Heck, it’s the Fourth of July — here’s another clip from THE RIGHT STUFF

Add comment July 2nd, 2009

This is the clip I mentioned in the comments of the last post: Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) becomes the first American in space … after a few difficulties involving a request for “permission to relieve bladder” (all true, by the way).  There’s a bit of profanity early on, so consider yourself warned.

Friday Afternoon Videos (a day early): THE RIGHT STUFF

3 comments July 2nd, 2009

Thanks to the impending July 4 holiday, I won’t be here tomorrow to post my usual installment of Friday videos. So, in honor of that same holiday, I’m sharing one of my favorite movie scenes of all time — and one that makes my heart beat proudly for the red, white and blue. Ladies and gentlemen, devote 8 minutes of so of your weekend to watching Chuck Yeager (as played by Sam Shepard) break the sound barrier…

RIP Harve Presnell

Add comment July 2nd, 2009

Though he got his start in musicals such as THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN (on stage and screen) and PAINT YOUR WAGON (where he sang “They Call the Wind Maria), modern audiences probably know him best for a decidedly non-musical role: tough-as-nails father-in-law Wade Gustafson in FARGO.

That unforgettable performance (in a movie that’s full of them) gave Presnell a second career in all sorts of TV and movies, ranging from STAR TREK to MR. DEEDS to a great supporting role on the ill-fated Andy Richter sitcom, ANDY BARKER, P.I. (And though it’s not on his IMDB.com resume, I’m pretty sure he has a cameo as a wrestler in the movie Barton Fink watches in that Coen Brothers movie.)

Presnell died Tuesday at the age of 75 from pancreatic cancer. Here’s a clip from his performance in FARGO. (I apologize for the fact that it was obviously taped off someone’s TV, but it’s the best chunk of Harve in FARGO I could find.)