Maybe It Is Time To Go South For The Winter, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           Darlings, remember that 1945 Warner Bros. camp potboiler, called "Saratoga Trunk," based on Edna Ferber's novel?  It was like Warners, six years later, had still not gotten over that it had not made "Gone With The Wind," and they were bound and determined to.  This was Ingrid Bergman's bid at playing a Scarlett O'Hara type character, and, let me tell you, lambs, she was out of her league.

                            She plays a woman named Clio Dulaine, who was Society's Child, but also illegitimate, so she was packed off to Paris, to protect the family name. Not unlike Betsy Trebat, when she was busted for drugs, at sixteen. Now, as an adult, Clio has come back to New Orleans, and falls  in with Gary Copper, who plays a character named--what a hoot!--Clint Maroon!!!!!!!!!!!

                              You can't make this stuff up, dolls!  And how about that dwarf personal assistant?  I would never travel to New Orleans without one, from now on!!!!!!!!!!  And, what with this cold Winter we have been having up here, a trip South might be soothing.  Not Florida--after almost 30 years of visiting my father and relatives there, been there, done that. But New Orleans would be perfect!  I am sure they are holding a table for me at Galatoire's, right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Would you believe this campfest was made into a Broadway musical, entitled "Saratoga???" It opened in 1959, at--would you believe--the Winter Garden! Its leading lady, Carol Lawrence, had triumphed there, just two years before, in something called "West Side Story," and I expect the producers were hoping lightning would strike twice. But not even director Morton Da Costa, who also wrote the book, and composer Harold Arlen, and lyricist Johnny Mercer, could save this sorry ass show!

                                    Clio was my kind of gal--the sort who knew how to dress, appreciated the finery of New Orleans, and enjoyed drinking peaches with champagne every afternoon!  Sounds good to me! Now, just find me a residence in the French Quarter.  The Monteleone will suit me just fine! If not, the Pontchatrain, in the Garden District!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     This is how to cure the Winter blues, darlings! Southern relaxation and champagne!!!!!!!!!

                                      I cannot wait! And I could play this, better than Ingrid Bergman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!