Imilda Elkousy Foundation

From Mrs. Imilda Elkousy
Email address: elkousyfoundation@xbmail.com

Dear Beloved,


I am Mrs. Imilda Elkousy a widow suffering from long term illness. I have some funds I inherited from my late husband, Adel Elkousy who died in an air crash on the 31st October 1999 in an Egyptian airline 990 with other passengers on board. See this website to confirm.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/502503.stm)

The total amount is $8.5M and I need help and support to invest this money or donate it to charity.

I have mapped out $500.000.00 for your personal use in this work, while I pray that the rest will be used for the mission. Please if you know that you will sincerely use the fund to fulfill this dream, kindly reply for further details with these information.

Respond to my personal email address: mrselkousy@xbmail.com

(1) Your full Name, address and telephone number
(2) Nationality
(3) Occupation
(4) Age / Sex
(5)Marital Status.

Be blessed.
Mrs.Imilda Elkousy.
Email: mrselkousy@xbmail.com

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV , 26

Sunday, Sept. 8. 2013

Old Movie Review

My Fair Lady

For me, this magnificent musical is about as good as they get! Every character deserved some sort of special award: (in addition to the twelve it won! This is film making at its finest! The only criticism I registered was the fact that after Audrey Hepburn took vocal lessons and transcribed all her songs for the camera, (I have heard some of these and they are more than satisfactory) Warner Bros. saw fit to have these all removed from the film, and the professional voice of a Ghost Singer substituted..

Notwithstanding this slight disappointment, the musical more than lived up to my expectations, and in the very presence of the incomparably beautiful Audrey Hepburn, (and that alone was worth any amount of money) made even the original stage version look almost pathetic in comparison. I had only one negative reaction throughout the entire film; for me the seemed to be trying to make a “Show Stopper” out of “Get Me to the Church on Time” (which more than justified that description before it’s tenth---or did it only seem this long?)

I would still have to give all my love and admiration for this inspired version of what I seriously doubt will ever be surpassed, and watch it every chance I get! And I feel as if I could watch it in its entirety at least once a year!

 

CAT FAX

“Life is hard, then you nap.”

Anonymous

 

Lynwood and Purgatory Smith

During his first term working in Chicago, Lynwood shared an apartment with one of his Heidelberg associates named “something I cannot remember, Smith”. I doubt that even Lynwood would still be able to remember his real name, after all these decades! The reason for this is really quite simple (at least in the MacTeer school of friendships.) I’ll just call him “Smitty” and let it go as that) We all began calling “Smitty” “Purg”, or if we were really put ot with him (and we all found him an utter bore) which was a reduction of the word “Purgatory”, with which Smitty had just learned the word and was fascinated with it! He  had recently learned about it from me and several other Cathoics. I tried to assure him that the Church no longer even mentioned it, let alone harping all the while that we had to make it “safely” through Purgatory ages before we would have earned a place in either Heaven or Hell.

At any rate, he was in a “phase” so strange to the rest of us, we could not come to terms with his seriousness. I had asked Lynwood is he would like to try Mama’s recipe for “meatless pasta with onion souga” (or sauce).. I had introduced his parents (as well as Lynwood) when I had paid a quick visit to Varnville while we were still in the service. It arose out of a discussion about my cooking: Lynwood wanted me to do my “Meatballs and Spaghetti”, but I frankly was not in the mood to tackle this much work: so I explained to his parents that “Meatless Spaghetti” was better for you and the taste (I could assure them) was far different from the meat-ball meal. They had “flipped out” which was the usual reaction, to my simple meal (which also costs less than a dollar to serve), so now, here I was, trying to persuade everybody to try my meatless Italian meal. The verdict was unanimous: the McTeers loved it!

