Wisdom from the Movie "Captain January" (1936)

Capt. Nazro: Star can read writing and write reading better than any six year old on this coast.
Capt. January: Any six year old? Why, there ain't no seven or eight year old that knows as much as Star. I've been learning her from the two best books there is, The Bible and Bowditch.
Mrs. Agatha Mogan: Bowditch? A book on navigation? Fine reading for a child of six!
Capt. Nazro: Any objections to The Bible?
Capt. January: There ain't no better reading in the world than The Bible and Bowditch. They both learn you to steer a straight course.

Thank you to IMBD for this post.

Video of My Mother, as a Child, in the Morning

Okay, this is not really my mother as a girl, but it could be. Right name. Right era. Right appearance. Right attitude.

Happy Mother's Day to my Shirley Temple of a mom.

Regarding George S. Kaufman

I was encouraged to hear the following via an NPR broadcast Friday, on The Writer's Almanac:

It's the birthday of the playwright George S. Kaufman, (books by this author) born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1889), who inherited a terrible case of hypochondria from his mother. She wouldn't let him play with other children, for fear of germs, and she wouldn't let him drink milk either. The only beverage he was allowed was boiled water. By the time he was an adult, he was terrified of being touched and he never shook hands. He was so afraid of dying in his sleep that he often didn't sleep for days. He once said, "The kind of doctor I want is one who when he's not examining me is home studying medicine."

But despite his quirks, Kaufman managed to cowrite more hit plays than anyone else in the history of Broadway, including Animal Crackers (1928), Strike Up the Band (1930), and You Can't Take It With You (1938). His various partners through the years all said that he was a meticulous rewriter and polisher, that he was never satisfied with a script even up till the last minute. Even on the most triumphant of opening nights, he could always be found backstage, pale and terrified that the play would be a flop.

It is encouraging and touching to me to hear of artists I admire who suffered from mental health challenges. How inspiring that the author of the play from which my favorite movie was adapted struggled as he did, while becoming a blessing to so many.

Having Fun

Well, we figuratively took out our harmonicas and played "Polly Wolly Doodle", like in the movie, and, sure enough, good things happened.
Some of the highlights of the past several days are:

• eating chocolate truffles,
• tossing rocks into a pail,
• watching Billy Elliot,
• reading to my boy,
• trying a new salsa,
• placing first at dominoes,
• placing last at dominoes,
• bowling on the Wii,
• walks every morning,
• sofa conversations,
• many welcome visitors,
• hugs all around,
• good night kisses,
• a hearty dose of laughter,
• lots of family love,
• sunshine in the morning.

Films with Heroes

Sometimes a girl just needs a hero. I like film heroes, among others. Here are some of my favorite films for heroic characters. (The picture at the left is from Seven Samurai.)



Captain Blood (1935)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Seven Samurai (1954)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Twilight Samurai (2002)

Favorite Foreign Films

These are some of my favorite foreign films:
"TheTwilight Samurai" (Japan);
"The Way Home" (Korea);
"Together" (China);
"Secret of Roan Inish" (Ireland);
"Rabbit-proof Fence" (Australia) ;
"Au Revoir Les Enfants (France);
and the beautiful film from which the picture above comes, "Children of Heaven" (Iran).
All are about families, and about caring for others. How blessed we are to have access to such lovely works of art from around the world.

Hepburn Therapy

Remember in Bringing up Baby, how the leopard was tamed by the song, "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"? It turns out, by a strange coincidence, that the movie, Bringing up Baby, tames the black dog. TCM is having a Katharine Hepburn film festival right now, in honor of the 100th anniversary of her birth. I have seen many of my favorite films in the last few days, as well as some new to me. Last night featured four of my favorites. Stage Door was followed by Bringing up Baby, which was followed by Holiday, which was followed by The Philadelphia Story . I fell asleep eventually and missed some. But what a lineup! It sure makes depression and insomnia lesser curses, having your favorite film star on the screen all night. Thank you, Miss Hepburn. Thank you, Turner Classic Movies. The black dog is still here, but he spent some time last night curled up asleep in a corner, thanks to you.

Movie Guide

I love movies! I love stories, and films are my favorite genre for storytelling. Since I love movies, and since there are so few of them currently released which do not contain content offensive to me, I am very thankful for the Kids-in-Mind website. Kids-in-Mind rates the movies for content, giving visitors an item-by-item account of movie content in three areas: sex, violence, and language, as well as drug and alcohol usage depicted. You can read the details of the production in which you are interested, and know if there will be anything in it which is objectionable to you, according to your own personal standards. The problem with the MPAA rating system is it does not give much information as to the reason a film receives a certain rating. Kids-in-Mind does just that. Visit it here.