The Horse's Head

The Plot: In the hills of rural West Virginia, teenager David Kinemon (Richard Barthelmess) dreams of being seen by his family as a responsible adult and not just as tolerable (or “tol’able” as the intertitles say). Life on the family farm takes a turn when the Kinemon’s neighbors Grandpa Hatburn and his granddaughter/David’s crush Esther (Forrest Robinson and Gladys Hulette) take in their fugitive cousins (Walter P. Lewis, Ernest Torrence, Ralph Yearsley), who terrorize everyone in sight. When the Hatburn cousins injure David’s older brother Allen (Warner Richmond), which leads to the fatal heart attack of their father (Edmund Gurney), David takes over Allen’s job as the town mailman and becomes the family’s sole source of income. As the Hatburns continue to wreck havoc, David must gain the courage needed to stand up to those goliaths (get it?) and become a man. Because nothing says responsible adulthood like violent vengeance.

Why It Matters: The NFR calls the film “a powerful drama” that “was tremendously influential on subsequent filmmaking.” An essay by silent film expert Fritzi Kramer is mostly a recap of the movie, but also takes time to praise the contributions of both Henry King and Richard Barthelmess.

But Does It Really?: This is definitely on the “historical significance” side of things. “Tol’able David” was a nostalgic crowd-pleaser in its day, but over 100 years later it was a real slog for me to get through. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the movie, but there was a barrier between me and the film that I could never penetrate. Part of that is the film’s sluggish pacing, but part of that is also the casting of Barthelmess as David (more on that later). As one of the best received films of 1921, “Tol’able David” is as worthy of its NFR induction as any other silent film, but any modern viewing should be reserved strictly for film buffs.

Wow, That’s Dated: I had never heard of a “hack” before, which everyone refers to regarding the mail position David covets so much. Short for Hackney carriage, hacks were rentable horse-drawn carriages; the first ride-share, if you will.

Seriously, Oscars?: Obviously there were no Oscars when “Tol’able David” was released, but the film did win the second ever Photoplay Medal of Honor award for Picture of the Year: the first major American movie award. Also of note is that when the Oscars finally did come around, Richard Barthelmess was one of the first Best Actor nominees for his performances in the crime drama “The Noose” and the WWI drama “The Patent Leather Kid”.

• Between “Tol’able David” and D. W. Griffith’s “Way Down East”, Richard Barthelmess’ film career hit its peak in the early 1920s. As the 1930s started and Barthelmess was aging out of his boyish leading roles, he pivoted to supporting turns in sound films. We’ll see Barthelmess again when I get around to covering “Only Angels Have Wings“.

• Like many a classic silent film on this list, “Tol’able David” was remade with sound in 1930. Twenty-year-old Richard Cromwell played David (which is a little better I guess) and the cast includes a very young John Carradine.
• The one bit of pop culture that gets brought up in almost everything I’ve read about “Tol’able David”: It’s featured prominently in the third act of “The Tingler”, a 1959 William Castle horror movie with his infamous “Percepto” gimmick. The titular tingler is let loose in a revival movie house, and guess what movie is getting revived?

December 3^rd, 1992: After receiving its first renewal the previous June, the National Film Registry is back with another 25 movies, reaching the important milestone of 100 movies! Having just finished watching the last of this group, it’s time for me to take a look back. Here again is the National Film Registry Class of 1992, along with my previous write-ups:

