Paladin, Chapter 24

 EXT. RANCH - DAY

BIG DAN arrives at his ranch and sees POLLYANNA by the corral ready to mount her horse.

BIG DAN: Where are you goin?

POLLYANNA: Just for a ride.  I'm bored.

BIG DAN: Sure you are.  You're comin with me.

POLLYANNA: And where are we going?

BIG DAN: To town...to clear up some unfinished business.

POLLYANNA: And what might that be?

BIG DAN: You'll see when we get there.  Am I gonna have any trouble to get you to come?

POLLYANNA: No.  Let's go.

The two head to Windfall on horseback.

EXT. STREET - DAY

BIG DAN and POLLYANNA arrive in Windfall and dismount their horses in front of the general store.  They enter the store.

INT. STORE - DAY

GRACE is waiting on customer.  CHARLES is not there.

BIG DAN (to GRACE): Where's your husband?

GRACE (to BIG DAN): He's not here.  I don't know where he is.  He wouldn't tell me.

BIG DAN flings open door to office.  It is empty.

BIG DAN (to POLLYANNA): Okay, let's go.

BIG DAN and POLLYANNA leave store.

EXT. STREET - DAY

BIG DAN and POLLYANNA are in front of store.

BIG DAN: Tell me where you think he is.  Don't lie to me.

POLLYANNA (after hesitating): He's probably at the saloon.

BIG DAN grabs POLLYANNA's arm and they head towards the saloon.  They arrive at the saloon and enter.

INT. SALOON - DAY

BIG DAN and POLLYANNA enter saloon, which is somewhat crowded.  CHARLES is sitting alone at a table drinking a shot of whiskey.  BIG DAN approaches CHARLES, leaving POLLYANNA at the entrance.  

BIG DAN (to CHARLES): Stand up you son of a bitch.

CHARLES: What?  You gonna knock me down again?

BIG DAN: No.  This time I'm gonna kill you.

CHARLES: Oh, yeah.  And why do you want to kill me?

BIG DAN: For fuckin my wife.

CHARLES notices POLLYANNA standing by the entrance.

CHARLES: Thar aint true.  I don't even fuck my own wife...lately, that is.

BIG DAN: Lies.  Lies.  And more lies.  The two of you are liars.  Well, now the lying is over.

PALADIN enters the saloon.

BIG DAN: I'm gonna end this fuckin around behind my back.  No man does this to me and gets away with it.  Now stand up you coward.

PALADIN approaches BIG DAN.  CHARLES slowly rises from his seat and faces BIG DAN.

PALADIN (to BIG DAN): Don't do this, BIG DAN.  You don't have to do this.  You can just walk away from this.  And walk away from POLLYANNA.  There are other women.

BIG DAN: Shut up, PALADIN.  Stay out of my business.  (to CHARLES) Okay, CHARLES.  On the count of three, I'm drawin my gun.  One. Two. Three.

At the count of three, BIG DAN starts reaching for his gun.  At the same moment, CHARLES reaches for his knife with his one good hand and flings it at BIG DAN, hitting him in his chest, near his heart.  BIG DAN clutches the knife, which has entered his body, but succumbs to the mortal wound, falls dead on the floor.  There is a hush in the saloon.  POLLYANNA immediately leaves the saloon, presumably to return to the ranch to claim her new dominance there.  PALADIN examines BIG DAN's body.

PALADIN: Somebody get the undertaker...now.

PALADIN removes knife from BIG DAN's body and keeps it as evidence.

PALADIN (to CHARLES): You need to come with me to the sheriff's office.

CHARLES: What ever you say, deputy.

PALADIN and CHARLES leave saloon together.

EXT. STREET - DAY

PALADIN and CHARLES enter sheriff's office.

PALADIN: Sit down.

CHARLES sits.

PALADIN: To me, it looked like self-defense, but I'm not the sheriff.  I don't want to keep you locked up till he gets back.  But, I'm going to ask you to promise to stay in town till then.

CHARLES: In town?

PALADIN: At the store and at your house.  Stay out of the hotel and the saloon.  Do I have your word?

CHARLES: And if I don't?

PALADIN: I'll lock you up right now.

CHARLES: (exhales) You have my word.  

PALADIN: You're free to go.

CHARLES leaves the office.    

      

Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt was born January 17, 1927 (99 years before my granddaughter Macy) in North, South Carolina.  Her mother was of Cherokee and African descent.  

After the death of her mother, Eartha moved to New York City to be raised by a relative.  There she attended the Metropolitan Vocational High School, later named the High School of Performing Arts.

Eartha began her career as a singer in 1943.  She recorded such hit songs as "Let's Do it", "Champagne Taste" and "C'est Si Bon."

Eartha's unique style became enhanced as she became fluent in French while touring in Europe.  She spoke four languages and sang in eleven.

In 1954-1955 Eartha starred in an all-Black Broadway production of Mrs. Patterson.  

She portrayed Teddy Hicks, a teenager living in the south during the 1920s.

One day while we were visiting New York City, my mother took me to a matinee performance of Mrs. Patterson.  I remember we were among the few white people in the audience.

I also remember just before intermission someone asked Teddy what do you want to be when you grow up.  Her response got a big laugh as the curtain came down.

Teddy: When I grow up, I want to be a rich white lady.

