“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment.”

- Damon Runyon

The Tin Star is another western and my personal favorite from this genre. I selected it for this series because, while it has similar themes of honor and duty as in High Noon, it adds an element of what the world today calls "mentoring" but I call "discipleship".

The story involves a wizened and jaded bounty hunter, Morgan (Morg) Hickman, played by Henry Fonda, who rides into town with his latest "dead or alive" target, who is distinctly in the former category. While Morg would just as soon get paid and get out of town, he has to wait around a few days while the local bank gets confirmation in order to release the money. Morg's claim naturally brings him into contact with the town sheriff, Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins), a young and idealistic man filling in as a temporary replacement for his recently murdered predecessor. Ben is eager to be a force for law and order in the town (despite his girlfriend's objections) and tries to make up for what he lacks in experience with bravado and passion. He finds Morg's work disgusting and doesn't approve of killing, even if it's a bad guy.

Nevertheless, the two hit it off as Morg, a former sheriff, sees something of his less jaded self in Ben, while Ben (after an unexpected demonstration in the streets) admires Morg's experience and ability to size up a situation and react appropriately. When Ben learns Morg used to be a sheriff he asks him for help in learning how to do the job effectively and stay alive. Morg reluctantly agrees since he has to hang around for a few days anyway and he sees that young Ben has a lot to learn.

Of course, it turns out to be a pretty eventful few days as Ben has to deal both with a rabble-rousing, power-hungry bigot who wants the sheriff's job for himself, as well as the murder of a much-beloved citizen and a lynch-mob that wants to exact its own justice. Throughout the process Ben learns that a fast brain is more important than a fast gun and Morg learns simply that some things are just more important, period. Along with that you see an interesting illustration of bullies and mob dynamics. There's also the pusillanimous townspeople with high-minded notions of justice but ultimately wanting peace at any price (which inadvertently became a sub-theme in this series as it appears in this movie, in High Noon and in a later movie we'll look at as well).

While the action and drama centers around Morg and Ben, the kindly Doc McCord (John McIntyre) also sets an example of service and selflessness that is easily overlooked by the viewer, perhaps because he's an "old" guy. When I discussed the movie with the class I went around the room and asked each lad who he thought the best man in the movie was. Some said Morg, some said Ben; none said Doc McCord so we had a fruitful discussion about his character traits as well. Here's the rest of the outline the boys and I went through:

Key Points:
The importance of discipleship: being willing to receive it, and being willing to provide it.

The importance of will in separating a leader from a follower.

The importance of character (and vision/understanding of a cause or ideal beyond yourself) in separating a leader for good from a leader for evil.

The Rule of Law is worth defending, even at great personal cost.

Some Questions to Answer:

1. Why did Ben want to be Sheriff? Can you come up with four words that describe his character?
   
2. Why did Bogardes want to be Sheriff? What words describe his character? (Does he remind you of anybody?)
   
3. Why did the crowd want to follow him?
   
4. What is the most important “tool” a Sheriff needs to know how to use?
   
5. Why was Bogardes almost able to get the drop on Ben the first time?
   
6. Why was it important that the McGaffy brothers get a fair trial even though it was obvious they were guilty?
   
7. Why wouldn’t Morg accept the badge at first? Why did he put it on later?
   
8. Were Morg's reasons for turning his back on being a sheriff justified?
   

Points to Ponder:
Compare and contrast Morg and Ben with Will Kane (High Noon).

1. What role could faith have played in Morg’s life?
   
2. Why does a mob behave the way it does?
   
3. What would you do?
   
4. Who was the best man in the movie?
   

The second movie in the series for the boys was the classic "Zulu", starring a very slender Michael Caine in, I think, his first movie. It's based on the true story of barely 100 British soldier's standing alone against some 10,000 Zulu warriors in the battle of Roark's Drift the day after a much larger British force had been wiped out by the same Zulu army. I selected this movie for the boys not only because it is an example of courage in the face of great odds, but because it shows the value of discipline as preparation for unseen and unknown challenges in the future.

