XVIII, 51

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol. XVIII, No. 51

Sunday, March 3, 2013   

Lent in the Catholic Church used to feel like it lasted at least six months! That was because even though we were not very good “Church Goers”*, our parents made us obey the Church’s dogma with a vengeance!

We were not, however, forced to “give up” anything for Lent (although I began being a martyr while a student at Mississippi Southern College-- to the fanaticism of one of my best music major buddies, James McComb. He was from the Mississippi Delta, and was a recently gung-ho convert to Catholicism.

I’d usually try to forego something like candy, candy or Cokes, etc. But eventually, I grew more rabid and decided to cut out all desserts! Now, my close friends will tell you that I was attempting the almost impossible dream (and I was not in La Mancha). Lois Turnipseed (and I swear that was her actual married name!) promised to make me a strawberry pie for Easter, if I had not fallen off the wagon. “But you’ve got to eat the whole pie—whipped cream and all—at one sitting!”  I quickly agreed to these terms.

I was so determined to make my sacrificial offering that I made cakes and pies galore for the family, and never even tasted a one of them. So, Easter Sunday, Lois called and told me my Strawberry pie was ready, and she insisted I drive out to their house and let her watch me eat the entire dessert. I still find it hard to believe that I ate the whole thing, as she and husband, Tommy, sat and watched!

*Sadly, there was not a Catholic Church in either Ellisville or Richton (and still there is not), But we seemed always to be able to drive to Laurel or Hattiesburg when anyone from Sicily was buried! As the Baby in the family, I was always stuck with attending these lachrymose affairs.

Mama and Daddy always made each of their children, travel back to Ellisville (while we were living in Richton) to take Catechism lessons from a certain Mary Pettis, who was a matronly Catholic with no children of her own. This was to prepare them for their First Communions. Later, each one (even Sammy) had to repeat this procedure to take a second Name as part of their Confirmation as a full blooded Roman Catholic. Of course they had to spend a week of preparation both of these occasions. This week was spent in Laurel, with Aunt Grace, and her brood as their hosts. I couldn’t wait until it was my turn for this: all they talked about were the number of “Picture Shows” they had more than enjoyed!

I never understood why, when I was the right age, I was not sent to Mrs. Pettis’s classes, and it seemed as if my entire family had given up on the idea for me!

 

 

 

So, when James McComb asked me about this, and I told him I had never been in a Church except for funerals, he persuaded me to go there, in Hattiesburg, to Sacred Heart Church, and discuss my problem with the young Catholic priest (ironically, his name was Father Patrick Donahue. Later, as a graduate student at the University of Michigan, one of my dearest friends was Pat Donahue. He had an aunt who was a Catholic nun- Sister Mary Paul!)

I made my first communion the summer after taking instructions, and have been (for the most part) a devout Catholic ever since.

(To be continued)

 

 

CAT NAPS

“Make haste- slowly.

             Festinalente

 

Old Movie Review

Tootsie  (1982)

Just as last week’s best comedy ever made was Born Yesterday (in my book), I decided that this has to be the second greatest comedy on film I have ever seen! Dustin Hoffman was wonderful as “Dorothy” (in “her” role as one of the characters on a popular TV serial). He cannot find work, so in a desperate situation, he dons a wig and glasses, and dresses in lovely ladies’ garb and becomes a howling sensation! His girl friend (whom he tries to unload) is played by Teri Garr, while his real interest is in fellow-serial cast player, Jessica Lange. His room mate is delightfully played by Bill Murray, and Lange’s father (who proposes marriage to “Dorothy”) is played by Charles Durning,

The writing is brilliant, the camera work is sensational, and the entire cast is terrific! They seem to be having a great time, and so will you (if you happened to be living in a daze back when it was first released.) And the film made a whole lot of money in its day! (****)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Color of Money (1986)

This movie has a special meaning for me, not because I have any great feeling for the film, itself, but the day I saw it is as fresh in my memory as that of my heart attack and triple bypass!

It was an ordinary Sunday in Lent, and I had been to the Village Theater Complex to see Paul Newman (whom I always enjoyed) and Tom Cruise (whom I have never liked, except for his magnificent performance with Dustin Hoffman, who plays a mentally challenged older brother).

After the film, I drove to Jack Morgan’s home, where I had been invited to come by for some Birthday Cake (it was his mother’s birthday). It was a beautiful cake, but I found it rather tasteless. I did not understand why, nor did I leave any of it uneaten. Later, back home, I warmed over some Spaghetti and meat sauce left over from the day before. When I tried eating that, it was as flat and tasteless as Jack’s birthday cake!

By the time I went to bed, that night, I had developed quite a case of indigestion and stomach ache. The first clue that told me I might be suffering from a heart-problem, was that I was sweating even though it was a very cool night. Then, I ran my hand across my forehead and found that the sweat was cold as ice.

