ages of the sons?
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leadpoisonaod — 20 years ago(June 13, 2005 03:38 PM)
You fellers are hopeless! I Have The Answers To All Your Questions!
The answer to all the questions is on the tombstones at the beginning of the film during the funeral. Bass Elder was born in 1834 and died in 1898, if you read his tombstone which is a litte blury. So, he was approx. 64 years old when he died. Katie must have been close to the same age, although probably younger, so she probably died in her late 50's or early 60's. Now, she probably had John Elder when she was in her late teens or early twenties. That means Joh Elder was born c.1855. Tom was probably next, then Matt, then Budd.
Also, if you pay attention, you hear it mentioned that Bass Elder died some six months prior to the time of the movie. The tombstone says he died in 1898, so that means the movie takes place in either late in 1898 or early in 1899. From this, we know that Budd must have been born in either 1871 or 1872. So Katie couldn't have gone through menopause prior to the 1870's. If she was indeed born in the 1830's, like Bass, then she would have been in her early 40's or late 30's at this time. Hey, thats when most women have their last children.
After doing some logical reasoning, you can infer the following ages.
John: late 30's,
Tom: mid-late 30's
Matt: early-mid 30's
Budd: 17
Year of Movie: 1899
Bass Elder:(1834-1898)
Katie Elder:(late 1830's-1899)
Yeah, I'm a little extreme, but I got all the answers. lol -
Spearlet — 19 years ago(November 11, 2006 11:04 AM)
If you read any history books (hey, it's still true today), women married and had their first kids when they were still kids themselves. Some as young as twelve! My mother had eight. She was 17 when she had my oldest brother and 47 when she had my youngest sibling.
Doesn't matter though. I would probably make any excuse for this movie because I think it's a great flick. -
tightspotkilo — 20 years ago(December 24, 2005 04:42 PM)
A little problem here is that there was in fact a somewhat famous real life "Katie Elder" in the old west, born in 1850 and died at the ripe old age of 90 in the relatively modern year of 1940. She was a prostitute who hung out with Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in Texas, Wichita, Dodge City, and elsewhere. Her real name was Mary Katharine Haroney, but she was known by the alias Katie Elder and "Big Nosed Kate." Google it, you'll find out all you ever wanted to know. And surely the writers here, Talbot Jennings et. al., must've known this little bit of Katie Elder history and that'd have to be where they came up with the name. It'd be to big of a coincidence otherwise.
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Captain_Augustus_McCrae — 14 years ago(November 25, 2011 09:19 AM)
Actually, Katharina Harony was most commonly known as Kate Fisher- only rarely was the name Elder used by her. She had a son by her first marriage, but the boy died before he was a year old, and Kate had no other children. Her husband died soon after, and she went West, where she met Doc. Absolutely no connection to the Katie Elder of the film. Ms. Harony never went by "Katie", only Kate.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae -
tightspotkilo — 20 years ago(December 25, 2005 08:20 AM)
The mere attempt to masquerade John Wayne and Dean Martin as "brothers" at all, regardless of the age spread, is what strains credulity.
As for Grease, Olivia and John aside, the one I loved was their schoolgirl chum, Stockyard Channing, a full 10 years older than Travolta at the ripe old age of 34, and she looked every hour of it too. -
misschicken — 20 years ago(February 11, 2006 10:08 PM)
Also, if you pay attention, you hear it mentioned that Bass Elder died some six months prior to the time of the movie. The tombstone says he died in 1898, so that means the movie takes place in either late in 1898 or early in 1899. From this, we know that Budd must have been born in either 1871 or 1872. So Katie couldn't have gone through menopause prior to the 1870's. If she was indeed born in the 1830's, like Bass, then she would have been in her early 40's or late 30's at this time. Hey, thats when most women have their last children
If Bud was 17 in 1898 than he was born in about 1881 not 1872.
If Katie was married in 1850 than John could have been born about 1851. That would make John about 47 in 1898 - therefore there could have been a 30 year difference between oldest and younger brother. This could mean that Katie had her first baby at 16 and her last at about 46 which is not unheard of. -
Bambifan — 19 years ago(July 22, 2006 10:04 PM)
Hey, my mom had my oldest brother when she was 17 (almost 18) and me when she was 42, so there is 24 years between her oldest and youngest child. I never have seen the age gap of the brothers as a problem. I LOVE this movie!!!
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Lisiboo22 — 18 years ago(August 07, 2007 02:43 AM)
You know, I could be mixed up here, but in an earlier post, Spearlet posted "If you read any history books (hey, it's still true today), women married and had their first kids when they were still kids themselves. Some as young as twelve! My mother had eight. She was 17 when she had my oldest brother and 47 when she had my youngest sibling."
So, if thats you, then that doesn't make sense, because you just wrote "my mom had my oldest brother when she was 17 (almost 18) and me when she was 42, so there is 24 years between her oldest and youngest child. I never have seen the age gap of the brothers as a problem. I LOVE this movie!!!"
It just seems too much of a coincidence. So either you're lying about something, or I'm wrong, in which case I'm sorry
@_@ LUFFLEBUNNY!!!!!! (Mine!) @_@ -
Homer900 — 17 years ago(September 15, 2008 11:20 AM)
Katie married Bass when she was but 14 and bore John Elder when she was 15. Katie, was 4 years younger than Bass, so she was 60 when she died. That means that John was 45 years old. Now I don't know about you, but my wife and I are 54 and look nothing like our grandparents at the same age. Easier life, better medical care, etc. makes us look middle aged, not old, like our grandparents, who had a hard life. Think back to the mid 19th century and the west and just how easy of a life did anyone really have? John Wayne looked as a man would look who has lived all his life outdoors, working and fighting, who would be in his mid 40s. So with Bud being "almost 18" a 27 year gap between youngest and oldest is not unheard of. How many children did she bore that died in early childhood? At least that's my take on it. Besides, it's a damned good movie, even with all of the above and the 14 shot revolvers!
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vpilutis — 16 years ago(August 29, 2009 10:29 PM)
Back then a lot of people got married and had kids at a younger age
http://www.moola.com:80/moopubs/b2b/exc/join.jsp?sid=4d6a55744d7a45794e544d3d-2 -
marmac2768 — 18 years ago(July 16, 2007 07:32 PM)
Very true!! There were even some motorcars, primitive at best, but there were some more technology things by the turn of the 20th century.
An excellent old movie . . . . if you don't nitpick too much!!
Anachronisms are fun to look for though!!