Brother John Wayne On Political Discourse

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

“This is a good country. With good people in it. Good people don’t always agree with one another. Maybe the best thing we can do in this country is agree to disagree every once in a while.”

~John Wayne

Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56, Tucson, Arizona 

John Wayne was never shy about expressing his opinions when it came to politics. He was a conservative, and a life-long Republican. He supported candidates that shared his great love of America, and those values that make America great. He was a patriot at heart, and developed friendships with many American Presidents, starting when he campaigned for Eisenhower. Then  Nixon. Ford. Reagan. 

His friendship with Richard Nixon was probably the closest. They exchanged letters frequently, and got together on many occasions. Shortly after Nixon won the election in 1968, the Duke wrote to him and said he better watch himself, because he was thinking about running for President himself. Nixon responded, “Duke is a better title than President!” 

However, even though he was a Republican, he respected every President that was elected by the people and sat in the Oval Office. He sent a telegram to John F. Kennedy after he was elected saying, “Congratulations, sir, from one of the loyal opposition.” He did the same with Lyndon B. Johnson and Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter replied to his telegram, “I trust the only area in which we will find ourselves in opposition is that of Party loyalty. I will need your help in the coming years, and hope to have your support.” Carter invited the Duke to Washington, DC to participate in his inauguration ceremonies, and John Wayne accepted. 

When John Wayne died in 1979, it was none other than Jimmy Carter that put what the nation was feeling over the loss of the famous actor into words. He said to the nation, “John Wayne was bigger than life . . . He was a symbol of so many of the qualities that make America great.” 

Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten something that John Wayne understood so well. We are all Americans, and we should always show respect to each other. And we should always put our Country before our politics. 

 ~TEC 

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is the Worshipful Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754.  He is a Past Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees.  He is a Fellow at the Missouri Lodge of Research. (FMLR) and a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

John Wayne Trivia: The Duke's Favorite Co-Star

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Todd E. Creason

John Wayne as J. B. Books in The Shootist.  His last film in 1979.

Bad guy:  "Yuv kilt me!"


John Wayne (as J.B. Books) "You ain't kilt, but your gonna have a bellyache all winter, ya boob."

You ask any John Wayne fan who his favorite co-star was, and just about everyone will agree it was Maureen O'Hara.  He said it himself, and they made five movies together--one of my favorites is McLintock (1962), one of the only comedies he made.  They were terrific together. But there was another who also made five movies with John Wayne, an actor the Duke had great respect for and asked for by name.  His name was Dollor, and he was a big sorrel with a white blaze on his face, and white stockings.  John Wayne and Dollor were also terrific together.

John Wayne and Dollor (1969)

It would surprise most people, but John Wayne wasn't that passionate about horses. He was a good rider, and he knew his way around horses, but he saw horses as an essential part of his on scene personality.  He was a big man, and he liked tall horses that were dependable, predictable (lots of gun fire), and reliable on the film set.  And there were certain types he knew he looked good riding on screen.  Dollor fit all the things Wayne looked for in a horse perfectly when they first worked together on True Grit (1969).  So fond of that horse, John Wayne drew up exclusive movies rights on Dollor that said in no uncertain terms that nobody rode Dollor on film but John Wayne.  He went on to ride Dollor in the last four Westerns he made, including his last film, The Shootist.

Perhaps one of John Wayne's most iconic scenes with Dollor was the showdown at the end of True Grit--the role that won John Wayne his Oscar.  You know the one.  One of the greatest Western showdowns in screen history. "I mean to kill you in one minute, Ned.  Or see you hanged in Fort Smith at Judge Parker's convenience.  Which'll it be?"  Ned Pepper calls back, "I call that bold talk from a one-eyed fat man."  That leads to one of the greatest lines ever delivered on screen.  "Fill your hands you son of a . . ."  Well, you know how it goes.  Guns blaze as they charge each other.  John Wayne spin cocking his rifle (the same way he had decades earlier in 1939's Stagecoach) as he blasted away with his Colt .45.  Dollor falls in battle, but John Wayne comes out on top--with the help of his friends.

