Girls, I am telling you, there seems to be no shortage out there of Mothers From Hell, both in fiction and real life. Fiction's top prize goes, of course, to Margaret White, created by Stephen King, in his novel, "Carrie." But don't forget that piece of work, Charlotte Bayes, in the "Cold Case" episode "Churchgoing People," (who has been discussed on here) not to mention Shelley Winters as the despicable Rose-Ann D'Arcey in "A Patch Of Blue." The prize winner in real life is Catherine Pelzer, mother of healer and inspirational speaker Dave Pelzer, author of "A Child called IT," which chronicled the abuse he suffered at the hands of this hellish woman. To this list, there are others I could add--Sante Kimes, Susan Smith, Casey Anthony, and Magda Goebbels, wife of top Nazi, Josef, who, when Germany was clearly losing the war, and they could see it, killed all six of her children, suggesting they would be better off dead. But not herself.
Then there is this week's winner of the Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award, who straddles both fiction and real life. The fictional winner is Alice Curtis, played by actress De Ann Mears, in the 1976 TV movie, "The Loneliest Runner." But Alice was based on Peggy O'Neill, whose married name was Orowitz, wife of Eli Maurice. Living in Forest Hills, Queens, in the Thirties, they gave birth to a son, who was named Eugene Maurice Orowitz, but grew up to be the successful actor and TV personality, Michael Landon.
Let me explain. While recently discussing the subject of childhood bed wetting with my sister, who was a nurse, the memory of that movie, "The Loneliest Runner," came into my mind. It was first aired on December 20, 1976, (I saw it then!) and there was one horrific scene that remained with me to this day. The movie tells the story of a fictional Olympic runner named John Curtis, (played in two bracketed scenes by Landon, and, for the bulk of the film, told via flashback, by then child actor Lance Kerwin) who, as a youngster, suffered the problem of overage bed wetting, doing, at first, everything to hide it from his parents. When discovered, his mother, in the horrific sequence, hangs the soiled sheet out his bedroom window, for all the neighbors, and his father and friends (in that initial scene) to see!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That moment had stayed with me for the intervening 38 years since I have seen the movie!!!!!!!!!!! When I watched it again, a wave of discoveries flooded over me. Butt first, a bit more explanation.
What gave the movie emotional resonance at the time was its dealing with a subject that was out there, but hardly discussed. It was propelled by Landon, who produced, wrote, and directed the film himself, because the fact of being a bed wetter was autobiographical. Before he became an actor, even before "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," Landon had been a champion javelin thrower, with Olympics aspirations. But an arm injury in college ended that dream, so he turned to acting. And didn't do too bad, at it.
As it turned out, Landon's real life situation was almost worse than the fictional John Curtis. The real life Alice, Peggy O'Neill, actually did hang those soiled sheets out the window for all to see, but she practiced more insidious emotional abuse, which included making him wear pieces of those sheets to school. Michael had an older sister, Evelyn, whom the mother doted on, while seeming to hate her male child. She was suicidal, and made several attempts, one while the family was on a vacation. Michael saved her from one of the attempts, and it was thought his bed wetting was in part attributed to his fear of his mother committing suicide. The father, basically, ignored him, as he was probably cowed by his bitch wife, so Michael had no support from anyone. On his eighth birthday, after sending out invitations, buying gifts, ice cream and cake, his mother cancelled the whole thing on the moment's notice, stating hatefully she did not like eight-year-old kids!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine???????????
Revenge can be sweet, and in "The Loneliest Runner," he really skewers the mother.
Now, Landon was no world beater as an actor or director; he was certainly no Altman, but he did have an ability to work with actors, because he gets Emmy caliber performances from Brian Keith as the father, Arnold Curtis, De Ann Mears, as the mother, Alice, and, most especially, young Lance Kerwin as John. All should have received Emmys for their work, most especially Mears and Kerwin, as, during their scenes, the heated emotions of their characters--one the hating mother, the other the despised child--comes through so palpably. As does Kerwin's pain and desperation, whether running, literally for his life, or painfully hiding his shame from his parents, at one point forfeiting his lunch daily to wash and change his bedding, so his parents would think he had stopped. This kid just could not get a break.
What struck me about the family dynamics this time was that, while the movie was about the young John Curtis, and not his mother, it is made clear that the mother actually hates her child. But since the movie is not exploring her, the reason why is never made clear. If bed wetting had not been an issue, she would have found another way to go after him. Brian Keith plays the father, Arnold, as a more sympathetic figure than Landon's own father, but one who, for most of the film, is cowed by his wife. I hated him when he caved in, supported his wife just to get her off his back, and slapped Kerwin,saying what the mother did with the sheets was right, and would continue! From the way it is played, you can see John understands; this is not his father, but some other person. Which makes the scene doubly painful.
