Cinematic Chestnuts – 2025 Edition: My Favorite Films for the Holiday Season

 Katharine Hepburn and Peter O’Toole in The Lion in Winter.

For your enjoyment, I offer an update to my 2014 compendium of great holiday films with three additions highlighted in red and green below. 🌲

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In the United States, this week marks the beginning of a five-week-long revel of holidays that opens with Thanksgiving – a day set aside every year for feasting and a celebration of gratitude – and closes with the New Year.  In between will fall St. Nicholas Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Boxing Day (or St. Stephen’s Day), each of which can be rich with family traditions and history.

The cornucopia of dramatic material inherent in the winter holidays, coinciding as it has with the demand presented by generations of cold-weather filmgoers, has yielded a wealth of winter holiday films.

I offer for your enjoyment some of my family’s holiday season favorites, all of which I recommend highly.

Thanksgiving Films

There is no shortage of movies that explore emotional minefields vulnerable to exposure at family Thanksgiving dinners.

Here are two lighter offerings set in the days around Thanksgiving.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

Stars: Steve Martin, John Candy
Synopsis: A wealthy businessman and a traveling salesman share a series of madcap adventures as each struggles to get home in time for Thanksgiving.
Recommended for: Hilarious pratfalls and excellent timing from two of the 1980s’ best film comedians punctuate an ultimately touching Thanksgiving story.
Appropriate for: A PG-13 audience (language).

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Stars: Natalie Wood, Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, John Payne
Synopsis: A department store Santa Claus claiming to be the real thing teaches a little girl, her divorced mother, and her mother’s young attorney suitor a lesson in faith.
Recommended for: The original film of Miracle on 34th Street is the best.  Edmund Gwenn steals the show as the enigmatic and avuncular Kris Kringle.
Appropriate for: All ages.

Christmas Films

I understand that while some of you who read this blog are Christian, others are non-Christians who celebrate Christmas, and still others do not celebrate Christmas at all.  With that in mind, I rated the religious content of each of the films listed below.

Many of the best Christmas films address the season’s important themes – hope, goodness, and generosity of spirit – without reference to religion.  Yet others are stories for which Christmas is an incidental frame of reference.

Here are several can’t-miss greats!

The Lion in Winter (1968)

Stars: Peter O’Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Timothy Dalton, Nigel Terry, Jane Merrow
Religious Content: Minimal
Synopsis: A Christmas court in 1183 erupts into an extravaganza of power struggle and diplomatic wrangling among England’s King Henry II; his wife and sparring partner, Eleanor of Aquitaine; his three ambitious sons; and the young King of France.
Recommended for: One of the best screenplays of all time.  Phenomenal acting.  The finest balance of comedy and tragedy ever committed to film.
Appropriate for: High school-aged children and older.

Die Hard (1988)

Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Reginald VelJohnson, Bonnie Bedelia, Hart Bochner
Religious Content: Minimal
Synopsis: New York cop John McClane must save the day when a Los Angeles company Christmas Eve party becomes a lethal hostage situation.
Recommended for: Highly entertaining, nonstop action.  A very funny script.  Delightful, just-this-side-of-camp performance by Alan Rickman as the film’s arch-villain.
Appropriate for: This film should be a PG-13, because of some graphic violence, a brief few adult scenes, and rampant blue language.

Die Hard 2  (1990)

Stars: Bruce Willis, William Sadler, Fred Thompson, William Atherton, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Franco Nero, and Dennis Franz
Religious Content: Minimal
Synopsis: John McClane finds himself in a race to save passenger flights held hostage by a group of terrorists that seizes control of Dulles Airport on Christmas Eve.
Recommended for: A rare sequel that lives up to the standard set by the original film.  Another engaging and very clever action plot.  Amusingly tongue-in-cheek (although rather blue) screenplay. Impressive stunts.
Appropriate for: A PG-13 audience (a great deal of violence and strong language).

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

Stars: Animation.
Religious Content: One character recites the Nativity verses from the Book of Luke (KJV) at a pivotal point in the story.
Synopsis: Perennial loser Charlie Brown searches for the true spirit of Christmas amidst a fog of secular commercialism.
Recommended for: This made-for-television classic never grows old.  It was groundbreaking in 1965 for its use of child voice-actors, its pioneering jazz score, and its direct invocation of a passage of the New Testament.
Appropriate for: All ages.

Shop Around the Corner (1940)

Stars: Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan, Felix Bressart
Religious Content: Minimal; some Christmas carols appear in the score.
Synopsis: The Christmas rush wreaks havoc on the personal lives of staff in a Budapest gift shop.  A Christmas spirit of patience, generosity, and forgiveness helps to set everything aright.
Recommended for: This heart-warming gem of a film is infused with gentle pre-War courtesy and innocence.  Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan are terrific as star-crossed lovers courting by mail.  Frank Morgan is poignantly gruff as the lonely storeowner.  Felix Bressart plays the warm-hearted, sensible, behind-the-scenes hero whom anyone might want as an uncle.
Appropriate for: All ages.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945)

Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Dennis Morgan, Sydney Greenstreet, S. Z. Sakall.
Religious Content: Minimal.
Synopsis: A single career woman who impersonates a married domestic goddess for a magazine column finds herself in a bind when a war hero asks to spend Christmas in her home.
Recommended for: Very much a period piece, this film showcases the comedic talents of one of the 20th century’s best actresses, Barbara Stanwyck.  The lovable and always smiling S. Z. Sakall saves the day.
Appropriate for: All ages.

The Bishop’s Wife (1947)

Stars: Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Gladys Cooper, Elsa Lanchester.
Religious Content: A bishop’s crisis of faith is central to the story.
Synopsis: In the days before Christmas, an angel visits a harried Episcopalian bishop in order to restore the bishop’s faith and raise spirits in his congregation.
Recommended for: This is a beautiful movie.  Cary Grant delivers a subtle and poignant performance as an angel who has to give up the woman he loves.
Appropriate for: All ages.

Scrooge “A Christmas Carol” (1951)

Stars: Alastair Sim, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Kathleen Harrison, Jack Warner, Michael Hordern
Religious Content: Christmas is central to the story, but there are no overtly Christian references.
Synopsis: This outstanding version of Charles Dickens’ classic emphasizes character development and presents a tragically sympathetic Ebenezer Scrooge.
Recommended for: This is one of the two best film versions of A Christmas Carol.  I highly recommend it.
Appropriate for: The ghosts, and especially the ghost of Jacob Marley, might be too scary for young children.

A Christmas Carol (1984)

Stars: George C. Scott, Frank Finlay, David Warner, Susannah York, Edward Woodward, Roger Rees, Michael Gough, Angela Pleasence
Religious Content: No overtly Christian references.
Synopsis: An excellent made-for-TV version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Recommended for: This version of Dickens’ classic is visually sumptuous.  The script and cast are strong.  George C. Scott was born to play Ebenezer Scrooge just as he was born to play General George S. Patton.
Appropriate for: The ghosts might be too scary for young children.

The Nutcracker (1977)

Stars: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland, Alexander Minz, the American Ballet Theatre
Religious Content: Minimal.
Synopsis: From her mysterious uncle, a young girl receives on Christmas Eve both a Nutcracker doll and a magical dream.
Recommended for: Mikhail Baryshnikov may be the greatest male ballet dancer of the 20th century.  His TV production of The Nutcracker with the American Ballet Theatre is a gorgeous masterpiece.
Appropriate for: All ages.

White Christmas (1954)

Stars: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera Ellen, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Jagger.
Religious Content: Minimal.
Synopsis: Two ex-army buddies take their successful musical revue to Vermont in an effort to save their former Commanding Officer’s hotel.
Recommended for: White Christmas showcases its cast’s tremendous singing, dancing, and comedic skills through a series of musical set pieces.  Danny Kaye is, as always, brilliant, warm-hearted, and hilarious.
Appropriate for: All ages.

A Child’s Christmas in Wales (1987)

Stars: Denholm Elliott, Mathonwy Reeves, Jesse McBrearty.
Religious Content: Minimal, beyond Christmas carols.
Synopsis: On Christmas Eve, a Welsh grandfather regales his grandson with stories of his early Christmases.
Recommended for: Deeply engaging, alternately poignant and humorous, this exquisite dramatic realization of Dylan Thomas’ most famous poem is a nostalgic celebration of Welshness and childhood.
Appropriate for: All ages.

Star in the Night (1945)

Stars: J. Carroll Naish, Donald Woods, Rosina Galli
Religious Content: This film is a clear allegory of the Nativity.
Synopsis: A mysterious stranger brings about a series of miraculous events on Christmas Eve at what had been a dismal desert motel.
Recommended for: This short (30-minute) film is a refreshing and touching reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.  The film is available among the Special Features on the DVD release of Christmas in Connecticut.  It is also available on YouTube (linked below).
Appropriate for: School-age children and above.

Holiday Affair (1949)

Stars: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert
Religious Content: Festive settings and traditions.
Synopsis: This chestnut is both a wholesome family film and a fascinating sample of post-war propaganda. (Message: war widows ought to ‘get off the shelf’ and remarry.

At Christmastime in post-war New York, a young widow and mother of a terrific little boy finds herself torn by an unexpected conflict among her loyalty to her dead war-hero husband, a marriage proposal from a respectable man whom she doesn’t love, and a chance acquaintance with a down-on-his-luck but entrepreneurial war veteran who might be wonderful for both her and her son.

Appropriate for: all ages.

 

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

Stars: Charles Winninger, Richard Carlson, Maria Ouspenskaya, Jean Parker, Helen Vinson, C. Aubrey Smith, Harry Carey
Religious Content: Christmas carols; visions of heaven and of life-after-death grounded in Christian eschatology
Synopsis: Three wealthy elderly gentlemen who share a house in Manhattan decide to invite random passers-by to Christmas dinner, forever altering both their lives and the destinies of their new friends.

This fanciful exploration of fate, death, and redemption works beautifully by maintaining a light-hearted, earnest tone. The Christmas scene is utterly charming.

The complete film is available on YouTube.

Appropriate for: school-age children and above.

Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

Stars: Robert Powell, Olivia Hussey, Anne Bancroft, James Earl Jones, Caludia Cardinale, Christopher Plummer, Ernest Borgnine, Valentina Cortese, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, Rod Steiger, Peter Ustinov, Ian McShane, James Farentino, Stacy Keach, Tony Lo Bianco, James Mason, Donald Pleasence, Anthony Quinn, Fernando Rey, Michael York, Cyril Cusack, Ian Bannen, and many more.

This spectacular six-hour TV miniseries is Franco Zeffirelli’s retelling of the life of Jesus, beginning with the betrothal of Mary and Joseph and ending with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  Zeffirelli treated the material with great reverence and attention to detail – even thinking to have the village dogs bark at the Holy Ghost – and created an artistic triumph.

The cast is staggeringly good.  The script is spare and economical.  The narrative is well structured.  Details such as costumes and architecture are correct for the period.

Whether one views the miniseries as Biblical history or as a dramatization of a story which has been hugely important in the history of western civilization, Jesus of Nazareth is a compelling and high-quality piece of TV drama.

The Christmas story is presented in the series’ first seventy minutes with moving, rustic simplicity.  The stable is no more than a cave, and the shepherds are realistically ingenuous.

Because Zeffirelli freely depicts the New Testament stories’ violence (including the Slaughter of the Innocents), Jesus of Nazareth is not appropriate for young children.

 

The Holly and the Ivy (1952)

Stars: Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, Celia Johnson, Denholm Elliott, Hugh Williams

Religious Content: Carols, hymns, and church interiors.

Synopsis: Like The Lion in Winter and A Christmas Carol (and, for that matter, Die Hard), The Holly and the Ivy centers on a catalytic and life-changing Christmas Eve.

An English parson’s extended family gathers for Christmas in 1947, seven months after the death of the parson’s wife.

This small story based on a stage play delves into profound questions of relationship and character. Perhaps unintentionally, the writer implies a clear portrait of the absent matriarch and of her role in the family constellation.

Top to bottom, the acting is phenomenal. Several of the actors are veterans of the stage play and inhabit their characters completely.

Appropriate for: This is a film for adults – not due to any risqué or violent content, but rather because the characters struggle with adult problems.

 

Quote for Today

“What shall we hang — the holly, or each other?”

Christmas Eve 1183
Chinon Castle
Henry II of England to Eleanor of Aquitaine
The Lion in Winter

Good night, sweet prince.

One evening last week I came upon a remarkable Jordan Peterson interview of Charlie Kirk. (The deus ex machina works in mysterious ways.)

Over the course of an extraordinary conversation, as these two powerful critical thinkers shared their concerns about the state of the world, Charlie Kirk described in detail his personal history and his plans for the future.

Beginning as an 18-year-old with a card table, a low five-figure seed investment, and a mind full of ideas, Charlie Kirk built by far the most successful political and philosophical youth outreach program in U.S. history. He was stunningly talented as a visionary, administrator, logistician, speaker, and writer. His work ethic was Herculean.

Always he sought the truth. He read voraciously and further honed his understanding by discussing ideas with anyone willing to challenge him.

