"THE GREAT RACE" (1965) Photo Gallery

Below are images from the 1965 period comedy, "THE GREAT RACE".  Directed by Blake Edwards, the movie starred Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood:   

"THE GREAT RACE" (1965) Photo Gallery

St. Paul Sandwich

 

Below is an article about the dish known as St. Paul Sandwich:

ST. PAUL SANDWICH

I am a California girl - born and bred. Yet, a part of me is also a Midwesterner. Most of my family - both paternal and maternal - are from St. Louis, Missouri. And I had spent part of my childhood in the Gateway City. One of my fondest memories of St. Louis is the collection of various Chinese-American fast food joints spread throughout the city. I might as well say it. Some of the best Chinese-American fast food I have ever eaten was in St. Louis. And one of my all time favorite dishes to emerge from these eateries was the St. Paul sandwich.

The origin of the St. Paul sandwich dates back to the early 1940s, when it was created to appeal Midwesterners' palates. In fact, the sandwich is believed to be an example of early fusion cuisine. According to legend, a cook or chef named Steven Yuen invented the St. Paul sandwich at an eatery called Park Chop Suey in Lafayette Square, a neighborhood near downtown St. Louis. Yuen named the dish after his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. Food writers James Beard and Evan Jones believed that the St. Paul sandwich was an early variation of another dish called the Denver sandwich, which originated in the Colorado city around 1907.

The St. Paul sandwich consists of an egg foo young patty; which is made with egg, mung bean sprouts, and minced white onions; between two slices of white bread. Included in the sandwich are dill pickle slices, white onion, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato. The St. Paul sandwich also comes in different combinations and specials that include chicken, pork, shrimp, beef, and other varieties. Originally, the St. Paul sandwich contained four pieces of white bread with chicken and egg stuffed inside. Later, it simply consisted of an egg and hamburger on a bun.

The dish can be found in St. Louis and other cities in Missouri like Jefferson City, Columbia and Springfield. It can also be found in Chinese-American restaurants in California and Oregon, notably at the Lung Fung in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It is usually served with regional names like "Egg Foo Young on Bun". I have eaten Chinese-American fast food in Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington D.C. and Chicago and have yet to encounter the St. Paul sandwich in any of these cities.

Below is a recipe for St. Paul sandwich from the Feast Magazine website:


St. Paul Sandwich

Ingredients

Canola oil, for deep-frying
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
¼ cup diced or thinly sliced onion
2 Tbsp diced green bell pepper
3 small cooked shrimp, peeled
3 Tbsp diced or shredded poached chicken
3 pieces cooked beef (1/8 inch thick, 1 inch wide and 1½ inches long)
1 large egg
¼ tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 slices white bread
Iceberg lettuce leaf
2 thin slices tomato
3 to 4 dill pickle slices


Preparation

Pour about 4 cups oil into a deep-fryer or deep saucepan. Bring to 375ºF.

Break bean sprouts by crushing them lightly in the palm of your hand. Place in medium mixing bowl. Add onion, green pepper, shrimp, chicken and beef. Stir to combine.

Beat egg lightly with a fork in a small bowl. Mix in cornstarch. Pour egg mixture over the sprouts mixture. Stir well.

Place egg mixture in a shallow metal ladle 4¼ inches wide (big enough to hold it all).

Test the heat of the oil by throwing in a bean sprout. The sprout will immediately pop to the top if the oil is hot enough.

When oil is hot enough, gradually lower full ladle into hot oil, but don't allow top of egg mixture to drop into the oil. The egg patty will cook in the ladle. Some hot oil will seep over the edges of the ladle. Cook until almost done, 2 to 3 minutes, then spoon a little of the hot oil over the top of the patty to finish the cooking.

Transfer egg patty to a slotted spoon. If any egg mixture drips out, return the patty to the ladle and place in the hot oil for an additional minute. The patty should be uniformly browned and sealed.

