London 4

It's Museum Day, people!

After another delightful repast at Paul's in Marylebone Station we headed to the British Museum. I have wanted to visit this museum since I read Elizabeth Peters' first Amelia Peabody novel in middle school. She and her archaeological family go there whenever they are in London. I also really wanted to see the Elgin Marbles and various other items in the Greek art collection since I studied that stuff in college.

Here it is!

There is a lot of stuff in there! The galleries for the Parthenon marbles were lovely--spare and modern, which contrasted nicely with the 2,400 year old sculptures. The gallery was also full of light so you could really see the centaurs and the goddesses and the chariots. They are so beautiful--the white marble and the gorgeous shapes! I especially like the flowing cloaks. I think most of us have an image of Greek art as so white and elegant, but actually the Greeks painted their temples and sculptures, mainly in bright reds and blues. We know this from ancient descriptions and because on some objects there is still pigment hiding in deep creases. So instead of the "classic" white temples that are left today, imagine them covered in fire engine red and true blue. The British Museum had some nice scale models and details of the temple painted to show what it looked like when it was built.

Almost overshadowing the marbles themselves is the debate over who should get them. In the very beginning of the 19th century, Lord Elgin, with legal permission from the ruling Ottomans, dismantled what was remaining on the Parthenon in Athens, along with various other items on the Acropolis, and brought the stones back to England. In 1816 the British government bought the marbles from Lord Elgin and put them in the British Museum, where they have been on display ever since.

Naturally, Athens would like them back. The British Museum remains firm in its position. The same arguments surrounding almost every historical art object apply...if Lord Elgin hadn't removed them then there might not be anything left today (quite valid, since the Parthenon was in terrible shape even when Lord Elgin visited, and many of the sculptures were destroyed before he got there. Some of the worst damage to the temple was sustained in the 17th century when the Ottomans used it as an ammunition dump...the besieging Venetians bombed the Acropolis and, unsurprisingly, one of their shells hit the Parthenon. This set off the store of ammunition, blowing away the temple's roof and severely damaging the decoration.) But shouldn't they finally come back to Athens now that the Greeks are in a position to care for them? But finders keepers...But But But.

There were pamphlets available at the Museum discussing the controversy, so they aren't trying to hide it. But I doubt if there will be any resolution to this soon.

We wandered all around the Museum, which is particularly strong in ancient art and artifacts. The Museum was well organized and pretty easy to navigate. Plus, excellent (and numerous!) gift shops. I like museum gift shops.

As we were leaving we ducked into a side chamber called the Enlightenment Room. It is a themed room supposed to mimic an 18th-19th century "cabinet of curiosities" type museum place. The exhibit is built into the King's Library, which used to be George III's library. I enjoyed going from the modern and streamlined museum into this cozier room lined with shelves and books and objects of all kinds.

Interesting to have a "museum" within a museum. I am not sure which type of museum I like more. Although now that I think about it, I don't remember any objects in the Enlightenment room, just the room itself. So the cozy factor also became a distraction. Hmmm. But I still really liked being there. It reminded me of the library at the Biltmore House. I love the Biltmore House.

Here we are outside! We asked one of the guards about our route to the Museum of London and it turned into a rather long story. I guess I said "please" and "thank you" to him, and so he went off on a tangent about how polite I am, and he congratulated my mom, and then he told us how kids aren't nice anymore and how he always picks his daughter up after parties and one time this creep was there and it almost...It was very sweet but we really wanted to get going. It was cold.

We tubed it to the Museum of London, an urban history museum (one of the largest in the world) dealing with London's pre-history to the present day. I had no idea that the Romans were such a presence in London! How amazing if some of their architecture had lasted! But all those fires and invasions...

The Museum was very kid friendly and multimedia-heavy. Objects of all kinds, from ancient shoes and jewelry to Saxon weapons to 18th century paintings of London citizens and the city itself. I liked the way they brought together all kinds of sources, images, sounds, and objects. The Great Fire of London in 1666 exhibition is particularly memorable. Quotes from diaries and newspapers about the fire were printed on the backdrop, and they had fire noises playing, and paintings of the city in flames, and charred objects, etc. Pretty cool. They also have a delicious cafe...

