"A Good Man Is Hard To Find" is a story I find more
impressive with each rereading, so I certainly don't think
knowing the ending ruins the story in the way that knowing
the ending of "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" by Thomas Burke
would take away from the experience of reading it.
I do think the ending of short stories should be treated the
same way as novels with a spoiler warning. The O'Connor story
is not a trick or O'Henry ending story but some readers might
want to experience growing awareness as the story
unfolds.
The movie "Wise Blood" is a great one. They filmed it on a
tiny budget in Georgia back when I was a reporter down there.
Wish I had been able to visit some of the setups. It was a
labor of love by the producers, who knew O'Connor or had some
sort of connection with her, and by John Houston. Several of
my favorite Houston films are the small ones like "Wise
Blood" and
"Fat City" (another with appeal to noir fans).
The role of cop who pulls Brad Dourif over in "Wise Blood"
was played by the real-life police chief of Macon, Georgia
(or maybe he was the sheriff of Bibb County). I had
interviewed the guy a few times over the years on crime
stories. Anyway, he did a very good job in the role but it
caused him some grief in Macon, as he was accused of bringing
disrespect to the uniform and to the city.
I thought then, and think now, that this was an ironic
accusation as the voters of Macon during that same period had
twice elected as mayor a guy named Ronnie Thompson. Thompson
was a gospel singer by profession who managed to win
election. As a singer he was mediocre but he wore his
well-oiled, black hair slicked back in a way that reminded
people of Faron Young. During a riot back in the late
sixties, he grabbed a submachine gun from a cop and fired a
few bursts into the air. From then on he was known as
"Machine Gun" Ronnie and used the Thompson submachine gun
outline on his campaign literature and gave away lapel pins
in the shape of the gun. Anyway, I don't think the good
citizens of Macon should have been bothered by that movie or
the police chief's role in it.
Yes, I know this is straying from our area but I will bring
it back by urging those who have not tried Harry Crews to
check out his novels. His first
"The Gospel Singer" is not a bad place to start. It takes
place in Enigma, a small town a bit south of Macon.
Richard Moore
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