The Rain, the Walk, and Other Things

It was raining when I first woke up this morning and continued to rain as I ate cereal and honeydew melon for breakfast. No matter. I packed my navy-blue carry-on bag that I use for short trips first. I wanted to see if I needed any new travel-sized items. As it turned out, I did. My shampoo ran out last year, and I needed deodorant, too.

It let up enough for me to head to the Oaklyn Library around 10:30. Some older ladies were preparing to watch a movie as I worked on organizing the DVDs. (The adults' section wasn't too bad, but the kids were a mess.) I heard the strains of Frank Sinatra singing "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" as I moved over to the children's section to work on shelving books. The ladies chose well - they were running Pal Joey, a late 50s vehicle for Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, and Kim Novak that I once saw part of on TCM. The movie is a warmed-over version of the tougher Broadway show about a heel and the ladies who sort-of love him, but the Rogers and Hart music is marvelous. I couldn't help singing along softly, even after I headed out.

The rain had slowed down by the time I got home. I went upstairs for a half-hour to do a few things. Alas, when I came back down, it had picked up to monsoon levels. I started out, but finally decided I've spent far too much time being wet this summer. I ended up waiting it out on my landlady Miss Ellie's porch instead.

I'm glad I did. The mailman finally arrived while I watched the downpour give Miss Ellie's garden a drink. I brought the last of three holiday DVDs I ordered in late August. I'm trying to replace as many DVDs as I can afford to right now. I picked up two hard-to-find Disney Winnie the Pooh holiday-related discs, A Valentine for You and Seasons of Giving, and the only Sony-owned Rankin Bass special I wasn't able to find in this area on DVD, Cricket on the Hearth, on Amazon.com. Valentine and Cricket arrived last week, but Seasons of Giving was coming from South Carolina and likely was delayed by Hurricane Irene. It's a favorite of mine (the charming Pooh Thanksgiving special makes up the middle portion) and I was very glad to have it.

The rain let up enough for me to run a few errands in the Oaklyn area. I went down the street to Phillies' Phatties, a pizzeria on the same block as Doria's Deli and Leo's Yum Yums on West Clinton. I ate a turkey wrap while the teenage boys around me spent their last afternoon before school begins watching Jerry Springer.

Strolled to CVS on the White Horse Pike across from Newton River Park next. In addition to the travel items, I also grabbed mouthwash on sale and brush picks. They had small bags of Cranberry Trail Mix on the counter as you came in that I thought would be perfect for a snack on the road tomorrow. Picked up a bag of whole wheat pretzels, too.

The rain was picking up again. I got a bit wet this time as I headed over the hill and down to Dad and Uncle Ken's to say "hi" before I leave and pick up the pan used for the cake on Sunday. Dolores and Uncle Ken were watching the History Channel. Dad was working on something upstairs. I gave them most of the remaining Apple Spice Cake and took a few pieces home for me. The rain was so bad by this point, Dad drove me home.

This time, I got the message. I stayed at home for the rest of the afternoon as the rain continued off and on. To cheer myself up, I baked an Apple Strudel Coffee Cake from the sugarless baking cookbook I picked up on Saturday and ran movies.

I went into more detail about the Ken Russell version of The Boy Friend when I found the video in early April. If you have the video, by all means, upgrade to the Warner Archives version. This is one of the few Archives titles that was remastered, and it shows. This huge musical with its bizarre Busby Berkley-style numbers really needs the widescreen format to be appreciated. The colors look far better than on the older video copies, too, making this seem all the more like the late 20s-early 30s extravaganzas it's spoofing.

When The Boy Friend ended, I decided to go right into the film that at least partially inspired it. 42nd Street is a landmark film for a number of reasons. Warner Bros had stopped making musicals after over-saturating the market with them in 1929 and 1930. When they did decide to try a musical again, the studio was a changed place. People like Winnie Lightener had been replaced by tougher, harder-edged urban types who would give the studio its rough-hewn image for fifteen years.

The world was a changed place, too. The movie came out in 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. People who saw earlier musicals as useless frivolity were now ready to embrace them as the ultimate blues-chasers. Musicals were ready to make a comeback, but with a slightly harder edge. The people in 42nd Street, from Warner Baxter's driven director to Ruby Keeler's just-off-the-train ingenue to Bebe Daniels' diva, are desperate that this show, this job will make their careers and save them from the breadline...or worse. But when Daniels breaks her ankle, can Keeler step in?

This is where many of the cliches of the backstage world spoofed in The Boy Friend debuted, from the chorus girl replacing the star to the numbers being huge affairs that have little to do with the actual show they represent. The title number and "Young and Healthy" are the most celebrated Berkley showcases here, especially the geometric formations and "camera under the girls' legs" shot that Boy Friend copied.

Actually, my favorites are the hilarious chorus girls with hearts of gold who befriend Keeler, Una Merkel and Ginger Rogers. They get the best lines, too - "Whatdya want me to do, bite my nails?" "You have the busiest hands!" "Philadelphia PA." "Yeah, and on Sundays, it's PU."

Tossed on a Muppet Show episode while I had a cheese omelet and ratatouille for dinner. I figured the episode Twiggy guest-starred in during the first season would nicely compliment the rest of the evening. The highlight is Twiggy's charming performance of the AA Milne poem "The King's Breakfast."