FF XVI, 11

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV No. 11

Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Advent of Ginger

       The trouble with Chipper had been because Charles had not had him neutered or his nails clipped. I had been reluctant to have my first indoor cat’s nails clipped until he ruined a piece or two of my curtains. I began systematically to have  these things removed. There was no way to know exactly Chipper’s age: I can very seldom hazard a guess. So, I made a wrong decision and had him neutered and his claws removed. The trouble started after I had this dear little creature for over three years. Then he had his first seizure, at night. I was going insane trying to find out how I could get him to a vet! Then, I saw (in the Yellow Pages) that there was a clinic for pets that ran all night. I called and spoke with a nice sounding lady who gave me directions on how to get to there. So I drove him straight over there. Next morning to say I could come get him and take him home. I was elated to believe that his trauma had taken such a short time to be corrected. When I walked into the Clinic, they let me know very quickly that Chipper was simply too much for them to do anything with, and handed me a huge statement for his overnight stay. The next day, he seemed perfectly normal; so I did not take him to anyone, thinking it had not been as serious as I had feared. Eventually, however, my regular vet (who had neutered and de-clawed him{, said (in effect) that the only thing that might make him live, was to literally give him a sex change! It was a costly surgery, but (and those vets know this all too well) but I did not begrudge my Baby. I prayed so hard that I almost prayed my self sick! But it seemed to work. Chipper grew bigger and healthier, until I felt he had survived the surgery and was as good as new.

       He was younger than Trudy, who lived to be nineteen, and then she had to be put to sleep because she had tumors on two of her paws, and Dr. Brown said it would spread to all the others. So, for the second time in my life, I had to have another of my Tuxedo Cats “Put to Sleep”: the first one had been Judy II, whose death almost caused my own.
       It was a Wednesday when I had to drive to Dauphin Island, where I had been playing for the Sunday Masses for a couple of years, to play the Clavinova for my very first Funeral Service. I was glad to have something positive to do that day, because Chipper had not survived his ultimate surgery. Dr. Brown said he was a thoroughbred till the last minute. I had him cremated and saved his ashes, until the time when the two will  be  joined with Trudy II’s  (Judy I and Trudy I had been buried in our garden and bore marble gravestones with their names and dates on them. I plan to have myself and Ginger (should she survive me) cremated and our remains scattered in our yard. And the family plot in Ellisville.

At this time, I did not think it would be fair to get another cat; at my age. So I was very sad and depressed.

Sam Woodward (who played his cello for the mass) and I were delighted to get one hundred dollars apiece for playing this service. When I got home and walked into this empty house. I suddenly realized that I would rather be dead, than to have no feline to comfort me and to fill my waking hours being entertained and adored by a last kitten.  And this one would definitely be the last!

A Sicilian in Italy

Next week I plan to write the story of my visits to Naples, and The Isle of Capri and the Ruins of Pompeii. Then, I spend a week in Copenhagen!

Cat Facts
Chris Evert took time out of a busy tennis tournament to write these words of wisdom:

“Cats are peaceful and tranquil- they bring calmness with their serene personalties.”

 

Movie Review

Hollywood Canteen (Warner Bros. 1944)

       This film was one of two films that were all about making everybody happy, in spite of the war: the other was better (at least I liked it a lot better. The lame excuse for a story was just too stupefying for this old realist!) I cannot find the young solders name, but I saw him in countless WB movies of the period. He is the leading character, and it is only too easy to understand that the reason he was not put in the record book was that he simply was not important enough); although most of the stars who were on stage here were listed. The list included Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Jack Carson, Dane Clark, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, the Andrews Sisters, Roy Rogers (even “Trigger”) The Sons of the Pioneers, Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Benny (who is very funny as he tries to outplay Josef Szigeti on violin) and the young GI, back home from the war, but still very much a soldier. They stage a ridiculous love affair between this boy and Joan Leslie. Just for starters: he gets to meet and dance with her; then he just happens to be the Millionth GI to enter the Canteen. Still later, he wins the prize in a contest, and gets to spend the weekend with her! Plus getting a brand new car to drive all weekend. But the music and dancing make it worth while; at least it did for me. I’ll admit to not liking Joan Leslie, so when he picked her over all of the gorgeous gals on hand, I felt sick! It was especially good to see (and hear) the remarkable Andrews Sisters: my all-time favorite singing trios!

Thank Your Lucky Stars (WB) 1943

          This musical came a year earlier than Hollywood Canteen, and there is a certain feeling of overlapping. But this has more entertainment value than its successor; Just hearing Bette Davis’s rendition of “They’re Either too Young, or too Old” is worth watching the film; plus several songs sung by Dinah Shore.

`         Each of Hollywood’s Major film studios made some similar sort of Morale-boasting movie demonstrating that everybody needed cheering up in a crucial time. MGM had As Thousands Cheer;  Paramount had one I remember, but not its name: United Artists had Stagedoor Canteen, which was my favorite: It had more classical music than the others, and the love story was more believeable: it was based on the song, “I Left my Heart at the Stagedoor Canteen. I left it there with a girl named Eileen—etc. The characters were believable, as were most of the incidents. I liked it especially because when he asks Eileen where she is from, she replies, “Oh. I’m from a little town called Oswego, New York.” I never heard this town referred to any other time: that was the name of Jimmy Demore’s home town. Jimmy was my oldest brother-in-law, plus being the only one of my in-laws who had Sicilian blood in his veins!

Movie Trivia Quiz      \

1.       Mr. and Mrs. Smith, remade from RKO’s version (with Robert Montgomery and Carole Lombard) What actual Hollywood couple were in the second version?

