Oh, My God, That Norine Schmittlapp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                       Just days after posting on the passing of Joanna Petet, I had a dream last night about the movie "The Group."  In the dream, my mother was telling me I could not see it, and I told her I was because I wanted to go to Vassar and become one of "The Group"--specifically Libby, the high-powered literary agent, played by Jessica Walter, with just a foreshadowing of Evelyn Draper.

                        This was just a dream, but in reality, when the film was coming to the Albany Theatre in New Brunswick, back in 1966, my mother took me to see something I cannot recall, but I saw coming attractions of "The Group."  Oh, my God, darlings, when I saw the scene of Joanna Petet as Kay locked in the closet and screaming, I shouted to my mother, "I want to see this!"   Of course, my plea fell on deaf ears.

                         But, girls, there is so much you can learn from "The Group."  Like the clinical details of intercourse, pessary fittings and breast feeding.  How to wear a sanitary belt, what books to read, and stop acting like a Bohemian tramp like Norine, played by Carrie Nye, who was ousted by "The Group," and, embittered, tries to take Harald from Kay.

                          I mean, girls, the book and movie are just a primer for adult development.

                        But that Norine!  You really have to watch out for her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                         And all Norines out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is This The Greatest Funeral Scene In Film History??????????????????????

                      It may be, darlings, but actually I prefer the one in 1965's "Doctor Zhivago."  It comes early on, and is a haunting, poetic with music and choral singing and a superb sense of viewing death from the eyes of a child.

                      Now, the above, is from Douglas Sirk's 1959 redo of "Imitation Of Life," one example where the remake becomes the definitive version.  Annie Johnson, played by the great Juanita Moore, has sacrificed her life for her daughter, Sarah Jane Johnson, so she can pass for white.  This, after the child from an early age, disses her and breaks her heart.  Well, Annie dies of that broken heart, but what no one knows is she has been putting money away so she can have the funeral of funerals. 

                     And does she ever!  Oh, my God, girls, marching bands, pounding drums, trumpets everywhere, and the voice of the great Mahalia Jaackson singing "Trouble In The World," as the biggest hearse in history carries Annie's coffin down the main street of the town.

                      But, wait!  The whole thing is capped by a now repentant Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner, who received an Oscar nomination) weeping and wailing alongside her mother's coffin, expressing sorrow now for the way she treated her mother.  Too little too late, Missy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                        Lana Turner, who plays a glamorous stage actress, and Sandre Dee, playing her entitled blonde daughter with the pink princess phone I always wanted, pull Sarah Jane in the car with them.  They should have left her on the street, for how she treated her mother.  Breaking her heart, killing her by running off to Vegas to become a cheap showgirl!  Not even I did that, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                          Great or not, this funeral scene has to be seen to be believed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                         Like the song in "Chicago" says, "If you're good to Mama, Mama is good to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Darlings, Would You Believe It Took Me 71 Years To See This Movie?????????????????????????

                          All this relates to my film project, which is ultimately catching up on movies I have yet to see because of my fear of cataract surgery.  I had just re-read the Agatha Christie novel, after a string of highbrow fiction.  I needed something light and frothy and this work delivers.  I think it is Dame Agatha's best.

                           Now, for years, girls, I had heard about Rene Clair's 1945 film version of this story, which was famous for his direction and a wonderful cast.  The cast is indeed wonderful but let me voice my first reservation; though Clair's direction is adept enough, too often this film is played for wit, like a British drawing room comedy.  I think the film would have been better served had it been directed by Alfred Hitchcock.  He may have been wanted, and may have wanted to do it, but don't forget he was still under contract to David O. Selznick, who kept him on a short leash.  Also, since Twentieth Century-Fox made the film, and given June Duprez' startling resemblance, couldn't they have had her role played by Gene Tierney??????????????????

                                The plot remains the same.  Ten unknown people are invited to a remote island by an injustice collector who wants to mete out the justice he/she thinks they deserve. One by one, the guests are killed off in mysterious, unsolvable ways.  Now, the film is faithful to the book, up to a point.  But there is a part which it disengages.

