The 2012 Blogathon theme for today is about the five movies that influenced my blog posts. Now how can I pick only five? I've been a movie buff since only a small child int the early '40's when my parents started taking me to the local theaters with them. It was cheaper than a babysitter, and I sat mesmerized by what I saw. TV had not arrived on the scene yet, so that big screen with people playing out stories in front of my eyes was a marvel. When I got older, I went with my friends, seeing two double features on most week-ends. Besides loving books, I adored movies.
We watched a variety of films. Dad loved the westerns with Gary Cooper and a new guy--John Wayne. Mom sighed over love stories with Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis. I fell in love with the musicals watching intently as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced across the screen. I wanted to be just like Betty Grable who starred in so many musicals that I loved. Seeing them later in life, I realized they were pretty pathetic in that they had a weak story, but the cheesecake, big musical numbers and the happy endings won out. And brought me back to Betty's next film.
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June Allyson was Miss Wholesome America with the deep, sexy voice. She was the girl who dreamed about the boy next door and usually got him. She and Peter Lawford made a good team. For pure drama, you could do no better than Ingrid Bergman. A natural beauty, a fine actress and a survivor of what was then a scandal with Roberto Rossilini. Elizabeth Taylor moved from child star to an MGM box office queen. Beauty, ability and celebrity status earned her a spot in the hearts of many, mine included.
These five movies influenced me but so did many others.
1. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness with Ingrid Bergman--I wanted to be just like her, helping children as she did in the film. And thus I became a teacher.
2. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing with William Holden and Jennifer Jones--they made me sigh over every love story that came along. I became a hopeless romantic
3. The Blue Veil with Jane Wyman--the poor woman was a governess who cared for many children and loved them throughout her life. One more film that made me want to teach children
4. Lassie Come Home starring Lassie (of course!) My heart broke as Lassie struggled to go home, and I have loved dogs ever since
5. The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara--that movie made me want to find a man to love forever. Happily--I did!
And maybe all those movies fed the writer in me, helped me learn to love the written word, too They created the desire to teach and even though I have not taught in a school for many decades, I still teach through my blog. I'm still caring for others. And oh yeah--I am still mad about my forever love. As for dogs, they're still high on my list of things I like.
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI can't say as I've seen all of these movies but I do know of them, for sure... And they remind me of my mom, who loved this era of film. It's amazing how the movies themselves and feelings around them can shape us. Nice post!
I liked the theme, but I'd probably have had a better time of finding movies if I'd written about them in the way you did. Movies from my childhood have had a far greater affect on me than the movies of today. Too much drama, violence or intensity for me today. Back then, I think I saw movies as being more innocent, romantic and maybe a bit idealistic, but I can be that way as well. It suits me. Today's movies, eh, not so much. IMO, of course.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a very nice job on this post. Brought back childhood memories - we didn't have much money but a couple of times a year my parents, or just my Dad, would bring me down to Radio City. We would stand on line for what seemed like hours, to see a first run movie and then the Rockettes! One of these trips was always the Christmas spectacular. In between, there were occasional visits to the neighborhood movie house (2 movies, in those days) and watching Million Dollar Movie and The Early Show (New York City TV) with my Mom. And, for my elementary school graduation (grade 6) my Dad brought me to see The Sound of Music.
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