Wayne was so fond of Dollor, he had the screenwriter of The Shootist rewrite the script so that Dollor could be mentioned by name--in fact, little Ron Howard got in a little jam with J. B. Books in the film over Dollor.  John Wayne died in 1979.  Dollor went on to star in a couple more movies after the Duke's death, and finally lived out his remaining days on a ranch near Dallas, Texas.  Dollor lived a long life, and died in 1995.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm a huge John Wayne fan.  People often ask me what the first chapter I wrote in the Famous American Freemasons series was.  It was Bro. John Wayne.  If you're a John Wayne fan, this would be a good time to visit your local magazine stand.  American Cowboy Magazine has a collector's edition out that features John Wayne--100 beautifully illustrated pages.  I got the essential facts for this piece about Dollor out of that collector's edition, and it's just crammed full of great articles about "The Duke." A life-long fan, I found a lot of interesting details I didn't know.  It will only be available until September, so you better go look for it today.

~TEC


Todd E. Creason, 33° is the author of several books including the Famous American Freemasons series (in which John Wayne is included).  Todd is the Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and a member of both the Scottish Rite, and York Rite. He's also a member of the Ansar Shrine (IL) and Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL).  

Trivia: A Few Fun Facts About Famous Freemasons

by Midnight Freemasons Regular Contributor

Todd E. Creason

Originally posted 9/15/10

Here's a few interesting facts you may not know about famous Freemasons: 

General George Washington

-Although George Washington seemed reluctant to accept the commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, he had done very little to try and stop the nomination, and had taken to wearing his buff and blue military uniform every day when the Second Continental Congress met.

John Philips Sousa

-As a boy, John Philips Sousa accompanied his father to Gettysburg with the Marine Marching Band, where he witnessed Abraham Lincoln give his famous speech. He would later grow up to conduct that same band, and would spend his life writing patriotic marches.

Roy Rogers & Trigger

-Roy Roger's famous horse Trigger had a job even before he met Roy.  He was horse ridden by Olivia de Haviland in the Errol Flynn classic film Robin Hood.  Back then, Trigger's name was "Golden Cloud."

Harry S Truman

-Harry S Truman cheated on his eye exam in order to qualify for military service. He once joked that his weak eyesight had always been a problem, in fact, he was unable to play baseball as a boy until his teammates found him a job he could do that didn't require good vision--umpire.

John Wayne

-John Wayne's nickname "Duke" came from his boyhood when he used to run around around town with the family dog--a giant Airedale.  The local firemen used to call the two "Big Duke" (the dog) and "Little Duke" (the boy).

Now wasn't that interesting?

~TEC



Todd E. Creason is the author of several books, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, and a Shriner

If you enjoyed these, many more little known facts about famous Freemasons can be found in Famous American Freemasons

Freemason Wisdom: John Wayne On Bullies

Big Duke & Little Duke

“I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."

~John Wayne from The Shootist

Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56

Tuscon, Arizona

It's hard to believe, but even "The Duke" was razzed and picked on by bullies on the playground.  It wasn't easy growing up with the name Marion.  "Defending that first name taught me to fight at an early age," John Wayne once remarked.

He earned his nickname when his family moved to California in 1911.  His constant companion was the family Airedale, and the local fireman, who watched him pass the firehouse each day, began calling the dog "Big Duke" and the boy "Little Duke."  The name stuck.  When he showed up at the firehouse one day with a black eye and a split lip, one of the firefighters, an ex-boxer, began teaching Little Duke to defend himself.  It wasn't long before the bullying stopped.  "I really looked up to those guys. They were heroes in my book," John Wayne remembered.

We live in a world today that spends a lot of time talking about bullying, and trying to eliminate it from schools and playgrounds--but it's always going to be a fact of life.  There's always going to be that overly assertive person trying to punch your buttons--and sometimes pacifism isn't the answer.  It's important not only to teach our kids not to be bullies, but also how to stand up for themselves when it inevitably happens.

Some people my age and older have a different view of the problem  Many of us had that one defining moment back in school when they finally got tired of dealing with a bully, and turned on them.  I had this conversation with a few of my old friends.  Each had a moment like that, they still remember the bully's name, and remember the look on the bully's face when they finally got fed up and confronted them.  They remember it as an defining moment in their life--the moment they stopped being the victim.  When they realized the pain of a black eye hurts a lot less than living their life in fear.