                                 Everyone in the novel is killed, including the perpetrator.  In the film, the two lovers--Louis Hayward and June Duprez, escape, while the alleged killer hints at suicide, but disappears, so does he really die or not?  This ruined the film for me.

                                  Nevertheless, the actors are strong, and so are the stylized Hollywood sets.  A real period feel is captured.  The costumes designed by Rene-Hubert do help, as does the art direction and set design of Ernst Fegte and Edward G. Boyle.  Their work is atmospheric and masterful.

                                   I am glad I finally got a chance to see this film For those who have not, I urge you to do so.  Even more if you haven't, I urge you to read the book first.

                                   The real thrills are all there, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   

This Is The Day I Always Consider Tne Middle Of Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

                               At some point in my head, I got the idea that July 15 was the midpoint of summer.  And I still feel that way.  For many years, when younger, I would traipse out to Coney Island, all by myself, and go on the rides I wanted to.  These were the spook house rides, the carousel, sometimes the Tilt-A-Whirl, and on one occasion the kiddy roller coaster.  Which suited me fine.

                                 Today, I hardly go out to Coney, but I take pleasure in the half point of summer.  All the greenery, the beautiful flowers, the sunshine, the ability to dress lightly and comfortably, and, really, even though retired, just enjoying a more leisurely pace than one does in the winter months.

                                 And of course, the world is ablaze with color, which why summer, though it can be discomfiting for someone with my sensitive skin, and aversion to the sun.  Despite the detriments, summer is still my favorite season.

                                   So happy mid-summer everyone!  And here is the perfect song to go with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Enjoy the halfway point of summer, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            

Darlings, Wouldn't It Be Better To Get Lemonade In This More Elegant Way?????????????????????

                                  Remember that old summer rhyme, "Lemonade/Made in the shade/Stirred with a spade/By an old maid?"  Well, that old maid stuff has gone the way of all flesh, so to speak, and, while lemonade is still a seasonal summer tradition, I think it should be served in a more elegant manner.

                                    Ah, the elegance of a past age.  When ladies were ladies and gentlemen gentlemen. And lemonade was just that, not laced with some liquor so teens could indulge in underage drinking.

                                        Whatever happened to chivalry.  And leaving calling cards when visiting?

                                        Like the song in "Chicago" says, "Nobody's got no class!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Girls, It Is Bastille Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Ooo La La, darlings!  Today, in 1789, the Bastille prison was stormed, marking the start of the French Revolution.    Today it is an excuse to indulge in exquisite French cuisine, or maybe reread Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities," or watch the MGM 1936 film, where Blanche Yurka steals the show as Madame De Farge.  You just have to love her, girls, knitting away as the heads fall into the basket from the guillotine.

I think I once had a toy guillotine, where you could repeatedly chop off the guy's head over and over.  It is amazing that I did not grow up to be a serial killer.  Perhaps it all changed when I saw "The Song Of Bernadette" for the first time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a day to be celebrated as one pleases; just celebrate If I owned a copy I think today, I would watch "The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg," one of, if not the most, romantic films ever.

Happy Bastille Day, everyone!  Set off your own fireworks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, Darlings, How I Would Like To Go Through Fairy Halls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Wouldn't you, girls??????????  I know I would, especially with all that is going on with me.

                                     I am scheduled next Wednesday for a colonoscopy.  Only now I am 85% recovered from a cold, which lingers and makes me cough up glop to the point where I am not sure I should go through the procedure.  As if that was not enough, I have cataract surgery staring me in the face.  No date has been set, but I would guess early next year, since my doctor appointment is not till January 7th.

                                       Is it any wonder I want to go through fairy halls?  Or disappear to a world where colonoscopies and cataract surgeries were not necessary?????????????????

                                       As Charmian Carr sang in "Evening Primrose," "Take Me To The World!!!!!!!!"

                                       Or help me find a way to cope in this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!