Ghost of a flea

One who walked alone

Once again I am blindsided by pop culture. The Whole Wide World is a biographical film about Robert E. Howard based on a book by Novalyne Price who had courted Howard in her youth. Starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweger, the film was released in 1996 - more than ten years ago - and somehow I never heard of it. Sometimes I think my time in England was spent in an air pocket; cut off from the wellsprings of cable television... I stumbled across the film through this hair-raising edit of Howard describing Conan. Just astonishing.

We know any film about the life of Bob Howard can only end badly; an American tragedy, heart breaking to watch. But think of it as a geek tragedy too. I am left with a sense of wonder at the pantheon we have been for ourselves these last one hundred years despite the scorn of the herd and literary elites alike. Most of all, I am left with a sense of gratitude for the gifts Howard left us. Imagine if some sensible soul had convinced him his gift was not worth developing, that he should pack away the typewriter and get a "real job". And think of all the people who have been convinced to abandon their art, now dead, forgotten. That is the real tragedy. Fight it.

Related: Solomon Kane - The Return of Sir Richard Grenville, a fine fan film. Also, and beyond belief, this Spanish fan film trailer for Slaine: The Horned God. I feel like I am missing something: Is this edited from video game footage? Too good to be true.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at October 31, 2007 07:23 AM

Comments

Posted by: Gorthos at October 31, 2007 08:46 PM