"Moonglow" In the Rain

I was up late again with Lauren last night. Once again, I slept in and didn't do much. Spent the remaining morning watching Picnic. William Holden is Hal Cooper, a drifter who finds himself in a small Kansas town on Labor Day Weekend. He hopes to get a job at the grain factory owned by his old college buddy (Cliff Robertson). What he finds is Madge (Kim Novak), the town beauty, who is engaged to his friend because her mother (Betty Field) wants her to move up in society and avoid marrying a man who will run out on her, like her father did. Madge wants a lot more than just to be the pretty, empty wife of the local rich man. Her teen sister Millie (Susan Strasberg), a smart tomboy, wants even more, but her mother largely ignores her to concentrate on Madge.

Things come to a head at the town's Labor Day picnic. Hal only has eyes for Madge...and their raw feelings come out in a lovely dance to the instrumental tune "Moonglow." Trouble is, other women have been eyeing Hal's comely form too, including Millie and Rosemary, the spinster teacher (Rosalind Russell) who rents a room in their house. When a drunk Rosemary rips Hal's shirt and insults him in front of everyone, he takes off again. Madge, however, has seen something awaken inside of her...and she's beginning to realize that neither she nor Millie are really right for their small, smothering town, no matter what their mother wants.

Of the three 50s melodramas I've watched this summer, this was by far my favorite. It started life as a Pulitzer-prize-winning hit play by William Inge. Columbia did it justice. William Holden is simply combustible as the hunky drifter who wants to change his life; Novak matches him as the equally hot beauty who is tired of being seen as just another lovely face. Strasberg is a tad old for her role, but still a riot as the smart teenager who may be too smart for her town. Russell is devastating as the desperate old maid teacher; Arthur O'Connell got an Academy Award nomination as the guy she's after.

The other reason I hung out here was the weather. It poured for most of the morning, and when it wasn't raining, it was stifling humid (though not really hot). I ran cartoons and Three Stooges shorts related to working and to summer while having leftovers for lunch.

Thank heavens the rain ended right in time for me to go to work. Unlike yesterday, work was very busy up until about a half-hour before I left. There were no major problems, and I was in and out.

I finally got a hold of Mom when I came home, before having a quick dinner and hitting the shower. She was fine. Dad tried to drag her out yesterday to do something fun, but when the traffic proved bad and they couldn't decide where to go, they just finally came home. With most people going home today, they were able to take my sister Anny and her son Skylar out to their favorite diner, the Four Seasons, for lunch.

Oh, and Happy Labor Day to all Americans, whether you worked today or not!