My Lucky find….

I got so lucky and got my hands on an article in “Screenland,” magazine from March of 1952. In this magazine Marilyn Monroe wrote an article titled, “Why my Favorite Friends are Men.” In this article she talks about her relationships with men and women, and how the one with men was the best. I have to say that most women would probably agree with Marilyn. She said, “….I find most men are more open, more generous and much more stimulating than the majority of females…” Well, I really can understand why Marilyn may have felt this way. I can only imagine how catty women were around such a beauty! And that girlfriend is putting it mildly.  She went on to say that women let “petty” things get to them and gave an example of two women attending a party and to their utter shock, disgrace and embarrassment they both are wearing the same dress! Something like this would make a girl want to hang herself. Whereas men in the same party are probably wearing the same color suits or tux and life goes on.  She says, “Just imagine a male going into a hizzy because a male in his office is wearing the same color suit.” Not going to happen.

Marilyn Monroe in "Niagara"

Feline ways….

She said men were less critical than women. She relates a story of a female she worked with in the studio. One day after rehearsal Marilyn ran into her dressing room put on a pair of jeans, and t-shirt, and her hair was messy, you know, sorta like what we look like today. But in those days, well it just didn’t go. So a female friend tells her as she is running out to the store, “hey isn’t it a little too late for Halloween?” It’s just the feline ways of hating on all things “prettier!” A male friend spotted her in that same getup as she left the store and found her, well- witches-that -hate on her…… “Hot.”  She said girls were too hung up on clothes, beauty, and size, basically stuck on appearances, whereas guys were not and she felt comfortable around that.  She said that “a man has a tendency to accept you as you are, while most women start to pick flaws and want to change you.” She thought that men were not judgmental, and were loyal friends. Most long term friends for Marilyn were men.  Another reason Marilyn may have felt this way about men was because she grew up in many foster homes and always desired to have “a father” of her own.

Marilyn felt a woman should embrace her womanhood.....

Ouch to the women’s movement…

In this same article she touches on a subject that many of the women’s movement would not agree with today. She said, “girls shouldn’t worry about being equal to a man in the business world…” but she should rather, “be more concerned with keeping her femininity than topping a man.” Alright, let’s remember it’s the 50’s and this is how some thought. But I have to say that the women’s movement has gone a little too far in our day, in many cases making many in the movement lose their femininity.  I’m all for equal pay for the job, I agree that women are capable of doing a job as good as a man, but please don’t tell me to lose my womanhood in the process, and no, not all men are pigs or dumb asses. I will not subscribe to that ridiculous crap. And if a woman decides to stay home to care for her children instead of working outside the home, that does not make her lame. If anything, she is even stronger.  And yes,  I love men! So to a degree I agree with Marilyn. Yes, girlfriends we can do it, but it’s all good if we use pink while we do. Just sayin’.

She goes on to say that we should embrace our being born women and jokes, “if you spend your life competing with businessmen, what do you have?” “A bank account and ulcers!” She found that women were disingenuous, but men were forthright. The type of male she wanted as a friend had “to have enough fire and assurance to speak up his convictions.” These qualities she even sought out in the actors she co-starred with such as, Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark, Marlon Brando & Robert Ryan, “the rugged types.”

Male friends rock!

Marilyn felt that women spent too much talk on girly-girl stuff, shopping, gossip, vacillation, calorie counting, stuff that just did nothing for her. It wasn’t, as she put it, that she “liked women less,” but “liked men more.” Marilyn I’m sure had a few female friends in life, but for the most part it was male friendships that made her happiest. Many women today feel the same way.  I say, I rather have balance. I love my girlfriend time, but I also cherish my male friendships as well. In fact, my husband and I started out as friends and he is still my “BFF” But I do understand where Marilyn was coming from. I have encountered female- so-called- friends from hell and many times have been tempted to send them right back to hell.  So girlfriends, if your BFF is a guy, rock on!

 Update, I’ve received comments from a couple of  “femi-Nazis,” look, you want to be a man, look like one, but at the same time hate men, rock-on! Only don’t come on this blog spewing your rhetoric, inappropriate language and all, I don’t care for it, and you are wasting your time!  I will not post it! Secure women don’t fall for that crap anymore. It’s not the damn 70′s, have you noticed it’s 2012? Now, be a good girl and burn your bra!  Ciao!

Eartha Kitt as Anna Lucasta

 Anna Lucasta, 1958,  an emotional movie which seems to take a lot of pleasure in making the main character Anna played by beautiful Eartha Kitt, suffer for being a party girl.

