Two Flags West

1950 was a seminal year for Westerns. The genre turned towards darker fare: The Gunfighter and Winchester '73 deconstructed the gunslinger myth, while Broken Arrow and Devil's Doorway extoll Indian rights. John Ford's brilliant Wagon Master showed traditional Westerns could still provide a kick. Lost in the shuffle was Robert Wise's Two Flags West (1950), a serviceable Civil War Western.

In 1864, Confederate POWs led by Colonel Tucker (Joseph Cotten) agree to join the Union Cavalry fighting Indians. These "Galvanized Yankees" arrive at Ft. Thorn, New Mexico, where Tucker immediately butts heads with untrusting Major Kenniston (Jeff Chandler). The friendlier Captain (Cornel Wilde) pines for Elena (Linda Darnell), Kenniston's widowed sister-in-law. Tucker and his men consider escape, goaded by Rebel agent Ephraim Strong's (Harry Von Zell) plans to stir up rebellion in California. Tucker makes his choice when hostile Apaches attack Ft. Thorn.

Story writer Frank S. Nugent explored North-South reconciliation in Ford's She Wore a Yellow Ribbon but makes it Two Flags West's major theme. Mutual loss generates tension among characters: Tucker led the Rebels who killed Elena's husband at Chancellorsville, while both Tucker and Kenniston served in POW camps. Tucker has no interest in reconciliation, having lost his farm to Sherman's March. Ultimately Wise falls back on the old expedient of Americans uniting against a common enemy, forging a national identity slaying Apaches.

Two Flags West might interest film-goers for its influence on future Westerns. John Sturges's Escape From Fort Bravo (1953) borrowed the setting and north-south tensions for a routine action flick. Sam Peckinpah grafted whole scenes onto Major Dundee (1965): Dundee's recruiting speech, Tucker's obsessive loyalty, a Dixie-Battle Hymn of the Republic singing duel originate here. Henry Sibley's New Mexico Campaign, mentioned in passing here, became the focus of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

Robert Wise provides efficient direction, with expressive photography and a thrilling end battle. The movie's crisply paced yet seems to cram in a few too many plot strands. We're intrigued by Harry Von Zell's Rebel agitator yet his subplot comes to nothing. The Apache are goaded to violence by Kenniston's stubbornness (shades of Fort Apache) but soon revert to pop-out savages. At least Wise provides an unconventional resolution to the climax. Western fans will enjoy Two Flags' straightforward action but its ambitions seem frustrated.

Joseph Cotten is fine as the conflicted Colonel Tucker. Jeff Chandler gives the standout turn, a cruel martinet who reveals nobility under fire. Cornel Wilde is likeable in a secondary role and Arthur Hunnicut steals his scenes as Tucker's right-hand man. Linda Darnell makes an appealing love interest; if nothing else, it's nice seeing her play a non-stereotyped Latina.

Two Flags West is an enjoyable Sunday afternoon film. A masterpiece it isn't, but those seeking an undemanding oater should enjoy.

Nice church your Grace

In fact, it's a very nice church, and the doctrine's not bad either, those bits that were not excised or mangled by your forbears, and the position is excellent also......

....so please just remember that all of the above were once Catholic.....Canterbury Cathedral*, the doctrinal elements of the Anglican Faith and the post of Archbishop of Canterbury.

The inauguration of the new Archbishop of Canterbury

And, as far as the plywood altar and polyester vestments are concerned, they're yours - you can keep 'em.

But...please treat the accommodation with respect....

                                  

....we might want it back one day!

* Thanks to Fr Giles for correcting me

Thank you David Bereit, Shawn Carney, Robert Colquhoun....

....and in London, Stuart and Jan....

....and in Cardiff, Clare, Catrin, Rhoslyn, Colleen and all the other 40 Days for Life workers and volunteers, throughout the world.

Thank you on behalf of the unborn, the mothers and fathers, the abortuary workers and, of course, us; all of us.

