Second Banana

As eager as you may be to tap into my superior knowledge of nutritional health, this post is not about fruit.  It is, instead, about that most important of Western Movie lore fixtures, the Sidekick.  I am not going to take up space and time (see, they really are inseparable, just like a hero and sidekick) here to explain the role and history of the sidekick.  If you do not understand the concept, you can read the entry in Wikipedia which will artfully sate your need for edification.

Suffice it to say, the side kick in Western Movies is a partner/aide to the hero.  He may provide comic relief or be the foil for the hero’s comedic effusions.  While their skills are generally subordinate to those of the leading man, their presence is essential for the hero’s success in achieving his grail.  As the hero is dedicated to completion of his quest, the side kick is equally devout in his support of his hero; sometimes to the point of fatal sacrifice to ensure the hero’s survival and ultimate success.

But the point of this missive is not intellectual embellishment.  Rather, I wish to introduce to my reading audience yet one more reason to explore the library of films from yesteryear, The Golden Age of Hollywood.  To that end, I offer you an abbreviated list of my favorite sidekicks and recommendations of films by which to experience their unique contributions.

Walter Brennan is the dean of Western (and probably every other film genre) sidekicks.  He co-starred with every movie giant of two eras (pre-WW II and post-WW II); including John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper.  He was awarded three Oscars for his supporting roles (1936, 1938, 1940) and nominated for a fourth (1941).  His acting brought life to such characters as Featherhead, Stumpy and Pop.  His film career ran from 1925 to 1975 and includes over 240 acting credits (including film and TV)  Movies I recommend:

The Cowboy and the Lady (1938-Samuel Goldwyn Co.) “Sugar” sidekick to Gary Cooper.

The Far Country (1954-Universal International Pictures) “Ben Tatum” sidekick to Jimmy Stewart.

Rio Bravo (1959-Warner Bros.) “Stumpy” sidekick to John Wayne.

Ira Gabby Hayes was the prototypical sidekick if Walter Brennan was the dean.  He began his career as “Windy Halliday”, companion to “B” movie idol Hopalong Cassidy (William Boyd) working for Paramount Pictures.  Lucky for us, a salary dispute ended his tenure and moving to Republic Pictures was able to expand his career breadth, sharing the screen with many of the eras leading men.  His grizzled appearance and use of cowboy jargon (e.g. “cansarn it” and “young whippersnapper”) became iconic of the Western side kick. Ira “Gabby” Hayes career lasted from 1929 to 1950 and included 192 acting credits. Movies I recommend:

Hopalong Cassidy Returns (1936-Paramount Pictures) “Windy Halliday” sidekick to William Boyd (Hopalong Cassidy).

Dark Command (1940-Republic Pictures) “Doc Grunch” sidekick to John Wayne.

My Pal Trigger (1946-Republic Pictures) “Gabby Kendrick” sidekick to Roy Rogers.

Jack Elam actually began his career as a bad guy, his unusual look facilitating the feeling of unease in his presence.  He is a late comer compared to the other actors I have identified here not beginning his career until 1946.  As he aged, his familiar visage took on a more disarming, eccentric aura and his career as a villain transmogrified into one as side kick/comic foil.  He was a staple in 1950s and 60s television Westerns but he really hit his stride with his later portrayals as the good-natured dupe. In his fifty-year career, he collected 207 acting credits.  Movies I recommend:

Support Your Local Sheriff (1969-United Artists) “Jake” sidekick to James Garner.

Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971-United Artists) “Jug May” sidekick to James Garner.

Andy Divine was probably as recognizable for his raspy, stilting voice as his familiar rotund visage.  He is best known for his comic relief in otherwise suspenseful Westerns.  His roles were less the trail-riding saddle partner and more the hapless lawman or stage driver easily sliding out of the authority position to let the true hero take the action lead.  His fame is such that the good people of Kingman, Arizona, his childhood home, have named a major boulevard for him.  His career began in the silent era, but despite his unusual voice, he was able to transition to talkies.  His career spanned fifty years and during which he amassed 190 acting credits.  Movies I recommend:

Stagecoach (1939-United Artists) “Buck” Driver on the Stage to Lordsburg (John Wayne’s first “A” picture).

Bells of San Angelo (1940-Republic Pictures) “Sheriff Cookie Bullfincher” sidekick to Roy Rogers.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962-Paramount Pictures) “Marshal Link Appleyard” shrinking violet sheriff caught between Jimmy Stewart and Lee Marvin.