His goal in every setting was civil discourse. Charlie believed, and often stated, that respectful, reasoned argument is essential to the societal healing.

He invited young adults to engage in politics, to seek reliable information, and to become well informed voters. He preached patriotism and populism and hope. He always grounded his comments in profound and joyful Christian faith.

In not one of the tributes I have read from Charlie’s acquaintances has anyone had a negative word to say about him.

As for his friends, they are devastated. Everyone who knew Charlie well loved him.

The mainstream media and others on the Left seem hell-bent in their determination to present as a portrait of Charlie Kirk a grotesque and seditious inversion of reality. Why?

Fortunately, we can judge for ourselves. Nearly every word Charlie Kirk uttered in public has been uploaded to the internet. His complete body of work is available for review.

This Jordan Peterson interview is an exhilarating 96 minutes. I learned a great deal and came away thinking, “Charlie Kirk is a treasure. We are lucky to have him.”

That was the evening of September 9^th.

Photo credit: Turning Point USA

What a terrible and heartbreaking loss!

Requiescat in pace, Charlie Kirk. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Ave Atque Vale*, Nadal: A Personal Farewell to Rafa

*I salute you, and goodbye.

Finally it is over. Well and truly over.

The era of Rafael Nadal can at last be marked complete six months after his official retirement from professional tennis at the Davis Cup Final in Malaga, Spain.

Sunday’s electric tribute to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, the setting for his most breathtaking achievements (and those most likely to linger in the public memory), served as fitting punctuation at the end the meandering and colorful sentence of Nadal’s career.

Tennis will miss him terribly. I daresay it already does.

I cannot be the only former fan of the sport to have walked away after Nadal’s departure and to have subsequently observed how little professional tennis matters to the world beyond it’s threshold and how generally inconsequential are the petty, provincial dramas that infect tennis (as they do other sports).

Professional tennis might be viewed, much of the time, as a distraction from what matters, as I suspect most fans would admit if pressed; many would further confess to choosing tennis fandom as a form of escape. (The sport’s intrigue and suspense can feel at moments terribly important, and personally so, since sports fans may unconsciously treat favored teams and athletes as personal proxies in the ongoing, sub rosa conflict between good and evil.)

Tennis might in fact be viewed as a contemporary equivalent of bread and circuses; and it is precisely due to the sport’s relative insignificance that Rafael Nadal’s international fame and stellar professional legacy are so noteworthy.

Here I could parrot the oft-repeated bromide about Nadal’s having “transcended” the sport.

He did, of course. His name is widely known, and for good reasons.

He is one of the two or three greatest ever to have picked up a racquet. Some of his achievements will never be matched and his records never broken.

Or perhaps his records can be broken. It signifies little if they are.

Ultimately, character matters. By that measure, Rafael Nadal shines.

I will leave it to others to argue the nuances of various metrics of tennis greatness.

The fact that Rafael Nadal is arguably the finest person among his rivals for tennis supremacy has for me always mattered most.

[His virtuosity and his breathtaking, jaw-dropping tennis made supporting him all the more enjoyable. More on that, and some highlights, below.]

What defines good character in the realm of professional tennis?

My list:

• Trying one’s best in every practice and every contest.
• To the extent it is within one’s control, living in such a way as to maximize fitness (physical and otherwise) during competitions.
• Following the rules of the sport.
• Modeling admirable behavior both inside and outside competition.
• Exhibiting decorum in public.
• Interacting politely with the press.
• Giving generously of oneself to fans.
• Expressing gratitude to corporate sponsors, tournament staff, and volunteers.

In short, understanding at all times that professional tennis is a form of entertainment, and that tennis stars are, by the nature of their work, role models for children and adults alike.

One might argue that tennis, of all sports, is an especially revealing crucible due to its history as a ‘gentlemen’s game.’ Layered upon its rules of play is an explicit code of conduct calling for civility. Cursing, racquet smashing, out-of-play ball whacking, projectile throwing, sign kicking, touching an umpire, and even just touching the umpire’s chair are forbidden. In addition, until the very recent advent of video replay, players have been expected to call themselves on difficult-to-see rule infractions such as double bounces, net touches, and reaches over the net.

Although the sport’s governing bodies may have appeared in recent years to bend over backwards to ignore behavioral infractions from especially bankable athletes, the conduct rules are still on the books. A player’s misbehavior on court can result in point penalties (or worse); and frankly a player’s conduct influences whether fans will like him.

How did Nadal measure up?

It’s safe to say his effort level was unmatched. In his own words, oft repeated to the press over the course of his career, “I don’t understand sport without trying one’s best.” Nadal’s competitive intensity – irrespective of opponent, scoreline, or venue – is legendary. That the tennis press elected him nearly every year as, “Player you would choose to play for your life,” speaks volumes.

By my count, he reinvented himself and his career – returning from serious injuries to the pinnacle of the sport – an astonishing six times, a fact that surely testifies to Nadal’s resilience, dogged perseverance, patience, and humility.

In a similar vein, his 921 consecutive weeks in the ATP Top 10, despite his having missed years’ worth of competition and somewhere in the double digits of Major tournaments due to injuries, says a great deal about his professionalism and work ethic.

Nadal never tanked a match. One cannot say that about even some of his closest rivals.

Nadal never smashed a racquet. Ever. (Although on one or two occasions he came close and stopped himself.)

Nadal never smashed a ball in frustration during a match.

Nadal never touched the net without conceding the point.

Nadal never failed to call a double bounce.

As far as I know, Nadal never illegally reached over the net for any shot.

Nadal was scrupulous about in/out line calls and when necessary called out shots on himself, even against opponents who were giving him a run for his money. He never permitted an umpire’s call in his favor to stand if he knew the call was incorrect.

Nadal never touched an umpire or an umpire’s chair.

He did on one occasion loudly yell a Spanish expletive, for which he was penalized, and for which he apologized later. Otherwise to my knowledge he was never called for Audible Obscenity.

He was always even-tempered with and considerate toward the ballkids.

He never employed a strategic ‘medical timeout’ to derail an opponent’s momentum.

He was gracious in victory and polite in defeat. His on-court celebrations were upbeat and joyful. His energy was infectious. While going about his work as a tennis player, he was a delight to watch.

Off the court, he was renowned for his good manners, his generosity toward fans, and the gracious respect he showed everyone. Stories abound from events the world over of his thanking all of the pressroom stenographers, shaking hands with every single person on a TV set before sitting for an interview, and taking the time to say good bye to everyone – from locker room attendants to desk clerks to drivers to volunteers – before leaving a tournament site, whether while holding the trophy or after a heartbreaking loss.

Word on the street, among those who interacted with the players and were in a position to know, declared Nadal the most genuine and most considerate major star on the tennis tour.

That matters.

Nadal is wildly popular among tennis fans around the world, not (as his rivals’ adherents claimed) due to media campaigns, but rather because under a nearly year-round, relentless spotlight, tennis stars cannot help revealing who they are. (And fans’ impressions formed early in a player’s career can be indelible.)

From his debut in 2001, Nadal always presented the same face to the public: hard-working and humble, with a sunny disposition and a puckish sense of humor.

He built for himself a strong personal brand and legacy that will continue to inspire and influence generations of tennis players.

Well done.

One can view Roland Garros’ tribute to Nadal in its entirety on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LjDONWrr46I?si=-zIoDkhescEZ–zQ.

Closing Quotes

“At the end, I am only a very good tennis player, that’s true. That’s a thing. But for the rest of the things in life, that are the most important things, I am just another human person.” – Rafael Nadal to the press this week at Roland Garros

“I think [training for a tennis career] a very positive learning, because at the end, it’s about self-control, it’s about [learning] how you deal with sometimes tough situations, sometimes with moments of frustration. But at the same time, you have to come here and be respectful for everyone.” – Rafael Nadal to the press this week at Roland Garros

“Rafa plays like he’s broke.” – Jimmy Connors (perhaps my favorite pithy distillation of Nadal’s competitive spirit)

Bonus: A Few Nadal Career Highlights

This list is necessarily incomplete. Please feel free to add your favorite moments in the Comments.

My Top 5 Unique Rafa Achievements

The 2008 Roland Garros-Queen’s Club Double

One of Nadal’s most famous successes was his Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in 2008, when he defeated Roger Federer in clay court and grass court Major finals three weeks apart.

Less well known was his 2008 Roland Garros-Queen’s Club double, in which he won important titles against strong opponents on high-bouncing, ‘slow’ clay and on low-bouncing, ‘fast’ grass – surfaces that require radically different styles of movement and of play – on consecutive weekends.

On a Sunday, he defeated Roger Federer on Parisian clay by his most lopsided Major final scoreline.

On Monday, he took the Eurostar to London and stepped for the first time that year onto a grass court (in the rain, as it turned out, but he was determined to practice).

From Wednesday through the following Sunday, he defeated five opponents, four of whom over the course of their careers were significantly stronger on grass than on other surfaces – including Novak Djokovic, U.S. fast-court star Andy Roddick, and the 6’11” serve-bot Ivo Karlovic – in the unforgiving Best-of-3-Set format.

In my opinion, Nadal’s Roland Garros-Queen’s Club sweep is at least as impressive as the RG-Wimbledon double he completed two weeks later.

2009: The Australian Open Semis and Final – 10+ Hours of Jaw-Dropping Tennis in Three Days

On a Friday night, in what many consider the best tennis match ever contested on a hard court, Nadal and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco delivered five-and-a-half hours of this:

This, too, with each player sustaining his best:

Relief, exhaustion, and camaraderie after the match had ended, anticlimactically, on a double-fault:

Very little sleep was in the cards that night. Saturday was a near wasteland of exhaustion. Then, on Sunday evening, Nadal produced four-and-a-half hours of brilliant tennis against Roger Federer, one of the best hard-courters in the sport’s history, who was at the peak of his career (and who had enjoyed an extra day of rest after his semifinal).

Again and again:

And somehow Nadal managed to emerge victorious.

Nadal’s 2009 Australian Open title run will surely remain one of the most impressive feats of physical and mental stamina in the history of tennis.

2019 Davis Cup Final: Eight match wins in six days at age 33

The 2019 Davis Cup Final, contested in Madrid, offered drama worthy of a classic sports film. I recounted the eventful tournament in a play-by-play chronicle at the time.

Nadal carried his team, the ‘Spanish Armada,’ through a week plagued by injuries and serious personal crises. At the end of a long season, competing on the surface least suited to his game (indoor hardcourt), and playing on most days until well after midnight, Nadal won five singles matches and three doubles matches en route to delivering Spain its fifth Davis Cup title.

My favorite moment came in the semifinal between Spain and Great Britain, which was decided by the doubles match. Nadal and countryman Feliciano Lopez were facing a terrific pair of doubles specialists from the U.K., Jamie Murray and Ken Skupski.

The first set had been decided in Spain’s favor by a razor-thin margin in a tiebreak. Now the second set, too, hung on a tiebreak.

It was well after midnight.

Great Britain had a set point while serving at 6*-5 in the breaker. Skupski served to Nadal, who returned well directly to the net man Murray.

Seeing Nadal standing far back near the baseline, Murray decided to drop a volley very short in the service box and force Nadal to run.

Run he did.

At a full sprint, Nadal stuck out his racquet and executed an inch-perfect lob over Murray’s head which landed on the lines in the far back corner. All Murray could do in response was launch his own lob, which Nadal put away easily with an overhead. (Two points later, Spain won the match.)

I have no idea how Nadal did that.

The video below should be cued directly to the play in question, beginning at 2:40. I recommend the entire video as a festival of brilliant play.

2022: Australian Open Final – the Greatest Tennis Comeback of all Time?

The Australian Open was Nadal’s tough luck tournament. He suffered nearly as many injuries and injury withdrawals Down Under as at all of his remaining tournaments combined.

When he reached the final in Melbourne in 2022, at age 35 and only 10 weeks after a surgery to treat chronic foot pain, he had contested and lost three finals since his lone Aussie Open title in 2009: two after being up a break in the fifth set, and the third due to a debilitating back injury he had suffered during the match.

On this day, Nadal faced Daniil Medvedev, the tour’s strongest hardcourt player and fresh off of a straight-sets win over Novak Djokovic at the 2021 U.S. Open.

For the first two hours, Medvedev appeared destined for a second consecutive Major final win in straight-sets over a Big 3 opponent.

Nadal’s situation appeared dire indeed when he was down two sets and triple break point.

Then he somehow fought back to hold serve. Then he managed to win the third set. Then he pulled out a win in the fourth set.

Then he got up a break in the fifth.

Then he served for the match.

And he dropped serve (thinking, as he later told Eurosport, “****, I’m going to lose the Australian Open again after being up a break in the fifth.”)

So he dug in. And broke serve right back. And served for the match again. And won.

All of this Nadal achieved under the extra pressure of trying to become the first player ever to win 21 Major titles.

2005 – 2022: Fourteen Titles in Eighteen Years on the Sport’s Most Demanding Surface

Clay courts require the greatest variety of skills of all surfaces, the greatest physical and mental stamina, terrific problem-solving ability, and adaptability to the widest range of weather conditions. Winning the season’s clay court Major even once has historically been difficult-to-impossible for many of tennis’ great stars.

