James Earl Jones 

                                                                Part 3

Continuing (and ending) with the incredible career of James Earl Jones, who lived to be 93 and compiled a movie list the envy of many. 

Matewan (1987) is the somewhat true story of the bloody miner’s strike of the Stone Mountain Coal Company in Matewan, West Virginia. Chris Cooper, in his debut appearance, portrays Joe Kenehan who is a union organizer. James Earl Jones plays one of the miners with the wonderful name of “Few Clothes” Johnson. As mediation efforts flag, the violence grows incrementally. Who wins? Nobody.

Whether you like or hate Coming To America (1988) probably depends on your opinion of Eddie Murphy, the catalyst for this film. Murphy wrote the story for the film and has the lead role as crown prince Akeem of the fictional African country Zamunda. He grows tired of his entitled lifestyle and particularly of the fiancé picked by his parents. So he decides to travel to America to find a woman he can love and who can love him for himself. James Earl Jones plays the appropriately intense King Jaffe, Akeem’s father. There is a sequel that isn’t even as good as the original. 

Field of Dreams (1989) is a wonderful film about baseball and dreams coming true. Kevin Costner is Ray Kinsella, owner of a corn farm in Iowa. Inside his field he hears a disembodied voice say “If you build it, he will come”. And he has a vision of disgraced Black Sox scandal Shoeless Joe Jackson ( Ray Liotta) playing on a baseball field at the Kinsella farm. So Ray convinces his wife (Amy Madigan) he should build the field. And they come. James Earl Jones portrays Terrence Mann, whose books have been summarily banned in Iowa. Ray is a fan and gets Mann to come to the ball field. The rest is, well, magic!

Sommersby (1993) stars Richard Gere as Jack Sommersby (or not) who has been missing from home for six years after fighting in the Civil War. Laurel Sommersby (Jodie Foster) begins to suspect this guy isn’t her husband. But- she likes him a whole lot better than the original. Jack winds up charged with murder and desertion before Judge Isaacs (James Earl Jones). The judge gives him the choice of choosing the name that will hang him or the one that will just try him for desertion. This film is the American take on the look alike French classic The Return of Martin Guerre. 

Cry, The Beloved Country (1995) is a star turn for Jones, as he portrays Rev. Stephen Kumalo. He is called to Johannesburg by the church and discovers that his son is accused of murdering a white man. James Jarvis (Richard Harris) is the father of the murdered boy. The two meet and against all odds find they share certain aspects of humanity. The film is based on Alan Paton’s novel of the same name. It is also the second configuration of this story. The 1951 version with Sidney Poitier is just as good.

James Earl Jones has a hat trick as Admiral Greer in the thrilling Hunt For Red October (1990), and in Patriot Games (1982) and in Clear and Present Danger (1994). He’s good in all of them.  

    All of the movies in this article are for grown-ups. 

                                                          James Earl Jones

                                                             Part 2

Last week’s article dealt with the incredible, unmistakable voice of James Earl Jones. But that only scratched the surface of his film resume’. Today we begin his movie roles.

    The first Jones appearance of note is as Lt. Luther Zogg in the madcap classic Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Jones was 33. This film is regarded as one of the greatest. A crazed general unleashes a B-52 nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. The mistake is discovered and the Russians are notified. They respond that they have a Doomsday Device that will effectively kill everyone on earth if Russia is bombed.  The attempts to stop the bombers works on all but one. Lt. Zogg is the bombardier and Slim Pickens (Major “King” Kong) is the pilot. They make it to the target. Best of many quotes “You can’t fight in here- this is the war room!” 

End Of The Road (1970) from the John Barth novel, is definitely not to all tastes. Stacy Keach carries the thing as Jake Horner, a returned Vietnam vet who has descended into catatonia. He winds up in the hospital of the demonstrably crazy Doctor D (JE Jones) and is “cured” and sent out to teach unsuspecting college kids. A summary really doesn’t tell you much about this strange film. While I can’t really recommend it, I will say that Jones is superb.

The Great White Hope (1970) brings Jones to the top. He plays Jack Jefferson, based on real life Jack Johnson. A black man struggling in the white world of championship boxing in the early 20th century, he defeats every white challenger put before him. White fans are looking for a “white hope”, a white boxer who can defeat Jefferson. Jones revealed he had never boxed before appearing in this film. He was nominated for Best Actor Oscar, but lost to George C. Scott for Patton. Jane Alexander was also nominated for her role as Jefferson’s white love affair, but also lost.

