Shane, a 1953 movie directed and produced by the great George Stevens, is a film about courage and honor and honesty.

About the search of a heroic man for his identity.

About integrity

About community.

And about love.

Shane is about qualities that apparently don’t matter anymore for approximately 49% of the voting population of the United States and that do matter for another approximately 49%.

The importance of Shane in developing an understanding of a noble character was emphasized by the Happy Days popular icon “Fonzie” (Henry Winkler) when he sarcastically said: “That’s just what I need – to get advice from a guy who never saw Shane.”

 

Town with the majestic Grand Tetons in the background

It still surprises me when I talk to someone who has never seen, some even never even heard of, Shane. Widely regarded as perhaps the greatest Western film ever made, the film also appears on many lists of “the best films of all time,” including all movie genres. Not a typical Western cowboys and Indians movie, it is a beautiful and magnificent film, with a complex and engrossing story, filmed with the Grand Teton massif in the background. Even the musical score, by Victor Young, is wonderful.

Starrett family with Shane behind them

Shane (Alan Ladd), a soft-spoken, enigmatic man of few words, dressed in buck-skins, slowly rides his horse onto an isolated valley farm and is seen by a boy, Joey (Brandon de Wilde), who is playing in front of his parents’ log-cabin home. Joe Starrett (Van Heflin) and his wife, Marian (the wonderful Jean Arthur, in her last, and only color, film role) are homesteaders struggling to make a success of their small piece of land. When a group working for the ruthless cattle baron, Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer), comes to intimidate the Starretts, Shane quietly stands behind the family. George Stevens, the Director, doesn’t do anything to emphasize Shane’s revolver, but we know it’s there and we know Shane has used it before..

Eventually, Ryker hires Jack Wilson (Jack Palance). Wilson is a menacing, unscrupulous gunfighter, renowned for his shooting abilities. He is so evil, even dogs scurry away from him.



I always liked Alan Ladd. He was not renowned as a great actor but was one of the important leading men of the 1940s and ’50, appearing in many highly regarded Westerns and noir films. It seemed to me then that my father looked a little like Alan Ladd and that may be the reason I especially enjoyed seeing his performances.

After reading a February 14, 2025, message from Elon Musk to the Democratic Pary attorney Marc Elias and an unnamed colleague, with Elias’ response on his newsletter, Democracy Docket, I was reminded of Shane.
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Here are Marc Elias’ comments”


“Elon Musk recently posted on his site that another lawyer and I are “undermining civilization.” He goes on to ask if we suffered childhood trauma and concludes by suggesting we are suffering from “generational trauma.” This is my response.

Mr. Musk,

You recently criticized me and another prominent lawyer fighting for the rule of law and democracy in the United States. I am used to being attacked for

Mark Elias

my work, particularly on the platform you own and dominate.

I used to be a regular on Twitter, where I amassed over 900,000 followers — all organic except for the right-wing bots who seemed to grow in number. Like many others, I stopped regularly posting on the site because, under your stewardship, it became a hellscape of hate and misinformation.

I also used to buy your cars — first a Model X and then a Model S — back when you spoke optimistically about solving the climate crisis. My family no longer owns any of your cars and never will.

But this is not the reason I am writing. You don’t know me. You have no idea whether I have suffered trauma and if I have, how it has manifested. And it’s none of your business.

This is a free version of what’s included in our [newsletter Democracy Docket] …

However, I will address your last point about generational trauma. I am Jewish, though many on your site simply call me “a Jew.” Honestly, it’s often worse than that, but I’m sure you get the point. There was a time when Twitter would remove antisemitic posts, but under your leadership, tolerating the world’s oldest hatred now seems to be a permissible part of your “free speech” agenda.

Like many Jewish families, mine came to America because of trauma. They were fleeing persecution in the Pale of Settlement — the only area in the Russian Empire where Jews were legally allowed to reside. Even there, life was difficult — often traumatic. My family, like others, lived in a shtetl and was poor. Worse, pogroms were common — violent riots in which Jews were beaten, killed and expelled from their villages.

By the time my family fled, life in the Pale had become all but impossible for Jews. Tsar Nicholas II’s government spread anti-Jewish propaganda that encouraged Russians to attack and steal from Jews in their communities. My great-grandfather was fortunate to leave when he did. Those who stayed faced even worse circumstances when Hitler’s army later invaded.

That is the generational trauma I carry. The trauma of being treated as “other” by countrymen you once thought were your friends. The trauma of being scapegoated by authoritarian leaders. The trauma of fleeing while millions of others were systematically murdered. The trauma of watching powerful men treat it all as a joke — or worse.