Hoisting the Roland Garros trophy 14 times is so stunning an achievement as to be absurd.

This record and Nadal’s 921 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 will almost certainly never be matched, much less surpassed.

Match Moments We Will Dearly Miss

Never-give-up rallies:

Um…right… (He even dropped his racquet midway through this point.)

Nadal frequently earned the tennis writers’ Best Forehand title for shots like this.

His forehand was an offensive weapon when deployed crosscourt (here to push his opponent back into a far corner and thus open up the near line)…

Or inside-out.

(He must have executed that specific combination – wide serve into the ad court followed by an inside-out forehand – many thousands of times. Seeing it never got old.)

His on-the-run, defense-to-offense, down-the-line forehand was sublime.

How to overcome Djokovic’s defense? Place a forehand onto the baseline.

He could run backwards nearly as fast as he could run forward.

He had some of the best footwork on the tour.

And one of the most reliable overheads, both forehand...

And backhand.

He had a terrific skyhook, which is a blind shot.

And he could even, when necessary, hit a ‘tweener for a winner. (His celebration here is typically restrained. He seems almost embarrassed by his brilliance.)

A hallmark of Nadal’s game was tremendous problem-solving ability – both in finding ways to deploy Plans B and/or C to capitalize on an opponent’s weaknesses over the course of a match, and in transforming his own weaknesses into strengths over the course of his career.

Over time, he upgraded his serve, his volleys, and his backhand. His topspin/drive backhand became enough of a weapon that he closed out each of his last two Major titles with a down-the-line backhand winner.

One backhand shot at which Nadal always excelled was his “pirouette backhand” – a defensive play in which he hit the ball while facing backwards and then completed his turn in order to recover court position. He almost never missed this shot, which kept him alive in countless rallies over the years and in a few cases produced jaw-dropping winners. A sample:

Here, he hits two “pirouette” shots in a row to set up a ridiculous overhead winner.

And finally…

Nadal’s 2019 U.S. Open title run produced two of my favorite clips. First, after his quarterfinal win, showcasing both his skill and his sense of humor, he sent a ball from the court directly into the ESPN broadcast booth up in the rafters of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

And finally – watching this one never gets old: a quintessential Nadal rally to set up match point in the semifinal.

Marin Cilic does everything right here. His return of serve is aggressive. He moves forward while pushing Nadal back. He sends his final shot into the open court.

Nadal’s penultimate shot is a good pirouette backhand to keep him in the rally. Then he correctly anticipates Cilic’s next move, sprints to his left, and…

Exultation and joy.

We shall not look upon his like again.

World War II on Screen: A Cinematic Compendium

Unimaginably vast and far-reaching were the scope and impact of World War II.

Fighting covered three oceans and six continents and resulted in the deaths of at least three percent of the population of the globe.

One might throw a dart at map of the world and find at any landing spot a harrowing tale from the conflict that forever altered the nature of war.

Topics are as varied as they are numerous: jungle warfare, desert battles, and confrontations on skis…

Dogfights and bombing runs; merchant mariners and submarine packs; sappers and engineers; artillery barrages and foxholes.

Pioneering radar and experimental sonar; flamethrowers and spinning bombs; tanks and gliders and submarine nets; beaches and hedgerows and sheer cliffs.

Resistance fighters and secret police; prisoners of war and escape artists; rationing and victory gardens; backyard bomb shelters and barrage balloons; air raid wardens and the brave guardians of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Nuclear physicists and nuclear bombs; espionage and misinformation campaigns; mathematical codes and proto-computerized code-breaking; Navajo word codes that were never deciphered.

Systematic genocides by aggressors and their local collaborators; orgies of pillage, rape, and murder of civilians.

Factory workers and nurses; medics and chaplains; bomber crews and ground crews; enlisted men, non-coms, and officers; politicians and propagandists. Heroes, villains, and settings of great variety.

Few live today who remember the War or its combatants.

So how can we best preserve the history of the War for present and future generations? How to recount the events of the War and convey their essential lessons about principle and about human nature?

Cinema provides an excellent starting point.

In honor of the 80th anniversary of the Allied D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France, and as a suggested educational resource, I have compiled here a sizable list of high-quality World War II films.

Some of the stories are small and intimate. Others are geographically and topically sprawling.

Some feature real characters and events. Others evoke sensibilities and moods of the times.

Many of these films are derived from first-person memoirs or historical fiction crafted by eyewitnesses. Others are the imagined narratives of writers who lived through the War.

Some are propaganda films produced during the War. Others appeared decades later informed by both hindsight and the publication of war secrets.

I recommend them all!

Organization and Navigation

The films in this compendium are sorted by subject area. Clicking on any of the headings in the bullet list immediately below will take you to the corresponding section of the list.

Click on the link at the bottom of each topic section to return (here) to the top.

Every film title is a hyperlink to the picture’s Wikipedia page. Also included for each is a YouTube clip, trailer, or in several cases (when available) the entire film.

Subject headings:

• Context, Philosophy, and Ethics
• Air War in Europe
• Air War in the Pacific
• Desert Warfare
• Pacific Islands and the U.S. Marines
• China Burma India Theatre
• Naval Warfare in the Pacific
• Naval and Merchant Marine Action in the Atlantic
• Submarines
• Infantry
• Special Operations
• Secret War: Resistance and the Underground
• Prisoners of War in the Pacific Theatre
• Prisoners of War in Europe
• The Home Front
• Aftermath of the War
• Action/Adventure Films
• Television Productions

My Top 18 Titles, in Alphabetical Order and Hyperlinked

• Band of Brothers
• The Best Years of Our Lives
• The Bridge on the River Kwai
• Casablanca
• Conspiracy
• The Enemy Below
• Foreign Correspondent
• From Here to Eternity
• Guadalcanal Diary
• The Hasty Heart
• Judgement at Nuremberg
• The Man Who Never Was
• Mrs. Miniver
• The Pacific
• The Silver Fleet
• To Hell and Back
• Twelve O’Clock High
• Where Eagles Dare

By the way, if I have omitted from the compendium that follows any of your favorites, please let me know in the Comments section below.

Context, Philosophy, and Ethics

Thunder Rock (1942)

Fascinating food-for-thought: a disconsolate English writer, despairing over his countrymen’s indifference to the rise of Fascism, hides himself away in a remote lighthouse, where a succession of unexpected visitors teaches him his duty.

Interestingly, James Mason was himself a conscientious objector.

Stars: Michael Redgrave, James Mason, Lilli Palmer

Watch on the Rhine (1943)

A German anti-Fascist flees to the United States with his family for safety and peace in 1941 but finds he cannot evade his responsibility to confront evil.

Stars: Bette Davis, Paul Lukas, Lucile Watson

From Here to Eternity (1953)

A masterpiece and a classic drama of human nature set among U.S. Army personnel in Hawaii in the final weeks before Pearl Harbor.

Stars: Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra, Ernest Borgnine

Casablanca (1942)

Cynical American Rick Blaine is forced to decide whether to commit his life to the pressing fight for freedom.

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

A terrific thriller with impressive visual effects for the time.

Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make a film to influence public opinion while the U.S. was still officially neutral. Barred by government rules from mentioning Nazi Germany, Hitchcock invented a conspiracy around a fake European country. The result was a propaganda film of such high quality that even Goebbels was impressed.

Joel McCrea is wonderful as the ‘everyman’ hero. Herbert Marshall and Edmund Gwenn both play against type. The normally acerbic George Sanders delivers what may be the funniest performance of his career.

Stars: Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall, George Sanders, Edmund Gwenn, Harry Davenport

Click here to return to the top.

Air War in Europe

Command Decision (1948)

Based on a 1947 novel and a 1948 play; U.S. Army Air Corps officers wrestle with the terrible benefit/cost analysis for and political calculus of the nascent U.S. daylight bombing operations in Europe.

Stars: Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Brian Donlevy, Van Johnson

Twelve O’Clock High (1949)

This superb counterpoint to Command Decision draws viewers into the day-to-day routines of bomber crews, which suffered some of highest U.S. casualty rates in the War.

Stars: Gregory Peck, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe, Dean Jagger

The Battle of Britain (1969)

An all-star cast dramatizes the events of a crucial turning-point in the War, honored by Winston Churchill’s immortal quote, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Stars: Trevor Howard, Michael Caine, Robert Shaw, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Edward Fox

Angels One Five (1952)

This first British film to address the Battle of Britain features outstanding aerial photography and dogfight footage.

Stars: Jack Hawkins, Dulcie Gray, John Gregson

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Air War in the Pacific

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

The story of Doolittle’s Raiders, a courageous group of volunteer pilots who flew to (and beyond) the limits of their fuel capacity in order to drop the first U.S. bombs onto the Japanese mainland.

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker

Wing and a Prayer (1944)

An engaging propaganda film depicting daily life aboard an aircraft carrier as it limps home from the Pacific with severe battle damage.

Stars: Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, Charles Bickford

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Desert Warfare

Sahara (1943)

Simple plot; engaging story; terrific cast: the crew of a stranded American tank struggles to defend its life-giving well from a German battalion.

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lloyd Bridges, Dan Duryea

Patton (1970)

The Oscar-winning biopic of the one of the important and notorious American figures in the European Theatre of Operations, the complex, brilliant, idiosyncratic, and highly successful general George S. Patton. In the title role, George C. Scott is phenomenal.

Stars: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Edward Binns

The Desert Fox (1951)

Hollywood’s tribute to Erwin Rommel, the thoughtful, aristocratic mastermind of Germany’s initially highly successful tank warfare campaigns in North Africa. James Mason is excellent as Rommel.

Stars: James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy

Desert Rats (1953)

A dramatization of the heroic eight-month stand of the Australian 9th Division to fend of Germany’s 1941 Siege of Tobruk, with James Mason reprising his role as Rommel.

Stars: Richard Burton, James Mason, Robert Newton

Click here to return to the top.

Pacific Islands and the U.S. Marines

Wake Island (1942)

Based on official U.S. Marine Corps records, this film produced very early in the war depicts the Marines’ weeks-long and ultimately unsuccessful struggle to keep the strategically important transit hub of Wake Island out of Japanese hands in the days after Pearl Harbor.

Stars: Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix

Guadalcanal Diary (1943)

The first several weeks of the U.S. Marines’ battle to take Guadalcanal, as reported by embedded journalist Richard Tregaskis.

Stars: William Bendix, Lloyd Nolan, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn, Richard Jaeckel

Click here to return to the top.

China Burma India Theatre

The Hasty Heart (1949)

A poignant and superbly acted drama centered upon group of injured servicemen in a field hospital in Burma.

Stars: Richard Todd, Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal

The Purple Plain (1954)

A Canadian RAF pilot distraught over his wife’s death in the London Blitz crashes in the Burma jungle. Although indifferent to the question of his own survival, he perseveres in a long walk to safety because another injured man depends upon him.

Stars: Gregory Peck, Maurice Denham, Lyndon Brook

Click here to return to the top.

Naval Warfare in the Pacific

The Fighting Sullivans (1944)

A biographical tribute to the five Sullivan brothers who died together when the light cruiser on which they were all serving was sunk by the Japanese in the Solomon Islands.

Stars: Thomas Mitchell, Selena Royle, Anne Baxter

They Were Expendable (1945)

A riveting dramatization of the travails of a PT Boat squadron in their desperate attempt to defend the Philippines from Japan in 1941-42.

Stars: Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, Donna Reed

Click here to return to the top.

Naval and Merchant Marine Action in the Atlantic

In Which We Serve (1942)

A wonderful film: Noel Coward’s loving and respectful fictionalization of the officers and men of the HMS Kelly, which sank off Crete in May of 1941.

Stars: Noel Coward, John Mills, Bernard Miles, Celia Johnson, Richard Attenborough

Sink the Bismarck! (1960)

A detailed and historically fairly accurate presentation of the ultimately successful British effort to sink the German navy’s most dangerous battleship.

Stars: Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Laurence Naismith, Maurice Denham

The Cruel Sea (1953)

An unflinching look at the dangers faced by navy personnel and merchant mariners in the North Atlantic freight convoys.

Stars: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott, Virginia McKenna, Stanley Baker

The Battle of the River Plate (1956)

The true story of an engagement that ended in Uruguay between the Royal Navy and a German battleship on a mission to harass British shipping.

Stars: John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch, Bernard Lee, Douglas Wilmer

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Submarines

The Enemy Below (1957)

Two complex, thoughtful men – one the captain of an American surface ship and the other the captain of a German submarine – face off in a battle to the death. Excellent as a war film; equally great as a human drama.

Stars: Robert Mitchum, Curd Jurgens, Theodore Bikel

Crash Dive (1943)

An engaging love-triangle story, with appealing stars, set in the U.S navy’s submarine service.

Tyrone Power’s final film before he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, for whom he piloted cargo planes for the duration of the war.

Stars: Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter

Das Boot (1981)

At times claustrophobia-inducing but always riveting, a first-person account of life aboard a German U-Boat in the Atlantic.

Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann

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Infantry

To Hell and Back (1955)

Audie Murphy, the most highly decorated U.S. soldier in history, stars as himself in a biopic that pulls no punches as it depicts Murphy’s wartime experiences.

Stars: Audie Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Denver Pyle

A Walk in the Sun (1945)

A character-driven drama that follows an infantry platoon on a dangerous mission in Italy.

Stars: Dana Andrews, Richard Conte, John Ireland, Lloyd Bridges, Sterling Holloway

The Big Red One (1980)

A chronicle of the wartime exploits of the First Infantry Division, written and directed by a man who was there.

Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine

Click here to return to the top.

Special Operations

The Dam Busters (1955)

The true story of an RAF squadron’s dangerous secret mission to destroy dams in the heavily industrial Ruhr valley.

After making this film, actor Richard Todd participated in Dam Buster veteran reunions and memorial events for the rest of his life.

Stars: Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave, Richard Johnson

The Frogmen (1951)

An action tale based on the real operations of the U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Teams (precursor of the Navy SEALs).

Stars: Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, Gary Merrill, Robert Wagner

The Devil’s Brigade (1968)

A gripping account of the 1st Special Service Force and its audacious first mission to capture a heretofore impregnable German fortress in the mountains of Italy.

Stars: William Holden, Cliff Robertson, Claude Akins, Richard Jaeckel

The Heroes of Telemark (1965)

Based on the true story of a Norwegian resistance operation to sabotage a German heavy-water plant.

Stars: Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris, Ulla Jacobsson, Michael Redgrave

Decision Before Dawn (1951)

From a novel by a wartime OSS officer, a fictionalization of a real operation to send German prisoners of war behind enemy lines as undercover agents.

Stars: Richard Basehart, Oskar Werner, Gary Merrill, Hans Christian Blech

The Man Who Never Was (1956)

The story of one of the most audacious operations ever mounted, which caused Germany to mistakenly divert critical resources before the Allied invasion of Sicily.

Stars: Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Steven Boyd

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Secret War: Resistance and the Underground

Joan of Paris (1942)

A good propaganda film with a strong cast: RAF pilots downed in France work with the French underground to evade capture by the Nazis.

Stars: Paul Henreid, Michèle Morgan, Laird Cregar, May Robson, Alan Ladd

Operation Amsterdam (1959)

Based on the true story of a British operation in May 1940 to smuggle as many diamonds as possible out of Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.

Stars: Peter Finch, Eva Bartok, Tony Britton, Alexander Knox

The Silver Fleet (1943)

Ralph Richardson shines as an unofficial secret agent who delivers hope to his enemy-occupied Dutch town while inflicting as much damage as he can upon the German war machine.

Stars: Ralph Richardson, Googie Withers, Esmond Knight

The Adventures of Tartu (1943)

An effective and affecting propaganda tale set in occupied Czechoslovakia.

Stars: Robert Donat, Glynis Johns

13 Rue Madeleine (1947)

The leader of an American spy team is ordered to identify a German agent among his agents, not to have him arrested but instead to feed him misinformation. Meanwhile, the German spy endangers the team’s highly sensitive mission behind enemy lines in France.

Stars: James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte

This Land is Mine (1943)

A terrific cast delivers a wonderful story about moral conflict and courage in a fictional small town in German-occupied Europe.

Stars: Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Hara, George Sanders

Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

This film about the successful but very costly Czech resistance operation (Operation Anthropoid) to assassinate “The Butcher of Prague” Reinhard Heydrich was produced before details of the plot were publicly known. The story is thus in places factually untrue.

Stars: Brian Donlevy, Gene Lockhart, Walter Brennan, Anna Lee

Operation Daybreak (1975)

A more accurate retelling, with a terrific cast, of Operation Athropoid and its bloody aftermath.

Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Anthony Andrews, Martin Shaw, Nicola Pagett, Joss Ackland

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Prisoners of War in the Pacific Theatre

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

One of the best war movies ever made: director David Lean’s masterpiece about British prisoners assigned by their Japanese captors to construct a strategically vital railroad bridge.

Stars: William Holden, Alec Guiness, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, James Donald

King Rat (1965)

A character-driven story with an all-star cast based on a James Clavell novel inspired by his own experiences in a Japanese POW camp.

Stars: James Fox, George Segal, Tom Courtenay, James Donald, Denholm Elliott, John Mills

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Prisoners of War in Europe

Stalag 17 (1953)

A barrack of air corps sergeants imprisoned in Germany suspect there is a turncoat in their midst; based on a play written by two former POWs.

Stars: William Holden, Otto Preminger, Peter Graves, Sig Ruman

The Great Escape (1963)

Fascinating for its historical detail; gripping as an action film; based on the true story of the largest mass escape from a German POW camp.

Actor Donald Pleasence, himself an ex-POW himself, served as on-set advisor for verisimilitude.

Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, Gordon Jackson

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The Home Front

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

A top-quality film in every respect depicting the impact of the War on a middle-class family in a small English town.

Stars: Greer Garson, Teresa Wright, Walter Pidgeon, May Whitty, Reginald Owen

Since You Went Away (1944)

An epic-length picture about a small middle-American town’s domestic life during the war.

Stars: Claudette Colbert, Shirley Temple, Jennifer Jones, Monty Woolley, Robert Walker, Lionel Barrymore

Journey for Margaret (1942)

Based on a true story: Margaret O’Brien at her heartbreaking best plays a war orphan during the London Blitz.

Stars: Margaret O’Brien, Robert Young, Laraine Day, Nigel Bruce, Fay Bainter

Stage Door Canteen (1943)

Part variety show and part propaganda piece, this film pays tribute to the Stage Door Canteen, a New York nightclub open gratis to servicemen. Katharine Hepburn’s patriotic speech near the end of the picture is one of the most powerful of her career.

Stars: Many, including Katharine Hepburn, Ray Bolger, Helen Hayes, Tallulah Bankhead, Ethel Merman, and Edgar Bergen

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

A star-studded romp set in the Hollywood Canteen, the free servicemen’s nightclub established in 1942 by actors Bette Davis and John Garfield.

Stars: Many, including Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Paul Henreid, Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre

Hope and Glory (1987)

Director John Boorman’s autobiographical drama based on his childhood in wartime London.

Stars: Sarah Miles, David Hayman, Susan Wooldridge, Ian Bannen

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Aftermath of the War

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

This richly deserving Best Picture winner follows three ex-servicemen and the people who care about them as they attempt to build post-war lives in a small, middle-American town.

Stars: Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Harold Russell, Cathy O’Donnell, Virginia Mayo, Hoagy Carmichael

Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)

One of the first films to include footage of the liberation of concentration camps, this fictionalization of one of the 12 Nuremberg Military Tribunals explores excruciating questions of individual accountability in the face of evil.

Stars: Spencer Tracy, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Maximilian Schell, William Shatner, Werner Klemperer

The Search (1948)

Photographed among the post-war ruins of German cities, this picture describes the plight of the thousands of displaced war orphans and follows the efforts of two servicemen to find the missing mother of a small Czech boy.

Stars: Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Wendell Corey

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Action/Adventure Films

Where Eagles Dare (1968)

A perfectly paced, relentless action film with an appealing cast and spectacular settings.

Stars: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, Mary Ure, Patrick Wymark, Michael Hordern

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

Engaging as a character study; highly entertaining as an action film: an army officer with a history of insubordination is charged with the training of a platoon of death-row criminals for a nearly impossible secret mission.

Stars: Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine, Telly Savalas, Richard Jaeckel, Jim Brown, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan

The Longest Day (1962)

Producer Darryl F. Zanuck decided he wanted to make a film about the futility of war. Bafflingly, he chose as his subject one of the most wildly successful (though costly) operations of World War II, the D-Day Invasion. The Longest Day is useful as an historical record, since it remains one of the most detailed cinematic chronicles of D-Day events from the Allied, German, and French perspectives. However, Zanuck’s anti-war intentions distort some events (most notably the U.S. Army Rangers’ ascent of Pointe du Hoc) and shade some of the incidental dialogue.

Richard Todd plays an infantry major embroiled in a tough standoff defending the Pegasus Bridge. Coincidentally, serviceman Todd and his unit were sent to relieve the very same major on D-Day.

Stars: Many, including John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Richard Burton, Richard Todd, Steve Forrest, Kenneth More, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, George Segal, Robert Wagner

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Humphrey Bogart won an Oscar for his performance as an isolated and beleaguered destroyer captain in the Pacific theatre.

Stars: Humphery Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, José Ferrer

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Television Productions

Conspiracy (2001)

A reenactment, based upon a surviving transcript, of the January 1942 Wansee Conference at which the “Final Solution” was set in motion.

I wrote about the Wansee Conference and Conspiracy in some detail in a separate article.

Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Colin Firth, David Threlfall, Stanley Tucci

Colditz (1972 – 1974)

A terrific series, all of which is available on YouTube, chronicling the bravery and creativity of inmates of the Colditz castle, which housed allied POWs most troublesome to their German captors for their repeated attempts to escape.

Stars: Paul Chapman, Jack Hedley, David McCallum, Edward Hardwicke, Bernard Hepton

Band of Brothers (2001)

An outstanding television drama based on Stephen Ambrose’s book about the men of E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

Stars: Damien Lewis, Ron Livingston, Neal McDonough, David Schwimmer, Donnie Wahlberg, Matthew Settle

The Pacific (2010)

An equally great companion series to Band of Brothers, based on four memoirs penned by veterans of the U.S. Marines Pacific island campaigns.

Stars: James Badge Dale, Jon Seda, Ashton Holmes, Joseph Mazzello, Rami Malek

The Winds of War (1983) and War and Remembrance (1988 – 89)

These two miniseries, available on YouTube, cover the war from several perspectives through the experiences of two extended families. Although the writing and acting at moments leave something to be desired, the series’ broad scope is useful educationally. War and Remembrance also delivers the best coverage I have seen of the crucial Battle of Midway.

Stars: Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, John Houseman, John Gielgud, Peter Graves

Ken Burns’ The War (2007)

Ken Burns’ WWII documentary series is excellent.

Victory at Sea (1952 – 53)

A poignant, well produced 26-part NBC series documenting the work of the U.S. Navy throughout the War.

The entire series is currently available on YouTube.

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Searching for Love from the Balcony Seats

Teresa Wright and Dana Andrews in the The Best Years of Our Lives.

I have decided to try a seasonal thought experiment which I pose as a question:

Where does one go to find love?

True love I think of as a charitable and self-confident state of mind incorporating respect for another, admiration for and appreciation of the beloved’s personal qualities, and generosity of spirit.

A just treatment of my Gedankenexperiment in a real-world context would exceed my scope today. Instead, I shall focus upon cinematic archetypes and specifically upon the romantic creations of classic Hollywood.

I prefer old Hollywood for three reasons.

First, the Hayes Code forced studios of the Golden Era to present romance elliptically, thus more effectively engaging both the analytical mind and the imagination.

Second, because classic Hollywood reached its creative apotheosis within living memory of World War I, of the economic depressions of the 1930s, and of World War II, its pictures were crafted by and for people who understood hardship, i.e., by and for adults.

(By “adults,” I mean individuals who know that reality exists and cannot be altered through either wishful thinking or childish tantrums; who understand that with the privileges of adulthood comes responsibility; and who, whenever possible, keep in mind the fact that a healthy, positive sense of humor is of greater practical utility than is an internal grievance bureau.)

And third, fueled by the rich life experiences of old Hollywood’s creative class, and perhaps in response to audiences’ sophistication (because the U.S. educational system of that era emphasized rigor and critical thinking), classic Hollywood more often than not depicted human nature accurately.

So where to find love in those stylish black-and-white films?

The madcap romantic comedies of the 1930s, while at moments hilarious, derive nearly all their laughs from pathological relationships and situations. One does not envy the protagonists of His Girl Friday, My Favorite Wife, The Awful Truth, or Bringing Up Baby.

The onscreen dynamics of real-life lovers Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy suggest gladiatorial combat rather than cooperative partnership. (The same can be said of the films of 1960s supercouple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.)

One might consult lists of “Best Romantic Classics” and therein find Brief Encounter (1945) and Intermezzo (1939).  Both are well-written, well-acted, high-quality pictures.  Both are worth seeing as character studies.  Neither offers an example of healthy love.

Dangerous High-Romantic Drama

Brief Encounter (1945)

Revealing that Laura (Celia Johnson) and Alec (Trevor Howard) part ways at the end of Brief Encounter is not to offer a spoiler, since the picture opens with their parting before revealing their story through flashbacks.

When I first saw the film, I felt heartsick for Laura as she grieved for the loss of her Great Love. More recent viewings, however, have cast the story in quite a different light.

Playwright Noel Coward and his team of filmmakers managed to create in Alec a believable opportunistic predator for whom the naive, inexperienced, Romantic Laura (the film’s narrator) is an all-too-easy mark.

We can see (although she does not) Laura’s point of no return: Alec makes an inappropriately intimate remark; Laura pauses, smiles, and leans toward him, when the healthier response would have been to withdraw and begin planning a retreat.

