0:00 [Music] Who are you? And where are you going? What do you [Music] want? Hello and welcome to Jiggers's Place. I'm your host, Kevin Deml, and we are here every other Thursday at 5:00 pm Pacific time to sit back, have a cocktail, and talk about all those
0:37 things not related to our professional and financial lives, whether it's books, values, relationships, uh all the things that that uh presumably we uh care about earning money in our profession. sessions in order to have. So, uh I I I've had this topic on my mind for quite a long time. It's it's one that has uh intrigued me uh for for years. And that is uh George Py's idea. and he's I don't
1:14 think he's the only one who's ever come up with this, but he's probably the best known for this idea that in reality there's only a certain number of story ideas in in George Py's case, 36 uh dramatic story ideas. And any story that you can think of, any great book that was written in the last several millennia will fall into one of those uh dramatic patterns. And so we're I'm going to take uh Mr. Boly at his word
1:51 and we're going to go through those a little bit of a not not a quiz but kind of a can you match it to the the the famous movie or the famous uh story and and and see what you think. And so in honor of uh our discussing George Py's idea uh I with with the help of I don't remember now if it was Claude or Chat GPT I created a cocktail called the PY. It's it's a vodka cocktail and if if you watch the show regularly you know I don't usually um get involved
2:29 with vodka. At one time it was one of my favorite spirits. Not not so much anymore. The reality is is vodka is just basically alcohol. In in this case, I'm going to be using a flavored vodka, which makes it a little bit more interesting. Uh, and it uses a citrus vodka. This happens to be Smirnoff. And people talk to me pretty, you know, pretty frequently about, oh, you know, I can tell the difference between vodkas and this and that and Finlandia and this and Grey Goose and um the reality is uh
3:07 if you've got a high quality vodka, it's tasteless. That's one of the things about vodka. So, I remember this is quite a number of years ago now. I I heard about a a blind taste test that was done with vodkas and Smirnoff came out number one in terms of what people liked even up against all the super premium vodkas and indeed uh the the Smrnoff flavored vodkas are are are quite good. Um you can see this bottle is um you know 2/3
3:44 empty. Uh, and then I'm going to mix with that some uh pomegranate pomegranate juice. This happens to be made by Saddaf, which is a a kosher brand of pomegranate juice. Some lemon juice. This happens to be Trader Joe's organic lemon juice. Just a little bit of simple syrup, which is really just sugar and water. Little teeny bit. And then I'm going to drop in. Now the if you got the cocktail recipe online, I mean uh via email, you see that it it calls for cranberries. I'm actually going to use
4:20 uh goji berries. That's what I happen to have on hand. And we're going to use 36 of them, one for each of the dramatic uh situations. So, okay. So, we're going to start with uh 2 oz of vodka. And if you followed the ingredients, this is the only one that has alcohol in it. Okay. And then we're going to add to that 1 oz of pomegranate
4:56 juice. Sure. I got the right There it is. Okay. And then, by the way, I have ice in my shaker, as you might have guessed. Okay. Half ounce of lemon juice. More go.
5:31 And then a/4 ouncez of simple syrup. There are all kinds of simple syrups out there. This is just one that I happen to find. Now I don't remember where. So that in. And you can see that the shaker is already creasing up. and shake this for a good 20 to 30 seconds. Uh that's because we not only want it to mix
6:07 together, but we want some of the ice to melt, open up the flavors. Talk about that pretty much every time I bake cocktail, right? That's part of the process. You can see the whole shaker, the outside is frozen. That means we're getting it nice and good. Let's do a few seconds more. I have my poop ready. When it comes to to cocktails, poop is my favorite glass. Okay.
6:42 And strain this in. Oh, it's got a lovely color from the pomegranate juice. That's nice. And then we're going to put in 36 goji berries. So, let's see. Hopefully, I have 36. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Okay. 8 9
7:18 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 3 4 25 26 Do I have 10 more? Looks like I do. Very good. My little packet here. 21 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Is the suspense killing you? 35
7:54 and 36. And the goji berries are making an even darker uh color. It's very dramatic. I Can you see Can you see through the Yeah, it almost looks like red wine. Here we go. Let's give it a try. Nice. Nice mixing of flavors. Okay, I'll see you over on the couch.