I phoned my good friend, Gaines Thornton, who had to have bypass surgery barely one month earlier. I told him my symptoms and he said he would drive straight over here. He was so quick that I could hardly believe anyone could be so speedy; looked at me, and then ran his fingers over my forehead and said he was taking me to the emergency room at once!

Time we got to Providence Hospital (which was still near downtown Mobile) I was given several tests, and then one of the doctors told me I had a myocardial Infarction (which scared me half to death) but that it was a light one and they had gotten me just in time. I was put into a hospital bed at once, after they had fed me enough nitroglycerin tablets to relieve the “stomach ache”.

       The following day, I was moved to a huge room, where the lady cardiologist (who sensationally gorgeous) tried to get through my clogged-up arteries with a balloon, had to tell me, regretfully, that she was unable to accomplish this, and that she suggested by-pass surgery. I had prayed the whole time they had worked on me (she had said the test would take about thirty minutes. She had worked on me for over three hours!) So, I told her, stoically, that anything she could do for me, would be gratefully appreciated. I was too young to die (I figured).

       Sadly, when they had me ready for the surgery, this doctor had left the Providence and I saw the man who did the operation for the first time on the even of the surgery. I never saw him again! If I had, I would like to have told him how bitterly I detested the mess he had made of my chest! I have keloid flesh, which turns ugly as the very devil himself, when cut.

       Two of my former male piano students worked in that hospital at the time, and were present at the operation, and visited me afterwards.

       Dear Cora came to stay with me, as I lay there waiting for the surgery, and one thing I told her was that they had told me that I would be called, afterwards, and if I did not wake up quickly, something bad could be happening. Cora decided to tape the voice of Trudy II (who was the reigning cat at the time) and then play that tape when they were ready for me to wake up.

       The night before the surgery, I had asked Father Gorman to come by and anoint me (just in case), but he said he was tied up and would send Father Oberkirch. So, he heard my confession; I was absolved; then someone covered my chest with something that was wet and red, and smelled just like iodine.

       When they came to transport me to the Operating Room, I remember being rolled out of the room (I saw the top of the door as I advanced to the corridor, and that was the last thing I remember.

       I awoke to the sound of Trudy, meowing, opened my eyes, and saw Anna smiling broadly near my face. “Oh,” she said, crying unashamedly, “He looks just like Papa!” I will never forget how happy I felt: I considered this the greatest compliment I had ever been paid.

       The others were all there! I had caused the Imbragulios their very first Family Reunion! And, O Lord, it was so sweet to be alive!

 

Draft Dodgers Anonymous

Post Nazi Germany

       That first night in Germany, still at Zwibruchen, the one movie theater at the Kassern was showing Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Lynwood and I had, of course, seen it when it was still new, but while in New York, had seen the brand-new How to Marry a Millionaire (one of the first pictures in Cinemascope) and howled with laughter all the way through that one! But after seeing them both, so close in time together, we decided that nothing would ever be as funny, or have better song lyrics, or be better, period, than this film! One of the greatest things about “Gentlemen” was the addition of Jane Russell! She was sensational; and she sang very well, too.

2.

       Several weeks after moving completely, from downtown Karlsruhe to Smiley Barracks we were overdue for a big Inspection. So, we paid our German maids a few extra bucks to make certain that we all passed with flying colors. George Caravasious said he thought we should help these women out by moving our Wall lockers so they could clean the floor around and beneath them. They were even heavier than they looked, and it was certainly no small task to move them. When I looked closely at the back side of my locker, I gasped! There was the first real Nazi sign I had seen. Each of the lockers had the dreadful interlocking pattern that was so very familiar to us, thanks to the movies. That was the first time any of us had moved those behemoths. It was also the last (at least as long as I was there).

Our unit, the Historical Division had no duties to contend with, but we did have the occasional “Alert”, which I came to loathe. The alarm would always go off just about the time we got into bed. Then we would have to rush to out our fatigues back on, then pile into jeeps and pretend to be doing certain tasks we each had assigned to us. As the librarians, George and I were responsible for burning (beyond all recognition) all secret and top secret materials. I had to pass my clearance tests for this, and later, found that they had actually questioned people who knew me in Mississippi, whether or not I was trustworthy. I got this added to my credentials shortly after Caravasious returned to the states, and I was put in charge of our library.