It is surely an amazing feat to provide the organisation, tenacity and faith with which to mount a gruelling 40 Day vigil outside abortuaries; those death camps where,  they say, abortion is so safe but where, a regular flow of ambulances arrive to transport those women whose abortion did not go to plan and whose life is threatened.

See Stuart McCullough's blog HERE where his wife has a timely post.

Today is the last day of the vigil. If you have time, visit the groups at St Mary's Street, Cardiff, Bedford Square, Whitfield Street or Ealing, London.

See HERE for details.

And a prayer for all involved in the fight to protect unborn life:

Almighty God, our Father

you who have given us life 

and intended us to have it forever,

grant us your blessings.

Enlighten our minds to an awareness

and to a renewed conviction

that all human life is sacred

because it is created

in your image and likeness.

Help us to teach by word

and the example of our lives

that life occupies the first place,

that human life is precious

because it is the gift of God

whose love is infinite.

Give us the strength to defend human life

against every influence

or action that threatens or weakens it,

as well as the strength 

to make every life more human

in all its aspects.

Give us the grace....

When the sacredness of life

before birth is attacked,

to stand up and proclaim

that no one ever has the authority

to destroy unborn life.

When a child is described as a burden

or is looked upon only as a means

to satisfy an emotional need,

to stand up

and insist that every child is a unique

and unrepeatable gift of God,

a gift of God

with a right to a loving

and united family.

When the institution of marriage

is abandoned to human selfishness

or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement

that can easily be terminated,

to stand up and affirm

the indissolubility of the marriage bond.

When the value of the family is threatened

because of social and economic pressure,

to stand up and reaffirm

that the family is necessary

not only for the private good of every person,

but also for the common good of every society,

nation and state.

When freedom is used to dominate the weak,

to squander natural resources and energy,

to deny basic necessities to people,

to stand up and affirm

the demands of justice and social love.

Almighty Father,

give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity

of all human life and to demand

that society itself give its protection.

We ask this in your name,

through the redemptive act

of your Son and in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Rome: Open City

Roberto Rossellini's Rome: Open City (1945) is a seminal work in Italy's neorealist movement... or is it? This grim, downbeat account of Nazi occupation and Italian Resistance lays out the genre framework but retains conventional dramatic form. Whatever you call Rome, it's a remarkable film.

Rome in 1944 waits eagerly for Allied liberation, but German occupation makes things unbearably grim. A loose activist network organizes resistance in the city: engineer Manfredi (Marcello Pagliero), the pregnant Pina (Anna Magnani), liberal priest Don Pietro (Aldo Fabrizi). Even Pina's adolescent son Marcello (Vito Annicchiarico) joins in, helping smuggle guns and explosives from outside partisans. But SS Chief Bergmann (Harry Feist) has tricks up his own sleeve, using informers and interrogation to smash subversives.

Neorealism got its start in Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1943), a bastardized adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice. But Rome: Open City established the genre firmly. Filming on a shoestring budget in early 1945, Rossellini captured remarkable footage of bombed-out Rome while the war raged elsewhere. The movie bombed domestically but garnered international acclaim, winning the jury prize at Cannes in 1946. Rosselini rounded out his "War Trilogy" with Paisan (1946) and Germany Year Zero (1948), catapulting him into the top tier of international filmmakers.

Rome: Open City's verisimilitude still impresses. Made just months after Rome's liberation, it's truly ahead of its time depicting bombed-out cityscapes and poverty. Italians riot over bread while Gestapo raids occur daily; hostile families are crowded into tiny tenements. What was technical necessity strikes an aesthetic chord: few films provided such raw, direct pictures of wartime destruction. Rossellini beautifully captures Italians' wartime cynicism: the Resistance seems ineffectual, while the Allies only prove their existence through bombing raids. Federico Fellini's episodic script allows for wonderful slice-of-life moments, like a kid's soccer game or Pina bickering with her sister.