James Earl Jones is The Man (1972).This is a made-for-TV movie, but the screenplay is by Rod Serling and the cast is first-rate. As president pro tem of the Senate, he becomes president of the United States through a series of mishaps to the president and the rest of the succession. Douglas Dillman thus becomes the first black president. This is nearly forty years before Barack Obama. He encounters many problems, most of them racially motivated, but most people reluctantly agree he does a good job. He decides to run for election and strives to get his party’s nomination. 

The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976) is about an all black baseball team in the 1930's, most of whom are good enough to play in he Major Leagues, which are lily white. Billy Dee Williams is Bingo Long, owner of the team, and Jones is Leon Carter, star catcher and slugger. Their adventures as they barnstorm and play all comers is delightful and entertaining. 

All of the movies in this article are available for streaming somewhere. All are for grown-ups. Next time more James Earl Jones movies. 

                                                              James Earl Jones

    It took Hollywood a while, but once they caught on to his distinctive booming bass voice he was the go-to narrator guy. This famous voice first appeared in the first Star Wars movie, which is actually number IV in the Star Wars cycle. You never forgot the villainous Darth Vader and his rumbling, terrifying voice. Jones voiced Darth Vader in all the Star Wars films. He did so once again in number V. If you scroll through the credits in those two films, you will not see the name of James Earl Jones. It was him, ok, but he refused the credit, not wanting to over shine his friend David Prowse, the actor who played Vader. After that film, Jones was always credited. Strangely, the correct sequence of Star Wars movies in the order of their release is 4,5,6,1,2,3,7. That seems to bother absolutely no one. 

    The Star Wars galaxy of films is not based on a book, but on a series of screen outlines developed by George Lucas. So the very first release is titled Star Wars IV: A New Hope. The next two films follow in sequence. Then they return to number 1, which is actually a prequel. I will never forget watching the first Star Wars film in 1977. I was completely blown away, and so was most everyone else. The complete Star Wars movie package has made more than 10 billion dollars. Yoda, Princess Leah, Wookie, Luke, Hans Solo,  R2D2 and CP3O are all legends now. 

    Returning now to James Earl Jones and his unmistakable voice. Who will ever forget “Luke, I am your father” ? Jones probably made more money from his voice- overs and narrations than from his acting. And there’s another movie franchise that utilized Jones’ unique voice. The Lion King first appeared as an animated musical in 1994. Hugely popular, it went on to sire many film offspring, and a hit Broadway Musical.

    That first version contained a host of famous voices: Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Whoppi Goldberg et al. But the one everyone remembers is James Earl Jones, voicing Mufasa, the King of the title and the leader of the pride of lions. He is killed by the treacherous Scar, who replaces Mufasa and does an expectedly terrible job as leader.  Mufasa with the Jones voice is heard once again in the real life version in 2019. And there are lots of other Lion King opportunities for Jones. 

    He was born with a debilitating stutter. He hardly spoke at all until he was 8 years old and spoke very little until high school. A high school voice teacher taught him how to deal with his problem. Jones had written poetry and the teacher convinced him to read it aloud in front of the class. He did so and didn’t stutter at all. The rest, as they say, is history.  His overcoming this condition all the way to narrating films is an inspiring story. He can also be heard in The Sandlot, Our Friend Martin, Merlin  and several other films. He has recorded the entire New Testament.

    Next time: James Earl Jones the actor. 

                                                                          Robert Blake

What a long, and strange, career Robert Blake had. To find his movie beginning you have to go back to 1939! He was a member of the Our Gang, a beloved group of mischievous little kids. He then moved on to play Red Ryder’s Indian sidekick Little Beaver, in something like 30 westerns. 

In 2005 he was indicted for murdering his wife, Bonnie. And although he was acquitted, a civil jury later found him liable for her death to the tune of 30 million dollars. 

He lived to be 89. His film resume’ as an adult is astonishing. I’m cherry picking the best ones. Many people will remember him from his popular TV show Baretta (1975-78). He made cockatoos famous! Here are his best movies:

In Cold Blood (1967) is the movie version of Truman Capote’s true crime novel about the murder of an entire family in Kansas. Blake is convincingly creepy as Perry Smith, one of the two ex-cons who walked into the Clutter home looking for a non-existent safe. They find nothing of real value, but murder the entire Clutter family, the father, mother, daughter and son. The killers were later executed and the movie takes you right to the end. Folks, this is not an upper!

