The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 4, Ed. 1, Friday, September 26, 1980 Page: 4 of 27
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Abilene Christian University Library.
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Chesterton
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'Mountain Men'
a little sweet
By LINDE THOMPSON
Optimist Staff
Charleton Heston has always been my
hero. I've seen probably every major
Charleton Heston movie ever made
including "Ben Hur" four times. Con-
sequentlv it's difficult for me to be
critical of 'Mountain
Men."
However hero
worship aside I must
admit that the plot of
"Mountain Men" is
not too deep. The
script written by
Heston's 25-year old
son Fraser Clarke Heston was
originally titled "The Last Of The
Mountain Men" and portrays the life of
these colorful hermits in the style of
"Jeremiah Johnson" and "Centennial."
Heston is Bill Tyler an aging mountain
man who along with cohort Henry
Frapp portrayed by Brian Keith makes
a life out of trapping the dwindling
beaver population and scrapping with
Indians
The first minutes leave the viewer with
the sinking feeling that throughout the
film he will hear nothing but Brian
Keith's cussing and guffawing. It's rather
a shock to hear such colorful oaths
emitted from a man I remember as
lovable "Uncle Bill." For this reason
and for excessive gore the film is rated
R.
The language doesn't improve but the
viewer does get caught up in the plot
more because of the skill of the actors
than anything else. The story is pure
early American action-adventure
complete with larger-than-life charac-
ters. This of course is no new feat for
Heston a man who has been Moses
Michelangelo Andrew Jackson and El
Cid.
But everything is almost too heroic to
be true. Bill Tyler is admittedly an old
man yet he routinely staves off a dozen
snarling Indians at a time.. Throughout
the movie he survives maiming
drowning and relentless pursuit by his
enemies. '
On the other side of the coin maybe we
have become too "sophisticated" as an
audience.Realism and anti-heroes have
so dominated the films of the last decade
that we suffer diabetes when con-
fronted with a happy ending or a hero.
In spite of this schmaltz or maybe
because of it "Mountain Men" is an
enjoyable film. Heston and Keith are
properly crusty old coots and much of
their acting is touching and humorous.
Besides it's nice to see a good old
Western again. It's even somewhat of a
relief to see a film that has no deep
psychological meanings or controversial
issues.I guess what I'm trying to say is
that despite some shallowness I liked
the movie. Maybe it's just hard for me to
admit that my hero Charleton Heston is
finally getting old.
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I guess anything taller than an anthill
Is considered a tower in Texas.
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Browne holds out for new hope
By DAVID RAMSEY
Sports Editor
Listening to Jackson Browne didn't used to
be my idea of a good time. He seemed among
other things too serious too boring and too
depressing.
Why should I listen to Browne ramble on
about pain sorrow and
death when I could listen
to Jimmy Page rip out a
15-minute guitar solo?
Times have changed
however. Seeing Jackson
play in Dallas Sunday was
much like spending time
with a friend I'd been
through a lot with.
Jackson's changed quite a bit himself. Gone
are the days when he stood motionless behind
a microphone looking tired and drained. On
Sunday Browne decked out in socks an old
shirt and faded blue jeans acted excited.
For him that's a big change. He flailed his
guitar jumped up and down a lot and in
general seemed to be enjoying himself.
Throughout the '70s Jackson sang about not
enjoying himself on albums that were
penetrating and personal but painful and
difficult to listen to. Browne saw through
many of our generation's dreams and exposed
them as fallacy. Romance was seen by
Browne as one giant bummer primarily
because we expected so much out of it.
The American dream according to Browne
was becoming a nightmare. People kept
trying to buy satisfaction and fulfillment
but you can't buy those things. Jackson knew
that. As he watched his world disappointed
and lonely he became the pop blues singer of
the decade.
Many have said that a singer has to pay his
dues to sing the blues. Jackson certainly
meets the qualifications. Besides being un-
fortunate enough to have been one of the
dreamers of the '60s thrust into the dark '70s
he had his share of deep personal problems. In
May of '76 his wife commited suicide.
Browne had always been able to mix
cynicism with hope. It was a strange mix to
be sure but the main appeal of Browne's
music was his ability to criticize the world and
still hold hope for it.
But on The Pretender the album he
recorded immediately after his wife's death
Browne seemed to be losing his grip on hope
and with it sanity. Browne had always held
out on his belief that if you tried hard enough
life would improve. The holdout was becoming
tenuous.
I felt relieved when I listened to Browne's
new album Hold Out. Browne sounds en-
couraged revitalized and filled with the hope
he had almost lost. His show in Dallas came
across the same way. When he screamed
"hold out" on one of his last songs he looked
as if he had found what he had held out for.
Word's out that Jackson's in love. In a
recent Rolling Stone interview Browne said
he's planning to get married soon. Some of the
lines on Hold Out would sound good at
Jackson's wedding: "Give up your heart and
you find yourself living for something and
somebody else."
Many have labeled Browne's newNalbum
and Browne's new image as a sell out. I don't
think so. Sure he's changed. Jackson now
declines to question the heaven out of
everything like he used to; he seems ready to
accept and to believe. I even saw him smile a
couple of times Sunday.
And even" if he is a little less profound than
he used to be I'd now much rather listen to
Browne's singing than Page's 15-minute solos.
Those are just too boring.
.'
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 4, Ed. 1, Friday, September 26, 1980, newspaper, September 26, 1980; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92002/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.