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Farewell Robert
November 21, 2006
Robert Altman died yesterday. Altman was the
gifted director of the movie M-A-S-H, and several
others including Nashville, Gosford Park, and
most recently A Prairie Home Companion.
Thinking back to 1970 when I first watched M-A-S-H
in a theater, Im reminded of the profound effect that movie
had on me and my generation. It was a thinly veiled anti-war
film with characters so endearing and familiar it inspired a
weekly television series that lasted 11 seasons. The finale
became the most watched television episode in U.S. history.
Thirty years later when I added M-A-S-H to my DVD
movie collection, my 20-year-old daughter told me she had
never heard of it. After watching it together, she also
became a Robert Altman fan.
The enduring theme and message of the movie was still as
relevant in 2000 as it had been in 1970, the year it was
released. Thanks Robert. You gave me a gift I could re-gift
without a guilty conscience to my daughter. This
Thanksgiving weekend Ill thank you again while we watch A
Prairie Home Companion (after M-A-S-H, of course).
It seems sad that current generations of teens and young
adults will miss out on so many of the great movies
that influenced our thinking and our lives in earlier years.
I'm speaking of movies like The Flight of the Phoenix;
The Bridge on the River Kwai: The Inn of the Sixth
Happiness; Heaven Knows Mr. Allison; Lawrence
of Arabia; and many others that championed values like
courage, honesty, commitment, morality, devotion and
perseverance.
Tonights movie? Toss a coin. The choices are Midnight
Cowboy or Brokeback Mountain. On second thought;
forget the coin. Ill watch Midnight Cowboy. I always
preferred actors who could ... act.
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