Talk:Fools' Parade
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Templates[edit]
Please do not remove the uncat and wikify templates unless you add the article to one or more categories (for uncat) or revise the article to conform to Wikipedia style (wikify). Erechtheus 15:38, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
Junior Kilfong shoots the "drummer" Roy K. Sizemore, mistakenly, with a .30-30 Winchester. Matty Appleyard is pursued because he is carrying a cashiers' check for the $25,t52.32. Another name for the book was "Appalatian Echoes". It is a good description of the miners' lot in the late nineteenth thru early twentieth century, during the union struggles. It also is an accurate description of the beginnings of dynamite blasting in the East, in the 1880's. Mr. Sizemore is an unwitting victim, as, quite often, dynamite was smuggled on "common carries" during the '30ts to save freight. Dan Smith. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.235.149 (talk) 02:34, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
James Stewart was a natural for the role of Matty Appleyard. He is a very beloved American actor, from Indiana, Pennsylvania, a small coal mining town near West Virginia. It is interesting to note that Arthur Kennedy and Strother Martin (a character actor) have "reversed" roles in this movie from "Cool Hand Luke", where Martin plays the sadistic jailer and Kennedy on a chain gang. Martin's infamous line: "What we have here is a failure to communicate", as he beats Paul Newman. Kennedy plays a very believeable, evil preacher-gone-bad (like another of Davis Grubb's characters, in "Night of the Hunter"). He is as evil as Hannibal Lektor, or Lee Van Cleef, or the great Jack Palance, himself.-Dan Smith 70.171.235.149 02:38, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
Notes[edit]
Junior Kilfong shoots the "drummer" Roy K. Sizemore, mistakenly, with a .30-30 Winchester. Matty Appleyard is pursued because he is carrying a cashiers' check for the $25,452.32. Another name for the book was "Appalachian Echoes". It is a good description of the miners' lot in the late nineteenth through early twentieth century, during the union struggles. It also is an accurate description of the beginnings of dynamite blasting in the East, in the 1880s. Mr. Sizemore is an unwitting victim, as, quite often, dynamite was smuggled on "common carriers" during the 1930s to save freight.
Worth mentioning are the pristine, white sneakers worn by Doc Council. Council changes them whenever they show the slightest amount of dirt, even while performing his "dirty" work. The director focuses on them, although they're not essential to the plot. In the end, following the dynamite blast, a single white sneaker flying in through the window of the abandoned house tells the viewer that Doc Council is dead, without showing gore. —QuicksilverT @ 00:52, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
Yes, these Red-Ball tennis shoes show an obsessive/compulsive complex, common in psychopaths.70.162.46.94 (talk) 02:30, 11 September 2011 (UTC)
Further notes; reversal of roles; allusion of Council to Harry Powell[edit]
James Stewart was a natural for the role of Matty Appleyard. He is a very beloved American actor, from Indiana, Pennsylvania, a small coal mining town near West Virginia.
It is interesting to note that Arthur Kennedy and Strother Martin (a character actor) have "reversed" roles from "Cool Hand Luke" in this movie, where Martin plays the sadistic jailer and Kennedy on a chain gang. Remember Martin's infamous line: "What we have here is a failure to communicate", as he beats Paul Newman?
In Fools' Parade, Kennedy plays a very believable, evil preacher-gone-bad (like Harry Powell, played by Robert Mitchum, in Davis Grubb's previous "Night of the Hunter"). He is as evil as Hannibal Lecter, or Lee Van Cleef, or the great Jack Palance.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.176.118.196 (talk) 20:08, 25 March 2011 (UTC)
Mattie Appleyard[edit]
It's been some 30 years since I saw the film and currently do not have access to either the film or the book, but I seem to recall that Mattie Appleyard wasn't a common criminal, as the article now implies. If memory serves, he was a mining engineer who found himself in a desperate situation and used dynamite in self defense to kill pursuers with evil intentions. He was unjustly convicted of murder nonetheless, and that forms the background of the story. If someone can watch the film or read the novel, this point should be clarified. —QuicksilverT @ 01:05, 1 May 2011 (UTC)
He was simply a miner. He got mixed up in a union strike; two goons were shooting at him and his partner. His partner was shot dead (as mentioned in movie); Appleyard defended himself. Since he went up agasinst the rich, powerful mine owners, he did not stand a fair chance in court and was convicted.70.162.46.94 (talk) 02:28, 11 September 2011 (UTC)
Home Video Release[edit]
Does anyone have any information as to why this has never been released to home video that we could cite? The rumor I hear on various message boards is that it's Anne Baxter's estate, but that's not solid enough to mention in the actual article. --Bark (talk) 17:33, 20 August 2014 (UTC)
Anne Baxter is billed 7th in the opening credits and 3rd in the closing credits[edit]
It should be noted that the acting credits which appear in the article under section header "Cast" are those listed in the closing credits. Both the opening and closing credits list the cast members in the same order, with the sole exception of Anne Baxter who receives the prestigious "AND" 7th billing in the opening credits, which becomes 3rd billing in the closing credits. For the record, below is a reproduction of the cast listing in the opening credits:
Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 09:56, 26 February 2020 (UTC)