• The Birth of a Nation (1915) (“[It’s] even worse than you think it is.” “totally indefensible.”)
• Within Our Gates (1920) (“the earliest surviving film to be directed by an African-American”, “a powerful reminder of…what filmmaking from different voices can accomplish.”)
• The Big Parade (1925) (“not the greatest movie ever made, but it is an undeniably important film”, “the silent film medium at the height of its artistry”)
• The Gold Rush (1925) (“the first essential in Chaplin’s filmography, but his best work as an artist was still ahead of him.”)
• Big Business (1929) (“[Laurel & Hardy] are hilarious throughout this short, but I miss hearing them speak.”)
• Morocco (1930) (“Am I missing something with [von Sternberg]?”)
• Footlight Parade (1933) (“too much backstage/not enough musical”)
• The Bank Dick (1940) (“the most polished of [W.C. Fields’] inducted films”)
• Double Indemnity (1944) (“filmdom’s quintessential film noir entry”)
• Detour (1945) (“the best of the B [movies]”)
• Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) (“an enjoyable classic Hollywood melodrama and a fine representation of Max Ophuls.”)
• Adam’s Rib (1949) (“the ‘two steps forward, one step back” of feminism in film, but Tracy and Hepburn’s natural chemistry help smooth over the rough patches.”)
• Carmen Jones (1954) (“a testament to the career of Dorothy Dandridge.” “Preminger, you’ve done it again!”)
• Salt of the Earth (1954) (“the only blacklisted movie in film history.”, “a message that still rings true…70 years later”)
• The Night of the Hunter (1955) (“quite bizarre, but admittedly it’s that bizarreness that has helped it endure”)
• Paths of Glory (1957) (“has ‘minor classic’ written all over it, but it’s fun to see where Stanley Kubrick got his ‘start’.”)
• What’s Opera, Doc? (1957) (“one of the most revered and influential pieces of classic animation”)
• Psycho (1960) (“a game changer for the thriller genre”, “I’ll be damned if this movie still can’t scare the crap out of me every time.”)
• Dog Star Man (1961-1964) (“One hell of an experimental trip”, “a sort of cinematic Rorschach test.”)
• Ride the High Country (1962) (“a well-made, character-driven western enhanced by [Sam Peckinpah’s] unique perspective.”)
• Castro Street (1966) (“I could not get into [this movie], but it’s my own fault for not doing my homework.”)
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967) (“helped define a new era of filmmaking, and is a no-brainer for NFR inclusion.”)
• Salesman (1969) (“the subject matter is fascinating…but I just couldn’t get into this one.”)
• Nashville (1975) (“a bit slow by today’s standards, [but] there are enough dynamic characters and performances to hold your interest.”)
• Annie Hall (1977) (“a great film…[a]s difficult as it is for me to separate the art from the artist”)

Well that was fun. On to 1993! Stay safe, keep taking care of each other, and happy viewing!

Tony

The Plot: At the turn-of-the-century in a much less wild west, aging lawman Steve Judd (Joel McCrea) is hired by a bank in Hornitos, California to transport gold from the mining camp Coarsegold in the Sierras (the high country, if you will). Aware of the trek’s potential hazards, Steve enlists the help of his former partner Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott), who in turn recruits his young assistant Heck Longtree (Ron Starr). What Steve doesn’t know is that Gil plans to double-cross him and take the gold for himself. En route, they meet Elsa Knudson (Mariette Hartley), who joins them on their travels to escape her oppressive father (R.G. Armstrong) and marry her fiancé Billy Hammond (James Drury), currently mining near Coarsegold. Once everyone arrives in Coarsegold, things do not go as expected in this rumination on morality in a changing world and only the second feature film from Sam Peckinpah.

Why It Matters: Unusually for an early NFR pick, there is no major superlatives in the film’s write-up. Instead we get a detailed plot synopsis, and reference to the film’s “poignant finale.” An essay by Peckinpah expert Stephen Prince is much more praising, highlighting the film’s uniqueness among Peckinpah’s later filmography.

But Does It Really?: I liked, but didn’t love, “Ride the High Country”. Admittedly my issues with the movie were my own genre bias, as well as a few other factors we’ll get to, but overall, it’s a well-made, character-driven western enhanced by a young director’s unique perspective. While I don’t object to the film’s NFR induction, I do question how it got on the list in only the fourth year. If you want Sam Peckinpah on the list, why not “The Wild Bunch”? If you want older actors revisiting their western days, why not “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” or “Rio Bravo”? I’ll designate “Ride the High Country” as Peckinpah’s steppingstone film; the movie that was successful enough to get him the creative freedom that would lead to his better-known work. “Ride the High Country” is worthy of NFR preservation, but at the very least it should have switched places with “The Wild Bunch”, which had to wait another seven years before finally making the cut.