We walked towards the Thames in order to get a view across the river of Parliament and Big Ben. We passed this church, or what used to be a church, on our way. I love how they kept the basic structure (I think it was bombed in the Blitz), but made it into a park. The aisle is still there, and the place were pews used to be are covered in roses and trees. Plants spill out of the open windows. What a beautiful, sacred way to deal with a broken church.We found it! Amidst a carnival type event with a carousel and mimes (ick) and street painters... we walked through the craziness, dodging the mimes, and pausing for pics once in a while. So very London!
Across the bridge we go!

Had to get this shot.We wandered around Parliament and Westminster Abbey again. I was already feeling a bit sad that I had to leave my mom the next morning and go back to Czech Land...
From a distance all the Parliament buildings look like smooth masses of tan stone, but up close you can see that they are very intricately carved! Amazing.

Parliament and the Union Jack.
London is a big city! I suppose I subconsciously expected Jane Austen's London or even Queen Victoria' London minus the crushing poverty and clever street urchins. But no, London is huge and modern and busy busy busy! The diversity on the streets was incredible. Prague is a bit more homogenous, and the villages outside of it are even more so, but my mom and I saw all kinds of different people in London. So many headdresses, skin colors, languages, and outfits! London felt more American in that way than I was expecting.

What a wonderful weekend! Too fast, but wonderful!

I was in the Czech Republic for a day and a half...and then Dubai! Stay tuned.

London 3

After an excellent and informative morning at the Tower of London, my mother and I strolled along the Thames. The walk was at times lovely, at times warehousy, and at times confusing. But we made it to St. Pauls!

It is a massive church designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the English "sober Baroque" style in the 17th century. The dome was inspired by St. Peter's in Rome.

This building is the latest in a long line of churches on this spot. The fourth church to be built here was called Old St. Paul's and was begun by the Normans in the 11th century. Yes, there had already been three churches there by the 11th century. London is really old. Old St. Paul's was a beautiful Gothic structure--one of the longest churches in Europe with one of the tallest spires on top. But the Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed it, along with almost everything else, so they replaced the Gothic church with a sober Baroque one. (I think "sober Baroque" is a great term, almost an oxymoron.)

Although St. Paul's was a target during the Blitz, it escaped pretty much unscathed. It was hit three times, and one of those times was a very near thing. In 1940 a time-delayed bomb fell on the Cathedral but the bomb squad was able to remove it and detonate it in a safe location. This "safe" detonation left a 100 foot crater, so had the bomb gone off in the Cathedral not much would have been left besides some sober Baroque dust. Here is an image of the dome during the Blitz. Thanks, Wikipedia. Amazing.

Oddly, I did not get any more pictures of the church itself. Part of the reason for my uncharacteristic photographic reticence is because the church is set up pretty high in a small square and it is difficult to get far enough away to take pictures of the facade. Also, there was a big line of people waiting to get into the church, and they detracted from the sober-ness of the Baroque-osity. But the main reason--I was distracted. There was a bride!

I was more interested in the bride than the architecture. Sorry about that.

How stylish with the giant columns. She was freezing in her strapless gown. It was funny to watch that woman run up to her between shots and cover her with a coat.A bird almost took down the groom.
I am a sucker for weddings. I like the yellow flowers. Very bright and cheerful especially on a chilly November day. The crowd's reaction to the bride was also bright and cheerful. Everyone took out their cameras and snapped and oohed and ahhed and grinned. It is fun to watch people watch something happy.

This bride reminded my mother that Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married at St. Paul's. Most of the royal family's stuff happens at Westminster Abbey, but when they need a bigger venue they use St. Paul's.

My mom and I had lunch at a fun restaurant called Apostrophe by the Cathedral. After our tummies were full it was time to fill our minds. (sorry.) We got in line and watched the bride some more, and then I saw a St. Paul's person ushering people to the crypt entrance. So we headed that way and got into the church without having to wait in the line. As I mentioned before, museums are free but churches are absolutely not. The tickets to walk around in St. Paul's were quite expensive, but it is a neat building. It was more Catholic than I thought it would be. It looked a lot like St. Peter's, complete with the black snaky columns at the High Altar.

