First of all, I will not make any jokes about Robert Blake and murder. It is a cheep shot and has nothing to do with the movie. I try to keep private lives out of my opinions regarding film. I disagreed with Charlton Heston a lot, but that didn't color the way I saw his movies.

That being said, now let me defend the title of this post 

After the brutal murder of a rural family, due to a botched robbery, two drifters elude police, in the end coming to terms with their own mortality and the repercussions of their vile atrocity. Thats how IMDB sees it and I wont argue.

Richard Brooks is the director as well as producer and screen writer. It is all based on the excellent book by Truman Capote, by the same title..

Acting wise, it is Robert Blake's movie. No question. His portrait of Perry Smith is done in both fine and broad strokes. Although we never loose sight of the fact that he is a killer, we want to follow this complex human being. Not in a morbid way, but in a humane way.

Scott Wilson has the harder role of Richard “Dick” Hickock, a man with a thin coating of the boy from one farm over, covering a self loathing closet case. As an actor he is given the difficult task of anchoring Perry's character in our emotions. He does this quite well.

When I saw that John Forsythe was going to play the KBI investigator, Alvin Dewey, all I could think of was his role as TV's “Bachelor Father”. He surprised me. His underplaying made every line he spoke memeralble.

The victims are portrayed by Jon McLiam (father) Ruth Storey (mother) Paul Hough (son) and Brenda C. Currin (daughter) The first two actors were supposedly chosen for their resemblance to the real victims. The son and daughter were not.

Will Geer has a single scene as the prosecutor.

Charles McGraw and Jeff Corey play Perry and Dick's fathers respectively.

You'll notice Vaughn Taylor as the man who picks up the killers as hitchhikers on the lam. You remember him as the boss in “Psycho” and countless other performances.

Raymond Hatton in his last role plays an old hitchhiker. Although he has no lines, I remember his performance. He was a sidekick and sometimes star of lots of Gower Gulch westerns. Remind me to do a post on that subject sometime.

Paul Frees is credited with “Radio Announcer”, but his voice shows up a lot, dubbing for non-actors in several roles.

Things You Might Not Know

The movie was shot on many of the original locations. The house use in the film is the one where the brutal murder took place in 1959. Not only was the murder sequence filmed in the actual house, but director Richard Brooks obtained original furniture that had been sold or given away and used it as well. Also all the scenes in the film were shot in the actual locations where they happened--- from bus station bathrooms to clothing stores where bad checks were passed.

The actual courtroom where the real trial occurred was used along with some members of the real jury.

Blake and Wilson were chosen for their resemblance to the real killers.

These are the mugshots of the real killers. Notice the similarities. Although, the studio reportedly wanted Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. To me, this sounds like Hollywood press.

The hangman in the movie is supposedly the actual hangman. For a moment, Blake thinks he sees Charles McGraw (the actor who played his estranged father) in the hangman's place. Then after a cutaway, the original man is in McGraw's place. And he is supposed to be the actual hangman. It should be noted, the Kansas authorities, deny this.

The movie also self references itself. Perry, played by Blake, talks about his favorite movie, “Treasure of Sierra Madre” a movie that Robert Blake appeared in as a boy.

The film saw originally shot with a three channel stereo sound track, but unfortunately released in mono.

The Film As I See It

The movie has hundreds of references to the act of meshing. The musical soundtrack, by Quincy Jones blends into the sound effect, some times to the point of not being able to hear whee one ends and the other begins. Case in point, when the bus pulls into the Kansas City station, the note we hear quickly “meshes” into the sound of the squeaky breaks on the bus.

Fast edit cuts show people asking questions answered by people in other scenes, usually mile away.

The point of all this, once again, as I see it, is the two men by themselves are not capable of killing. But put them together, and they “mesh” into a third personality, that find murder quite easy.

Got another opinion, or a fact I missed. Love to hear it.

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But then I seldom do. Any day. I can honestly sat I don't remember the last time I got blotto. It had to be in the late nineties, but that's about as accurate as I can get.

But March seventeenth, besides being Saint Patric's Day, is also the anniversary of  the forming of the original Mormon Ladies Relief Society.  Saints.... right pew, wrong church.

So that night I attended. No, I'm not blogging about my revelation. I'm blogging about my dinner. It was good.Boiled beef, home fries and beans, and cornbread. Then came the after dinner entrainment.

