Movies Galore

I didn't make it to the movies this weekend - no real surprise there, I think we're both tired (hubby is taking a nap right now, as a matter of fact) - but I did have the opportunity to see a couple of old movies on Turner Classics that I hadn't seen before and enjoyed very much . . . even though the plot of one with Ingrid Bergman didn't make much sense (a governess is sent home to France after the family she works for suffers huge losses in the Panic of 1907 and comes back ten years later . . . except by then the four sons are all grown and don't need a governess . . . go figure). I guess they had to bring her back so she could lock horns with Susan Hayward, as the bride of one of the boys who's as much as a nymphomaniac as they'd allow on the screen in 1941 (and that's saying quite a bit).

I switched over to the glossy Lana Turner version of that old standby, Imitation of Life. Lana was upset after an unpleasant encounter with a touchy agent. Her maid, Juanita Moore, says, "I'll fix you a glass of hot milk."

Now, seriously . . . do people really drink hot milk? The very thought of it makes me gag. I've seen this line used in many movies and old sitcoms (sometimes it's "warm" milk). Is this a white folks' thing? (Of course, sometimes the upset person is also offered a brandy or a cup of hot tea, both of which seem more appropriate.)

Just curious.

6 comments:

Gwyneth Bolton said...

Hmm... I suppose hot chocolate could be considered hot milk with chocolate in it. :-) So some people drink hot milk all the time. LOL. But seriously, I've never heard of it. I've heard people say a glass of warm milk.

Gwyneth

Anonymous said...

No matter how many times I tell myself I am not going to cry, every time I watch Imitation of Life, I cry. This weekend I went to see Saw 4...it was okay. I saw The Preacher's Wife on TV Saturday morning; other than that, I watched Sci-fi.

I rarely drink cold milk. Not sure how the "warm" milk thing got started, except for in the movies/books.

bettye griffin said...

I thought about hot chocolate too, Gwyneth! But it would be nasty without the chocolate.

Shelia, I think I'm numb to the movie. Now both the Lana Turner and Juanita Moore characters get on my nerves; Lana is too dramatic ("All right; I'll give him up!") and Juanita is too saintly. And who on earth has a funeral so elaborate?

Yeah, I'm starting to think that only people in the movies drink hot or warm milk.

Thanks for posting, ladies!

PatriciaW said...

I always assumed she meant warm milk, which my mother gave us all the time growing up to help us get a good night sleep. Milk with just a touch of butter in it. Now, all that dairy is the last thing I'd put on my stomach late at night!

BTW, I hate that movie.

DonnaD said...

I drink warm milk at night; sometimes it helps me sleep. But I'll drink milk - warm, hot or cold - anytime.

I've seen both versions of "Imitation of Life" and I'm always amazed at the end when the daughter comes running home at her mother's funeral crying. Happens all the time today. It's a shame she (and others) didn't have the sense to make amends before her mother died.

I've also watched some classic movies. In the last year or two I've seen, "Raisin in the Sun", "Lillies of the Field", "In the Heat of the Night" and a movie about the life of Thomas Dorsey (I think) starring Nat King Cole.

Old movies are so much fun because they depend a lot more on dialogue than special effects.

bettye griffin said...

Patricia and Donna, Ah, so there are black folks who've had warm milk! Patricia, you're probably right about dairy products not being the best thing to consume just before bedtime. Donna, I'm trying to drink more milk myself (skim, of course). My doctor suggested that I start taking calcium supplements.

Patricia, I'm thrilled to hear someone say they dislike Imitation of Life. After the hot milk offer, I went channel surfing and settled on the reliable Law & Order marathon on TNT.

Donna, I love old movies. I'm amazed at how quickly some of them can tell a story, many in just an hour and fifteen minutes. That movie you saw with Nat "King" Cole was probably St. Louis Blues, in which he portrayed legendary blues composer W.C. Handy (who, incidentally, didn't sing, but Hollywood is well known for taking liberties with so-called "biographies.") Thomas Dorsey, if I'm not mistaken, composed gospel music. That was the late Billy Preston (of the musical and huge Afro fame) playing William as a boy.

Hey, that Mahalia Jackson had a good agent. I remember thinking that she had excellent billing for a movie in which she had a very small part in. Likewise, in Imitation she received special billing for her appearance as the soloist at the funeral. I love it when our people are publicly treated with respect!