Space of course limits the number of actors I can include in this post.  I acknowledge that this list is not close to being exhaustive.  There are many other side kicks that you may know and feel should appropriately be here:  Smiley Burnett, Pat Buttram, Fuzzy St. John, Slim Pickins, Chill Wills.  If you are fan of Western movies, these names will be familiar to you.  This post is really for the uninitiated in hopes it will stir up some curiosity and draw them in.

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Tao vs. Zen

Okay, I know you hate the philosophy stuff, but bear with me for a few sentences as I am trying to give you an avenue towards spiritual ease.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Ah, this feels good!”  Of course you have; we all have.  Our perception of the world is just a series of sensory reactions to the here and now.  Our memory is the recollection of past experiences and the feelings we assign them.  This is Zen.

Have you ever gone to your spiritual rule book (Bible, Torah, Koran, Atheist’s Guide to Disruptive Activism, i.e. Mao’s Little Red Book) to assure yourself your behavior was consistent with the community ethos?  Of course you have; we all have.  Every now and then we are faced with a question of right or wrong and must refer to the moral authority. This is Tao.

“So Dale,” you ask, “what is the point of this inane drivel?”  It is to let you know there is always an escape from those niggling anxieties you carry around with you.  I know you do; we all do.

The secret to achieving peace of mind is to know which, Zen or Tao, to apply to the problem at hand.  Let me offer an example:  You’re feeling just a little overweight, but it is hot out.  Baskin Robbins is right there at the corner of “Should I” or “Shouldn’t I”.  What will you do?  Well, you could take the Zen approach; “I am going to pursue peace with my internal cravings and really enjoy every last lick of that Fudge Brownie ice cream.”  Or, you could do the Tao thing and let reason rule the day; “My personal improvement will be better served if I skip this egregious assault on my diet plan.”  Either choice is correct. Either path will result in gratification.  And the path you take will give no insight into the kind of person you are, except at that moment.  No one can judge you badly for taking the path that sets you right with your own sense of self.

We all suffer anxiety from time to time.  Those of us who have taken the time to know ourselves (introspection) can usually, and quite easily, identify the source of our unease and then formulate a plan to eliminate the irritant from our subconscious.  However, some people never master the technique of self-knowledge.  These people keep the big pharmaceutical companies and/or distilleries in business.

“So Dale,” you ask “what is the key to knowing one’s self?”  I don’t know; it has always come pretty naturally to me.  For those of faith, it might be the belief that no matter what happens in this world, an all forgiving God will take you onto his bosom at the end of life on earth.  Or, if you are a heathen, peace may come from the realization that the whole thing is a crap shoot and you and your life is just a product of the odds, i.e. “It wasn’t my fault; I was just on the wrong side of the numbers.”

Does it really matter?  I am a strict adherent to the philosophy of American theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

And this sums up my approach to the challenges of life:  If I can change it, I will; if I can’t, I will walk away; unless it’s a flat tire, then I’ll call the Auto Club!

If you chuckled at the punch line, you are Zen.  If you groaned, you are Tao.  Either way I got a reaction; and for a writer, that is Nirvana.

Ask Somebody!

I am a shooter.  A simple statement chock full of innuendo.  But quite simply it means that I go to the range frequently (almost weekly, since retiring) and throw rounds down range in an attempt to improve my skill set.  With over forty year’s experience, my performance is adequate.  One of the painful realities of my experience is that most shooters I observe at the range I patronize are woefully inadequate.  If one cannot consistently place their shots in the “X” ring on a man sized target at seven yards (the standard for combat handgun training) something is awry.

Now the process is simple.  The shooter should, using two hands (fancy one hand stuff will come after a minimum performance level is consistently achieved) point the gun at the center of the target. Their focus should be on the front sight.  The front sight should be centered in the notch of the rear sight at the same height, forming an image of three rectangles lined up in a row across the shooter’s plane of vision.  Once this had been achieved: Front sight in focus, front and back sights aligned to form three level boxes, front sight silhouetted against the center of the target; the shooter operates the trigger without disturbing said alignment until the gun fires and voila, the bullet will impact the target at exactly the point of aim.

At the simplest level, that is all there is to it.  The trick is consistency and that comes only with practice.  Shooting is like any other athletic pursuit; the more one puts into it, the higher the level of proficiency.  HOWEVER, if the tyro shooter does not know the mechanics of sight alignment, they can shoot thousands of rounds and never achieve any level of proficiency.

