The Maltese Falcon was a very good comedic noir flick, but not much more than that.
Citizen Kane was decently done but had an obvious plothole and a deeply unlikable lead character.
How Green Was My Valley was a wonderful pastoral film that was absolutely beautiful even in black and white, with good, likable characters, telling a relatable story (several, even).
I absolutely loved it.
#Introduction
How Green Was My Valley is a perfect test case for the auteur theory. It’s an adaptation of a popular novel by author Richard Llewellyn. The screenplay was written by Philip Dunne, a screenwriter notoriously protective of his words. It was a pet project of producer Darryl F. Zanuck. It was originally slated to be directed by William Wyler, who oversaw the set design and made some central casting decisions. Yet, every frame of the final film is undeniably John Ford’s. Ford would even come to consider it his “most autobiographical film”.
Originally conceived by Zanuck as a four-hour Technicolor prestige picture, Fox’s answer to Gone With The Wind, the project was placed in the hands of screenwriter Philip Dunne and director William Wyler, who enthusiastically collaborated on adapting Richard Llewellyn’s epic novel. In the pre-production process - as sets were being built, a cast assembled - the studio moneymen suddenly decided to shelve the film. It was getting too expensive and there weren’t enough stars in it. Besides, they complained, the script was terrible.
Zanuck was peeved at the studio’s reaction, and fired off a letter to screenwriter Dunne: “This is the finest script I’ve ever had, and I’m going to make this picture. If I can’t make it now, I’ll make it later. And if necessary I’ll take it to another studio”. In an attempt to get the studio to reconsider, Zanuck decided to cut the script in half (throwing out the part with the grown-up Huw) and abandon plans for Technicolor and location shooting. The front office eventually relented when director John Ford guaranteed them that he would bring the film in on time and under a one million dollar budget.
As soon as Ford took over the reigns of production, he reviewed Wyler’s casting choices. He elected to keep some (Walter Pidgeon as the pastor, Roddy McDowall as Huw), and replace others (Greer Garson was replaced by Ford-favorite Anna Lee as Bronwen, Katherine Hepburn was ousted in favor of a then-unknown actress named Maureen O’Hara for the part of Angharad). The director rounded out the cast with stock-company favorite Donald Crisp and Irish actress Sara Allgood as Huw’s mother and father.
One day, when Ford got word that screenwriter Philip Dunne was visiting his set, he lined up the chorus of singers in the film to await Dunne’s arrival. When the writer stepped onto the set, they sang (in unison) to the tune of The Farmer In The Dell
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Carmella opened her eyes to the morning sunshine and began to stretch her arms wide and caught a glimpse of her arms from the corner of her eye. Green? Carmella touched her forearm and rubbed it with her fingers. The green did not come off. I am green, really green. It's started.
Last night, Carmella went to sleep as a black child and woke up a green woman. Carmella rose, stood before her mirror, removing her night clothes. She stared at her body, slowly turned and inspected her back side. Green all around. Not good. Not just green, a forest green, a green so deep she glowed blue at some angles. Were she to lie out in the lawn in the park, she would blend into it. Her hair remained black.
Carmella showered and dressed in her usual brown hues. Inspecting herself in the mirror, I am going to need new clothes. Between the brown dress and her green skin, she looked like a garden shrub, a boxwood, or a short blackberry fruit tree.
Carmella entered the kitchen. Her father sat at the head of the table. He was dressed in a brown suit, one that matched his brown skin. Her mom's empty seat was to the right of her father. Her Mom stood by the stove in a brown dress that matched her brown skin. Charlie, her little brother, sat to the left of his father wearing a brown shirt and brown pants and his skin was black. They heard her enter and looked up.
Smiling, "Good Morning, Mom, Dad, Charlie."
They stared at her in silence. She stood there at the table waiting.
"Good Morning," replied her father.
"Hello Dear," said her mother.
Charlie said nothing.
Carmella sat in her place in the foot of the table opposite her father. Her mom brought her a plate of eggs, bacon, toast. A ordinary breakfast for an extraordinary morning. Her mom sat at the table and all ate in silence.
At the end of breakfast, father said, "Charlie, go get ready for school. Carmella, you will stay home today."
Carmella nodded her head. Charlie left the table without speaking - not a word said since Carmella's arrival.
Turning to his wife, "I am calling in for a day."
"Yes, it's best," replied his wife.
In the living room, father began, "Carmella, do you understand what it means to be green?"
"I think so."
Father continued, "You are no longer one of us. We are Browns, we are farmers, earth people. Now you are gre
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Where would you chose to live in either area and why?
I was up in Green Valley Ranch last night waiting at the light at GVR Blvd and Tower when maybe 20 police cars blast past me heading east.
I can’t find anything in the news or on social media mentioning it.
I saw in the SLTrib about a new grave marker for Green Flake:
https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2019/05/26/new-grave-marker-honor/ (By Peggy Fletcher Stack)
Looking up his story, he was a slave in North Carolina and Mississippi. His "owners" joined the church in 1844 (along with all their slaves, they weren't given a choice). The Flake family gave "his labor" to Brigham as tithing He was Brigham's wagon driver across the plains, and was assigned to the original advanced party into the Salt Lake Valley.
Good write-up on his life:
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/flake-green-1828-1903/
Its just such a hype song idk. I saw amazing things on it.
So I have a few other guitars. I’ve got an upgraded MIM Strat in Midnight Blue, I have that Ibanez, I have a couple of B.C. Rich guitars (bite me). But I felt that it was finally time to make an investment in a high-quality instrument that did everything I wanted, in addition to having a worthy instrument for my Halloween plans-rolling my JCM2000 stack into the garage, dressing up basically like Steel Panther’s Satchel, and playing every song I know. Now, I’m a huge 80s hard rock and hair metal guy, so I knew it had to be a crazy color and had to have a Floyd Rose and 24 frets (which is unfortunate because I also was considering a Dave Murray signature Strat because I love Iron Maiden too, but those only have 21 frets so no two octaves). Eventually, after balking at the sheer cost of a full-fat JEM (which is also a shame because I love the hot pink one), I settled on this. I bought it off of Reverb for $575, in mint condition.
Man alive, the difference in ease of play is ridiculous, even between this and my Strat, which I thought was buttery-smooth when I bought that. I’m having so much fun pulling crazy dive-bombs and squeals like I can’t get with my other instruments. I also sprung for a Sustainiac-equipped model, which adds a whole new dimension to playing on top of having a locking trem for the first time.
Rock on, dudes!
