Red River
When I was seven or eight or nine or ten or eleven Grandpa Tyner gave us a video tape of some cowboy movies. One of those movies was Red River, starring John Wayne. I watched and enjoyed the entire movie with delight . . . up until the exciting conclusion where the John Wayne character was going to duel his own son over a dispute with a heard of cattle. But then the tape ended and I was deeply crushed to not know how the movie ended. It was one of those things that stayed with me for a long time. For years (literally) I wished that I could just see the ending on TV sometime, but that opportunity never came, and the sense of loss eventually faded.
Then on Saturday, as Alex and I sat eating our breakfast and watching a cooking show on PBS, they announced that they would be showing Red River that night. Wow! You would have had to be here to see how excited I was. I ran upstairs to tell Koa; I even called Adam. This was going to bring closure to an unfinished part of my life. Really, it doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal, but cowboys and Indians was a big deal back then, and it seems that that memory has stayed with me subconsciously. I even surprised myself with how excited I got.
I didn't sit down to watch the movie until last night. I have to say, I don't remember it being black-and-white, or that the special effects were that rudimentary, but all in all it was pretty good.
. . . until the end of the movie when it had stopped recording. A G A I N ! ! !
PBS had published the wrong start and finish time, so TIVO recorded it wrong. ARGHHH!
This time I didn't even get as far as the duel before it stopped.
Well, luckily, as often happens with PBS, they were airing it again last nigh. So now I'm going to try my luck one more time.
Is it meant to be? I'm about to find out.
Then on Saturday, as Alex and I sat eating our breakfast and watching a cooking show on PBS, they announced that they would be showing Red River that night. Wow! You would have had to be here to see how excited I was. I ran upstairs to tell Koa; I even called Adam. This was going to bring closure to an unfinished part of my life. Really, it doesn't seem like it would be that big of a deal, but cowboys and Indians was a big deal back then, and it seems that that memory has stayed with me subconsciously. I even surprised myself with how excited I got.
I didn't sit down to watch the movie until last night. I have to say, I don't remember it being black-and-white, or that the special effects were that rudimentary, but all in all it was pretty good.
. . . until the end of the movie when it had stopped recording. A G A I N ! ! !
PBS had published the wrong start and finish time, so TIVO recorded it wrong. ARGHHH!
This time I didn't even get as far as the duel before it stopped.
Well, luckily, as often happens with PBS, they were airing it again last nigh. So now I'm going to try my luck one more time.
Is it meant to be? I'm about to find out.
---------------
(This second picture is of the duel in the movie right before Granpa's tape ended.)
Comments
A great story of a great memory! Gee... you've got me wanting to see it!
(I miss Grandpa!)
Good luck with tivo this time! Keep us posted!
Inquiring minds want to know if one of the unfinished parts of your life has found 'closure...'
sooooo- how did it go?
Yes, it did bring closure to that part of my life.
However (don't read the rest if you ever want to see the movie) I was disappointed in the actual ending of the movie. It turns out that I only missed about five minutes, and in that five minutes they did not kill each other but made peace. I guess that's good in life, but not so good in the movies.
What I'm trying to say is that as a kid I thought it was so suspenseful and that one of them was surely going to die. But as an adult, it was an obvious ending.
Although I am very glad to have seen the whole thing.
Just for old times sake, save it for me to watch in June. (If you have unlimited storage...)
(Glad you finally had time to sit and watch a movie, Aaron. :)