 With the “Alerts”, I was supposed to drive one of the warrant officers on all of these occasions. Of course, I could not drive. Back home, the last automobile we had was a green, 1938 Chevrolet, which Anna, Daddy and

 

 

 

 

Sammy could drive. I had no desire, whatsoever, to learn this tedious chore. Neither did any of my other siblings. They tried to get me to learn how it was done, but I admit to faking my failure to comprehend it. I would even pretend to be unable to hold the vehicle on the road. That was my stroke of genius! Finally, after scaring the Warrant Officer Officer half to death, it was decided that he would drive me. Now, that was much more to my liking! I finally learned to drive after Daddy bought his last Chevrolet (the year I taught for George). Sammy and Helen’s husband, Tom, patiently taught me very carefully, and I turned out to be a good, and careful driver. When George came home (after his Fullbright year in Italy) he bought his own first automobile, and I taught him to drive!

After learning to drive, that memorable year, I’d ask Daddy for the car at nights, and then drive to Hattiesburg to pick up Ann Nunnally, and we would got to one of the drive-ins and eat supper or go to a movie. That was the beginning of the end for my being car-less. I simply could not wait to buy my own automobile. But that was after my military career was over.

3.

We eventually were given a half day off every week, but we were supposed to exercise with this free time. We had some ping pong tables and the where-with-all for a game, and one Saturday morning a month, we were driven a short distance from Karlsruhe in Jeeps, where we usually rode a ferry across the Rhine River. I felt as if this were a dream come true! I had read so much about this body of water in literature and geography that I felt as if I had been there before! I could literally see Dr. Barber, at Michigan State, telling the music literature class about the Rhine River, in Wagner’s Ring Cycle; and how real it looked on the marvelous revolving stage at Beyreuth. We would walk around and maybe play a few games, and that was it. That was our excuse for doing nothing that was in anyway unpleasant. We would then ride back to the Barracks, where we usually played Scrabble, or ping pong (I got fairly proficient with this, having dabbled a bit at FSU).

Now, with our extra half day off each week, Bob McDonald and I would walk downtown and visit the Zoo (which took a large amount of imagination to call that). There was a ragged old dirty-white peacock (but it was at least fairly rare) and there were lots of chickens, and other more than ordinary animals. But the scenery was gorgeous, and the grounds extended to a charming Japanese Building. We might drink a Coke (which cost a mark at this time-while they were still sold for a nickel everywhere else!) or sometimes, when we just did not have that extra quarter, we’d get a cold Afra-Cola. It was not as bad as it sounds, and after getting accustomed to ignoring the implication, it was certainly worth the few pfennigs that it cost.

We could also walk in the opposite direction, until we came upon a structure that was very interesting, although there was never anyone around that we could ask what it’s reason for being was. We would climb the stairs all the way to the top, and from there, the panoramic view was awesome. Also strangely, we never encountered anyone else there!

(Continued next week)

 

 

Old Movie Trivia Quiz #73

1.                    Which popular movie star played Stella Dallas in the original version of this film?

2.                    What singing star reprised the role last? (there are only 2 versions)

3.                    In Tootsie, why does Dustin Hoffman choose to work in drag?

4.                    Who played Young Abe Lincoln?

5. `         What was the title of RKO’s 1939 film about “Honest Abe”? This time he was played by Raymond Massey.

6.           Which Daniel Day-Lewis film was based on a James Fennimore  Cooper novel?

7.       What Oscar nominated star’s first movie was The Color Purple?

       8.          Who played her husband in the same film?

       9.           How many “Oscars” did this Spielberg film win?

         10.      What “Richest woman in America” TV star was also introduced

                    with The Color Purple?

 

Answers to TRIVIA QUIZ #72

1.     In Lassie, Come Home, Elizabeth Taylor played the daughter of the man who bought Lassie for his own kennels.

2.      Roddy McDowell was the boy that Lassie ran to meet each afternoon at the school house.

3.     Elsa Lanchester was the boy’s devoted mother.

4.      Lassie had to walk all the way from Scotland to get back home.

5.     The Yearling starred Gregory Peck as the father whose son has a pet deer.

6. Jane Wyman (Ronald Reagan’s first wife) played the boy’s embittered mother.

7. The teen aged boy (Claude Jarmon, Jr.) was outstanding as their son.

 8. The “Baby” that is Brought Up was a Leopard.

9. Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant were the couple with this pet.

10. Zoology was the Grant’s special talent. He is making a skeleton statue of a dinosaur, using the actual bones!

 

 

FF XVIII, 50

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol. XVIII, No. 50

Sunday, February 24, 2013      

Apology:

Recently I printed the statement that Spring Byington (who was Marmee in Little Women of 1938) played Aunt Bea (?) in the Andy Griffin Show all those eternities ago. Steve Bekemeyer, of Winter Haven, Fl., wrote that I had erred: I will admit, I had not seen an of those old broadcasts in eons, so I watched that evening. Surely, enough, when I took one look at Aunt Bee (?) I knew that I had indeed been wrong yet again. That person is a certain Miss Boozier, or some such French sounding name. But I am sure Mama used to watch (religiously) some similar sit-com with Spring as the adult (I dare not make any further mistakes!) But, I’m almost sure both of these actresses have gone on to glory, and I am so sorry that I inadvertently robbed the French one of her praise.

