Sherry Chandler

Brave Warrior

I think this is probably Geronimo, certainly not Tecumseh.

Tecumseh (Jay Silverheels) vies with Stephen Ruddle (Jon Hall) for the love of Laura (Christine Larson) in the 1952 film Brave Warrior. The triangle is resolved at the Battle of Tippecanoe. I think we may safely conclude that this movie, which nets 4.3 stars on the IMDb, has little connection to reality but it might be of interest to watch, just to hear Jay Silverheels say more than �unh.� The NYTimes says the role is �well-played.� It might be fun, too, to see Michael Ansara as Tecumseh�s villainous brother, The Prophet. I loved Jon Hall as Ramar of the Jungle.

More on Sondra Dee

Georgia Green Stamper says:

Yes, dead, and before we even got to see Beyond the Sea. … Secretly, I think we all hoped we looked like her – at least all the blondes. I guess the brunettes wanted to look like what’s her name. [Sherry's note: I think this must be Annette?] And she seemed to have more opportunities than we to find “the good life.” After all – did we even get to meet Bobby Darin and try to charm him? The effect of our charms was constrained by geography

Steamboat Round the Bend

It’s time for Reel Kentucky over at the Kentucky History Center. This Sunday’s feature is “Steamboat Round the Bend,” a film loosely based on Ben Lucien Burman’s 1933 novel by the same title.

Ben Lucien Burman (1895-1984 – roughly co-eval with my own grandfather) was born in Covington (Lookout Heights), worked as a journalist, was injured in World War I, and won a French Legion of Honor for his work as a war correspondent in World War II. In 1927, he married Elizabeth Cady, and in 1929, he and Elizabeth signed on with the Tennessee Belle as roustabout and cook. This experience seems to have been formative, for between 1929 (The Mississippi) and 1978 (Look Down that Winding River), Burman wrote 18 novels about life on the river boats. These books won prizes, were book club selections, were made into movies and plays.

Burman also wrote a series of prize-winning animal fables for children, set in mythical Catfish Bend on the Mississippi. Illustrated by Elizabeth Cady Burman, the Catfish Bend stories were translated into ten languages. So many people came looking for the place that the city of Baton Rouge and the U.S. Coast Guard designated a river light Catfish Bend.

I got this information from William S. Ward’s A Literary History of Kentucky, because I had never heard of Ben Lucien Burman and had to look him up. According to Ward:

Some readers and critics complain that Burman’s [riverboat]books are too gentle and too sweet…they ignore the seamy and criminal side of the world he writes about, that there is no penetrating analysis and no earnest search for meaning. Indeed, it must be said that seldom does he allow anything bad to happen…His characters have their faults but they are childlike faults … Though not profound books, they are not devoid of meaning. As a matter of fact, Burman repeatedly insists, “The theme of every book I have written is the child-likeness of all humanity. We are all children, groping our way through life, we know not how, seeking the Holy Grail.”

You can buy a first edition of Steamboat Round the Bend over at Between the Covers for a bargain $300.You’ll find the Burman papers at Tulane and a description of the Burman historical marker here.

The film, “Steamboat Round the Bend,” was directed by John Ford, stars Will Rogers in his last movie performance and features Paducah native Irvin S. Cobb.

If, like me, you would like to know more about this remarkable Kentuckian or if you just love old movies, go on over to the historical center this Sunday (Feb 20, 2 pm). (While you’re there, check out the Keeneland Changing Exhibit “A River Runs Through Us,” all about the rivers in Kentucky and the role they’ve played in our history.) Kentucky State University film scholar Steven Gale and KHS curator Michael Hudson will lead a brief discussion after the film. Running time: 80 minutes. The event is free and so’s the popcorn!