Coming from a family of five girls, I often find it difficult to get the sole attention of my family members… I need to share a bond with them, a specific common interest in order to get my time, and this bond usually comes about through movies. So, a couple of nights ago, when I was home alone, I brought dinner to my grandpa’s house and snuggled up on his couch, ready to be enlightened by his eclectic taste in movies. My grandpa (Mike), - handsome, charming, and allowed access to Turner Classic Movies by his cable company, - showed me three great movies that night. It was five o’clock when I arrived and the sun wasn’t quite down, but Grandpa stopped scrolling through his DVR and turned to me with a grin: “Do you like scary movies?” I answered with an emphatic YES and we watched Wait Until Dark (1967). Oh-ho-ho, ladies and gentlemen, I have a new favorite.
I love the 60s, I love Audrey Hepburn, and I love psychological thrillers. So, needless to say, this film is right on the money for me. Suzy Hendrix, played by Audrey, is a young woman made blind in an accident, who is unwittingly mixed up with criminals in search of a heroin-filled doll. And before you ask, yes, the doll is creepy as all get out. The overall ambience of the film is absolutely spine-tingling. Henry Mancini’s opening theme has simultaneously become my favorite song and the creepy tune that haunts my thoughts while I’m trying to sleep. And hats off to Frederick Knott, whose work I plan to look into. The way he packed such a complex story into relatively one apartment is inspired. I would love to be able to write like that.
All the references to childishness throughout the script, plus Audrey’s vulnerable performance (sobbing and moaning and crouching over, almost to the point of audience discomfort), left me thinking about the movie’s message. Watching this movie, is anyone else bugged by Suzy’s husband Sam, played by Efrem Zimbalist Jr? He wants his wife to be self-reliant, self-sufficient, but to leave her at home alone with no one but a little girl to help her??? Some of the things he did were just plain ungentlemanly, like refusing to pick up things Suzy has dropped or to even help her find them. At the same time, I sensed a connection between Suzy and hired criminal Mike, played by Richard Crenna. While pretending to be her ally, Mike was helpful but not belittling, and in the end had a great amount of respect for this incredibly clever woman. His response to Suzy’s industriousness is nothing like the detached pride in her husband Sam’s expression, as if she were a wonder of his own creation. Is Wait Until Dark working to praise the innocent, to associate handicapped people with purity and victory? Or are we, the audience, supposed to focus on hating the way Suzy is treated? I couldn’t help but do a bit of both. Beneath all the analytical questions scrambling around in my brain, there is a deep satisfaction with the movie as a whole. Wait Until Dark knew exactly how to play my nerve endings. If you’re looking for a movie that will envelope you in chills and intrigue, look no further.
After nervously giggling through the credits of Wait Until Dark, Grandpa selected an entirely different but equally delightful movie, Lilies of the Field (1963). Handsome, dynamic Sidney Poitier plays Homer Smith, a carefree wanderer who is dragged off the beaten path by a handful of nuns in need of a chapel. Some of the most delightful scenes consist of Smith teaching the sweet German nuns English phrases. And I cannot write about this film without mentioning the legendary gospel singing, led by Sidney Poitier. I know now why my Grandpa sings “Amen” at the end of every pre-dinner prayer - Because of Lilies of the Field!
In our thoroughly modern age, it’s hard, really hard, to find a simple, wholesome movie. I can see now why Lilies of the Field was so popular with audiences everywhere. Its story is so simple, so human, that it can be appreciated by everyone. The character of Homer Smith shows the nature of humans through his gluttony and occasional selfishness. But after living and working for the sisters, he learns the grace of humility, and the reverence that comes from remaining still. Today humans are engrossed in the desire for constant action. We have to set our goals, and work for pay, and get to the top, or else we don’t deserve a share of the joys in life. But it is that really true? Lilies of the Field teaches many lessons, but I think the most important is this: - There is a higher power than yourself. You’re human, flawed, and you only have so much energy. Use it to help the people around you, and save yourself for last. Live that way, and ample blessings will be right around the corner.
Grandpa and I finished the night with a truly rare and beautiful film. A film about young love and the faith that it will last. A Little Romance (1979) is about Lauren, a young American girl played by Diane Lane, and equally young, equally precocious film buff Daniel, played by Thelonious Bernard. Lauren is living with her actress mother in Paris, and is sitting idly on the set when Daniel approaches and says, “Call me Bogey.” And when Lauren asks why: “Because they belong together.” If that doesn’t have you smiling, I honestly don’t know what will.
After her parents inform her they’re moving to Dallas, Lauren runs away with Daniel, hoping to live out a legend about true love in Venice. Charismatic pickpocket Julius, played by the fabulous Laurence Olivier, takes the children on their journey through the border of France and Italy. After watching the film, I’m convinced that I will be Julius in a few years - incapable of exercising without running out of oxygen, reduced to stealing because I am poor, and forced to create an imaginary dead husband because I need “a little romance in my life”. Why are we all cynics when it comes to love? Lauren and Daniel are well aware of the state of the world, that marriages are expendable and young love is doomed. With their parents and everyone around them calling them foolish, Lauren and Daniel believe in the purity and truth of their feelings for each other. One of my personal favorite moments is after Daniel hesitantly takes Lauren to an 'adult movie'. After Lauren runs out of the theater in tears, Daniel follows and admits he’d never seen an adult movie either, saying, “That's something else. It isn't love.” The fact that two kids, just fourteen years old (approximately), understand elements of love that evades adults of the twenty-first century… It is a truly beautiful and inspiring thing to see. Watching this movie gave me a little hope, not only for the world but for myself. It is possible to have a soulmate, there is more to love than momentary indulgence. So, maybe the love of my life is waiting out there somewhere. Or maybe I’ll be like Julius, and have the privilege of observing a miracle in the lives of two others.
Film is far more than just idle entertainment. Watching a movie is a spiritual experience, one I shared three times over with my grandfather that night. It’s incredible, isn’t it? You can watch a movie with someone you love, and without sharing more than a few words you become inexplicably closer. That’s how I felt sitting beside my grandpa, receiving the gift of his time and the knowledge of movies he’s loved. We shared three unforgettable worlds, and now I’ve shared them with you. It’s simple connections like that that make life meaningful, and bring us one step closer to changing the way we think and live. Thanks, Grandpa, for showing me that.
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