I always tell anyone who is tasting its “Definitely different” flavor for the first time, how Mama had invented this savory flavor when we were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays or several other Holy days throughout the rest of the year. It is so easy to make that we all learned to make it any time we didn’t especially like the meal our sisters  or parents cooked for us,

The Simple Recipe for Pasta with Onion Souga (sauce) uses any kind of pasta from simple spaghetti, or macaroni (my personal flavor consists of miniature sea shell macaroni, loaded with the Souga, and lots of grated cheese cheese- PLUS fresh basil leaves if you have them growing as I do. To begin with, I peel as many onions as I need for the meal. I then chop the slices into longer thinner slices and sauté them a few minutes in a skillet that had been filled with olive oil. Add the chopped onions (and you can never get too much) when the onions are golden brown, add a can of tomato paste and mix thoroughly, adding salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate pot, add water enough to cook as much pasta as you want. I always allow for second helpings (especially if this all you are serving) and as soon as the water boils, add the pasta (the reason I like the shells is that, unlike spaghetti and macaronis, the shells tend to act as a sort of net that catches and holds the luscious accumulated flavors of all the ingredients (and please do not forget the cheese and sweet basil!

 Now back to the reason for this recipe”  Lynwood and I ate until I was sure we would pop wide open. But I had cooked enough “sea shells” that there more than enough for two more meals (which I had promised my host to make. That would solve one more problem for one more meal.

Richard (whose name just now flashed into my degenerating memory) absolutely went bananas over the peasant’s meal we had all enjoyed so much. But Richard did not exactly make me like him more than I ever had, by asking Lynwood if they had any saltines he could eat with his pasta! What a waste!

Old Movie Trivia Quiz

1.      Who was Ferris Beuler?

2.      What did he do to justify his having his own film?

3.      What actor played Henry Aldrich in movies?

4.      Who was Nancy Drew? Hint: she was the brat who caused all the trouble in These Three.

5.      What actor became Anthony Adverse?

6.      Who was the loathsome housekeeper to Joan Fontaine in Rebecca?

7.      Who squashed a grapefruit into his costar’s face in a Warner Bros. criminal biography?

8.      Who was the original Anne of Green Gables?

9.      In My Favorite, what two men  claim Irene Dunne as their wife?

10.  In the very similar movie (Too Many Husbands) what favorite star(often starred with James Stewart)?

 

FF XIV, 25

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV , 25

Sunday, September 1, 2013

CAT FAX

“No Heaven will ever Heaven be unless my cats are there to welcome me.”

This is signed simply UNKNOWN, but I would like to adopt this as my own reference to that particular aspect of my life and death.

 F. M. Imbragulio

Old Movie Review

It Happened One Night (Columbia 1934)

When Frank Capra began work on this film Columbia Pictures was such a minor studio that he said he never made a single take, more than once. They simply had no cash to waste! He worked with two of the best actors of that time: Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable (whom the head of MGM let Capra use Gable as a punishment for disobedience towards MGM. Colbert had to finish all of her scenes in just over a week. Believe it or not: This film was the very first movie in the world to win ALL of the major Academy Awards: and at the time Columbia had less than six votes on the winners! The sales receipts started dreadfully, and it seemed the comedy had flopped: then a miracle happened: People began coming back for a second viewing (usually bringing others with them) and the comedy had to ne held over for many weeks; and before you could say “The Walls of Jericho”, Columbia had the biggest bonanza of 1934!

I have probably seen it ten times, and while much of it seems mighty dated, there are always enough heart felt laughs to make it more than a real pleasure to watch! (Still ****)

 

The Ultimate Macbeth

I slept fitfully that second night we were at Aunt Grace’s lovely home. It was a huge, two storied house, with very expensive furnishings and every cooking aid I had ever seen (so many that I had to ask my favorite of the girls, Annie, what each “gadget” was for. Aunt Grace had only three daughters and four sons: which was exactly the reverse of our four girls, 3 boys total. Aunt Grace and Uncle Sam, occupied the ground floor with the second floor being occupied by Annie, her husband and young daughter, There was a bottom floor by way of being more or less a basement, or cellar. Here, Mary and her husband and two children were snug as bugs in a rug!  The eldest son, Sammy, who was an art major at the Chicago Art Institute, and his wife lived across town in their own apartment. But I always was impressed at how well the remainder of that large family got along, all living under one roof: There were also Joe and Billy. The fourth son, Johnny, had been injured in the war and had died.

