Chevy Chase

Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (/ˈtʃɛvi/; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. Born into a prominent New York family, Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before he moved into comedy and began acting with National Lampoon. He quickly became a key cast member in the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live, where his recurring Weekend Update skit soon became a staple of the show.

Chase is well known for his portrayal of the character Clark Griswold in five National Lampoon's Vacation films, and for his roles in comedies including Foul Play (1978), Caddyshack (1980), Seems Like Old Times (1980), Fletch (1985), Spies Like Us (1985), and ¡Three Amigos! (1986). He has hosted the Academy Awards twice (1987 and 1988) and briefly had his own late-night talk show, The Chevy Chase Show. In 2009, he became a regular cast member (Pierce Hawthorne) on the NBC comedy series Community. Chase left the show in 2012, having already filmed most of the episodes in season 4.

The Ballad of Chevy Chase

There are two extant English ballads known as "The Ballad of Chevy Chase", both of which narrate the same story. As ballads existed within oral tradition before being written down, other versions of this once popular song also may have existed. Moreover, many ballads continued to use the Chevy Chase tune without necessarily referring to the "The Ballad of Chevy Chase."

Synopsis

The ballads tell the story of a large hunting party upon a parcel of hunting land (or chase) in the Cheviot Hills, hence the term, Chevy Chase. The hunt is led by Percy, the English Earl of Northumberland. The Scottish Earl of Douglas had forbidden this hunt and interpreted it as an invasion of Scotland. In response he attacked, causing a bloody battle after which only 110 people survived. Both ballads were collected in Thomas Percy's Reliques and the first of the ballads in Francis James Child's Child Ballads.

Historical basis

Scholar Francis J. Child as well as Thomas Percy noted similarities between this ballad and the older The Battle of Otterburn (ballad), which refers to the historical Battle of Otterburn in 1388. although neither set of lyrics are completely historically accurate and may relate to border skirmishes up to fifty years later. Versions of either ballad often contain parallel biographical and historical information; nonetheless, the differences led Child to believe that they did not originally refer to the same occurrence.

Battle of Otterburn

The Battle of Otterburn took place according to Scottish sources on 5 August 1388, or 19 August according to English sources,as part of the continuing border skirmishes between the Scottish and English.

The best remaining record of the battle is from Jean Froissart's Chronicles in which he claims to have interviewed veterans from both sides of the battle. His account is still regarded with some concern as details, such as the distance between Newcastle upon Tyne and Otterburn, are incorrect.

The Scottish noble James, 2nd Earl of Douglas decided to lead a raid—one of a continuing series on both sides of the border—into English territory. It was timed to take advantage of divisions on the English side between Lord Neville and Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland who had just taken over defence of the border.

The battle

The Scots divided their forces with the main force and their baggage train heading towards Carlisle while a raiding party under the Earl of Douglas ravaged the countryside around Durham and Newcastle. Northumberland sent his two sons Harry Hotspur and Sir Ralph Percy to engage while he stayed at Alnwick to cut off the marauders' retreat.

Mack the Knife

"Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife", originally "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their music drama Die Dreigroschenoper, or, as it is known in English, The Threepenny Opera. It premiered in Berlin in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. The song has become a popular standard recorded by many artists, including a US and UK number one hit for Bobby Darin in 1959.

The Threepenny Opera

A moritat (from mori meaning "deadly" and tat meaning "deed") is a medieval version of the murder ballad performed by strolling minstrels. In The Threepenny Opera, the moritat singer with his street organ introduces and closes the drama with the tale of the deadly Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife, a character based on the dashing highwayman Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (who was in turn based on the historical thief Jack Sheppard). The Brecht-Weill version of the character was far more cruel and sinister, and has been transformed into a modern anti-hero.

¡Three Amigos!

¡Three Amigos! is a 1986 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman. The plot is loosely based on Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai and the subsequent western adaptation The Magnificent Seven. Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short star as the title characters, three silent film stars who are mistaken for real heroes by the suffering people of a small Mexican village and must find a way to live up to their reputation.

Plot

In 1916, the notorious bandit El Guapo (Alfonso Arau) and his gang of thugs are collecting protection money from the small Mexican village of Santo Poco. Carmen (Patrice Martinez), daughter of the village leader, searches for someone who can come to the rescue of her townspeople. While visiting a small village church, she watches a silent film featuring "The Three Amigos" and, believing them to be real heroes, sends a telegram to Hollywood asking them to come and stop El Guapo and offering a substantial payment she cannot afford, believing that they will refuse it and say "Our reward is that justice has been done", as happened in the film she saw. However, the telegraph operator heavily edits her message since she has very little money to pay for it, rendering it ambiguous.