Tangman2005 Reviews

Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942)

Music and Dance including Dean Collins and Jewel McGowan

[16 February 2007]

Ella Fitzgerald, in her first screen role, plays Ruby, who fills several roles as one of the employees of the ranch. At the opening rodeo, she is dressed as a rodeo clown, and comes to Anne's side when she is hurt. Later in the film, she can be seen removing an apron before singing. Ella sings A-Tisket, A-Tasket in the bus, as the ranch crew drives from the railway station to the ranch. Ruby and the other employees interact playfully during the song.

In the one dance scene in the film, a square dance is being held in a barn. The Merry Macs interrupt the square dance caller with the musical question, "What kind of old fashion jive is that you've got?" And end up telling him "Don't be a chump. Do a square dance, but make it jump." They then launch into an upbeat swing tune. The Macs sing "Ruby, Ruby. We want Ruby", and ask her to come out and sing jive. She takes off her apron and sings a few verses. Still singing, she introduces dancers who will "show you how they drop the square. You know. Back in Harlem up on Sugar Hill." Several couples come out and put on quite a display of Lindy Hop. Ruby and the Macs each take a turn with additional verses, and over a dozen couples take the floor doing swing. Well known swing dancers Dean Collins and Jewel McGowan dance along side the other couples in this scene. Although Dean is known for a smooth style of Lindy, he and Jewel perform two "around the block" moves, as well as some energetic kicks during their short time on camera. Most of the songs in the film are cowboy songs, which were very popular at the time. The presence of Ella Fizgerald and swing dancers demonstrates another popular music and dance of the early 1940s.

Hatari! (1962)

Geography, blankets, and Swahili

[12 December 2006]

Since I recently spent two weeks in Tanzania, I wanted to add some information to the reviews that have already been posted. These comments are mostly related to geography. The film credits state that it was shot in Tanganyika. Tanganyika joined with the island of Zanzibar in 1964, the year after Zanzibar gained independence, and adopted the name Tanzania. So, we can now say that "Hatari!" was filmed in Tanzania. In the opening rhino chase, the vast, stream intersected plain with the lush green hills in the back ground is most probably in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Ngorongoro Crater is the floor of a huge, collapsed volcano. The inside of the crater is approximately 10 by 16 kilometers and is surrounded by the remnants of the crater which are 600 meters high. After the accident John Wayne's character radios "Arusha Control". He mentions that it will take 5 hours to "get out of this crater" and drive to Arusha. Arusha is also in Tanzania. The Arusha Clock Tower is visible at least twice in the "chase scene" near the end of the film, confirming that filming was indeed done in Arusha. Snow capped Mount Kilmanjaro is visible in the distance at 41 minutes into the film as "the Frenchman" walks into the compound. The next time we see a shot in that direction, Kili is hidden by clouds. It is perhaps interesting to note that the Maisii in Northern Tanzania now wear "Maasai blankets" that are factory made. In "Hatari!" they are wearing ocher colored cloth. There is some Swahili spoken in the film. "Hatari!" is a great film to look at either before or after a trip to Northern Tanzania.