Word: thrasher
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Warbler of Watergate" [Dec. 5], as any political bird watcher knows, is not a warbler, but a silver-crested lib thrasher (Cranius vacantus) who mates with the now famous red. white and blue American bald eagle (Juris patriotus). The thrasher is often confused with the Communist-eating hawk (Victus eternus), but differs in its diet, for the thrasher thrives on yellow-bellied land snatchers and pink-tufted dissenters (Marxis militanus). The thrasher is a close relative of the Baltimore hatchet wielder (Agnewus intim-idalus) and the rednecked robin (Thur-mondus segregatus), until recently thought to be extinct...
...turns out, the movie's pivotal figure is Woody Thrasher (David Wayne), a rising young executive who is torn between his innate sense of honor (of course no man of honor would want to work in Madison Avenue) and financial pressure (it is almost axiomatic that men of honor have mortgages to pay). Thrasher's story, with some minor changes, has been told repeatedly in the past few years...
...television program Americans, U.S.A., whose sponsor has threatened to throw in the kinescope. One morning, over coffee and dexidrine, he reads a newspaper story about Dr. Samuel Abelman, tracks him down, and after some effort convinces him to appear on the program. From then on, whenever it tells Thrasher's story, the movie follows a well-worn course...
...director Daniel Mann works with experienced actors, such as Muni and Luther Adler (Abelman's closest friend, Dr. Max Vogel) his touch is sure and often imaginative; but the rest of the cast seems unable to carry out his suggestions. The worst of the group is Betsy Palmer (Woody Thrasher's wife) who is about as inspired as a deep sea diver in the Charles River...
Mann's judgement about technical effects is often questionable. For example, in a scene outside Dr. Abelman's house in the Brooklyn slums, three teen-age Negroes throw beer cans at Woody Thrasher's white sedan as Thrasher drives away. This moment could have been quite eloquent, but some loud, over-dramatic background music destroyed the entire effect...