 

 Wednesday, at my monthly Pedicure, Shae discovered that the ingrown toenail on the big toe of my left foot (apologies to Daniel Day-Lewis) had a little touch of infection. I began putting medication on it, and called to schedule a visit to Dr. Johnson’s clinic. On my Thursday visit there, I asked him to extend the medication he had me use twice a day (and it seemed to be working, when the prescription ran out, the second week and the pharmacy said there were to be no refills) So, this time, he made the prescription for a month’s supply of them. If it doesn’t do the job by then, he said I will be forced to have it surgically removed. That would obviously be very painful, so please pray with me that these pills will be all that I need. But just in case they don’t, I asked him to let me use the same podiatrist who did such a great job with the Hammertoe on my right foot. I can stand anything but pain!

 

CAT NAPS

“Oh, sleep! It is a gentle thing, beloved from pole to pole..”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

Old Movie Review

Born Yesterday (1950)

I just finished watching the last 45 minutes of this masterpiece of a film, and (as always) had to weep when I considered the fact that Judy Holliday and co-star William Holden are no longer with us. How vividly I remember when the film was first released and Ms. Holliday was given fhe Best Actress Oscar for this film: I was livid! I had no idea who this upstart” was, and little interest in finding out about her. And then I saw the movie! It was one of the finest things Hollywood had produced up to that time. It was not only one of the best comedies I had ever seen, but also has a story that is a lesson in history and the democratic  way of life.

Broderick Crawford is a modern day Fascist, who makes millions of dollars illegally and has senators on his pay-role,  Holliday is his live-in girl friend who is brassy and “dumb” (as he considers her), so he hires William Holden to “educate her:, She falls in love with him, and absorbs his teaching like a drowning man would drink water.

The location is a Hotel in the nation’s capital, and together they visit all of the landmarks (with special attention to the Washington and Lincoln Monuments); and he also brings books to her, on all of the subjects he is teaching her. She also studies grammar and etiquette. The results are, of course, horrible for Crawford, but delightful for the young couple.

I am presuming that you all have seen this extraordinary film, but if you have not, please take my advice and watch for its next showing on Turner Classic Movies. You will thank me if you do,

 

The Sheepman (MGM, 1958)

 I have this checked off in my Leonard Maltin’s book of reviews, which usually means that I have seen the film; but actually I have no remembrance of having viewed it before Sunday night. It is a charming “Western” with a new angle: Glenn Ford moves into town with a railroad car full of sheep, and is instantly the least popular man in the place. Everyone else is in the business of raising cattle. Shirley MacLaine is cute, as the Cow-girl who is betrothed to Leslie Nielsen (whose name I could not remember through the entire film) and I have to admit to being fascinated by the plot. You might want to give it a try, too. I always liked Ford, especially as Rita Hayworth’s love interest in two of her best “Musical” (albeit, her singing was dubbed) smash hits (Gilda, and Affair in Trinidad, notably). (***)

 

Draft Dodgers Anonymous

We conquer the Atlantic

I was chamfered to my new assignment, by a German who worked now for our Headquarters in Heidelberg. I was especially delighted to see that Karlsruhe was a very large and thoroughly up to date city. At the time, the Historical Division was making use of one of the town’s former Nazi headquarters for Bavaria (of which it is a  part). I was met at the door by one of two warrant officers, who were both a part of our company (I never learned how a man became a warrant officer) He was an extremely pleasant black man named Mr. Mitchel. He took me into the library, where I would be working, to meet George Caravacious. George would be discharged sometime that summer. Meanwhile, he was supposed to teach me all of the things that I would be expected to do. I liked him, with reservations. After all, he was an attorney, and I could never feel really at ease around him. Of course, these feelings did not come out at our first meeting; and in all fairness to him, I must admit that he was always kind and thoughtful to me. After showing me a little of the set up of the library, he took me around to the printing office, where I was introduced to a handsome blonde named James Modespacker. I was to learn that Curvaceous was more or less the self-appointed enlisted man in charge of all of us subordinates. He was a mere corporal, while I had just made private-first-class. I was then introduced to another young corporal who was about to be sent back to the States (I cannot remember his name). I didn’t meet our Sgt., who was a sort of laughing stock (as it turned out) because he stayed at the barracks (which were within walking distance of the office building. We were about to return this handsome edifice to the Germans (and everything would be relocated at Smiley Barracks). So, we slept and ate (breakfast and suppers only) at the barracks, and usually went together for lunch to one of the fine restaurants near our workplace. In those wonderful days, we could get fabulous meals (the Germans are great cooks!) for less than a dollar (or 4 Marks): these included an entrée (I grew very fond of Weiner Schnitzel--breaded veal cutlets and “Russian Eggs” (boiled eggs, halved and “Deviled”. served over a Meat Salad).  Also a fresh green salad was usually available, and we usually had the restaurant’s own beer (I soon learned that any restaurant worth its name had its very own brand of beer- dark and light!)