Anna’s Story…

Anna is a prostitute who has been thrown out by her seemingly pious, but alcoholic father Joe (Rex Ingram). It is somewhat sketchy as to what happened: did she become a prostitute when thrown out by her father at an early age, or was she messing around with boys to cause her father shame? What moral lapse did she have?  Either something drastic, and/or shameful happened, or her hotheaded, fire-and-brimstone-preacher- like, father is a psycho.

Some years have passed and Anna is brought back into the fold when the family wants to marry her off to a rich guy. Here is where it gets pretty comical or should I say hypocritical. The family which Anna has “shamed,” is now trying to “sell” Anna to this rich kid. For Anna, it must have been seen as just another John, only this John offers her lifetime security.

Anna of course does not need the family to “sell “her, she can do a bang-up job on her own and she does. The young man falls for Anna and the wedding is announced. There are far too many scenes of the father having fits of rage over Anna, but when the wedding is announced we are given the honor of seeing the man sweat, eyes bulge, and veins on his neck fill and branch out as if reaching for Anna’s neck. We get it…you’re pissed :/

My Take….

The film is open to interpretation. There was a time that Joe doted on Anna. What happened? The conflicting nature of their relationship is obvious to the end of the movie.  I was perplexed by her father.  Why so cruel and ruthless? What the hell did Anna do? The looks he gave Anna were not those of a father tenderly looking at his daughter. It was more a look of contempt, disgust, and repulsion, which ultimately turned into pure rage. Yet Anna begs for acceptance, love, and approval from her father. His rage was way off the top, and many times I wished he would just die so that finally Anna can be free. Listen, preacher-like-father, who drinks, and hates himself, we all have moral lapses and Anna is not exempt. Take the log out of your eye before removing the spec off your daughter’s eye! Whew….sorry had to get that out.

Sammy Davis, JR & Eartha Kitt

You will enjoy seeing Sammy Davis, Jr. play a sailor who also has eyes for Anna. Only I gotta tell ya, those two together on screen didn’t go. It looked like Anna could pick him up and throw him across the room in the dance scene. I like that the film has an all-black cast, a sterling cast of black actors, which in those days was unheard of and these actors were not playing butlers, maids, or servants.

To some the moral message of the 50′s may seem dated, but all and all it is a good film of a desperate daughter’s search for love and a father who could not see beyond his self-righteousness, and self loathing , so much so he couldn’t love his daughter.

Ernestine Wade as "Sapphire."

It’s black history month and in honor of some of my favorite silver screen black actresses I will dedicate a few posts on five I love. Before I begin, I want to say that unfortunately Hollywood was very unfair to pioneering black actors, but it was the brave pioneering ones that pave the way for the many black actors we have today.

Some of these you will recognize, others you probably never heard of. Sadly many of these stars were given 2 bit parts, and the roles they played were in many cases stereotypical. That’s just too bad because many were very, very talented and even in their small roles, they shined.

The Controversy…

My first is Ernestine Wade; she played “Sapphire,” the wife of George “Kingfish” Stevens in classic TV’s “Amos n’ Andy.” I know many feel this show was controversial, and may not even like the show. I disagree with the so called controversy and feel it’s a shame the show was pulled. You can read more on my take on this here. In fact, Ernestine Wade disagreed when the show was pulled. You can catch Ernestine in an interview she gave for a documentary on the show, “Amos and Andy: Anatomy of a Controversy.”  In this interview she gives her view on the show and why it shouldn’t have been pulled.

So why do I love her? Well, if you’ve seen the show and seen her play “Sapphire Stevens” you wouldn’t be asking. Ernestine was born in 1906 and died in 1983, she is best known for her role as Sapphire on the radio and television show. Yes, that’s right she first played the role on radio for many years before she did it on TV. She began her acting career at age 4, not surprising with her ties to show biz by her vaudeville performing mother Hazel Wade. Ernestine appeared in bit parts in films and did the voice performance of a butterfly in Walt Disney’s “Song of the South.” (1946) She was part of the choir who sang in George Gershwin biographical film “Rhapsody in Blue.” She however attained most her fame for her role as the tough, demanding, feisty, wife of George “Kingfish” Stevens

Lucky Break……

She began playing this role in radio in 1939, in an interview she related how she sort of stumbled onto this role. It really was her lucky break. The producers Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, who were white, and played 2 black guys, “Amos and Andy,” on the radio show were looking for a singer. It was for this role Ernestine first auditioned for. They however asked her if she could “do lines,” she said, “yes.” They then proceeded to ask her to say “I do,” and scream. She did and she was hired. She once said that two words got her the part, “I do.” She played Sapphire and other roles on the radio show. When the show moved to TV, Ernestine seamlessly walked out of radio and into America’s living rooms. The TV show like the radio was an instant hit. However, this was at the height of the civil rights movement, and the NAACP demanded the show be taken off the air, much to the disappointment of cast members, and black and white audiences alike.

A Woman Ahead of Her Day

I don’t think any other actress could have played “Sapphire,” like Ernestine did. I love the role of Sapphire because she was a woman way ahead of her time.  Back then the shows portrayed women as docile, and at the beck and call of men, this show didn’t. Sapphire was the complete opposite of Beaver’s mom. Actually she reminds me of “Alice,” of the “The Honeymooners,” only on steroids.   She was a fighter! When George wasn’t working, which was most of time; she dropped the apron, pots and pans, and made the bread. No pun intended. When George stepped out of line, she’d let him have it! Sapphire had no political correctness and what an attitude!  Yeah, she was tough on George, but she loved him and wanted to make him a better man.

Ground Breaking

The show was ground breaking not only for black actors, but for women as well. One show cannot represent a whole entire race, and this show didn’t.  This however was the NAACP’s thinking.  And please don’t misunderstand me, I totally understand the urgency they felt, but find it all too sad. The show was about a funny group of people who happened to be black, which many people of diverse backgrounds could identify with, or knew someone in their circles like the colorful characters they saw on the show. I still watch the show, and I still laugh, and can only hope that the show is reintroduced to the new generation. Our attitudes have changed since 50’s; I don’t think the new generation would find anything controversial at all. But they will laugh, that I guarantee.  See “Sapphire” just once, and you will see exactly what I mean.

Jean as Mary Pondering the future

“The Happy Ending,” 1969, well this classic movie should really be titled,  “And they lived Unhappily Ever After.” As I watched it, I had to wonder what hellish consequences were unleashed on society by this selfish couple. It felt as if I were watching Fran Dodsworth (Ruth Chatterton) in pre-code movie “Dodsworth,” only with a feminist twist.

Jean Simmons plays Mary Wilson, a “poor, little rich” wife who turns to pills and alcohol to fill her empty existence. She is married to a highly successful husband, Fred, played by John Forsythe, who is ever absent at home in many ways. It’s their twentieth anniversary and Mary feels she’s in a rut. What to do? Mary indulges in reckless behavior; she runs up charge accounts, drinks like a fish, and packs up her crap and goes to the Bahamas to “find herself.” Mary bumps into an old college chum, played by Shirley Jones, whose life is even more screwed up than hers. Whereas Mary is bored with her dumb-ass husband and the drudgery of being a wife, Jones is the almost 40 happy hooker, who has played the “other woman” for years, and is now desperate, and desires to marry the current married man she’s with, played by Lloyd Bridges. Well maybe Mary and she should just trade places! I seem to remember something along the lines of “grass is greener…” Duh

At home Mary is supported emotionally  by her pill-popping cleaning woman, Agnes, fabulously played by Nanette Fabray. Agnes is the “go-to” girl for Mary. She is always there for Mary’s many crises. I see something totally wrong with this picture.  I can, in a way,  understand Agnes popping pills; one can only imagine the drudgery of her life. If Mary thinks her life is hell, what did she think Agnes’ life was like? Did Mary ever even ask?  Mary’s mom played by Theresa Wright, is of no help, as she is clueless and still trying to find her way around the new and changing times. Mary’s husband, Fred is a dumb-ass, plain and simple. He is a man who had too much drive at the cost of ignoring his family. He may give them all the material things in life, but he is a failure at everything else. And as most men in Fred’s position have done, and continue to do, they live wildly and are apathetic about those closest to them. As long as he gets what he needs at the moment, everything else is secondary. There are exceptions of course, but money and power does things to people.

Mary goes to jail...

The film has some great performances, especially that of Jean Simmons as the bored wife. Jean got the Oscar nomination for this role that year. Nanatte Fabrey as the cleaning lady was superbly good and funny. You have to love the cleaning lady’s attitude despite her hard life. Forsythe as the clueless, but well-meaning hubby was good.  What I found hysterical were the flashbacks of the once happy couple Mary and Fred. Simmons & Forsythe played both roles! Give me a break they looked old in those college day flashbacks! They really should’ve used younger actors.

