Those were the days...

One Turner movie channel is showing Peter O'Toole films tonight. I just turned on the TV for the first time in 3 days, and Becket is on channel 37. They can't make movies like they used to, for the simple reason that there are no eyes like Richard Burton or voices like Peter O'Toole (or vice-versa) any more. If Thomas Becket and Henry II were not like Burton and O'Toole, it was their misfortune.

To hear that magic voice from that angelic face snapping at some underling, "Shut-tup!" is worth the price of a ticket or a VHS or a DVD.

Edit: Oh, today's his birthday! That's why they're showing his old films. He's 75, as far as anyone can tell. He looks 175. Dried up old mummy! Or mangey old lion. He's in something called "Stardust" that's supposed to be released this month. Hmph. Even though it seems there's more fuss being made over him now than when he was young (nominated 8 times for Oscars and never got one), it must be sad to have been what he was, and then turn into a relic. Sometimes I think the lucky ones were those who never grew old and repulsive.

Well, in the movie Becket, of course, Richard Burton died exquisitely. He received 7 Oscar nominations and never won one. He was actually born in November of 1925 and died in 1983 of a brain hemorrhage.