When it comes to daily emails, there are only a few that Claude reads on a regular basis. You know how it goes: you skim the rest of them and maybe click if something is of interest, but generally you’re deleting them until finally you realize that you’re deleting ALL of them and haven’t bothered to unsubscribe.
The point here—and we do have one—is that there’s one daily email that he reads every day, without fail. It’s Seth Godin’s Blog. Godin is a business wizard, and while Claude isn’t in the world of business, Godin’s advice for relationship-building in the business world is something that anyone can take, and use, and generally improve their work surroundings.
As it happens, this past Sunday, Godin’s daily email was specifically about these two films, and the approach that the main character takes to the situation that they’re in. Godin, of course, takes a different view of what was done and why, and—because he’s Seth Godin—he’s absolutely right. Read for yourself and see if you don’t agree.
And in an amazing case of post hoc, ergo propter hoc, we’re going to conclude that Godin watched these films in preparation for this episode of the podcast, because he’s a huge fan, and it occurred to him to write a blog post about it.
At any rate, this episode is the first in a series of five episodes wherein we look at two films that people tend to compare to one another and decide that you can like one or the other, but not both. And to that, we say, “Nonsense.” Of course you can like both.
So we start off with 1952’s High Noon, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, and about 182 character actors. Fred Zinneman does a terrific job of keeping the tension ratcheted up, while Floyd Crosby’s cinematography is flawless, indoors and out. From there we slide on over to 1959 and a little film called Rio Bravo, starring John Wayne and Dean Martin, and directed by Howard Hawks. It’s an overstuffed episode, and the intermission (as usual) is only 30 seconds long, so get ready for some fantastic discussion.
COMING ATTRACTIONS:
In Reel 37 we bring you Part 2 of our five-part series with a pair of films that are vastly different in nearly every way, but there still seems to be insistence on one or the other. We have The Best Years of Our Lives, starring Frederic March and Dana Andrews, and It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed, both from 1947. The Best Years of Our Lives is an epic-length film with no intermission, so be ready for that. And we know it’s warming up outside, but go watch It’s a Wonderful Life anyway, because now you have a reason to.