There was the usual sniffling and crying when we were driven to the train station, and had to tell them all goodbye! But I was so grateful to be on my way to Ellisville, and what we would do with my new tape recorder

I had gotten accustomed to traveling George’s original train and bus combination, since I had not done it four or five times, so this much shorter trip from Chicago to Ellisville, I rang up as “Child’s Play!

2. Sunday and all of the family were present: Now was the time to spring on George the message I had begged Ramona to make before I left Lansing, Apparently he had told her at some point in their relationship, that he voice had no overtones. Now, George is one of those strange birds that have perfect pitch. Of course this is partly responsible for his being to hear anything once, and then can play it back exactly as he heard it. Now, it might sound like sour grapes, but I was glad I did not have this curse: for one thing, if you do have perfect pitch and your piano gets the least bit out of tune, George goes berserk! He had to take to tuning his own pianos, so totally did its being out of tune the least bit, and he is miserable. I love a well tuned piano as much as anyone, but (again) I am happy with the other half of George’s considerable talent.

But this was all so you could appreciate the rest of Ramona’s Dilemma: Now remember, George, our parents and I were the only ones who had visited Lansing. I waited dramatically until everyone was quiet as a mouse, and then I started the little speech she had sent to George (whom she absolutely adored him) She did have a different sound to her voice, but it was anything but unpleasant. She talked about the recorder and then says how her old no-overtone voice must sound so strange to all of us At this point in Ramona’s recording, Rosie burst into tears! When Mama asked her why she was crying, she said she loved Ramona Gregg because she had taken such good care of her two brothers. And here, I have to give Rosie credit: She loved George and me just about as much as any sister ever loved her brothers! But I didn’t dare look at George right now: I could see his handkerchief wiped the tears away from his eyes. She was the most wonderful human being I have ever been fortunate enough to know. And she was closely followed by her younger daughter, Mary Elizabeth, who put up with me a whole year as I worked on my degree those last two years in Lansing. She was as pretty as a picture and could always find something to laugh at, no matter how gray the sky might have looked at the time.

2. I used my recording of Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite as our background music (especially that section that has a very realistic sounding “Storm” which I felt as if it had been solely written for the purpose I was adapting it to. It fit like a tight glove! I was to be the announcer, even though Marcus had quite the best bass voice of any of our cast. I let the record play a little, and then said, SLOWLY and trying to pronounce each word clearly  and succucintly said, “The Canasta Players, present Macbeth, by William Shakessphere (and that deliberate wrong  spelling and pronunciation was used throughout the tape). The play has been edited to fit the recorder’s timing, by Tennessee MacWilliams (George) and his brother, Mississippi. The sound effects and musical score is played by the Ellisville Philharmonica Orchestra. The cast has been reduced and the action begins on a steep cliff on the coast Scotland, There is a storm in progress as we hear the first of the three weird sisters saying:, “When shall we three meet again?” I think George would have killed me if I had tried to get the line for myself or Marcus, He then adds, unnecessarily, “In thunder, lightning and rain?” My first lines were not as much fun as George’s had been, but Marcus came out with the spookiest sounding witch of us all: “That’ll be ere the set of the sun!”

And then George began doing the very things that always caused Marcus to go home mad. As Macbeth had most of the good lines. Marcus naturally dominated the recorder. George could not stand to let him have all the fun, so he would stick his head in the space between the microphone and Marcus’s head, snorting as loudly as he could, plus adding sounds of sucking up all manner of things!

After Marcus stormed out of the house. We had no choice, but had to make do with only two thespians.

It was growing dark as George and I fought that final duel (I believe it was between Macbeth and McDuff) because I seem to remember the words, “Lay on, McDuff and Damned be he who first cries, “Hold!  Enough!” And then we added to the end, Lady Macbeth’s being given the news that her king is dead! George deserved some kind  of award for this dramatic ending

*On a later visit, Annie took the time to teach  how to make Pizzas, and her authentic recipe was good, simple to make and sheer heaven to eat! But I shall deal with that much later

 

 

FF, XIV, 22

 

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV , 22

Sunday, August 25. 2013

I am working this Sunday under very unusual circumstances: Last week, my computer guru took this ancient  Dell out and installed a used computer that I should find much easier to get satisfactory results with. Of course, I can hardly wait to have the newer computer; so imagine my frustration, with what I am trying to do with the same old junk pile that I have used to death. But the Guru ran into a problem night before last, while installing the newer machine and then had to re-install this (just so I could get some kind of Fax Facts to my beloved subscribers).

