MovieChat Forums > Harry and Tonto (1974) Discussion > Hooker scene comment + Goodbye Tonto que...

Hooker scene comment + Goodbye Tonto question

posted 13 years ago by clutchcargoguy
13 replies | jump to latest

Two things:
1. The hooker scene...I found this to be the one false note in the movie. I'm no prude by anyones estimation, but I just don't believe this old man, beautifully and sensitively and realistically portrayed, would suddenly decide to have sex with a hooker on the side of the road. The tone of the movie, in this segment, switches from realistic beautiful character study to a sophmoric sex comedy. If Harry is going to elect to have sex again, this is not the way he would 'do it', and I would have had no objection to him doing so in a way in keeping with his character. I think Mazursky should have handled this scene in a far more realistic way, and not as a teen sex comedy moment.
2. When Harry says goodbye to Tonto, he sings 'Roaming in the Gloamin', say 'Right', then says something I cannot make out despite countless rewinds. Then says 'so long'. Can anyone clear up what he says at that moment after he says 'Right'?????

[–] janeofthewakinguniverse 13 years ago

I just watched this on TCM and I am pretty sure Harry says the name of the person who sang that song. Just like he did the other times after he sang Tonto an old song. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the name and I have no way to rewind the movie. LOL It sounded like an Irish or Scottish name to me, which would make sense for that tune.

Morse's Law: There's always time for one more pint.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] MrBlondNYC 12 years ago

Take another look at that woman. She wasn't just any "hooker on the side of the road". He's still a man after all. I wouldn't believe a straight man would not want to have sex with a woman that gorgeous regardless of her profession. Especially, one who had not had sex in a long time.

George Carlin: It's all bullsh-t and it's bad for ya.

[–] Yojimbo28 12 years ago

Well, he recently started eating bananas, as per the shopkeeper's advice at the start of the film. It might have taken a while, but it seems like they finally started working!

The hooker scene did seem kind of out of context with what we know about Harry up to that point, but it's safe to say that the character has already changed a lot, this far into his journey. He's coming back to life after years of just going through the motions back in New York. The trip west is invigorating him, and what better way to cap that off than with Barbara Rhoades! What a beauty, even now at 65 she is still gorgeous.

[–] dbeane 12 years ago

"The trip west is invigorating him..."

Yeah, that's possible, and perhaps she also looked like Anna or somehow his recent experiences had allowed him to let go of Anna a bit.

I also thought that scene was in part to show a contrast to his previous life, i.e. how much different life was in Vegas and LA.
Sort of like the African-American Hollywood transvestite in The World's Fastest Indian.

[–] redban (6575) 4 years ago

I agree. I didn't like the hooker scene too. He seemed too much of a wholesome, moral character up to that point. I find it odd that he would engage that way with a hooker. Even he says, "I don't believe you, you're too pretty" when she tells him that she is a hooker, which shows that he has a low opinion of the profession

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

Wholesome, moral people also have sexual desires & needs, and there's nothing unwholesome or immoral about it. Harry quotes Shakespeare more than once, and the Bard is both philosophical & earthy, both lofty & understanding of the complexity of the human condition. Harry is a complex, still growing, still quite vital human being. That includes sexuality, although of course it doesn't have to be the primary drive of life. But it is part of life, including Harry's life.

[–] redban (6575) 4 years ago

Nothing unwholesome or immoral about sex. But there's something very unwholesome and immoral about paying to have casual sex with a stranger, a girl he just picked up and met 2 minutes ago. Harry didn't seem like the kind of guy to engage in distasteful acts. Remember in the hotel room, Ginger walks out of the shower naked. Harry quickly looks away, admitting that he's not comfortable seeing her that way. He was a man of principles and morality. The hooker scene felt inconsistent

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

Social mores were rather different in the 1970s, for one thing. Casual sex was something that could & did happen without moral repercussions. And it happened when Harry was a young man, too. In this case, the moment was right for Harry, and in fact it did him a great deal of good. Being moral doesn't necessarily equate with being puritanical or rigid.

The scene with young Melanie Mayron is genuinely sweet, tender, and befitting Harry's basic character. But that doesn't negate the very different situation later on, where the sexual encounter is an affirmation of life, not distasteful at all to Harry. Again, that really was an attitude in the air then, with both its good & bad aspects. To me, Harry's case represents one of the good aspects—it's a much-needed reminder that he's far from dead, far from finished with life. Is he now going to start pursuing women constantly? Of course not. But he'll carry a good memory with him, one that has a healthy effect on his overall well-being & state of mind.

All of this is a matter of perspective & perception, of course. I can see your point as a perfectly valid interpretation, and I won't insist that my response is the only right answer. I can only say that I was alive then, a young man in my 20s, and the scene still strikes me as very much fitting the temper of the times. I don't think it diminishes Harry in any way, or makes him any less moral or any less admirable. It's a single moment of a life that's still ongoing & evolving, not the entirety of his being from that point forward. To me, at least.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 4 years ago

So, some ass hat is bumping this topic.

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

Just responded to the OP's complaint in a previous response, in fact. Personally, I think Harry's sexual encounter life after thinking sex was over for him is a positive & healthy sign of ongoing life & continual growth as a human being.

[–] BillHicksFan (10653) 2 years ago

He knows his time is almost up.. In the beginning, he was tied to his little apartment for years probably because it was his only tie to his wife - memories spent together, but when the industrialists come in and tear it down, he has no choice. He says early, "I've never been west of Chicago".. You could say it was out of character to pick up a hitchhiker, take his grandson who would then go to a commune... He also gets drunk and gambles, takes a leak, gets busted, goes to jail.

Once he got a taste of freedom, he wanted more. He probably felt he wasted so many years of his life not just going out there, since he had a "conventional" life, and is fascinated by his grandson's alternative lifestyle - drugs, meditation, etc., and is cool with everything (just as long as he's not doing heroin, and he isn't).. So he's in "the zone".

When he meets the woman, he probably didn't realize she was a hooker at first, but when he does, he makes a flirtatious comment, "You're too beautiful", and might have said, "I don't believe you" which might have been another "hook" and when he only had a few bucks, she thought, "Fuck it, why not?" and remember before, she asks, "When's the last time you REALLY had sex?", and even more believable because there's no sign he's had sex in a long time - probably not since his wife. Like his friend Jacob - great character.