Twit Kennedy’s Favourite April Tweets

Tweet: Action is what happens, while suspense is what we think might happen. Suspense trumps action.

Please Explain (PE): This came after seeing the TV re-make of the boys’ own classic The 39 Steps starring Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks) as Richard Hannay and Lydia Leonard. This polished  2008 TV movie production had plenty of ambiance and was quite engaging, but lacked the suspense that made Hitchcock’s 1935 outing with Robert Donat and Madeline Carroll a classic. Still better than Kenneth More (1959) and Robert Powell (1978).

Tweet: Director Stevens once asked John Wayne (see pic top)  to deliver a line with more awe and it all came out elongated and slow as, “Aaa-www-eee Truly this must be the son of Gaud.”

PE: This was the Easter weekend trivia twitter and came courtesy of the George Stevens directed, The Greatest Story Ever Told,1965, peppered with Hollywood stars from the era. The Duke played a Roman Centurion standing at the foot of the cross and I guess it wasn’t one of his typical roles. He  gave it his best shot to coin a phrase. When I first heard this anecdote Wayne had recently made his Vietnam war film the Green Berets, 1968, and it was fashionable to belittle and mock him. Today his work stands in much higher stead.

Tweet: George Bernard Shaw was asked during World War Two what he was doing for the fight for civilisation and replied: “I am the civilisation they are fighting for.” Variation on a theme.

PE: This came about as a result of catching ABC612 presenter Steve Austin’s introduction into an arts story one morning. He quoted Churchill responding to his finance minister’s announcement that he would cut funding to the arts for the war effort. Churchill relied: “Then what are we fighting for?” It stuck me that there were lots of quotes and anecdotes in the arts – and other areas of life – which were similar. However, it could be argued on the one hand that Churchill never mentioned GBS. Maybe the playwright  noticed and decided to redress the balance?

Tweet: Would Van Gough have got into self-harm if he had been given a sympathetic ear?

PE: Just been watching a documentary on Van Gough which prompted three or four lines, but this one most tickled  my fancy. I was also impressed with the fact that when the great painter volunteered to move into the mental hospital at Saint Paul-de-Mausole his brother, Theo, asked that he be allowed his painting materials and half a litre of wine each day. I would have insisted on at least a litre.

Tweet: Been struggling to get into my own blog for the past three days like a drunk breaking into his own home because he lost his door key.

PE: That’s true. I did spend much of three working days trying to break into my own diary so I could post. It turned out because I have two of the darned things, I’d got all my pass words mixed up. I was told I was lucky not to have lost the lot. The line also brought back a memory of the night number one son was born, I got a little drunk, lost my door key, and had to break into my own home. No. I am not going to say these jotting are now my babies.

So as you see, Dear Reader, there’s more things between heaven and twitter. Now I must catch the cyber post.