After all, murder is - or should be - an art. Not one of the 'seven lively', perhaps, but an art nevertheless. And, as such, the privilege of committing it should be reserved for those few who are really superior individuals.

A few days ago I watched The Hitchcock film Rope which was the first of three films he did with James Stewart. It involves Farley Granger and John Dall as collage students who murder a fellow student and hide the body in their home. They then throw a party inviting his dad, aunt, wife to be, former teacher and a friend. The film is said to be inspired by the murder of 14 year old boy by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Granger over acts to much. You can tell that Stewart knows something is wrong when Granger starts freaking out about how he did not strangle a chicken. Hitchcock shot for periods lasting up to ten minutes and shot the film in just one room.Not many have done this which is one of the things that makes it good.

You got a choice, Dishwasher. Either you get out of town, or tonight you be out on that street alone. You be there, and don't make us come and get you.

On my birthday I had some family over for pizza and we watched John Fords classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. It has a who's who's of stars including John Wayne, James Stewart, Lee Marvin, Vera Miles, Edmond O' Brien, John Carradine, Andy Devine,Woody Strode also Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin 3 to 5 years before they became big in the movie industry. This has to be my third favorite role of Marvin after The Dirty Dozen and The Big Red One. I just love when he says dude. Stewart and Wayne are great as always.

Over my spring break I watched for the first time the Alfred Hitchcock classic Vertigo starring the great James Stewart and Kim Novak. The film is about James Stewart as a former cop who has a fear of heights after a roof top chase which leads to the death of a fellow police officer when he plunges off the roof to the ally below. After that he gets a call from a old friend to watch his wife who has been acting strange lately. After that the movie turns in a romance with some thrills towards the end. I found the film to be very dense and boring. The score by Hermann and the fact that it starred one of my favorite actors James Stewart are the only two things that kept me from walking away.

O Lord, without consulting with Thee, we have sent thy way some souls whose evil ways passeth all understanding. We ask Thee humbly to receive them... whether you want them or not! Amen.

Over my break I watched the film How the West was Won. It is like the Longest Day and Bridge to Far in terms of cast. The cast includes Walter Brennan, John Wayne, Karl Malden, James Stewart, George Peppard, Eli wallich, Debbie Renyolds, Carroll Baker, Greorgy Peck and Lee J Cobb to name a few. The film also has Lee Van Cleef in an uncredited role. The film is narrated by Spencer Tracy.   It revolves around one families journey to the west and the struggles they faced over the years.



The film was shot by different directors. The great John Ford shot the Civil war scene. Another great western director Henry Hathaway shot the  River, Plains and Outlaw scene. George Marshall shot the Railroad scene.The film was nominated 8 times at the Oscars in 1963 winning only 3. One for best writing for story and screenplay, best editing and best sound. The great score by Alfred Newman and Ken Darby was going to win for best original score but there was a mix up and the Oscar went to John Addison for Tom Jones. The mistake has never been fixed to this day. I have no complaints except that they killed off Karl Malden and Walter Brennan which was mean.  It was also a little slow at times. Overall it was good. 

The people here could die for lack of water, and you took it?

The Flight of the Phoenix has to be one of my favorite movies. It has an all star cast including James Stewart,Richard Attenbough,Ernest Borgine,Peter Finch and George Kennedy to name a few. These men and 7 others must fight to survive. Two of the men one of who is the directors son William Aldrich are killed when the cargo crushes them. With very little water they must rebuild a new plane out of the old one.But after being warned several times  about not going out into desert by Jimmy Stewart 3 men Finch,Borgnine and Alex Montoya go out. Only Finch returns.The other two die from lack of water. then as the film goes on three more die including a man wounded in the crash.

One thing I noticed was that they had a tribute To The Day the Music Died because of the 7 men that died they only buried 3,the 3 whose deaths were caused by the crash. It is one of Borgine's and Stewart's best performances. I also liked the dramatic music composed and conducted by De Vol who conducted some of Aldrich's other films such as the Dirty Dozen. I also really loved the main title it is very dramatic. This would be the start of George Kennedy's long career with planes starring in all 4 Airport movies and later a small role in The Delta Force. Stewart also starred in other airplane films such as  Strategic Air Command and The Spirit of St. Louis. But later on during the filming Stuntman Paul Mantz and one other flier were testing the plane when it crashed. The  crash would kill Mantz. This would have to be my favorite airplane movie.