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?