But until you taste an authentic German dessert, your life is not complete! They absolutely are the greatest desert-makers I have ever been fortunate enough to have access to. Cakes that melt on the tongue, glorious fillings, and (as if this was not rich enough) there was a side order of whipped cream provided!

The Historical Division had a small “cast” and I cannot remember just how many of us there were at any time. We slept 6 (or was it 8?) in the main room in Smiley Barracks (Which had magnificent buildings and statuary, making it look much less like a barracks and as beautiful as an American College Campus.) I was put in this large room along with Modispacker, Robert Bolt (I am not making this up) a black man, whose name I forget, Woody Wooster (from Texas. He told me after we had just met, that Lyndon Johnson would one day be the president of the USA—no kidding!) Dale Ford (who used to walk downtown to see movies like “The Beggar’s Opera” which we didn’t get at the Post Theater. I was surprised out of my wits, years later, when he came up just as I was buying a ticket to see a film at a theater in Ann Arbor).

There were also lots of Germans and American civilians who worked with us as the Historical Division wrote its History of World War 2. I later became very close friends with a young and fun to be with married couple named Ron and Betty Sher, newly weds. They went to a Mardi Gras carnival (which is called Faschung in German) along with three other DA Civilians,  dressed as Charles Adams ghoulish characters. I have a series of pictures of the group, and it was as good as you will ever see anywhere. They were justifiably disappointed when they failed to win the cash prize. Later, when Mama, Daddy and George visited my old Army post and friends, they told me that Ron and Betty had been especially wonderful to them.

2.

       Shortly after our move for our jobs, George Curvaceous bought the first Volkswagen I had ever seen. It was so ugly that it was adorable: and this, being made for Germans, even had a vase for bouquets of fresh flowers to be placed near the windows. George said he had bought it when he learned that it would be shipped without any charge to him, all the way to West Virginia, which was his home. I began immediately, buying gifts for everyone back home and stashing them away until I sent them to Mississippi; then, using George’s Volkswagen as my argument, I began writing a series of letters to my parents, pleading with them to send me the money to buy a grand piano, promising to pay them back as soon as I started teaching. But, they simply did not have the thousand dollars it would have cost.

Sgt. Wilson was in charge of the barracks (which we shared with the MP’s at first, and later with the Signal Corps) and had a room for two. He shared this bedroom with a young blond who always reminded me of a young Mickey Rooney. He already had a job waiting for him when he got back home, with IBM (!) (remember, these were all smart men). But we did love to kid him about the Sgt.! He would often take us riding in one of the company’s Jeeps, at night, and one night we all wanted to see the movie at one of the Post Theaters. But this was playing at a theater all the way to the other side of Karlsruhe. So, Mickey (his name I do not remember now) obliged us (he had the warrant officer’s permission) by driving us to the theater. When we were ready to go back, the Jeep would not start! All five of us felt as if a boulder had fallen on our unsuspecting shoulders. There was nothing to do but call the company and throw ourselves on their mercy. As it turned out, the Jeep was in good condition, but our chauffer had forgotten to check the gas until it was too late!

3.

       As I have written, the “Campus” of Smiley Barracks was quite impressing and handsome. It surely put the American ones I had seen, to shame. There were several two and three storied buildings, a bronze statue of a discus thrower at the entrance gate (for a brief period of a week or two, we were each forced to pull guard duty, which I did not mind at all) Otherwise, we even had Putz-Frauen (cleaning women) to come in each day and make our beds and keep the floors clean. This one sweet little lady would come each morning to clean the Library, and we would talk about operas! She said the Germans as well as other countries went to Operas as we go to picture shows: They enjoy it~and they can understand every word. That started my thinking how ridiculous our own habit of making sure if a work if written in Italian, French, German, Russian or whatever, it has to be performed in the original language! The Germans are prouder of their language than we are, it would seem! The super-titles have certainly helped, but almost as soon as they became part of Mobile’s  culture, I became unable to get in and out of the opera houses.

       But it was strangely wonderful to see a woman with a dust cloth in her hand, buying cigarettes from me (we each got free cigarettes, which I never smoked, just as Curvaceous didn’t; so I followed his advice and sold mine to the natives, who longed for US Cigarettes, and felt we were doing them an immense favor!)

