Skip to main content

The Man with a Cloak

    Good evening, and welcome to the author's green retreat. Tonight I had the privilege to watch a very good movie entitled The Man with a Cloak. It is the story of a failed poet in New York City circa 1848. He is a charming rascal called Dupin. He meets a young French woman named Madeline Minot, played by the lovely Leslie Caron. Madeline has just arrived in the states from France, at the behest of her fiance. She goes to the mansion of Charles Thevenet, her fiance's wealthy grandfather. (Played by (Louis Calhern.)
     When she finds Thevernet old, sick and being cared for by servants that want him dead, she enlists the aid of Dupin. (Played by Joseph Cotton). Dupin and the girl quickly run afoul of housekeeper Lorna Bounty (Played by Barbara Stanwyck) and butler Martin (played by Joe De Santis.)
     There are a multitude of surprises in store for the poet and the young woman. Mr. Thevernet is being denied his medicine and despite his age and infirmity, likes to party. The Frenchwoman wants him to leave his money to her idealistic fiance. The housekeeper and butler feel they deserve it for putting up with the aged rascal. The poet would just like enough money to pay his rent and bar tab. He wouldn't use the money for that purpose but he would certainly like to have enough to do these things. Ha, ha.
       If you watch this older movie you may find out:
1) Will Thevernet change his will?
2) Will he be murdered by his servants?
3) Will the poet steal the demure French girl away from her fiance?
4) Why does Thevernet wear a ring with a secret compartment?
5) Why does Thevernet have arsenic in that hidden compartment?
6) Who will die, who will live? Who will get rich?
7) For the final mystery, who is the poet, really? Is he truly named Dupin, or has he another alias?
8) Is a crow really someone you can trust with important papers?
     Do yourself a favor and rent this film from Amazon, Blockbuster or wherever. I give it a hefty 4.5 stars out of 5.
     I'm CE Wills.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The White Chicken Mystery

    The other night I happened to come home very late. It was the middle of the night and I was driving up a steep mountain road. Near the top I saw something white in my headlights. It was standing in the other lane, standing very still. It was a large white chicken. It was probably a rooster because I thought I could see his comb as I whizzed by at my customary pace. He never moved a muscle. This is weird, don't you think?      After a couple of days to consider this phenomenon, I have come up with some plausible answers for his bizarre behavior. 1. He was conflicted whether or not he should cross the road. 2. He was feeling cocky and decided to play chicken with the traffic. 3.He was being hen-pecked at home and had decided to end it all. 4. Someone had egged him on to do it. 5. He had just watched the movie Fantastic Four and decided to try to stop a truck the way that Ben Grimm did on the bridge. 6. He had driven himself crazy wondering if ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Egg Art

     Hey, everyone. One of the odd customs in America is the Easter Egg Hunt. Here at the Green Retreat, we do a hunt every Spring. I just ran across some of the pictures from this years hunt and it is obvious that an artist had sneaked into our midst. The orange egg is a rendering of one of the Angry Birds of gaming lore. If I were a bird and had to pass an egg that size, I would be angry too. Ha, ha.      We typically will dye about 10 dozen eggs and people get quite creative with their quotes and colors, as you can see. Many of the eggs are a bit risque for these pages. After having a few laughs, we hide the eggs. All of them are never found, which is cool. It is amusing to see old men (me) and all ages of folks, walking around with a basket on their arm. Some of the hiding spots are dastardly. Like eggs hidden in the guttering downspouts and ten foot up a tree. The kids are perhaps the most devious at hiding the colorful orbs, goi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cake Is Better Than Swords

Hey, everyone. On Thanksgiving, we had a get-together here at The Author's Green Retreat. One lady brought a cake which I wanted to show you. It had the look of a Roman Coliseum about it. Inside it was just as decadent...and fun, as ancient Rome. When I cut it open, homemade marshmallow cream began to ooze out in several spots, running over the chocolate cake and peanut butter icing. It is best served warm so the cream is fluid. Very tasty. The same lady, and her children, are people who have played a lot of Skyrim. They gave me some pointers on the game because I am having problems with it. They taught me how to fast travel, and a ton of other things, but the main thing was the armor and clothing problem. This is a little embarrassing, but let me explain. Okay. For several weeks when I played, I would enter towns and everyone I met would comment on my nakedness. I would select a tunic and shoes, whatever, go back around people and they would say something about it. I guess I w...
Post a Comment
Read more