Live on stage, a local rendition  of "Hee Haw", complete with local jokes and local entertainers.

In case your not old old enough, or too terminally hip  to remember, Hee Haw" was a teevee show that started on CBS in the late sixties. It was cornpones answer to Rowan and Martins Laugh In, but istead of writers, they just lifted stuff out of joke books. Bad joke books.

So in this respect, the performance was BETTER than the original show. Most of the jokes were local. So local that if youy didn't live here you wouldn't have got them (Hey! Isnt that the definition of a local joke lunkkhead?)

For the most part, people were pretty good, if you overlook the fact that half the cast was on stage with scripts in there hands. And al least one time, the set up from one joke was answered by the punch line of another. It still got a laugh.

So in case you didn't hear, I'm back from China. And I can tell you that YOU have to go.

Yes the flight there from San Francisco to Beijing was less than heavenly. Twelve hours. When you go, get an isle seat. I had one on the way back and and they DO make a difference.

There were 28 people in our group. And surprisingly, very few stinkers. A couple of people were a little annoying, but nothing so bad to even bring the subject up again.

We arrived at Beijing International at about 10 pm local time(I think). Let me tell you about Beijing. The town I live in now has less than 500 people, and is about five square miles on a good day. But I've lived in New York City and Los Angeles, so large towns are in my mental inventory. But B town? No, its frigging big.

Traffic was at first glance a nightmare, (and I've driven on the 405 in L.A.)But the people seemed to have an inner sense of cooperation that caused the flow to continue even at the worst of times. Cars are a new item in China, and so you see very few older ones. Beijing's people still mostly ride to and from work on bikes and subways or combinations of the two. Every subway stop had at least 200 or more bikes parked outside.

Pedestrians have no rights on the street, and don't seem to need them. They are as aggressive as any driver. Its not unusual to see some one cross at a corner, get stranded at the center line and walk down that center line until a space shows up between cars to get the rest of the way across. I saw people do this on the FREEWAY!

The English name of our first hotel was “Joy City” The hotel housed a large six story mall. Each level was dedicated to the style of clothing the shops on that level sold. The floors had names like “Elegant” “Sexy” and “Extreme” Don't get too excited, that last one was mostly sports stuff.

An American can walk around Beijing quite easily without knowing a bit of Chinese, as most of the stores signs are in both languages. Sometimes the wording on the signs is a bit awkward and sometimes downright funny. More on that later.

Beijing was cold. Very cold. As a result, some of it is a blur in my memory.

More will follow, I promise.

"The Random Thoughts of Not Quite A Horse's Ass" actually has a meaning. 

Or a better title might be; I'm just making up for lost time.

While I do seem to find the time to read other peoples blogs, my own goes unattended. I know this never happens to you. 

I'm adding a link here to increase the Google Count  for  Expelled Exposed You can do the same.

BTW< Things have been awfully busy here, but I will get back to bloging.

I've listened to Christmas songs all my life. Well, let rephrase that. I've listened to them every Christmas that I can

remember. But have you ever REALY listened?

The first thing you might notice is that some of them have nothing at all to do with any Christian holiday. A lot of them seem to be about snow. Frosty the Snowman runs around a village, barely noticing the local constabulary. We Let It Snow, so we can go dashing through it with our Jingle Bells. Those Jingle Bells Rock. And Baby Its Cold Outside, so lets not go Walking In A Winter Wonderland.

And then there's my favorite, or should I say, My Favorite Things. How did this become a Yuletide song. Its from The Sound of Music. It has nothing at all do with the season. Even the the reference to presents talks about them being brown papered and tied up with string. Not a colored wrapping or piece of gay ribbon to be had anywhere in the lyrics. Okay, one mention of snowflakes and another about sleigh bells but these are overshadowed by girls in white dresses and geese flying about.

Of course Broadway and Hollywood have done other things to add to the confusion. When Auntie Mane declares that We Need A Little Christmas, nobody seems to remember that she's singing this in mid July. All part of her non conformist character.

And while it may not have been July as she sang it, Judy Garland is consoling her sister in Meet Me In St. Louis when she sings Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. And theres not a holly wreath or mistletoe anywhere in the shot.

All right, I'll admit that ones a stretch, since it is really about Christmas and all, but for a real creepy use of the song, check out the movie, The Victors. It uses Frank Sinatra's version of the song as musical background to an American Infantryman being shot by a firing squad. Hold my eggnog please.

