Cleaning On a Summer's Afternoon

Work was somewhere between dull and annoying for most of the day. It was mostly pretty quiet, especially in the morning. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, sunny and breezy, mid-80s with no humidity. It did get busy later during rush hour, but by that point, I was almost done. I do wish my relief hadn't been late for the second day in a row. This time, we had enough help that I was able to shut down and just get out on time.

I headed home as soon as I could. It was a little more humid in the afternoon, but nothing out of the ordinary for a day in early August. As soon as I got in, I changed into regular clothes. Spent the next hour or so giving the bathroom a much-needed scrub. I'd put it off for far too long, and it was disgusting.

Ran the 1940 Mark of Zorro while cleaning. Diego Vega (Tyrone Power) returns from Spain to find that his father Alejandro (Montagu Love) was forced out of his position as governor by the corrupt Don Luis Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg). Quintero is taxing the people of California into poverty, much to the horror of Father Felipe (Eugene Palette). Vega pretends to be disinterested in the local political squabbles...but he creates the guise of Zorro, masked avenger of California, to rescue the money for the people and woo Quintero's beautiful daughter (Linda Darnell). Quintero's right-hand man (Basil Rathbone) would do anything to figure out who this daring rider is.

I love swashbucklers, and this classic is a favorite of mine. Though it's not quite as much fun as the silent version with Douglas Fairbanks, it does have some nice moments of its own, including how Vega breaks out of prison in the finale. Recommended for lovers of swashbucklers, Power, and Zorro or action tales.

Switched to more East Side Kids as I made Blackberry-Chocolate Chip Muffins and threw some leftovers together for Chicken Vegetable Soup. In Bowery Champs, Mugs is a copyboy who is desperate to move up to reporter. He thinks he may have found his story when a once-famous actress is accused of shooting her husband. The Kids don't think she did it and hide her while they try to figure out who did. Meanwhile, Bobby Jordan, now in the Army, is following them all over town, trying to figure out where they are and how to get together with them.