Who was the one old guy in a diaper? - Jason and the Argonauts (1963) Discussion

[–] ozymandias312 13 years ago

I guess you mean Laurence Naismith.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Naismith

He played Argus the shipwright (ship builder) who built the Argo.

Correction: Argos, not Argus.

Diaper or no diaper (and who among us may not end up in one again if we live long enough?), I've always thought he was one of the coolest guys in the whole movie.

I especially liked the way he was basically the first man in when the Argonauts were trying to capture the Harpies in the ruined, roofless temple.

According to some sources, Naismith was a pretty cool old guy in real life too. I heard he opened up a pub. I wish I could have had a drink there. Here's to him. :o)

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

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[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

Thanks for your post, Ozymandias.

Always loved Laurnce Naismith. He epitomised British movies for me, and I can easily believe him as a nice bloke and a friendly publican. ;-)

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

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[–] jannispetersen 13 years ago

Yes. His name was Argos (Not Argus like the guy before me said). And they are Greek, not Italian. You know, there are about a good 2000 years difference between the timeline of the ancient Greek myths till the Romans stepped on the scene. The confusion with this film is that the filmmakers converted nearly all the names from original Greek to Latin (Like Hercules instead of Herakles).

And yes, the Greeks back then didn't wear so much clothes.
And you are right, he stands out - I, for one, thought he was one of the more remarkable actors of the bunch.

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[–] ozymandias312 13 years ago

My mistake about the spelling of his name. I stand corrected. And I went back and posted a correction as well.

I have wondered myself about the approximate date of the Argosy. Certainly some time before the Trojan War. How long before? I'm not sure. Some say only a generation or two. But I could easily believe a century or two.

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

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[–] jannispetersen 13 years ago

that's a tough (and of course neverending) discussion. You have to take in consideration that Herakles appears in both the Argosy and the Iliad (Trojan war). But then again, every single Greek myth is intertwined with one another in a way. This isn't so wondering of course, because every Greek Polis (city) had it's own origin myth. The peloponesian (Argis, Sparta, Olympia etc) had their origin myths mostly based on Herakles or Pelops. The Attic poleis (Athens and its periphery) had their myths based on Theseus. Pergamon (not that far from ancient Troy in the Asia minor region) influenced the Asian minor poleis with their Telephos origin myth (a son of Herakles). Now again, Achilles wounded Telephos in a war slightly before the trojan war, were the peloponnesian raided the Asia minor poleis to gather ressources for the war.

Let us go a step further: The refugees and only survivors of the Trojan war were led by King Aeneas to Italy, where the founded Latium. His two sons Romulus and Remus (fostered by wolves) later founded Rome. I could go on and on forever and a whole lot further back all the way to the Titans - but I had to write a complete Execlypedia for this. You see, it's all intertwined and basically had to fit in the somewhat same time period of 100 years. Take in consideration that most of these mythical persons where demi-gods, they might as well (theoretically and story-wise) have lived for a few centuries.

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[–] ozymandias312 13 years ago

Thank you for the detailed and scholarly response. I am very far from being an expert on the late Mycenaean period, or the late Bronze Age in general, but I am interested in it.

Although I love this movie, one of my few mild criticisms of it is that the clothing, armor, and weapons depicted in it appear to be those of circa 500 B.C. to 400 B.C., rather than those of the Trojan War period (circa 1200 B.C.?) or earlier. Am I mistaken about this?

Ozy

And I stood where I did be; for there was no more use to run; And again I lookt with my hope gone.

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[–] BigWhiskers 12 years ago

LOL diaper. It was just a cloth wrap as most men barely wore anything back in those days. not that i wouldve minded seeing hot men barely clothed.

"So, a thought crossed your mind? Must have been a long and lonely journey"

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[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] residentevil6901 8 years ago

That guy is great in Scrooge (1970) as Fezziwig.

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