And it doesn't just happen to kids--there are grown-up bullies as well.  Most of us know one.  Most who had that defining moment in youth know how to deal with people like that--those who didn't wind up being pushed around by them even as adults.

Kids learn a lot on the playground--not all of it is pleasant.  By removing adversity, are we making our kids stronger, or weaker? 

~TEC

Famous American Freemason: Tom Mix



Tom Mix
Utopia Lodge No. 537, California

 I don't usually do posts over the weekend, but I particularly enjoyed Bro. Steve Harris' post Brother Tom Mix on his One Minute Mason blog today.  You should read it--it's an interesting list of facts about the iconic western actor Tom Mix.  It's a very entertaining list, and I didn't know most of them, and Tom Mix was one of the Masons I'd considered for the first volume of Famous American Freemasons.

Tom Mix was in 336 movies, only 7 were talkies.  The only two actors close to that number were both Freemasons.  Bro. John Wayne was in 170, and the only other actor that's close is the Illustrious Bro. Ernest Borgnine, 33rd Degree . . . who in 2009 was getting ready to appear in his 200th movie--and he's still plugging away at it (when he's not voicing the character Mermaid Man on SpongeBob Squarepants).


John Wayne circa 1930
Marion McDaniel No. 56
 Tuscon, Arizona

Tom Mix and John Wayne were bitter rivals early in John Wayne's career, but it was because of Tom Mix, that John Wayne got started in films to begin with.  When John Wayne (then Marion Morrison) was studying at the University of Southern California, Tom Mix got him his first job at at studio--as a prop boy.  In exchange, young John Wayne got football ticket for Tom Mix.  It wasn't long before John Wayne was acting in bit parts, and soon after he began to forge a life-long friendship with legendary director John Ford.  His first starring role was in 1930 in The Big Trail.  He's almost too young to even recognize in the picture as the legendary star he later became.  As Tom Mix's star faded, John Wayne's took off.

It seems ironic now, but when I put together my list of famous Freemasons for the first book, Tom Mix and John Wayne were both on the list.  I only needed one Hollywood actor for the first book, and John Wayne easily won.  My dad is a big John Wayne fan, and as a result, I'm a big John Wayne fan--in fact, the chapter on John Wayne was the very first chapter I wrote for the Famous American Freemasons series. However, when I get to that third volume in the series, I think Bro. Tom Mix will easily make the cut.

~TEC

Trivia: A Few Fun Facts About Famous Freemasons

Here's a few interesting facts you may not know about famous Freemasons: 

General George Washington

-Although George Washington seemed reluctant to accept the commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, he had done very little to try and stop the nomination, and had taken to wearing his buff and blue military uniform every day when the Second Continental Congress met.

John Philips Sousa

-As a boy, John Philips Sousa accompanied his father to Gettysburg with the Marine Marching Band, where he witnessed Abraham Lincoln give his famous speech. He would later grow up to conduct that same band, and would spend his life writing patriotic marches.

Roy Rogers & Trigger

-Roy Roger's famous horse Trigger had a job even before he met Roy.  He was horse ridden by Olivia de Haviland in the Errol Flynn classic film Robin Hood.  Back then, Trigger's name was "Golden Cloud."

Harry S Truman

-Harry S Truman cheated on his eye exam in order to qualify for military service. He once joked that his weak eyesight had always been a problem, in fact, he was unable to play baseball as a boy until his teammates found him a job he could do that didn't require good vision--umpire.

John Wayne

-John Wayne's nickname "Duke" came from his boyhood when he used to run around around town with the family dog--a giant Airedale.  The local firemen used to call the two "Big Duke" (the dog) and "Little Duke" (the boy).

Now wasn't that interesting?

~TEC

If you enjoyed these, many more little known facts about famous Freemasons can be found in Famous American Freemasons: Volumes I & II

Freemason Wisdom: John Wayne On Education

"Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid."

~John Wayne

Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 23, Arizona

Famous Freemasons and Their Hats (Shriners Edition)

This is the third in a series of articles.  Freemasons and Their Hats was the first.  The second was entitled More Freemasons and Their Hats (Famous Edition).
 


