"Where do you come from and where are you going?"

The actor/director Sydney Pollack died in May. I have been remiss in not marking his passing, for he was the director of my favorite movie of all time, 1969's "Castle Keep."

Funny, but for some reason, I can pretty much remember the first time I ever saw the most
important movies in my life. I am sure that is no big deal, you probably can, too. Still, I can close my eyes and see a mid-1970s version of me eagerly awaiting the day when I could watch
this movie after seeing previews on Sacramento's Channel 40. My mother, bless her heart, thought the day might be a good one for me to visit my grandparents in Ceres. I was not
very interested in going until I was reminded that they had a COLOR TV. I went to Ceres and so began a love affair with a movie and book (Written by William Eastlake) which has lasted to this day.

Goodness knows why. I am not sure the movie was a hit in its day and from things I have read, it was kind of a pain in the back to make in the first place. Still, the imagery of the movie and its snappy dialogue, which was drawn, to whatever degree, from the pages of Eastlake's novel, made a great impact on me. The "theater of the absurd" quality of a group of US soldiers fighting
the Germans on the grounds of a castle, the juxtaposition of images showing calm and chaos, and above all the words spoken by the actors floored me then and still contain power these many years later. I think the movie forever instilled in me an appreciation for dialogue in movies. Of course, that might have been one of the things the critics did not like about the movie, too much dialogue.

Much of that dialogue was spoken by Burt Lancaster. He plays the one-eyed Major Falconer in the movie. If I was not one before, his performance in this movie turned me into a fan. There seems to be in the character of his voice always the element of a question. Perhaps even then
I had an interest in asking questions and that is why Lancaster's voice had such an impact on me. Just for fun, I can catch myself trying to imitate it from time to time.

Still, like I said, the movie was not a big hit for Sydney Pollack. I guess he did not let it bug him though. He went on to do some great stuff, both behind and in front of the camera. In this age of remakes, I always thought it would be interesting if he, or someone else, tried to tackle it again.
George Clooney could have done Lancaster! Why, this time around, it could have been huge!
Hmmmm...maybe not. Sydney Pollack probably wished the whole thing never happened. I mean, to get some perspective, it is the ONLY movie on his Wikipedia page director's credits which does NOT have a link. Maybe I should start one some day, eh?

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Pollack.