For your possible interest I’d like to begin with one minor (but seriously annoying) medical complaint. My stomach has been bothering me for the last couple of days as evidenced by the following symptoms: 1) a shitty appetite; 2) I can’t get excited about eating anything; 3) the texture of food freaks me out while I’m chewing it; 4) I get full right away; and 5) I’m having some deranged food cravings.*
Let’s take a brief stroll down memory lane, shall we? I was enjoying some therapeutic Googling yesterday when I ran across an old photo of Chicago from the 1950s that shows Paulson’s Coffee House on Wabash Avenue downtown … the same restaurant where mom and I would eat lunch whenever we went shopping at Marshall Field’s. I was a very little girl at the time, maybe three or four years old, but it’s easy to remember my favorite lunch because my clearest memories are always about FOOD. At Paulson’s it was a “francheezie” with fries and a fountain Green River!
Let me throw you a couple of definitions in case you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about. A “francheezie” is a grilled jumbo hot dog wrapped in bacon and American cheese, and a “fountain Green River” is made with Green River (lime) syrup and seltzer. (For the following photo I had to substitute Green River in a bottle.) Oy, it just doesn’t get much better than this.
I also have a pair of fascinating scripts for you … “Texas Hero,” based on the penmanship of Thomas Jefferson Rusk, an early Texas patriot who died at the Alamo, and “Douglass Pen,” based on the handwriting of 19th century statesman and orator Frederick Douglass. Douglass’ font is modeled after his penmanship for a speech about John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry in 1859. I love historical fonts!
There’s really no other news to report except for a quick look ahead at the rest of my week. Tomorrow (Thursday) I already know for sure that I want braunschweiger for breakfast. On Friday I’ve got a visit from my hospice medical team for a brief checkup plus bathing and hygiene activities. I also want a nice shampoo.
On Saturday we’re expecting Sam’s brother and sister-in-law — Steve and Therese — for lunch, so we’ll bring in a large volume of food from Dickey’s Barbecue shortly before they get here. Dickey’s “XL Family Pack” includes three meats (one pound of each), four sides and a bunch of accoutrements. Here’s what we picked:
- THREE MEATS: smoked brisket, smoked turkey, smoked sausage
- FOUR SIDES: potato casserole, creamed spinach, jalapeño beans, cabbage slaw
- ESSENTIAL ACCOUTREMENTS: Texas toast, barbecue sauce, pickles, raw onions
I hope my appetite will bounce back by Saturday since I haven’t eaten genuine Texas barbecue for an awfully long time and don’t want to miss my big chance. Just between us, though, I think the best part of Dickey’s food is their SAUCE!
THURSDAY 6/20
Deep in My Heart (1954) with José Ferrer
The Great Escape (1963) with James Garner
FRIDAY 6/21
The Guns of Navarone (1961) with David Niven and Gregory Peck
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1958) with Mickey Rooney
Sabrina (1954) with Audrey Hepburn, William Holden and Humphrey Bogart
SATURDAY 6/22
The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) with Jack Benny and Alexis Smith
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) with Al Pacino
SUNDAY 6/23
Strange Interlude (1932) with Norma Shearer and Clark Gable
Dark Victory (1939) with George Brent and Bette Davis
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy
Girl Crazy (1943) starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland
I decided to include photos (above) from Strange Interlude and Deep in My Heart. A review of Strange Interlude follows.
STRANGE INTERLUDE ★★
This is one of the most irritating movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a shortened film version of Eugene O’Neill’s melodramatic stage play about a woman (Nina Leeds, played by Norma Shearer) whose fiancé dies in World War I, thus allowing her many, many opportunities to whine and slobber “Gordon, Gordon! I’LL NEVER SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!” in every goddamn scene until you want to stab yourself in the eye with a fork.
O’Neill used an “experimental” stage play format where you get to hear the characters’ thoughts via voiceover in addition to normal dialogue. On film, though, the voiceover bullshit is really ridiculous … especially since the Marx Brothers had already lampooned it in their 1930 movie Animal Crackers.
But let’s get back to my review. When the Great War ends Nina is depressed and heartbroken. She’s slobbering about Gordon, she’s being pursued by a creepy older neighbor named Charlie Marsden (played by Ralph Morgan), and she uncovers some serious “trust issues” with her father (played by Henry B. Walthall), who has an incestuous, possessive attraction to her. He even refused to let her marry Gordon before he went overseas because he didn’t want another man in her life. Oy.
So Nina wants to do something healthy for herself, finally, and decides to get the hell away from dad and Charlie. She leaves home to become a nurse and care for wounded soldiers at a hospital near Boston. It’s a noble idea, but instead Nina winds up jumping into the sack with every man in a uniform, eventually marrying Sam Evans (played by Alexander Kirkland), a cheerful oaf with lots of money. After the wedding Sam’s mother (May Robson) tells Nina there’s insanity in the family and she must never get pregnant. Unfortunately, Sam wants a son but doesn’t know the family’s secret, so Nina and mom conspire to bring in a “hired gun,” so-to-speak. Enter Dr. Ned Darrell (Clark Gable), a physician who Nina met when she worked as a nurse. They have an affair, Nina gets knocked-up, she has the son Sam always wanted … and she even names him “Gordon” because maybe he’ll replace the dead fiancé she never married. Blecch.
Strange Interlude covers a 20-year time span. Little Gordon — Nina and Ned’s “love child” — grows up to be Robert Young. He leaves home to go to college at Oxford, becomes a rowing champion and marries a cute little English girl (Madeline, played by Maureen O’Sullivan). Clark Gable, of course, spends the entire movie wanting to tell Nina’s son that he’s his real father, but Nina won’t let him do it … even after Sam has a massive stroke and dies immediately after Gordon’s final race. (The whole family traveled to England for the big rowing hoo-hah.)
The final scene is absolutely hilarious, with Gordon and Madeline flying off on their honeymoon in a little airplane, and Nina and Ned on the tarmac at the airport waving handkerchiefs over their heads. They’re both covered in “old age” makeup now, even though they shouldn’t be more than 45 or 50 years old in the story. (Clark Gable looks like an 80-year-old geezer.) Norma Shearer is schmalzing up the screen with her arsenal of silent movie facial expressions and Clark Gable is yelling, “Goodbye Gordon! You’re my son, too! I love you, Gordon! You’re my son, too!” (Jesus.) As the plane disappears into the distant sky, Ned asks Nina to marry him … and she says “FUCK NO” (or something similar) because she’s sick of all the drama. The irony is incredible. Ned leaves. And as the movie ends we see Nina curled up on Charlie’s lap. He looks at the camera and his final voiceover says, “She’s mine at last. Good old Charlie.”
This is one of the most irritating movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a shortened film version of Eugene O’Neill’s melodramatic stage play about a woman (Nina Leeds, played by Norma Shearer) whose fiancé dies in World War I, thus allowing her many, many opportunities to whine and slobber “Gordon, Gordon! I’LL NEVER SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!” in every goddamn scene until you want to stab yourself in the eye with a fork.
O’Neill used an “experimental” stage play format where you get to hear the characters’ thoughts via voiceover in addition to normal dialogue. On film, though, the voiceover bullshit is really ridiculous … especially since the Marx Brothers had already lampooned it in their 1930 movie Animal Crackers.
But let’s get back to my review. When the Great War ends Nina is depressed and heartbroken. She’s slobbering about Gordon, she’s being pursued by a creepy older neighbor named Charlie Marsden (played by Ralph Morgan), and she uncovers some serious “trust issues” with her father (played by Henry B. Walthall), who has an incestuous, possessive attraction to her. He even refused to let her marry Gordon before he went overseas because he didn’t want another man in her life. Oy.
So Nina wants to do something healthy for herself, finally, and decides to get the hell away from dad and Charlie. She leaves home to become a nurse and care for wounded soldiers at a hospital near Boston. It’s a noble idea, but instead Nina winds up jumping into the sack with every man in a uniform, eventually marrying Sam Evans (played by Alexander Kirkland), a cheerful oaf with lots of money. After the wedding Sam’s mother (May Robson) tells Nina there’s insanity in the family and she must never get pregnant. Unfortunately, Sam wants a son but doesn’t know the family’s secret, so Nina and mom conspire to bring in a “hired gun,” so-to-speak. Enter Dr. Ned Darrell (Clark Gable), a physician who Nina met when she worked as a nurse. They have an affair, Nina gets knocked-up, she has the son Sam always wanted … and she even names him “Gordon” because maybe he’ll replace the dead fiancé she never married. Blecch.
Strange Interlude covers a 20-year time span. Little Gordon — Nina and Ned’s “love child” — grows up to be Robert Young. He leaves home to go to college at Oxford, becomes a rowing champion and marries a cute little English girl (Madeline, played by Maureen O’Sullivan). Clark Gable, of course, spends the entire movie wanting to tell Nina’s son that he’s his real father, but Nina won’t let him do it … even after Sam has a massive stroke and dies immediately after Gordon’s final race. (The whole family traveled to England for the big rowing hoo-hah.)
The final scene is absolutely hilarious, with Gordon and Madeline flying off on their honeymoon in a little airplane, and Nina and Ned on the tarmac at the airport waving handkerchiefs over their heads. They’re both covered in “old age” makeup now, even though they shouldn’t be more than 45 or 50 years old in the story. (Clark Gable looks like an 80-year-old geezer.) Norma Shearer is schmalzing up the screen with her arsenal of silent movie facial expressions and Clark Gable is yelling, “Goodbye Gordon! You’re my son, too! I love you, Gordon! You’re my son, too!” (Jesus.) As the plane disappears into the distant sky, Ned asks Nina to marry him … and she says “FUCK NO” (or something similar) because she’s sick of all the drama. The irony is incredible. Ned leaves. And as the movie ends we see Nina curled up on Charlie’s lap. He looks at the camera and his final voiceover says, “She’s mine at last. Good old Charlie.”
I apologize for rambling. Maybe I’ll just watch TV for a while and ask Sam to bring me some pimiento cheese (very popular here in Texas) and a few Ritz crackers. Thank you for reading this.
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