De Ann Mears' performance has been compared by some to Mary Tyler Moore as Beth Jarrett in "Ordinary People." I never actually hated Beth; I pitied her. All she had to maintain her was the illusion of perfection, and when that was taken from her, she became emotionally stunted and shut down.
She was emotionally stunted, and did not lash out harmfully, like Alice Curtis, who was definitely a Borderline Personality Disordered monster. Just like Karen's (the Dinah Manoff character) mother in "Ordinary People," which is quickly established in that film with a few brush strokes, and where the dynamics there went unchanged, leading to their daughter's suicide.
This Mother From Hell does get her comeuppance, but not enough. The climactic part of the film has John racing his neighbor and potential girl friend, Nancy Rizzi (played by Melissa Sue Anderson, in a good performance, but, basically, Mary Ingalls in 1950's garb!!!!!!!!!) home, riding with her father in a new car he has bought, so they won't see the sheet. But they do.. What is interesting, in the scenes afterwards, none of his male friends, or she, say anything about it, suggesting they understand his shame. I wonder how realistic that is. Just as the mother has no idea that by doing what she does, what she is saying to the neighbors about her household, her marriage, and most especially, about herself. Such actions today would be grounds for calling Children's Services. But there was nothing like that in place during the Conformist Fifties!!!!!!!!!!!
With Nancy seeing the sheet, the ultimate humiliation, John runs away from home. He is finally discovered hiding out in a department store, where he wistfully runs through the place, in a football helmet. He had given up the team, due to his mother's evil training device, but built himself up so much through running that by now he has been offered the chance to run with the Varsity track team. But there is the problem of those sheets, and that mother.
Whose concern for her son's disappearance does not at all seem genuine. If something had happened, she would not have been sorry over losing a child, but how it would reflect on her! Bitch! The store finally contacts the family, saying he spent the night in the store, nothing was damaged, so no charges will be pressed.
In the next pivotal scene, it all comes together. John tells his father how he slept on a big bed in the bed department--and did not wet. All during the movie, his mother was having the pubescent boy still sleeping in a child's armed bed!!!!!!!!!!!! The father then confesses that when he was his son's age, he too wet the bed, doing it till he was 14. (The age when Landon actually stopped.) The look of relief, compassion, and understanding on Kerwin's face is so real, as it is with Keith, coupled with sorrow and regret. During this scene, the mother is going on abusively, non-stop, when Arnold says, "Alice, will you please shut up?" "I will NOT shut up!," she fires back, at which point he screams at her, "SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!" The look on her face is priceless--a mixture of hurt, surprise, maybe some pride; it is hard to determine, but it is clear a change has taken place. Father and son march out the door, embracing, consciously ignoring the mother, who stands there, motionless, not knowing what to do. Then, after what seems a long time, she opens the door, and follows. Clearly, the movie implies, there has been a power shift in that house!
This is the movie version of her getting her comeuppance. It is deserved, but not enough. Now, divorce was practically verboten in this era, and, for a woman like Alice, it would have been a scandal! But we all know personalities like these don't change overnight, so, after a time, the mother would return to her abusive ways. Let's hope now the father steps in.
To get an idea of how hateful this mother is, take a look at this clip. I wanted to get her at her worst, the scene in the doctor's office, but almost any scene De Ann Mears is in will do.
Getting back to real life for a moment, Michael Landon died 15 years after this movie, in 1991, at the age of 55. His hellish mother died ten years before, in 1981, while his older sister, Evelyn, died in 2003. Both lived to see their family skewered in this movie, though I doubt whether either of them watched it. What I find interesting is, once he became a success, Landon took care of his mother and sister, helping them out financially. However, he never spoke to them. Interesting, isn't it???? But those bitches took his money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The ending is chillingly ironic. When asked what he owes his Olympic success to, Landon, as the adult John Curtis, says, "I guess I owe it all to my Mom and Dad." Which sounds, on paper, like a typical Landon/Family Values ending. But the way he delivers that line, coupled with the story having just taken place, gives this moment a chilling irony.
"The Loneliest Runner" is about bed wetting, but also about one of its catalysts, Alice Curtis, the Mother From Hell. I find her to be one of the more hateful winners of this this award since I started the Bitch Of The Week column.
Hell holds a special place for you, Alice/Peggy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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