If you are a gear head, did you pop the hood on your first car and innately understand how to improve engine performance?  No, some mentor had to walk you through the mechanicals.  If you are a master carpenter, did you grab a measuring tape and saw and build a custom bookcase on your first attempt?  Again, you probably had the help of an experienced hand teach you the proper technique for ripping a straight line with a table saw.  It just makes sense that the mastery of new skills is greatly benefited by tutelage from a master.

Yet every week I see newbie shooters fling round after round downrange with no apparent appreciation for marksmanship.  Their targets look like Swiss cheese; while there I am, in full view of everyone placing every shot through the same hole in the middle of the target.  But does anybody ask, “How do you do that?”  In a word, no!

I pay close attention to what is happening around me while on the range.  Gun handling is an activity fraught with peril and I like to make sure the people near me are adhering to safe shooting practices.  And if I see someone whose demeanor raises a concern, I will gently but firmly, and always politely offer them my critique on their actions and offer a safer alternative.  New shooters are generally welcoming of this input because they are nervous about the environment to begin with.

If I see a woman struggling with shooting mechanics, I will offer advice.  Never so to men, their egos are just too fragile.  But women appreciate the help and just a few minutes of demonstration of technique will yield vast improvement.  If a man asks, I'll help them; but I never make a cold offer.  They all think if you put a gun in their hands their John McClain (Die Hard).

I will close with this invaluable bit of advice.  If you are a new shooter, or just believe your performance could be fine tuned, look around the range.  When you have identified a good shooter politely ask them, “How do you do that?”  In my experience shooters love to pass on their knowledge and will be happy to show you what you need to know to improve your shooting.

A True (mostly) Story

Being either a loaner or social outcast, depending on one’s point of view, offers myriad opportunity for vicariously experiencing unnamed others’ life adventures.  Keen observation has taught me that conversations in public, conducted by the unaccompanied, are generally considered bad form and should be avoided if one hopes to side step confinement by those whose professional duties are directed at keeping the general population safe and numb.  So, I have learned that the more prudent course of action when spending time alone in a public establishment dedicated to the purveyance of tasty comestibles is to chew silently and listen intently.

Following this course allows the practitioner ample opportunity to surreptitiously gain insight into the lives of complete strangers; oft times the emphasis falling on the root, strange.  To wit, I was recently afforded the opportunity of giving audience to a rather surreal conversation.

Looking up from the menu she announced, “I’ve never been to a Denny’s before.”

  

His eyes fixed on hers.  A momentary silence while he processed this incomprehensible piece of data, “You’ve never been to a Denny’s?  How old are you?”

She responded with an icy stare.  Then, with her attention refocused on the menu, “Do you like camping?  I want to go camping at Slab City.”

“Slab City?  I never heard of it.”

She pounded on her ever present smart phone.  “Here’s a picture.”

He immediately recognized something, “Yeah, I know where that is.  That’s over on the east side of the Salton Sea.  That whole area is a dump!  Why would you want to camp there?”

“It’s where this guy stayed in this movie, Into the Wild.  It’s sooo good!  It’s the story of a guy who gives up everything and goes to live in Alaska.”

“What does that have to do with Slab City?  Where does that say Slab City is?”

A lull in the conversation while she reads; I couldn’t see to tell if her lips were moving, “It’s in the Colorado Desert.”

“Well, the Colorado Desert is a big place.  That could be the Salton Sea.  But what does that have to do with Alaska?”

“He just travels around.  He lives off the land.  Then he ends up in Alaska and dies.”

“He dies In Alaska?  I think I know this story.  He gets eaten by a grizzly bear!”

“Yeah!  Wait.  No, berries!”

“He gets attacked by berries?”

“Nooo!  He eats poison berries.”

“Well where’s the bear?”

“Ha, ha, ha!  There is no bear.  He gets cut off by a flood and runs out of food.  So he eats berries and they’re poison!”

“I don’t think there are any bears around Slab City.  It’s in the middle of the desert.  Do you know where the Salton Sea is?  Do you know what the Salton Sea is?”

“No.  But he doesn’t get killed by a bear in Slab City.  Ha, ha, ha!  He dies from eating poison berries in Alaska.”

“I’m pretty sure the movie I heard of, he goes to Alaska to live with the bears and he gets eaten.”

“Ha, ha, ha!  There are no bears…”

About this time, the waitress delivered my Moons-Over-My-Hammy sandwich and my attention was diverted.  I missed the resolution of the attacking berries conundrum.  As I sat there, trying to make some sense of what I had heard, I reflected on the advantages of the solitary life, and noted what a dangerous place Alaska, or Slab City, must be.