From that moment, Alec is in charge of the relationship. He manipulates Laura subtly but ruthlessly, guiding her in what to think and how to feel, and telling her what she wants to hear. It is only through an accident of good fortune that she avoids ruining her life.

My feeling today over the closing credits of Brief Encounter is not, “Why can’t they be together,” but rather, “Thank God she got away.”

Intermezzo (1939)

Intermezzo might strike uncomfortably close to home for anyone who has crossed paths with an artistic genius.

In 1930s Stockholm, virtuoso violinist Holger (Leslie Howard) meets young, dewy-eyed Anita (Ingrid Bergman), a piano prodigy, at a family party. Within days, they become emotionally enmeshed. Within a very few weeks, they form a partnership, both professional and personal.

Their liaison is doomed, because neither character is fully adult. Holger, in particular, is an overgrown, willful child and an emotional vampire, totally self-absorbed and driven entirely by his needs. He would be unable to function without a circle of codependents that includes his manager, his wife, and even his minor children. Those enablers tolerate his maladaptive behaviors because of his musical genius.

Intermezzo’s writers charitably (and perhaps uncharacteristically for a Hayes-era film) provide Anita an out and a future, although she remains blindly devoted to Holger.

One wonders whether she ever realizes how close she came to losing everything.

Putting Love to the Test

Some of my favorite film romances feature mature adults forced by circumstance to measure their feelings against, and perhaps sacrifice their relationships to, competing and exigent demands.

Always Goodbye (1938)

It was the romantic leads, Barbara Stanwyck and Herbert Marshall, that drew me initially to Always Goodbye.

Stanwyck was a wonderful actress with a reputation as one of the kindest and most small-d democratic stars in Hollywood.

Marshall I would watch in anything. He specialized in portraying sophisticated gentlemen who cloaked steely resolve in impeccable manners.

Margo (Stanwyck) and Jim (Marshall) meet by accident. They form a bond initially of mutual respect and friendship which evolves over months and years into devoted love. Unfortunately for them, circumstances essentially of their own creation compel Margo and Jim into making painful choices.

Always Goodbye is a beautifully crafted and poignant exploration of true love. It is well worth watching and free on YouTube.

Casablanca (1942)

Casablanca’s was a chaotic production. Working from an unfinished script, neither the actors nor the director knew until the final days how the picture would end. No one had any idea the film would strike such a chord as it did, much less that it would become an all-time favorite, or that so many of its lines would enter the American vernacular (e.g., “I’m shocked – shocked! – to find…,” “Play it [again], Sam,” “We’ll always have Paris,” “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and “Round up the usual suspects.”)

Casablanca presents two romantic storylines that must inevitably clash, as they both involve the lovely Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). Ilsa idolizes her heroic and chivalrous husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid).  She also passionately and desperately loves Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), whom she had met at a time when she believed Victor to be dead.

In a remarkably mature piece of dialogue, Victor confesses to Rick:

“I know a good deal more about you than you suspect. I know, for instance, that you’re in love with a woman. It is perhaps a strange circumstance that we both should be in love with the same woman. The first evening I came to this café, I knew there was something between you and Ilsa. Since no one is to blame, I – I demand no explanation.”

As in Always Goodbye, external circumstances – this time driven by events far beyond the characters’ control – influence the lovers’ fortunes in Casablanca.

The picture’s iconic (oft quoted and oft parodied) closing scene finds Rick unilaterally choosing the resolution he believes is best for the three principals — “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”

In my opinion, he makes the right choice.

Now, Voyager (1942)

Now, Voyager is an atmospheric coming-of-age story about the evolution of Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) from a neurotic, prematurely middle-aged spinster into a graceful and self-possessed young woman. Charlotte’s metamorphosis is aided in no small part by her meeting Jerry (the wonderful and always adult Paul Henreid), who deeply loves and admires her for herself.

Charlotte and Jerry meet several times over a period of years. Jerry’s effect on Charlotte’s life is in every case positive, as is her effect on his.

Ultimately, they know they cannot be together. Confronted with a moral and ethical quandary, Charlotte and Jerry agree that they must sublimate their feelings for each other.

They achieve mutual understanding in the picture’s final scene, sealed with perhaps the most romantic use of cigarettes ever captured on film.

Presenting Human Nature and Love as They Truly Are

Back Street (1932)

Back Street is both a love story and a cautionary tale for young women.

Headstrong Ray (Irene Dunne) chafes at her restrictive early-1900s upbringing, defying her parents often and fueled by her conviction that fun and adventure are to be found outside the social conventions.

Bored by the courtship of a decent young admirer, Ray opts for a liaison with an exciting financier who happens to be married.

The film deals more directly and candidly with its sensitive subject matter than would have been possible a few years later under the Hayes Code (although, of course, what today would be front-and-center is offscreen).

Back Street is an effective and affecting morsel of food-for-thought. Even a contemporary audience can understand Ray’s motivation, recognize the risks she undertakes by becoming the kept woman of a married man, and sympathize with the loneliness of her inevitable isolation. Social mores have changed since the early 1900s, but human nature has not.

Love Affair (1939)

The remake of Love Affair, An Affair to Remember (1957), is better known than the original, in part because its male lead (Cary Grant) was a superstar.

In this case, the original is actually the better film.

Lead actor Charles Boyer is believable as inveterate lady’s man Michel. Irene Dunne’s Terry has the poise and wit to hold her own with Michel and plausibly keep his romantic interest. Although the extent of the characters’ shipboard involvement is discreetly obscured, the sexual chemistry between Michel and Terry is palpable in a way one never senses in the sanitized remake.

The characters seem real. Their relationship rings true. Their motives make sense. Consequently, the picture delivers an emotional journey more poignant and a denouement more satisfying than the remake was able to achieve.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

One might not normally consider The Best Years of Our Lives — a picture that follows three servicemen profoundly and indelibly changed by World War II as they attempt to resume civilian life in a small, middle-American town — to be a love story.

It is that, however. The characters’ arcs and struggles are artistically paralleled by and distilled into the evolution of their personal lives.

We see bank officer Al (Fredric March), whose pragmatic wife Millie (Myrna Loy) employs humor, patience, and common sense to preserve for herself and especially for her two children the economic and social value of her marriage.

We see Homer (Harold Russell) riven by fears that the affection of his sweetheart Wilma (literally the girl next-door, played by Cathy O’Donnell) cannot survive the grim realities of his war injuries.

Dana Andrews’ Fred follows the most complex character arc. An ex-bombardier, he has returned home without transferrable skills, either professionally or personally, and with an ill-advised wartime marriage, all of which he needs to address before he can in good conscience court his new love Peggy (Al’s daughter, played by Teresa Wright).

The Best Years of Our Lives richly deserved its Best Picture Oscar. By any measure, it is a great film.

Dana Andrews probably ought to have won an acting Oscar for this role. Fred was the story’s emotional center, and Andrews’ performance was superb. The fact that Andrews garnered not even a nomination for The Best Years of Our Lives remains one of the Academy’s great injustices.

Andrews may well merit an article all to himself. Perhaps someday I will write one.

For now, I shall leave you with the recommendation that you watch The Best Years of Our Lives in order to see some of the best work of his career.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

He’s “Not Roger Federer” – Reminiscence and Some Q&A with Tennis Twitter’s Favorite Alter Ego

A superstar has bidden farewell to the tennis world, or at least shifted away from a vocation some observers treated over the years as a sacred calling.

We who follow him, reveling in his work, may wonder about his future plans.

On that topic he keeps his own counsel, leaving us to cherish our memories of him as a shooting star in the professional tennis firmament.

To be clear I am not paying tribute to Roger Federer, the most graceful player ever to take up a tennis racquet, trend-setter who raised the global profile of tennis and changed its aesthetic landscape forever, and trailblazer of the sport’s golden “Big 3 Era.”

Rather, I focus here on Twitter’s @PseudoFed, a/k/a/ “Not Roger Federer,” who may be the GOAT of social media parodies, and whose real-life identity remains obscure.

PseudoFed has been kind enough to sit (remotely) for a Q&A session, a transcript of which is posted below.

But first things first – a journey through highlights of PseudoFed’s sparkling Twitter career.

 

 

From the start, the Federer phenomenon warped the world of tennis much as a black hole distorts the fabric of space.

One of the wealthiest players ever, and a conscious fashion icon, Federer drew unmatched attention and prestige from the world’s elite.

Tennis writers, almost to a person, were so enamored of young Federer’s balletic form (having never seen anyone float across a tennis court) that they seemed never recover their objectivity.

At times, it appeared to some fans of the game that the sport’s establishment had aligned itself with Federer. Tournaments seemed to favor him with court assignments and scheduling, governing bodies adjusted rule enforcement in accordance with his concerns, and the men’s tour went so far as to retroactively classify previous years’ editions of an exhibition co-owned by Federer as official competitions.

Hype and hagiography from the tennis commentariat made Federer into a figure of legend – graceful, suave, polyglot, and rich, but also (we were told) humble and classy.

He became a tempting target for parody.

It was in the heady days near the peak of the Big 3 era, on 17 September 2010, that PseudoFed introduced himself to the world.

 

About time I got on Twitter. Murky has been on at me for ages about it. HI fans!

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) September 17, 2010

 

He quickly became a fount of trenchant commentary on and light-hearted criticism of various absurdities on the men’s tennis tour.

His most pointed, yet affectionate, mockery he reserved for Federer himself and for Federer’s rapturous admirers.

 

What is this St. Patrick thing? Why no have SAINT Federer day no? Or maybe St. GOAT day. Yes think this sounds better.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) March 17, 2011

Oh Jesus Christ is trending on the twitter. I thought it was related to me 😦 #humble

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) November 22, 2011

Suggested by @DIRETHGI:

Doing Easter egg hunt for kids. have some in the kitchen, some outside, couple in Dubai, one in Paris, & three in New York #excited

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) April 18, 2014

Off to have Easter dinner with the in-laws. Don't want to attract attention at the restaurant so dressing down #humble pic.twitter.com/A3znivdn

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) April 8, 2012

In London. The taxi drivers of the cabs must know who I am as they all call Me the Governor #impressed

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) April 16, 2012

Yes, I did really say this #humble https://t.co/Yi1Osg0Pl6

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 23, 2016

May I just say, credit to Myself for crediting Myself #humble https://t.co/c9XI7YjbLR

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 2, 2016

Suggested by @weegonnaseeno:

I'm really very sorry for any distress caused today. It wasn't actually an earthquake, I dropped My wallet #oops

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) March 11, 2013

Christmas is a time for thinking about those less fortunate than Yourself. How are you all? #humble

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) December 24, 2012

I hate parody accounts. Look at this one trying to make fun of Me. It's like he's trying to suggest I want My presence acknowledged on Men's Final day. Of course, I would never do such a thing as the #GOAT is too #humble – I have reported him to Twitter https://t.co/64dX4TU63P

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 9, 2019

 

PseudoFed shared “details” with fans that Federer never got around to posting himself.

For example, we often heard from Federer’s self-anointed alter-ego that he delegates many quotidian tasks to “staff.”

 

Trying to find something to watch on the TV. Keep surfing the satellite channels. I think My staff's finger is getting numb on the remote.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) March 29, 2012

Thank you to the long-standing staff member for paying for meal. Was going to bring My wallet but it wouldn't fit through the door #humble

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 8, 2015

If the BBC commentators call @DjokerNole the "best player in the world" one more time I will get a staff member to shout Shut Up #humble

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 27, 2012

One of My staff said I can't be the #GOAT because you can't compare eras and #Nadal beats me twice as often … #yourefired

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) March 24, 2012

Mr Shakespeare said, “There is not one wise man in twenty that will praise himself.” -Staff have read this to me many times. Still confused.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) April 7, 2012

 

PseudoFed frequently opined to and about his ‘countryman’ Stanislas “Stanford” Wawrinka,

 

Dear Stanford @stanwawrinka would you like to come to My house to watch the Switzerland World Cup match? Staff have prepared snacks. You can watch it in the basement, on your phone. #yourewelcome xx

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 3, 2018

Dear Stanford… http://t.co/8rGmI81Nwh pic.twitter.com/u4heiuJlQw

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 7, 2015

 

his first great rival, Rafael “Rafaello” Nadal,

 

Could someone get a message to Rafaello please and advise he shouldn't try so hard. He could win 100 Slams and Matts Winglander still would find the moaning to do. #RG18 #EurosportTENNIS

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 7, 2018

Rafaello wins his first round match at #RG15 – His team must be worried as it took him 3 sets to secure the victory #concerning

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) May 26, 2015

 

and in recent years the larger-than-life tennis “bad boy,” Nick Kyrgios.

 

Hello Nick Curious. Nice to see Me. If you could not wish Me any luck before a final again, that'd be great. Thanks Hun x #GOAT 🐐 https://t.co/oev59u6oXZ

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 16, 2019

 

PseudoFed captured the heart of Tennis Twitter in part through his endearing practice of replying to fans –

 

Any reason I'm not on all of them? #curious

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 10, 2017

Maybe you could do this @PseudoFed ? Staff probably need a break

— TweetyPie (@Tweetypie2113) July 8, 2017

There's more chance of Me not wearing white at Wimbledon Tweety fan

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 8, 2017

I have a #small gift for you. Same as one a few years ago An appreciation of your #small loyalty. This racquet is about as big as My hand. pic.twitter.com/ejFvry9S7R

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 8, 2017

 

– as well as to tennis commentators.