So what I plan to do is (once more) send a quick version of the old tried and true weekly mess! 

I ask each of you to try to remember, as I am trying to convince myself, that patience (of which I have NONE) really IS a virtue!

CAT FAX

“A cat will sit washing hid face within two inches of a dog in the most frantic state of barking rage, if the dog be chained.”

Carl van Vechfin

Old Movie Review

Giant (WB, 1956)

This overly long cinema made all the wrong impressions on my first watching of the film when it was brand new. After all these years, I recorded and managed to watch most of it (I found the likes of Sal Mineo just too much to be endured) I never understood what he had to do with the entire flick. I had read Edna Ferber’s endless saga at a time when I was reading every book from which a movie had been made. She was definitely never one of my favorite authors.

        There were far too many pages to the novel; too many characters to keep separated in my brain, (almost as bad as War and Peace!) and just not enough interest in a rancher in Texas, who is a billionaire, etc. All  of my attention as I wactched scene after scene, was riveted upon Elizabeth Taylor and her usual flawless performance. Now, here was an actress that I never cared for as long as she was marrying and divorcing  every male star in Hollywood: I could never forgive her for taking Debby Reynold’s husband away from her and then dumping him. But from the moment I saw that opening scene of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff (with the Bette Davis quote) I have found her acting to be absolutely spell binding! Coupled with her astounding beauty, there is a lot to be admired

        This was no exception. Not only was she the biggest asset the film had, she totally was able to make the plot possible, and even logical! I actually cried as she tells Rock Hudson, finally why she loves him so much’ The scene is beautifully written and I just found it perfect  in every way, For the first time ever, I found even “Brick Bat” Hudson tolerable.

Draft Dodging No More

        One of the places on this earth that I always enjoyed the most is Chicago!  The first time I went there was when Mama and I came back home from Lansing, from whence we had traveled after my graduation the day before. However, rather than enjoying it (as I certainly would have done any time later) I was hell bent on getting home to Ellisville and George so that we could begin to share the magic of the tape recorder I had bought with Daddy’s graduation gift, which was sufficient to buy something George and I had been searching for all those years when we longed to record the “Broadcasts” he was always coming up with! I had managed to get Ramona (Mrs.  Gregg’s) to talk into the microphone, and was well aware of the effect this would have on him.

`       As I look back on this stupid behavior of mine back then, I am aghast! My cousins had bought tickets for the Broadway Musical, ,Pal Joey which was in town that week, and I can just imagine how they had counted on our enjoying it with them!

        However, our Chicago cousins gave us both quite a sight seeing view of the city: We visited the art museum (which later became one of my favorite things to do in Chicago) and were able to see lots of things that were introduced for the World’s Fair that had been there a few years earlier. How well I remember the room with the fantastic property (or so it seemed to me, at that time) of being able to whisper (almost inaudibly) from the corner of one side of the huge building, and hear it clearly from the opposite corner! The oldest of Aunt Grace’s flock (Sam) was then a student at the Art Institute, and he made me feel really good about myself when he casually asked me which of the works of art I found the most interesting. I had been captivated by a strange and somber oil painting that was of an austere black door that was locked and through a keyhole a candle’s dim light could barely be seen. There were flowers in what we could see of the background, and when I asked what the work was called, Sam said, “That which I should have done, but left undone.” For me that seemed to sum it up perfectly

        Looking at the World”s Fair's rides and other things that made me ache all over just to see them, was well worth our stopping overnight. But if anything, I was even more stubborn then than I am now. So after spending just one night there, I insisted that we head for home! I rationalized later by saying that Mama probably would have hated the Broadway Musical! But I knew this was not true: Mama always loved a good movie or play, as well as television.

Bette Davis Old Movie Quiz

1.      Did Davis or Hepburn win the most Oscars? Hepburn was the most award winning star, and still is

_2. In which film does Bette wear a red evening dress to a huge party? Jezebel

_3. with whose dying body does she travel to the cemetery in New Orleans? Henry Fonda

_4. What is the famous Bette Davis quote spoken by Eliz. Taylor in the beginning of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff? “What a DUMP!” as she enters the front door.

