For me, there was no more touching film scene in 2007 than this one from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. After years of blaming Dewey for accidentally chopping his brother Nate in half, Dewey’s father finally realizes that it could have happened to anyone.
I nearly shared the “there’s no crying in baseball” scene from A League Of Their Own as a reminder to myself not to cry, no matter what the Rangers’s final record is.
But then I decided that I would rather share this scene from 42, in which Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) takes his team to the World Series! Forget about Black Panther and Da 5 Bloods. This was Boseman’s greatest performance.
The scene from The Tree of Life is a reminder that empathy is not just a human trait and that no one and nothing will be here forever. This is one of my favorite scenes from this film. I don’t claim to understand everything about The Tree of Life but I’m still moved every time that I watch it.
Today, we wish a happy 96th birthday to the one and only Clint Eastwood!
Clint Eastwood is an American icon. In many ways, his persona epitomizes all of the contrasts and extremes of the American experience. A political conservative who specializes in playing taciturn and rather grouchy men, he is also one of our most humanistic directors, specializing in films that often question the traditional view of history and morality. He may have first become a star in Europe but Clint Eastwood is definitely an American original.
In honor of his birthday, I’m sharing a scene that I love from 1971’s Dirty Harry. In this scene, Detective Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) meets the Mayor of San Francisco (John Vernon). The mayor is concerned that there’s a psycho on the loose, gunning people down and demanding money. Callahan’s annoyed that he’s spent a lot of time sitting in a waiting room. Things pretty much go downhill from there.
There’s so much that I love about this scene. Both Eastwood and Vernon do a wonderful job playing off of each other. The Mayor may be in charge of the city but Callahan probably didn’t vote for him. One thing that I especially love about this scene is the look of annoyance that crosses Harry’s face whenever he’s interrupted.
And, of course, there’s that final line! Eastwood does a great job explaining Harry’s “policy” but ultimately, it’s Vernon’s “I think he’s got a point,” that provides the perfect closing note.
Happy birthday, Mr. Eastwood!
The late director Franklin J. Schaffner was born 106 years ago today.
Though Schaffner won an Oscar for directing Patton, my favorite Schaffner film will always be Planet of the Apes. In this scene, Charlton Heston discovers where he’s actually been for the entire movie.
Everyone had to start somewhere and for Clint Eastwood, that somewhere was 1955’s Revenge of the Creature. Here he is, making his uncredited film debut as a lab technician who has discovered something odd. Even in his very first role, Eastwood’s physicality made him stand out. And check out that gorgeous hair!
118 years ago today, Ian Fleming was born in Mayfair, London. A member of British Intelligence during World War II, Fleming is today best-remembered as the creator of James Bond.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1962’s Dr. No. Here is Sean Connery, in his first appearance as Fleming’s iconic secret agent. Eunice Gray was cast as Sylvia Trench, who was originally envisioned as being Bond’s permanent “London” girlfriend. She also appeared in From Russia With Love before the idea was abandoned. We all know that Bond’s true love was Tracy di Vincenzo.
104 years ago, on this date, Christopher Lee was born in London. After serving in the secret service during World War II and reportedly inspiring his cousin, Ian Fleming, to create the character of James Bond, Christopher Lee went on to have a legendary acting career. Though he was best known for playing Dracula, Lee appeared in almost every genre of film and he always gave a good performance. Even when the film was bad, Lee was good.
Today, for Lee’s birthday, I’m sharing a scene between him and Peter Cushing in 1965’s The Skull. Though The Skull isn’t one of the strongest films that the pair made for Amicus, it’s worth watching for the performances of Cushing and Lee. Often cast as rivals on screen, the two were, in reality, the best of friends and Lee often said that he never really emotionally recovered from Cushing’s death.
In the scene below, Lee and Cushing are obviously having a ball trying to outact one another while playing simple game of pool and discussing slightly esoteric concerns.
Since today is the 119th anniversary of the birth of John Wayne, it only seems right that today’s scene should come from the 1962 classic, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance!
The famous steak scene features three of the greatest screen icons of Hollywood’s golden age: James Stewart, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin. Lee Marvin is the bully who is terrorizing the entire town. James Stewart is the idealist who thinks that the law, and not violence, is the answer. And John Wayne is …. well, he’s John Wayne. He’s the only man in town who can stand up to Lee Marvin but, at the same time, he’s also aware that his time is coming to a close. In the scene below, all three of the characters display their different approaches to life and a disagreement with steak nearly leads to violence.
This scene — and really, the entire film — features these three actors at their best. John Wayne is an actor who is often described as having “just played himself” but that’s really not quite fair. While Wayne’s outsized persona definitely does influence how the audience reacts to any character that he plays, he was a better actor than he’s often given credit for being. That’s especially evident in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in which Wayne plays a confident man’s man who knows that fate is closing in on him. The coming of civilization (represented by James Stewart) will be great for the town of Shinbone but it will also leave men like Wayne’s Ton Doniphon with nowhere to go. The coming of civilization means that the heroes of the past are destined to become obsolete.
Enjoy this scene from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance:
Today, we wish a happy birthday to Cillian Murphy!
Two years ago, Murphy won the Oscar for his role in Oppenheimer. However, before playing the lead role in Christopher Nolan’s epic, Cillian Murphy been an intriguing cinematic presence for over two decades. I first became aware of him after watching Danny Boyle’s 2002 classic, 28 Days Later. Here he is, showing what he can do without even uttering a word of dialogue, in a haunting scene from that film.
Through the Shattered Lens 