Sunday, April 09, 2006

Shut-up Bladge!

Who's Bladge???
If you've watched the Clint Eastwood movie, "The Outlaw Josey Wales," there is a scene where Josey is held at gunpoint by two would-be bounty hunters. Throughout the scene, one of these men continuously tells the other to shut-up. It is hard to determine what the name is he is saying after repeating "shut-up," but it sounds like he's saying "Bladge." I finally looked the scene up at,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TbtTaHrIHI

In the film, Abe pulls his gun on Josey: "I've got him, Lije."
"It's him, Abe. It's him! We've got the Josey Wales, Abe! I've seen him ride side by side with Bloody Bill, Abe. We've got reward money coming. Watch it, Abe. He's mean as a rattler and twice as fast with them pistols."
Abe tells Josey to "Move on back; move on back!"
Lije comes up with more warnings: "Watch him, Abe! I've seen him do some things?
"Shut up, Lije" Abe explains why he isn't killing Josey immediately:
"Now, Mr Josey Wales.I'd just as soon shoot you now but it'd be harder to drag your body through the brush to where we can get a pound price for you. "
Lije wisely disagrees: "Shoot him now, Abe. Shoot him, now!"
"Shut up, Lije." Abe is trying hard to concentrate on Josey!
"Move your left hand down and unbuckle that pistol belt. Make it nice and slow so that I can count the hairs on that hand. See, Lije. You pull his teeth and he's harmless as a heel hound. Always wanted to face out one of these big pistol fighters they raise all the fuss about."
Abe is on a roll! Lije is still rightly concerned:
"Watch out! He's probably got another pistol."
"Shut up, Lije." Josey's young dying friend distracts the bounty hunters with the possibility that there might be stolen gold under his blanket and both of the bounty hunters are soon shot. Lije was right Josey does, in fact, have an extra pistol in a shoulder holster!
Jamie wants to bury them but Josey is as practical and unsentimental as ever:
"Buzzards got to eat; same as worms."


My friends and I had been having fun telling each other to, "shut-up Bladge!"
Now it seems that "Bladge," is actually "Lije." Perhaps it is short for Elijah.
Anyway, we have decided that "Bladge," is much funnier, so we see no reason to change now...

1 comment:

LDM said...

I always thought it was Ladge.
I guess it isn't important as long as the buzzards get to eat him.