There were lots of war memorials and tombs of sailors and soldiers in the church. Most moving for us was the American Memorial Chapel behind the altar. It commemorates all the American service-people who died in WWII. There is a beautiful book with the names of 28,000 Americans who died while stationed in Britain, or on their way to the UK. Every day they turn the page of the book so that other names can be seen. The memorial was paid for by donations from the British people (!) and dedicated in 1958. It was very special to see it.

I liked St. Paul's, but as I have said before, I prefer Gothic churches. Sober Baroque is nice, but give me dark, mysterious, reaching Gothic any day. Also, I am incredibly spoiled. Having been fortunate enough to travel quite a lot in my young life, I am getting harder to impress. For ornate craziness, I don't think you can beat the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. (Although I warn you, I am a teensy bit obsessed with that city so whatever is in Venice is naturally the best.) St. Paul's was like a smaller St. Peter's, and I wasn't educated enough/interested enough/or with time enough to really explore the church. Next time I would like to make a more thorough examination of the tombs and memorials. But we weren't in the mood for intense exploration. Also, we had decided to attend a 3pm evensong at Westminster Abbey, so were understandably anxious to begin our journey there so we wouldn't be late.

We walked from the city of London, where St. Paul's is, to the city of Westminster. On the way we passed the Temple, the law courts. We had both read a P.D. James novel about a murder that takes place in the Temple, so that was fun to see it.

As I look back over my travels I am realizing how much my fiction reading impacts my reality. Is that good?

We passed by Trafalgar Square. This shot has Nelson's Column on the left and the National Museum on the right.

The Museum:

This is Admiralty Arch, built in honor of Queen Victoria. It is right next to Trafalgar Square.
And now that famous landmark...
Big Ben! It is beautifully golden.

Westminster Abbey is right in the middle of a busy part of London. Big Ben and Parliament are right there, so it seemed odd to find such a beautiful, quiet, ancient (10th century though perhaps even 7th) church in that busy spot.

Once at the Abbey we asked an official looking person about evensong.

We were ushered past the tourist lines and through a side door straight into the choir of the church. There were not that many people. Surprising, since it is free, extraordinary, wonderful, and not that long, and since the church is closed to tourists during the services so the only way you can see it is to attend one.

My mom and I sat in the choir. We were lucky since the people who came in after us had to sit in normal chairs near the altar. The boys choir with some men, too, filed in wearing red robes with white ruffs. The little boys were adorable. My mom and I were practically sitting next to them. One little boy had super cute round glasses with black frames and he kept staring at me. When I looked at him he would look away really fast, but then I would catch him again a minute later. I wanted to wave but I didn't think that it would be appropriate.

The little boys were so well-behaved and professional. Which reminded my of my little boys...since they are the opposite. If Honzik had been in the choir he would have hit his neighbor a few seconds in, and Lukas would have gotten out of his seat and started dancing in the aisle.

The music was wonderful. Most of the service was music, which suited me. It was so cool to be there! Thank you, Mom, for suggesting we go! I highly, highly recommend that you attend something in Westminster Abbey if you are ever in London, even if you are not religious at all. It is a breathtaking building with so much history, and it is amazing to sit there and hear the music and watch the choir sing and the clerics process. The only downside is that we didn't have much time after the service to wander around the church.

I have an urge to learn more about the Abbey, especially as it pertains to the Royal Family. Every English monarch since 1066 that has had a coronation has been crowned in Westminster Abbey. It was neat to spend the morning at the Tower and watch the videos of Queen Elizabeth II being crowned in the Abbey, and then spend the afternoon in Westminster a few feet from where the coronations happen. Although I did not want to, I could feel myself becoming more and more fascinated with the Royal Family while I was in London. It is such a weird institution that is so outdated in so many ways yet continues to exist and prosper. I want to know who keeps track of all the ceremonies and protocols. I want to know what counts among the Queen's possessions and what belongs to the country. I want to know what it is like to be a servant at Buckingham Palace or Balmoral. Thankfully, this budding obsession is un-budding since I returned from London.