2.       Ma and Pa Kettle were played by whom?

3.       What two great actors were Mr. Skeffington (and the missus)?

4.       Goodbye, Mr. Chips, was made into a musical with Petula Clark. What British Couple were the originals?

5.       Who was Miss Sadie Thompson?

6.       Good Morning Miss Dove had which lovely film star?               

7.       In Mr. Blanding Builds his Dream House Cary Grant was Mr. B. but who played Mrs. Blanding?

8.       To what did the title, Miss Susie Slagle’s refer?

9.       1940’s All This and Heaven Too starred Charles Boyer as the Nobleman, who falls in love with his children’s Governess. Who played this role?

10.   Who were the couple who had a pooch named Asta, and made several sequels to the original murder mystery? (Their movie names, Please)                                                         

Answers to Last Week’s Quiz

                                                                         

1.           Wm. Powell played Flo Ziegfeld in MGM’s block-buster musical, The Great Ziegfeld.

2.           Luise Rainer won an Oscar as his first wife? She won a second Oscar with her second US Film, The Good Earth!

3.           Billy Burke portrayed wife No. 2. She was also “Glenda” The Wizard of Oz’s good witch.

4.           Dennis Morgan was the male singer, who sang, “A Pretty Girl is like a Melody” in The Great Ziegfeld. His name was, at that time not the same.

5.           Ziegfeld Girl starred Lana Turner, Judy Garland and Hedy Lamar

6.           Fanny Brice was Barbra Streisand’s role in Funny Girl. that was that of “Baby Snooks” was the Radio Persona created by this gifted comedian.

7.           Meredith Wilson, the composer of The Music Man musical and film, was also the orchestra conductor on this radio show on which Fanny Bryce often appeared.

8.           Ziegfeld Girl, Ziegfeld Follies, and There is no fourth, that I can find

9.            Wm. Powell played Flo Ziegfeld in the first film.

 

 

FF XVI, 9

                                                                                       

Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV No. 9

Sunday, May 26, 2013

I finally managed to pick one of my exquisite magnolias and get it into water over the weekend, but the rest of the spring bloomers have long ago bloomed out, so I must welcome anything that decides to open up and show me a little beauty.Pet Peeves Encore

“Send me your gripes, your pet peeves and your nausea of things that happen all too frequently. Emma Lazarus I’m not!”

  Television is responsible for a large percentage of my personal pet peeves. My Dish Network earns about 99 percent of my gripes: The reason I stay with them is solely for the ability to record anything they show. Sometimes I get carried away and record movies that I cannot bring myself to watch. I have endless battles with the Remote Controls in both the den and my bedroom! A conservative guess at the number of times that I can get NO* response out of first one, while I can still see the other one is only about 20% of the time! But then, as if they gang up on me, both of them play dumb at the same nonce!  *No picture, sound, ability to change stations, NADA!

It is these translucent things that crop up out of nowhere, with such fascinating messages as the name of the program I am supposed to be enjoying; instead of which, I have to grit my teeth and battle with the remote until I may even find the right button to press: this should give me the ability to sigh, “At last!” But in any case, you don’t always get the happy ending. I buy so many triple A batteries (which are NOT cheap) that I have an entire drawer in the desk of my study, just for them! I just go doggedly on, praying that the Lord will see fit to save what little of my feeble brain is still workable’

In addition to the translucent irritation, there are several variations with solid picture, which causes me to sigh with relief until the translucent ones reappear. At least you can hear while they obscure your already useless eyes from seeing anything at all.

Peggy insists that it is because I have such big fingers. My fingers are actually quite normal, but I admit my remote controls are out to drive me bonkers.

Cat Fax

“Cats don’t like change without their consent.”

Roger A. Caras

Recent  Movie Review

Hope  Floats

Sandra Bullock has had me captivated by her performances at the beginning of her career, but she lost me with a couple of stinkers in a row (and I was not impressed with her winning an Oscar). But this film assured me, she is not just another pretty face, but a consummate actress. The film begins with her. Just after her husband moved out and had taken another mate.  Meanwhile, Sandra (who plays Bertie) is left with a young, precocious daughter named Bernice. Bertie loads most of hers and Bernice’s things, in her car and drives from Chicago to a small town where Bertie’s father (who is in a nursing home) and his wife, Gina Rowland, have their home. Roland is the best actress in the film, while Harry Conic, Jr. gives a performance on a par with Rowland’s; and if he sings at all, it has to be on the sound track only. He tries to court Sandra, but she is not ready to jump into a new bed just yet.

My favorite scenes (in this mostly likeable film) are with her old classmates, as well as new faces, after she begins getting back to normal. She still looks very beautiful and when she does smile, it is truly worth waiting for! (** ½)

A Sicilian in Italy (Draft Dodger, No longer Anonymou

I was so excited the morning that I boarded the train for Verona and Venice! This was truly becoming the most exciting trip I had ever taken. Then I felt guilty that I was happier than I had been when traveling with Lynwood. But, he was the one who wanted out of the Army, when I knew I did not want to leave Germany before I had to.

There was not a lot to see in Verona, since I was unable to see where Romeo and Juliet, nor the Two Gentlemen of Verona lived. So I took a train to Venice that afternoon.

Of course the Train Station for the city was way out before I saw any water. I couldn’t help thinking to myself that Venice would be even more boring that Verona. But that just goes to show you how wrong I can be. Yes, sir, when I am disappointed, I am hard to get along with!

