Posted on 04/07/2018 4:24:10 PM PDT by Twotone
In Walker Percy's novel The Moviegoer, there is a short but memorable scene in which the narrator, Binx, perambulating through New Orleans, spots a genuine film star:
Who should come out of Pirate's Alley half a block ahead of me but William Holden!
Holden crosses Royal and turns toward Canal... No doubt he is on his way to Galatoire's for lunch. He is an attractive fellow with his ordinary good looks, very suntanned, walking along hands in pockets, raincoat slung over one shoulder.
This is 1961. You'd know the "ordinary good looks" from The World of Suzie Wong and Bridge on the River Kwai and Love is a Many Splendored Thing. Big movies, big star, but "ordinary", as in normal and all-American, not so unique that you're freakishly out of place on a city street - as, say, his co-star in Sunset Boulevard, Gloria Swanson, would be. "Ordinary" and extraordinary - because he's a star. "Holden slaps his pockets for a match" - a move you feel sure you've seen him do in Picnic or Sabrina, but he's William Holden, so the "ordinary" move has a careless grace about it. A young man on his honeymoon seizes his opportunity:
The boy holds out a light, nods briefly to Holden's thanks, then passes on without a flicker of recognition. Holden walks along between them for a second; he and the boy talk briefly, look up at the sky, shake their heads. Holden gives them a pat on the shoulder and moves on ahead.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
William Holden was a tremendous actor back when being a Hollywood actor meant something.
Yep, he’s always been one of my favorites.
Holden was also best man at the wedding of Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis.
That was a great article. I get all Mark’s content in my email, because I’m a paying member of the Mark Steyn Club. (Shameless plug for Mark ;-).
Me, too! I just LOVE his ‘Tales for Our Times’ audio stories. Too bad we can’t post them. They’d be worthy of some very good chats here on FR.
I have not found the time to listen to any of those, yet. I keep saying I will, but it’s very loud in my house!
Make everyone be quiet & listen along with you. Like reading a book with your family...
That works in the car, but not so much in the kitchen. We currently have an audiobook about World War II espionage and codebreaking in the car.
Thanks for the nudge. I listened to the first two episodes of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” while I started dinner prep. I remember listening to it on reel-to-reel tape at an elementary-school library event in the 70s!
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