Everybody Gets One: Upon arriving in Los Angeles in 1927, Randolph Scott started out in the movies as a bit player and very quickly worked his way up to leading man status. Although he acted in a variety of genres, Scott’s domain was the Western: first in the 1930s in a series of movies based on the work of Zane Gray, and in the ’40s onwards as various lawmen trying to tame the west (I suspect this is the reason he is so revered in “Blazing Saddles“). Initially cast as the more law-abiding Steve Judd in “Ride the High Country”, Scott agreed to switch roles with Joel McCrea to play against type. Scott also successfully secured top billing over McCrea by winning a coin toss while the two were at lunch with Sam Peckinpah.

Title Track: N.B. Stone Jr.’s original screenplay went by the name “Guns in the Afternoon”. Among the numerous improvements Sam Peckinpah made in his re-write was the title “Ride the High Country”, an apt allegory for Steve’s morality. Composer George Bassman co-wrote a title song with lyricist Ken Darby that doesn’t appear in the film but was released as a single.

Seriously, Oscars?: No Oscar nominations for “Ride the High Country”, although the BAFTAs nominated Mariette Hartley for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. The only non-Brit in a category with Terrence Stamp and Sarah Miles, Hartley lost to Tom Courtenay for “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. Home court advantage, I guess.

• Even in his later years, McCrea continues to look like William Holden dubbed by Gary Cooper. He’s also still very tall, which is tough in a widescreen movie when he shares a shot with significantly shorter actors. Things improve when he’s paired with the equally tall Randolph Scott, and once they hit the Sierras everyone else can stand on a higher elevation level to match them.
• This is Mariette Hartley’s film debut (she even gets the “Introducing” credit in the opening). It’s a capable performance where she more than holds her own against her two established leads. And although Mariette Hartley’s film career never really took off, you can see her star quality that would make you believe that career path was possible. Elsa’s presence in the movie reminds me of McCrea’s great line in “Sullivan’s Travels”: “There’s always a girl in the picture. What’s the matter, don’t you go to the movies?”
• One line that made me laugh out loud comes from Gil, after watching Steve and Mr. Knudson tensely exchange Bible verses over dinner: “You cook a lovely ham hock, Ms. Knudson, just lovely. Appetite, Chapter One.”
• Ugh, I don’t need to see Joel McCrea or Randolph Scott in long johns! Make it stop!
• No offense to Ron Starr, who as of this writing is still with us, but he is not great in this. Starr’s acting career petered out within a decade of “High Country”, and hopefully he moved on to better things in another venue. Thankfully, his car navigation and safety systems seem to be much more effective.
• Another issue with this movie that is also my fault: I have no history with either McCrea or Scott. Aside from “Sullivan’s Travels”, I’ve never seen either of them in anything else, unlike someone my age in 1962, who would have watched their careers happen in real time and understand their history with westerns that’s baked into the film’s subtext. The closest thing I can equate this to is watching De Niro and Pacino all my life and then watching them revisit the gangster genre in “The Irishman”.
• Once everyone arrives in Coarsegold, I got massive flashbacks to my grade school field trip to Columbia, California, which is partially preserved in its gold rush aesthetic. Good times.
• Gah! Enough close-ups of the Hammond brothers! They’re all so off-putting. Side note: Henry Hammond is played by Warren Oates, aka GTO from “Two-Lane Blacktop“. If Henry is the kind of underdeveloped character Oates played in every Western, I see how the critics took notice of his work in “Two-Lane”.
• In one of my least favorite recurring themes on this blog, the whole Elsa & Billy wedding sequence is uncomfortable (though admittedly that’s the point). It leads to another round of unpleasant close-ups of the guests, particularly the Hammond brothers as they creepily leer at their new sister-in-law. All right cinematographer Lucien Ballard, you’ve lost your close-up privileges. Give me your keys.

