For those of you who might have forgotten, there was a scene from one of the great Western Classics -- The Magnificent Seven ( yes, those where the times when Men were REAL men, not fags. Yul Brynner still provided that awesome air that no one could duplicate ).
This is the scene that impressed me about the Hollywood of
1960...
Charles Bronson plays Bernard O' Reilly, a down on his luck gunfighter who joins the 7 gunfighters to defend a Mexican Village from bandits. He is idolized by three kids in the village who admire his bravery, skill and machismo.
When one of the kids tell him that his own father is a coward for failing to stand up to the gangsters and not
learning how to fight, Bernard grabs the kid and proceeds to give him a whacking. He then lectures him thusly ( his words are a classic ) :
"Don't you ever say that again about your fathers, because they are not cowards! You think I'm brave because I carry a gun? Well, your fathers are much braver, because they carry responsibility — for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. I have never had this kind of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with no guarantee what will ever come of it... this is bravery. That's why I never started anything like that. That's why I never will. See? I told you! You see your fathers?"
THAT FOLKS, WAS THE TIME WHEN HOLLYWOOD STILL CELEBRATED THE VIRTUES OF COURAGE, DEFENSE OF FREEDOM, RESPONSIBILITY, KEEPING YOUR WORD, AND HONORING YOU PARENTS.
That a macho cowboy movie would even have screenplay like that is awesome to hear ( in hindsight )
Sadly, You don't get to see screenplay like that anymore...
Great post. I'm only 34 and sadly those days seem so long ago, even to me, but I still remember them.
"yes, those where the times when Men were REAL men, not fags."
You've apparently never seen Ernest Borgnine smoldering at Sterling Hayden in "Johnny Guitar". The REAL men in that movie are Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge. Seriously, that movie is incredibly campy for 1954 - and even for today! :)