_5. Which film ends with Bette going blind? Extra credit if you can name the Oscar winning friend who is with her to the bitter end? Dark Victory. Geraldine Fitzgerald was the loyal friend.

_6. In which WW2 studio musical did Bette lament, They’re Either too Young or too old!? Thank Your Lucky Stars

_7. With whom did she share top billing in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Joan  Crawford.

_8. Who was her similar friend in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte?  Olivia deHavilland

_9. Who was the younger actress who was Eve, to Bette Davis? Anne Baxter

_10.      Can  you name any of her husbands? Gary Merrill,

Old Movie Trivia Quiz

1. What Warner Bros. star played Brother Orchid?
2. Who was the original Man in the Iron Mask?
3. Who played Gilbert Grape in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?

4.                       Who was in  the remake of The Man in the Iron Mask?

5.                       In which film did Mary Astor play a concert pianist with the Schakowsky Piano Concerto in B flat; always those first few pages?

6.                       Can you name the Republic star of I’ve Always Loved You?

7.                       To what famous pianist did Republic pay a million dollars for the sound track?

8.                       Which Republic film gave us the Warsaw Concerto?

9.                       Who was Britain’s Georgie Girl?

10.                   Whom did she finally marry?

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV , 21

Sunday, August 18. 2013

Driving to mass at 6:45 in a downpour, is for me, far preferable to driving directly into the sun’s unyielding glare! Sun glasses only make it worse, so I usually have to utilize  pillows stacked one on top of the other, and drive more or less standing up to avoid driving blind as a bad into the great Sunshine mountain!

CAT FAX

“If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.”

Alfred North Whitehead

Old Movie Review

Watch on the Rhine (WB; 1943)

This WW2 drama about Bette Davis (who is married to Paul Lucas and has been living in Germany since their marriage), Paul Lucas (who played the kind man who marries Jo in the David O/ Selznick 1930’s version of Little Women won an Academy Award for this performance.

Bette and Paul have brought their three well mannered children (two boy and a girl) where they run into a man who is trying to take half of a stack of money amounting to $20000 for taking back to Germany where they will do all that they can to help the allied causes. Paul ends up having to shoot this interloper, even though Bette Davis’ mother has aggreed to give him half of the amount out of her pocket.

The tension in the house relaxes and Paul joins the fighting, leaving his wife and children with their mother, at her mother’s home.

It has just enough WW2 discussion to make it breath taking, and Bette does some of her usual wonderful acting!

 

Draft Dodging No More

I was tired and hot when I arrived at the door to Marcus’s apartment there in the heart if Cincinnati, but the minute I saw that great big smiling face, my spirits lifted heavenward! Marcus was one of those happy people who are so satisfied with their lives that they are usually in a terrific mood, “Come in this house!” he almost cried. I walked across the threshold and stood admiring the new additions he had made since my last visit.

I was between terms at Michigan State, where I was almost through with my education. And we all agreed it was about time!

There was a delicious odor coming from the gas range, and I did not recognize it. “What’s the heavenly smell?” I asked.

He smiled broadly as he said, “We’re having curried beef for supper!

I thought back to my last visit (the past fall) when Marcus had taken me to yet another of Cincinnati’s  Five Star restaurants (any one of which I rated higher than any restaurant n New Orleans) and we had almost had it that evening, but he decided he wanted me to have something else. I sniffed the air hungrily! What is that heavenly aroma?’ I asked.

“That’s the curry powder! That’s what makes if so special!”

I had to agree that its odor was different and certainly smelled delicious!

I admit to being so hungry I almost passed out, what with the delicious aroma I was having to endure. When we finally sat down to eat, almost two hours later, it was almost like when we used to slop our hogs, back in Richton! I refer to the uncouth manner in which we both attacked the meal, and then so thoroughly enjoyed down to the last drop! I’m sure he had salad, vegetables and dessert: but I’d be lying if I said I remembered anything except that curried beef!