9:13 So for me, the week started out with a festival. So, it's kind it's been kind of a short work week, which on the one hand seems nice, but on the other hand, you end up jamming in most of a week's work into fewer days. That's right. Isn't that how it works? So, this cocktail, it's a it's on the on the tart side, which I like. Both the u pomeg pomegranate juice and lemon
9:49 juice are on the tart side. I think makes a really great uh uh mixture of flavors. So the 36 dramatic situations. Um so he um so George Py um in in a book he wrote in the 1800s which was based on earlier writings he he observed that in
10:24 reality there were a limited number of situations uh in into which all stories Paul and he divided them up into uh I think it's six categories if I remember yeah six cate six uh sort of broader categories within which there were there are six dramatic themes or situations and when I was preparing for this
10:59 show I you know went through many different iterations of examples for each each particular situation and indeed it it's it's it's quite interesting uh how this this seems to be true. PY seems to be right. That's that's what I think I'll I'll I'll put it that uh now there have been some expansions on George Py's work. Uh there's one, and I'll talk about this a little bit toward the end, positive. There's a 37th
11:36 dramatic situation that he did not identify. Um but there almost almost all of what you see is interpreted through Py's George Py's idea from the 19th century. And so I'm going to give you first the category and then I'll give you the six situations in it. And as I give you each situation, see if you can think of a famous uh classic movie or classic work that falls into the
12:13 category. uh dramas of course is what we're dealing with or you know dramatic comedies would would fit uh the bill as well and and see if you come up with the one that that I came up with as as the example. Okay. So his first category is supplication which is like pleading right and rescue. Okay. So number one is supplication, right? It's a a a a persecutor and a and a supplicant and
12:51 and a power figure, right? And the supplicant is trying to get something from usually the power figure while being persecuted for for what he wants. So the one that the example I came up with is the great uh Marlon Brando movie. It was one of his breakthrough roles. And by the way, you'll see a couple at least a couple of actors who show whose work shows up on this list more than once. Um and that is the great 1954 film On
13:29 the Waterfront. So, uh um Brando plays a uh a former uh boxer and he's he's wrestling with his conscience because um he witnessed a murder and he's being urged to testify uh against basically these union leaders who set up the murder basically, right? But it's dangerous because if he if he testifies he, you know, he could get beaten up or killed himself, right? And
14:05 so the but the the the core idea of this is supplication. Please please testify. If you won't testify, you know, these kinds of things will keep happening. And there's many examples of that, especially in films. Okay, so supplication number one. Number two, deliverance. Now, by the way, you may be thinking of the movie Deliverance. There was one. I'm not so sure the movie Deliverance is is the plot is exactly deliverance, by the way. So, that's not the example here. So, uh uh so the idea, the core
14:42 idea behind the dramatic situation of deliverance is an oppressed character is rescued. Okay? And you know, think about it for a moment. So my pick is again you'll be hearing this a lot I as you know I love movies is the amazing movie Schindler's List from 1993 right a German businessman Schindler Oscar Schindler risks everything basically to
15:17 rescue some Jews from being exterminated uh during the showa the what's better known as the Holocaust right So these these Jews are seeking deliverance from death and he is uh really the agent through which that deliverance is brought about. Okay, so that's number two. Number three, crime pursued by vengeance. Okay. Now, if you think about that, the the you know, there's a crime and it leads to usually an individual,
15:54 especially in one particular genre of movies, which is among my very very favorite uh and and that individual pursues justice or revenge, right? And I I love film noir, especially the film noir of the 1950s. So many amazing movies. And uh the the movie that's oftentimes credited as being the first noir uh film is is actually on this list in a different
16:29 category. So in this case, the example is The Big Heat from 1953. It's from that classic noir period and you basically you've got this this tough cop and his wife has been murdered by a corrupt crime syndicate and he goes rogue, right? That's the the term dour in order to avenge his wife's death. It's it's it is a brilliant film noir by the way.
