beginnings

As many times as I've watched my favorite movies on television and as old as I am now, I am really quite shocked at how few times I've seen the beginning of them. The two examples that come to mind are El Dorado and The Godfather: Part II.

El Dorado, for those of you not familiar with it, is a John Wayne film that also stars Robert Mitchum and James Caan. It is an old West movie, and it seems as if I am always happening upon it when 'Mississippi,' the character played by James Caan, is entering a saloon to get retribution for the death of a mentor, whose hat Mississippi now wears. Until I caught the film at an earlier scene - just one time - I pretty much figured that the scene in the saloon was where the movie started. One day as I was flipping channels, I found myself watching the part where Cole Thornton (John Wayne's character) is sitting on his horse talking to Bart Jason (played by Ed Asner) outside a small building/residence; I watched it for awhile before I even realized that the movie was El Dorado. Naturally, there are other earlier scenes I had managed to miss for the longest time; Cole being shot by Josephine for example. I guess it's only natural when flipping channels on the remote control to catch movies somewhere in the middle, but I'm still surprised at how often I've managed to miss the beginnings of ones that I watch so often.

I'm sure that El Dorado is a bit obscure for most people, but The Godfather: Part II is probably quite familiar. And yet, again, I've only seen the beginning the one time. And I don't even know how close to the beginning I actually watched it. Many times, I had watched the part where the young adult Vito Corleone (played by Robert DeNiro) thrusts a knife into some old man sitting in a chair on the porch of a fancy home, and I remember always thinking, wow, I guess it's brutal getting to the top. It wasn't until I finally saw the beginning that I realized that the stabbing was actually pay back for what had happened to Vito's family earlier in the film, when Vito was just a young boy. Oh well, I've never watched Godfather II straight through anyway, as opposed to The Godfather. If I ever do, I'll probably get even more answers! One of these days, I'll start watching all these movies on DVD.