In our last episode, I was saying how charming I found the English actress Heather Angel, who played Bulldog Drummond’s fiancée in five films and went on to a fairly successful career, working with Hitchcock among other directors.
I note from her Wikipedia entry that she married a television director named Robert B. Sinclair. In 1970, their home was invaded. Her husband tried to protect her, and was killed by the burglar.
On top of the shock and grief of such a traumatic experience, I can’t help thinking that the irony must have been agonizing. How many times had she done movie scenes where there was a fight over a gun, and the hero saved her life? But when it came to real life, it didn’t work out like in the movies.
Irony, in its more drastic forms, is a pretty cruel thing. I recall that shortly after “The Rockford Files” series ended, James Garner got into a road rage incident with another driver, and the other driver cleaned his clock and left him badly injured. Granted, Jim Rockford wasn’t the most two-fisted of TV detectives, but he usually figured out a way to sucker-punch his opponent and run away.
Then there’s the “Superman Curse.” I still remember what a shock it was when George Reeves shot himself. An early moment of cognitive dissonance. “Wait—how can Superman shoot himself? Bullets bounce off him.”
Ditto when Christopher Reeve fell of a horse and broke his neck. How can the most powerful being in the physical universe be paralyzed?
So if you hear one day that I’ve been smashed to jelly by the hammer of Thor, you’ll know that Irony has struck again.
What notable incidents of Irony you can think of?
I tried to think of something last night to no avail, but just now I remembered that Stephen King was hit by a car in a way similar to one of his books, I think. Pet Cemetery maybe.
And I also remember that another author wrote about a character who was writing a book when her husband died suddenly, and before her own book was published, her husband died suddenly. I remember this because it was in a book criticizing American culture. This story was told to illustrate the intellectual vacancy of Terry Gross’ show “Fresh Air,” because the critic said Gross was interested primarily in salacious details like this instead of truly important or weighty matters, which is what “Fresh Air” claims to be about.
I’m not very good at things like this, but I did think of Marilyn Monroe, the most captivating woman of her time not being able to “keep a man.” (Yes, it is a highly unPC phrase, but a phrase very much of her time.)
Yes, that’s a good one. Remember how Hugh Grant, the heartthrob star of several chick flicks, who was arrested for paying for sex?
I recall that there have been a number of times that Al Gore has gone somewhere for some global warming conference or speech, and the area experiences extreme cold temperatures and snow. I’ll see if I can substantiate that with some links.
OK, here’s one:
Gore decries ‘global warming’ in bitterly cold NYC
And another: Al Gore does it again
The Urban Dictionary has this entry for “the Gore Effect: “The phenomenon that leads to unseasonably cold temperatures, driving rain, hail, or snow whenever Al Gore visits an area to discuss global warming. Hence, the Gore Effect.”
The hypocrisy of politicians and how the press covers them leads to a river-full of irony. That’s probably a big reason for Will Rogers being funny. Perjury before congress may be an irony all on it own.
What’s worse are the comics who understand the mechanics of ironic humor, but can’t use it because they don’t understand a bit of the truth. They come off as insulting and angry.
And….no one mentioned James Dean?!?
In his last interview, he was asked about his hobby of racing. He reminded viewers that he only drove fast on the tracks, and mentioned that he was far more scared (and needed to be far more cautious) in the uncontrolled area of highway driving.
His last words: “Drive safely. Remember, the life you save may be mine.”
Then he was run over by an incautious driver of an 18-wheeler while driving at the speed limit in his convertible.
Wow, I didn’t know that about Dean. I thought he was the one who killed Marilyn Monroe after that famous scene in the bar, which I’ve seen painted repeatedly. Didn’t Bogart get the goods on him before he staged his driving “accident”?
About James Garner – Yeah, I remember the incident. But you gotta remember that Garner left Rockford because he was so beaten up and sick that the docs told him he was going to die if he didn’t quit. So, I doubt he was in the best of his fighting form when this guy sucker punched him through the window of his own car.