I took a cab from the Depot (Still, no water in sight)  to a hotel the driver suggested, so that part was taken care of by giving the Cabby a nice tip for suggesting the beautiful hotel I stayed in. My room was lovely, it was on the second floor and had a sweet little balcony that I could walk on from my bedroom and sit and watch the crowds go by. When I first walked out of the room, I saw a wedding in progress, from the church across the street. I hurriedly dug my camera out of my suitcase. By the time I was ready to snap my very first wedding picture, the bride and groom were already married and getting into a gondola to begin their honeymoon! It turned out to be one of the best snapshots I ever made (and these are now in the thousands). I was getting hungry. The hurried snack I had eaten in Verona, was all but forgotten. I approached the dining room with my usual shyness when I had to convey to waiters, what I wanted, since the only Italian vocabulary I knew consisted of a few dozen expressions. Usually about bodily functions and those that the three sons would often call each other, “Peppy Bob-ba” (all of my spellings are guesses. But what they sound like is fairly good That phrase we used on each other all the time, means “Fool or Court Jester”. Sammy got Daddy to tell him how to say, “I am a big fool” in Italian.
“Yo Sony babootsa”. Of course, Sammy could always make us laugh by saying literally anything  in any language. He was always “On Stage” and the dearest clown I ever knew. Anything any of us said in Italian, was in reality “Pathetic Sicilian” at best; not always understood by the northern citizens of Italy. Sammy liked nothing better than to mock some of our parents’ Italian. Actually; George found out when he and our parents went to Italy together: George, to get settled into a nice place to board for his year of study with his Fullbright Scholarship. And  Mama, who had never been to Italy.  George told me (when he got back) that Mama and Daddy had met dozens of kinsmen in Sicily, and that they all had no trouble understanding Mama, but Daddy did not come out so well. George, who was always a real scholar, taught himself to speak Italian, if not fluently, at least better than any one that I knew. He did the whole thing with the records and books that you are supposed to practice with daily.

By the time I was seated at a table all by myself, the waiter came bringing an elaborate Menu. I looked at it, and about the only things I understood were the prices. Then, I happened upon something that I decided might well be what my family knew as Inky Peas with Souga. That’s a sort of pigeon Sicilian that means Petit Pois sweet peas in garlicky tomato sauce. I learned to make this dish when I was just a young boy, and my nieces always expect it at least once every time they visit here. I experienced the sweetest of all memories when visiting Beth (Josephine’s elder daughter) had me up to their home, and had asked me to make my”speciality”. I had just got it on the stove, when Beth’s older son came in with his wife. He looked at me, grinned  and said. “Do I smell Inky Peas?” That has to have been one of the happiest memories I ever had. Just the fact that Bob knew what I had cooked was enough, but he told me how he and his younger brother, Bill (who is my Godson) had tried time and time again, when they were students at Oregon State; but could never get it to taste the way mine always did! My secret ingredient (which is certainly well known to all of my dinner guests), is garlic! And I do not try to cut into little-bitty pieces, but I make the pieces big enough that you can pick them out, if they offend you.

At the time in Venice, I had not experienced the delight, listed above, but was really anxious to taste some of Mama’s type of Inky Peas (which I always called them, since I could not say English Peas when an infant.) I asked my waiter in my shattered Italian (it was far worse than merely “Broken”!) he looked puzzled, until I said, “Souga”, then a smile lit up his face from ear to ear, as he shook his head, “Yes! Don’t ask me what else I had with those Peas, because I was so delighted to taste something that at last tasted almost exactly like my darling Mama cooked any time I asked her. I probably had meat and a salad (as I usually do). But Venice was a city that was so beautiful that it made me want to weep, it was so gorgeous. I loved the Cathedral (but did not get to see the inside of it, due to the fact that it was closed (and had scaffolding all around it) so I have no idea where they were attending Mass without it. There was a huge public square just in front of it (I forget which saint it was named for) where I sat enjoying a band concert that afternoon. But, after a couple of selections, I decided to go sight seeing on my own. I knew that there was a famous beech somewhere in Venice and wanted to find it. I skipped the novelty of a renting a gondola, for obvious monetary reasons: I had learned early on that the “Buses” were actually faster, though surely not as romantic so I asked the driver which vehicle I needed to go to the “?” (like most of the things, I cannot remember the names after all those years) He told me which bus to take (I had to go to another street) and I found the famous place, which was crowded with swimmers and a lot of them were tourists like me (but unlike me, they could swim!) It usually makes me sad because we (George and I) were never allowed to go swimming, because there was no public pools in small towns like Richton and Ellisville when we lived there: I was flabbergasted when I went back to Ellisville recently, to see that they now have a facility: lifeguard and all!

When I awoke the next morning (which was a Monday) I caught a train to Rome. I was determined to see this Eternal City next.

(Continued Next Week)

Old Movie Reviews

P ,Mr. and Mrs. Smith (RKO 1941}

       Now, picture this: The year is 1941, and George and I are in the Arabian Theater in Laurel, Mississippi. Not even I can remember why we are there, but it could have been anything from one (or both) of us, playing earlier in a piano competition; or, it could be something strictly connected with my brother; but most likely, Anna, or one of our other three sisters just wanted an excuse to get out of Richton, and go to “The City” to do some shopping. They always invited the two of us to share their efforts to dispel the ennui of living in a small town, where there just seems there were times with nothing to do. When they let us out of the car at the Arabian (it was the most elegant theater we had the good fortune to live near) we probably looked at the lobby, which really was, magnificent   . It was extremely long and filled with the most pictures (window cards of movies playing then, and the ones that were “Coming Soon”.) We would have had a fit when we saw the film which had Carole Lombard (whom we both adored) and Robert Montgomery (who was also a favorite: ever since the film in which you never see his face because you are supposed to see everything in the film from his perspective and his eyes). I do not have a definite memory of having seen the film until a scene where she is giving her husband a shave. The way Carole worked her mouth, nose and chin, showing him exactly how she wants his face to look, was almost as refreshing as the day I first saw it. Carole Lombard was that type of unique comedy that made her a favorite movie star in millions of homes.