Despite these authentic trappings, Rome isn't pure neorealism. For one, it features major stars Magnani and Fabrizi, a no-no in many genre works. Nor does Rossellini avoid melodramatic touches: in particular, Pina's romance with Francesco (Francesco Grandjacquet) tempts fate from the onset. Borrowing a page from wartime Hollywood potboilers (Hangmen Also Die!), Rossellini casts the Nazis as sexual deviants: Berger minces effeminately while spymaster Ingrid (Giovanna Galletti) seduces singer Marina (Maria Michi) with furs and booze. For better or worse it's more conventional than Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D.

Nor does Rome honestly address Fascism. Benito Mussolini's personality cult never achieved Hitler's pervasive success but neither was he actively opposed; Il Duce purged leftists, co-opted the Catholic and military, with most Italians carrying on indifferently. Rossellini's narrative pawns responsibility onto foreigners, as if the Black Shirts were mere quislings of the Third Reich. Perhaps Rossellini, a friend of Vittorio Mussolini active in prewar cinema, didn't feel comfortable tackling the issue head-on. Or perhaps Italians generally weren't ready to accept responsibility.

That said, Rome's dramatic power is undeniable. If Rossellini utilizes familiar archetypes they're handled iwth unusual skill and power. One comic scene of Pietro and Marcello hiding bombs from the Gestapo ends in a burst of unexpected tragedy. The second half settles in for a prolonged interrogation, with our heroes subjected to shockingly brutal torture. A partisan raid halfway through the film provides our heroes' only tangible victory. Rossellini's bleak anger presages any number of "enemy occupation" films from The Battle of Algiers to Army of Shadows.

Anna Magnani anchors the film's first half. Decidedly unglamorous, Magnani is beautifully effective as an ordinary person struggling to make a difference. Aldo Fabrizi matches Magnani, transforming Pietro from comic foil to tragic hero. The luminous Marla Michi reappeared in Rossellini's Paisan. Harry Feist and Giovanna Galletti make effective villains; Galletti gnawing seductively on a Fahrtenmesser sure makes a perverse image!

Rome: Open City makes for disturbing viewing. Rossellini's next two films adhere more stringently to neorealist expectations, and prove even darker. Classification aside, it's still a remarkable movie.

Two Popes Praying

Two Popes pray at a chapel at Castel Gandolfo, but where is the free standing Altar? Mysterious. This video is really very moving...

Thought for the Day: Catherine Pepinster is a Closet Protestant

'Your Holiness: In order to please Catherine, lose the gold. Why not wear denim?'

Catherine Pepinster on Thought for the Day on Radio 4. First Catherine discusses the Passion of Our Lord and goes on:

"...Rather than people paying homage to Him, He will be mocked. Perhaps it was grief at that mockery that led the churches to focus so much on Christ the King but they seem to have turned themselves into a sort of court. Bishops, Archbishops and Cardinals wear sumptuous vestments, Altars are awash with ornate gold and silver, the people who run the churches belong to strangely Byzantine bureaucracies. Yearning for the transcendent has been replaced by the material."

Several things cross my mind when I listen to these words of Catherine Pepinster. First, did Our Lady chastise the Magi who brought to Her Divine Son gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh? Secondly, this is, fundamentally, Protestantism that Catherine Pepinster is promoting - the stripped Altars of the Protestant Reformation, the destruction of beauty, the tearing down of the sacred, to replace it with only with the human.

Pepinster: Editrix of an unpopular Protestant magazine

When are these liberal progressives going to understand that while it is true that Jesus was and is 'meek and humble of heart', the Church, in Her great wisdom, has always built Churches and designed liturgy in order to aid the praise and worship of God. Catherine, like many, is under the impression that 'sumptuous vestments' are about the wearers of the vestments. They are not.

They are about Christ the Priest, Prophet and King in whose place the clergy and the Hierarchy stand 'in persona Christi' during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Have you never noticed, Catherine, that Priests do not wear sumptuous vestments at any time other than during Holy Mass and that at other times of the day they're probably wearing something from Primark? It is not about the person celebrating Mass or about the community. It is about the Person of Jesus Christ.

