file under: I Want One

[nenya_kanadka]

First of all, Happy First Contact Day! Only forty-six more years until the Vulcans land in Montana! :D

Today would also have been Gregory Peck's 101st birthday. In honour of which, please have some screenshots of him as a young, ridiculously pretty priest, kneeling down and kissing his mentor's hand.









All from The Keys To The Kingdom, 1944. The one where he's looking up all puppy-dog-eyed like, "Please approve of me!" (which is pretty much the context) is doing things to me. (Peck in a 1987 interview: "I hadn’t learned how to relax and how to concentrate. All I had was sincerity." HELP)

File under: Oh, The Things I Would Do To That Man, subcategory: Please, Santa, I'll Be So Good.

And, you know, it's not that I find either the Pope or John Gielgud attractive in any way, but Peck does it again in The Scarlet & The Black (1983) (also one of my favourite movies ever):







The hair-petting, argh! The fact that this scene is a small moment of personal approval from someone the character respects, after a whole movie of incredible, inconspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice!

File under: I Don't Have A Fealty/Praise Kink, YOU DO


(According to Wikipedia, in real life Gregory Peck was also outspoken against the House Un-American Activities Committee and was a faithful Catholic who disagreed with the church about contraception and abortion. While having excellent taste in women and an almost 50-year-long marriage. I'm fond.)

Comments

[muccamukk]

You've got to wonder what his diary entry for Angus' visit was like, "I am bitterly reminded of all my failures and my mentor is dead."

Angus who was his "best friend" in college (who Willie never liked!), and probably spent their entire academic career putting down Francie.

ETA: We have Francie saying that he had to as usually work three times as hard as everyone to just keep his grades up, but if his point of comparison is Angus, who is very academically smart, amoral and no little ruthless, well then. I don't think Francie is the most intellectual person ever, but I do wonder what long-term effect that friendship had on him. /ETA

You can probably hug at least the male Methodist.

[nenya_kanadka]

There's all kinds of fic in the Angus thing, man. If this was a current fandom....

/does not mind the Playing Gregory Peck Who Just Earnestly Wants To Be Loved And Be Useful stage at all

Damn Angus is such a dick. And I like that he's contrasted so clearly with Willie (without it being an "all religious people are like Angus" message at that, or even a "Willie is uniquely caring among atheists", for that matter). Nicely done.

But Angus is such a dick.

I want head-pats or something. I realize I'm living in the wrong universe for them to adopt him with cuddles and sex. Oh well. (Still shipping him with Willie in their youth and I like your idea of Mr Chia.)

[muccamukk]

Yeah, it's seriously better than a couple of 27-year-old actors who play them selves and that role turns out to be "annoying little twerp who thinks he's god's gift." At least Gregory Peck's role he was kind to people.

They weren't allowed to make fun of the clergy generally (Hays was a Catholic). I really loved his relationship with Willie though, especially the bullying into heaven scene.

Angus is SUCH a dick. There should be endless fic where Angus is a dick to Francie and then Francie gets a hug and possibly head pats.

"I'm so pleased you no longer dislike me," he says.

*Sister rips off her habit and climbs like palm tree*

[nenya_kanadka]

*Sister rips off her habit and climbs like palm tree*

In any other movie! I was half-expecting it here, even though I knew better. They'd probably go for it in the remake.