Truth

We all have our obsessions. At least most of us do. An obsession-free life must certainly be a boring one. One of mine is verisimilitude in film making. Yeah, I know you’re probably tired of it by now. But just think.

How many times have you seen an actor empty a semi-automatic pistol only to have it go “click, click” after the clip is empty? It doesn’t do that. The slide just stays back, that’s all. No, it’s not dramatic from a photographic viewpoint. But that’s what it does.

We won’t get into World War Two scenes where every member of a rifle squad carries a Thompson sub-machine gun.

Oh, and guess now many bursts of full-automatic rifle fire you get with an M-16, or whatever they call them these days? Hint … it ain’t 15 or 20 like the movies would have you believe. Free historical fact: When the Russians designed the AK-47, they purposely made it cumbersome to shift to “full-automatic” so the untrained wouldn’t fire bursts, but would stick to single rounds. Oh, and despite what the producers would have you believe, the NVA regulars were excellent shots, much better, apparently, than the Empire Storm Troopers.

Watched the John Wayne classic, The Searchers the other day for maybe the millionth time. Great flick. Unarguably his best. The opening scene may form one of the best brief shots in cinematic history. But, you know what a fool I am for accuracy. I’ve never gotten over the image of a working cattle ranch in Monument Valley. Free historical fact two: The reason those cattle ranges in Texas are so huge is not the result of manly bravado. They developed from the fact that it takes a hundred acres of land to support a cow and calf in Texas.

While I’m at it, did anyone ever tell the screenwriters in the western genre how long a horse could carry a grown man before it required a meal?

Ever notice how most of the fathers in the golden era of studio movies averaged, maybe, 65 years of age? Couple that image with all of the pre-teen children and you get some additional respect for the “Greatest Generation.”

Stay tuned. Someday I’ll post my choices for bad casting choices. Hint, David Carradine as Woody Guthrie stands above them all like Mount Everest over a field of ant hills. Be thinking about your candidates.

They're gonna have pills
some day that do what?