1) I saw the original 1947 version of Bush Christmas on TCM this evening. The action takes place in Australia, and involves a group of children who run afoul of a trio of horse thieves. For all I know, this may be considered a hackneyed old chestnut of a movie down under, but I thoroughly enjoyed it (the movie was remade in 1983, but I know nothing about that version, except that Nicole Kidman was in it).
2) Speaking of movies, one of my favorite scenes is Rita Hayworth's first appearance in the 1946 film, Gilda. Watch and you will understand why (Woof!):
3) An interesting take on political prisoners from the superb Stuff White People Like.
4) The New York Times won't give an FBI informant equal time with the odious Bill Ayers, but Bob Owens will (via Bob's Confederate Yankee blog).
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Have a very merry and blessed Christmas Paco!
ReplyDeleteFelice Navidad to Mrs Paco and yourself, and the boys of course.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a chance to see the original Bush Christmas. I love it, and so do many Aussies. The modern remake isn't bad, quite funny for the most part actually. The original was actually a British production and, while filmed entirely in Oz, was really British made.
Still a great old movie though.
Slainte mhath Paco.
Bingley, old top! A very Merry Christmas to you, too, and a prosperous New Year. We shall see how things go under the Tofu Reich.
ReplyDeletePogs: I enjoyed the movie very much; the children had all the qualities we Americans normally associate with Australians: pluck, determination, indominatable good cheer.
ReplyDeleteYes Paco, Bush Christmas is a sweet old chestnut from 1947 with Chips Rafferty - sort of our John Wayne, and meant to feature the skills of the then 'black trackers'.
ReplyDeleteYou'll appreciate the mood of optimism the movie was expressing back then even more if you consider what the nation was feeling just 5 years before when Singapore fell and all seemed dark:
"Today Port Moresby and Darwin are the Singapores of Australia. If those two places fall, then, inevitably, we are faced with a bloody struggle on our soil when we will be forced to fight grimly, city by city, village by village, until our fair land may become a blackened ruin."
http://stackja19451204.blogspot.com/2008/11/ghost-of-christmas-past.html
And then you Americans came to our aid - people were dancing for joy in the streets.
So in 1947, having found new American friends to replace the tired old Brits, and with that help fought our way out of the depths of 1942's despair, anything seemed possible.
(I haven't heard of Black Trackers for 50 years. The aborigines are still born with exceptional skills of observation of the landscape, but unfortunately have no wholesome use for those skills).
Precisely so, Bruce; when I saw the black tracker doing his stuff, the first thing I was reminded of was Apache scouts.
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