Johnny Cash and D-Day: nostalgia on stage and screen this summer

As we travel life’s journey, most of us gather warm memories of entertainment icons. For those of us of a certain age (and older!) there is now a welcome opportunity to revisit and delight in memories, by way of both stage and screen, of some such icons.

While I have never been an avid fan of country music, I readily admit that I often find it has a simple and direct appeal. Its love songs, often tinged with sadness or regret, its comments on the simple and sometimes difficult moments of daily life, and its straightforward embrace of the basic tenets of Christianity all speak directly and tunefully of the familiar experience of ordinary people like ourselves. This is certainly true of the music of Johnny Cash.

Now the Arts Club on Granville Island is providing a delightful chance to visit and revisit a number of Cash’s songs in a thoroughly engaging production. While not in any way a straightforward biography of the singer-songwriter, Ring of Fire, through the songs, both familiar and unfamiliar, traces the general trajectory of his life, from his poverty-marked childhood on a cotton farm, through his meteoric rise to stardom as a country singer, and on to his checkered adult life. The songs bear testimony both to the man and his talent.

Director Rachel Peake and choreographer Nicol Spinola help the talented cast of six actor-musicians bring to memorable life the lively toe-tapping, tuneful melodies as they exhibit an impressive ability to sing well, play a range of instruments, and deliver the entire show with infectious and engaging good humour.

For Cash’s numerous fans, and for those who are not, this is a perfect show for a summer entertainment. It is an engaging, infectiously spirited production and one not to be missed.

In an entirely different vein, the film The Great Escaper (available in theatres and on a wide range of streaming services) is one which will doubtless appeal to filmgoers of all ages, but which will have a particular resonance with more senior viewers.

Based on a true story, it tells of Bernard Jordan, an almost 90-year-old veteran, who, determined to attend the 70th anniversary celebrations of D-Day in Normandy, managed to “escape” from his nursing home, get across the channel, and pay homage to his former World War II colleagues. By the time he returned to his nursing home in the U.K., he had become a media sensation.

Script-writer William Avery has fleshed out this story by including a number of imagined episodes, so that the film becomes a meditation on the waste of war and the brutality of D-Day (especially as it was experienced by forces on both sides of the conflict); a beautiful asseveration of the need always to live life to the fullest, no matter what age one is; a tender tribute to devoted marital love; a timely reminder of the multitude of people in our daily lives, regardless of nationality, race, or sex, who are caring, thoughtful, and supportive; and above all an inspiring tribute to the human spirit of those who truly know how to live, no matter how old they are.

Thanks to Oliver Parker’s sensitive direction, scene after scene evokes a wide range of responses, from laughter to moments requiring multiple tissues.

At the centre of it all are two superb performances, for the film is also a farewell to two great actors. It is the last film made by Glenda Jackson, who plays Jordan’s loving wife. It is a brave and glowing tribute to the talent of this artist, who gave us The Music Lovers, Mary Queen of Scots, and Marat/Sade and many other memorable films.

Michael Caine has also announced that this will be his final film. In a career which stretches all the way back to the outstanding Alfie (which in my opinion still provides the greatest argument against abortion ever presented in a movie), Caine has delighted us all over the years, and here his moving, amusing, and subtle performance is a reminder of the many hours of film entertainment he has given to us all.

It is always sad to be reminded of what we have lost and are losing, but the joy of life remains and wonderfully tells us to always embrace what we still have. Life is indeed an amazing gift—one which we should never take for granted or lightly dismiss.

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