summer flicks

This oppressive humid heat is holding some hostage in their home. For me, staying inside under the air is THE sensible option; the minute I open the door of the furnace my body temperature begins to climb and the longer I’m out, the longer it takes for me to cool back down! I will say that this hostage makes the most of being captive getting things accomplished and catching great movies, some old favorites, others that I’ve never seen before. The latter was the case last evening as I turned to one called Summertime based on Arthur Laurents's play The Time of the Cuckoo. Filmed on location in Venice during the 50’s, I was intrigued at the opening -- Katherine Hepburn hanging out the window of a train, a 16MM camera in hand, rambling on in excited chatter as she arrived in Venice. A woman traveling abroad with a camera certainly resonated with this shutter chick so I settled down to lavishly gorgeous Technicolor scenes of the city, the glamour that was travel in a time where women wore smart dresses and white lacy gloves, and a story about the sexual revolution. Swept up in a swirl of lushness was I and when I landed the travel bug had me in a serious itch.

Another great movie set in the good old summertime is Picnic with William Holden and Kim Novac set against the backdrop of a small Midwestern town in a time when people gathered together to celebrate the end of the season. Bad boy literally drops into town as he jumps off the box car of a train he jumped onto as it road by long before we first see him. Bad boy is also buff, full of sexual testosterone and hasn’t had such an easy life. He meets the town beauty, she along with all the other females swoon but she is pledged to the rich boy in town. They along with other colorful characters end up at the Labor Day picnic and wow, there are more fireworks than the Fourth of July!

I don’t love feeling confined to the house, I do love a good flick especially ones from the past. The fact that some of them take place during the summer makes for a perfectly delectable escape from the summer outside my door. Wonder where I’ll go today…

keep your peepers open!®