atasusan

First of all, I enjoyed all of the 2010 True Grit (well, the guy with the bearskin was a silly added bit). I still enjoy the 1969 True Grit, feeling most of the performances there are also very good (well, Glenn Campbell leaves a bit to be desired). I attribute my enjoyment to the original novel True Grit by Charles Portis, one of America's great writers.

Both movies, not only 2010, used Portis' dialogue extensively. Both Matties speak as Portis had her speak during the 1878 period. She is one of the most unusual book heroines ever written, and Hallie Steinfield is better than Kim Darby. The cast and cinematography are great, and the plot stayed fairly true to the book. Matt Damon was excellent in the part of La Boeuf, and the character parts true to the novel.

I recommend this movie as a very good addition and timely upgrade for today's audiences to the '69 film, but I still have the '69 DVD which I treasure.

Yesterday evening Turner Classic Movies previewed "Millions Like Us," so it was the first time I saw the film. It may not be the best British wartime movie, but it is truly a gem in its own way. I was a child during the war, growing up in a small town in the Midwest of the U.S. Although I didn't have knowledge of what Britain was going through, I heard about it and knew how Americans reacted once we were in the war. The family interactions in "Millions Like Us" were totally believable...the family getting ready to go on holiday in the summer of 1939 and later the scene in the kitchen when Celia announces she has been called up.

My father recruited workers in Missouri and Oklahoma for an ordinance plant during the war. Most of the workers he recruited--whom he personally put on trains headed north--were women who were happy to leave those depressed areas for higher pay, excitement and contribution to the war effort. Women were glad to go to work in factories, and in 1945 they were happy to give it up for marriage and so returning soldiers could have jobs. That's just the way it was then, and one can't put a different spin on how people behaved.

I hope to see this film again.

I was fortunate to see the original TV production when I was a teen-ager. I had just read the book, so I had an idea in my head of what the characters looked like. Ryan may have been a bit "long in the tooth" for the part, but he made up for it by delivering an exceptional performance. One forgot he was a little too old. In fact, whenever I reread "The Great Gatsby," I see Robert Ryan in my imagination. Possibly being a teen-ager made me susceptible to the rekindled romance between Gatsby and Daisy; certainly Ryan and Crain both made the viewer feel that something had gone on between them before. The other performances were all first-rate, too. Those Playhouse 90 productions were usually quite good.