Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

3 thoughts on “Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)”

1. Thanks for your response.

   I think there is just 6 months between Harrison and me in age and believe you me if I had to attempt to for example jump off a bridge onto a speeding train I’d need some big guy like Arnie himself to help me get up on even the lowest of parapets for starters!

   I can recall my Jimmy in an interview to promote the 1962 Liberty Valance when Stewart was only about 54 years of age saying that whilst he still enjoyed making westerns the old bones were starting to protest about the activity involved such as climbing onto even studio horses. My late father was, as I still am, a great Wayne fan and my brothers used to wind him up by claiming that the ageing Duke had to be helped onto his horse for westerns. Many a true word is spoken in jest as the saying goes and maybe in reality Big John did indeed have to receive such assistance as he battled Father Time!

   Anyway the most “natural” example that I can recall of a performer being “younged down” in a movie was in the 1949 Great Gatsby where Laddie as Jay Gatsby was in a flashback scene as a youth. All the producers did was put the diminutive Alan into short trousers, keep the camera at a distance from him and have him don a little beret to half hide his face as the twinkled up a ship gangway giggling boyishly! They probably didn’t have the budget in those days that they might have to spend today if they wanted to make Arnie, Sly, Willis or Harrison look deceptively boyish – though your walking stick and wheelchair angles as alternatives could save money!

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2. Hi Bob, they will probably cast a younger sidekick to Harrison Ford in the next Indiana Jones movie and he would do most of the heavy lifting while Indy shakes his head and cracks wise, like they did with Shia La Beouf the last time, 10 years ago!

   It’s a prerequisite that Ford has to finish off the main villain though even if it’s with his walking stick or in a wheelchair… both hero and aging villain in wheelchairs leaning over and smacking each other in the grand finale, that would be worth seeing eh? 😉

   Oh and I’m glad you’re still enjoying the videos, thanks for the kind words.

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3. “How fleet I moved from place to place,
   Savouring all of Egypt’s pride.
   When I the Egyptian Prince espied,
   Who ‘cross the burning sands did glide
   And did the Red Sea once divide.”

   Oh for the days of Hollywood’s Biblical/costume epic golden era with the likes of the vibrant Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar and Judah Ben-Hur instead of today’s sci-fi/action hero franchises with their to me repetitive sequels and “prequels” and often featuring ageing stars whose bodies are quite clearly no longer capable of the feats that are being performed on the screen.

   What brings all this to mind is that last night my son-in-law gave me the choice of going to the cinema to see the latest Star Wars episode or watching a DVD of vintage Chuck as Steve the Baptist in The Greatest Story ever Told. With the Duke’s “Son of Gawd” speech as a bonus in the latter film you will obviously guess what my selection was.

   To be honest I had actually anticipated that for the part of the youthful Han in the latest venture they would have “younged down” Harrison Ford with a jet black wig and whatever modern special effects they had at their disposal for camouflaging age.

   And why not? After all over 60 years ago when camera technology was in its relevant infancy, for a flashback episode of the Jack Benny Show they “younged down” Jack by having him prance about in trendy clothes with a female companion in a very darkened arcade where you couldn’t see his face and as he pranced he kept breaking into verses of Bing’s famous song, Just a Gigolo.

   Anyway we’ve probably got just a reprieve in Harrison’s case as I see they plan to star him in another Indie flick in 2020 when he’s not too far short of 80. Have they no sense of shame? For me it’s sad to see once greatly entertaining stars like Harrison and Arnie going well beyond their sell-by date as action heroes.. Arnie’s probably limited in what he would suit but Ford has demonstrated good dramatic qualities in films like Apocalypse now and What Lies Beneath.

   “Though he were strong as seven
   He too in waste shall dwell,
   Not yet awake in Heaven,
   But still a mortal shell.
   Though he were fair as roses
   His beauty fades and closes,
   And whatever one supposes
   In the end he is not well.”
   [Algernon Charles Swinburne THE GARDEN OF THE PROSERPINE]

   However I have no such negative or morbid thoughts about YOUR work because a seemingly endless reservoir of unusual posters and stills continue to keep your presentations fresh and interesting.

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