17:08 Okay. Number four, vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred. Right? So this you could say well this is a just a variation on crime pursued by vengeance but the the motivation for the vengeance isn't necessarily a criminal act as you'll see by the example that I use. So,
17:45 uh, you've got, um, it's really revenge within a family dynamic, right? And and again, the motivation doesn't have to be crime. So, there is, of course, a a a classic example of this, and I'll give you a hint. It comes from Shakespeare. That should give it away. And of course, it's it's Hamlet and and there have been many there have been several versions movie versions of Hamlet done. Um the one I happen to choose is from
18:21 1948. So you've got Hamlet that the a Danish prince, right? And he seeks revenge against his uncle for having murdered his father and marrying his mother. That is the plot of Hamlet, right? Now you could say well murder is clearly a crime. Well yes but the uh and and fra the crime is is fratricside. Uh however uh the the real core uh uh issue is the tremendous
18:59 immorality of a brother uh you know killing his brother in order to marry his brother's wife. So this this is this violates a a fundamental principle of of of biblical law, right? So it goes it's beyond criminal. It's it's it's deeply deeply immoral beyond just the crime of murder. Okay. Uh number five, pursuit. Okay. So pursuit kind of fits in with rescue. and
19:34 you've got a fugitive who's um being pursued for a crime or wrongdoing, wrongly or rightly, by the way. Okay. In some cases, so if you think of of the the wonderful TV show, uh oh gosh, I just went up on its name. Uh and and the whole TV show is based on a man who's being wrongly pursued for a crime. and and you know, each week it's a another episode of him being pursued and and not getting caught. Oh gosh, I I can't think of what
20:10 it I can't think of the name of the the TV show. Um, but in any event, in that case, he's being wrongly pursued. The example I have uh was a movie in 1935 based on an amazing 19th century novel by Victor Hugo I believe and one of the most popular musical theater uh events if you will uh of the 20th century and you have enough clues it's
20:45 less right. So, um, you have, uh, Val Jean, Jean Valjon, uh, he committed a crime, uh, you know, in in in in in Paris, uh, or I think he's I think he's he's not actually in Paris when he commits the crime. Uh, it, you know, one could argue whether, you know, he he he was it was kind of like he was forced to. Um but uh he's pursued by uh Joe Bear endlessly.
21:20 Now I candidly am not a big fan of of the show. Uh but the book is wonderful. It's a long book. Joear is just absolutely dogged in his pursuit. Um and and you you know through the the telling of the story you one really comes to sympathize with Jean Valjon uh because uh the the pursuit gets to the point where he's long since well I don't want to I don't for those of you who
21:55 don't know the story I won't say that but but anyway um it's a classic example of pursuit. Okay. And then number six, uh disaster, right? Uh disaster typically implies hopefully there's some kind of rescue. So a tragic event occurs occurs often affecting a community or a family. Now the community could be a geographic community. It could be a just a community of of people in a particular situation, right? And the disaster impacts their lives. and and the the
22:31 uh the movie I chose uh there was a modern remake of it that I frankly do not like. Uh but it's based on one of the uh um most devastating sea disasters, pardon me, of all time. That should give it away a little bit. The ship was thought to be unsinkable. It hits an iceberg and sinks, right? Killing almost all the people who were aboard. And for those of you like me who are friends fans of Downtown Abbey, it is the disaster that basically kicks off
23:08 the series, right? The sinking of the Titanic. So, there was a 1953 uh version of of the of called Titanic. There was also the wonderful movie uh The Unsinkable Molly Brown. She's on the Titanic. That's part of the story. Uh and and of course the the ship sinks and it it's a disaster. Very few people uh survive, right? Um but by by the way, the Poseidon Adventure, another disaster movie, Earthquake, right? There disaster. There was this time in the 70s when disaster movies were were the
23:45 thing, right? Okay. So those that's supplication and rescue. The next category is conflict and competition. Okay. So the first one is under conflict and competition uh is falling prey to cruelty or misfortune. So a protagonist suffers uh under an oppressive force. So lots and lots of examples of this. Now the one I chose, the protagonist is not an individual. the protagonist is actually a family, right? And this this is where I think
24:21 it's important that we not necessarily take George Py's words absolutely literally uh because you know then then we just start we we we start losing the the the real uh er is is the Yiddish word the real uh singular idea behind his whole concept. Uh, and so the the example that I chose is the wonderful Henry Fonda movie, The Grapes of Wrath, which is based on a
24:57 book by he wrote Canary Row and Travels with Charlie John Steinbeck. Okay. Uh, one of the great American writers. And the the Grapes of Wrath is set during the Oklahoma Dust Bowl where basically all these people living in Oklahoma lost their their homes, their farms. They were destroyed by the Dust Bowl and they migrate west ending up in California and and how how they endured
25:34 poverty and and exploitation and loss uh during the Great Depression. So falling prey in this case to misfortune, right? And and and so that's that's that's the first in the category of uh conflict and competition. Okay. Next, this is number eight, if you're keeping track, is revolt. There's some kind of revolution, but not necessarily a revolution like the American Revolution per se. This is more a revolt. Uh well I guess you know you could you one can say