Spread mayonnaise on one slice of bread. Top with the iceberg lettuce and tomato slices. Slide the cooked egg patty onto the other slice of bread. Garnish with pickles. Close the sandwich. Wrap bottom in waxed paper and serve immediately.

Tester's note: If you do not have a deep fryer, you can use a skillet, but the texture will not be the same. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a 6-inch skillet; sauté the onion and green pepper over medium heat until the onion is translucent. Add the shrimp, chicken and beef and then the egg-cornstarch mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until the egg is scrambled.

"SHANE" (1953) Review

 

"SHANE" (1953) Review

The history behind the production for the 1953 classic Western, "SHANE" is a curious one. At the time, it was one of the most expensive Westerns ever made in Hollywood. And director George Stevens' first choices for the film's two male leads never panned out. Yet, despite the expenses and Stevens' initial bad luck with his casting choices, "SHANE" became one of the most famous Westerns ever made in Hollywood.

"SHANE" was based upon Jack Schaefer's 1949 novel of the same title. Many film historians and critics believe the narrative's basic elements were based upon a historical event, the 1892 Johnson County War. Although this was never acknowledged by Stevens, Schaefer or the film's screenwriter, A.B. Guthrie Jr. And yet . . . the film's setting turned out to be the same one for the famous cattlemen-homesteaders conflict, Wyoming. The plot for "SHANE" proved to be simple. An experienced gunfighter named Shane, weary of his violent past, arrives at a county in Wyoming Territory in 1889 and befriends a homesteader/rancher named Joe Starrett and the latter's family. Despite Starrett's revelation of a conflict between homesteaders like himself and a ruthless and powerful rancher named Rufus Ryker, Shane accepts a job as Starrett's ranch hand. Before long, Shane not only finds himself emotionally drawn to the Starretts, but also pulled into the range war that is raging.

Anyone with any knowledge about old Hollywood or American Western films will automatically tell you that "SHANE" is highly regarded and much-beloved movie. The American Film Institute (AFI) has list it as one of the top three (3) Hollywood Westerns ever made and it is ranked 45 on the list of top 100 films. The movie earned six Academy Award nominations and won an award for Best Cinematography (in color). Many people believe Alan Ladd should have received an Academy Award for his performance as the mysterious "former" gunslinger Shane and consider the role as his best performance. How do I feel?

I cannot deny that "SHANE" is a first-rate movie. Who am I kidding? It is an excellent look at violence on the American frontier. And thanks to George Stevens' direction, it is also brutal. Unlike many previous movie directors, Stevens did not stylize the violent deaths depicted in the film. A major example of this peek into life on the frontier is a scene that featured the brutal death of Frank "Stonewall" Torrey, a small rancher portrayed by Elisha Cook Jr., who was killed by Jack Wilson, a villainous gunslinger portrayed by Jack Palance:

Contrary to what one might originally believe, I do not believe "SHANE" preached against violence. Yes, the screenplay written by Guthrie questioned the constant use of violence to solve problems. But the movie made it clear that sometimes, one has no choice but to fight. Does this rule apply to the situation in "SHANE"? Hmmmm . . . good question.

Another aspect of "SHANE" that I found fascinating was Shane's attempts to put his violent past behind him in his interactions with the Starrett family. Whether Shane was working or riding beside Joe, befriending Joey and struggling to suppress his obvious sexual desire for Marian; it seemed pretty obvious that he had developed close feelings for the entire family. And it would also explained why he would hang around, despite the danger of being dragged into a range war.

