Yes. I decided I wanted to watch a film in which women are portrayed in a positive light.
- Me: Cute. Real cute.
A little later… still without my glasses (I hate this film), listening to the iconic voice of John Wayne…
- Me: You know, his line delivery is really quite suspenseful – the way he pauses before the final noun in each sentence. He’s like a grammatical Alfred Hitchcock!
- Robert: I bet it annoyed the hell out of his wife. “I’m going to the (pause) store. Ya want anything?”
- Me: Too bad he’s dead. People could hire him for their gender reveal parties: “It’s a (pause)….”
- Robert: Can you imagine him working as a Police dispatcher? “There’s a murder in progress at (pause) Ohp…too late.”
- Me: I’d love to hear him speak German, since all the important stuff is at the end of the sentence!
- Robert: I guess that’s why they never cast him as Hitler in WWII movies. He would completely destroy the big ranting speech at the Berlin rally.
- Me: Yeah. That’s totally the reason why…
However, John Wayne as Hitler would make a good SNL sketch.
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