       Back to our wall lockers: we each had one of these mammoth structures, where we stored all our Military as well as civilian clothes: I still had the two suits that my parents had bought for me prior to my going to Michigan State (one single and one double breasted) I had taken very good care of them, and when he saw them, one of the men in our company as

       There was a huge mess hall (where we never had to do KP) with lots of cooks. For breakfast, we could order one or six eggs, cooked several different ways, and usually bacon or sausages with them. Coffee and iced tea were always provided. Lunch was usually worth eating (but not on the days when C Rations were being called names like Hash or Stew! Suppers, I seldom bothered to eat in the mess hall. I’d usually walk to the nearest Gasthause or Restaurant and for a dollar or less, get a delicious meal!

Another thing that happened shortly after our move, was one day when Sgt. Wilson was mad at us. He was rather child-like, and when he was crossed, was likely to do some ridiculous sort of punishment. This particular evening, he took our passes away from us and locked them in his wall locker, and then went to the movie himself.

I suggested that we simply play Scrabble (which we all enjoyed immensely, at the time) but the majority voted for getting our passes out of that Sgt.’s locker and back in our wallets, where they belonged.

IT did not take long, or much effort, to get the passes back, and then we all went to the theater. I don’t remember any sort of retribution, but he was like that!

(Continued next week)

 

 

Old Movie Quiz *72

1.     In Lassie, Come Home, who played the young girl who was the man who bought Lassie for his own kennels?

2.     Who was the boy that Lassie ran to meet each afternoon at the school house?

3.     Kudos if you can name the woman who was the boy’s devoted mother.

4.     What country did Lassie have to walk all the way home to get back with the boy he adored?

5.     The Yearling starred which Hollywood star as the father whose son has a pet deer?

6, She played the boy’s embittered mother.

7. The teen aged boy was outstanding as the son. What was his name?

8. In RKO’s Bringing Up Baby, what was “Baby”?

9, Who was the couple who had the adventure?

10. What was the man’s special talent? (What did he do for a living?)

 

Answers to TRIVIA QUIZ #70

 

1. Anna and the King of Siam starred Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison.

2. Three Coins in the Fountain, refers to the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

3. Elizabeth Taylor is mocking Bette Davis in the opening scene of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff.

4. This film marked the screen debut of George Segal,  who was later the lead in the sit-com Just Shoot Me?

5. His wife, in the film, (Sandy Dennis) won the best supporting actress award for her work.

6. Blood and Sand had Tyrone Power as its bull fighter and Rita Hayworth  was the glamorous lady who caused his downfall/

7. My Gal Sal starred Victor Mature as a song writer. What Columbia’s Rita Hayworth, again, was the love interest in the film.

8. Across the Wide Missouri was a star studded Western that starred John Hodiak, Ricordo Montalban and Clark Gable.

9. Nick and Nora’s beloved dog was named Asta-as any crossword puzzle buff knows!

10. Sorry, Wrong Number Barbara Stanwyck was frightened out of her wits!

 

 

FF XVIII, 49

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol. XVIII, No. 49

 Sunday, February 17, 2013     

Fat Tuesday was spent at the home of Barbara and Howard Deck (appropriate name for two fine bridge players) where we had two tables of our favorite pastime, BRIDGE! But the best treat of the day was seeing our old friends, Carolyn and Marvin Carpenter, who were two of the original members of the bridge game started at Dauphin Way United Methodist Church, by Don Zimmermann, over 20 five years ago.

My heart still grieves for all of the Tornado’s damage to USM’s gorgeous campus! Especially having so recently spent that wonderful day there with my friends and fellow alumni!

Then I welcomed this beautiful winter weather!

       

CAT NAPS

“Take rest, a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop.”

Ovid

 

Old Movie Review

Little Women (1933 Version)

       This was the first screen version of Louisa Mae Alcott’s most beloved story, and it still has not been equaled by any of its later versions. David O, Selznick (of Gone with the Wind fame) produced this “Other side of the Civil War film for RKO, with the same tender regard for sticking closely to the original book, and could not have picked a more nearly perfect cast than he did, way back in 1933. Katherine Hepburn was “Josephine March”, just as Vivian Leigh had been Scarlett O’Hara five years later; “Meg” was played by Frances Dee, a pretty natural blond, Joan Bennet, was “Amy” (the actress later dyed her hair black for the film Trade Winds, with Frederic March, and was so gorgeous that she never went back to being a blonde) and Jean Parker was heartbreakingly touching as “Beth”. “Marmee” (whom they called “Mummie” in this version) was played by a much younger Spring Byington than we all loved as Andy Griffith’s Aunt Bea” for years on TV. The music for this film (as well as GWTW) was written by Max Steiner (who won an Oscar for the GWTW score). There are surprising swapping of some of the melodies from Little Women that come cropping up in GWTW, and vice versa: the “Tara” theme had, apparently not been written back in 1933, but the signature theme for Little Women, is almost as poignant and beautiful as was the more dramatic and triumphant and haunting melody which will forever remind me of Vivien Leigh and her unforgettable performance.

