[editor’s note: this question comes from Tina and Zack and so is in two parts] Question from Tina. I told Karen yesterday of [Zack’s} goal to watch 30 westerns in 30 days. Scott, she said you were the pro on classic westerns! Question from Zack. My list of westerns I’m thinking about [is] attached. I’m looking for classic westerns. Scott, if you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them! Answer. I grew up watching westerns. I loved the genre of western films in general. When I was a kid and it was Saturday morning we watched "Western Jamboree". This was a couple of different western movies every week. My brothers and I would get up so early the TV station wouldn't even be broadcasting yet. We'd sit in front of the blank screen and watch the 'snow'. The rule was we couldn't wake up my Dad until the test pattern came on. After a half hour of the test pattern the station would sign on with the Star Spangled Banner and patriotic images and then “Western Jamboree” would start. For many years in the early days of cinema the films in the U.S. were preoccupied with our period of western expansion. The frontier, justice, and self-reliance were all common themes in the American western. In Japan at the same time they were preoccupied with their feudal period. The American film “The Magnificent Seven” is a remake of the Japanese film “The Seven Samurai”. The Japanese classic films “Yojimbo” and “Sanjuro” were the basis for Clint Eastwoods character in “A Fistful of Dollars” and “A Few Dollars More”. If you can find it you should watch “Red Sun” with Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune. The gunslinger teams up with the Samurai. A great film and the basic premise was played for laughs in “Shanghai Noon”. Of course when you think of the American western you think of John Wayne and John Ford. “The Searchers” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence” were two of the best. Some other great John Wayne westerns were “Red River” and “Big Jake”. “Red River” is the older of the two and is a great example of how movies used to be made. There was no CGI and there are some scenes, like the funeral, where cast and crew sat around for hours and hours waiting for the weather to be perfect for the shot. “Big Jake” is a later film and has John Wayne and his sons in the film. I think it’s a perfect example of Wayne when he was at the height of his popularity. Nothing in Hollywood is new, everything is a copy and a rip-off. At least it seems like that sometimes. Watch the John Wayne western film the “Sons of Katie Elder” and then watch the 2005 film “Four Brothers” with Mark Wahlberg and tell me that movie isn’t a total rip-off. Four brothers return home for their mother’s funeral, they get into conflict with the local bad guys, one brother is killed, a law enforcement officer tries to help and he gets killed for his troubles. The three remaining brothers solve everything in a final showdown. That’s the plot of both films. Some directors even copy themselves. Howard Hawks had success with “Rio Bravo” and then re-made the exact same movie calling it “El Dorado”. The drunken sheriff Dean Martin was replaced by the drunken sheriff Robert Mitchum. The crotchety sidekick Gabby Hayes was replaced by Walter Brennan. The youngster Ricky Nelson was replaced by James Caan. Too funny. In the early days of the Western film the American Indian didn’t always get a fair shake. Some good movies that set that right are “Little Big Man” with Dustin Hoffman and “Soldier Blue” with Candace Bergen. And the American western took on issues of racial inequality during the Civil Rights era with films like “The Skin Game” with James Garner and Lou Gossett and “The Scalphunters” with Burt Lancaster and Ossie Davis. If you are into the history of the weapons that made the time period watch for the revolving rifle used by Burt Lancaster’s character in “The Scalphunters”. One western that played the race card probably just for sensationalism was “100 Rifles”. This film featured Raquel Welsh and James Brown in an inter-racial tryst. It was a good action movie. The Western film while decidedly an American invention got treatment from other countries. Everyone has heard the term ‘spaghetti’ western. The master of these was Sergio Leone; “A Fistful of Dollars”, “A Few Dollars More”, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, and “Once Upon A Time in The Old West”. If you only have time for one Sergio Leone film it has to be “Once Upon A Time in The Old West”. Truly a classic; with Jason Robards, Charles Bronson, and Henry Fonda playing a heinous villain. Second choice would be “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”. There is a scene in the movie where Civil War prisoners in the POW camp are being tortured. The other prisoners are forced to sing to cover up the sounds of the torture. The singing is so beautiful but the singers know what is going on and some of them are weeping as they sing this beautiful song. It’s a haunting and memorable scene that stays with you for a long time. Other countries got into the act as well. If you can find it see “Another Man Another Chance”. This film stars Genevieve Bujold and James Caan. It was directed by Claude Lelouch and was his first English language film. Although it’s actually better described as a bi-lingual film as the film opens in France and then moves to the U.S. There was a race for land in the west, an actual historical event, where the U.S. opened up a vast territory to be claimed by anyone that got there first. This was recreated in this movie and was spectacularly done. Certain events in the west are played over and over again in different movies. One of these events was the great Northfield Minnesota raid. The best film that includes this event is “The Long Riders”. Real life brothers played the famous James brothers, the Younger brothers, and the Ford brothers. This western is a must see. More famous than the great Northfield Minnesota raid was the shootout at the OK corral. Best films for that event are “My Darling Clementine” and “Tombstone”. For Clint Eastwood westerns my favorite is “The Outlaw Josey Wales”. That’s probably my favorite western of all time. Another classic Clint Eastwood western is “Joe Kidd”. I see you have “High Plains Drifter” on your list; me personally I would put “Joe Kidd” over “High Plains Drifter” – it is a more classic western. My second favorite western of all time is “Jeremiah Johnson”. You have to include that one. Robert Redford had one of his best roles as the title character in “Jeremiah Johnson”. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack with a great supporting actor portrayal turned in by Will Geer. Sometimes a supporting actor portrayal is enough to recommend a film. “Comes a Horseman” is such a film. You may not realize this but probably half the westerns made in Hollywood had Richard Farnsworth in them. He was the go to stunt man in western films. Later in his life he got his chance to act. He was very very good in “Comes a Horseman”. I see a few movies on your list where you don’t state which version. I’m assuming where you have “Stagecoach” you are referring to the John Wayne version. And while that is indeed a classic I prefer the 1966 version. This version has an all star cast; Ann Margaret, Red Buttons, Bing Crosby, Stephanie Powers. You might want to consider both versions. Similarly you have “Winchester ‘73”. The original was the 1950 version with Jimmie Stewart and here I would stick to the original and skip the remake. I see you have a few westerns with Jimmie Stewart but overlooked what I think is his best western, “Firecreek”. I see on your list that you don’t have any films with Audie Murphy. That’s not right. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in World War II. His true story of his time in WWII was made into a movie, that he starred in playing himself. The film was called “To Hell and Back”. In his film career he made 44 movies and 33 of them were westerns. Try “Night Passage” (Jimmie Stewart got top billing), “Bullet for a Badman”, or “The Unforgiven” (not to be confused with “Unforgiven” the Clint Eastwood movie – “Unforgiven” starred Burt Lancaster, Audie Murphy, and Audrey Hepburn – Audrey Hepburn in a western!). You have some westerns that have Charles Bronson in them but I would include “Chato’s Land” (plus the aforementioned “Red Sun”). I see you have two Randolph Scott films on your list “Ride the High Country” (but I bet you included that because of the director Sam Peckinpah rather than because of Randolph Scott) and “Ride Lonesome”. Randolph Scott was making western films in the 1930s. He made about 60 western films. Also of note by Randolph Scott “Comanche Station” and “Rage at Dawn”. On your list you have “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”. A good film to be sure but it doesn’t belong on your list of westerns. The story in the film takes place in the 1920s and clearly doesn’t fall into the category of a western and certainly not a classic western. I notice also that absent from your list are any western comedies. Maybe a good idea as I could go on and easily list thirty classic western comedies. Things like Jimmie Stewart and Henry Fonda in “The Cheyenne Social Club”. That’s a movie where the Jimmie Stewart character inherits a ‘house of ill repute’. Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda in “Cat Ballou” was another classic western comedy. The James Garner films “Support Your Local Sheriff” and “Support Your Local Gunfighter”. The better of the two (they’re both great) has Bruce Dern in a rare comedic turn. Even John Wayne did a western comedy “McClintock”. “McClintock” may have been the best of the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara pairings. “Texas Across the River” was a western comedy with Dean Martin. Frank Sinatra made the western comedy “Dirty Dingus Magee”. My all-time favorite western comedy is “Evil Roy Slade” starring John Astin. And of course you have classics like “Blazing Saddles”. So, maybe western comedies is for another time? I’m going to stop rambling – in summary you really need to add “Jeremiah Johnson” and “The Long Riders” and I would drop “Treasure of the Sierra Madre”.
