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McKay: Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't!

posted 13 years ago by vinidici
4 replies | jump to latest

Remember how, in TBC's early scenes, Leech and everyone else taunted McKay about his "dude's" attire? How the townspeople double-taked and stared him up, down and sideways because of McKay's "back east" suit and hat? Well, how much more would they have derided him if he had arrived sporting a ten gallon hat and a cowboy's outfit?

Human nature can sometimes be such an ugly, impossible-to-please thing. I've heard (or have actually been a part of) countless stories throughout my working life about bosses who dressed down their employees for taking what they (the bosses) viewed as a wrong course of action, but would have disciplined or fired those same employees for "lack of initiative" had they done something OTHER than what they ended up being chewed out for. One Facebook friend told me about the time she was fired from a previous job because she had piled on a few extra hours of overtime, having stayed behind to take care of business when everyone else had left early; there were late-arriving customers (they came just before closing time) for her to deal with and she was the only employee remaining to wait on them, and yet the boss fired her for having stayed there to fulfill the duties in her job description! And you can bet your bottom dollar that, had she taken the other alternative, that same boss would have fired her for running the customers out and up and leaving the situation to clock out from her shift instead of attending to those customers!

Same with Jim McKay: if he had dared show up in town and at the Terrill house to reunite with his fiancee while wearing what the locals wore, they would have contemptuously sized him up as a city slicker who knows nothing of life out west! And how dare he try to pass himself off as "one of the boys?" It didn't matter which way McKay went, whether with his choice of wardrobe or pretty much every undertaking he pursued throughout the movie narrative: he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't, wasn't he?

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[–] lavenderspirit2005 13 years ago

Ha, that's funny. I was kinda thinking the same thing while watching the movie this evening--how RIDICULOUS would it have looked for this sophisticated urbanite to try to look like a wannabe cowboy?

As a big fan of TBC, I always thought that the main reason why McKay was disliked so much was because of envy and resentment...envy because of his perceived wealth and prestige but even more than that--his truly gentlemanly behavior, which was really strength and self-assurance. Some people resent that in others, because of their own insecurities, and I got the impression from multiple viewings that he made some of the macho "he-men" in town actually feel insecure, and that's where the over-the-top hatred of him came in.

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[–] scamper67 12 years ago

That's a very good point, sometimes there is just no pleasing people. McKay was a man who presented himself just as he really was and not what others thought he should be, kudos to him for that.

Of course Leech had a very different reason to resent his presence, being sweet on the very woman that McKay was going to marry, in the scene where Leech introduces himself and explains where Pat is McKay says, "thank goodness, for a minute I thought I was in the wrong town", I just love the look on Leech's face!

[–] snelling 8 years ago

I usually like Gregory Peck but I thought he was pretty wooden in this. And I agree with this thread.

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[–] sul-4 8 years ago

wooden or stoic?

I've seen this film so many times that I fear I can project too much onto it. trying to recall seeing it first time, watching McKay's forebearance with the hazing, avoidance of the Leech driven confrontations, Peck's stoic portrayal of McKay I think projected a deep history and experience, maybe cynicism, and certainly a bearing as a commander of a very tough group of sailors. We as the audience never saw him as a coward and were in on it. It helped that he portrayed a sense of humor about his newness, the hat and outfit, he knew he was a marked 'tenderfoot', and portrayed a sense of inevitability and humor about it.

Certainly he channeled his roles as Hornblower and Ahab characters to bear on his background.

Interesting that the early scenes of delight at seeing Pat again, and his generosity toward the major, I don't think that was wooden.

There were 3 other scenes, one where Pat comes back to town to try to win him back. His reaction was understandably reserved as he was pretty much done with Pat, the look on his face when he sees through her was really good - a mix of disappointment and disgust, but quickly thought on his feet. Rather than simply reject her, he brings the Hennesseys into it, it could have been rough as he outright rejected her, but allowed her to hoist herself on her own petard.

The second scene is when Rufus sees that McKay and Julie have a thing, something even they don't realize. The look on Peck's face is subtle, the realization comes subtly through his eyes.

In contrast to other great acting in this film, Connors, Heston, Ives, Bedoya all registered surpise or revelation much more demonstrably, large brow movement, but by contrast they are all each more demonstrable and exciteable characters. Love Connor's reaction to Ives, "can't you see boy?" Connors brow drops like a ton of bricks. I laugh at this, I think it's good.

Last, when McKay fights Buck, his emotions come out strongly, both anger and a bit of fear. He's not scared for himself, but for Julie, these are dangerous strange people.

Peck's roles are usually stoic, I think there's more fun in the McKay role than most. The scenes with Ramon and some others are pretty funny I think. "You out on a round up?" the tone of it was hilarious..