The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
May
12
1852
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A little girl finds comfort in a rag doll. She's sitting against a wooden grave marker. Another scene reveals the date. DP: Winton C. Hoch.
“A thousand men, say, go searchin' for gold. After six months, one of them's lucky: one out of a thousand. His find represents not only his own labor, but that of nine hundred and ninety-nine others to boot. That's six thousand months, five hundred years, scramblin' over a mountain, goin' hungry and thirsty. An ounce of gold, mister, is worth what it is because of the human labor that went into the findin' and the gettin' of it.”
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)
Feb
14
1925
The winning lottery numbers of February 14, 1925. DP: Ted D. McCord.
– Howard
“Eight bones has the carpus, five the metacarpus, fourteen the phlanges, all in all, all in all, twenty-seven all in all. Abracadabra.”
The Beast with Five Fingers (Robert Florey, 1946)
Aug
15
Hilary Cummins (Peter Lorre). DP: Wesley Anderson.
– Donald Arlington
“What I'd give for a sink full of dirty dish.”
Caged (John Cromwell, 1950)
Jun
20
prison chow
The girls eating their grub. It'd be Marie Allen's (Eleanor Parker) first of many. DP: Carl E. Guthrie.
– Millie
“Say, mister. Will you stake a fellow American to a meal?”
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)
Jun
30
campfire grub
Curtin (Tim Holt), Dobbs (Bogart), and Howard (Walter Huston) eating campfire grub. DP: Ted D. McCord.
– Dobbs
“I know what gold does to men's souls.”
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948)
Jun
29
National Handshake Day
Fred (Humphrey Bogart) and Curtin (Tim Holt) shake hands witnessed by gruff prospector Howard (Walter Huston). DP: Ted D. McCord.
Cheated out of their wages, broke Americans #Bogart and Holt are approached by a former prospector. There's #gold in the #SierraMadre mountains, he tells them.
– Howard
Seemingly character driven, Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is an adventure moved by a relentless #landscape, the urge to drift, and #greed.
“Welcome home, Ethan.”
The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
Jun
21
National Arizona Day
Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) facing the endless desert. DP: Winton C. Hoch.
– GATORS! GATORS!!
– AAH!
– AH!
Distant Drums (Raoul Walsh, 1951)
Apr
24
Scream Day
The Scream happening to Judy Beckett (Mari Aldon) and Capt. Quincy Wyatt's (Gary Cooper) dismay. DP: Sidney Hickox.
One joyous day, Pvt. Wilhelm gave his dear life for movie geeks everywhere. The Gary Cooper (super duper!) western Distant Drums (1951) is the origin of what's known as the Wilhelm #scream. During a dramatic action scene, our dearly beloved private is hit in the thigh with an arrow.
That bloodcurdling scream was part of a sounds effect reel voiced by Sheb Wooley, known better for his 1958 rock 'n roll novelty song The Purple People Eater than fighting off hostile natives. Later, other screamers popped up in anything from A Star Is Born (1954) to Reservoir Dogs (1992).
And yes, even a long time ago. In that galaxy far far away.