It was rather intriguing to compare Germany and the Czech Republic with England in regards to their attitudes towards their respective histories. England seems fiercely proud of itself and pretty fascinated by its history. Almost narcissistic. But you can understand that since their history is awfully extraordinary, and for the most part positive. At least, they were on the "right" sides in the World Wars and their monarchy continues to exist when almost all other have crumbled. They have produced a lot of great people and have been the conquerors instead of the conquered. I think that last fact makes a big difference in the psyche of a nation. Of course, England has done awful things, too. But they still seem rather proud of that stuff, like their past empires, their treatment of Ireland, and their colonies even though that has caused a lot of trouble. The brutality of their monarchs and things like Jack the Ripper are more cheeky tourist tales than embarrassments. I guess when you have such an absurdly long history you can start to giggle at what was once horrific. And there is a difference between being the victimizers and the victims, as I shall discuss now.

Germany, as I believe I have beaten relentlessly into this blog, has some trouble with their past. There is an odd combination of terrible guilt and perhaps a hint of pride at what they have done. I don't mean that people are proud of World War II or the Holocaust--not at all--but that, like England, they were conquerors, not the conquered. So although they did horrible things with their power, they were powerful, incredibly so. And that can give a boost to a nation's confidence.

Now, the Czech Republic is a different kettle of dumplings and meat. They have mainly been the conquered. And that makes a big difference. This is a gross over-simplification, but in their thousand year history, the Czechs have been free and independent for about 40 years. It is pretty sad when you think about it. I mean, Czechoslovakia was given to Hitler as part of the ill-fated appeasement. Sort of a "if we give you this country will you leave the rest of us alone? Okay, then, sorry Czechoslovakia." This had its advantages--for instance, Prague wasn't bombed during the war. But come on. The Czech Republic just celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, when the Communists were finally overthrown in 1989. But people today are extremely disappointed in their government. Democracy hasn't been the magical panacea.

Basically, the point of this rather long tangent was that I noticed a huge difference in England and the Czech Republic as regards their attitudes towards the past and future. England seems so proud and nationalistic, ready for what comes because look at what we have accomplished! On the contrary, the Czech Republic is a bit more subdued. More sullen than proud, more "if we stay quiet will everyone leave us alone?" than "Hear us roar!" The hope of England is not as evident here. (This is an interesting article about the Czech Republic and this same sort of stuff if you are interested.)

So--take away points. Go to a service in Westminster Abbey. Don't become a Royal Family freak. Countries are diffe--wait, is that a bride? Where is my camera???

London 2

Gentle Visitor--Pause awhile, where you stand

Death cut away the light of many days.

Here jeweled names were broken from the vivid thread of life.

May they rest in peace

while we walk the generations around their strife

and courage under these restless skies.

And now...the Tower of London!

My mum and I woke up ready to go on the Saturday of our whirlwind London holiday. We bundled up in our jumpers and took the lift to the lobby. (And yes, I am writing this in a British accent.)

After a tasty breakfast at Paul's, (ironically) a French establishment with a delightful outpost in the Marylebone train and Tube station right by our hotel, we headed out.

I had done a tiny interview the day before. My, those English papers are fast!

Actually, Mr. Cameron is a politician. My interview won't come out until next week.

We boarded the tube at the Baker Street station. Yes, that Baker Street. Although 221B, Sherlock Holmes' flat, never actually existed. There is no 221B. But there is a statue of the tall, lanky, oddball criminal-catching genius. All the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels are available for free on Amazon (hurray for copyright expirations!) and I read them all one after the other in September. So I was excited to see Sherlock.
It is interesting how the hyper-observant, romantically uninvolved-outsider who solves crimes that no one else can remains so popular. Patrick Jane (so cute) on "The Mentalist," Sean on "Psych," Monk on "Monk," Gibbs on "NCIS"...are all just reincarnations of Sherlock, and their sidekicks (Lisbon, Gus, Natalie/the Captain, and Gibbs' team) are basically Watson. Maybe that will be my dissertation. Probably not.

And now...really to the Tower of London!

Beware of sculptural archers!
As true in most of London, the very old and the very new butt up against each other in extraordinary contradictions. I took this picture from inside the Tower of London complex. The stone walls on the right hand side are very old bits of a moat.
I was aghast at the expensive ticket prices, but it turns out that the ticket includes entry to the complex, a tour from a Yeoman warder, and entrance into the various museums and exhibits. Okay, then.