As I've more than adequately demonstrated over the last couple weeks, Freemasons (famous and non-famous alike) love their hats.  And amongst the most identifiable of these hats is the Shriner's fez.  There are probably a lot of people that don't know this, but Shriners are Freemasons.  Now not all Freemasons are Shriners, but you have to be a Master Mason to be a Shriner.  And the Shriner's have had a large number of very famous men amongst their ranks over the years.  This is just a small sampling of some of them. 

"Buzz" Aldrin
American Astronaut

Many of America's astronauts have been Freemasons.  One such man is Buzz Aldrin.  In 1963 Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became a member of the third group of astronauts named to join NASA. On November 11th three years later Aldrin and commander Jim Lovell launched into space aboard the Gemini 12 shuttle for a four day flight. the successful completion of this mission lead to the equally successful end to the entire Gemini program. While in outer space with the Gemini 12 Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin established a new record for activity outside a space shuttle by remaining outside in a lunar vehicle for 51/2 hours.



Roy Rogers
King of the Cowboys

Roy Rogers was called the "King of the Cowboys" during his long career as a folksy singing hero of movies and TV. He was an original member of the cowboy singing group The Sons of the Pioneers, and in 1937 he signed on with Republic Pictures, replacing their departing star Gene Autry. He starred in more than 80 westerns with titles like The Arizona Kid (1939) and In Old Cheyenne (1941). He often co-starred with cowgirl Dale Evans, whom he married in 1947. Rogers's famous horse was Trigger, a Palomino stallion with flowing white mane who became a favorite with Rogers's fans. In the 1950s Rogers moved into TV with the The Roy Rogers Show. His theme song with Dale Evans was the gentle and cheery "Happy Trails to You."

 



John Philip Sousa
The March King

"March King" John Philip Sousa was the most famous band leader in the United States during his lifetime, a former U.S. Marine Band leader who composed and conducted some of the most well-known marches in the world. His professional career began as a violinist in travelling orchestras, but his first fame came as the leader of the U.S. Marine Band from 1880 until 1892. Sousa composed the official song of the Marine Corps, "Semper Fidelis" at the request of President Chester A. Arthur (who was looking for a song to replace "Hail to the Chief," or so the story goes). In 1892 he started a civilian band that became internationally famous and hugely popular (in 1910 they toured the world). The band was known especially for marches that Sousa composed, notably "Stars and Stripes Forever," designated in 1987 as the National March of the United States.



Red Skelton
Comedian and Entertainer

Red Skelton was born July 18, 1913, in Vincennes, Indiana.  He was a newsboy by age 7, and at 10 he took to the road with a medicine show touring the Midwest, effectively ending his classroom schooling. He went on to perform in minstrel shows, burlesque shows, circuses, and radio. His radio appearance on The Rudy Vallee Show in 1937 led to other bookings, and he was voted the outstanding new radio star of 1941. He also took roles in some 30 movies, including a film starring Ginger Rogers, Having a Wonderful Time (1938). His other movie credits include Excuse My Dust (1939), Bathing Beauty (1944), and The Fuller Brush Man (1948).  The Red Skelton Show ran from 1951 to 1971. In this television series Skelton re-created a number of characters—among them Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Sheriff Deadeye, Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid, and Cauliflower McPugg—he had developed during his years in vaudeville and radio. Skelton's style deftly combined broad humour with emotional complexity.  





