Friday, November 5, 2010

Cinema Betty

The Magic of Living's main character has a speech disability. But this isn't a problem for the right kind of fellow who manages to look past her plain face and see a girl with 'infinite patience and good humor'. I like that kind of magical transformation:
The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
Not plain-plain. Hollywood plain.

When pilot Oliver Bradford is disfigured by war wounds, he hides from his family and fiancée, renting a cottage from Mrs. Minnett. Laura Pennington is a shy, homely maid who tidies up the place. Oliver and Laura gradually fall in love and discover that their feelings for each other have mysteriously transformed them. He appears handsome to her, and she seems beautiful to him. This is only perceived by the two lovers (and the audience), not by others.

I love the racy advertising tag line: The whole town whispered about these two! I wonder how many men that suckered into buying tickets...

The heroine of The Girl With Green Eyes has an archaeologist for a father. On that slimmest of associations I choose:

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Look, Dad, I still have chest hair...

Seriously, it's that old already? This is a great one. I love all that bright red lipstick that the scheming Nazi Elsa wears in every shot--she could be stuck down a coal mine and be applying bright red lipstick, I think. Wo betide the flunky that lets her run out prematurely. She's not a bad double for our own scheming Fiona...
Pop some popcorn, sit yourself down and enjoy the days when Harrison Ford was still aging manfully--you know, before he began morphing into Calista Flockhart...
Sean Connery is also easy on the eyes and is up to here (hand below chin) with always-Betty-approved tweed.

3 comments:

  1. I can't believe that came out in '89. It is a shame that the eye candy from that movie have since lost their touch. It was a good year!

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  2. Gee Whiz. An oldie I've never seen. How racy was this Enchanted Cottage? The only ones I missed were banned by the Bishops. LOL ...Betty Mary

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  3. I remember seeing The Enchanted Cottage when I was young. Definitely a weepie.

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