Here is where you enter. You can barely see the Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater, in his red outfit at the center of the group. Our guide was fantastic. Funny, informative, entertaining. All yeoman warders are former English military with excellent records. It is an honor to be asked to interview for the position, and since the appointment is a lifetime one, you have to wait for a warder to die or retire before a slot opens up.

I thought the tower was really just a tower. It was very picturesque and sort of Wuthering Heights in my imagination--a lone and lonely spire in the moors in the middle of London. Not true, though. It is really a small town with several buildings surrounded by a double ring of moats and walls. The Thames used to run right through it and filled up the moats, but not anymore.

Thank you, Wikipedia for this image. We did not go on a helicopter ride.

Here is a water gate, called Traitor's Gate, that no longer blocks a boat's entrance. They dammed up that finger of the Thames. How eerie, though, to be brought to the Tower, especially as a prisoner, in a rowboat in the middle of the night, and to have those gates swing silently open...I think that is how Queen Elizabeth I was brought there when she was accused of treason against that sweet, lovely Bloody Mary. It is called Traitor's Gate because people accused of treason, like Queen Anne Boleyn, and Sir Thomas More, were apparently brought to the Tower through this entrance.
The architecture is so English. Love it. This portion is right above the water gate.
I really had no idea how old the Tower is. The White Tower, which I had always thought was the Tower, was built in 1078 by William the Conquerer. Although it has been added to and reconstructed and changed over the intervening millennium.

I suppose I had always heard of the Tower in connection with the Tudors, but it has been much more than a prison for Henry's wives and daughters. (What a barbarian he was!)

The Tower of London has been a fortress, a palace for the monarchs, (the White Tower), a prison (often for the monarchs and their relatives), an execution ground, an armory, the treasury, the Royal Mint, and most sparkly, the home of the Crown Jewels since 1303.

The tour brought us across the dry moat and into the central courtyard. Then we went into the Royal Chapel of St. Peter in Chains. A church has stood on that spot since the Norman conquest, but this particular chapel dates from the 16th century. It is an active parish church with a beautiful, simple interior of stone. It is famous because some of the most infamous prisoners and executionees (is that a word?) of the Tower are buried there. Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey, and Sir Thomas More rest in the chapel.

Here is the central courtyard. The brick house on the right is where Lady Jane Grey was imprisoned before she was killed.

Here is a view of a grassy spot in the central courtyard with Tower Bridge in the background. And now I shall return to the quote and the image that began this post. The thing inside the black metal fence is a sculpture of a cushion on a glass disk with the poem engraved on it.

Here is the poem again so you don't have to scroll up:

Gentle Visitor--Pause awhile, where you stand

Death cut away the light of many days.

Here jeweled names were broken from the vivid thread of life.

May they rest in peace

while we walk the generations around their strife

and courage under these restless skies.

My mom and I thought it was a beautiful memorial. Only the "jewelled names" were executed near this spot inside the Tower. More "common" "criminals" were beheaded outside of the Tower on the nearby hill. A Tube station (Tower Hill) is there now, but there is a memorial to all the people who were executed there.

This memorial was nearby on the grass.

Remembrance Day in Britain, when they remember all those who died in wars, is November 11. That day in 1918 was when the Armistice was signed ending World War I. My mom and I were in London November 6-9, but ceremonies marking Remembrance Day were happening all weekend. Poppies are the symbol of the day because poppies grew and grow in some of the fields in France where horribly bloody fighting occurred in both World Wars. Poppies can lie dormant beneath the soil for years and then start to grow when the soil is disturbed. That is why poppies suddenly sprang up in fields of soldiers' graves. There are some poems about "Flanders Fields" and the poppies growing where men died, which is why the poppy remains the symbol of soldiers lost in wars. I think that is a beautiful and tragic and powerful symbol and I wish it was a tradition in the United States.

