Ponyboy at the Movies

I woke up this morning with bookworm brain, which is not a bad thing at all.

Running through my mind was the first (and last) lines of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I don't have a copy of the book, so I must paraphrase. Ponyboy says that he has two things on his mind: Paul Newman and a ride home from the movie theater. Right after that, he gets jumped by the evil Socs, and Paul Newman is forgotten.

I first read this book in 7th grade and went on to read it many more times. Like most of my early reads, I internalized the book, but even though I love movies almost as much as I love books, it never occurred to me to wonder which Paul Newman movie Ponyboy had just seen. Somewhere out there in the world are stay-gold devotees of the novel that have probably gathered every last obsessive detail about the setting, the plot, and the characters. Perhaps the question has already been answered, but that's not going to stop me from playing detective.

Since The Outsiders was published in 1967, I assume that the time frame is current. I'm also trying to put myself in a Greaser state of mind and try to think which Paul Newman movie would have impressed Ponyboy so much that he wasn't mindful of the danger around him.

I wish so hard that it had been Cool Hand Luke, but I don't think so, because both appeared the same year.  The Hustler came out in 1961, and that's too early because Ponyboy refers to The Beatles often, which means the novel is set after 1963. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid came out at the other end of the decade, and that would have been too late. That means that it was probably Harper, a movie in which Newman plays a smooth private eye.

Now I need to get a copy of The Outsiders and see if I can figure out which movie Two-Bit, Johnny, Ponyboy and Cherry Valance (and Dally, briefly) saw a few nights later. I remember they went to the movies and Bob, the nastiest Soc, was a malevolent presence, but what was the movie?

I'm off to the library with a side trip to the store for some microwave popcorn.

***

UPDATE:

From S.E. Hinton herself, via Twitter:  Hud.

Hud! 1963. Paul Newman is the title character, a dissolute younger son of a rancher. I didn't even consider this movie, because he plays such an unsympathetic character, but by Greaser standards, Hud is both tough and tuff. As Ponyboy points out, both are compliments.

Bookworm in Busan: Gukdo Art Cinema

When I'm not reading, I enjoy watching a movie, which is actually another form of reading, isn't it?

One of my favorite places in Busan is the Gukdo Art Cinema.  It was difficult to find, (the map is unsatisfactory; I got lost several times and asked a half-dozen people) but well worth it.  GAC is a hidden gem for those who crave something other than big-budget action movies.  Every week, GAC brings in several films from different countries and usually shows one right after another.

Here are some directions I hope will be easy to understand.  (I've got some accompanying pictures, but am having trouble uploading them.  When I get them uploaded, I'll add them to this post.)

Directions to Gukdo Art Cinema:

1. Go out of Exit 3 at Dayeon station.  Immediately do a 180, walk a few steps and follow the sidewalk to your left, around the corner.

2. Stay on this sidewalk, walking for about 5 minutes.  You'll pass a lot of restaurants and a couple of hotels and a PC room.  The last thing you'll see is a big tire shop.

3. You will come to a huge intersection where you will see the U.N. Memorial statue.  Cross at the crosswalk.

4. Veering slightly to your right, cross at the next crosswalk.  It looks like a narrow red road framed in crosswalk/zebra crossing lines.

5. Walk along the sidewalk.  The sidewalk curves around the big parking lot of the Busan Museum. The U.N. Memorial statue should be on your right side.

6. Follow the curving sidewalk on around until you get to a crosswalk.  Cross here.

7. When you are on the other side, turn and go to your left.  Walk until you run out of sidewalk.  You will see a Hankook car repair place.

8. Turn right, and stay on the same side of the street, opposite the Busan Cultural Center.  Walk down until you see a coffee shop called MOZART.

9. Turn right at MOZART.  Make sure you are on the same side of the street as MOZART.

10.  After MOZART, you'll see a bricked archway.  That's not it.  Right after that, there's another entrance with  ART HALL written over it.  That's the place.  Go down the steps and into the small cinema lobby.