Wagon Master

Wagon Master is the quintessence of John Ford. All his favourite things distilled into one short, almost plotless western. It's very beautiful. A Wordsworthian lyric about high rocks and fast rivers and simple human decency.

Not Cute

When you become a senior politician (not to mention President of the United States) there are certain things you forgo. And one of them is cuteness. There is no way you can hold the fate of millions in your hands and be cute.

It doesn't matter how wise and beloved you are or how devious and hated. Abraham Lincoln and Richard M Nixon are equal in this. They are neither of them the least bit cute.

Cuteness is bound up with being small and helpless and vulnerable and pretty. Cuteness and power don't mix.

Which is why George Bush talking to his doggies in the Oval Office is so utterly embarrassing.