10/28/10

Last Night I Dreamt I Went To Manderley Again....

I love hotels. Love the TCM station & ginormous flat screen TVs.
Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) & JJ Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster) in Sweet Smell Of Success
Sidney Falco stopped by late last night and tonight I'm off to Manderley again.
Manderley from wednesdaywandered.etsy.com
If you love a classic tale & have not had the pleasure of settling in with a cup of earl grey and a copy of Daphne DuMaurier's novel Rebecca or the Selznick/Hitchcock film, I highly recommend doing so. Both are best on some cold & blustery night before a cozy fire.
nicked this photo from a great Manderley post on HookedOnHouses.net
I don't recall when I first watched Sir Laurence Olivier as Maxim DeWinter; I must have been 7 or 8, but it has been one of my favorite eerie tales since. You know, the kind of flick you catch while channel surfing (when you should already be in bed). You tell yourself "just a few minutes " & next thing you know 120 have passed and you're in some time-travelling half asleep trance like state.
Ghosts Of Manderely from StillettoHeights.etsy.com
My bleary-eyed  husband would peek into the living room to see if I was planning to sleep anytime soon, glanced at the tv & mumble "mmm...you're watching that again..." before going back to bed.

Several years ago the Tampa Theater, my favorite time machine/movie palace held a screening. I dragged him to the theater with promises of an extra large popcorn & beer. We settled into the balcony. I enjoyed a few tunes from the Mighty Wurlitzer while he grumbled something about chic flicks. The lights went out, the velvet curtains parted & Joan Fontaine spoke the famous first line....
 
I know I've ranted here before about how watching a classic film in its original setting is truly an experience. Even my skeptical spouse was sucked into the time machine long enough to say "Now I get it" as the lights came up.

3 comments:

  1. Hi there you,
    Just sneaking in the door to see what your up to. it has been far to long...i must make time blogging.
    happy halloween....
    xo

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  2. Stacey, I have had a fixation on Daphne DuMaurier ever since I read "Jamaica Inn" when I was a teenager. I was desperate to go to Cornwall and see the roads that her characters travelled. I have had a love of pirates ever since and Cornwall too. :)

    I love the fashions in "Rebecca" but I find Olivier a bit too brutish. I really prefer the BBC series but both are excellent. Thanks for reminding me it it time to watch it again.

    Have a lovely Weekend/Happy Halloween, T. :)

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  3. I will never forget watching "Rebecca" for the first time as a young girl and being so shocked by the ending (and various twists and turns). That's one movie I never get tired of watching (I like the BBC miniseries, too, that T mentioned above).

    I would love to see it on the big screen someday. When I was growing up we had a theater that showed old classics on the weekends and I loved watching them that way.

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