While there are many real life stories of heroes rising to the occasion on a moment's notice, many times this is possible because the "hero" has spent considerable time learning to master his/her fear and will. In this movie both sides show a tremendous amount of discipline under great stress and in the face of carnage. Additionally this is an interesting examination of the way prejudice and disrespect is reflected not only between races, but even within the same race and society.

Here are the key points I wanted the young men to get out of this movie and ensuing discussion:
Courage and discipline in the face of extreme odds can carry the day.

The power of words to both encourage and discourage.

The importance of training and discipline, combined with character and courage, in making it possible to rise to an occasion when called upon.

Overcoming differences in order to work together for success.

Courage and tenacity will win the respect of your enemy.

Complaining when you find yourself in a tough situation isn't going to help you resolve that situation.

The questions:

1. Was Rev. Witt’s use of scripture appropriate? Why or why not?
   
2. How did each army demonstrate discipline?
   
3. How many forms of prejudice were demonstrated in the movie?
   
4. Why did Lt. Bromhead say at one point that he wished he “were not an officer and a gentleman?”
   
5. What was the nature of the relationship between Sgt. Maxfield (the sick man in the infirmary) and Private Hook? Why did each behave as he did?
   
6. The way Color Sergeant Bourne conducted himself hardly changed regardless of what was happening around him. Why do you think he was so unflappable?

Great Quotes:
Chard: “Hold our ground? What military genius came up with that? Someone’s son and heir who got his commission before he could shave?”
Bromhead: “I rather expect he’s no one’s son and heir now.”

Bromhead: “When you assume command, Old Boy, you’re on your own.”

Soldier: “Why us?”
Color Sergeant Vaughn: “Because we’re here lad. No one else. Just us.”

It seems that most of the television and movies kids are exposed to today don't offer much in the way of constructive lessons or examples of how to live your life, especially for young men. Well, just about everything is an example I guess, but good ones are few and far between. There are some movies, new and old, that do offer inspiring examples and over the next few Fridays I'd like to share some of these with you, along with the story of how they were incorporated into a group of junior high and high school aged boys. The first movie in this series is the Gary Cooper classic, High Noon, but before I get into that allow me to offer a little background.

A couple of years ago my oldest daughter was still in private school and I found myself frequently in the company of the boys in her classes. Listening to their conversation and the things that were interesting to them I could tell that the images of manhood they were getting from their entertainment were rather limited: essentially either Homer Simpson or pro wrestlers, and this was showing up in their behavior.

Now this is a complex age for boys already, and these images they were absorbing weren't helpful. I wanted better for their lives, especially since they were around my daughter, so I tried to think of a way both entertaining and challenging to offer examples to model character in concentrated doses. Almost immediately a plan developed nearly fully formed in my mind. I worked it out with the school and my employer so that I could show a series of movies (with discussion time after each) to the boys on Friday afternoons during the spring semester as part of an elective class where the boys would be graded. Naturally, an afternoon of watching movies was appealing to the lads, but there was a catch. I divided them into two teams, gave each boy a scorecard I designed and announced special rules, only for them.

In order to view that week's movie, each boy would have to earn a set number of points on his scorecard. The card detailed the point values of various acts of service and courtesy they could earn. There was also a list of things with point values that would subtract from their totals. If a young man hadn't earned the minimum number of points by class time, he'd have to spend the afternoon in a study hall or in classes with the girls. Not only that, his behavior also affected his team which not only got credit for all points earned by its members, but also for having a full complement present during class time. At the end of the semester the highest scoring team would be treated to a Famous Dave's feast. In the coming weeks I'll describe how this experiment played out, along with providing the questions and “thinking points” I brought up with the guys for each movie. If you're already familiar with these movies then try the questions out yourself. If there are important issues you think I've missed in any of the films then feel free to leave your input in a comment. As with the young men, I hope you'll find this exercise entertaining and useful.