
Where as Nancy knew Easy Rider was the correct Mystery Movie last week, everyone else seemed to be more interested in the aluminum pots Marc from Calgary was selling. Sure, they were some amazing aluminum pots, pretty much the best The Mayor has ever seen, but I found that treating Mitchieville like it was the poor man’s EBay, well, that kind of took some of the shine off of last week’s game. Not to diminish the correct guess Nancy came up with, that was sheer brilliance, but what I’m trying to do is put everything in context. There, that seems to have done it. 4 7 3.
The Mayor loves a good western. Truth be told, The Mayor even loves a terrible western. And I’m not talking about those delicious sandwiches you usually order at your neighbourhood greasy spoon. I’m talking about the American classic western movie. What a wonderful and pretty much dead genre.
The Mayor loves westerns because The Mayor believes westerns depict how I want the world to be. I’m not talking about the unwashed masses, the dirty streets or the terrible, harsh booze. I don’t want to live in Detroit. I’m talking about how good should always triumph over evil. How if you’re a nasty critter the chances of a bullet finding your skull are about 100%. How there is a code, and that code should never be broken. How a handshake is your word. How real men handle adversity and fight for what is right.
Westerns aren’t popular amoung the chatting classes for precisely the reasons The Mayor loves them. “What, the males aren’t discussing their feelings? They don’t seem to have any daddy issues? Whaaaaaaaa, where are the half crippled East Indian women with limps? Where is the diversity?”
I got your diversity right here (I’m pointing to my crotch, btw).
Having said that, here’s an Audrey Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Audie Murphy, Lillian Gish western from 1960. This is a movie that actually touches upon racism against American Indians. For a movie produced in 1960, that’s pretty amazing. Not only that, but the movie was nearly not made because Audrey Hepburn broke her back during the filming and the entire movie had to be suspended until she recouped.
Anyway, enough about The Mayor and how I look in assless chaps.
Plot - An old man, Abe Kelsey (Joseph Wiseman), claims that a member of a thriving frontier family, Rachel Zachary (Audrey Hepburn), is actually a Native American, secretly adopted as a child. Rachel’s true brother and a gang of Kiowas return to claim her, saying that she is one of their own, stolen in a raid. The dispute results in the rest of the whites turning their backs on the Zacharys when the truth is revealed by the matriarch, Mattilda Zachary (Lillian Gish). Ben Zachary (Burt Lancaster) (who is in love with Rachel, with Rachel feeling the same way) tries to defend the family, but Cash (Audie Murphy), his hotheaded brother, is unable to deal with his “sister” being a “red-hide Indian.” He leaves, but returns to help them fight off an Indian raid, during which Rachel commits a violent act, thus choosing sides once and for all.
What an interesting post, Mr Mayor, you have come a long way in your six years of blogging.
Why thank you, you are too kind.
Which mystery movie is this?