26:09 that America you the colonies were revoling against uh tyranny. Um it wasn't personal tyranny although maybe you know a movie like uh 1776 one I think one could make the case that that fits into this category as well. I picked a little more or not a little a much more obvious case. So you really have, you know, a rebellion against an authority. And the movie I chose is Spartacus,
26:44 uh, 1960, which, uh, starring, uh, Kirk Douglas, I believe he was he was Spartacus. Spartacus is a slave uh during the time of the Roman Empire and he rebelss against the slave masters and leads leads an uprising against the oppressive Roman Empire. Wonderful movie. Kirk Douglas, an amazing actor and and as I've already mentioned, this is not the only movie. Uh oh, actually, wait a minute. Yeah, I Yeah, I think
27:19 actually this is the only movie that Kirk Douglas is in. I was thinking about a different movie that he was in. Anyway, uh so Revolt, Spartacus. Okay, number nine, Daring Enterprise. Okay, so you've got a a bold or risky quest, right? Could be legal, could be maybe not so legal, right? So, I went the not with the not so legal because my my favorite Daring Enterprise movie, I think far and away, uh, was also remade just a few years ago. I I didn't see the
27:55 remake. I don't believe I don't go and watch remakes of iconic movies. Okay. didn't see the remake of True Grit. Uh because John Wayne as uh you know as as Rooster Cogburn uh is that that that is True Grit. Okay. And Glenn Campbell uh and and the the young woman who plays the uh the you know the young who hires John Wayne for her. I'm going up on her name. I can I can see her. She was also in a number of Disney films. No reason ever to have
28:30 made True Good Again. Right. There have been talk about making remaking uh Casablanca for example. No reason to ever make remake that movie. Okay, so the the iconic movie I chose for Daring Enterprise, if you haven't figured it out yet, is the original Oceans 11, made in 1960 by the infamous Rat Pack, right? That included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., probably arguably the greatest performer ever. Uh Dean Martin, Joey
29:05 Bishop, uh Peter Laughford, uh Norman Fel, uh Angie Dickinson. It is just it is the classic daring enterprise movie, right? And it's uh Oceans. So Danny Ocean is the character played by Frank Sinatra. He plans basically to rip off I think it's five or six Las Vegas casinos all at the same time. Wonderful movie. The stories about what went on while it was being made just
29:40 make it that much more precious. Little more cocktail. Okay. Number 10, abduction. Right? So, a character is kidnapped or taken away. Uh, again, many many movies and stories based on this. There is, of course, the great Robert Lewis Stevenson book, Kidnap, which I reread earlier this year. Wonderful, wonderful story set in
30:15 Scotland. Um, but for my money, perhaps the most powerful story about a a an abduction is a John Wayne movie in which uh John Wayne plays a man who dedicates years of his life rescuing his niece who was kidnapped by Comanche raiders. And so and the movie I'm to which I'm referring is indeed The Searchers. It's it's an amazing movie. It's the the photography, the sweep of
30:52 the movie really is an iconic version of the dramatic situation of abduction. Okay. Number 11, The Enigma. Right. So, a mystery or problem to be solved. So really any detective movie or detective story I should say falls into this category. Agatha Christie of course comes to mind. Um and her great uh character Hercule Prau um and Miss Marle. I think I I've only
31:27 read one of those books. I've read a number of the Hercu Herc hercule pro prao uh uh novels of of Agatha Christie uh now and I love a Agatha Christiey's books u Rex Stout's great character Nero Wolf again wonderful so so the these are more of the sort of drawing room detectives as they called them uh from the you know teens 20s30s once we get into the more hardboiled detectives, the the Sam Spades um and
32:04 and the uh uh um shoot, I'm I'm going up on that. That's that's terrible. I can't just reel them off. Anyway, once we get into the more hardboiled uh detective stories, Richard Richard Prather a fair, you know, these these authors. So it's it's not so much enigma. It's it's it's it's more, you know, crime vengeance. The work that I used to illustrate the enigma is probably the best known
32:40 fictional detective of all time. Most of his stories were written in the very late 1800s and I think even into the early 1900s. He's British. that should have given it away. The great Sherlock Holmes and u and in this case Sherlock Holmes in the secret weapon, a really fun 1942 movie. And he's he's solving a Holmes is solving a puzzle of wartime espionage involving a missing scientist in a secret invention. Right? These these movies these kind of movies
33:15 were made throughout World War II. They were standard fair. Most of them are fun to watch. Many of them are are are charming, intriguing. So, uh the enigma. And then finally, the last example under uh conflict and competition is obtaining. So, the striving to achieve a goal or per or possession. Okay. So, somebody's looking to get something, right? and you know huge fan of this particular
33:52 actor even today now he's in his he's in his 80s I I believe early 80s I think I read an article uh about him in the Wall Street Journal magazine two three months ago now he he's a pilot he's flown uh sort of mercy missions uh to bring in a to areas that have suffered some sort of natural disaster, right? And and and so that's why in looking for an example of obtaining I I I had to go with uh with
34:31 Raiders of the Lost Ark, right? Uh Indiana Jones played by Harrison Ford, right? I hope you got that. Uh right, he's trying to get the arc, right? That is his quest, right? It's it's and it is it is a rollicking adventure film, but it's basically about him getting this thing. That that's the that's the that's the central I uh you know point of the plot. Okay. Next category is betrayal and sacrifice. Okay.