       Selznick wrote that first screenplay himself, and after GWTW, intended making it again, this time in Technicolor; with Jennifer Jones (whom he had married) as Jo, and Shirley Temple as Beth. Somehow, he never had the money to make the film, and sold the screenplay to MGM, who made it twice: never worth the effort, as far as I was concerned. Somehow, June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor and Margaret O’Brien just were not at all convincing as the March sisters.

       How vividly I remember the first time I held the book in my hands: I was just about ten years old when Anna bought the tome for me on one of her trips to Hattiesburg to get Josephine, at State Teachers’ College, and bring her home for the weekend. That book was so huge that I felt I would never be able to read the entire work. George took it away from me, opened it to page one and began reading: “Christmas will not be Christmas without presents.” And then he stopped.  Never had I heard a beginning that so captured my own philosophy quite so completely! This book I had to read! And after that, I read every one of this author’s output.

       I must have sat through the original film version so many times that I can almost quote it verbatim: and I never fail to weep at all of the many heart-breakingly tender and nostalgic moments. Maybe it just affects those who long for their own lost families more than anyone else. This time, I did not erase the copy I had made for the third time.

       My favorite line is spoken by Beth to Jo. She says, with such sincerity and sweetness, “I think I shall be lonesome for you, dear Jo, even in heaven,” That gets to me every time!

 

Draft Dodgers Anonymous

We conquer the Atlantic

About the seventh day of our trip, we pulled into the port of a town in England, whose name I cannot remember. Just seeing the British countryside was thrilling to me! Sadly, only the officers were allowed to leave the ship. They were all given shore leave for that night (which was Saturday) I had glimpsed just enough of England to be determined to spend some quality time there before I died.

On Sunday, as I played a hymn for the young tenor to sing for mass. I felt that I had endured just about enough of the Navy to last me the rest of my lifetime! There had been just enough risky business to make me happy that I had spent my enlistment on solid ground, rather than the ocean. The one thing that sticks to my memory banks was the matter of the bath waters: we were warned, right from the first, that the hot water (for baths only) stayed at a scalding temperature, and some of those idiots were crazy enough to walk by and casually turn the faucet of your shower just enough to leave you marred for life. Mercifully, nobody was actually scalded on either of my ten-day cruises; but the possibility was always there! Add to that, the attitude of the priest who embarrassed me during the mass, and I think you will agree with me that life on the ocean was not exactly my bowl of cherries!

The tenth day finally sauntered in and we pulled into Bremerhaven a bunch of happy young fellows!

We were transferred directly from the ship to a railroad train that was sitting there, just waiting to move us from the northern tip of Germany to the southernmost town of Zweibruchen (Two Bridges). The trip took just over one full day. This entailed spending yet another miserable night without much sleep or rest. The trains in all of Europe are quite different from those in the USA: instead of row after row of seats, they are divided into compartments, with room for eight people per unit. Four of them sit together, facing four others on the opposite side of the coach. I found myself with a mixture of officers and enlisted men, and it was all fairly affable and pleasant enough. I’m sure we were fed (that’s one thing we never had to worry about) but my brain is totally devoid of all memory of food on any of the trains on which I traveled in Deutschland.

I had wondered, vaguely, about sleeping arrangements that night. We were told that we would pull into Zweibruchen early the next morning. Our compartments had three officers and five enlisted men, so it was announced than the officers would sleep on the coach’s two seats (which must have been quite nice when compared with our pallets on the floor)

At the time, I had completely lost track of Dale Hudson (who has verified the fact that he was on that same train with Lynwood and me, all the way to Zweibruchen) and somehow have no memory of Lynwood’s having been in that “Microscopic” Sleeping Compartment until the next morning,

We got off the train and found Zweibruchen quite nice! Just outside the Kassern where we would be assigned to our new “Careers”, we saw our very first Erfrishunging Stand (probably wrongly spelled- but it means Refreshments) and it had, besides Coca Colas and other American soft drinks, the biggest and most beautiful lemons I had ever seen! I immediately thought of what Daddy had always told us about Italian fruits: lemons, like oranges and other fruits with peelings, were bigger and sweeter than anywhere else in the world. I was telling Lynwood this as I took out some money to buy a lemon. The clerk took my USA dollar bill, and gave me my change in the first German money I had ever seen: three shiny coins about the size of a quarter, and with the words for one German mark (at this time the mark was worth roughly twenty-five cents. The man spoke rather good English and said he had overheard my telling my friend about the lemons. “We do get them from Italy!” He said. I thanked him for that,

I jabbed my finger through the peeling, and stuck the fruit to my mouth. It was delicious!

We were being led into the enclosed area of the Kassern (those left over remnants from the Nazi Army that were much more modern and permanent looking than we were used to seeing in the States).

