RSSFeeling Glorious
30 Jun 2007 Comments Off
in Movies
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of the weather here in New York. A week ago we had a searing hot spell. Before that, it was rain, rain, and still more rain. As I write this it has rained two out of every three days for a month. But sometimes rain is a good thing.
55 years ago, in 1952, MGM released what has been called the greatest movie musical ever — Singin’ In The Rain. And in what has been called the single most memorable scene in movie history, Gene Kelly is ecstatically happy. He simply has a grand old time with some puddles, a lamppost and an umbrella as he gleefully dances and sings up his own kind of storm while the gently pouring rain falls….
I’m singin’ in the rain
Just singin’ in the rain
What a glorious feeling
I’m happy again….
Kelly ended the song with these words — “Just dancing, and singing, in the rain”; these words were directed at the local suspicious policeman as a broad smile crossed Kelly’s face.
Sure, on a movie sound stage, and with eight identical back-up wool suits to get drenched to the skin in, Kelly could be overjoyed. But on the mean streets of Manhattan, a deluge certainly will not bring about glorious feelings.
Yeah, the weather is a bummer. So I’ve been thinking about a different kind of glorious feeling, the kind you can find someplace else — the sumptuous islands of the Pacific: far away, tropical, exotic, and gorgeous. What could be more tempting than sailing off into the sunset heading for paradise?
The story of one ship, the HMS Bounty, has captivated so many that it’s been made into a movie at least three times. The biggest stars of three generations — Clark Gable, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson — have all essayed the Fletcher Christian role playing opposite Charles Laughton, Trevor Howard, and Anthony Hopkins as the oppressive Captain Bligh.
Men have been dreaming of these sun-drenched, palm-fringed islands for centuries. In fact they’ve endured all sorts of hardships to get there. In all three movies, members of the crew elected to stay and enjoy the island’s bounty.
Here’s why — in some shots from The Bounty….
What a glorious feeling!
A gorgeous sight like this island will no doubt attract many of you. So lest I have to face a mutiny from you readers, and find myself hanging from the yardarm, I shall end this discourse at once.
You won’t need a sextant or the stars to help you navigate your way around this website, so here’s the link to the index of columns on my home page and you can begin to sail off to our own kind of bounty — the lovely rich flesh of women we will watch wandering in various tropical paradises. You’ll soon be enjoying your own special and glorious feelings.
This column was originally published in Also On Video on July 4th, 2003. We have updated this column for publication in JustMeMike’s New Also on Video on June 30th, 2007.