I cannot deny that "SHANE" featured some first-rate performances. I also cannot deny that Alan Ladd was in top form as the soft-spoken gunslinger who tried to hang up his gun belt, while staying with Starretts. I have always believed that Ladd was an underrated actor. Many critics have regarded his role as Shane as a singular example of how excellent he was as an actor. Do not get me wrong. I also admire his performance as Shane. It was a prime example of his skills as a movie actor. But I have seen other Ladd performances that I found equally impressive. Van Heflin's portrayal of the determined small rancher, Joe Starrett, struck me as equally impressive. I could never really regard his character as complex, but Heflin made it easy for me to see why Shane had no problems befriending Joe . . . or why other ranchers regarded him as their unofficial leader.  Stevens had originally wanted both Montgomery Clift and William Holden as Shane and Joe Starrett, respectively.  Frankly, I believe it was fortunate both actors had not been available for the movie.  I believe both would have proven too young for the two roles.  Jean Arthur had been lured out of an early retirement by Stevens for the role of Marian Starrett. I thought she did a superb job of conveying her character's complicated feelings for Shane. Thanks to Arthur's performance, Marian seemed to be torn between her love for Joe, her attraction to Shane and her revulsion toward his violent past.

Brandon deWilde had received an Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role as the Starretts' young son, Joe Jr. (Joey). Do not get me wrong. I thought deWilde gave a very good performance as the impressionable, yet energetic young Joey. But an Oscar nod? Honestly, I have seen better performances from a good number of child actors - then and now. Another Best Supporting Actor nomination was given to Jack Palance for his role as the villainous gunslinger, Jack Wilson. When I re-watched this movie for the last time, there seemed to be two faces to Palance's performance. Most of his appearances featured the actor projecting the stone-faced villainy of his character. But there were moments when Palance managed to convey the more human side of Wilson - whether it was his boredom toward his employer's other minions or weariness at the idea of facing another person to kill. It is strange that I had never noticed this before.

I also have to give kudos to Elisha Cook Jr. as the doomed Frank Toomey, who spent most of the movie aggressively expressing his anger at Ryker's attempts to drive him and other small ranchers out of the valley. And yet . . . Cook's best scene featured Toomey's last moments, when he began to silently express regret at his quick temper and his realization that he was about to meet his death. "SHANE" also featured some first-rate performances from Emilie Meyer as the ruthless and greedy Rufus Ryker; Ben Johnson as one of Ryker's ranch hands, whose early encounter with Shane made him see the light; and the likes of Ellen Corby, Edgar Buchanan, Douglas Spencer and Edith Evanson.

Despite my admiration for "SHANE", George Stevens' direction and A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s screenplay . . . the movie is not a particularly favorite of mine. I like the film, but I do not love it. There are certain aspects of "SHANE" that prevents me from fully embracing it. One is Loyal Griggs' cinematography. I realize that he had won an Academy Award for his work. And I must say that he did an excellent job in capturing the beauty of the movie's Wyoming and California locations. But I found his use of natural lighting for the interior shots very frustrating, especially since I could barely see a damn thing in some shots. Another aspect of "SHANE" that annoyed me was its message regarding violence. I have no problem with any story declaring the use of violence in certain situations. My problem is that I did not find the local ranchers' situation with Ryker dire enough that they had to insist upon fighting it out. Granted, if they had agreed to sell their land to Ryker and leave, it would have meant his victory. I do not know. Perhaps I did not care. Or perhaps this feeling came from my contempt toward the Frank Toomey character, who had stupidly decided to give in to his anger and aggression by facing Ryker and Wilson.

Another aspect of "SHANE" that annoyed me was the Joey Starrett character. I have seen my share of on-screen precocious children in movies and television. But there was something about Joey Starrett that truly got under my skin. I do not blame Brandon deWilde. He was only following Stevens' direction.  Then again, deWilde's portrayal of Joey was probably realistic for his age.  I still found him excessively annoying.  But before the movie's last reel, I found myself wishing that someone would push dear Joey into the mud . . . face first. If there was one aspect of "SHANE" that truly annoyed me, it was bringing the U.S. Civil War into the narrative. I can only recall three characters who were established as Civil War veterans - Shane, Frank Toomey and Jack Wilson. Of the three, guess which one fought with the Union? That is correct. The evil and slimy Wilson. And to make matters worse, Guthrie's screenplay had Shane utter these words to Wilson before shooting him - "I've heard that you're a low-down Yankee liar." In other words, "SHANE" became another example of Hollywood's subtle, yet never-ending reverence for the Confederate cause. And considering that only three characters in this film were established as war veterans, why on earth did Schaefer, Guthrie or Stevens had to drag the damn war into this story in the first place? It was so unnecessary.

