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Waterhole Number 3Waterhole #3 (1967) is one of my favorite movies. I watch it once a year (maybe more) and I've tried to analyze why I like it that well. The reviewers on IMDB are pretty hard on it, mostly because of the rape scene, which is handled pretty lightly by Blake Edwards. (Who tended to handle EVERYTHING pretty lightly) I guess I like it because of the music and because it seems closer to the truth than most people want to admit. The "Hero", Lewton Cole, is a gambler who: + Starts off by killing the only real Bad Guy in the movie by standing behind his horse and shooting him down at long range... with his own rifle. + Locks the Sheriff & his Deputy in his own jail and then steals his horse + Rapes the Sheriff's daughter when she tries to stop him + Finds a strongbox full of Army gold at Waterhole #3 + Helps the Sheriff literally destroy the local cat-house, trying to get the gold back + Escapes to Mexico at the end... with the gold. All this is done with a background ballad called "The Code of the West." sung by Roger Miller, and played by a gang of great C&W players who were hired by Dave Grusin. (This was one of his first efforts after he graduated from the U. of Colorado.) The lyrics were written by Robert Wells who also wrote "The Christmas Song" and was musical director for the Dinah Shore Show for several years. (Wiki here.) Roger made an LP record of the Ballad, with additional lyrics which explain the plot, and I have included all of those lyrics here on a separate page. When I was young, I had a dear friend named Arnold Schubert (RIP) who lived by his own code. He liked to say -- "I won't do that... it's Un-Code." Now, I think of Arnie whenever I watch the movie and listen to the Ballad. If this has piqued your interest, you can buy the DVD here One thing I noticed as I watched this time. Around here, my friends get tanner (or redder) as the summer wears on. I noticed that, as the movie went on, the actors got redder and redder. The movie was actually filmed in California, but they obviously spent a lot of time outside!! |
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