John Wayne
Hollywood Legend



John Wayne (born Marion Morrison) was the son of pharmacist Clyde Morrison and his wife Mary. Clyde developed a lung condition that required him to move his family from Iowa to the warmer climate of southern California, where they tried ranching in the Mojave Desert. Until the ranch failed, Marion and his younger brother Robert E. Morrison swam in an irrigation ditch and rode a horse to school. When the ranch failed, the family moved to Glendale, California, where Marion delivered medicines for his father, sold newspapers and had an Airedale dog named "Duke" (the source of his own nickname). He did well at school both academically and in football. When he narrowly failed admission to Annapolis he went to USC on a football scholarship 1925-7. Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man in exchange for football tickets. On the set he became close friends with director John Ford for whom, among others, he began doing bit parts, some billed as John Wayne. His first featured film was Men Without Women (1930). After more than 70 low-budget westerns and adventures, mostly routine, Wayne's career was stuck in a rut until Ford cast him in Stagecoach (1939), the movie that made him a star. He appeared in nearly 250 movies, many of epic proportions. From 1942-43 he was in a radio series, "The Three Sheets to the Wind", and in 1944 he helped found the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a right-wing political organization, later becoming its President. His conservative political stance was also reflected in The Alamo (1960), which he produced, directed and starred in. His patriotic stand was enshrined in The Green Berets (1968) which he co-directed and starred in. Over the years Wayne was beset with health problems. In September 1964 he had a cancerous left lung removed; in March 1978 there was heart valve replacement surgery; and in January 1979 his stomach was removed. He received the Best Actor nomination for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and finally got the Oscar for his role as one-eyed Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969). A Congressional Gold Medal was struck in his honor in 1979. He is perhaps best remembered for his parts in Ford's cavalry trilogy - Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950).




Mel Blanc

Man of 1,000 Voices

Mel Blanc, voice specialist from radio, movies and TV was rarely seen by his widespread audience. On 1940s radio, for example, his voice supplied the sound effects for the comedian Jack Benny's antique "Maxwell" automobile's gasping and wheezing and struggling to crank up. More widely recognised as the voice of virtually every major character in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon, including Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety & Sylvester both, Yosemite Sam, et al. Since Blanc's death, his son Noel Blanc has taken up some of his father's mantle.

~TEC

 

 



And Not a Moment Too Soon: A New Conan the Barbarian Movie!



 A real actor, John Wayne, receiving
 Oscar in '69 for True Grit

Do you remember back in December when I wrote a piece called Do We Really Need a New Rooster Cogburn?  I caught a lot of flak over that post because I thought remaking a classic like True Grit was in bad taste, it lacked originality, and took away from John Wayne's original performance which, by the way, he won an Academy Award for.  I haven't changed my mind about that.

Oh, Snake, you're the one eye love!

It just seems like the smarter our computers get, the dumber we get.  All these fantastic computer generated graphics, and high tech know-how, and all we can manage to do with it is remake Escape From New York? I wish that were a joke, but it was bound to happen. I mean first Tom Cruise wears an eye patch in Valkyrie.  They spent all that money on the eye-patch so they bring back Rooster Cogburn. It does well, so they think it's all about the eye-patch.  Snake Plissken was the next logical choice. As I said in that original post, sometimes it seems like we're just out of ideas. 

Can Barnaby Jones be far from a comeback?

So I wasn't too surprised I was right about where this was all going. We're about to be inundated by a whole range of remakes, both in the cinema and on our televisions, and in the vast majority of the cases, the original wasn't that great. There are 75 remake projects going on right now. You'll all be excited to learn that NBC is re-booting a new version of the Rockford Files, in the same way CBS re-booted Hawaii Five-O.  And it 2012, Gilligan's Island will be headed to the big screen!  I wouldn't lie about something like that--it's true! 



Director goes "back to the script" for inspiration.  Perfect.

I'm particularly excited about the new Conan the Barbarian movie. In order to recapture that original vision for the film, the director has gone back to the original script for inspiration!  That is a great idea since that movie was so well known for it's witty dialogue, complex characters, and complicated storyline. You don't want to get that wrong. I'll tell you what I'm for. I'm going to want to see cameo appearances. You got to get James Earl Jones back. With modern computer animation, his transformation into the giant snake would be, dare I say, as believable as it was in the original.  What's Marc Singer doing these days? Maybe he could make a cameo as the Beastmaster (or wait, are they remaking Beastmaster too). The possibilities are limitless! 

Call me . . . I'm available!

A lot of exciting new, er, old things coming to a theater near you in the months coming up--tired, old, ideas.  Remakes of movies like Romancing the Stone, Arthur, The Neverending Story (but isn't it about time it did?), Porky's, and even Robocop may be coming back!  You're going to drive by the theater this summer, and think you've traveled back in time thirty years.  I mean, seriously, what are they going to pull out of mothballs next?

