Gregory Peck arrives in a small town to see the hanging of four men he believes raped and killed his wife. They manage to escape and Peck and a posse go after them. The film also stars Joan Collins as a former flame of Peck and Lee Van Cleef as one of the killers.
It's strange to see a young Joan Collins in this film. For people my age she will always be Alexis, from Dynasty. Just like it's strange to see John Forsythe, Blake, in The Trouble With Harry. Gregory Peck is very good in a dark and haunted role as the widower. It's an excellent film. What could have been a simple revenge film turns out to be something more, it's rather about the futility of revenge.
In the last image of the film the situation is maybe a bit too perfect (Compare it to the ending of The Searchers). It's a chance for Peck to start a new life with a new wife, but how much can a person change?
vendredi 17 septembre 2010
jeudi 16 septembre 2010
Gregory Peck
I just got a couple of Gregory Peck westerns and will also rewatch some of his other films. First: The Big Country by William Wyler. Peck is a former ship's captain going west to meet his future bride Caroll Baker, ending up in a conflict between two ranch owners.
So, Gregory Peck, was he sort of a Keanu Reeves of the 50s? They have some of the same qualities. The film also stars Jean Simmons, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives. Especially Ives is very good as one of the ranch owners. I love the scenes in old movies when somebody lights a match and the whole room lights up.
The Big Country is a big movie, almost three hours. It's good, but never really exciting. Or really funny for that matter.
mercredi 15 septembre 2010
This is a page...
... from a story published in the Norwegian anthology Forresten. Script by Eivor Vindenes, drawings by me. Originally I drew my animal characters naked (them, I mean, not me) and I believe this is the first time I gave them clothes.
mardi 14 septembre 2010
Catalog cover
This scan is taken from www.beguiling.com where some of my originals are for sale. This one is already sold though.
lundi 13 septembre 2010
A cover for a Norwegian novel
I think this was one of the first jobs I got as an illustrator, having just finished art school. That should make it 94 or 95.
The Last Picture Show
It's 1952, Texas. We follow a group of kids in the senior year of high school in a small town where everybody knows everybody. There's not much to do except listening to Hank Williams on the radio, driving around in cars and fooling around.
It's Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece, shot in timeless black and white. All the actors are great. There are young actors just starting out, like Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Sheperd and Randy Quaid, there's the veteran actor Ben Johnson as Sam the Lion, sort of a father figure for the kids. There's also Eileen Brennan as a waitress, another one of those great 70s faces. It's a sad film, even more so when you know how Bogdanovich squandered his early promise. He didn't get the long career of his idols John Ford and Howard Hawks, more like that of Orson Welles.
I'm not sure if it's correct to call Jeff Bridges underrated. He's been nominated for the Oscar and he won one for Crazy Heart, but he's never done the sort of showy overacting that usually is necessary for winning awards. Usually you don't notice him acting at all. I ordered his 79 film Winter Kills, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I'll have to get back to that one later.
It's Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece, shot in timeless black and white. All the actors are great. There are young actors just starting out, like Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Sheperd and Randy Quaid, there's the veteran actor Ben Johnson as Sam the Lion, sort of a father figure for the kids. There's also Eileen Brennan as a waitress, another one of those great 70s faces. It's a sad film, even more so when you know how Bogdanovich squandered his early promise. He didn't get the long career of his idols John Ford and Howard Hawks, more like that of Orson Welles.
I'm not sure if it's correct to call Jeff Bridges underrated. He's been nominated for the Oscar and he won one for Crazy Heart, but he's never done the sort of showy overacting that usually is necessary for winning awards. Usually you don't notice him acting at all. I ordered his 79 film Winter Kills, but it hasn't arrived yet, so I'll have to get back to that one later.
dimanche 12 septembre 2010
Cutter's way
Jeff Bridges is Bone, John Heard is Cutter, a crippled Vietnam War veteran. One evening Bone is witness to the dumping of the body of a girl. Later, at a parade, he recognizes the person he believes is the killer, JJ Kord, an oil company hotshot. Together with the dead girl's sister they decide to seek justice.
It's a darker and more unlikable role for Jeff Bridges than what he had usually played until then. John Heard shines in his part, and Lisa Eichhorn as Heard's girlfriend but with feelings for Bridges, is also excellent.
Some movies you forget as soon as you walk out of the cinema or put the dvd back in it's cover, other movies stay with you. Cutter's Way is one of those. It has a powerful ending, made better by not pulling a Psycho: five minutes at the police station where everything is solved and explained. The film flopped when it was released in 81, maybe a sign that this would be a decade all about winning, and who cares about the losers.
It's a darker and more unlikable role for Jeff Bridges than what he had usually played until then. John Heard shines in his part, and Lisa Eichhorn as Heard's girlfriend but with feelings for Bridges, is also excellent.
Some movies you forget as soon as you walk out of the cinema or put the dvd back in it's cover, other movies stay with you. Cutter's Way is one of those. It has a powerful ending, made better by not pulling a Psycho: five minutes at the police station where everything is solved and explained. The film flopped when it was released in 81, maybe a sign that this would be a decade all about winning, and who cares about the losers.
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