       But, as the film continued (from Turner Classic Movies) I fell more and more out of love with Mister and Mrs. Smith! What had happened? I had no idea who the director was, but I learned that it was no less than Alfred Hitchcock! Now, as we all know, this man made some of the greatest cinema in the world! How did he go wrong here? Well, first of all, the coincidence of someone informing Montgomery that he and Lombard has never been legally married (because of some forgettable reason) and he decides not to tell her. She, on her own, finds out the situation, and from that moment, it became a silly boring bit of tripe. In 1938, both of us were just happy to be in a lovely, air-conditioned theater (and these were the days when theaters were about the only things that offered cool comfort) But when I saw it for the second time, I was literally ill with disappointment!

       Of course, the reason it is so silly is that they still seemingly adore each other (even though she takes up with Gene Raymond, who is supposed to be her husband’s best buddy.) Where’s the suspense, Hitchcock? We all know there will be a happy ending. Leonard Maltin gives it three stars, and praises the acting! To me, Lombard especially) came out as a total flop! And, just think,  I was so upset when she died in that plane crash, too!

       Thunder Afloat (1939) MGM

       As much as I disliked Mr. and Mrs. Smith, all these years later; the more I enjoyed this wartime movie, which was standard Wallace Beery fare, and it is about the only one of his movies that I had never even heard of! Josephine usually booked this actor’s films. Not because he was boffo box office fare, but because everybody seemed to love this big, plain-looking man, who was usually a dirty, heavy drinker and almost always used bad grammar; and I fell in love with him at an early age.  As the movie unfolded before my eyes, I found it ever more difficult to think why we had never shone this charming WW2 Navy Drama! It had one of my favorite actresses as Beery’s adoring daughter, but I cannot remember her name, nor does the critic mention her.  (***)

Answers to last week’s Movie Quiz

Old Movie Trivia Quiz (May 12) Answers

1. Ava Gardner was The Barefoot Contessa    

2. Alfred Hitchcock liked to put himself in his films

3. Penny Singleton was Blondie in films.

4. Mickey Roonie was Young Tom Edison.

5. The Boy with Green Hair was played by

6. To Be or Not to Be was Carole Lombard’s final role, with Jack Benny

7. Fredericu March won an Oscar in the dual role of Dr. Jeckell and Mr. Hyde

8. Wm. Powell and Myrna Loy were the stars of The Thin Man series, Dashiel Hammet wrote the original mystery.

9. Tiny Republic Pictures made Remember Pearl Harbor

10. Bing Crosby’s young co-star in East Side of Heaven was young Gloria Jean,

I am running so late that the next Movie Quiz will be next Sunday.

 

FF XVI NO. 10

Frank’s Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV No. 10

Sunday, June 2. 2013

The Advent of Ginger, and  Sweet Memories of Chipper

       My dear friends, Charles and Georgy Horton were my next door neighbors. They  had a daughter, Ramona, who gave them twin grandchildren (a girl and a boy) whom they adored. As Neighbors, one might have wished for better ones, but these were as wonderful as neighbors ever get. Their tragic downfall was cigarettes: and both died of lung cancer. Georgy went first, and I felt so helpless, as I watched him grieving over his loss.   A few days after her funeral, I made some Chicken Cacciatori and took it over to help him through the week by getting a full meal or two. He returned the bowl I had carried it in, and said how much he liked it; so then and there, I determined to cook another of my “Specialties” for him any time he wanted me to. (After all,  I did cater for years with Steve Moore in Hattiesburg. We did only one party here in Mobile, because in order to get a license you cannot have a cat in the place where the food is prepared. That left Mobile totally out of the picture all those years ago)

         When Georgy died, I was at the funeral, and less than two years later, Charlie; who had his cancer (according to his Cardiologist) under control, joined his spouse in the hereafter, we were all grieved when on the morning after Halloween, he had to be put in an ambulance, with a massive heart attack, and carried to the hospital. Sadly, he was dead on arrival.

         The next time I went to his door,  the first thing I saw when he opened the door, was a magnificent half-grown kitty! I blurted out, “Where did you get that gorgeous animal?” He chuckled proudly and simply said, “Oh, that’s Chipper!” I have to admit, at that point, I would gladly have traded Trudy 2 for Chipper, but of course I said nothing except, “Well, that name surely does fit him!”

         Charlie had a riding mower, which I used to watch with envy because there has always been so much clutter in my yard, that a riding mower was out of the question. A few weeks after I first saw Chipprt, I was surprised to look across the fence, to see him riding his mower with Chipper sitting in his lap! I was happy to see he had the pet for company, and also was spellbound to see the cat enjoying his ride so utterly!  I knew that both he and Georgy loved their dogs  (there was always one or two in their yard) but when I saw the cat, I felt as if he suddenly had something he could really love! And his voice, when he told me, “This is Chipper.”: it pulled at my very heartstrings. I felt that this handsome feline would surely be a lot of companionship for any man, and Charlie’s delight was great when I told him how beautiful his pet was. It was the morning after Halloween that Charles  Horton had his heart attack and died. It was a stunning blow to all of his neighbors. I immediately wondered what would happen to Chipper; then I decided that Ramona’s twins would surely want him. And yet,l I wanted to make certain that he find a good home. That afternoon, Ramona was still there, trying to get things in order in the lonely house, and I had already seen the truck from the pound drive away from the house with both of Charlie’s dogs! My heard felt a pang for them, because I knew how much company they had been for Charlie and Georgy. And they were fine animals. I dialed the number, and Ramona came to the phone. I had been to the funeral, and had offered my condolences there, but I felt that I needed to get the question over and done with. “Ramona, what are you going to do with Chipper?”