~TEC

Freemason Wisdom to Begin the Year

Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56
Tuscon, Arizona

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes to us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

~John Wayne

 

"I hold it within my power to do things differently today than I did yesterday."

~Benjamin Franklin

 

"You create your own universe as you go along."

~Winston Churchill

The great promise of the New Year is this idea that each year we have an opportunity to start over again, with a clean slate, and do things differently than we did in the year previous.  But what we often miss is the idea that we have that same opportunity each day.  That we hold it within our power each moment to begin to build our own world the way we want it to be, and that there are no limitations to what we might do. 

But New Year's Eve seems to be the only day when most people even consider the idea that they have that power within them.  That in the stream of life, we can either choose to paddle our own canoe and pick our own direction, or be content to drift in the current.  That is isn't the fickle finger of fate that determines the course of your life--that we make our own luck, and we pick our own path.  But it is a lesson that is soon lost until the next December 31st, because it's so much easier to drift, than to paddle.  So much easier to make excuses for an unfulfilled life than accept the fact that we are where we are in life because of the choices we've made along the way, and if we truly want change, all we have to do is make different choices.  And next thing you know, we're looking at that blank slate before us again, so full of promise and potential, and so little changed from the previous year. 

Ask yourself this question as you look at beginning the new year--are you going to drift this year, or are you going to paddle?

~TEC

Do We Really Need A New Rooster Cogburn?

Jeff Bridges as Rooster?
Sorry, that's not
Rooster Cogburn.

Here we are living in 2010.  A world where computers can generate just about any image our minds can imagine.  A world where movie special effects can produce just about any scenario a director can think up.  A world where we're using this virtually unlimited creative ability to remake old low-budget TV shows like The Dukes of Hazard and The A-Team for the big screen?  Really?

This is Steve McGarrett

Is it true that axiom that the smarter our computers get, the dumber we get?  Are we truly out of new and original ideas.  I was thinking about this the other night while I was watching the new Hawaii Five-O.  Perhaps that's not fair--there are shows on TV that are fresh and original, like NCIS (which they've now copied and run back to back).  Wait . . . how about CSI (there's like twenty of those now aren't there?).  Okay, the quality of TV may be at an all-time low, but maybe TV is not the best example. 

I'm sure this is going to be great!
Spiderman: The Musical!

Let's look at the artistic and creative world of Broadway.  I just can't wait to see "Spiderman: The Broadway Musical."  Or maybe head to the theater to see a remake of True Grit.  Of course the original is probably one of the most perfect examples of the Western ever made by Hollywood starring one of the greatest actors ever, John Wayne.  How could you improve upon that, and why would you even want to try?  It's not like you're trying to perfect something that fell short last time. 

Now this is, and always will be
Rooster Cogburn. The Duke

Seems that in our modern world, we should be able to do better than to just regurgitate what's already been done before.  Can't we have a truly original idea, or are we just going to continue to plagiarize ourselves until all original thinking is gone forever.  Every time you copy something, it gets fundamentally weaker, and it seems to me we aren't always dealing with the strongest material to begin with.  Consider this while you're watching the new version of The Wizard of Oz.  At least when it comes to remaking old movies, they're remaking good ones.  It would make no sense to remake bad ones, like say the 1982 Disney flop TRON.  What?  You're kidding right?  In 3-D? That's great.  I can't wait to see that. Now will Jeff Bridges be reprising his role in TRON, or is he too busy filming the new True Grit in the lead role of Rooster Cogburn?



Bet you can't see him as Rooster Cogburn now.  "Fill yur hand
you son of a bitch!"  See it just doesn't work, does it?

Okay, so I'm just ticked off that somebody is messing with a John Wayne movie.  But John Wayne dedicated nearly half a century to making films, and True Grit is one of the best examples of his work, in fact, he won his only Oscar in the part. Those movies represent a persons life work, and isn't is just a little disrepectful for somebody to come along and marginalize that accomplishment by trying to duplicate it with little possibility of improving upon the original? 

No wonder people question if America's best days aren't behind her--at a time when so many things are possible for the very first time in our history, it just seems like we're out of ideas about how to use it.