Friday, December 26, 2014

The Bishop’s Wife
adapted for radio by the
Lux Radio Theater
~ § ~

4 comments:

  1. One that really could have fallen off the edge into saccharine but managed to deliver thanks to the cast.

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  2. Hello, Ducky, if, as I often suspect, you missed the joy of having a warm, secure childhood marked by affection, and filled with wholesome, good natured whimsy and memorably pleasant fantasy, I'm sorry you were so deprived.

    It's not that I want to believe that early childhood dreams and indulgences should remain a constant throughout our lives, but I honestly do think they have made a solid foundation of confidence and joy on which I've been able to build the rest of my now-fairly-long life, despite a nearly constant succession of disappointments, aggravation, deprivation, periods of ill health, and grief.

    The glowing memories of a happy childhood never fail to buoy me up and restore enough optimism to keep me focused on belief in the certainty that better times are bound to come -- and soon.

    If, as Oscar Wilde said, "Illusion is the beginning of all pleasure," I am glad to say I have kept many of mine intact, despite much threatening evidence that wants to assert itself to the contrary.

    Cynicism, which I admit to finding abhorrent and detrimental to human progress, is fact- based and nourished by fear and the persistent cultivation of ardent pessimism bordering in perversion.

    Optimism on the other hand tends to be faith-based, and filled with a determination always to do one's best to find whatever good there may be in everyone, and to look for what good might be gained through adversity.

    In my way of thinking results are all that count, and so far in nearly 74 years of bumbling around Determined Optimism bears much sweeter and more abundant fruit than its opposite. And doesn't it say somewhere in the bible,

    So, I wish you a generous measure of joy and much satisfaction devoid of complacency in the New Year, for smugness is almost as bad as cynicism. ;-)

    PS: Almost more than any other element Hugo Friedhofer's splendid musical score for the Bishop's Wife evokes its charm, defines its character, then builds and sustains its buoyant, bemused, tenderhearted mood. As always Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester, Gladys Cooper and James Gleason provided a distinguished screen presence. Casting the ever suave, debonair Cary Grant as an angel was a true stroke of genius, and of course David Niven in the unsympathetic role of Bishop Brougham and the ever-lovely Loretta Young in the title role were perfect in their parts.

    If forced to choose one, the enchanting ice skating scene is probably my very favorite vignette from all the hundreds of movies I’ve seen and enjoyed.

    To say I love this film would be the greatest understatement possible.

    This radio version, of course, is a mere skeleton of the movie, itself, though I loved Phyllis Thaxter’s gentle, high class portrayal of Loretta Young’s role.

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  3. That film is one of my all time
    favorites.

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  4. I'm glad to know that, BB.

    Happy New Year to you!

    ReplyDelete

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