I just heard a quote from Oscar Wilde that I don't understand,. Maybe someone could help?
"Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious."
Thanks all,
Fondly,
Hollis
P.S. I'm feeling a bit better this morning, Again thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
A question...
I always thought that Wilde, in his inimitable style, was saying that vicious people can act out their viciousness, and make it appear as if it were a virtue, by calling it "patriotism".
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
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jdb1
I agree absolutely. I think Wilde may have been building on the famous epigram of Samuel Johnson, which certainly would have been well-known in Wilde's day:
"Patriotism: the last refuge of the scoundrel."
In other words, when all other scams fail, wave the flag. Politicians have been doing it for centuries, and what's more vicious than politics?
"Patriotism: the last refuge of the scoundrel."
In other words, when all other scams fail, wave the flag. Politicians have been doing it for centuries, and what's more vicious than politics?
Hollis asked:
I don't think it's from any film, but just the best headshot in his portfolio.
No, it is the Saint of the Underground, Madman of the Method and (as put by Judith) an Immutable Essence of the Universe, Timothy Carey.By the way, is your avatar Raymond Massey in "Arsenic and Old Lace?"
I don't think it's from any film, but just the best headshot in his portfolio.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
-
jdb1
Ah, the exalted IEU.
To anyone out there who has never seen Timothy Carey: you simply must. I really can't think of anyone remotely like him. If you ever saw Steve Allen's syndicated TV show, the one he did from Los Angeles, maybe you'd get the idea -- picture one of those weird bohemian types he used to rope in off the street to talk to, like Gypsy Boots. I've always thought that LA weird people seemed far weirder than NYC weird people, but Tim Carey is one of the exceptions (he hailed from Good Ol' Brooklyn). I guess once he got to LA he got even weirder. It's like such people are operating on an alternate cosmic plane.
But I like it.
Hey, remember Exidor on Mork and Mindy? Something like that.
To anyone out there who has never seen Timothy Carey: you simply must. I really can't think of anyone remotely like him. If you ever saw Steve Allen's syndicated TV show, the one he did from Los Angeles, maybe you'd get the idea -- picture one of those weird bohemian types he used to rope in off the street to talk to, like Gypsy Boots. I've always thought that LA weird people seemed far weirder than NYC weird people, but Tim Carey is one of the exceptions (he hailed from Good Ol' Brooklyn). I guess once he got to LA he got even weirder. It's like such people are operating on an alternate cosmic plane.
But I like it.
Hey, remember Exidor on Mork and Mindy? Something like that.
Probably the two most notable performances by Timothy Carey are in THE KILLING (the horse killer) and PATHS OF GLORY (one of the men before the firing squad). Kubrick loved him and wanted him in SPARTACUS, but Kirk Douglas hated him so he wasn't in it.
Cassavetes also loved him and put him in THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE and MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ (his improvised monologue at the beginning is absolutely brilliant). Also nice turns in EAST OF EDEN and CRIME WAVE, not to mention appearing as Dakota Slim in a couple of the Annette-Frankie beach movies.
And he directed one of the most surreal, noir, prescient movies ever -- THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER. Forget HEAD (which he was in) and SKIDOO...it is a singular experience.
I have heard that Coppola asked him to be in THE GODFATHER, but Carey thought that being in such a big movie would violate his sense of integrity. So, instead, he was in various episodes of Charlie's Angels, Baretta, Toma, McCloud and more. Gotta love an actor with integrity.
Cassavetes also loved him and put him in THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE and MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ (his improvised monologue at the beginning is absolutely brilliant). Also nice turns in EAST OF EDEN and CRIME WAVE, not to mention appearing as Dakota Slim in a couple of the Annette-Frankie beach movies.
And he directed one of the most surreal, noir, prescient movies ever -- THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER. Forget HEAD (which he was in) and SKIDOO...it is a singular experience.
I have heard that Coppola asked him to be in THE GODFATHER, but Carey thought that being in such a big movie would violate his sense of integrity. So, instead, he was in various episodes of Charlie's Angels, Baretta, Toma, McCloud and more. Gotta love an actor with integrity.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
-
jdb1
Carey's turn in The Killing is one of the most unique performances I've ever seen - some might call it crazy, but it works for the character. I swear, when I watch it I half expect him to take off and fly around under his own power. Surely there was some mystic force driving him that the rest of us can only dream of.