God Bless Gene Kelly

The dude pulled it off. I wouldn't have believed it without seeing it, but he did.

I just finished watching this. Seriously, when I looked at the cover of the DVD and saw Gene Kelly's name, I assumed he MUST be playing Bertram Cates. Not so. He was playing E. K. Hornbeck. And I thought, NO FRICKIN' WAY. AIN'T POSSIBLE. I associate the Gene-ster with the stuff in this post, not with Hornbeck.

The Hornbeck character, as you know, was based on H. L. Mencken, and as you probably know, not only was Mencken a brilliant essayist and critic, he was also a class-A jerk. Which is why the casting of Darren McGavin in this version of Inherit the Wind was inspired. Also inspired, in that version, were Jason Robards and Kirk Douglas (Douglas, of course, for his ability rather than resemblance to William Jennings Bryan, of which Fredric March was an obviously better choice, albeit with a rather phony looking bald cap).

But Gene pulled it off. Major kudos, Gene. Also, major kudos to the other cast members: Fredric March, Spencer Tracy, Dick York, and the amazing supporting cast of great character actors whose faces (and sometimes names) I recognized. Harry Morgan, Ray Teal, Paul Hartman, Norman Fell, Claude Akins, Hope Summers, and of course, Noah Beery, Jr., Daddy Rockford.

What a great movie. See it if you get the chance.

"Give it to 'em in black and white"

Righteous. Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash with a revival of a song that Satchmo performed with Jimmie Rodgers in 1930. Too cool:



And once again, I have forgotten why I went a youtubin' in the first place...

UPDATE: Just having some fun now, and remembering back to the heyday of the late, great KFAT radio. I've got the will, Lord, if you've got the toe:



MORE UPDATE: One of my favorite songs of all time:

Stream of conciousness

And we're talking really weird-ass stream of conciousness.

Okay, through the fog of beer God's Own Brew, comes this strange post. I can't really remember how it started, but it was pretty close to this:



That made me think of this:



And this:



But searching (and some old synapses from many many moons ago) made me think of this:



Well, actually, it made me think of the one without Stewie but I found that one first. Anyway, it also reminded me of this:



And of course, I couldn't possibly post this without this piece:



Dammit, Gene, you are so cool. Rest in peace, my man.

UPDATE: Dammit Dammit Dammit. I've been searching in vain for my favorite Donald O'Connor sketch, from "Singing in the Rain". Can't frickin' find it. Rats. But here are a couple of other sketches from that classic movie:





but if anyone out there can find the clip of Donald climbing the walls, please pass it on. It's a classic.

Name That Movie!

Sorry again Jeff. That last one was kind of tough. But if you ever get a chance to track it down, definitely do so. It's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. "Therapeutic adultery" - What more need be said? Another great line from that movie: "Gay or straight, you're still a cunt." Heh. Very funny.

Meanwhile, here's a slightly easier question. Name the movie for which this was the theme:



This movie was most excellent.

CCFOAD

'Nuff said.

Fuck you, cancer. Just fucking die.

Aw, Kate P, you know we loves you sweetie

But Bowl Games is Bowl Games, and Ha Ha Ha! All is right with the world.

Name That Movie!

Yes, Jeff, it was intended to be easy. Perhaps too easy. Here's a tougher one:

"We are not pansies, we are bad dudes."

Heh. Eat my dust, Jeff!