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Mama is a movie buff. Not just your run-of-the-mill movie buff, but an avid, fanatical, die-hard movie buff. I’m proud to say that she passed on this love to me.
When I was a growing up, we rarely went to the cinema. Our “theatre” was the living room, which was furnished with a comfortable couch for snuggling and a black-and-white Zenith console topped with Mama’s hand-made doilies. During the week, she’d scan the TV Guide to see what movies were coming on and we’d make plans to watch them together. We liked it all: comedy, drama, romance, western, musicals, adventure, suspense. On movie night, Mama cooked popcorn on the stove in a cast iron skillet. When it was ready, she poured on the melted butter and served it in a big plastic bowl. I don’t know why, but popcorn always tasted best when we were watching movies.
Through the movies, Mama taught me about self-sacrifice (It’s a Wonderful Life), kindness (A Patch of Blue), courage (The Longest Day), love (Old Yeller), integrity (To Kill a Mockingbird), perseverance (Twelve Angry Men) and fun (Singing in the Rain).
She was knowledgeable about the actors, too. I found out that Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn had a real-life love affair and that James Dean died in a horrible car crash at the height of his career. She also informed me that Gary Cooper turned down the part of Rhett Butler. When we watched All About Eve and Mildred Pierce, Mama told me that there was no love lost between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. This fascinating tidbit intrigued me years later when I saw the two actresses in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Mama and I still cringe every time we remember the dead parakeet scene. Poor Joan!
Once I asked Mama who her favorite actor of all time was. She didn’t hesitate for a second: Glenn Ford. I was shocked. Glenn Ford? I was expecting someone like Clark Gable, Charlton Heston or James Stewart. Of course, I had to probe further. She said that Ford’s film Blackboard Jungle fascinated her as a teenager in 1955 when the film was released. It was about a dedicated teacher trying to influence troubled teens in a school in New York City. It was also the first film to feature Rock ‘n’ Roll and showcased Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” – Mama’s theme song. She’d sing this song throughout my childhood as she went about her daily chores.
Today, Mama and I still enjoy movies. Of course, Cary Grant has been replaced by George Clooney, and Doris Day is now Meg Ryan, but that’s okay. For Mama and me, watching movies allows us to escape the real world for a while and wonder what it would be like to hunt for a shark, travel to the future, or fall in love in Paris. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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