 

I'm quite upset that I even have to play a match to reach the third round, does that count Mr. Bradlings?

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 5, 2017

My fans wouldn't write the nasty pieces about Me, Mr Harmans x

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 6, 2021

It's not "as if to say" Mr Law Man. I think I actually did say it #humble #excited https://t.co/oQKuateANx

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) January 2, 2017

 

A favorite target of PseudoFed’s needling was the occasionally laughable pro-Federer bias displayed by tennis commentators and journalists.

 

Number of professional matches I have played…1,511

Number of professional matches I have played where most commentators were objective about Me… 0 https://t.co/EHLODF1BtQ

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) January 28, 2020

I love commentators in TennisTV. When I play a nobody and beat them it is a Master Class, when #Nadal does it 'the crowd wanted to see more'

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) May 6, 2011

Thank you to #TennisTV for leaving #Murray mid match so you can watch me #Federer warm up against #Lopez. Pecking order established.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) May 4, 2011

Women's semi-final day and Sue Barker can't stop talking about Me #priceless #Wimbledon #GOAT #BBC

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 7, 2016

Yesterday the BBC team spent the entire intro talking about Me, I wonder what they'll do today when I'm actually playing? #excited

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) November 5, 2013

Media do a piece on Rafaello and Andrew, use a photo of Me #priceless https://t.co/jcngEGPPQ8

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 7, 2017

Through to the Quarter-Final tweetings: I bet any money (and I've got more than all of you put together) that I won't get asked if I deserved to be on Centre Court today, in My presser, like Rafa did. 😉 #journosgottalovethem

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 8, 2019

Quite right ilan. And this is why Rafaello must answer this question, not the people that made the decision. They had nothing to do with it.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 8, 2019

 

He poked gentle fun at suspect treatment Federer enjoyed from tournaments and umpires.

 

I wonder what it feels like playing during the day. Does anybody know? #curious https://t.co/Dk1bWfcUZB

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) January 20, 2018

I've just gone outside to acclimatize Myself to playing during the day times and noticed this orange ball in the sky that's glowing. Does anybody know what it is? #curious #AusOpen

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) January 21, 2018

The draw comes out for #Garros very soon. I think I will get an easy ride to the semis #NoChangeThereThen

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) May 18, 2011

Nice to see Umpire tell #Rafa to watch his timing in between the pointings. I mention it, they follow #chequesinthepost

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) March 14, 2012

 

And offered countless colorful observations on the grind of the tennis tour and of tournament life.

 

Has anybody seen Bye? I usually play him in Master events but haven't seen him here. #concerned

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) August 27, 2013

Good morning everybody fans from a sunny Wimbledon. Waiting for Chef to bring Me a little breakfast. I may even stir the coffee Myself. Little things like this keep Me #humble #Wimbledon

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 7, 2018

If #Rafa does that thing where he calls Me a #GOAT then beats Me easily again I swear I will do the swings for him.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) March 17, 2012

Courtside tweetings: My unforced errors are better than Rafaello's #GOAT

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 7, 2019

I WON, I had 38 unforced Federrors, and #Nadal only 10. You see? I am still the greatest.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) April 2, 2011

Every day staff turn on My television set, and every day either Rafaello or Novak is on My screen #conspiracy #RolandGarros

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) October 4, 2020

Dear Charly @Charlymoya
please tell Rafaello that I have been passed an advanced copy of the order of play for Friday on Philippe Chatrier. There will be 18 matches and Rafa is on last, not before 2am. Thanks x

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) October 7, 2020

Dear Mr. Wimbledon could you put Rafaello on Crt1 tomorrow after a ladies match, 2 mens and a reading of War & Peace, I'd be grateful PFxx

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 25, 2014

Just had confirmation from Mr. Garros. If Rafaello gets through to the semis, he'll have to play that match in Calais #excited

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 4, 2014

Watching Myself on Humble Hill #OutOfBodyExperience pic.twitter.com/U7Gj9Jor

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 29, 2012

 

To paraphrase a bromide, “All tennis, all day, might have made PseudoFed a dull boy. ”

So he dabbled in current events –

 

In the United Kingdoms they are having some political problems during these moments. There is a small gentleman called John Bercow who is in charge of the politicians and last night he was kind enough to mention My name. Hello little fellow, I am sending you a small wave xx 👋 https://t.co/SQm8V4KG8j

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) April 2, 2019

People have no idea about the things I am responsible for – "Fed expected to hold rates steady…" https://t.co/jRTqOAtSw5

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) June 15, 2016

Dear Charly @Charlymoya I have been reading about The Great Reset where they want to reset Rafaello's slams back to zero. Please tell him I am sorry but it is for the good of humanity x pic.twitter.com/TFaRMSQ0Ms

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) January 2, 2021

Staff have just noticed @theresa_may in the Royal Box. She has told officials she will leave at the end of the first set, but she told the Chairman she's leaving at the end of the match. Fears in Centre Court are that she will never leave.

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) July 13, 2019

 

– and even turned Winter Sports Commentator with a set of live tweets during the Sochi Olympics.

 

Watching the Snowboarding, considering wearing My tennis shorts half way down My GOAT bottom #fashion

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) February 11, 2014

Stanford, if we enter in the figure skating together, just to be clear, you won't be throwing Me up into the air #dangerous

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) February 12, 2014

If I was in the bobsleigh team, I'd be sitting in the bobsleigh right from the start whilst staff push then get in themselves #humble

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) February 18, 2014

Anyone know if it's possible to hire the fast sweepers they use in Curling? Would like them to walk just ahead of Me #curious

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) February 19, 2014

 

Then the rest was silence – or at least a lengthy silence during Federer’s rest – for most of 2020 through 2022, as Federer struggled to recover from a series of knee surgeries.

Happily, PseudoFed returned from hiatus to post a few choice observations in advance of Federer’s retirement do in London at the swanky exhibition-turned-competition known as the Laver Cup –

 

Excited about tonight! Thank you @LaverCup for setting the ticket prices so only My sponsors can attend. See you later for a special evening of tweetings x

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) September 23, 2022

Courtside Tweetings: The Court is in black and white for those that cannot afford color television sets, who certainly had no hope of buying a ticket. I'll be on soon btw! #excited x

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) September 23, 2022

 

– finishing with a farewell to his beloved alter-ego.

 

And that wraps it up. Thank you, each and every one of you, especially @rogerfederer and so many others, you know who you are. Chapter 2 awaits x 🐐💜

— Not Roger Federer (Parody) (@PseudoFed) September 23, 2022

 

Before embarking on his next adventure, PseudoFed sat down for a (long-distance and words-only) interview about his whimsical career.

PseudoFed, take us out —

To begin with, I would like to address a popular theory about PseudoFed’s identity, to wit, that PseudoFed is a woman in France.

Is there any truth to this rumor?
Hello Cynthia fan, lovely to hear from Me. Staff and I have heard these rumifications. Although nowadays the boundaries between boys and girls appears to be making the blurry faces, I am definitely a boy. As for living in France, it is definitely a non, at least while they have clay.

 

What, if anything, would you like PseudoFed’s fans to know about the place PseudoFed calls home?
My home has many rooms, and it is in each and every one of you.

 

Does PseudoFed have a favorite Federer match?
Mais oui, all the ones where I choose to win.

 

A least-favorite?
The ones I chose to lose. 😦

 

What have been your favorite and/or most memorable of PseudoFed’s interactions with fans?
I like all staff and treat them equally. Certainly, the most touching are the people that have gone through difficult times in their life and said PseudoFed was the only thing that made them smile during those moments.

 

Which tennis player/personality do you interact the most with on twitter?
Myself.

 

Who are PseudoFed’s favorite commentators and writers?
Too many to do the mentionings, in no particular order: Mr Bradlings, Jo Durie, Darren Cahills, Robbie Koenig, Carole Bouchard, Caro Paquin and many more.

 

Have you watched Federer play in person?
Yes, though he’s PseudoFed in reality.

 

Have you watched any matches at Wimbledon Centre Court? If so, which ones?
Too many to mention.

 

Have you ever sat in the Royal Box?
No, but have used their bathroom.

 

Have you met any players in person?
Question is incorrect, have any players asked to meet Me. Yes, on both accounts.

 

Do you like dogs?
Snoopy and Scooby-Doo. Anybody that doesn’t love animals should unfollow Me, now.

 

How has the tennis world changed over the course of your career (players, journos, equipment, governance, surfaces, PR, officiating, fans, coaches — however you would like to address it)?

This is a very good question. Things have gone downhill. Novak and Rafaello should have chosen different careers. Why couldn’t they have started an office cleaning empire and beat everybody at that?

Aside from this, not much has changed, the journos have only improved in their own heads. The surfraces could have all evolved to grass, this would have pleased Greta, and Me. I think coaches have improved significantly, nowadays they are far more comfortable and even offer wifi, air conditionisations and toilet restrooms.

 

PseudoFed has maintained a blog over the years. Does He have any favorites among the articles he has published?
I particularly enjoyed this one:
https://pseudofedblog.com/2014/07/04/the-sound-of-tennis-by-simon-pseudofunkel/

 

I understand PseudoFed has also published a book. What kind of feedback did he receive for the book? Is the book still available for purchase?
The Book was adored by fans and not adored by non-fans alike:
US link: https://www.amazon.com/PseudoFeds-Guide-Tennis-Life-PseudoFed/dp/1514289245/
UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PseudoFeds-Guide-Tennis-Life-PseudoFed-ebook/dp/B00Y8ZHLXW

I am forever indebted to Mr. Grass for the cover x

 

Will PseudoFed retire now that Federer has retired?
I am looking at property in Florida for the relaxing faces.

 

What tennis rule (or two, or three) do you believe should be changed?
1. Tennis should be reduced to Aces only. If the opponent can return My serve, then I chose to lose the point, if not, I win the point. No running around making My little legs tired. Nobody wants to see that.

2. Seeded players should never face unseeded players until the final. Mr Wimbledon has been trying to introduce this rule for Me for years.

3. No players should be allowed to play if their names rhyme with Cabal or Prozac.

 

What precious nuggets of advice would PseudoFed offer today to:

Nadal
Please retire.

Djokovic
Please retire.

Murray
Hello Andrew fan.

Wawrinka
Stanford, please bring Me more chocolates.

Del Potro
Juan, te amamos y te extrañamos.

Cilic
Staff love your cleaning products.

Tsitsipas
Hello little one.

Zverev – Medvedev
Why are your names similar? Have you ever been in the same room at the same time?

Berrettini
Forza azzurri.

Rublev
Do you know Zverev and Medvedev?

Kyrgios
Focus on your tennis young man.

Barbara Schett
Hello Barbara fan. Please lose that strange cube thing.

Mats Wilander
Thanks for your continued support.

Brad Gilbert
Love to Mrs Bradlings. x

Darren Cahill
As always, rather large props to you, Darren fan. x

Others in the tennis world?
I hope you get to see Me soon.

Special thanks to:
Sir Billy – Chief Chariot Pusher and Senior Staff Member
Small fan
Leanne Lister fan
Wallace fan
Super One fan
Lana fan
Julie Britannia fan
Greek fan
Bindi fan
Alejandro fan
Lucia fan
Laura fan
Melissa fan
Woofy fan
Little doggy fan Rose
Kay fan
Ajda fan
Jane fan
Farming fan
Divir fan
Hillyard fan
Jimmy Scott fan
Maria fan
KC Johnson and Sunshine Band fan
Juana fan
Tim Malone fan
Jimmy Scott fan
Rajeev Kumar fan
Conty fan
Rea fan
Taylor Quick fan
Deep Fried Lard fan
Leo fan
Apoorva fan
Francesca fan
Lucy fan
Guy Vernon fan
Nick A fan
TheDogHouse fan

If I forgot to mention you, I am sorry x

Suite Christmas Memories

A scene from Balanchine’s Nutcracker

Yesterday, while baking pumpkin bread, I listened to The Nutcracker.  The music brought back a flood of happy memories suffused with a sense of gratitude.

I am an amateur oboist.  As a teenager, I seriously considered a career in music until I met an older oboist who told me, “I’m about to finish my doctorate in music at Peabody Conservatory.  This qualifies me to sell shoes.”

I chose a different professional direction.

During my late 20s, I was an assistant professor of physics at Illinois Wesleyan University, a small liberal arts college in Bloomington-Normal (pop. ca. 100,000).

My new home was a culturally rich community boasting two university-level music departments less than five miles apart.  Musical opportunities were abundant.  Oboists, however, were not.

As an amateur, I was happily in demand.

I played in churches, in pit orchestras for community theatre, and in the local Heartland Symphony Orchestra – wherever there was a need.  I had a wonderful time.

Twice, in consecutive years, I had the privilege of playing in the pit orchestra for the local Nutcracker ballet.

Enthusiasm generally excelled technical proficiency, but everyone involved took the enterprise seriously.