• The last third of the movie takes its time, but we get some solid morality debates between Steve and Gil, the kind of gray area that started to crop up more and more in westerns. This all leads to the final showdown, which made me appropriately tense as I waited to see how it would all end.
• [Spoilers] In the original N.B. Stone draft, Gil was killed during the climactic shootout as an act of sacrificial redemption, but Peckinpah switched it so that Steve is killed, and Gil redeems himself by taking the gold to the bank. It’s a real downer of an ending, but also a surprising and more complex one. Even though I wasn’t fully engaged with the movie by then, I was genuinely saddened to see Joel McCrea slowly slink to the ground as the credits roll.
• I think the moral of this movie is don’t trust anyone under 50.

• Sam Peckinpah’s next film was 1965’s “Major Dundee” starring Charlton Heston, who hired Peckinpah based on his work in “High Country” (Side note: Heston also tried to remake “High Country” in the late ’80s starring him and Clint Eastwood, but nothing came of it). Although the production of “Dundee” was a disaster (not helped by Peckinpah’s chronic alcoholism), Peckinpah bounced back with his next and most famous film: “The Wild Bunch“.

It’s mid-April: the weather is less depressing, you’ve filed your taxes (if that’s your thing), and the Library of Congress has inducted 25 new recordings into the National Recording Registry! Here is the Class of 2024 in chronological order:

• “Clarinet Marmalade” – Lt. James Reese Europe’s 369^th U.S. Infantry Band (1919)
• “Kauhavan Polkka” – Viola Turpeinen and John Rosendahl (1928)
• Wisconsin Folksong Collection (1937-1946)
• “Rose Room” – Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian (1939)
• “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – Gene Autry (1949)
• “Tennessee Waltz” – Patti Page (1950)
• “Rocket ‘88’” – Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats (1951) 
• “Catch a Falling Star” / ”Magic Moments” – Perry Como (1957)
• “Chances Are” – Johnny Mathis (1957) 
• “The Sidewinder” – Lee Morgan (1964)
• “Surrealistic Pillow” – Jefferson Airplane (1967)
• “Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers (1971)
• “This is a Recording” – Lily Tomlin (1971)
• “J.D. Crowe & the New South” – J.D. Crowe & the New South (1975)
• “Arrival” – ABBA (1976)
• “El Cantante” – Héctor Lavoe (1978)
• “The Cars” – The Cars (1978) 
• “Parallel Lines” – Blondie (1978)
• “La-Di-Da-Di” – Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick (MC Ricky D) (1985)
• “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” – Bobby McFerrin (1988)
• “Amor Eterno” – Juan Gabriel (1990)
• “Pieces of Africa” – Kronos Quartet (1992)
• “Dookie” – Green Day (1994)
• “Ready to Die” – The Notorious B.I.G. (1994)
• “Wide Open Spaces” – The Chicks (1998)