Regardless of my frustrations, I must admit that "SHANE" is a first-rate Western. Director George Stevens, screenwriter A.B. Guthrie Jr. and the excellent cast led by Alan Ladd did an exceptional job in creating a Western that many would remember for decades. If only I had enjoyed it more than I actually did.

"MANSFIELD PARK" (1983) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "MANSFIELD PARK", the 1983 television adaptation of Jane Austen's 1814 novel. Directed by David Giles, the six-part miniseries starred Sylvestra Le Touzel, Nicholas Farrell and Jackie Smith-Wood:

"MANSFIELD PARK" (1983) Photo Gallery

Observations About “TIMELESS” (1.01) “Pilot”

 

In an impulsive move, I decided to do a re-watch of the first episode of “TIMELESS”, (1.01) “Pilot”.  And I noticed a few interesting things:

OBSERVATIONS ABOUT “TIMELESS” (1.01) “Pilot”

*Carolyn Preston was a seriously ill and bedridden patient when the series began.  Garcia Flynn’s changes to the timeline not only improved Carolyn’s life but also produced a currently active soldier for Rittenhouse.  Talk about irony.

*There was an interesting scene between Mason Industries founder Connor Mason and Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher, in which the latter chastised the former for creating a time machine behind the U.S. government’s back.  Mason had called in the government after the newer time machine was stolen by Garcia Flynn.  I had no idea that Agent Christopher and Mason had clashed before the Season Two episode, (2.02) “The Darlington 500″.  I wonder if there will be future clashes between the two.

*Wyatt Logan had been heavily drinking at the time when he was first summoned to Mason Industries for the first time.  His wife had been dead for at least four to five years at the time, which means he was still in a state of grief.

*Another example of Wyatt’s continuing grief over Jessica was his instant attraction to fictional journalist, Kate Drummond, who strongly reminded him of his late wife.  In fact, this led Wyatt to attempt to save her from the Hindenburg’s original crash and save her from the revised crash, even though she was destined to die.

*This was a rather interesting scene to me.  One, I noticed that Rufus Carlin was kept in a separate cell from Lucy and Wyatt in order to maintain the racial status quo in 1937 New Jersey.  I also found the scene both funny, thanks to Rufus’ insults to the cop, and scary at the same time.  Instead of rushing the cell to hurt Rufus, the cop deliberately left the cell room and returned with a fellow cop with the intent to beat Rufus with batons (probably to death), especially since Wyatt was having difficulty unlocking the cells with the underwire of Lucy’s bra.

*This episode also introduced Flynn’s possession of Lucy’s diary.  To this day, I have always wondered how he managed to acquire it, if the time machines cannot travel to the future.  Or can they?  The page featured in the image above hint the team and Flynn’s activities in the episode, (1.08) “Space Race”.

*I was surprised that Lucy and Flynn had their first meeting so soon in the series.  What is interesting is that Flynn displayed no hostility toward her.  Instead, he told her about the diary and his personal knowledge of her.  He also revealed his knowledge of Lucy’s aspirations to follow in Carolyn’s footsteps, warning her that would be a bad idea.  This last remark struck me as a foreshadow of the Season One finale’s revelation of Carolyn as a Rittenhouse agent.

*This episode also revealed that Mason, had instructed Rufus to record the team’s mission and to continue doing so in the future.  This made me realize that Rittenhouse had been interested in Mason’s time machine from the beginning and foreshadowed Rittenhouse’s use of the newer time machine in Season Two.

*For a long time, I have wondered why Flynn wanted to prevent the Hindenburg from crashing the first time.  But when I noticed that he had planted a bomb on the airship before it was due to return to Germany, I eventually speculated that he had discovered someone connected to Rittenhouse was scheduled to travel on that return journey.