Giving Mary a piece of my mind…

I really tried to get in Mary’s head, and I understood some of her problem, but not all.  I have very little compassion for Mary, life happens Mary. I can only wonder what other women in her very community and in her day had to do to take care of their families, like work two jobs, etc. and they didn’t turn to drugs and alcohol, or take “find myself” trips. Instead they put on their “big girl” panties and dealt with it. They had no time to be “bored” with their lives. You Mary had too much time in your hands, believed in fairy tales, and got too caught up in the emerging feminist movement. Mary had valid reasons to want to be autonomous and find her way in a pre-feminist time, but it takes two to tango. Fred was not the perfect husband, nor Mary the perfect wife. If you believe life is a big fairy tale…you will live unhappily ever after no matter what path you take because life happens.

West & Grant in "I'm no Angel." 1933

When I was a little kid I remember watching a movie on the late, late show in New York City. In this movie was a blond, pretty buxom woman, she had a raspy and sultry voice. The kind of voice that sounded beckoning, lulling, yet tough. This woman was getting up close and personal to a very nice looking young man. The closer she got, the more jumpy the young man got; he was putty in her hands   I remember thinking, “How does she do that?” The woman on that TV screen was beautiful Mae West, with her handsome co-star Cary Grant.

When I see Mae West today, I can’t help thinking how ahead of her day she was. She was bold, and had fun being so. It’s 1920’s New York City and Mae West is starring in a play called “Sex.” In this play she plays a tough prostitute who takes no crap from her Johns, or her pimp. There are guns, liquor, and sex, just about anything that is illicit at the time was in this play. On one of her performances, Mae had to face real life and real cops. An agreement was made that she can conclude the play on this night, but after the play, she would be arrested. She concluded her last scene, and quickly ran to her dressing room, removed her heavy make-up, put on her knee length fur coat, black cloche hat and headed out to court. She had to look her best for court. As she stepped outside many people waited to see the real show—see Mae West leave the playhouse and step into a taxi. Mae West was being charged with “unlawfully preparing, advertising, giving, presenting, and participating in an obscene, immoral and impure drama, play, exhibition, show and entertainment.” This charge carried a penalty of one year in jail. This night Mae pleads not guilty, and demands a trial by jury. She posted bail and walked out.

"When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better."

Mae and the Bad Boy Syndrome

This was in 1927, and Mae was 33 which is “old” for a song and dance girl, but Mae not only had sex appeal, she had brains. She’d use this to her advantage. She figured that scandal would make her a star. Mae was right. Let’s just say she paved the way for many stars after her, who understood that sex, controversy and a juicy tabloid story can take a down and out, struggling, actor and make them a star. In fact, Mae said in her biography, “Censorship made me.”

Mae liked action, the more dangerous the city, the more she’d want to visit it; the tighter the dress, the better.  She said in her biography she liked…”lipstick, jazz, sex in taxis, intrigue, gun-toting bootleggers, boxers lathered in sweat and cops who read her the riot act.” Let’s just say she courted danger. Born in Brooklyn in 1893 to a prize fighter father, and corset model mother, Mae was in the spotlight at the tender age of 5. Once she experienced it, there was no turning back. Eighty years later she told an interviewer, “I ached for the spotlight, which was like the strongest man’s arm around me, like an ermine coat.” As a teenager she did vaudeville, singing and dancing, and displayed a natural talent for comedy.

She learned early on that she liked dabbling in the forbidden and extreme. She liked hanging around black juke joints, listening to sultry blues, and learning the dance of the day called “the Shimmy.” In 1918 she did the Shimmy when performing in a revue in Broadway, and she rocked the world. After her shimmy she’d give a speech, and no doubt a funny speech at that. Mae was in the habit of writing her own lines, changing lines, to suit her persona, the persona of a sexy, sassy, wisecracking, Brooklyn girl who loved men, but spurned marriage. And that persona was not too far-fetched. She did marry at 17, but soon realized, marriage was not for her. She preferred the attention of many men, than just the one. Mae loved body building men, boxers, dangerous men like gangsters, bootleggers, or the “bad boy”.” Mae refused to conform to “old fashioned limits.” She said in her 1959 memoir, “I saw no indecency or perversion in the normal private habits of men and women.”

Well, back to her play, “Sex.” It was Mae who changed the title of the play to “Sex.” She said of her theory of playwriting, “you’ve got to hit them in eye with it.”  The original version of the play was tamed; Mae added brothels, bribery, blackmail, crooked cops, jewel theft, suicide, and lots of sex.  One of her boyfriends produced the play in 1926, with some backing from Mae’s other lover, Owney Madden, a bootlegger who owned the famous Cotton Club. They rented out Daly’s theatre and “Sex” opened on April 26, 1926, and producers hoped that the scandalous play would bring in the crowd and money.

