By Woodrow Carroll
Does it bother you to contemplate the thought of a nice (ostensibly) Irish girl shooting a former Notre Dame Fighting Irish football star in the back. Well it should. Before we continue much further, be advised that tongue in cheek will be at play in this article, so calm down.
The 1952 film classic “High Noon,” featuring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, has a classic ending. So follow along!
As the film draws to its finish, Kelly a Quaker lass shoots bad guy Jim Pierce in the back. Kelly (Amy Fowler) is married to Cooper (Will Kane) the town Marshall and she stands by her man. Kelly/Fowler knows what she has to do and Pierce gets a bullet in the back.
The part of Pierce is played by Robert J. Wilke well known for playing less-than-lovable parts in many a film. And, now let’s fill in the blanks with the real story.
Before gracing the silver screen, Wilke was a star football player at Notre Dame. Wilke was good enough to lead the Irish in rushing in 1936 and 1937 and was selected to play in the 1937 College All-Star football game played at Soldier Field. This was at a time when the All-Stars could hold their own against the pros and in the 1937 contest the All-Stars defeated the Green Bay Packers, 6-0. By the 1960s, however, a myriad of factors had come into play and the game had fallen on hard times and was last played in 1976.
If you liked the movie The Magnificent Seven (1960), you got to see James Coburn bring down Wilke with a knife. And, along the way, Marshall Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) made Dodge a safer place to live in by putting Wilke in his place. Wilke made seven appearances in Gunsmoke’s 20-year run. And, you can be sure Wilke’s character was not that of an upstanding citizen.
Wilke, who passed away in 1989, was regarded as an outstanding golfer and was reputed to have won numerous bets from the Hollywood crowd along the way.
In High Noon, Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is the leader of the bad guys. However, it is Sheb Wooley, Lee Van Cleef and Wilke, playing Frank Miller’s underlings, who get most of the attention.
Sheb Wooley was Ben Miller, Frank Miller’s brother in the movie. Thirty-four years after High Noon, Wooley makes amends for his bad intentions in that film.
In the film Hoosiers (1986), it’s Wooley playing the part of Cletus Summers, the principal of the small Indiana community of Hickory, who hires Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) as basketball coach. And, after overcoming some rough moments the Hickory Hoosiers go on to win the 1952 Indiana crown.
In the film, Hickory beats South Bend Central for the 1952 championship. Good old South Bend home to Notre Dame. Small world!
Bad guy Lee Van Cleef from High Noon didn’t learn his lesson. Don’t tangle with the stars. Van Cleef was gunned down by Gary Cooper in High Noon. In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Van Cleef’s character finishes second to Clint Eastwood in a shootout.
Now to the world of present day football!
Notre Dame’s first game of the season will be at Texas A&M Saturday, Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m.. According to the polls, Texas A&M might be the toughest foe for the Fighting Irish’s away schedule this season.
The next game will be at home against Northern Illinois University, Saturday, Sept. 7 at 2:30 p.m..
After taking on Northern Illinois, the Fighting Irish will travel to face Purdue Saturday, Sept. 14 at 2:30 p.m.. Then Notre Dame will play host to Miami (Ohio) Saturday, Sept. 21 at 2:30 p.m..