Posted on 03/06/2006 10:35:45 PM PST by goldstategop
What is the "great cause?"
I could point out that Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general produce one of America's last great exports. The money flowing back from films, music, television etc. is far more than that flowing back from America's heavy industries, like steel.
Also, they're not fading fast, despite what some say. They've adapted and are in the process of adapting again by reconfiguring their industries.
I remember seeing one of those fancy dog shows on TV. A trophy was presented to the winner, who promptly picked up his leg and did his business on the trophy. You can't blame a dog for doing what comes naturally, but then you don't invite him to eat at your table either.
The Oscars events aren't much different.
Actually, this may shock you, but Warren Beatty, when he accepted the Oscar for "Reds," said something very similar to Praeger's opening lines, like "It is only in America where a movie like this could ever be made."
The Reed story is an interesting piece of history and somehow Beatty managed to make it into one of the dullest lengths of film in cinema history
Prager hits another one out of the yard!
Too bad his piece won't be found on the op-ed page of the Los Angeles Times.
Amen. But I was stunned when he actually, almost, "celebrated" American values for a tenth of a second.
Many, many actors are very patriotic. Where do you suppose they come from? The vast majority of them are from Red States.
But really, honestly and truly, who really cares what actors think...I'd like to see a movie about that pre- World War I generation who had witnessed all of the promoise of marvels of the 20th century without yet seeing the horror...that would be a cool movie.
But you can't hardly find anyone who didn't serve, and most actually fought. Karl Maulden won six bronze stars as a crewman in a B-17; Lee Marvin was badly wounded; and so on.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595230211/qid=1139189351/sr=1-6/ref=sr_1_6/102-2150248-3964123?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
John Wayne avoided service and took heat for it from John Ford (his father figure) in particularly cruel ways...
America is now in a particularly divisive phase that didn't exist during World War II. Some people avoid discussing politics with family members around the holidays. Imagine getting up in front of a nearly a billion people...
Wayne had an exemption because he had a large family. But he did make pro-war propaganda movies.
What I've heard from old Hollywood types is that the studio pulled strings. Ford wanted him to join Oh So Social with him and Wayne chose his career.
If you want to write a fascinating book, check out the relationship between Ford and Wayne. Some of the guys who knew them both are still around, but probably not for much longer.
Check this out!
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq81-8b.htm
I like what Leno called it the ocsars a gay super bowl.
Actually, Prager's imagined speech is not really politically conservative -- it's mostly a condemnation of Hollywood's self-important elitism and preachiness, and how that gets in the *way* of quality film-making. Any honest liberal could make the same observations. Seems appropriate enough for me.
Prager has one of the best radio shows because he's conservative, intelligent, and NOT repetitious.
The last bio I read of John Wayne, "John Wayne, American," did not come down conclusively on whether he "ducked" service. The authors concluded that he, indeed, had legit exemptions, but that like many others he could have lied about them or concealed them if he wanted.
The reasons keep changing according to what you read. Family, football injury, horseback riding injury, etc. Old guys that I met told me it was at the beginning of his career and he wasn't willing to risk losing ground. But all the facts can't be known. A lot of guys were enlisting. The studios might have compelled him to stay home, etc. In the end, it doesn't matter.
Don't know if it's true, but I had heard (from a former Marine - not that there's any such thing as a "former" Marine) that John Wayne, as a young man, had joined the U. S. Marines, but had washed out in boot camp.
As I say, these guys are professional historians, and they did a pretty good job rooting out the truth, so for them to say it's unclear says a lot. The book is great.
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