The play received mixed reviews. The New York Times, called it “crude,” the Daily Mirror called it “monstrosity.”  Others called it “dreary,” & “poorly written, poorly acted, horribly staged…the cheapest, most vulgar low show to have dared to open in New York this year.” Yet a review from Variety, said that Mae played a prostitute well enough to “fool a traveling salesman’s convention.” Despite the mixed reviews, the play packed the house and became a hit. Controversy worked. The show went on from 1926-1927 making both Mae and her backers plenty of dough. But that was short lived. Soon a bunch of citizen groups, newspapers, condemned the show and demanded the show be terminated. The show was raided and the producer arrested. The producer managed to obtain an injunction which allowed the show to go on until the case was settled. The arrests, Mae West’s court appearances, gave the play more publicity and the crowds came by the hundreds to fill the playhouse. It was said that the stories that played out in court regarding this case were a lot more hilarious than the play. I can only imagine.

Mae Goes to Jail

Mae on her way to court, notice the attention

In the end the jury found West, the producer, co-producer, and some members of the cast guilty. The judge called the play “obscene and immoral” and said he wanted to make an example of this case to the rest of the country, and prove that New York City was “the most moral city in the universe.”  Ah, NYC most moral? My we’ve come a long way since then… The defendants were sentenced to 10 days in jail, except the cast members. With that said, “she (Mae) nonchalantly rouged her lips as she rose to leave, and swaggered across the courtroom,” the Daily News noted.  The papers had a party with Mae in prison. Much like today, the media just loves a juicy story to play up. There were “horror” stories about her underwear and ugly stockings in prison. The media seriously has to get a life… Mae emerged from her prison time nine days later unscathed and held a press conference. She said that her time in prison was a learning experience, that the conversations she had with other inmates gave her enough material for 2-3 more plays! LOL

This all played out just as Mae planned, the scandal catapulted her to stardom. A year after this scandal she wrote and starred in other controversial plays, one called “The Drag,” a play about gay men in the theater world, a taboo at the time. Finally in 1932 a lover by the name of George Raft, and we all know him, lured her to Hollywood to co-star with him in her first movie, “Night after Night.” In 1933 Mae West was the highest paid woman in America, and a 40-year-old sex symbol.

Mae died at the age of 87 in 1980. By this time she saw the change in American cinema, no more censorship to fight. And maybe, just maybe, she felt she had a little something to do with that. After all, it was Mae who felt a woman could not only speak freely about sex, but joke about it as well. It was Mae who pioneered the art of using sex and scandal to advance her career. Can’t say that I agree with it all, but I got to say, the woman had guts, and was a woman way, way, ahead of her day. And yes, censorship made her and she proved the axiom that sex certainly does sell.

Trigger & Temple

I love pre-code movies for many reasons, but I think I’ve seen the best one on record this week. Watching “The Story of Temple Drake,” was the best 70 minutes I’ve ever spent.  I’ve heard all the talk about the movie and was so happy that Turner Classic Movies premiered it this week. The movie based on William Falkner’s controversial book, “Sanctuary,” was a sensation when it was first featured, and I think it is still a sensation. I have heard it said that it was this movie which introduced the Hays Code.

This gem was withdrawn by Paramount shortly after its release, which I find a little strange because although Temple was all things “sinful,” in the end she redeems herself by doing the right thing. After this movie most pre-codes were a lot more tamed. But let’s get down to the story.

Temple Drake (Miriam Hopkins) is a southern belle with all the trimmings, but is known around the small town as the town slut. But all the men know that she’s just a tease. She “fires a man up….& poof…” as one of her suitors put it. It’s a dangerous game, but Temple is having a party with it. There is one suitor, a lawyer, Stephen Benbow, (William Gargan) who thinks seriously of Temple and wants to marry her. But when he asks her to marry him, she relents; the fast and loose girl act is just too good to give up. Temple tells him, “I’m no good,” “it’s just something inside me…” Temple’s spirit is willing, but her flesh is winning the battle. She hates her “Hyde” side, but at the same time, she can’t help giving into her dark side. The battle of the ages.

Temple Drake in the barn

Temple has always gotten her way, and gotten out of trouble with no trouble at all, after all her grandfather is a judge. An old judge who can’t see past “his spectacles…” as his black maid put it. The maid goes on to say, as she irons Temple’s underwear, “If he (the judge) did her laundry, he’d know all about her (Temple).” It’s a funny scene. At a party one night, Stephen is putting the cards on the table, but Temple wants out. She just had to run from all that is good in a man, and his good intentions. She grabs one of her many suitors, who is so stoned, he can’t see straight, and goes in search of more liquor. They both get in a car and drive at high speeds and the car crashes. Little did Temple know that her life was coming to a crash as well.

