HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR.ROBERTS!

Henry Fonda 1905 - 1982

Just a quick note to mark Henry Fonda's birthday. It's hard to know where to begin with Hank. I'm not concerned that in real life he was, so we are told, an uptight son-of-a-bitch who screwed up his wives and kids because in reel life he was the epitomy of upright honesty, integrity and an all round good joe (until Sergio taught him how to shoot kids) who lent his talents to so many classic films. He was Tom Joad in THE GRAPES OF WRATH, the martinet colonel in FORT APACHE, Wyatt Earp in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE, Honest Abe in YOUNG MR.LINCOLN, the eponymous MR.ROBERTS, the newly wed frontiersman in DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK etc - and that was just for John Ford! Don't know about across the pond but over here in the old country there are a lot of film fans who think that ol'Hank should have been President - he certainly had better cinematic qualifications than Ronald Reagan. Hank played presidents (FAIL SAFE), future presidents (YOUNG MR.LINCOLN), presidential candidates (THE BEST MAN) and even sons of presidents (THE LONGEST DAY). The illustration shows one of his greatest roles : the juror in the classic