It seems to me that in recent years the wars that the US is fighting have become too politicized. One end of the political spectrum has sort of claimed the right to remember the fallen while denying that to the other end. If you don't support the war then you somehow also don't support the soldiers. Not true. It sometimes feels like a patriotism contest--I have more yellow ribbons than you, therefore I am "more" American...I think we can take a lesson from England. The war in Afghanistan is not popular there, but rather than argue over whether they should be there or whatever, everyone seemed to put that aside for a while and unite in remembering the people who died for their country. No political fighting, just respectful remembrance. I don't want to go more into this, though I would be interested in hearing if you agree or disagree.

All weekend my mom and I saw paper poppies pinned in people's lapels and on hats. Poppy wreaths and bouquets were in the churches and on the street. The ground surrounding Westminster Abbey was the main area for Remembrance Day. Small wooden crosses with poppies and the names of soldiers who died, like the ones in the above picture, covered the grass by the Abbey.

Obviously England suffered horribly in both World Wars, and they have recently lost soldiers in Afghanistan, which added some poignancy to Remembrance Day.

Seeing the names of 19 year old soldiers who were killed last week in Afghanistan next to the names of men who died in France 65 years ago...well, it does something to you.

Now, though it feels a bit inappropriate, let us move to diamonds.

There are real soldiers on guard all the time to protect the Crown Jewels.
Funny, funny hats. The museum of the Crown Jewels is very well set-up. They are three or so rooms of big walls of screens playing various moments of the monarchy that feature the crown jewels. Each room has Disney World rope dividers so you snake back and forth in front of the video of Queen Elizabeth's coronation or Jubilee or opening Parliament or whatever. Very smart of them to do that. It keeps the line moving and gives you something to look at. Also, very cool to see the crowns and scepters being used since you then get to see them in their cases!

Some of the stuff is so silly. The ceremonial mace and scepter and gold plates...beyond anachronistic but very important to the Master of Protocol, I suppose. I think I liked Queen Victoria's little (relatively speaking) white diamond tiara the best.

The crown jewels can never leave England, so when a monarch goes somewhere else and needs a crown, the Royal Jewelers have to make a new one. There was a crown there that Queen Elizabeth II's father? wore to India for his coronation as Emperor or something. They made it especially for the trip, since he couldn't take his other crowns out of England. And it has never been worn since. He wrote in his diary that the crown was very hot and heavy to wear during the four hour ceremony in the Indian sun. Poor baby.

There was an exhibition about Henry VIII and his suits of armor entitled "Dressed to Kill." Before he expanded so grotesquely, he was quite the athlete. An excellent hunter and warrior. Interesting, though after a while every suit of armor begins to look the same. I like looking at the horses' outfits more than the men's. I was very impressed with the museums and tours at the Tower of London. A must-see that is worth it.

Here I am in the central courtyard by some cute blue doors.
Before heading off to our next stop, my mom and I posed in front of the Tower Bridge.It was a bit brisk but a beautiful day!

I shall endeavor to get a post about the rest of our jam-packed day up soon. I really ought to work on graduate school applications...but perhaps I will just watch my laundry spin around in the washing machine instead...

Movie of the Week XVI

The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

I watched this musical when I was but a wee child and then rediscovered it a few years ago thanks to Netflix. It was actually one of the first movies I watched at Duke, which is fitting as the movie is actually about members of the Duke family! The movie is based on a true story--the life of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle. The screenplay is based on a play that is based on a book that Biddle's daughter wrote, entitled My Philadelphia Father. That daughter is Cordelia Drexel Biddle who became Cordelia Drexel Biddle Duke when she married Angier Buchanan Duke. Biddle Music Building, anyone? That is from this family. Oddly enough, one of Cordelia's brothers married Angier's sister, making a Duke Biddle instead of a Biddle Duke. That pair are the parents of Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. Lots of names!

Abbreviated Duke family tree: Angier was one of Benjamin Duke's children, (who was the son of Washington Duke and the brother of James B. Duke, the one who endowed Duke University in 1924). Angier was the cousin of Doris Duke. There is an Angier Buchanan Duke scholarship, the AB Duke, and a BN Duke in honor of his father. I believe Angier drowned in 1923.