Incidentally, about thirty years after this introduction to curry powder, Janet, my bridge partner, brought us Deviled Eggs for lunch. They smelled so wonderful that I had to ask what they had that her others had not had, and she told me she had experimented with some curry powder! I have used it ever since!

        The next morning, Marcus asked if I would have any interest in seeing Cincinnati’s outstanding zoo. I gave him a strong answer in the affirmative, and by the time the day was over. I was filled with more lovely memories! First of all, we were transported by an over-sized Toy Train, and before that, I had seen zoos  in places like Jackson, MS. and Southern Miss. University. But here was a real zoo! (I later was taken to even more spectacular zoos in Seattle, Washington and Portlamd, Oregon, with Beth as my tour guide (and it was here that I fell in love with water critters!)

        I knew how eager Mama and Daddy were to see me, so I tore myself away, and continued driving due South.

Bette Davis Old Movie Quiz

1.      Did Davis or Hepburn win the most Oscars?

_2. In which film does Bette wear a red evening dress to a huge party?

_3. with whose dying body does she travel to the cemetery in New Orleans?

_4. What is the famous Bette Davis quote spoken by Eliz. Taylor in the beginning of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?

_5. Which film ends with Bette going blind? Extra credit if you can name the Oscar winning friend who is with her to the bitter end?

_6. In which WW2 studio musical did Bette lament, They’re Either too Young or too old!?

_7. With whom did she share top billing in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

_8. Who was her similar friend in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte?

_9. Who was the younger actress who was Eve, to Bette Davis?

_10.      Can  you name any of her husbands?

Answers to Quiz

1. Rosalind Russell was in the Eugene O’Neal drama. Mourning Becomes Electra

2.    In My Sister Eileen, Leonard Bernstein  wrote the movie score

3.    In Aunty Mama, Peggy Cass created the character Agnes Gooch

4.    Carol Brown was Mame’s vaudeville partner (Mame always got it wrong)

5.    It Happened in Bombay, which paired MGM super star Clark Gable with Rosalind Russell.

6.    Roger Smith *Lend Me Your Comb played the adored nephew grown up/ Think about combs!

7.    His Girl Friday paired Roz with Cary Grant,

8.    No Time for Comedy had her with James Stewart.

9.    She played stage mother to Natalie Wood in Gypsy..

10.               How many Oscars did she receive in her career? None, to my knowledge. She certainly deserved at least two!

 

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Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV , 20

Sunday, August 11. 2013

       Sharon and Joe Grimly made the week worthwhile with their visit Saturday. It was their first visit in months, and we had a lot of catching up to do: Joe (as usual) was able to get the telephone in the bedroom working again (it had been plugged in to a dead outlet: he not only fixed that, buy also was able to get rid of four or five other electric cords off the floor where they were always dangerous with my poor sense of balance. They both took care of several matters that were troubling me (as usual) and their efforts were greatly appreciated! Joe drove us to      for hamburgers (I had planned to make Jambalaya, but they said it was too much trouble) so I was happy with a Big Bufford~mine and Beth’s favorite burger in this world!

CAT FAX

“I simply can’t resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, and most intelligent things I know. Outside of the girl you love, of course.”             Mark Twain

The Lost Weekend

I knew almost as soon as I arrived at Lynwood’s lovely apartment in the French Quarter, that my old friend had a problem because he was already having trouble making his eyes look straight at me, It didn’t take long for him to unburden his heart to me: He had a tooth that had to be extracted and the dentist refused to give him any sort of pain killers! I had observed this tendency for “Making you feel good” drugs on my last visits. Of course I have never had the least interest in any kind of drugs, and felt that anyone stupid enough to become addicted to them, got just what he deserved! I would buy the pain pills my dentist prescribed, but never took them: I never had enough pain to take the risk!

Trying not to sound too “Holier than Thou” I did a lot of swallowing a great deal of crap that was bitter as gall. Lynwood’s solution to his pain was to drink himself into oblivion. After all, he did work for one of the biggest Liquor Companies in the world. He had no interest in supper (as a matter of fact, he hardly ate at all the entire time I was with him. He’s take longer and stronger swigs from his bottle as I tried to look anywhere but at him!