35:07 Now the first one is emnity of kin meaning hatred by a relative. So it's it's hostility among family members. It doesn't we're not talking about uh something like uh Hamlet where you know vengeance is taken by one family member on another. This is really this is really just hostility and how that works out uh within the family unit. So, but like with uh vengeance of one kindred on another, the example comes from
35:42 Shakespeare Hamlet. Uh here too, you can see that this that stories of of of this type of thing, family conflict, Shakespeare, he he often used that both on the comedy and on the tragic side. This is this is this this one is not the so I've already given you one example of Shakespeare. Here's a second one. King Leair. Uh there was a version made in 1953. Wonderful movie. So the plot of King Leair is basically you have an an aging monarch king,
36:17 right? And he decides to divide up his kingdom and this leads to betrayal and conflict among his daughters, right? And by the way, Hamlin and King Leair are not the we're not done with Shakespeare yet. So Shakespeare's plots were classic. Okay. Uh next is rivalry of kin. So I I so this is where there's a competition between family members. And the example I chose for this was
36:54 specifically because this movie is actually pretty closely a remake of Hamlet. But I don't think very many people realize that that's the case. And that's because the characters, at least in its original form, were animated. Uh, and they were animals. So, this is kind of like an animal version of Hamlet. And I remember when I went to see the movie at the beautiful El
37:29 Capitan Theater in Hollywood, where Disney premiered all of its big movies at the at least at the time. and I went to see it with my my very long-standing close friend Rick, my younger sister. And and the movie is is is a wonderful movie. And as we're walking out and and I'm raving on the movie, my inner sister turns me and she says, "Well, you know, it's Hamlet, don't you?" I'm like, "Well, not until you said it." But she was an English literature major. I just love English literature, so there's a difference. And of course, the movie is The Lion King from 1994,
38:08 right? And you've got, you know, I don't remember the name of the young lion anymore, but basically his uncle betrays his father. You can see that the okay, the uncle doesn't end up marrying his mother. That's the only change. But basically it is it is the plot of Hamlet without the vengeance which is why this one fits into rivalry of kin as opposed to vengeance of kin. Okay. Next, which we're at number 15 now. Murderous adultery. Oh my. Oh my goodness. Right. So betrayal leading to violence but but
38:44 adulterous betrayal. Right. And while again there's lots and lots of examples of this in in film uh the marvelous film noir uh with I can picture the actor and now I'm I'm going up on his name uh from 1946. The postman always rings twice. So, this young grifter shows up at this cafe gas station that's owned and run by
39:20 a man and his wife who's younger than he is. And the grifter and the wife end up falling in love and they decide to kill the husband and then of course the whole plot goes on from there, right? So, murderous adultery. Okay. Next, uh madness, right? the descent into mental instability if not just mental collapse, right? And where um where where um the movie that I chose
39:57 is it stars an actor that I've already mentioned once before. Uh he was he was the lead actor in On the Waterfront. movie comes from 1951 and it's there it's it's about a woman who has a fairly tenuous grasp on reality and under the pressure of her the reality of her sister's life and the cruelty of of of her sister's life she basically breaks down mentally and of course it's the great Tennessee Williams
40:33 play made in movie form a street car named Desire. Amazing amazing movie and and play. Okay, next. Fatal imprudence, meaning you made a you know, you made a mistake that ends up killing you. Okay, fatal imprudence. So, you've got some kind of re reckless action that leads to catastrophe. By the way, if you think of the movie Thelma and Louise, right, that is not fatal imprudence. they decide to kill themselves. Okay? So, that's not what we're talking about here. Uh we're
41:10 talking about the the deaths while they may be on purpose per se, they are they're they're inescapable, if you will. Okay? And we're going to go back to William Shakespeare. So, we have a story of of two young lovers who impulsively I think fall in love despite the fact that their families are in a uh
41:45 are in a a a rivalry a it's it's like the the Hatfields and the McCoys, right? uh in terms of a more contemporary example. Um and and then due to misunderstanding, both of the young people end up dead. And of course, we're talking about the great Romeo and Juliet. There have been numerous wonderful versions of this in in in movies, plays. I mean, we're of course talking about one of the
42:21 classic tragic romantic stories. Okay. And then finally in this category, involuntary crimes of love. So you have a romantic entanglement with unintended consequences. And I think this is the first example of of this particular filmmaker's work, the incomparable uh Alfred Hitchcock. And it's a story of a man who remaries a young woman.
