Today would have been James Earl Jones’s 95th birthday.
Today’s scene that I love features him reacting to an impromptu visit from Kevin Costner in 1989’s Field of Dreams. With his famous voice, his good humor, and his own inspiring story of overcoming a childhood stutter to become one of our greatest actors, it’s often easy to forget that some of Jones’s best moments came when he played characters who were just fed up with the stupidity of the world.
The brilliance of this scene is that it pretty much speaks for itself. It doesn’t need to be overanalyzed. It doesn’t need to be carefully explained. It works because it captures what almost everyone has always suspected, even if they didn’t necessarily have the courage to say so aloud.
From John Carpenter’s 1988 film They Live:
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1979’s The Concorde …. Airport ’79.
Under attack from a drone, George Kennedy does what any responsible pilot would do. He opens up the cockpit window — while in flight! — and fires off a flare gun. Meanwhile, Alain Delon does some Top Gun-style moves with a commercial airliner. No wonder Eddie Albert and Jimmie Walker look so alarmed! Beyond the “don’t try this at home” narrative logic, this scene is definitely worth it for the shots of the passengers reacting.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to actress Faye Dunaway.
In this scene from 1976’s Network, television executives Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall discuss the best way to deal with Howard Beale and his falling ratings.
Gregory Walcott, who was born 100 years today, appeared in a lot of good films over the course of his long career. He had supporting roles in major blockbusters. He was a friend and frequent collaborator of Clint Eastwood’s. In 1979, he played the sheriff in the Oscar-nominated Norma Rae.
That said, he will probably always be most remembered for playing Jeff, the patriotic pilot, in Ed Wood’s 1957 masterpiece, Plan Nine From Outer Space. Walcott gave probably as good a performance as anyone could in Plan 9, though that didn’t prevent the film from wrong being declared one of the worst ever made. Walcott, for most of his career, was not a fan of Plan 9 but, in the years before he passed away in 2015, Walcott’s attitude towards the film mellowed considerably. He even appeared in Tim Burton’s Ed Wood.
In this scene from Plan 9, Walcott shows how to deal with a snooty extra-terrestrial invader. Never has Earth had been a better defender!
Today is Andrew Lawrence’s birthday!
Who is Andrew Lawrence? He is the director of the greatest film ever made, Money Plane! Today’s scene that I love comes from that 2020 masterpiece. In this scene, Kelsey Grammer gives what may be his greatest performance.
Today would have been Lee Van Cleef’s 101st birthday.
Today’s scene that I love features Van Cleef as the title character in 1969’s Sabata. In this scene, he faces off in a duel with William Berger’s Banjo. Even when he’s playing the good guy, like in this film, Lee Van Cleef leaves no doubt that he’s not someone you want to mess with.
Today would have been Diane Keaton’s 80th birthday.
In today’s scene that I love, from 1972’s The Godfather, Keaton plays Kay Adams Corleone, the wife of Michael (Al Pacino). In this scene, Michael has “allowed” Kay to ask him about the family business. She asks him if he had his brother-in-law, Carlo, killed. Michael says, “No.” Kay is relieved …. until she steps out into the hallway and realizes, as the door is shut in her face, that her husband just lied to her.
This is a beautifully acted scene and one of the most powerful endings in film history.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the 1985 film, Rambo: First Blood Part II. In this scene, Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo — having survived being abandoned yet again in Vietnam — let’s the CIA knew exactly what he thinks about their operation. As directed by George Pan Cosmatos and performed by Stallone, this scene is pure 80s action.
If you ever meet James Cameron, remind him that he wrote the script for this film and see how he reacts.
Here’s a scene that I love:
(SPOILERS BELOW)
The final moments of Sergio Leone’s epic 1984 gangster film, Once Upon A Time in America, are filled with questions and mysteries.
The final moments of Sergio Leone’s epic 1984 gangster film, Once Upon A Time in America, are filed with questions and mysteries.
In 1968, who did Noodles (played by Robert De Niro) see standing outside of Max’s mansion? When the garbage truck pulled up, did the mysterious man get in the truck or was he thrown in by some unseen force?
Why, in 1968, did Noodles see a car from the 1920s, one that was full of people who appeared to be celebrating the end of prohibition? Was the car really there, in 1968, or was it an element of Noodles’s past as a gangster suddenly popping into his mind?
Once Upon A Time In America (1984, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)
When we then see a young Noodles in an opium den, are we flashing back to the 1920s? Is Noodles remembering the past or is it possible that we’ve been in the 20s the whole time and all of the scenes set in 1968 were actually only a drug-induced dream?
Why, with men looking to kill him and all of his friends apparently dead, does Noodles suddenly smile at the end of the film? Is that sudden smile a result of the drugs or is there something else going on?
Once Upon A Time In America was Sergio Leone’s final film. It’s one that he spent decades trying to get made and, once it was finally produced, it was butchered and re-edited by a studio hacks who demanded that the film tell its story in a linear style. Leone was reportedly heart-broken by how his film was treated. Some have speculated that his disappointment may have even contributed to the heart attack that eventually killed him. It was only after Leone passed that his version of Once Upon A Time In America became widely available in the U.S. This enigmatic epic continues to spark debate. One thing that can’t be denied is that it’s a brilliant film.
As today is Leone’s birthday, it only seems appropriate to share a pair of scenes that I love, from the ending of Once Upon A Time In America.
Through the Shattered Lens 