Then there's the other sub gene of seasonal songs. The ones that get the whole Christmas experience wrong to begin with. When I sat on Jolly Old Saint Nicolis lap I never asked him to “whisper what you'll bring to me.” Every kid knows better than that. Did the writers of this song miss the whole dynamic of the Santa thing?

I'm always forgetting. Is the story of The Little Drummer Boy in Mathew or Luke?

And while we're on the subject of Gospel accuracy, Lets do a short deconstruction of Do You Here What I Hear. Lets see, night wind talks to lamb, okay, not in any Bible but it doesn't alter the story any. Neither does the conversation between the lamb and the sheepherder. But when we get to the part about the boy talking to the king, we head down a slippery slope. What happened to the Wise Men? And the king, who I assume must be Herod goes way off script and tells everybody to to “pray for peace”. Quite a far cry from the accepted version. Its like the composers were embarrassed over that killing the first born male child business.

Alright, in the spirit of full discloser, there's nothing in this song to suggest the action is taking place in Judea. It could be Devonshire England for all we know.

And while we're on the subject of Three Kings, are they moving east or west? The Bible has them telling Herod that they saw his star in the east. That seems to mean the star was in the eastern sky. But the song says the star is westward leading.

I'm just asking.

And finally, my own personal nightmare, Old Red Nose Himself. Its obvious that the writer of these lyrics was not paid by the word. The WHOLE BLASTED STORY is told in one verse. One verse. No charterer development. No second act twist. Its so short in fact that every recording you've ever heard made up of that single anecdote, followed by a musical interlude. More often than not, that musical bridge is note for note the same as the first (and only) verse, and then the singer comes in and does it all over again.

I read somewhere that the song was commissioned by the Montgomery Ward people as a sales campaign. My personal theory is that the ad department had no typing paper and could only write their ideas on matchbook covers.

So what can I say, other than I'm just a guy with way too much time on his hands each Christmas.

And I'll leave you on that rant.

 The following was written with XM 104 playing seasonal music in the background.

I haven't sent a Christmas card to anyone in 35 years. I also have never had a Hostess Twinky in my life. Or a Ding Dong. The lack of certain  confectionery products in my life has nothing to do with my commitment to a healthy lifestyle, as anyone who has known me for more than the length of a sitcom episode can attest.

No, its just that some time in my thirties I realized that so far I had not partaken, and it seemed a good thing to be able to truthfully claim. Everyone should have something to shoot for. Its important to have a goal in life, even if its only marginally important.

But, I digress. As I sit here, with Karen Carpenter singing in the background about being home for Christmas as I type, I am reminded, yet again, that this is the season for eggnog, presents and Christmas cards.

I'll have a cup of eggnog, thank you very much, and here's your present, and I assume thats mine there under your tree, the one with my name on it.  Theres a lot about the Yuletide that I find even more than appealing, and down right nice or even fun.

I do not list cards as a part of that.

Yes, I can hear you now. “Bah, humbug!” For some reason we think of that word, humbug, as an exclamation, but when Scrooge used it, it was as a noun. He said Christmas was a humbug.

But I digress. Again

I started sending cards while I was in high school, to teachers, adult friends and a few classmates. Someone told me, I really cant remember who it was, and therefore it may have been myself, that it was an mature thing to do. It was right up there with having a job to pay your own auto insurance, or social drinking without getting drunk. A sign that you were a real live grown up.

Once again I wasn't fooling anybody but myself. But unlike other self ruses, this deception didn't last. On my twenty second Christmas I went cold turkey and never looked back.

(OMG! Wayne Newton is singing about Mommy kissing Santa. I can do without that too.)

One might think that by not making a ritual of postal affairs each December would have negative social consequences. Wrong again you tool of the House of Hallmark. in that 35 years, not one person has stopped me on the street on any Boxing day, or any other day for that matter, and called a worthless slime for not sending them a card. People get so many of the things that they would be crazy for trying to keep track. Well,on further thought, they do keep track, but only because to know who to add to their list.
 (Okay, Mitch Miller's gang is singing about Santa Clause coming tonight. That I can take. In small doses.)

So you see, by not sending YOU a Christmas card, I'm doing you a favor. One less thing for your yuletide to do list.

Your welcome.