42:56 And throughout the movie, it appears that the man is obsessed in a positive way with his former wife. And it's oppressive on the new young wife. He and the man takes her back to his mansion where he lives. And and there are people who are still besotted by the first wife who's dead. And and this young bride almost goes crazy trying to figure this out. And I'm not going to give you the
43:31 resolution. Okay? But uh it it this is a great example of involuntary crimes of love. So the husband was not trying to torture his new young wife. Quite quite to the contrary. He loves her deeply and wants her to live a wonderful life. Okay. All right. Next category, love and relationships. Okay. So, uh the first under this category is slaying of an unrecognized kin, an unrecognized family
44:06 member. Okay. So, it's a tragic killing where the familial ties are not recognized. Oh my gosh. Right. Terrible, terrible thing. So, uh, we're going all the way back and I I just finished reading the comedies of Aristophanes. Wonderful place. We're going back to it's either a Skylus or Uripides. Don't remember which. And the great Greek tragedy Edipus Rex. So a man uh discovers too late he's killed his
44:45 father and married his mother which is where the term of course the edibus edus conflict con the edipus complex comes from where a son is besotted with his mother okay um all right so that's slaying of a kin unrecognized next is self- sacrifice for an ideal So giving up something for a greater cause. Of course again uh a a a classic classic plot in many many movies. There is one that I think stands
45:21 head and shoulders above the rest. The lead in the movie is there aren't superlatives enough for this actor. the great Jimmy Stewart, James Stewart, and it's a situation where uh a US senator has died and Jimmy Stewart is appointed by the governor of his state to take his place and he goes to Washington, uh which is swirling in corruption, uh you know, seems like things don't
45:57 necessarily change, right? And of course, we're talking about the incomparable movie from probably the greatest year in cinematic history, 1939, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. If you have not seen this movie, you have to see this movie. Okay. Next is self-sacrifice for kin. So the previous category was self-sacrifice for an ideal. Now we're talking about self-sacrifice for a member of one's
46:34 family to save that person, rescue them, whatever it is. Okay? And in this case too, I think there is one movie that stands head and shoulders above the rest. It happens to also be and well not happens to be so many of the movies that that Jimmy Stewart made during his career. He was kind of an everyman doing something extraordinarily self-sacrificial. And in this case it's a man who gives up his aspirations to
47:11 travel and lead an adventurous life uh so that his brother can do great things. He ends up staying in the little town in which he lives and running a a building and loan and and going through the vicissitudes of doing that and he gets to the point where he's in such dire straits he contemplates killing himself and and in the end he does not and it is of course the Christmas perennial which is it's a wonderful life from 1946 Again, if you have not seen
47:50 It's a Wonderful Life, it is a mustsee movie. A and especially at Christmas time. It the movie the end of the movie is during the Christmas holiday. And it is just it is it is charming, but but not charming in a cute way. It is charming in a way that just grabs you by the heart and and helps you feel the the the sense of the season, if you will. Okay, this coming from a Jewish guy. Okay, next. Uh we're up to 22 now. All
48:27 sacrificed for passion, right? So, these are sacrifices made in the name of love. And I'm I'm actually going to uh do a change up here because I I have one here. Uh but another one occurs to me. I just rewatched this movie. I believe it was last week. Uh it it it's based on u one of Jane Austin's uh novels, all of which are superb. The movie has a wonderful cast. Uh Kate Winslett, uh
49:06 um I'm going up on the name of the other Emma Thompson. Uh and then uh the fellow who plays the Colonel, I can picture him and I'm I'm going up in the actor's name, but the movie is of course sense and sensibility. And uh now the there is a twist in terms of sense and sensibility because in the end the colonel who seems like he's sacrificed everything um because he's deeply in love with uh this this young
49:41 woman and he thinks he's lost her to another man that he knows to be not a good man. Um, in in the end, he's rewarded for his sacrifice. Uh, as is, by the way, oh um uh gosh, I'm not remember the actor's name. Another there's another great actor in who plays the the love interest for uh Emma Thompson. Um in in in in both cases, there appears to be sacrifice. Um, the the wonderful thing about uh Jane Austin is uh she she didn't
