Rik-19 Reviews

I Was an American Spy (1951)

Seeking biographical info on "High Pockets" Claire Phillips

[18 February 2009]

Does anyone have biographical information on Claire? Her birth name was Claire Snyder. Anything you have will help, such as birth date/place, parents, siblings, etc., as well as what happened to her after her book "I Was an American Spy" was published? In the 1950s, she was remarried, with the surname Clavier.

I've found a speech by Senator Wayne Morse (he was an Oregon Republican who became an independent in 1952, then switched to the Democratic Party in 1955) about Claire Phillips Clavier (at a rough guess about 80% of the people with that surname are from Louisiana).

I also found a studio synopsis of the movie. Based on that, Boone is John Peyton Boone (then a corporal).

Claire's book "Manila Espionage" is out of print, and very difficult to find.

Wildcats (1986)

Who was the first woman to coach high school football?

[6/10 · 27 November 2006]

This movie was released about January 1986, just a few months after I saw an article reporting that a woman had been hired as the first female high school football coach (that would be for the Fall 1985 football season); it also said that all the other coaches in the same league protested (not that their protests did them any good). But I can't remember her name, nor where she coached, and all the Internet searches I've done on women in sports haven't turned up her name. Also, we are looking for the first woman to coach high school football after World War II, when some women coached high school football due to virtually all men of coaching age being in the military.

My Son John (1952)

Have people who rated this movie actually seen it?

[19 July 2004]

People who were watching movies before the days of VCR might remember this one. As of July 17, 2004, 49 IMDb users had rated this film that's been unavailable anywhere except at special museum showings. As of February 18, 2009, 130 IMDb users have rated it. How many of them have actually seen MY SON JOHN(?) Any how many rated it based on its notoriety?

I'd like to hear from those people who've seen it. Recent or otherwise. Where did you see it?

You don't have to tell me how ridiculously bad it is. Some movies are just forgettably bad, but this is one nobody forgets. I've yet to talk to anyone who thought it was good, but I wouldn't mind hearing from anyone who feels that way.

I haven't cast a vote because I haven't seen it, but I sure would like to. Does anyone know where I can buy it on DVD?

Pearl Harbor (2001)

Has anyone seen the Japanese version of this?

[18 July 2004]

In an editorial titled 'Made for Japan' (dated June 28, 2001), the Los Angeles Times wrote that a sanitized version of "Pearl Harbor" was created for Japan. According to the Times, the Japanese version portrays those in the Japanese government as peace-loving industrialist forced into war by outrageous American economic sanctions.

I contacted the Disney publicity department, which (not surprisingly) denied any changes to the movie other than incidental matters, such as a calendar on FDR's desk showing the date 'December 8th' (the day in Japan when the attack took place).

Maybe someone who has seen the Japanese version of the movie will tell the rest of us whether it was changed in the manner the Times alleged.

Green Grow the Rushes (1951)

Does anyone know how this song relates to the movie?

[6 July 2004]

Is there any documentation on the story of this movie. In other words, how does this derive from the 18th-century English folk song "Green Grow the Rushes" (?) Those words are sung in the second line of each verse. The first verse is, I'll sing you one O. Green grow the rushes O. and so on until the song reaches I'll sing you twelve O... it's a counting song, similar to "The Twelve Days of Christmas." In Kent, the movie's setting, some of the locals are "Lily White," though no reason is given by the movie as to how anyone earns that designation. In the song, each verse (after the first) has the line, "Two, two, the lily-white boys, clothed all in green O." But the original meaning of that is now a matter of speculation.