Most in the orchestra were amateur musicians.  Among the players were a dentist, two or three professors from non-musical fields, an insurance actuary, and, in the violin section, a high school boy and his father.

The clarinets were perhaps our strongest section, which was a good thing.  Tchaikovsky does not go easy on his clarinets.  Their Nutcracker offers a steady diet of running notes and arpeggios.

The other oboist in the orchestra, a semi-professional, played Oboe 1, while I covered both Oboe 2 and English horn.

This was great fun.  In addition to having several lovely solos, the English horn doubles the French horns in the Pas de Deux at the end of Act I and the cellos in the more famous Pas de Deux in Act II.

Positioned below and with our backs to the stage, we were unable to see the dancers.

An especially indelible memory: one year, the stage crew decided on closing night to drop all of the remaining fake snow at the end of Act I, covering pretty thoroughly the bassoonists and one of the cellists in the pit.

 

 

It is a magical experience to follow the Nutcracker’s score from page one and the ethereal opening notes of the overture all the way through to the resounding final brass chords and tympani roll.

 

Hearing the music takes me back.

I will always be grateful for having had the opportunity to play it.

A Reluctant Farewell to Charlie Daniels

 

I never met him, but I will miss him.

 

NewBeginnings sings pretty good for a quarter horse but he keeps forgetting the lyrics pic.twitter.com/CLEAKhIeZa

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) September 24, 2015

This past Monday, the world lost Charlie Daniels – a singer, songwriter, fiddler, guitar-picker, touring musician, ranch owner, and self-described redneck hillbilly.  Mr. Daniels – actually, I’ll call him Charlie today – suffered a fatal stroke. He was 83 years old.

Charlie’s musical career spanned more than half a century.  He played studio back-up for Bob Dylan and Ringo Starr.  He wrote a song recorded by Elvis Presley.  He delivered hit albums and won Grammys and numerous other awards, including induction into both the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Until the COVID19 pandemic, he toured for nine months of every year with the Charlie Daniels Band.

He is perhaps best known for his crossover hit, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

 

 

To his colleagues and his live audiences, Charlie was a gifted and indefatigable performer.

To millions on social media, Charlie was a fount of optimism and wry humor, projecting gratitude and joy, celebrating every day he had on Earth, and poking gentle fun at serious goings-on.

As he shared his thoughts and chronicled his peregrinations, Charlie’s public persona lived by schedules and patterns that became as comfortably familiar to his followers as Charlie’s favorite porch chair.

For his followers, he opened every day with a Bible verse –

The Lord is near to all who call on Him , to all who call on Him in truth.
Psalm-145

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 4, 2018

 

A nugget of homespun advice (an anthology has been published: Let’s Make This Day Count: The Everyday Wisdom of Charlie Daniels) –

Sometimes the hardest part of finishing up is pulling all the pieces together without leaving our some seeming insignificant, but vital part of the equation.
Little things matter.
Lets all make the day count.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 8, 2018

 

A prayer –

Morning prayer
Lord give us the grace to remember that nothing is going to happen today, or any day that will be out of Your control, nothing surprises or baffles You, and help us walk in Your protection and in Your way.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 8, 2018

 

And his standard sequence of daily reminders.

 

He ended every evening with this tweet: “Guess I’ll hang it up for tonight. Good night planet earth. God bless.”

The philosopher-musician never failed to let us know when he was about to board his tour bus.

Be west bound and down in a few hours
Just never get tired of moving,must be in my blood.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 30, 2015

 

He eagerly shared his delight in the passing scenery.

Twilight on the North Dakota Prairie
God's handiwork pic.twitter.com/tU3vECP7Uc

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 11, 2017

Southbound and down in the rain. pic.twitter.com/YOhFEZyP48

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) March 10, 2016

 

We always knew when and where the Charlie Daniels Band was scheduled to perform.  Charlie announced every concert in the same way a few hours in advance.

Got to get ready to pick for the good folks at Dubuque Iowa. Check with y’all after a while

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) October 27, 2018

 

He thanked each and every audience, always ending with, “We love you. God bless.”

Danville Virginia yall were a bunch of fun tonight
Thank you. We love you. God bless pic.twitter.com/tBrUatHMGm

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) September 15, 2019

Nampa Idaho thank you for all the great western hospitality
We love you. God bless pic.twitter.com/rmHhnvPY0E

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) August 18, 2019

Atlanta Georgia what can I say except thank you, we love you. God bless pic.twitter.com/dA04nzoLpz

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) November 24, 2019

 

Charlie’s every reflection on his touring life was positive.

Went to bed in Oklahoma and woke up in Oklahoma
Doing it in Grant tonight.
Loving this Sooner State.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 8, 2018

 

And he was equally enthusiastic about turning for home.

Pedal to the metal,Southbound and down,Honkin on home,Tennessee here we come.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 17, 2014

Pulling out of Big D eastbound and down for the Guitar Town! pic.twitter.com/KRJ4LCS71z

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 6, 2018

 

Occasionally, Charlie was accompanied on tour by his wife, Hazel, to whom he always referred as “the love of my life.”

Taking the love of my life back to her home state tomorrow.
Lawton Oklahoma we’re coming to rock yall.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) October 18, 2018

Got my cup of Irish Breakfast tea, sitting here is St Pete Florida
with the love of my life, the weather is great, got music to play tonight and all is right in my world.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) November 22, 2019

 

Charlie adored Hazel and never stopped telling us so.

The love of my life becomes 76 years old today
And just gets prettier as the year go by
God bless you Darlin, HAPPY BIRTHDAY
looking forward to spending it with you.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 8, 2019

The love of my life turns 75 today
Happy birthday Darlin pic.twitter.com/2ExvIUkC12

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 8, 2018

Gonna go down off this mountain and take the love of my life to lunch
Check with yall after a while

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) February 6, 2018

Going down off this mountain to take rhe love of my life to dinner
Check with yall after a while.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) February 15, 2019

Sitting on a balcony in Hawaii this morning with the love of my life and it's so special not because we're here but because we're together

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) January 13, 2014

Sitting here with the love of my life this morning and
all may not be right in the world but in our little corner everything is just fine

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 25, 2013

Sitting here on the back porch at Twin Pines with a libation and the love of my life. 78 degrees with a slight breeze. Thank You Lord!! pic.twitter.com/PMNVS5yeoy

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 1, 2018

 

He enjoyed sharing the lovely vistas of Twin Pines, his home base in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

Twin Pines early morning. pic.twitter.com/xyrPLPSO0z

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 6, 2020

Morning creeps in at Twin Pines. pic.twitter.com/VziOanPeLo

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 16, 2020

God’s glory on display in the late afternoon at Twin Pines pic.twitter.com/fOUv4YG4un

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 19, 2020

Twin Pines bids a good evening to another God Blessed day pic.twitter.com/w8c4EKBVHv

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 2, 2020

Thurman sent me this this morning
The moon over the old barn at Twin Pines pic.twitter.com/amfrONIyXh

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) November 11, 2019

 

Whether on the road or at his home base, Charlie followed football closely, staunchly supporting the Tennessee teams and the formidable SEC.

With crowds, without crowds, please let there be a full college football season this year. We’ve had a less than sterling year so far and a few smash mouth SEC games on t v would improve it a bunch.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 20, 2020

 

He was passionate about NASCAR.

Some of my favorite sounds
A baby laughing
A colt nickering
Rain on a tin roof
Far off train whistles
Nightingales
Pedal to the metal at a Nascar Race
Distant thunder
Whispering pines
Sunday morning church bells
Rushing water
Children playing
fast ball hitting a catcher’s mitt

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 14, 2018

To me, in the last few years NASCAR has gone form a backstreet brawl to a debating society.
A sport that was nurtured and and supported by the blue collar folks who can now no longer afford to make the trip.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) January 13, 2019

Eating strawberry short cake and getting ready for a NASCAR RACE
Southern boy’s delight.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 17, 2020

 

On most days, he ruminated on current events and politics, expressing his libertarian/traditionalist views with humor.

For all you folks who called me a redneck and a hillbilly I've got two words
THANK YOU!

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) August 12, 2017

To set the record straight
I am a Christian, Southerner,a fiddle playing, guitar pickin life time member of the NRA,love football, NASCAR, fishing,Tennessee, and all that implies believe everybody able to should work for a living
My priorities are
1 God
2 Family
3 Country
4 Work

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) August 1, 2018

From my redneck hillbilly point of view, its pretty low down for a former president to criticize a current president in a foreign country, but I shouldn’t be surprised,after his apologizing for America in foreign countries when he was first elected.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 4, 2017

Redneck observation number 101
What this world needs is less quiche and more cornbread.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) January 10, 2018

Redneck Billboard pic.twitter.com/s40wjpApWU

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) April 26, 2019

Redneck Glossary entry 103
Top secret- something politicians won’t leak to the media for at least 48 hours.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) January 14, 2018

Redneck logic
If the older population are the ones most vulnerable to Covid
does
It make sense to put older sick people among the other older ones who are not sick so they are all at risk of dying?
I’d love to hear your answer Mr Cuomo

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 16, 2020

 

Every year Charlie took special care to commemorate Pearl Harbor Day and D-Day.

I was five years old on that gray Sunday in 1941 when we got the word that Pearl Harbor had been attackedAmerica pulled together and with the help of Almighty God met the challenge and thanks those brave ones who served Old Glory still flies over the land of the brave and free

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 7, 2017

76 years ago my Mother got me up early and we went to Church to pray for the men who were storming the beaches of Normandy. It was D-Day, the bloodiest day of WW2
10,000 allied troops killed or wounded.
I salute and honor their service and their memory.
God bless our military

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 6, 2020

 

Charlie supported the United States armed forces in word and deed, through performances for the troops in war zones.

I'll never forget playing in a sandstorm in Al Assad,one of the most unique concerts we've ever done pic.twitter.com/CcMfk0Ktrw

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 27, 2014

 

And through the establishment and promotion of his veterans’ charity, The Journey Home Project.

The Journey Home Project supporting The Sheppard's Men. In The prevention of veteran suicide pic.twitter.com/ywF59xUwCN

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 27, 2017

 

Wherever he happened to be in his travels, Charlie rhapsodized about the livestock at his Twin Pines ranch.

We thought the barn fire ended our bloodline. At 4am TP New Beginnings arrived. Welcome to the world young man! http://t.co/Ui3y6sq

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 19, 2011

Thurman sent me this picture of New Beginnings when he was new born
He is grown and siring colts of his own now
My how time passes pic.twitter.com/t3Z0NmxRit

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 16, 2019

New beginnings is growing up ,feisty and full of himself pic.twitter.com/4OFnPJvI

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 12, 2012

Thurman sent me a picture of New Beginnings celebrating
Christmas equine style pic.twitter.com/DzGNFiYgAE

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 23, 2016

Look what arrived at Twin Pines last night
TP Bell and her brand new colt TP Cy
Welcome to the world little guy pic.twitter.com/gHjLwnIeSB

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) May 2, 2020

New Beginnings, and Momma hanging out with Little Cy this morning pic.twitter.com/rKXCc7iDnc

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 10, 2020

Thurman sent this picture of a brand new arrival this morning
Must be thinking
What a strange looking place pic.twitter.com/I7Jzfriv2w

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) June 8, 2017

Thurman sent me this picture of this year’s colts their first day in a halter
They soon learn that frisky don’t do no good pic.twitter.com/s9ibTSWaoQ

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) February 23, 2020

Thurman sent this today
Makes me kind of homesick pic.twitter.com/u0RdAzTiYg

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) August 25, 2019

 

After the touring season wrapped in late November, Charlie enjoyed a Tennessee respite highlighted by Christmas.

Charlie delighted in Christmas and in Hazel’s spectacular decorations.

Deck the halls
The main tree is up. pic.twitter.com/hJ7lbzF9kA

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 3, 2019

Twin Pines music tree pic.twitter.com/oM46jWQP7U

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 2, 2018

Twin Pines special ornament tree pic.twitter.com/3u0rTP3gXa

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 2, 2018

Hazel’s Angel tree. pic.twitter.com/1NrGLW1mgH

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 2, 2018

The “widdle” tree pic.twitter.com/NOdmWx7HHs

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 23, 2017

Got to get ready to head for the Annual CDB Christmas party and make sure Santa makes it
Check with y’all after a while
MERRY CHRISTMAS PLANET EARTH!

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) December 17, 2019

 

Every January, Charlie and Hazel would repair to their second home in Colorado for R&R and snowmobiling with their extended family.

A lady and her snowmobile pic.twitter.com/JCsvXrQWWo

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) January 4, 2014

Rode about 40 miles on a snowmobile Tuesday in the beautiful Colorado back country
Feels good to be back in the saddle again

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) January 11, 2015

 

By early March, Charlie was back on the road.

The only negativity Charlie ever voiced on Twitter – or, rather, his only negativity not directed at politicians – pertained to his irritation with his exercise regimen.