Temple Drake & Ruby

When Temple and her drunken suitor come to, they realize they are in the backwoods of the town. A menacing figure comes out of the woods, aptly named Trigger, played by gorgeous Jack LaRue. Trigger has a friend along with him, a backwoods, half-wit young man, who is ridiculously drunk and is there at Trigger’s beck & call. Temple is alarmed, but knows she has the power to make even these dark characters do as she says. She quickly pulls out her “my grandfather is a judge,” card. Only in this case, it doesn’t work. Turns out Temple and her friend have found liquor alright, they are now face to face with harden bootleggers, and one, Trigger, is going to be sure he gets his way. He will destroy Temple forever. Temple’s games with “boys” end when she confronts “men” who don’t play that game.

The lighting, settings, atmosphere, & cinematography in this film allow the tension to build and we are well aware that something dangerous and dark awaits Temple. In the scene when she is fearfully approaching the bootlegger’s old southern mansion, there is lightening and rain, and a heavy wind that howls as if warning Temple of the horror she is to face. As the camera moved around the characters in the house, dressed in rags, drinking in excess and in a stupor, & a crying baby in a draw to keep the rats from biting him, reminded me of current day crack dens. It was gloomy and one can only imagine what the genteel Temple was thinking.  It was a world so far removed from her safe world. The evoking close-up shots of the characters will send chills down your spine.

Miriam Hopkins as the tease, turned terrorized & catatonic victim is electrifying! Jack La Rue as the stop-at-nothing predator is flawless! I have to wonder how this beautiful man with such talent didn’t land more roles. This pre-code gem is the motherload of  Pre-code films. It’s not tamed like those pre-codes that followed when the Hays Code was enforced. In this film you see drinking in excess, promiscuity, misogyny, & violence, and let’s not forget the skin, enough to shock the pants out of a depression era audience. If you haven’t seen this one, you must. It’s hard to find a copy of this gem. TCM just premiered it, and I hear it’s all around the Internet. This film will stay with you for a long, long time.

Joey in Coney Island

My memories of growing up in New York City are wonderful and I will never forget it. One event I remember quite clearly is our yearly trips to Coney Island. I can still see the fat laughing lady, the tarot card woman who told you all the ominous things looming in your life, and I can clearly see the exquisitely designed horses on the big carousel. I can see my dad propping up this little skinny kid on top of the big horse and holding me as it turned round and round. My dad just laughed and laughed as I basked in that glorious moment.  I remember the guy waiting by the subway selling all kinds of cheap toys to the kids heading back home. My favorite toy?  The puppet monkey that played the drums! You’d think I won the lottery when my dad bought me one after a long day of rides, hot dogs & cotton candy. When I watched “The Little Fugitive,” 1951 this past week, it all came back to me.  I remember growing up in New York City and what we kids did in the streets, stick ball, basketball, Johnny on the Pony, and we even made up our own games. It was living; we were all urchins oblivious of the hardships of our adult neighbors. We were just kids, and going to Coney Island was an event, an event you’d never forget.

“The Little Fugitive,” done in almost documentary style is a touching, and funny movie.  The storyline is of a little boy named Joey played by (Richie Andrusco) who runs away to Coney Island after thinking he’s accidently killed his older brother Lennie (Richard Brewster).  Joey & Lennie’s mom is a widow trying to make it in a post war New York City.  You can tell she was a multi-tasking mom and because of this, she has Lennie, who appears to be about 12  take care of his 5- year- old brother.  When I think about that, I say “Wow.” Sorry, but 12-year-old boys like this are few and far between today.  It’s Lennie’s birthday and he plans to hang with his buddies in Coney Island, mom however, has to leave town to see a sick relative. Imagine a 12-year-old is left home alone to care for his little brother for a couple of days.  Joey has totally screwed up everything for Lennie. Lennie is pissed, but has no choice. He has to tag along with Joey.  Lennie & his posse decide to play a horrible trick on poor little Joey.  Joey is fascinated with cowboys, in fact, he wants to grow up and be one.  The posse knows this, they take little Joey to what looks like some abandoned lot. You can see the surrounding tall buildings as if standing tall and scolding the posse as they plotted the cruel game.  They give Joey a rifle and teach him how to shoot. They make him take aim at his brother and shoot. His brother falls and pretends to have been really shot, ketch-up splatters and all. This is such a sad scene. Joey really thinks he killed his brother, and the posse tells him to run before the cops catch him. “You’ll fry,” one yells out.  What happens next is magic, just magic for little Joey.

Joey the Cowboy

It’s too bad kids today wouldn’t give this movie the time of day.  It’s a shame because many would see themselves more so in the character of Joey and Lennie than they do in the trash heap of kid movies today.  The best thing for me about this movie is the realness of the people, and places. The camera shots of the beach in Coney Island are unforgettable and real. The sights and sounds of Coney Island are so real that you can smell the salted air, & taste the Nathan Hot dogs. Joey’s subway ride reminded me of my rides on the subway when I was wee thing.  I loved the scene when Joey is eating his yummy hot dog on the beach. He was in heaven, and the camera captured Joey’s hot dog eating ecstasy.  This is more than a film; it’s a time capsule of a bygone era. It was an era when kids took on heavy duty responsibilities and did what they had to do for the greater good of the family. A time when kids played outside to let out some steam and were just kids; a time when our neighbors watched out for kids and reprimanded the kids when needed.  A time when yes, there was danger all around, but for the most part, kids didn’t fear abduction or worse.  A forgotten time, caught on film and never to be seen again, I’m afraid. You can catch this gem on Netflix streaming.

My husband just can’t figure me out, each and every time he wants to watch a movie on our large screen TV,  I choose to stay upstairs in our bedroom with my 32’ inch TV to watch “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” or “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.” Ok, so why do I do this? I am totally fascinated with how Hitchcock can take a half hour or hour show and keep an audience captive.  These anthology shows were, as I put it, wonderfully done! The shows deal with the dark side of humans. You know, the little bad guy in the red suit in your head, having the battle with the angel on your shoulder.  Infidelity, jealously, greed, & murder, it doesn’t get better than that. I guess I love these the most because this is how I was introduced to Hitch. I remember as a little girl seeing the reruns of this show. Everything would stop at our house because Hitch was on.

Ok so why am I such a fanatic about Hitch’s anthology series, firstly, they have intelligent plots, witty dialogue and a mouthful of murder. I once heard that Hitch himself was quite interested in the criminal mind. In fact, he based a lot of his movies on real life cases, such as “The Lodger,” (1926) loosely based on Jack the Ripper.  Another notorious English murder case he closely followed was the Hawley Harvey Crippen case in the early 1900’s. This was a case of a mild mannered doctor who was accused of murdering his wife, and buried her remains in the coal cellar. He then fled London to America with his lover. The lovers were then caught, and the new technology of wireless telegraphy was credited for their capture.  Many plots in “….Presents,” are precisely about this. I’ve seen at least 3 episodes of a husband burying his wife in some dark, clammy cellar. Was Hitch implying that murder begins at home? Humm…

The little fat master of suspense, with the British accent, himself introduces the weekly macabre stories, which 99% of the times, some type of murder occurs. I gotta tell ya, I am surprised at times at the grizzly detail on some of the stories, not so much for us today, but way ahead of its day. This wasn’t your typical TV show in the 1950’s. The best part for me is the guest stars. He had top-notch actors, like Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn, Rip Torn, Vic Morrow, and many more. The writers and directors for the series were also top-notch.  Hitch directed a few of the episodes himself.  Hitch took these shows to a whole new level with his funny and at times somber introductions. He uses props to illustrate the story, cracks jokes, and makes sure he takes breaks for his sponsors.  Here we get a glimpse of what it was to watch TV in the 1950’s.

1950’s TV land for all intents and purposes was quite boring. Not to say that shows like “I Love Lucy,” “Gun Smoke,” & “The Honeymooners,” weren’t good or had their funny & interesting moments. But these shows were quite predictable and unadventurous. Along comes this unconventional little fat guy with a British accent and changes conventional TV. Where most shows of the day had to have the guilty pay for their sin on screen at the end, Hitch didn’t. We see a lot of shows end with the culprit getting away with it. Later of course, Hitch informs us differently. Which is one of the things my husband does not like about the show. But in 1950’s TV land no crime could go unpunished, so Hitch assures the audience at the end, that the criminal got theirs. They were caught and sent to “the joint,” this done of course, to keep the censors at bay. Quite a clever way of doing it.

Hitch with one of his props for the show....

A couple of the shows dealt with social issues which still resonate today, one on child abuse, another on alcoholism. And on both these shows Hitch ends with a somber message and hoping that show helped someone. I have a few favorite shows from the series, like any other series, some episodes were better than others, but only rarely does one really disappoint.

