Don't Throw Louise From The Train

Image via sushiesque.com who retrieved it via Grapevine Video.

Today I received this link from fellow Brooksian, Vince, about why one should not toss Louise from a freight train. Thank you, Sushiesque, up in Boston. This was a welcome interjection to our Richmond day relieved of oppressive temperatures. Or, at least, oppressive t us.

This film still crackles and I think could be remade, especially with the subculture of young people stowing away these days on freights--some of them runaways, others just yearning for a break from the cul-de-sac archipelago. I see them in Carytown, grimy, backpacked, and usually with a dog.

You could just remake the film, retaining the Depression-era scene, but the wider appeal is to set in now. The tropes are still relevant: young woman escapes an abusive father, poses as a boy, becomes a hobo riding the rails. You could read this story in the New York Post tomorrow.

Who to cast? John Goodman in the Wallace Beery "Oklahoma Red" role. Johnny Depp as Richard Arlen. Anne Hathaway as Louise.