50:19 leave you on a down note, which is why I I love Jane Austin. Look, I enjoy reading uh Charlotte Bronte and uh uh um and her sister whose name I'm going up on. Uh but they're they're lot they leave you on a down note. So, okay. So, sense and sensibility. All right. Uh 23 necessity of sacrificing loved ones. Okay, I mentioned this movie earlier, right? So forced to give up loved ones for survival or duty, right? Uh there is no greater
51:00 example of this because it is perhaps the greatest film of all time than one that I mentioned a few a little while ago and that is Casablanca. Right. Rick, who even after seemingly being betrayed by Ilsa and and not ever having recovered from it, right, he meets her again in Casablanca. It's obviously obvious that he's still deeply in love with her. You're not as sure whether she's still in love with him, but it sure
51:35 seems like it. and in the end, right, sends her off with her husband even though he probably could have enticed her uh away from him, right? So he sacrifices himself for the greater good. Okay. And then finally in terms of love and relationships, rivalry of superior and inferior. So, it's a struggle between two unequal opponents basically. And I I I this as I was
52:12 searching for examples, this movie came up and I had I had to choose it uh because it has one of my favorite lines from a movie in it. Too many notes, which which uh Emperor Fron Ysef says about this particular uh composer's music. And of course, it's a movie about the rivalry between Salaryi, who is the court composer for France Ysef and the young upstart genius Mozart from 1984,
52:48 the movie Amadeus, right? And Salaryi is essentially consumed by jealousy because he knows that Mozart is a superior composer to him. and yet he is still the court composer. Okay, next category, betrayal and ambition. Okay, so of course top on the list of betrayals, adultery. Many, many movies about adultery. Uh, Brief Encounter from 1945, a movie about a chance meeting
53:23 between a housewife and a doctor. It blooms into an an a a a restrained but very painful affair because the woman is is committing adultery. Now it res it resonated more in 1945 certainly than it would today I think because social moors have changed somewhat uh but but nonetheless a brief encounter. Okay. Crimes of love. Right. So romantic actions that lead to ethical or legal consequences i.e. negative consequences.
53:59 Right? So again quintessal story um Nabamov's uh great novel in this case turned into a 1962 movie Lolita from which it's about a teenage girl and a man's obsession with her. uh he manipulates her into an affair but of course she's underage and and there are consequences to doing that. Um this version was in as mentioned 1962. It's where the term the Lolita complex comes from. Right? So you see
54:34 these coming out now. Okay. Discovery of dishonor. So right realization of betrayal or disgrace. And in this case, I I go back to the great Nathaniel Hawthorne novel. I don't think this is read in high schools anymore. I read it in high school. It's a it's a novel about uh um a woman burying a child out of out of wedlock, right? An illegitimate child. And the woman faces public shame because of this. that the the the name of the
55:10 work comes because the letter A in red is sewn onto her clothing so people know she did this shameful thing. And of course the book and the movie from 1934 is the Scarlet Letter. Okay. uh and and you know it is harder to make such movies today because we don't look at betrayal as being a societal function the way it used to be and so I don't think we see as this is as as a as a
55:46 dramatic situation as much anymore. Okay. Next obstacles to love. So barriers preventing lovers from uniting. Now, you might say that sense and sensibility fits into this one. I I wouldn't I wouldn't argue the point with you. Uh, interestingly enough. Uh, the example I use here comes from the same authorus, uh, Jane Austin. Uh, and it's about a proud man and a prejudice woman who struggled with misunderstanding and social barriers be before finding love. And it is of course should have given it
56:22 away pride and prejudice. Right? So these it is these kinds of topics about which Jane Austin wrote. They're so real. They're such a part of the human condition. It's why she is such an amazing writer. I a few weeks ago she was one of the three writers I featured when I talked about 19th century literature. Right. So if you if you're not reading Jane Austin, yatu. Okay. All right. 29. An enemy loved. Okay. So falling in love with an adversary.
