The Noah Cross character is a crusty old man who knows plenty, and is phenomenally rich through land deals and political connections. He is a one percenter of the era, when California is set to take off in a post-war population and building boom. He's poised to reap plenty of money through control of the water that will provide the life sustaining liquid.
He is a power broker. When Jake remarks that the water that Noah's talking about sits outside the county, so how can it benefit the county, Noah patiently explains that the answer is simple: move the county to where the water is. Expand the boundaries, and viola!, the water in now in Los Angeles county. It's so simple it can make you cry. Gerrymander the water rights.
Noah Cross further explains the facts of life to Jake when he tells him: "politicians, public buildings and whores all gain respectability if they last long enough."
Perhaps the screenwriter was paraphrasing someone else's boast, or was making up an original one. It doesn't matter. It's a great piece of dialouge.
As already mentioned in these postings I read nearly every obituary that's published in the NYT and WSJ, and then some if exposed to other papers. I don't like sci-fi moves, or slasher, gore movies. Many people do however, and their production can prove quite lucrative. So much so that when Herschell Gordon Lewis passed away at 90 he was hailed as a horror visionary for literally creating the first output of gore, blood, mayhem and dismemberment to hit the movie screens. He was so far ahead of himself apparently there were no decency codes that could be applied to severed heads and dripping blood when he produced his first filmed blood bath
A good obituary will end with a zinger, or a pithy quote from the decreased that will sum up their entire life, and Mr. Grimes's obituary on Mr. Lewis does not disappoint when he reveals a 2002 quote from Mr. Lewis.
"To some extent, 'Blood Feast' is an embarrassment...but the result has been a realization of my personal philosophy, which is: 'If you live long enough, you become legitimate.'"
Noah Cross and Herschell Gordon Lewis. Partners in longevity.
http://www.onofframp.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment