Movies of the Week... All That Heaven Allows and Magnificent Obsession

Can't you just feel the heat?
Well, me neither...

I am  the first to admit that Jane Wyman is about as far away from a sex symbol as one can get.  In her earlier pictures, those that I've seen, anyway, she was nothing short of "cute as a button".  Later on she was perfectly cast as Aunt Polly in Pollyanna and Angela Channing in Falcon Crest.  It's hard to get those two images out of one's mind.  Having said that, I'm a great fan of two of her best-known melodramas, both co-starring Rock Hudson, All That Heaven Allows and Magnificent Obsession. 
All That Heaven Allows, as well as Magnificent Obsession, are two of the many weepies made in the 1950's employing Technicolor, expert art direction and marvelous music to underscore their overwrought plotlines.  Think Peyton Place... think A Summer Place... or even better, think Imitation of Life.  Several of these films, and additionally such hits as Pillow Talk, The Thrill of it All and Midnight Lace, are produced by Ross Hunter, creator of many of the most stylish Technicolor hits of the mid-fifties and early sixties.  Watching these movies is a feast for the eyes and will make anyone who loves the mid-century style want to redecorate the whole house.  It will also make one wonder why we ever stopped dressing, decorating or living with such style and panache.

Even though it seems hard to think of Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson as a viable couple, you'll be surprised at how believable they are by the end of the films.  Believe it or not, there a real themes to these pictures as well.  All That Heaven Allows reminds us that to be really happy, we must be true to ourselves.  Success isn't defined by money or position, it's defined by the way we live our lives - with integrity and honesty.  There are even Henry David Thoreau quotations to underscore this, "To thine own self be true..." subtext.  Magnificent Obsession is about just that - the "magnificent obsession" of helping others, but doing so in a way that ensures that the recipient will never learn the identity of their benefactor.  In other words, doing good for the sake of doing good, not to garner notoriety and applause.  A sort of modern day version of Henry Van Dyke's The Mansion.  Of course, these messages are terribly simplistic, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little less complicated in our motivations.

The love birds are at it again in
Magnificent Obsession...

In Magnificent Obsession, Jane Wyman plays the widow of a much-loved doctor who dies suddenly because the one piece of equipment that will save his selfless life is being used to resuscitate Rock Hudson - a thoughtless and self-centered playboy who crashes his boat after criminally speeding it across the lake.  Of course, Jane and Rock meet quite by chance, fall in love, are torn apart by the truth and come back together for a grand ending.  Along the way, Jane goes blind and Rock goes to medical school in an effort to learn how to give her her life, and her site, back. 

Agnes Morehead is by Jane's side
in both films!  Generally remembered as Endora
from Bewitched, Agnes was a talented
and reliable addition to countless classics.
You'll love to hate her in Dark Passage!

All That Heaven Allows is a little different...  Jane is a widow...  Really, it is different, hold on...  and Rock is her arborist.  He's a man who knows what he wants and what he wants is to raise trees, with Jane by his side, in a fabulously converted mill in some unknown New England town.  Jane's two grown children are awful.  They demand that Jane give up Rock, tell her she can't possibly sell the house and by her a TV to replace the companionship that she sought from Hudson.  The TV proves cold comfort when her son and daughter both decide that they have lives elsewhere and, in a complete turnabout, tell her it's time to sell the house and get on with life.  Returning to Rock, it's not Jane who cheats death, it's Rock, and Jane's by his side all the way.  Another bonus in All That Heaven Allows is the presence of Endora herself - Agnes Morehead.  Seeing her flaming red hair and extraordinary features makes you realize that some people, Lucille Ball is another, were made for Technicolor!

"Merry Christmas, Mom!  Forget Rock Hudson, now
you have a TV!"

The stories and casting of the two films may be unlikely, but it doesn't matter...  Even without the script there's more than enough to make the two hours time well-spent.  By the end, you really will believe that Jane and Rock will live happily ever after...  Enjoy these trailers!

Grey, Gray and Greige... Dapper By Any Name



Dior Gray

 Gray is a favorite color of ours.  In fact, after more than a decade of sleeping in a peony pink bedroom, we've decided to cool it down.  I am not a painter.  Not of rooms, anyway.  I do not have the patience and I curl up into the fetal position at the thought of tackling a whole room.  The results of my painting aren't all that successful, either.  In an attempt to get through the painful process as quickly as possible, I tend to slap the paint on, generally making a mess of the trim, the floor and myself.  It's not pretty.

Melissa, on the other hand, enjoys the whole process.  She tapes, she spackles, she removes curtains, furniture and outlet covers.  She paints one wall each day, making sure that she never gets too bored or too overwhelmed by the size of the project.  She takes her time, is thorough and the result is lovely.  This is one of the many things that make our marriage work...  Where I fail, she achieves and, generally, vice versa (I have to be careful here...  I've just implied that she might fail in some area...  Not the message I am trying to send...  Really...  She's perfect.)

The fabulous Indiscreet set.

Couldn't find a good photo from Susan Slept Here, but in looking
I remembered that Desk Set is another great "gray" movie!  All the
color of the holiday and the actor's costumes really pops against
the steely, neutral background.

Back to the point of this piece...  gray.  Gray is the perfect background for virtually any color.  Take a look at any Technicolor film of the 40's and 50's and you'll notice that, nine times out of ten, the walls of those lavishly decorated rooms are some shade of gray.  Ingrid Bergman's fabulous apartment in Indiscreet?  Gray.  Dick Powell's festive Hollywood apartment in Susan Slept Here?  You got it...  Gray!  And Lucy Ricardo's cozy New York apartment?  Well, that doesn't really count, does it?

Grays can be warm or cool.  They can be stark or comforting.  Always, they are serene, simple and easy to work with.  Our bathroom is a lovely, light and airy Platinum.  Our bedroom is about to be a darker, more sophisticated Dior gray.  It's the sort of color you'd expect to see in a smart suit, whether for a man or a woman.  It's perfect with crisp, white, glossy trim, and gives the room a certain dressed up look.

Next time you are considering a new neutral for your house, eschew the taupes and tans, the creams and whites...  Be a little bolder and let yourself go gray!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day and this means that thousands upon thousands of pots of Corned Beef, with or without cabbage, are bubbling away on stoves across America.  I know that my house is filled with the spicy smell of our pseudo-Irish dinner.  And for dessert?  Shamrock shaped cookies from the 1963 Betty Crocker Cooky Book and chocolate-chip mint ice cream.  Irish?  Decidedly not, but certainly green enough to please to pickiest leprechaun.

St. Patrick's Day is a unique holiday; one in which we celebrate a specific and unique culture.  I can think of no other day in the American calendar when we focus so intently on one of the many nationalities that make up our melting pot of a country.  If you ask me, that's a shame.  Imagine if we put as much emphasis on days that represented the wonderful cultural heritage of the many other groups that have helped to make this such a  vibrant and diverse nation.  It would be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our differences while unifying us in the common joy of discovering and honoring other traditions.  If you ask me, diversity is, at the very least, dapper and dreamy.

Despite the lofty ideals listed above, let's not forget that St. Patrick's Day has more than its fair share of traditions in no way related to Ireland.  My children will be excited to have their milk or limeade dyed a vibrant green, and millions are draining tall glasses of emerald-tinted beer with shamrock designs in the foam.  And then there are the displays of Kelly green and white felt hats (a la the Cat in the Hat), long ropes of shiny, green plastic bead and shamrock necklaces and endless shirts, aprons, ties, buttons and baseball caps begging one to, "Kiss Me, I'm Irish".  America really knows how to celebrate a saint!

St. Patrick's Day is also a time to reflect on some favorite Irish songs and Ireland-based movies.  There's Danny Boy, Tu Ra Lu Ra Lu Ra, Sweet Rosie O'Grady and, of course, When Irish Eyes are Smiling to sing and listen to.  Few people know, and perhaps fewer can imagine that, among his family, President Kennedy was known to sing these quintessential Irish songs at family gatherings.

For dapper and dreamy Irish films there's The Quiet Man, or any other film that shows off the fiery hair, and spirit, of the lovely Maureen O'Hara.  As a little aside, O'Hara's autobiography 'Tis Herself is one of the best memoirs I've read...  try to find a copy.  And, as you now know from the above link, she even sings!

And so, after writing this mish mash of thoughts on things Irish, I wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A British tradition for St. Patrick's Day...
For years and years, the late Queen Mother presented
bouquets of shamrocks to the Irish Guards
and their mascot.

Today, for the first time, the new
Duchess of Cambridge took her place.
For how many decades will she be doing this?

S'mores... Dapper and Dreamy but also quite messy!

There are some things that are so simple, so basic, that we sometimes forget just how perfectly wonderful they are.  Case in point...  the classic S'more.

Now, I want to be very clear here.  I am talking about the classic edition, the real deal.  I know there are a thousand and one derivations out there...  shortbread cookies, handmade graham crackers, peanut butter cups, Snickers, very expensive chocolate, artisan marshmallows, flavored marshmallows, even!  While I appreciate the desire to create, to experiment and to follow new and uncharted paths, some things are better left untouched.

My recipe for the perfect S'more?  Honeymaid Honey Graham Crackers.  Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars.  Jet-Puffed Marshmallows.  In the final words of the Madeline cartoon's theme song, "That's it!  There isn't any more..."

There are many cooking techniques for the S'more, as well.  The classic - toasting the marshmallow over an open fire, can't be beat for the fullest S'more experience.  However, outdoor cooking can be impractical in the dead of winter in suburbia.  There is the option of the microwave, but this I eschew.  Yes, it's fun to watch your marshmallow expand to many times its original size, but once out of the micro, it becomes a hardened shadow of what it could have been.  My method of choice?  The trusty broiler.  Placing the graham cracker half on the baking sheet, followed by one-fourth of a regular-sized (or even better, King-sized) Hershey bar and, finally, two (yes, two...  I'm a glutton) pristine, white marshmallows, placed side by side.  Place under the broiler until the marshmallows reach the perfect mahogany shade of brown (there should be a little smoke rising at this point) and remove quickly.  At this point, the second half of the graham cracker should be placed atop the toasty mallow, and gently pressed down.  What could be easier?

S'mores aren't the kind of thing you'd want to eat in polite company, of course.  If you come to the end of your crunchy, gooey, melty treat without any oozing of chocolate or stickiness of marshmallow on your fingers, you really must be doing something wrong.  Part of the fun of eating a S'more is looking at your normally pristine wife/husband and seeing a melted chocolate mustache or strings of marshmallow falling from their chin.

S'mores are also tied up with lots of happy associations for me.  They were a favored Saturday night treat when I was growing up.  A couple of S'mores and a tall glass of very cold milk made for a very happy boy.  And, now, with my own children, I have some fond S'more moments to recall.  My favorite happened a couple of summers ago.  Deciding to take a picnic to the coast on a warm afternoon, we weren't satisfied with our visit to our usual haunts, so we headed South.  This is rare for us, because all of the familiar beaches are the other way.  But, I am so glad we did!  On the very southern end of the Oregon coast is a place called Ophir Beach.  It's a very flat expanse, almost level with the road.  It reminds me of a California beach and, as you know from reading this blog, that's a point in its favor.  It was a tremendously windy day, and it was past 5:00 in the evening.  We didn't care, we had supplies for S'mores!  We had a couple of Presto logs to get us started, we had S'more sticks, we had...  Wait.  We DIDN'T have matches!  There was no longer a lighter in the car...  We were doomed.  Or were we?  We did find that one of our little boys had his flint.  After gathering lots of very dry beach grass and several clean Kleenex, we got to work.  It took us forever...  wind, a flint and facial tissue are not ideal companions in the art of fire-starting.  But, once we had that fire roaring and those marshmallows toasting, nothing could have been better.  For some reason, this stands out as one of my favorite family trips ever.

So, if you want to take a trip back to your childhood, or are just craving something sweet, yummy and very easy, nothing could be better than the quintessentially American, and totally delicious S'more!

Movie of the Week... Sunset Boulevard

Any movie that starts with a scene of the narrator floating face down in a pool, quickly followed by another of the same young man mistaken for an undertaker called to help with the burial of a fading movie star's deceased pet monkey, is bound to demand, and receive, the audience's rapt attention.  These are the kinds of scenes that make Sunset Boulevard one of the most famous Hollywood films of all time.  People can recite several of its most memorable lines...  Norma Desmond's especially...  "I am big...  It's the pictures that got small."  And, of course, "Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup."  But how many have really seen the film all the way through?  If you haven't, you're missing out.

Sunset Boulevard isn't my favorite movie, but it's one the I get caught up in each time I see it.  William Holden is a perennial favorite - he's great in almost everything he's in.  But it's Gloria Swanson that really captures the viewer's attention.  At times elegant, funny or tragic, she's also very, very strange.  The facial expressions, the voice, the spiderlike fingers holding the ever-present cigarette are either eerily creepy or simply captivating.  While I understand that Gloria Swanson the person was quite unlike Norma Desmond the faded-star, one would never guess it while watching this film.  The two seem inseparable. 

But back to Bill Holden for a moment...  Whether in Sabrina, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, or The World of Suzy Wong, Holden always seems like a very relatable, regular guy.  Likable, not too serious and eminently suited to just about any leading lady.  Every one of his movies is better for having William Holden in the lead.  He is especially important in Sunset Boulevard because his presence takes an otherwise unbelievable story and makes it seem possible and somewhat grounded in reality, albeit a very strange one.  He also counters Swanson's perfectly overwrought performance with ease and confidence.

Sunset Boulevard isn't just great for the script or the actors.  In fact, two of its greatest stars aren't people at all.  Hollywood itself looms large in this picture, literally and figuratively.  Filmed at the actual locations, the movie gives us a glimpse of Tinseltown during the heyday of the Golden Age.  Here is Schwab's Pharmacy, Paramount Studios and, of course, Sunset Boulevard itself.  I've driven Sunset several times, unfortunately not in anything as stylish as Norma Desmond's 1929 Isotta Fraschini, and it still seems glamourous to me.  Whether it's simply the name that inspires thoughts of movie stars and Los Angeles noir, or the glitter of the Sunset Strip and the mansions that line the Beverly Hills section, it's an exciting place to be.

The music of Sunset Boulevard is the other non-human star.  Brooding, bold and emotional, it adds an extra depth to the lows and even greater impact to the highs.  Listening to the score alone would tell you a great deal about the movie.

In the end, Sunset Boulevard is just great fun to watch.  For Gloria Swanson's campy, over the top performance and for a peak at old Hollywood, it just can't be beat.

Dapper and Dreamy Fabrics Available at Spoonflower!

Are you interested in seeing some of the new fabric designs from Dapper and Dreamy?  If so, head on over to our Spoonflower shop.  Although only the Bright White Jubilee fabric is available for purchase now, the others will be ready to order soon.

Let us know what you think so far!