         She hesitated a moment, and then said,.”Well, I can’t keep any of the pets: I am allergic to dogs and cats!” I  then said I would love to take Chipper off her hands and give him a home where he would be really adored.. She seemed completely happy that she had saved Chipper’s life, and made me happy at the same time. “There’s just one problem: I have not seen the cat since we got back from the funeral!” That had the ring of doom in the sound of it. “He could just be back there in the woods behind our houses….”

         “Oh, Lord, I hope so!” And I prayed as I watched the house till almost dark.

         Then I began to see something moving near the back door of the deserted house. I said a quick prayer, and almost ran to the fence that separated our lots. I could not see him. Where had he gotten off to? And what if it hadn’t been Chipper?” I was allowing myself to get upset over nothing, because just as I was about to give up hope, I walked through the gate and went close enough to the door to see that it was Chipper! I called his name I felt as if he knew who I was. But he still wanted his Daddy!

         I guessed he had not been fed in quite a spell, and was bound to be starving1 I picked him up (and was scared to death that he would scratch or bite me), but he settled back in my arms, almost as if he knew his master was gone. I never did learn if Chipper had been there when Charlie had the heart attack that killed him. Chipper must have seen the whole dreadful thing. I can almost see him as they took the man’s body out on a stretcher! It was the end of his entire world, as he knew it.

         I walked with   “Chipper” into the kitchen of my house, and there was greeted by a naturally puzzled cat of my own. She had been the last (as it turned out) of four gorgeous black and white cats in a row that had brought so much happiness into my solitary life. These are known as “Tuxedo Cats” because of their unique black and white patterns. I held Chipper down so that Trudy could see and smell him. I was not in the least impressed when she growled menacingly, and spat a few times, as she wriggled out of my grasp and flew under the nearest bed!

         But, happily they grew to love each other. I think they began to realize just how much fun it is to have a brother or sister. I can certainly testify to the validity of this supposition. I would not take a boxcar loaded with diamonds in exchange for having for most of my happy life, my four sisters and two of the best brothers anyone could ever ask for! When Ann McGowan  saw the “Brother and Sister”  pictures together (I made a million or more snapshots, because I, too, was finally able to enjoy two cats. We always had lots of cats for our barns, because barns just naturally attack rats!) Ann went to work on a project for my two darlings (she always was extremely gifted at making cute things out of nothing). When the hu-mongus cardboard box she had mailed to me, arrived, it was so big I opened it (slowly and carefully) in the anteroom just inside my back door, to find enough play-pretties to keep them both happy for days!

            But I had my camera ready for their first reaction to the “Magic” box and its pretty toys, and I had that, combined with the student’s performances, and my only pictures of dear Cora Fairley, several piano students playing their contest pieces, and a dozen or more other priceless treasures. Paul McGown (no kin to Ann) saw the whole film, and because he was one of the students who had performed so well, I let him talk me into taking the film home in order to copy his performance (and I knew only too well how risky this was) but he was one of my best students, and I felt more like his father than his piano teacher. This was the first time he had ever let me down!

         Trudy and Chipper had been  like two movie stars, acting as if they knew exactly what I wanted, as I talked constantly. I tried not to miss one single cute movemeny that they made! When I had photographed far more than I had intended to, I stopped. But they continued their games until much later. So, even though I still have lots of photographs of the two feline friends together and apart, I will always mourn for that home movie: I had cut a round hole in the cardboard box in order to get everything out without breaking it, and before I knew what was going on, Chipper was lying down on his side (inside the box) and Trudy stood, outside the box, trying to poke her paw through the hole and hitting at her ”Brother”. The photographs (which I still have) were so cute: In the one taken in the living room, both are stretched out on the carpet,  sitting upright with their back paws folded neatly underneath them. It looked to me, like two friends, having a serious talk.. I called the picture, “A Political Discussion”. Yes, it’s silly, but I loved them both so very much, that they could do nothing that did not seem, at least “Cute”.

         Both of the darling cat’s ashes, are out here in the studio. I’m leaving directions that on my death, I be cremated, and their ashes mixed with half of mine (the other half will go in the family plot in Ellisville, where I was born and lived for a long time

         (Next week, I  adopt Ginger: the Lord certainly saved the best for last in this case!)

A Sicilian in Italy

Rome and Naples

         I arrived in Rome in the morning and went immediately to the American Express office. The  young man who came forward to assist me, told me of a nearby reasonably priced room, and he described it to favorably that I told him it sounded as if it were made for me. He asked for my name, and I began spelling it out. If the person has never heard of our name, he always says, “Would you spell that for me?” and I am more than willing to accommodate him. But this fellow was remarkable: before I was able to “Accommodate him, I saw that he had already written “Imbraguglio” and was about to ask for my first name!

 

probably wrote this before, but our sisters got tired of having everyone call us ImBRAGlio, or Imbra-GOOG-lio, so they dropped that second D that seemed to be the culprit. I can’t say that it stopped the mis-prononciations , but it did help a bit. Uncle Phillip and his brood thought it was such a grand idea that they adopted it for themselves! I assured him that this had never before happened in my lifetime, to which he responded, “Oh,  but it’s quite a common name, especially the farther south you travel.” I rather floated out of the office and walked the short distance he has drawn on a city map to make it easier on me. I got there with no trouble, registered and asked the man at the desk if there were any operas to be seen at this time of the year. He told me there were no operas in Rome in the summer months. Of course I. was very disappointed: I was still smarting over my disappointment of La Scala in Milano. That was nothing compared to my wrath when (having been told that no operas were available in the summer, I heard (when taking a bus tour of this magnificent ancient city, our young tour guide pointed out an open-air facility where we were told that just the night before- and I had been in the hotel at this time) the opera Aida, was given its last of three performances. This production is known all over the earth because of its magnificense! “The Triumphal March’, just for starters, has live elephants; an on-stage band, and lots of other beasts in the performance) I asked the tour guide if there might possibly be some other opera that I could see, and he said Porgy and Bess was being done that night! I managed to get a ticket to that; and since I had never seen Gershwin’s great opera, and I had seen one other very ordinary version of Aida.  

         Porgy and Bess starred American singers in most of the roles, and it was a thrilling performance, When Porgy sings his final aria, “O, Lord, I’m coming home!” I could not keep from crying, And the soprano, who sang the incomparably beautiful, “Summertime” was equally wonderful.

         After making sure I had seen most of the important sight-seeing suggestions, like the Coliseum and a couple of art museums, I had not been able to find the Trevi Fountain! Since the movie Three Coins in the Fountain had been so popular (though I did not see it until recently on the TCM Channel) It was when I decided to return to my hotel from another part of the city, and there it was! Not more than fifty feet from the entrance!      

         After three days, I felt I had covered as much territory as was good for me and checked out the next day, and departed for Naples.

(Continued Next Week)

Cat Facts

         “I named my kitten Rose—fur as soft as a petal, claws sharper than thorns.”

Astrid Alauda

 

Movie Review

Love Crazy (MGM 1941)

       I saw the last half of this, quite by accident late one night, and I just loved it! So, when I saw that TCM was showing it again, just weeks later, I recorded the entire comedy. The part I saw first had leading man, William Powell, in an insane asylum! It was very funny, and Powell was never better (except in Father Knows Best.) Jack Carson chases him, in one scene, and when he catches him, makes kitchy-koo sounds and hand signals that say, “You’re NUTS!”

       Well. I couldn’t just leave “Father” without seeing how he ended up on a Funny Farm

       He and Myrna Loy are married, in the first half, but Myrna gets burned up with the idea that her totally innocent hubby is having an affaire with none-other-than Gail Patrick (and I wish I had a nickel for every time she was “The Other Woman”!) Powell is devastated that she is divorcing him, and vows that he will go to any extreme to get her back.

       I won’t tell too much more, because, if you like a real screwball comedy: they just do not get any better than this little gem.  And apparently Turner does not wait too long between “Return Films, so be forewarned. (***)

Movie Trivia Quiz                                                                                                                                                           

1.     Who played Flo Ziegfeld in MGM’s block-buster musical, The Great Ziegfeld?

2.     What European beauty won an Oscar as his first wife?

3.     What American beauty portrayed wife No. 2?

4.     Who was the male singer, who sang, “A Pretty Girl is like a Melody” in the (at that time) costliest production number ever staged? Here’s a hint: You probably would not remember his name in this film, but later, when he became one of Warner Bros. biggest and most popular stars.

5.     Which of Barbra Streisand’s roles was that of one of Ziegfeld’s biggest discoveries? She was so fantastic in the part that it won her an Oscar!

6.     What Radio Persona was created by this gifted comedian? Hint, one of her frequent quotations was, “I’m only three and a half years old!”

7.     The composer of what Favorite Broadway musical and film, was the orchestra conductor on this radio show in which the comedian-singer often appeared?

8.     Name three other films with ZIEGFELD in their titles.

9.     How many did the same star portray him?

10.                 Which of these “other” Ziegfeld film starred Lana Turner, Judy Garland and Hedy Lamar? This little information should be self evident.

Answers to last week’s Quiz

I forgot: there WAS no time to work up a quiz. So sue me!

 

FF XIV, 8

                                                                                   

Fax Facts and Reviews

Vol.. XIV No. 8

Sunday, May 19, 2013

       The first cell-phone I ever saw was in the film, Clueless, with Alicia Silverstone. I got lots of laughs from this film and became a fan of its engaging young actress. The story was supposedly modeled after Jane Austin’s novel, Emma (which I never understood: I read the novel, hated it, and almost never got through with it. All I could see was a pretty young girl (who may or may not, be as pretty as Alicia!) who attempts to play at being cupid, and form romances between any two people with whom she comes in contact. Boring!

       To my way of looking at Clueless, the plot was much more of an exposition of the cellular telephone and the purpose for which it was first made. But that’s all water under the dam, now that Alicia was replaced in Hollywood by Reese Witherspoon. Reese (who took home an Oscar for her work in the Johnny Cash film biography) got all of the roles that were Alicia’s cup of tea, yet her appearance in the star-studded Batman (I forget which one it was) pretty much ended her film career. The last time I heard her name in the news, it was for the highly controversial method by which she was feeding her offspring. (Don’t go there if you want to know how or why!) .

       When I asked what Clueless has to do with Emma, I was told that in each case, the heroine is a busybody who tries to steer every one of her associates as straight to the altar as they can go. She finds a lot of people in her social status that are almost as uninteresting as she was to me. Sad but true, it took me forever to wade through that silly patter of social life among teenagers in that particular phase of the Earth’s history. Imagine my surprise and disgust when I found, much to my chagrin that Cell Phones had taken the world by storm; and I see them as much more a threat than Hurricane, Tornado, Blizzard or Plague.

Pet Peeves

       The article in the last issue of Frank’s Fax Facts attracted at least four subscribers to share their frustrations with us. So far, the readers who sent their “Pet Peeves” to me, are Bill McGlassen, Howard Deck, Patricia Gragg, and Chuck Beech.

Here’s what Howard Deck wrote: (and I couldn’t agree with him more)

 A pet peeve for your consideration:

Individuals who leave their unattended shopping cart parked in the middle of the aisle, while they semi consciously browse among the canned vegetables (or whatever), oblivious to others just trying to navigate through.  Women are the worst offenders.

Bill writes:

         My pet peeve today is the fact that it is my opinion that essentially all University faculty members are all Liberals.  There are so few conservatives and they must take lots of abuse.  I enrolled in an elective American History course my senior year (1959) at University of Missouri.  It was taught by the Head of the History Department, and that was the only undergraduate course he taught.  The class had a tremendous reputation and it was difficult to get into the class as it rapidly filled up the 100 plus seats in the lecture room.  There were several text pamphlets which covered several opposing views, such as those of framers of the constitution, civil war issues, monopoly busters of the Teddy Roosevelt era, and the New Deal of FDR.  There were several opposing economist authors.  The purpose of the course was to show there are different views and we had an opportunity to analyze both sides.  My family heavily supported the Democratic Party and voted the party line.  This course made an impression on me to analyze the facts more deeply and not just accept things on the surface, but to investigate them deeply.  This was a 5 hour credit course and I never missed a lecture.  I doubt that a History Professor today would ever attempt to lead a class such as this, because they have become too biased.  That concludes my Pet Peeve for today.

From Chuck Beech

"child proof" caps are truly an annoyance, my no. 1 pet peeve is people talking on cell phones in public places e.g. while perusing the grocery aisle and blocking traffic while taking 5 minutes to contemplate a box of macaroni; a task that would ordinarily take 15 seconds but because of the distraction of the telephone their mind doesn't work right

And Patricia Gragg gets right to the point!

Great idea about pet peeves!   How about teenagers/young people who say the word “like" after every three or four words in a sentence?    example..."well I called my boyfriend and, like, he said we could go out, like, maybe Friday. but, like, I'm busy that day and I said, like, maybe we could, like, go out, like, maybe.....

Share your peeves with us. Do not be shy! 

         A Conservative  Old Coot writes that his own pet peeve is, as everyone who has ever known him, knows, is the Cellular Phone,  I feel that whoever thought it up (now, mind you, I keep one in my car much of the time—but use it only for times when I have to call AAA or some other emergency occurs-like times when my telephone quits on me) But, I strongly challenge those youngsters who say that they would rather be dead, than not to have their own cell. My reaction is, “Better to be IN a cell, than wasting your precious lives trying to keep in constant touch with everybody you know. I feel that cell phones and their spelling will be the death of literature; abbreviating every word cannot but have a bad effect. And current fads, like LOL, will make the laziest student even lazier.

         I first heard of Cell Phones in the delightful comedy Clueless. It brought stardom to Alicia Silverstone (who became my favorite young female player). Now, when I am waiting at a red light to turn green (my color “Ignorance” works just fine here) and am in a hurry to meet an appointment. Then a woman, who is in the car ahead of mine, just SITS there well after the color change had taken place! I wish I could just tell her how many people (besides me) are inconvenient because of her “Texting” while waiting for the light! And, speaking of that abominable word (as irritating to me as FUN. That word is no longer used as a noun, but seems to be used as if it were an adjective. As in sentences like “It was so fun!” I have even heard this sick report, “This time was even funner than the last!”  But that is yet another of my pet peeves!

         Looking back a few years, the film, Clueless was concerned with a California high school with the most sophisticated students I had ever seen, even in movies. The biggest laughs were from just the fact that every student in the school, had his own cell phone. I laughed; because Silverstone and her friends would call each other, right there in class! I laughed then—but now I don’t find it a bit funny. It scares me to death.

         Selah!

Cat Fax

   “The love of dress is very marked in this attractive animal. He is proud of the luster of his coat, and cannot endure that a hair of it shall lie the wrong way.”

Jules Champfleury

Old Movie Reviews

Driving Miss Daisy

       Jessica Tandy won her very first Oscar, after doing so much fine work throughout the century for this almost perfect film. It was her last film, and it is a beautiful tribute to a brilliant career. She was wed to Hume Cronin, and starred with him in many of their movies. Their careers (each of them) kept them working before the cameras to the end of both lives, literally.
       Miss Daisy is a sweet little old Jewish Lady, whose son is a banker and tries to do anything he can to make her feel safe and happy after she has a wreck. He refuses to allow her to drive because he knows her accident was her own fault as the result of carelessness on her part. So he hires a “colored gentleman” to be her chauffer, buys her a new car and tries to convince her that she is lucky just to be alive. But Miss Daisy is not used to taking orders, especially from her own children. 

       There are scenes of bitterness, suspicion comedy and just good old film making. Mississippi’s own Morgan Freeman is quiet simply magnificent as Miss Daisy’s Chauffer, as she teaches him to read.

       By the end of the film, I felt just as if I had lost another member of my own family. I adored it the first time I saw it; but seeing it a second time, I felt as happy as a lark!

 Draft Dodgers Ltd.

       I was, naturally sad to see Lynwood on the Sunday before his return to the States. He made me promise faithfully that I would call him the moment I reached Fort Jackson, since his home was only about a mile from the camp. “I’ll come over and we’ll get a room at the Cola.” Which was his name for the second best hotel in Columbia.  But since I planned to take my longest trip alone, time was of the utmost importance: I wanted to see Italy, from La Scala to Daddy’s home town, Ceffalu. Sicily.

       When my solo trip began, I took a train to Milano, in Italy. There, I had booked a ticket to their world-famous Opera House. I had done my business with the same firm (in Karlsruhe) that had done so well with my Wagnerian Opera Trip. Imagine my disappointment (not to mention my criticism, when I was told (at the boxoffice) that they had never heard of me! Not even the fact that the opera I would have seen, was one that I had never even heard of! So, I made the best of a bad situation by catching another train later that afternoon, for Pisa! I wanted to see if that Tower really leaned as much as they said it did!!

       Before I left Milano, however, I had to take a bus to and from the opera house, and it was while riding to La Scala, that I noticed that a newspaper everyone seemed caught up with, had something connected with Susan Hayward. At this stage of my life, she was one of my idols! I could just fill in the blank spaces of the newspaper: Susan Hayward had not died at all. The article (as someone explained to me later) told of a midnight tryst with none other than MY character (Bob Steele) when Sammy, George and I played at being Cowboys (we became Juck Bones, Men Kaynered and, I was Stob Beele! Well, we both had curly hair!) I was so disappointed when I heard about this (now, all those years afterward, I am not certain what the outcome was, but I definitely remember that they were found nude in her front yard. That’s one of my most vivid memories of Milano.

       And here’s another strange memory: When I was back at Milano’s train station, waiting for a train to Pisa, a man came up to me and began talking as if he knew me! I don’t remember now, what he said, but I do remember that I finally convinced him that I was not anyone he had ever met. He then assured me that the person for whom he was looking, looked exactly like a copy of myself! Isn’t life funny? That sort of thing never happened to me in all of my life, and I have to admit, I looked carefully at everyone who was in the depot that afternoon. I wanted to see my double! Well, wouldn’t you?

       Pisa was a pretty place, and I didn’t have to ask anyone where their Leaning Tower was located. It looked much worse than I had expected, and to this day, I will never understand how it keeps from falling! But they make a lot of money from the millions of people like me, who stop in Pisa for just that reason. I was not in the least disappointed in what I saw. I took a room for the night, and remember (this came back to me in a flash) I went to a theater that evening that was showing There’s No Business Like Show Business, which starred Ethel Merman, Marilyn Monroe, Donald O’Conner, Dan Dailey, Mitzi Gayner and Johnny Rae (this was his only film, I believe). It was loud, long and pretty awful (and just like the Germans, they dub all movies into Italian (and not German, of course), But I got my money’s worth seeing Donald O’Connor, and Marilyn (who was never better) doing The We’re Having a Heat Wave! Johnny Rae was not as terrible an actor as I had expected, as the brother who leaves his all-theatrical family to become a Catholic Priest. Merman was her usual "blastingly" loud self (especially singing the title song) and the film’s entire music was composed by wonderful Irving Berlin,

       As I walked slowly through the streets of Pisa, towards my hotel, I heard a crowd in a tavern as I was going past, singing a German song that sounded more than a little familiar! I stopped just outside the doors than led to the assemblage, and little by little it came back to me: it was a song that Miss Alline Hill had taught all of us, in Public School, several years before, She did a lot of songs like that; wrote the words on the blackboard and we had to copy them, and use them to sing the tunes (from lots of countries); This was called (this is how she wrote it so that we could get the correct words, even though she had simplified it for our ears to be able to repeat them, as she played them) “From Luzern to Wagis-ahn---Hole de re-de-ah—Hole de reAH.) I would have given anything to have my old teacher (she was my first Piano Teacher, as well as George’s) there with me in Pisa! I felt a lump in my throat as big as a frog with the pain that always seems to be my reaction to certain beautiful memories.

       I just had to see how the singers looked, so I walked slowly in, and heard the entire song as I watched them: Some were seated at their own tables, with their arms around each other’s neck; rocking back and forth as they kept time with the music; others were dancing as they sang, and a few were like me: Just trying to capture the moment ---and have it for a lifetime of joyous memories.

(Continued Next Week).”

Old Movies Quiz

1.      Who starred with Jessica Tandy, as her son in Driving Miss Daisy?

2.     What was the tragedy about which The Bridge of San Louie Rey (1944) was written?

3.      Stella Dallas was played by which popular star of such films as The Lady Eve, Ball of Fire and Christmas in Connecticut?

4.      What very funny lady (Oscar Winner)  lived in a house where every train that passed would rattle the plates almost off the wall? Clue: think of three Letters.

5.      What actress was Bette Davis’s best friend in All about Eve?

6.      Who was played to perfection in the title role?

7.      What sultry lady was Miss Sadie Thompson?

8.      Complete the title, Love Laughs at (?) the leading man’s name in one of MGM series that often filled the bill of Double Features.

9.      The Maisey series starred which blond beauty at MGM?

10. What actor played The Great Gatsby first?

 

 

Your Quiz Maker is embarrassed because he cannot find last week’s Quiz. Please send me a copy of the last quiz, please. (I have been in a daze ever since beginning my 14^th yr)