P.S.: Coffee, Music & John Wayne

After a leisurely morning in Sharon's fantastic condo, we headed out for another full day of desert delights.

I will never tire of coffeeing at Koffi on North Palm Canyon. While there are several locations, this is the only one which offers an escape into old Palm Springs.
Our next respite was in the courtyard of the historic Welwood Library (1941). Every Tuesday in January, this is the location for a musical interlude during lunchtime. The Simon duo (Adriana Simon - vocals, Robert Simon - acoustic guitar) have been performing for over 15 years in a variety of special events, weddings, corporate functions, private parties, and live shows. Their music covers a wide range of repertoire including popular cover songs from the 70s up to the present time in various styles such as pop, rock, ballads and Latin music (Adriana is from Buenos Aires). They were quite entertaining and we did not want to leave yet another library event called to us and we just had to go.
I am a huge fan of the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory. This event was one that was in my inbox upon waking and Sharon agreed that it was a great way to end our time together.
We were there for the third edition of Hollywood Gamechangers: Stagecoach.
The series is described, "Documentarian and award-winning author Steven C. Smith takes us inside the battles and breakthroughs behind four screen classics. All of them defied the rules…advanced the art of filmmaking…and remain among the most entertaining movies ever made." We're sorry we missed the first two!
Before the film began, Mr. Smith share the incredible history of how this film came to be. Turns out, John Wayne was not an overnight success. Thirty-two year old John Wayne had been kicking around Hollywood for over a decade when legendary director John Ford cast him in Stagecoach. The thrilling, Oscar-winning western finally made Wayne a star. Its character-driven script and superb ensemble cast, including Claire Trevor as a sympathetic prostitute, revitalized the western genre, which by 1939 had been relegated to B-movies. Stagecoach was the film that Orson Welles studied repeatedly before making Citizen Kane. It is also a major influence on the work of a current directing master: Steven Spielberg.
A little about John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison). He was born in Winterset, Iowa, but grew up in Southern California. After losing his football scholarship to the University of Southern California due to a bodysurfing accident (he was studying to be a lawyer) he began working for the Fox Film Corporation, beginning as a prop guy. After being 'discovered' he eventually appeared in small parts, but his first leading role came in Raoul Walsh's Western The Big Trail (1930), an early widescreen film epic that was a box-office failure. The film's lack of success was blamed on its casting. Mr. Wayne toiled for years playing leading roles in numerous B movies, most of them also Westerns, without becoming a major name. Until...
Director John Ford saw something in this tall Iowan and cast him, against everyone else's wishes, as the lead in Stagecoach (1939). The movie would have won all the Academy Awards that year had it not had competition from a little film called Gone with the Wind.

After the movie, Mr. Smith answered questions which we all had. What a truly enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. My hope is to return for the final gamechanger- Pillow Talk.
The film was a huge success and has long been recognized as an important work that transcends the Western genre. In 1995, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.
John Wayne is the movie star most mentioned on my blog. I have a connection to him through my Dad. They were both born in Winterset, Iowa, though my Dad was born when Marion was going off to college. (Ironically, next month would be my Dad's 100th birthday.) Both men had the nickname of Duke. I have no idea if Mr. Wayne was the inspiration for my Dad's moniker or not.
During a 1998 road trip across America, we detoured to the birthplace of these two incredible men. Winterset was also the setting for the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County so I just had to follow in the footsteps of Clint and Meryl.
I love when a seemingly unrelated event evokes a trip down Memory Lane. I enjoy it even more when that trip is shared with a friend. Oh man, I do 💙 Palm Springs!

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