Answer. Some people think the sky is blue because sunlight collides with air molecules and the light is refracted, or something like that, and blue is the middle of the light spectrum. It’s actually a trick question. The teacher asked her students to use the word ‘definitely’ in a sentence. Little Suzy said, “The grass is definitely green.” The teacher said no, that sometimes the grass dies and it could be brown. Little Jimmy said, “The sky is definitely blue.” “No”, that’s not correct said the teacher. “Sometimes the sky can be gray or beautiful shades of red at sunset or sunrise”. Little Johnny asked, “Do farts have lumps?” “No”, said the teacher. “Then I definitely pooped my pants.” Bears do in fact dump in the woods. National Park Rangers in Rocky Mountain parks routinely advise hikers to be alert for bears and to take extra precautions to avoid an encounter. They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. The tinkle of the bells allows bears to hear them coming from a distance and not be startled by a hiker accidentally sneaking up on them. Surprising a bear might cause it to charge. Visitors are also advised to carry pepper spray just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear’s sensitive nose and it will run away. It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat. Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and sometimes small bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper. The Pope’s hat is always funny. If you ever need to get a birthday present for the Pope you can’t go wrong with a gift card to Big and Tall Hats. It’s in the mall. Trees do need therapy sometimes. Two tall trees, a birch and a beech, were growing next to each other in the woods. A small tree started to grow between them. The beech says to the birch, “Is that a son of a beech or a son of a birch?” Neither of them knew. They asked a woodpecker for help. The wood pecker took a taste of the sapling and said, “That’s not a son of a beech or a son of a birch. That’s the best piece of ash I’ve had in a long time.”
Tap handle from the collection of Khan Tiki Mon
Some questions today courtesy of the comic "Get Fuzzy".
Questions from "Get Fuzzy".
Khan Tiki Mon's vintage Primo beer cans.
I only have one tap handle so far. I happen to think it’s a beaut!! I’d love to see your collection. You must have some awesome stuff.
Barbancourt rum and ginger ale
Question from Rich. I have about 30 different Hawaiian shirts (all Primo beer). I collect breweriana mostly unusual taps (3,000 and counting). Do you have Primo beer shirts? Cheers, Rich. Keep collecting it preserves history!!! Answer. Rich, I don’t have any Primo beer shirts yet. I did just recently acquire two vintage Primo beer cans.
To submit a question send e-mail to Khan_Tiki_Mon@verizon.net with 'Q and A' as the subject.
[editor’s note: Gus left this entry on the guestbook. He should have submitted this by e-mail as a question. In my best Alex Trebek impression I am saying, please frame this as a question, and so I added a question mark to the end.] Question from Gus. Hey Scott, I like the addition of the Rum section. I recently learned of a famous rum from Haiti called Barbancourt that is supposed to be some of the best--it's so popular that everyone who leaves Haiti takes it back with them when they leave, they have it all bagged up and ready to carry on to the plane when you leave Port-au-Prince! Probably worthy of your Rum section, see if you can find it and give it a try? Answer. Why yes, Gus, I have heard of Barbancourt. Thanks for asking and for being the first one to submit a question to this section. I have about 35 rums now in my rum library including Barbancourt. I am acquiring rums faster than I am tasting or drinking them. This is not a bad place to be. Having more rum coming in than is being consumed means one never has to hear the sad Jack Sparrow lament “why is all the rum gone?” Societe du Rhum Barbancourt was founded by a Frenchman from the cognac producing region of France. The product is double distilled, which is similar to the process used to make cognac. It is made from the juice of the sugar cane; not from the molasses. In Martinique rums made from the sugar cane juice are referred to as agricole (or agricultural) as opposed to those made from the molasses which are considered a more industrial process. You are correct in stating that the Barbancourt rums are considered to be some of the best in the world. Certainly Barbancourt is the most known Haitian business outside of Haiti.
[editor’s note: This question was left on Facebook. I have taken the liberty of moving the question here. My friend Michelle is also sometimes known as Shelly, I don’t know why. She is also my secret Guyanese rum connection. Although not as secret now that it has been posted here. For those of you that don’t know Guyana is home to some of the most prized rums in the world; the Demerara rums.] Question from Michelle. Thanks for the talk :) I wonder if I can go into the rum business as a side job? :) Answer. As you know I am pursuing a second career in the tasting and drinking of rum. It is going very well except for the fact that it is surprisingly more difficult than one would think to get paid for doing it. Perhaps we would be better advised to go into the rum making business or, more exciting, the rum smuggling business.
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Cartoon panels from "Marvin".