A FEW YEARS ago, in a journalism class a friend of mine was teaching, one of the older students said he didn't get another writer's passing reference to a current movie. In the ensuing discussion, my friend said they might want to stick to allusions that were widely familiar - "You know, like 'Round up the usual suspects.' "I would have thought EVERYONE knew "Round up the usual suspects," as spoken by Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault. Well, we will always have it on video, or at least CD, or maybe Blue-Ray, or at least Wikipedia.
Blank faces stared back at her. Not a mile from the Casablanca restaurant in Harvard Square, where a huge mural depicts characters from the movie, sat a roomful of students who had never heard that famous line of dialogue from "Casablanca."
So we won't always have Paris, after all.
My surprise was when I showed up at the office the Wednesday before the Jan Freeman article came out. Being Wednesday, it was time for an hour of Texas Hold'em and since we were moving the organization to a new location I asked the Business Unit Director if Nathan Detroit had found us a location. Nathan who? Casablanca was 1942, but Guys and Dolls was 1955. For those with a foggy memory, Frank Sinatra played Nathan Detroit in the movie. You do know old "Blue Eyes," don't you?
So, for those who have forgotten, here is the song about Good Old Reliable Nathan Detroit:
But we ain't got a grand on hand.
And they now got a lock on the door
To the gym at P.S. 84.
There's the stock room behind the McCloskey's bar.
But Mrs. McCloskey ain't a good scout.
And things being how they are
The back of the police station is out!
So the Biltmore garage is the spot.
But the one thousand bucks we ain't got.
Why it's good old reliable Nathan!
Nathan, Nathan, Nathan, Detroit!
If you're looking for action, his firm is the spot.
Even when the heat is on, it's never too hot.
Not for good old reliable Nathan!
Where it's always just a short walk
To the oldest established, permanent floating,
Crap game in New York
There are well-heeled shooters everywhere, everywhere
There are well-heeled shooters everywhere.
And an awful lot of lettuce
For the fella who can get us there.
If we only had a lousy little grand
We could be a millionaire!
That's good old reliable Nathan!
Nathan, Nathan, Nathan, Detroit!
If the size of your bundle you want to increase
He'll arrange that you go broke in quiet and peace
In a hideout provided by Nathan
Where there are no neighbors to squawk.
It's the oldest established permanent floating
Crap game in New York.
Where's the action? Where's the game?
Gotta have the game
Of we'll die from shame.
It's the oldest established, permanent floating
Crap game in New York!
Regards — Cliff
The end-of-week NY Times crossword is the epicenter of asyllogistic and obscure (e.g. operatic) cultural references. I learned long ago that, for many younger people, Wings was the band Paul McCartney was in before he went solo, and, except for late night hosts like Craig Fergusen making jokes about how old Sir Paul is, I'm expecting a lot of young folks today will have already moved on to "Paul who?", and there's very little to be done about it. The fact that my parents don't know the words to Yellow Submarine either is just another part of the fun.
ReplyDeleteCliff-
ReplyDeleteI too saw that Word column and bemoan the loss of "knowlege and reference" and the relegating of such phrases as "retro" saying at richardhowe.com: "Speaking About Retro - I was sad to read in the Globe’s Word that phrases like “the usual suspects” are loosing their cache and even relevance. Described as “taking retro” - such language seems out of favor. Well maybe with some but not with me. Watch for more retro-isms in my other posts!"