Yes, it is true that our King reigns from a Cross. Yes, it is true that His 'Kingdom is not of this World'. Yes, it is true that our King rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. However, just because Jesus is humble - just because God is Humility - does not mean that Jesus is not a King, nor does it mean He is not Divine. See, Catherine, the Majesty of God we should declare and we should be in awe of it. Churches are meant to inspire a sense of awe. Everything about the Church is meant to point to not just the Humanity of Christ, but to His Divinity. Recall that before the Passion, was the Transfiguration. We should be in awe and in this great season of Lent, prostrate ourselves before the God and Man and King who was fastened to the weighty Cross by our sins. The Lord Jesus came to us, meek and merciful as the Lamb of God, but, when He returns at the End of Time we shall see Him as the terrible Judge of all the nations.

The prophet Daniel was given a vision of the true King. Here it is:

'I beheld till thrones were placed, and the Ancient of days sat: his garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool: his throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a burning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him: the judgment sat, and the books were opened. I beheld because of the voice of the great words which that horn spoke: and I saw that the beast was slain, and the body thereof was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burnt: And that the power of the other beasts was taken away: and that times of life were appointed them for a time, and time. I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and lo, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him: his power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.'

The 'son of man', the 'Ancient of days' is, of course, the same Man that rode into Jersusalem on a donkey. This is the same Man who comes to us so humbly as to be concealed under the guise of bread and wine. What is this Man's name? This Man's name is Jesus Christ. Let us familiarise ourselves with the Majesty of God in the Church's sacred ceremonies, Catherine, since they are but a pale reflection, a glass into which we peer darkly, of the power and the glory of our God, who dwells in that World without end, the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of God. The gold, the silver, the sumptuous vestments are not materials that are used in the Church's buildings and liturgy for their own sakes, or to make Priests 'look and feel fabulous'. You seek the transcendent? May I recommend the Traditional Latin Mass, Catherine.

These items are employed by the Church because, frankly, just because our King is so humble as to condescend from His Heavenly Throne to us at every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a King He is now and always will be and He should be treated and worshipped as He is - as the Almighty God that He is. These things also help us to see, in the Mass, that Jesus is not just man, but God also! Why be stingy with God, Catherine? Why be like Judas when God has given us the time to be like St Mary Magdalen? If the Lord had come the first time to earth in the manner He will come at the End of Time, would anyone be able to abide it? How shall we stand before Him 'with confidence' but for His pledge that we shall be risen and glorified if we follow Him and give Him glory? Let us familiarise ourselves with the Majesty of God now, so that when, as we dearly hope, we shall see Him as He truly is, we will not be wondering why the Cherubim and Seraphim are not behaving or wearing something more, 'Low Church', as they prostrate themselves before the Thrice Holy, the Almighty and Ever Living God, crying, 'Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth...!'

Pope Francis to Meet Pope Emeritus Benedict for Lunch

Simple, humble and in touch with the man on the street...

Pope Francis today meets Pope Emeritus Benedict for lunch at Castel Gandolfo. Already a media circus has swarmed at Castel Gandolfo to report on what the new Pope and the ex-Pope will be having for lunch.

Reports suggest that Pope Francis will be taken by helicopter to the residences of Pope Emeritus Benedict, but it is more likely that Francis will instead send the helicopter to a local prison to greet a newly released prisoner on his first day of freedom and take the journey by foot or by donkey.

Some are already suggesting that this decision will be seen by many as a repudiation of the previous Pope's methods of transportation.

A small group of Catholic traditionalists have gathered outside St Peter's to pray that, following a mutually respectful dialogue, the former Pope will ask a trusted butler to squirt tomato ketchup over the black shoes of the new Pope, thus turning His Holiness's black shoes red. 

It is rumoured that Pope Emeritus Benedict will be having something luxurious and light, eggs benedict, on a bed of expensive 'Taste the Difference' sunflower and spelt bread with a light salad topped with a sophisticated honey and mustard dressing, while Pope Francis will be having beans on toast. The beans will be Fairtrade beans. They are said be the simplest and humblest beans in living memory.

Already commentators are drawing sharp distinctions between the lunch choices of the two, suggesting that the new Pope is clearly a man in touch with the people while the old Pope doesn't understand the lunch of the common man on the street. More news as it emerges...