56:59 So going returning to another great ur of cinema uh Alfred Hitchcock. And in this case there it's a a woman who uh who's spying on Nazis in South America and she falls in love with her American handler and and of course this is the whole notorious aspect of it which is which which is the name of the movie Notorious with Ingred Bergman if I remember correctly. Okay. Um, and now
57:34 that I think of it, Ingred Bergman is also uh the the love interest in Casablanca. So, there's somebody else who shows up twice. Okay. And then the the last one in this category is ambition, right? The the striving for power and success at all costs. And the most iconic example of this um uh is is about the the rise and fall of a newspaper magnet. Um it's it's generally considered that there
58:09 that the the filmmaker is referring to William Randph Hurst Jr. and I can't think of the director's name. This is killing me because I listen to him. Uh he on one of the radio programs, the old radio programs I listen to the third man. The movie is of course the great citizen Kain. Oh, I just had his name and now I lost it again. Uh it's going to come to me and I'll I'll come back to it. But but uh Kain the newspaper man will do anything for
58:46 power, right? And and of course absolute power corrupts absolutely. Okay. All right. And then the final category is fate and existential struggles. So these are going to have I think more uh ethical religious context to them because they are existential questions. So the first one is a conflict with God, right? Challenges against a divine
59:23 force. And I go to Charlton H well known for making a number of movies in this category. The Ten Commandments being one of them where he plays Moses. Of course, I have a different example for this. It's a story about a Jewish prince. I won't give you his name because that's the title of the movie. and he he's friends with uh a young Roman man who comes back uh and and and uh
59:58 uh and and there there's conflict between two and and the Jewish prince is is uh sentenced to work in the Galiles. He escapes and he struggles with God. Now, not so good from a Jewish perspective, but he he finds his way back to God by when he when he has an encounter with Jesus. Um, and of course, we're talking about the classic uh movie that's used to be played around Easter time, which is Ben her. Okay. Next, another uh next
60:33 is erroneous judgment. Again, we're many many examples of it. Uh I I go to a book that I read in high school, an amazing book that was turned into an amazing movie starring Gregory Peek. And it's it's set in the South uh you know um in a racially prejudiced town, a a young uh black man is wrongly accused and he's defended by the Gregory Peek character. Uh uh I'm not not Artemis. I'm going up
61:10 on the character's name. And of course the the the book and the movie from 1962 to Kill a Mockingbird. Okay. We have just a couple more. So there's Remorse. Okay. And I I mentioned I I made an illusion to this movie when I was talking about the first what's oftentimes considered the first film, Noir. Um, so, uh, remorse, guilt for something that one did in the past. Uh, Fred McMurray and stars in this movie and as does,
61:45 [Music] uh, God, you know, I can see these actors and and I'm just going up on their name. Barbara Stanwick plays the love interest. Uh, and basically the plot of the movie is Fred McMurray, who's an insurance salesman, uh, colludes with Barbara Stanwick to on an insurance swindle. Uh, and and at the end of the move, the movie, the movie is done essentially completely in retrospection. uh the Fred McMurray character uh is
62:22 expresses remorse uh for for what he does and the movie of course is double indemnity. Okay. And then uh recovery of a lost one. Okay. So that's the next one. So reuniting with someone lost. I'm going to get through these really quickly now because I see we're coming up on an hour. Um, and there there this is there's the the movie The Search from 1948. So, a mother desperately searches postworld war II Europe to reunite with her son. This was a common post World War II
62:58 theme because of all the displaced persons, people looking to find their family members. And then the final of the 36 categories, loss of loved ones. So, coping with the death or departure of loved ones. Again, very common theme. I'm going to put a little twist on this. I'm going to go back to Disney and animated Disney, but early animated Walt Disney movie, 1942, the absolutely heartwrenching story of a young deer uh who learns
63:34 about life and dealing with sorrow after his mother is killed by hunters. By the way, it's a marvelous book as well. And of course, we're talking about the classic classic movie Bambi. So, those are the 36 dramatic situations. I challenge you to get to the essence of the plot of any dramatic story, movie, book, whatever play you've ever seen, and find one that doesn't fit in one of these 36 categories. If you find it,
64:10 post it on my social media. Show me that George Py is wrong. We'll have a we'll have a a discussion about it or maybe an online discussion. And while you're doing it, enjoy a refill on the py. And thank you so much for joining me. Always appreciate it, especially those of you who are alive. Always a treat. And this is our my last show for this week. So, next week on Monday at 10 a.m. is my show, Trust in Estates Weekly. My guest is Lisa McCary, and she's going to be talk and and we're
64:46 going to have an interesting conversation about uh a topic on which she's a specialist. On Tuesday at 10 a.m. Pacific time is my show, Business Lessons from the Military. My guest is Darren uh Burell uh United States Air Force veteran turned venture capitalist and then on Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. is my show. All these are all Pacific time of course is my show people making money. So I hope to see you next week. Signing off quickly here again thanking you for joining me. Hope you enjoyed it.
65:21 Courage at all times, my friends.