Lost Highway (1997) is an incredibly weird film, even for David Lynch. I’m not going to summarize the plot; actually I can’t ! I’m including it here because the film is about a man who is convicted of murdering his wife. Something that Blake was accused of some years later. He plays the Mystery Man and I’ll leave it to people smarter than I to figure this thing out!

Pork Chop Hill (1959) is one of the best movies about the Korean War. (There aren’t really very many). Robert Blake has a nice turn as Pvt. Velie. The American troops are assigned to assault heavily defended Pork Chop Hill as peace negotiations are dragging on. They are bogged down and getting slaughtered, but the brass refuses to send reinforcements or authorize a retreat. 

Electra Glide In Blue (1973) features Robert Blake as Arizona lawman John Wintergreen, a motorcycle cop with ambition to move up to the homicide unit. When he is busted back down to patrolling the highways, he solves a murder that has baffled the other police. Later while on patrol he stops a hippie but lets him off with a warning. When the man drops his license, Wintergreen tries to return it to him. The car’s passenger shoots the officer for no apparent reason. 

In Town Without Pity (1961) Robert Blake has to pull out all his acting chops as he portrays an American GI in Germany who participates in the rape of a German teenager. Blake somehow manages to make this character at least somewhat sympathetic. He is the only one of the four defendants with any regrets and he tries to defuse the situation. 

All of the films in this article are for grown-ups. 

                                                          Robert Redford

                                                                Part 4

Well, I had to stop somewhere and this is where. Here is the last bunch of good Robert Redford movies.

    Out Of Africa (1985) won the Oscar for Best Movie. It is the sort of faithful adaptation of Isak Dinesen’ s autobiographical novel of the same name. She (Karen) journeys to Kenya with her marriage-of-convenience husband Bror. He is portrayed by Klaus Maria Brandauer and she by Meryl Streep. Robert Redford is Denys, who falls in love with Karen and their relationship on her coffee farm is idyllic. But Denys is adventerous and is later killed in a plane crash. Streep and Brandauer were nominated for Oscar. Both lost- a rare loss for Streep!

Legal Eagles (1986) with Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah is described correctly as a legal romantic comedy thriller. There’s something for everyone in a convoluted story about a stolen painting, a mysterious fire, and a cop with an odd past. Redford’ character is Tom Logan, an ambitious ADA who wants to become District Attorney. That’s not to be as his adventures with the girls doom his political career. I remember thinking this film was fun, but I can’t tell you why. 

All Is Lost (2013) Is completely Robert Redford’s film. He is the only actor in it! He is sailing in the Indian Ocean when his boat is nearly destroyed by an escaped shipping container. He also is impacted by a hurricane and various other problems. Toward the end he spots a container ship and try to signal it by starting a fire in his life raft. But the fire gets out of control and he has to abandon it. Alone in the sea he decides to drown. Then he spots boat with a searchlight coming toward the fire. 

A Walk In The Woods (2015) is taken faithfully from Bill Bryson’s book about his attempt, in middle age, to walk the entire Appalachian Trail. His wife Catherine (Emma Thompson) talks of the problems she has read about the trail, including robberies and murders. She relents if he will not go alone. He reaches out to old friend Stephen (Nick Nolte) who is game to try it. They quickly realize that it’s about ten times as hard as they thought. And they encounter Mary Ellen (Kristin Schaal) perhaps the most annoying woman in the United States. They soldier on for a while, then nearly die from a fall and decide to give it up. 

Truth (2015) is kicked around quite a bit in this film. In 2004 the CBS Sixty Minutes crew finds documents indicating George W. Bush received preferential treatment from the military. Believing they have the truth, they go with the story on the air. Robert Redford portrays Dan Rather, who was suckered in like everyone else by the “evidence”. The entire outfit is brought to task by CBS, the Washington Post, and everybody else and it is pretty well proved the documents are fake. All involved are  fired; Rather decides to retire. His producer points out that the whole nexus of the event is whether the documents were fake, not whether Bush in fact was favored.

All of the movies in this article are for grown-ups. All are available in some form or another. 

                                                         Robert Redford

                                                             Part 3

Here’s another good bunch of Robert Redford movies. 

    As the title character in The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) Robert Redford plays a daredevil pilot from the early days of airplanes. He is so disappointed about not flying in combat during World War I that he seems to think of lots of ways to risk his life in a plane. The flying sequences are really good and Redford is good as a man seemingly determined to risk everything every time he gets into the cockpit. There are lots of near misses until there is one too many. 