As a naive youth, I didn't get the joke.

Thanks to the BBC and the Internet, I recently got to see the scene again.

Hats

I recently watched a series on television about an historical event from the end of the nineteenth century.  A man rushed out of his place of business onto a busy street.  I was struck by the fact that he alone was hatless.  

In the summer of 1967 I started working as an accountant at Ernst & Ernst in Detroit, Michigan.  Among their rigid rules of conduct was the requirement to wear a hat (fedora) while travelling to and from work.  There were many hat stores where I could choose which I wanted to wear.

Today, the fedora has all but disappeared.  If a man wears a hat, as do I, it is a baseball type cap.  What happened?  Here are some answers.

We now have more control over our climate.  We don't have to wear a hat to keep warm.

After World War II, the distinction of social classes became less important.  The practice of wearing a type of hat to identify your social class became extinct.

With the advent of the automobile, headroom in vehicles changed drastically.  Modern cars are not built to accommodate the old fashioned hat styles.

President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) frequently appeared in public without a hat.  He set a new standard for modern, youthful elegance.

Separate Tables

As I hope you are noticing, I am continuing studying Burt Lancaster (boyhood idol) movies.  Separate Tables (1958) also stars Rita Hayworth, David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Wendy Hiller and Gladys Cooper.  

The story takes place at a residential hotel in England.  Kerr reunites with Lancaster (From Here to Eternity) but in a completely different character.  Cooper resurrects her mean, domineering mother role from Now, Voyager.

Niven won the Academy Award for Best Actor.  Hiller won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

John (Lancaster), a writer and resident of the hotel, is having a relationship with Pat (Hiller), the owner and manager of the hotel.  One day, Anne (Hayworth), the ex-wife of John, pays him a visit.  

Anne invites John to her room and tries to seduce him.  He rebuffs her, but there is still an attraction between the two of them.

The residents of the hotel discover that the major (Niven) pleaded guilty to sexual harassment at the local cinema.  He is humiliated.  Mrs. Maud (Cooper) demands that Pat expel the major from the hotel.

However, Sibyl (Kerr), the meek daughter of Mrs. Maud, comforts the major with empathy.  Most of the residents come to support the major in his hour of need.  Sibyl even defies her mother for the first time.  

 

Paladin, Chapter 23

 EXT. STREET - DAY

PALADIN catches up with BIG DAN.

PALADIN: Are you trying to provoke CHARLES?

BIG DAN:  Well, if you will not kill him, I gotta do it.

PALADIN:  It might not end up as you think it will.

BIG DAN:  I gotta defend what is mine.  I am not worried about a cripple.

PALADIN:  What is yours?  If your wife prefers another man, you cannot really keep her.  Find a woman who wants you.

BIG DAN:  That is bullshit.  POLLYANNA is mine.  With CHARLES out of the way, she will come back to me.  I know it.  There have been others,

PALADIN:  That is just it.  There will always be others.  She will never be yours.

BIG DAN:  It is none of your fucking business.  Stay outta my way.

BIG DAN walks away from PALADIN.  BIG DAN gets on his horse and rides away towards his ranch.  

Lake Ontario

I grew up in Oswego, New York which is located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, the eastern most of the Great Lakes of North America.

The Canadian province of Ontario is on the northern shore of Lake Ontario.  The border between the USA and Canada runs through the center of the lake.

The name Ontario is derived from the Iroquoian word Oniatari:io meaning Beautiful Lake.  It has been the name of the lake since 1641.

The port of Oswego on Lake Ontario is the first USA deep water port from the St. Lawrence Seaway.  It is one of the most productive ports in North America.

The port of Oswego is the only grain export center on Lake Ontario.  It is home to 14 companies that utilize its facilities for both domestic and international operations.

The port of Oswego serves as an economic catalyst for the central New York region.  It provides transportation services, promotes growth and environmental stewardship.

I will always think of that lake in front of my home town as Ontario. 

September 11th

September 11, 2001 started out as a beautiful sunny day in New York.  I arrived (via bus and subway) at my office at the Anti-Defamation League on East 46th Street near the UN building.

Suddenly, a colleague walked by and told me an airplane crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC).  My first thought was that during WWII a small airplane crashed into the Empire State Building.  Pilot killed, small damage to building.  

However, soon after I heard that a second airplane crashed into the second tower of the WTC.  It was no longer an accident.  It was a terrorist attack.

I later learned that a third plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington and a fourth crashed on a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Soon, our office and many others closed for the day and my colleagues and fellow New Yorkers headed home.  However, concern for more terrorist attacks shut down all public transportation.  

No buses, no subway.  I had to walk home.

I started walking north towards the Queensborough Bridge on 59th Street.  I walked across the bridge.  

The Queens bound lanes were made exclusively for pedestrians.  Thousands were walking with me.

When I got to the apex of the bridge, I could see smoke floating across the East River from lower Manhattan.  It was from the destruction of the WTC.

When I reached Queens, I started following Northern Boulevard.  I probably walked another 2 hours east towards my home in Bayside.

At a point, I found a phone booth (no cell phones) and called my ex-wife Bonita asking her to pick me up.  It normally was a 20 minute drive.  It took her more than an hour because of the extraordinary traffic.  Likewise, it took us a long time to return home.

It was an unforgettable day.