I guess I consider myself an anthology fanatic in general. But Alfred Hitchcock Presents is my favorite, and the best, next to The Twilight Zone, in my humble opinion. The sets and sounds on the show make you feel like you are riding a time travel machine and looking out at a bygone era. And this fashion slave cannot get over the 1950’s fashion in the show, beyond beautiful and feminine! Even today in our hi-tech, supercharged, uncensored era, this series continues to entertain young and old alike. That says something about Hitch. Although the shows were not produced by Hitchcock, it mirrored his movie making personality. Evidently the Hitchcock brand carried weight and the producers made sure every episode reflected that.

I for one am glad this little fat dude with a British accent did something that many heavy-weights of his day didn’t dare do. He risked his reputation and stepped into our living rooms each week with dark, jaw-dropping stories. Many I’m sure, of his nose-in-air peers, sneered, but who is having the last laugh now? Hitch we proved them wrong! Your shows are still awesome, entertaining, and we are so glad you took the chance!

You can order seasons 1-4 on Amazon Hulu streams them for free, and one season is being streamed on Netflix.

Ann Todd, & Ray Milland as Olivia & Mark

I managed to see a sleeper a few days ago, “So Evil My Love,” (1948); it was one of those rare times I was actually able to sit down and watch a movie without interruptions. So glad I got to see this one, it’s available on DVD, but Amazon just has two available as of this writing. It’s a story of a missionary widow (Ann Todd) who falls for a con-man (Ray Milland) who turns the pious woman into a cold blooded murderer.  The story opens with the missionary, Olivia Harwood on a ship one stormy night headed to England. Olivia had been serving in the West Indies along with her husband who passed away while serving.  Aboard the ship are a few suffering from Malaria and Olivia is recruited to help with the infirmed in the lower deck. It is there she meets the suave and handsome Mark Ellis (Milland). Mark isn’t very open about his past, vague in fact, but that does not stop Olivia from becoming friendly with him. He manages to persuade her to let him live in a lodging home she inherited from her husband.  Mark is a worldly man, he’s been around, and done some things. His criminal past has taught him many things. He sees Olivia as easy prey.  She’s simple, plain, shy, & in much need of a man’s love and he knows just what to do to seduce her. He uses his charm, tells her all the pretty things she needs to hear and finally has her under his spell.  But the cad does not stop at that, he also uses his charm on the worldlier, and well, trashy Kitty (Moira Lister). But Olivia thinks Mark just loves her and no one else. Why are some women so damn gullible?

Mark gets in touch with a partner in crime and they plan a daring art heist. The heist fails, and Mark narrowly escapes death. You kinda wish he hadn’t  :/ .  Desperate, he plans to leave London in search of money.  But Olivia will not have it and is willing to keep her man no matter what. At this moment you see Olivia compromising all for the sake of a man. She decides to eat humble pie and borrow money from a wealthy friend she had not seen for a long time. She gets in touch with her wealthy friend, Susan (Geraldine Fitzgerald) who is now having problems in her marriage, & is on a verge of mental breakdown. Susan had at one time, in confidence, written some letters to Olivia containing descriptions of her romantic dalliances and questionable moral conduct. Unfortunately for Susan, Olivia kept those letters, and Mark will use them to blackmail her.  At first Olivia is sickened about the plan of blackmailing her one friend. But when threatened with abandonment, she acquiesces. It is here we see the “Jekyll & Hyde,” effect. The wholesome, pious woman becomes dark, calculating, and cold…and all for a man.

Olivia in the "Jekyll & Hyde" effect

Olivia sets the blackmail wheels in motion in Susan’s home. With each passing victory, she becomes “confident,” and feels powerful for the first time in her life. She tells Mark how exciting it all felt to have power over others. She enjoyed every moment of it. No remorse, regret, or turning back. But what she does not know is that Susan’s husband, Henry, (Raymond Huntley) is many steps ahead of her game.  Mark is glad that Olivia has become like she has, the plan is better than he thought. Olivia eventually realizes that Mark is not who he says he is, and she means nothing to him; she is however, Mark’s useful idiot. Mark will pay the ultimate price and will learn that he taught his student well…too well.

I loved this movie! The film set in the Victorian era and shot in film noir style is a thriller, and has a jaw dropping ending that will stay with you for a good while. The story loosely based on a true story, is dark and captivating. Ann Todd as the missionary turned blackmailer, and murderer is convincing, and spine tingling! Watching Milland play a cad, stop-at-nothing, greedy, wannabe artist, & thief was a little hard for me. I’ve seen Milland play more romantic type roles, but he was able to turn that switch off for a while in this role and very effectively.  Fitzgerald as the frail, deer-in-headlights, stifled wife was a typical role for Fitzgerald. She captured the tortured life of a woman who turned to alcohol to drown out her “poor, little rich girl” existence. A must see!