We were shown where to go to get assigned to a post somewhere in Germany, and all of a sudden, I was seized with panic: My number (I forget what this was called) as a Chaplain’s Assistant was identical with “Clerk Typist”! The first position that was mentioned to my group was for someone like Lynwood or Marcus: you not only had to know how to type, but you were expected to be a whiz at it! I had never taken the time to learn how to type correctly, even though I had become rather adept at typing term papers and the likes. Anyway I spelled it, it always came out HUNT AND PECK.

“I’m s Chaplain’s assistant,” I said hopefully. Then I sat and waited as they called time after time, “Clerk Typist”. Finally, just before noon, the fellow came over to me and said they finally had a request for my specialty: the only trouble was that the chaplain was a Baptist. I had to explain that I was not willing to take a job as any chaplain’s assistant who was not a Roman Catholic priest. I cited as my reason for this, the fact that the same identical thing had happened to my brother, George, during WW2. He never wanted to come back to the Catholic Church after that!

So, I had to take my seat again. We had eaten breakfast before going into the building we were now in, and had gone to the mess hall again for lunch, Lynwood had come over to tell me that he was gobbled up almost as soon as the fun had begun (just as I had felt he would be) and when he told me he was going to be stationed in Heidelberg, at the Headquarters for the US Army in Germany, I prayed with all my might that I, too, might be going to this beautiful place.

The shadows were growing bigger and more life threatening as the day wore on. The room full of enlisted men had dwindled down to five or six of us misfits (and I was seriously giving thought to becoming a protestant) when the man who had been so sincere in trying to find something that I would qualify for, came into the room again.

“Has anyone here ever worked in a library?”

My heart almost leapt out of my throat! This was perfect! I had always adored books- and I had made A’s when I had to take a one-quarter course in Library Science. I was praying now: “Lord, please let me get this job! Please! Puy-leeze!!!!”

I looked all around the room to see if anyone else were raising his hand. There was no competition, apparently. I am, basically, a person who is very unsure of himself. And I never felt less secure as I said, very meekly, “I had a course in Library Science as an undergraduate-“

He looked at me, and asked for my name. I told him. He looked at my papers and said, “You’ll do.”

“Thank you, Lord!” my soul shouted.

“You will be going to Karlsruhe as a member of the Historical Division of the US Army in Germany.”

And thus began the most wonderful eighteen months of my life!

 

Old Movie Quiz *71

1. Anna and the King of Siam starred Irene Dunne and what leading man?

2. Three Coins in the Fountain, refers to which famous Roman fountain?

3. What Hollywood favorite is Elizabeth Taylor mocking in the opening scene of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff?

4. This film marked the screen debut of what handsome leading man who was later the lead in the sit-com Just Shoot Me?

5. His wife, in the film, won the best supporting actress award for her work. Who else got a statuette for this film?

6. Blood and Sand had which Fox star as its bull fighter? Who was the glamorous lady who caused his downfall?

7. My Gal Sal starred Victor Mature as a song writer. What Columbia red head was the love interest in the film?

8. Across the Wide Missouri was a star studded Western that starred John Hodiak, Ricordo Montalban and who else from MGM’s larder of Stars?

9. What was Nick and Nora’s beloved dog named? His name appears often in crossword puzzles. This, of course refers to the Thin Man Series at MGM in the 30’s and 40’s.

10. Sorry, Wrong Number had what star frightened out of her wits?

 

Answers to TRIVIA QUIZ #70

 

1.     In 1938, Walt Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Collodi’s Pinocchio was his second literary classic to be immortalized.

2.     Between these two ground-breaking masterpieces, Paramount’s cartoonist created yet another great literary classic  Gulliver’s Travels, though it used only parts of the original novel.

3.     Disney had a huge success with the charming romance between two puppies. The Lady and the Tramp.

4.     Early in his classical cartoons, Walt had Leopold Stowkowsky record the music for several famous masterpieces of music. Fantasia was the title of this “High Brow” film?

5.     Mr. Stowkowski,  himself conducted the score.

6.     The Reluctant Dragon was the first film that combined live action with cartoon characters?  It had Robert Benchley, supposedly being shown around Disney’s studios.

7.     The Three Caballeros, which starred Donald Duck and Jo Carioca) plus Carmen Miranda’s sister (live) and a lot of others in a good natured fun-movie:

8.     I began to find fault with Disney’s films (long after his death) when the company began creating cartoons out of such serious stories as   this famous Victor Hugo classic. Name it.

9. What was the name of Walt Disney’s first Mickey Mouse cartoon? Extra credit if you know whose voice was used: and remember how squeaky high it always was!

10.                Judy Garland (whose talents seem to have been as varied as they were magnificent) did a voice-over as the lead in a story about a French cat. Name it, please.