As an immigrant yourself, you can no doubt sympathize with what it means to leave behind your country, extended family, friends and neighbors to come to the United States. Of course, you probably had more than 86 rubles in your pocket. You probably didn’t ride for nine days in the bottom of a ship or have your surname changed by immigration officials. Here is the ship manifest showing that my family did. Aron, age three, was my grandfather.

As new immigrants, life wasn’t easy. My family lived in cramped housing without hot water. They worked menial jobs — the kind immigrants still perform today.

Some may look down on those immigrants — the ones without fancy degrees — but my family was proud to work and grateful that the United States took them in. They found support within their Jewish community and a political home in the Democratic Party.

I became a lawyer to give back to the country that gave my family a chance. I specialize in representing Democratic campaigns because I believe in the party. I litigate voting rights cases because the right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. I speak out about free and fair elections because they are under threat.

Now let me address the real crux of your post.

You are very rich and very powerful. You have thrown in with Donald Trump. Whether it is because you think you can control him or because you share his authoritarian vision, I do not know. I do not care.

Together, you and he are dismantling our government, undermining the rule of law and harming the most vulnerable in our society. I am just a lawyer. I do not have your wealth or your platform. I do not control the vast power of the federal government, nor do I have millions of adherents at my disposal to harass and intimidate my opponents. I may even carry generational trauma.

But you need to know this about me. I am the great-grandson of a man who led his family out of the shtetl to a strange land in search of a better life. I am the grandson of the three-year-old boy on that journey. As you know, my English name is Marc, but my Hebrew name is Elhanan (אֶלְחָנָן) — after the great warrior in David’s army who slew a powerful giant.

I will use every tool at my disposal to protect this country from Trump. I will litigate to defend voting rights until there are no cases left to bring. I will speak out against authoritarianism until my last breath.

I will not back down. I will not bow or scrape. I will never obey.

Defiantly,

Marc Elias”



Marc Elias is an elections attorney who has long worked for the Democratic Party (DNC). He served as general counsel for the Presidential campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and John Kerry and has served many other important roles at other times, before and after his time with the DNC. He also played a pivotal role in developing processes that enable big money sources to influence the political process which turned out to be not a good thing. Steve Bannon, the right-wing political operative and, for eight months, in 2017, Senior counselor to and Chief White House Political Strategist for Trump for eight months in 2017, described Elias as “pure evil, but, man, that brother is smart, tough.”

Stonewall Torrey with his wife (Ellen Corby) and Joe Starrett (Van Heflin)

When I first read, the interchange between Musk and Elias, I was reminded of the scene in Shane where the hopelessly stubborn and naïve character “Stonewall” Torrey (Elisha Cook, Jr.) has gone into town before the other homesteaders and is tricked into challenging Wilson. It was obvious in the movie, even to Stonewall, that Wilson

Wilson about to shoot Stonewall

would win the gunfight and Stonewall would die. I’m not sure Marc Elias can keep up with the constant barrage of lies that each day emanates from the White House, from Trump and Musk. Poor Stonewall, a man of integrity and courage, is, hopelessly outgunned. It may be unfair to compare Marc Elias with Stonewall, but that was my immediate reaction to his response.

Ryker wants Starrett, who is the de facto leader of the homesteaders, to come to town to discuss matters but Shane learns from a Ryker cowhand, Chris Calloway (Ben Johnson) that the plan is to have Wilson face Starrett.

I won’t divulge most of the story (Shane and Joey, Shane and Joe, Shane and Marian, Chris Calloway and so much more) of this film which is, as you can appreciate, one of my favorites, so that those who have never seen Shane can enjoy the brilliance of the writing (A.B. Guthrie, Jr.) and the magnificence of this artistic creation.

George Stevens with his 2nd Oscar for “Giant”

George Stevens, the director, was nominated for an Academy Award for this film but the honor went to someone else in 1954 (Fred Zinnemann for From Here to Eternity). Stevens did earn an Oscar for two other films, A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956). He directed many highly lauded and memorable films, including The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Gunga Din (1939), Woman of the Year (1942) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). During World War II, Stevens headed a film unit, documenting the Normandy Landings on D-Day, the liberation of Paris, the meeting of the American and Russian forces at the Elbe River and the Allied discovery of both the Duben labor camp and the Dachau concentration camp. You have probably seen his footage from Dachau, showing the cachectic and dead prisoners in their filthy, tattered clothes, images that were used at the Nuremberg Trials.