Hopefully that was not totally boring for non-Duke people. I found it rather amazing when I realized that the Duke boy in the movie and the Cordelia he courts are those Dukes and Biddles! Especially since I was watching the movie in my dorm room at Duke, right across the quad from the Biddle Music Building and the statue of B.N. Duke seated in his arm-chair.

So...about the movie! It is a Disney film, so it has the same fun feeling as Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Pollyanna (1960), and Mary Poppins (1964). Trivia: The Happiest Millionaire happens to be the last live-action film that Walt Disney actually produced. It was the last movie he worked on, and he died before it was released.

The movie is about the Drexel Biddles, especially Mr. Biddle, but it veers off into a romance between Cordelia and Angier Duke. (As you can see in this poster, the emphasis is on Cordelia and Angier, compared to the alligator/butler/Mr. Biddle of the poster at the beginning of this post.)

The narrator of the film is an Irish butler who arrives at the mansion in Philadelphia and is immediately overwhelmed and yet intrigued by the craziness.

Mr. Biddle (Fred MacMurray) teaches a Boxing and Bible school in the stable and keeps alligators in the conservatory. He is delightfully unconventional. I love him in 1930s screwball comedies, and he is good in this, too. Thirty years later.

Mrs. Biddle (Greer Garson) mainly smiles at his antics. Garson was a marvelous and marvelously popular actress in the 1940s (especially in WWII movies.) She played a great Elizabeth Bennett opposite Laurence Olivier's Darcy in a 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice, and she won a Best Actress Oscar for Mrs. Miniver in 1942.

Here are Mr. and Mrs. Biddle. A bit unfair to put this picture next to their more youthful ones...

When we meet Cordelia (Lesley Ann Warren) she is quite the tomboy. To remedy the situation she is reluctantly sent to boarding school to grow up and be "finished."

Her trashy blonde roommate teaches her how to flirt in a "Bye-yum-pum-pum" number involving plenty of strutting, hip shaking, mysterious glances, and references to Theda Bara, the sort of scary silent film star "vamp" who was popular in the teens. This movie takes place in 1917, by the way.

Cordelia goes to a party, armed with her new flirtation techniques, and guess who she meets? A dashing boy by the name of Duke! Angier (John Davidson) is adorable and really wants to go to Detroit and get involved in automobiles instead of going into that little family business of tobacco. Cordelia and Angier fall in love...awww.

There are some sweet songs then the requisite barriers to their love appear. Mr. Biddle doesn't want his little girl to leave (she is only 17!) and Mrs. Duke is not sure the Biddles are good enough for her son. Then Angier gets pushed into giving up on his dreams of Detroit and Cordelia gets tired of the social pressure, and the alligators escape...you know, the usual.

There aren't any fabulous songs that have become part of the classics catalog, but they are fun. The characters are wacky and the setting of the film is unusual and fun, too. If the romance doesn't grab you, there are lots of other things going on. The alligators' escape is rather amusing, and quite terrifying (to me), and the butler is a fun character. There is a nice bar brawl, too.

Sarah Duke, Angier's mother, comes off just terribly in this movie. She is snobby and rude and uptight, and she almost prevents true love! But she can't have been that bad in real life since the Duke Gardens are named after her.

Angier was also not quite as adorable as he is in the movie. This is his portrait.

I do not know if Angier really did want to go to Detroit or how accurate any of this is, beyond the fact that Cordelia and Angier did get married in real life. But it is interesting to ponder.

The Happiest Millionaire is fun and light like coconut cake. Yum. It becomes more interesting if you are at all into the Duke family or Duke University. There aren't a lot of (or any) other musical comedies based on the founders of my alma mater, so I think the movie is pretty cool. Great actors (though Lesley Ann Warren's spineless Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella bugs me) and Oscar nominated costumes and a lovely mansion crawling with reptiles.

So if you are a Dukie, or are not that lucky but enjoyed The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), The Parent Trap (1961), The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968) (love it!) or were totally creeped out by The Three Lives of Thomasina (1964) (thanks a lot, Mom) you might enjoy The Happiest Millionaire.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

As it is an American holiday there are no pilgrim hats, Squanto feathers, or turkeys for me today.

But I am thinking about my family and friends and hoping that

everyone has a lovely holiday!

I miss you!