Sky Divers

(a guy is running. Can’t get anymore specific than that. Hell, the movie didn’t, why should I?)
Mike: Loneliness of a long-distance greaser.

Man oh man. I’ve been waiting to talk about The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner for a long time (don’t know why they didn’t mention it in the “Clonus” episode, seeing as how the guy…well, you’ll see…). Okay. The Loneliness of a Long Distance Runner is one of the most famous “Angry Young Man” movies—it stars a young Tom Courtenay and Michael Redgrave. Courtenay plays a British juvenile delinquent who Redgrave realizes is a natural long distance runner. Redgrave tries to turn Courtenay around by recruiting him onto the Juvie detention center’s track team, but will Courtenay go along with the system? I wouldn’t dare give away the climax, which I consider to be the one of the best in movie history. I’ve already written about the Angry Young Man movies—this is a perfect example of one, wherein a lower-class dreamer stands up against the System. This was a very good movie. So was Look Back in Anger, widely regarded as the first Angry Young Man movie; if you really want to go on an Angry Young Man-athon, rent this and Look Back in Anger. And Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. And perhaps A Kind of Loving also—it stars Alan Bates. Oh, and good luck with finding them. I find it pretty hard, myself.


(the stupid Bad Guy is riding his motorcycle. Everyone hums the theme from The Great Escape.)

The Great Escape is one of my favorite war movies, right up there with Saving Private Ryan, Zulu, Is Paris Burning?, and The Longest Day. World War II films, for some reason, are usually “Hey there” movies (as someone ingeniously labeled it), and the aforementioned films are no exception. A “hey there” movie is where you shout things like “hey, there’s Richard Burton!” (as in The Longest Day) or “hey, there’s Ted Danson!” (Saving Private Ryan) or “hey, there’s Sean Connery!” (The Longest Day again). With The Great Escape you’ll say, “Hey, there’s Richard Attenborough!” and “Hey, there’s James Garner!” and “Hey, there’s James Coburn…playing an Aussie! What the hell?” But you won’t be surprised to find Steve McQueen in it because everyone knows McQueen stars in The Great Escape. He plays the Cooler King, and he rides a motorcycle. Not only does he play the Cooler King riding a motorcycle, but he also plays a couple of Nazis riding motorcycles (the man liked motorcycles, what can I say?) There’s a famous scene where he actually jumps his bike over a fence. I’m not surprised—Steve McQueen was the essence of cool. I like him a lot. He may even be one of mah boys. Oh, what hell, sure he is. Okay.


(The “Hero” is drinking in a bar)
Servo: Gee, Dylan Thomas was in here and he didn’t drink this much.

I wouldn’t be too sure of that, because Dylan Thomas drank a lot. How much did he drink, you ask? Well, let’s just say he was good friends with Richard Burton. Yeah. Thomas was a Welsh poet and author, but he also was a bit of an actor—I don’t know if he was actually in a movie but he was in the theater. But he did write plays which were turned into movies—and actually Burton starred in a couple of them—namely Under Milk Wood. Richard Burton (being a proud Welshman himself) really respected Thomas, and was even buried with a copy of Thomas’ works when he died.


(the Bad Girl is seducing the pharmacy)
Crow: Oh Mr. Gower!

Love how Crow says that line. Once again, a reference to It’s a Wonderful Life. Mr. Gower is the druggist who Young George Bailey works for, and who beats said Young George Bailey down in a drunken rage. Okay, okay, he only hit his bad ear, but it was sad, I tell ya, sad!


(some “sky divers” are, uh, diving. For about the millionth time)
Servo: Hey, do you have Death coming out to play chess with you too?

This is from a famous Ingmar Bergman film called The Seventh Seal, wherein Death (a pale bald guy in a robe) plays chess against a knight (Max von Sydow) just back from the Crusades. The prize? The knight’s soul, or his body—you know what Death does, hell. Ingmar Bergman is an incredibly famous director (he was named an icon of the 20th century) and The Seventh Seal is an equally famous film (it was listed by Entertainment Weekly as one of the 100 greatest movies). I think Bergman’s Death is the most well-known—everyone knows about Death playing chess for your soul; it’s been seen everywhere from “The Animaniacs” to Last Action Hero. It’s a rather strange movie, as is customary for Bergman films.


(the Wife with the Helmet looks sadly at her husband)
Mike: Our current Garbo.

Greta Garbo is a legendary actresses. She’s just incredibly famous, no other way to explain it. She was a star of the silent movies (Camille, Anna Karenina) who was one of the few silent actors able to successfully transition into sound (Grand Hotel and Ninotchka). I’ve seen Ninotchka and Grand Hotel—must say that I like the former better, although her famous line “I want to be alone!” comes from the latter. She utters the phrase when her manager is trying to coax her into going onto the stage, but she doesn’t want to because she, well, wants to be alone. I saw this movie at about four a.m. on Turner Classic Movies (I also saw Darling at five in the morning on TCM, but that’s another story). Maybe because it was so early that, when she repeated “I want to be alone” for the third time, I suddenly imagined Clark Gable (in It Happened One Night) yelling, “Stop bawling!” followed by “Get in the car!” (Crow’s line in The Leech Woman episode). Don’t ask why. Anyway, Garbo is known for her incredible looks, her solitary, enigmatic life, and her romance with John Gilbert, who starred in several silent films with her.


Ibid
(the Wife with the Helmet is running with the blonde guy)
Servo: She’s hooking up with Donald O’Connor.

Donald O’Connor is best known for his role as Cosmo in Singin’ in the Rain. I love this movie; it’s the great musical, in my opinion (actually, perhaps on the same level as Swing Time). And, aside from Gene Kelly’s title dance number, I think O’Connor’s “Make ‘Em Laugh” bit is the greatest dance number in the movie. You’ve got to see it to believe it. For years—years—I tried to emulate him by doing back flips off walls. I even tried at school, in the hallway, and would annoy the hell out of teachers. Never could do it. He’s referenced here because he sort of looks like the guy in Sky Divers in that he has blonde hair. He also has really blue eyes. Just thought you’d like to know.