If I had a ‘great human beings list,’ George Stevens would unquestionably be on it.

I hope our country finds a Shane soon, before the greedy cattle baron Rufus Ryker (now played by the ignorant and uneducated, malevolent faux president), allows the evil killer, Wilson (now in the guise of Elon Musk), to murder the great country we have known and prevent its further greatness.

Where is someone who can ride over that hill, on that narrow, barren road into town, and save us? There are many millions of little Joeys willing to follow.

Hillary Clinton could have filled the role and would have been the most qualified and capable President to date. Alas, her time has passed for that role (certainly not in terms of her intellect and intellectual abilities, but in terms of political realities). Jamie Raskin would certainly be a fine President, steeped, as he is, in a deep understanding of our Constitution. He has all the perquisite qualities and experience, as well as the gravitas, that could help us heal and make us great again. He could inspire and lead us, but he has had a serious illness that could be a significant political liability. Does he have the needed killer instinct? Adam Schiff? Again, more than enough ability but he’s only been a Senator for a month and he’s Jewish. Is 2028 an optimal year for a Jew to run for President? After losing with a woman, could the Democrats find the courage to nominate a Jew? Or could there be a backlash against all the Nazis presently emboldened by the current administration, including the newly pardoned criminals of January 6? I’m not optimistic. Andy Beshear, Josh Shapiro, Gavin Newsom, Wes Moore, Janet Mills, some other Governor ? Do any of them have that killer instinct necessary for the toughtest competition of them all? Chris Murphy, the Senator from Connecticut? Thus far, only Janet Mills has shown the right kind of courage and the likelihood of our seeing another woman candidate is close to zero. Amy Klobuchar could do the job, but that just won’t happen. No, the possibility of another woman candidate seems about zero. The Democrats don’t have the courage for that, no matter who is on the scene. Fuhgedaboudit, at least until 2032. Newsom has face-recognition but the others don’t. JB Pritzker? He has the ability and the smarts. I didn’t think he would be a good candidate until I saw his recent “state-of-the-state” address to the people of Illinois and a few appearances since then. He can do what I want a President to do: inspire the people to be better. I will watch him carefully from now on. It seems obvious he is thinking about running. Pete Buttegieg? Will those borderline MAGA-people (the swing voters) vote for a liberal, highly articulate, smart guy who is gay? Perhaps they might because of the administration’s neanderthal approach to LGBTQ people? I wish it were possible, but I don’t think so.

The Democratic Party is overflowing with outstanding people who have read and understand the Constitution. But who is fast-on-the draw? Who has the guts to take on the ersatz president Musk or the pretend-to-be-human Vance? We used to hear about the misogynistic tendencies of Trump but there are so many other awful qualities of his that now dominate news reports. His inability to learn coupled with his uncontrollable lying make us tremble for the future of our nation. We can put some faith in the federal courts but what about the no-longer to-be-trusted Supreme Court? We will probably find out in the coming days.

Joey’s plaintive plea keeps echoing in my ears. “Shane! Come back. Come back, Shane.” See this film and it will echo in yours.

It will take many months for someone to appear at the far reaches of the political valley, dressed in buckskins, with a well-used six-gun on his hip. Rufus Ryker just bullied Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while repeating his lies about Ukraine and Putin. Is he that dumb or is this part of a grand plan to partition the world into American, Russian and Chinese empires (I know, my paranoia needs controlling. Or does it?) In addition, our dumber-than-you-can-imagine Vice-President showed his muscle (you can bet the house that he wants to move into the Oval Office) but, as usual, had no evidence of a brain. Increasingly, I am not sure we will make it to 2028 with the unequivocally dumbest, least educated administration in our nation’s history. I have little or no admiration for the Nixon, Reagan, Bush 1 or Bush 2 years, but, at least, most of the people they picked seemed to respect those that came before them and also seemed to have some ability. At the first cabinet meeting, Musk (a brown-nose of historic proportions) said it was the greatest cabinet ever assembled. Stupidity or a deliberate lie?

Shane, come back!

While we’re waiting, I’m going to watch Shane, the film, once more.

Maybe more than once.



 

 

 



(P.S. The principal proofreader and critic for all my blog posts is our daughter, Jennifer, who doesn’t want me to credit her contributions. Her great skill at finding typographical errors as well as her keen judgement about sentence structure, and knowledge about most of the topics I choose, makes these essays far better than originally written. Her ideas are invaluable.)