Other notes

• First off, the NRR made a playlist with this year’s inductees available wherever you listen to music.
• As is typical with each year’s NRR inductees, I recognize about half of the recordings and artists on this list, and I will take the NRR’s word that the other half is also historically significant. These 25 are a good eclectic mix and bring the NRR’s total to a respectable 650. If I had focused my blog on this Registry rather than the other one, I’d be done by now.
• To the best of my knowledge, 24 of the 25 recordings are musical in nature. We get the comedy album “This Is a Recording”, but no radio programs or news coverage. Better luck next year, National Public Radio.
• Shoutouts to Jefferson Airplane and Gene Autrey, both making their NRR debuts after I have written posts pointing out their conspicuous absences. Bonus shoutout to Jefferson Airplane, whose song “Somebody to Love” I recently mentioned in my “Apollo 13” post. Along with the induction of CCR’s “Fortune Son” in 2013, the NRR now has two songs that serve as movie shorthand for “turbulent ’60s”. All they need is Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower” for the hat trick.
• Thanks to this list, my current earworm is Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”, but just the part where he sings “I know I know I know I know I know” about 187 times.
• I really should listen to Lily Tomlin’s comedy albums one of these days. Speaking of, along with Debbie Harry, Benny Goodman, and the aforementioned Gene Autrey and Jefferson Airplane, Lily Tomlin is part of a growing group of artists whose work has been inducted to both of the Library of Congress’ national registries.
• Interesting that The Chicks are credited here by their current name, even though in 1998 they were known as The Dixie Chicks. The NRR write-up mentions the name change in 2020 because…well it was 2020 and that’s what we were doing. Between this, tearing down racist statues, and closing Splash Mountain, we kept ourselves busy during lockdown.
• Did you know that The Notorious B.I.G.’s real name was Christopher Wallace? I definitely did not.
• Pop sensation ABBA is this year’s reminder that the NRR is more open to international recordings that have become part of American pop culture than their counterparts at the NFR. I am genuinely curious if the NFR will ever consider adding international films, and the massive floodgate that will open if they do.
• And finally, you can nominate recordings for the National Recording Registry’s Class of 2025 right now! According to the NRR, a record-breaking 2899 recordings were nominated that year, so let your voice be heard. Nominations can be submitted at the Registry’s website, with a deadline this year of October 1^st, 2024. They also have a list of artists not yet on the Registry. It needs an updating, but it’s a good starting point.

Happy Listening, stay safe, and…Oh for the love of – Who put Green Day on the list?

Tony

Note: For this post, I watched the 1942 “revival” of “The Gold Rush”, the version most readily available when the film made the NFR. This is also a revised and expanded version of my original “Gold Rush” post, which you can read here.

The Plot: Charlie Chaplin reprises his popular role of the Tramp, who this time is The Lone Prospector traveling through the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. When a blizzard hits, the Tramp ends up trapped in a cabin with wanted criminal Black Larsen (Tom Murray), as well as Big Jim (Mack Swain), another prospector whose gold parcel has been buried by the blizzard. The three wait out the storm for several days, reaching a point of starvation and near-cannibalism. After the storm subsides, the Tramp journeys to a nearby boom town, falling for local dance hall girl Georgia (Georgia Hale). But as with so much of Chaplin’s work, all of this is just backdrop for his trademark mix of inventive comedy and heartfelt drama.

Why It Matters: The NFR states that the film is “[o]ften considered one of Chaplin’s greatest” and gives a rundown of the movie’s iconic scenes and Oscar stats. An essay by film historians Darren R. Reid and Brett Sanders delves into the influence Chaplin’s childhood of poverty had on his films and is a semi-promotion for their documentary “Looking for Charlie”.

But Does It Really?: I’ve watched “The Gold Rush” several times over the years, and as much as I enjoy it, it’s a movie that I admire more than I love. In only his fourth feature, Chaplin raises the stakes with massive sets and special effects, but still manages to keep the film character driven and packed with some decent laughs. “Gold Rush” is the first essential in Chaplin’s filmography, but his best work as an artist was still ahead of him. Still, you can’t have a list of iconic American movies without Chaplin eating his shoe and dancing with bread rolls, so “Gold Rush” is an absolute must for the Registry.

Everybody Gets One: Georgia Hale was cast in “The Gold Rush” after Chaplin saw her performance in Josef von Sternberg’s “The Salvation Hunters” and needed to re-cast his leading lady (more on that later). Chaplin would go on to hire Hale as a replacement for Virginia Cherrill as the Blind Girl in “City Lights” but ended up re-hiring Cherrill and discarding Hale’s footage (though some of it survives and has been released as supplemental material). Hale’s filmography spanned only seven years and 16 films, a majority of which are now lost.

Seriously, Oscars?: Well, here’s an interesting one: Originally released in 1925, “The Gold Rush” was obviously ineligible for the Academy’s first ceremony four years later, but the film’s 1942 re-release with a brand new soundtrack was nominated in two categories: Sound Recording, and Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Continuing Chaplin’s complicated relationship with the Oscars, “Gold Rush” lost in both categories to, respectively, “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “Now, Voyager“.

