ANDY WILLIAMS - MOON RIVER

I first heard the song 'Moon River' while watching the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's .   That movie has many good memories for me.  One of most powerful memories are the scenes of Audrey Hepburn with her cat in her apartment and when she leaves the cat in the alley as she is running away to South America.  The scene of George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn searching for "Cat" in the alley got me bawling as youngster while watching it.  With the music of Moon River in the background, while searching for the cat, the scene has left a permanent wedge in my mind. 

Audrey Hepburn performed the song in the movie but the song really belonged to Andy Williams.  He recorded it in one take and sang it at the 1962 Academy Awards.  That song became the signature song of Andy Williams.  It was his brand. 

Lyrics to Moon River

Moon River, wider than a mile, 
I'm crossing you in style some day. 
Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker, 
wherever you're going I'm going your way. 
Two drifters off to see the world. 
There's such a lot of world to see. 
We're after the same rainbow's end-- 
waiting 'round the bend, 
my huckleberry friend, 
Moon River and me.

Andy Williams passed away today and I will always remember him as a wonderful crooner and for the song Moon River.

HARRY AND SALLY

With Nora Ephron passing away this week, I have to comment on one of her great movies.  I have watched the movie 'When Harry met Sally' numerous times.  I think the DH might consider it almost nauseating.  The dialogue, the interactions, the inserts of old couples who have been together for years and describing how they met, makes this movie wonderful to watch.  Yes, I do have the dvd and have even bought it for a friend to give as a gift.  You need to share the joy of the story.  I also like the character of Carrie Fisher as Sally's friend.  


The great story line was whether women and men can just be friends with each even if they find each other attractive.  That idea surfaced at the beginning of the movie and ran the course of the movie through the trails and tribulations of the Harry and Sally trying to figure out their relationship.  Of course the famous scene from the restaurant where Sally is faking an orgasm and the whole restaurant is watching is priceless.  My other favourite part of the movie is how Sally constructs and deconstructs a menu in a restaurant.  I am a big fan of 'everything on the side'.   


I found great quotes from the movie that captures key scenes.  These are my favourite to savour and enjoy:

Suppose nothing happens to you. Suppose you lived out your whole life and nothing happens you never meet anybody you never become anything and finally you die in one of those New York deaths which nobody notices for two weeks until the smell drifts into the hallway.

It's amazing, you look like a normal person but actually you're the Angel of Death.

No man can ever be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He'll always want to have sex with her.

Great! A woman friend... You know you may be the first attractive woman I have not wanted to sleep with in my entire life.

I had my dream again, where I'm making love and the Olympic judges are watching. I've nailed the compulsories so this is it, the finals. I got a nine eight from the Canadian, a perfect ten from the American, and my mother disguised as a East German judge gave me a five six. Must've been the dismount.

I'll have what she's having.

If you're there please pick up the phone, I really want to talk to you. The fact that you're not answering leads me to believe that you're a) Not at home. b) Home, but don't want to talk to me. Or c) Home, desperately want to talk to me, but trapped under something heavy. If it's either a) or c) call me back.

I'm definitely coming down with something. Probably a twenty four hour tumour they're going around.

You know I have a theory that Hieroglyphics are really an ancient comic strip about a character named Sphinxie.

I love that you get cold when it's seventy one degrees out, I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich, I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts, I love that after I spend a day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Years Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of the life to start as soon as possible.

RIP Nora Ephron

TRUE GRIT

I recently saw the movie "True Grit" directed by the Coen brothers.  It stars Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon as LaBoeuf, Hailee Skinfeld as Mattie Ross and Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney.  This of course is not the first time True Grit has been filmed.  The first "True Grit" movie came out in 1969 and it starred John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn, Glen Campbell as LaBoeuf, Kim Darby as Mattie Ross, Jeff Corey as Tom Chaney, Dennis Hopper as Moon and Robert Duvall as Ned Pepper.

True Grit was a 1968 novel written by Charles Portis and tells the story of a young teenager out for revenge upon the deadly shooting of her father.  She is determined to bring her father's murderer, Tom Chaney, to justice.  Involved in the chase of Tom Chaney is a hard nosed U.S Marshall - Rooster Cogburn and a Texas Ranger - LaBoeuf.

The question you might ask is which version is better.  Both actually have some similar dialogue.  The 2010 version is a bit shorter, by 18 minutes; follows the novel more closely in terms of time of year that the story occurs, Mattie Ross appearing as an older woman and looking back on her life and geographic locations in the U.S.  The Coen brothers are known for their mastery of dialogue in their films and this movie did not disappoint.  The lines, the bantering and the vocabulary was great.  The young actress Hailee Skinfeld (thirteen years old) probably stole the show with her lines. There was an open casting call for the role of Mattie Ross and Hailee Skinfeld beat out 15,000 other girls to get this role.  Overall the 2010 version has better dialogue and filming.   Movie trailer for 2010 film.

The 1969 movie does have some important significance.  This was the only Oscar that John Wayne won.  Barbra Streisand was the presenter for the best actor award and you can see the presentation in this clip - John Wayne winning his only Oscar.  He was competing against Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight (both for the movie Midnight Cowboy), Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.   

Another interesting fact about this 1969 movie was the Quarter horse used the last scene.  John Wayne fell in love with this horse, a 2 year old chestnut gelding named Dollor.  This horse would appear with him in several more Westerns, including his final movie "The Shootist".  Wayne would not let anyone else ride the horse, the lone exception being Robert Wagner, who rode the horse, after Wayne's death, in an episode of his television show "Hart to Hart". 

What I liked about the 1969 movie was the sound track and song sung by Glen Campbell.

Sound track and trailer sung by Glen Campbell.  The song has a wonderful melody and lyrics and I never tire hearing it.  The DH and I saw Glen Campbell in concert last year and he is still a great singer and an exceptional guitar player.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching him sing. 


One of the songs in the 2010 movie is by Johnny Cash "God is gonna cut you down".  I like Johnny Cash but the song by Glen Campbell is my preference. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed both versions of the movie.  Each had great actors and each tells a wonderful story.