Three Days Of The Condor (1975) features Redford as Condor, a rather bookish CIA operative. He doesn’t realize his section is destined for taking out. When he returns from lunch everyone else is dead. This then becomes one of the best of the films about CIA operatives becoming the target instead of the instigator. Condor endures the twists and turns of the story as various thugs try to end his employment permanently. He plans to survive by having his story printed in the New York Times. 

All The President’s Men (1976) is the true story about how the Washington Post brought down the Nixon presidency. Robert Redford portrays Bob Woodward and Dustin Hoffman is Carl Bernstein. Assigned by editor Ben Bradlee (Oscar winner Jason Robards) to work together, they are reluctant partners who come to trust and play off each other. They push and push to get the story right and get it out. The rest, as they say, is history! And I must say here that Watergate is pretty mild stuff to what we’ve witnessed recently. 

Brubaker (1980) is based on the true story of a prison scandal in Arkansas. Robert Redford portrays a reformist warden who is determined to reform the prison. He has discovered unmarked graves of prisoners, graft everywhere, torturing of recalcitrant prisoners, and other horrors. He is met with a crooked prison board and many contractors and vendors who have cheated the prison and pocketed the difference. Yep, it’s a Hollywood movie but don’t look for a happy ending here. 

The Natural (1984) is a baseball fairy tale. Robert Redford portrays Roy Hobbs, a baseball super star whose past is a mystery but whose ability is legend. His career is sidelined when he is shot by a deranged fan, and he doesn’t get to the major leagues until he is 35. He lands with the Knights, a perennial last place loser. Riding his fantastic hitting ability with his personal bat Wonderboy,  the Knights surge toward the top and wind up in a one-game playoff for the pennant against the Pirates. Roy endures several attempts to have him throw the game in exchange for lots of money, but he refuses. Roy spots his true love Iris (Glenn Close) in the stands and in the bottom of the ninth hits a monstrous home run that knocks out one of the lights standards and wins the game and the pennant. 

    All of the films in this article are for adults. 

                                                          Robert Redford

                                                             Part 2

Moving along chronologically, here is another handful of excellent movies starring the one and only Robert Redford.

Jeremiah Johnson (1972) is, as they say, based on a true story. Robert Redford is the title character, a legendary mountain man. Johnson has many adventures and many encounters with the Indians in the area. Some help him, some hate him. He reluctantly leaves his wife and son alone in their cabin to guide a US Army troop to their desired location. But when he returns he discovers his entire family has been killed by the Crows.  He goes after them with a vengeance. 

The Candidate (1972) is a cautionary tale for our time. Robert Redford is the candidate of the title, Bill McKay. A very popular California Repblican senator is up for re-election and probably unbeatable. The pols rope in charismatic, attractive McKay, telling him since he will lose, he can say anything he wants. He does. But the polls are terrible and he is convinced to change tactics. He ekes out a win he doesn’t really want and asks his handlers “What do we do now?” Indeed. There are lots of Bill McKays around filling up space as governors, senators and assorted ne’er-do-wells. 

The Way We Were (1973) pairs Redford with Barbra Streisand. He is an apolitical WASP and she is a cause-oriented Jew. This unlikely couple falls in and out of love several times. When they’re together it’s just so romantic you want to eat them up. But there are ruptures and sadly they part for good. This was a hugely successful film and the song from the title hit number one on the Billboard chart. 

The Sting (1973) reunites the happy warriors Robert Redford and Paul Newman. They are consummate con men and together they decide to take down racketeer Doyle Lonnegan by means of an incredibly complicated sting. It involves setting up a dummy horse racing betting parlor and getting Lonnegan to believe that it is real and he is about to get rich. Robert Shaw as Lonnegan is wonderfully unlikeable and you can’t wait for him to be victimized. Warning: You have to stay with this movie- the plot is dense and sometimes difficult to follow. This film won 10 Oscars including Best Movie and Best Director. 

The Great Gatsby (1974) is the third of four movie renditions of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. Guess what: None of them are very good. Robert Redford is just fine as Gatsby in this one and Mia Farrow is good as the ephemeral Daisy. Her laugh “sounded like money”.  I guess blame the screenplay, but it’s still watchable for the beautiful people and the scenic locations. The 2013 version with Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby isn’t much better. Scott Fitzgerald perfectly caught a certain group of Americans in the 20's. Unfortunately, the movies cant’ seem to follow suit. 

All of the movies in this article are for adults.