Shane

Music has dried up (you may have noticed) due to painfully slow internet speed out here on the coast. I will continue my history of Soul music (you lucky people), it just takes forever to check the quality of the recording!

Another passion of mine is classic films. Especially ones that move me.

Every now and again I'm going to post some of my favourites. Now depending on how old you are some of these might appear dated/dull. Being a fifty something I'm afraid the computer game films of today leave me cold.

I'd like to start with my favourite western. As a young lad in the sixties I remember my Dad taking me to the local Scala to watch this tale of good (Alan Ladd) and evil (Jack Palance). Set in Grand Teton N.P. Wyoming, this film has it all IMHO. I was going to give a more detailed summary but the one below sums it up perfectly...

"I first saw this western as a boy, and fifty odd years and many viewings later, it still holds my attention. It is a tale of courage, loyalty, friendship and morality, but told in a non sentimental way,as seen through the eyes of a young boy. The acting is superb, Alan Ladd plays to perfection the hero in an understated way and the supporting cast play their parts with perfection. Although the basic plot is simple, the good guys are being driven off their land by the bad guys, a stranger rides in and takes up their cause, eventually vanquishing the bad guys, the sub plot goes much deeper, even to the extent that it is shown that even the bad guys have a point, if not justification, for trying to regain the land that the homesteaders have cultivated. They just do not make movies like this anymore, if this film were to be remade now, no doubt we would see Shane in bed with his friends wife, graphic violence, digital special effects and a proliferation of four letter words"

I called my first German Shepherd after this film. He was a fine and noble lad.

Woody Allen's favourite film.

If you haven't seen it, give it a try. If you have, time to watch it again. I'm going to, tonight!