Well I've got to get on that dad blamed exercise bike
Check with yAll in a while

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) October 13, 2014

Well I've put it off long enough,time to go declare war on the bike and the tread mill
Check with yall after a while

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) February 15, 2015

Gotta go get on that bike that I've rode a thousand miles and it ain't moved an inch
Check with yall later

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 27, 2015

 

Charlie was a joy to follow.  He came across as contented, magnanimous, whimsical, wise, fun-loving, and grateful.

He was always there.  Then suddenly he wasn’t.

 

He posted his last philosophical tweet on July 4.

We’re sitting on the upstairs porch looking at the northern horizon and watching America light up, fireworks going off all over the place.
You may tear down statues and burn buildings but you can’t kill the spirit of patriots and when they’ve had enough this madness will end.

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 5, 2020

 

On the next day, Sunday, Charlie tweeted his standard morning series then shared two final photos of Twin Pines’ beauty.

Hazel’s Hydrangeas tree. pic.twitter.com/SjuoAsVGkc

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 5, 2020

Heavenly scent of the Southland.
Magnolia time in Dixie. pic.twitter.com/8SqDggaEys

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 5, 2020

 

I didn’t notice that Charlie had missed his “good night” tweet on Sunday night, nor that his routine wake-up messages were absent on Monday.

Posts from his team later that morning can be seen now as poignant signals of what must have been going on.

“I’ll Fly Away” – 2008 GMA Dove Awards- TeamCDB/BW https://t.co/vwu5yQhg64

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 6, 2020

“He’s Alive” – Charlie Daniels & World Outreach Church Worship team. – TeamCDB/BW https://t.co/8oLeAgFqZX

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 6, 2020

 

Soon after came the shocking news of Charlie’s death.

Charlie was always such a strong, consistent, and positive presence that it has been difficult to accept that he is gone.

I will miss him.

Artwork by Andy Marlette.

 

 

Rest in Peace, Charlie.  Godspeed, and thank you.

 

Guess I’ll hang it up for tonight
Goodnight planet earth-God bless

— Charlie Daniels (@CharlieDaniels) July 5, 2020

Five is Such a Pretty Number – A Fortieth Anniversary Tribute to the Greatest U.S. Winter Olympian

📷: KSL.com

Raise your hand if you can name the only athlete ever to win five gold medals in a single Winter Olympic Games.

(Without Googling, that is.)

What about the only athlete in an endurance discipline to win gold at every Olympic distance?

Or the athlete who offered this pithy response to Cold War posturing around the Olympics:

“Sports and politics don’t mix.”

The answer?  Arguably the greatest U.S. Winter Olympian of all time, Eric Heiden.

📷: NYDailyNews.com

The year was 1980, at the height of the Cold War; the setting, Lake Placid, New York, host to the Winter Olympic Games.

Scant weeks later, on March 14, President Jimmy Carter would crush the Olympic dreams of many hundreds of young athletes by announcing the U.S. boycott of the upcoming Summer Games in Moscow.

But for the moment, for a fortnight in late February, a spotlight shone on the thrilling sports contested on snow and ice.

Largely lost to collective memory are the aspects of the 1980 Games that were unsurprising at the time: Soviet Bloc dominance of pairs figure skating and ice dancing, Alpine nation dominance (11 of 18 medals) in Alpine skiing, and an even split of Nordic (cross-country) skiing medals between Scandinavia and the Soviet Bloc.

Perhaps the hallmark moment of the 1980 Winter Games was the legendary Miracle on Ice — the men’s hockey semifinal game in which a spirited group of American college students attained a highly improbable victory over a team of Soviet professionals.  (The U.S. squad went on to win the 1980 gold medal.)

Watching the Miracle on Ice  from a seat in the raucous arena was speedskater Eric Heiden.  A native of Madison, Wisconsin, and winner already of four gold medals at the Lake Placid Games, the 21-year-old was scheduled to race in his fifth event of five on the following day.

Not surprisingly, the euphoric Heiden found sleep elusive that night.  Come morning, he missed his alarm.

Off he raced the track, a few pieces of bread in hand, his preparations truncated and pre-race routine abandoned.

At last he stepped to the mark on the Games’ outdoor racing track, his iconic muscular thighs aerodynamically encased in a yellow skinsuit, and awaited the starting pistol’s report.

📷: SI.com

In each of his previous four races at the Lake Placid Games, Heiden had set an Olympic record.  On this day, in speedskating’s longest, most grueling race – the 10,000 meters – he set not only an Olympic record but also a World record en route to his fifth gold medal.

“That’s the last world record I had ever expected to break.” – Eric Heiden

By the time the Lake Placid Olympic flame had been extinguished, Heiden was the most successful Winter Olympian of all time at a single Games.

Heiden had won speedskating Olympic gold at the following distances:

• 500 m (Olympic record)
• 1000 m (OR)
• 1500 m (OR)
• 5,000 m (OR)
• 10,000 m (World record, OR)

The American public was elated and proud.  Here was a humble, polite young man from the Midwest who had competed in five races and won them all.  Heiden was profiled in newspapers and magazines and appeared on the canonical Wheaties box.

The most successful individual athlete from the 1980 Winter Olympics patiently rode his short-lived wave of fame before fading, with a sigh of relief, from public consciousness.

Heiden left speedskating soon after Lake Placid and shifted his competitive focus to cycling.

“Maybe if things had stayed the way they were, and I could still be obscure in an obscure sport, I might want to keep skating.  I really liked it best when I was a nobody.” – Eric Heiden

Eric Heiden competed in the 1981 UCI Track Cycling World Championships before switching to road cycling and racing with the 7-Eleven Cycling Team.  In 1985, he won the U.S. Professional Cycling Championship. In 1986, he competed in the Tour de France but was knocked out by a bad crash five days before the finish.

After a year as a student at the University of Wisconsin, Heiden transferred to Stanford University to complete both a Bachelors degree and an MD.  He trained as an orthopedic surgeon (his father’s profession) and has since the mid-1990s enjoyed successful practices first in Sacramento, California, and then in Park City, Utah.

📷: SFGate.com

Now 61, Heiden has been married for a quarter-century to hand surgeon Dr. Karen Drews, with whom he has a daughter, Zoe, and a son, Connor.

Heiden has stayed in close touch with the Winter Olympics, providing TV commentary in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1994, and serving as a team doctor to the U.S. speedskaters from 2002 through 2014.

📷: Wikipedia

He remains a legend within the world of speedskating.

But the magnitude of his Olympic achievement may not be sufficiently appreciated by the public at large.

Imagine a track athlete who runs and wins both the 100 meter dash and the 10,000 meter run as well as three races at intermediate distances.

Or a swimmer who wins the 50 meter sprint and the 1500 meter “marathon” as well as a 100, a 200, and a 400.

Or a cross-country skier, or a cyclist, who wins the sprints, the long distances, and the races in between.

No athlete does this.  Not one.

No athlete wins both the short races and the long races in the same Games, or even in different Olympic cycles.  In the 21st century, no runner, swimmer, or speedskater even attempts to compete in both the sprints and the long distances.

Eric Heiden did so on the Lake Placid outdoor racing oval in 1980, with stunning success.

Then he went on with his life.

📷: AthleteSpeakers.com

 

References:

Eric Heiden on Wikipedia

YouTube: Eric Heiden recalls oversleeping before his Olympic 10,000 meter race.

From SFGate.com: PROFILE / Eric Heiden, Olympic gold medalist / From skates to scalpel / Five-time gold medalist says career in medicine is his greatest achievement

From ESPN.com: Eric Heiden was a reluctant hero

From WSJ.com: Eric Heiden: Life After The Olympics

“Five is such a pretty number” is a line from a very old Sesame Street song (1970), copyright Children’s Television Workshop.

 

“Sydney, we have a problem.” – Team-tennis Event Overload

 

The first edition of the ATP Cup is in the books.

Styled as a “World Cup of Tennis” and contested 3 – 12 January, the ATP Cup pitted 24 national teams against one another in round-robin competition in three Australian cities – Brisbane, Sydney, and Perth.  Three knock-out rounds, featuring the top eight teams, followed in Sydney.

Serious and casual tennis fans can be forgiven for confusion, or for a sense of déjà vu, since the ATP Cup was the sport’s second World Cup-style team event in a span of only eight weeks.

The Davis Cup and ATP Cup are consecutive events in the men’s tennis calendar, sandwiched around the sport’s all-to-brief off-season.

Setting aside for the moment the absurdity of tennis’ having two separate World Cups, here are a few thoughts about the conduct of the 2020 ATP Cup.

 

1. American player Reilly Opelka was right that it is unfair for the ATP to allow the small number of ATP Cup participants – two per country – to count the ATP Cup as a nineteenth tournament for the purpose of yearly rankings, while everyone else may count only 18.

 

2. It is unreasonable in the extreme to expect the Perth round-robin players to fly 2,500 miles across three time zones and then compete on an equal footing with the players who begin the competition in Brisbane or Sydney.

This year’s Perth teams, Russia and Spain, won their quarterfinal contests in Sydney, but members of both teams suffered from travel exhaustion, jet lag, and sleep deprivation.

In order to ensure fairness, all of the round-robins ought to be contested on Australia’s east coast.  The fan-favorite Hopman Cup exhibition, displaced this year from Perth by the ATP Cup, could be reinstated.

 

3. A problem common to both the Davis Cup and ATP Cup: 1 a.m. finishes, and the consequent 5 a.m. bedtimes (after cool-down, press commitments, physio recovery, and rehydration), are detrimental to both the quality of competition and the players’ health.

 

4. Video review of footfaults, lets, net touches, double bounces, net overreaches, etc., is valuable and good.  I hope the ATP and the ITF expand its use on the tour.

Much heartache, injustice, and distortion of results could have been avoided had video review been available when Milos Raonic got away with touching the net against Juan Martin del Potro in 2013, or when Novak Djokovic got away with reaching over the net against Andy Murray in 2014.

 

5. For players, it makes reasonable sense to hold a team event in Australia in January.  All can benefit from tune-up events before the Australian Open; extra time Down Under only aids them in acclimating to conditions and overcoming jet lag.

 

6. From the perspective of stadium fans, however, it does not make sense to hold a national team event in Australia.

What makes team events uniquely exciting on the grueling tennis calendar is festive stadium atmosphere: energetic, nationalistic, and loud (though preferably not so raucous as to disrupt the players at work).  Triumphing over both the distractions of a Davis Cup environment and the emotions of representing one’s country has launched many a player over the years into the sport’s upper rankings.

Since few tennis fans around the world can afford to fly to Australia to watch a team event in person (especially when facing a choice between the ATP Cup and the more prestigious Australian Open three weeks later), the ATP Cup’s crowds consist primarily of locals.

For the first ATP Cup, this was no problem Team Serbia.  A sizable klatch of Australian Serb transplants generated enough noise and mayhem in support of their team throughout the event to rival the wildest of historic Davis Cup crowds.

Other visiting teams will not be so fortunate.  Few will ever attract passionate crowds in Australia (especially after beloved stars have retired).

 

7. Australia may not be an optimal event location from the standpoint of television revenue.

In Europe, the ATP Cup’s competition times were 50/50 acceptable (day session in the wee hours; night session in the morning).

In the Americas, the scheduling – especially for the night sessions – was inconvenient.

Only avid tennis fans (and not even all of them) will watch the ATP Cup in the middle of the night.

 

Proposed Solutions

It is not practical – indeed, it is a bit farcical – for the men’s tennis annual calendar to include two World Cup events.

And it is difficult to imagine that both the Davis Cup and the ATP Cup will survive for long financially after the sport’s aging “Big 3” stars (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) retire.

That said, the colorful 120-year history of the Davis Cup demonstrates the durable appeal of a national team event to both players and fans.

How to move forward?

– Merge the Davis Cup and the ATP Cup into a single event.

 

– Call the event “Davis Cup.”

The current generation of young players has grown up dreaming of representing their countries in Davis Cup.  Permit them to do so.

 

– Schedule the event for the current Laver Cup week in September, after the U.S. Open.

With its limited field size (only ten to twelve players) and its idiosyncratic format (don’t ask), the Laver Cup makes more sense as a year-end fluff event than as a quasi-serious autumn tournament.

 

– Vary the event’s location.

Since most tennis teams are European, it makes the most sense for both box office and TV viewership to place the team event primarily in Europe. (For U.S.-based TV viewers, schedules at European tennis events – especially for night sessions – are usually convenient.)

 

– Vary the event’s court surface so that it does not test merely which country produces the best players on indoor hard courts.

 

– Continue using video review.

 

– Award ranking points, but do not allow the team event’s participants to count the event as an extra tournament for ranking purposes.

 

– To increase anticipation while lightening players’ workloads, schedule the team event for alternate years – preferably the odd years, in order to avoid overloading Olympic seasons.

 

Voilà – a prestigious, exciting men’s national team event that appeals to both players and fans.

Will these changes come to pass?

If not – if the stakeholders insist on keeping both competitions – might I suggest one modification to the current situation:

Schedule both Davis Cup and ATP Cup for only alternate years, both in the same calendar year, and in the odd years only.

Thus, instead of only a six-week interval between Davis Cup and ATP Cup, team touraments would be separated by about a year (13 months and 10 months, respectively).