• At one point Big Jim, out of starvation, starts to envision the Tramp as a giant chicken. Is this where we get the “hungry person sees someone as food” trope?

• I always forget how many live animals are in this: dogs, cats, a mule, a bear. Although once the bear enters the cabin it quickly switches from a real bear to a guy in a bear suit, which is still funny, and infinitely safer for everyone on set (except for maybe the guy sweating it out inside the bear suit).
• At a budget of $923,000 (roughly $16 million today), “Gold Rush” was one of the most expensive silent films ever made, and you can see that money on the screen. In addition to the Klondike set reconstructions and all those animals, “Gold Rush” has some genuinely impressive special effects, particularly the process shots and model work being done during the avalanche sequence. 
• Georgia is…also a character in this movie. She doesn’t have much to do, but when the director has a crush on you, you’re going to look great. Fun Fact: The other actress considered to replace Lita Grey was a young unknown named Carole Lombard. She would have been great, but she also would have been 16, so 24-year-old Georgia Hale is a good call for everybody.
• The moments that made me laugh the hardest this viewing were any time sincere underscoring played during one of the Tramp’s pratfalls (getting knocked to the ground, getting pelted with a snowball, etc.) As always, ridiculous comedy is always funnier when played straight, and that goes for the music too.
• Iconic Moment 2 of 2: When the Tramp fantasizes about hosting Georgia and her friends for New Year’s Eve, he entertains them with the Oceana Roll dance, utilizing two bread rolls with forks stuck in them as his dancing legs. It’s a bit Chaplin used to do at parties that made its way into “The Gold Rush”/film immortality. The story goes that at the film’s Berlin premiere, this scene was so well received by the audience, the projectionist immediately replayed it for an encore. And who says Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

• While not as iconic as this movie’s other two big scenes, the cabin teetering over a cliff is another highlight. We get a surprisingly intense mixture of Chaplin’s flawless timing with more of those great special effects. The cherry on top for me is the Tramp thinking that the rocking cabin is just a side effect of his hangover, or in this movie’s parlance his “liver attack”.

• Wait, that’s it? The original version ended with the Tramp and Georgia sharing a romantic kiss, but by 1942 Chaplin’s affair with Georgia Hale was long over and he had the kiss removed, cutting abruptly from a shot of them walking away together to the end titles. Chaplin tries to smooth over the cut with narration, but it’s still a bit awkward.

• In 1942, Chaplin re-released “The Gold Rush” with a new soundtrack, new narration in lieu of title cards, and a few editing tweaks to tighten the pacing. This was the most readily available version of “The Gold Rush” until the early 1990s, when the 1925 version was restored. I’ve seen both and trust me, stick with the 1942 cut. The original is good, but longer and paced for a much more patient audience than me.

• In 1953, Chaplin did not renew the copyright on “The Gold Rush” (he was -ahem- out of town) and the film fell into public domain, leading to, as with so many other movies on this list, its frequent showings on TV and subsequent rediscovery by a new generation of film lovers.
• At the 1958 Brussels World Fair, “Gold Rush” was named the 2^nd greatest movie ever made by a poll of over 100 film critics, falling just five votes behind Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin”. Since then, “Gold Rush” routinely appears on various greatest films lists, including both AFI Top 100 lists.
• But of course, the film’s main legacy are the two iconic scenes mentioned above: the shoe-eating scene and the roll dance. The latter gets spoofed quite a bit, although at least one lawyer representing the estate of Charles Chaplin is quick to stop any “unauthorized imitation”.

Further Viewing: In 1979, Werner Herzog told aspiring filmmaker Errol Morris that if Morris ever finished making “Gates of Heaven”, he’d eat his shoe. Morris did, and Herzog’s end of the deal was documented in Les Blank’s aptly titled “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe”. As expected, clips of Chaplin in “The Gold Rush” are featured.