I was tired and needed to get some sleep, but although he went to bed, I knew he was not even trying to reach unconsciousness! He moaned and groaned like a woman in labor! My heart hardened. I could not get over the feeling that all of that pain was being faked!

I must have really been tired, because even though his moans and groans were growing ever more fortissimo, I managed somehow to get to sleep!

And this was with the radio going full blast! He always insisted on listening to radio, which somehow made him go to sleep! I was certainly glad that he had twin beds in is bedroom, since I awoke just in time to hear him making a run for the backroom as he vomited all over his bed! That did it. I was so disgusted I wanted to cry! Still. I had to try to be understanding and tolerant. So, I watched with my eyes closed, as he tried valiantly to get all that mess cleaned up. I knew if I had not been there, he would have moved into my bed and left it all till the next day—or later.

He went back to sleep once he had wet mopped the entire bedroom floor, and had put fresh linens on his bed. He had done nothing to keep the smell of vomit from making me sick (and does it ever smell even half as bad when it is anything else but liquor?) Sunday morning we awoke and I volunteered to cook us some eggs and bacon, after which I was determined to head for home. He begged me so pitifully, saying over and over how sorry he was that I had to see him like this, that I decided to stay till after lunch (which he was treating me to at the Court of Two Sisters (or were there three of them?) At any rate, I always enjoyed the cuisine there and drove back to Ellisville feeling much better than I had since arriving yesterday.

Old Movie Review

Too Many Husbands (Columbia)

And now we come to the reason that I stuck it out for over two hours, just to find out that we still do not know the outcome! This film from Columbia Pictures (in 1940) starred one of my favorite actresses of this era: Jean Arthur: who was never more aggravating than in this ill-begotten horrible rip off of RKO’s My Favorite Wife (1940, also----hmmmm?) concerning Irene Dunne, who is married to Cary Grant, being lost on a deserted island, for seven years, with Randolph Scott. She is pronounced legally dead, so Cary marries Gail Patrick. There are quite a lot of laughs in this silly little film because of the great cast and director. Too Many Husbands has a usually respectable cast, but here we have zero laughs and great expanses of ennui about which husband (Melvin Douglas who has married Jean after first hubby, Fred MacMurray is lost on a desert Island. But here, he is alone the whole time. But in My Favorite Wife, Irene Dunne had all that time with Randolph Scott for Cary Grant to worry about.

This far lesser “comedy” would have us believe that the poor darling truly loved both husbands, and couldn’t make a decision between them. They tried everything, from drawing straws to even more inane practices: It always remains unresolved. By the end of the “endless flop” I had turned the thing off, but could not resist seeing who DID get the Booby Prize. Imagine my disgust when the ending did not resolve a single thing: we are back at square one!

Soldier in the Rain

As different as night from day, this little known film is worth its weight in solid gold! I had never heard a thing about it, but when I saw that Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen were the stars, I began watching; and I loved what I saw. It is the tender story of a fat, middle aged man and a young army recruit and their formingof a great friendship that touched me very much. The “Fat Man” is am officer and gives his young friend many advantages. Their sheer love is wonderful to see. There are some hysterically funny scenes (as when they double date, and Gleason’s date-Tuesday Weld calls him “Fatso” at first and then wanting him for her “Boy Friend’. It’s that sort of scenes you are totally unprepared for, touching the heart very gently. There is a scene when McQueen’s dog dies, that is so powerful, until Gleason, too, dies that make it a painfully beautiful cinema. Truly life like.

 

Movie Trivia Quiz

1.      Who was Frank James in the sequel to Jesse James?

2.      Who was the new Fox star that was introduced by this film? (She later portrayed a lady bandit herself)

3.      Also in the Return of Frank James, a popular child actor from the 1930’s had a prominent role.

4.      Bonnie and Clyde were portrayed by which actors?

5.      Who won a best supporting actress for her part in this blockbuster?

6.      Who was James Stewart’s biggest fan in Mr. Smith goes to Washington?

7.      Which hitch-hiking pair both won Oscars for It Happened One Night?

8.      Who was filmdom’s Mr. Deeds?

9.      Who was Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm?

10.  What actress had the title role in Du Maurier’s Rebecca?