Skip to main content

Undercurrent

     Good evening. What do you get when you have Katherine Hepburn, Robert Taylor and Robert Mitchum together on screen? Well, you get a heck of a good movie called Undercurrent. This movie, which I watched tonight on Turner Classic, was a mystery/ drama. Don't be put off by the slow start. In fact, the beginning seemed rather a silly stab at being cute or funny. I came within an ace of deleting it out of hand. I am so glad I did not. By the way, this movie was from 1946.
     Katherine Hepburn stars as Ann, a normal girl-next-door type. Her father is a scholarly gentleman who makes the acquaintance of one of the wealthiest men in the world, a man named Alan Garroway. (Robert Taylor). Everyone is surprised when Alan falls for Ann and marries her. Ann is the most surprised person, as she is not exactly playboy material. Isn't this stupid of humanity? That old stuff of "They could have anyone, why pick that person?" As though looks alone were the end-all of relationships.
      As the story slowly unfolds, a mystery begins to envelope us. After the couple marry we start to see quirks in Prince Charming. Why does he hate his missing brother so much? Did Alan make his fortune from an invention he stole? Why do all of Alan's servants, friends and employees act so odd around the bride?
     A word here, a stare there and the plot grows, the mystery enfolds you like the fog off the bay at the Golden Gate bridge. Could it be possible that Ann is in danger? Could she be falling in love with a man she doesn't know? Is Alan actually his missing brother, Michael? Why would Michael's ex-girl, Mrs. Burton, try to destroy Ann's opinion of her husband? What's the deal with the crazy horse that seems to want to kill anyone that comes around the stables at the estate?
     I will cut the review short, rather than ruin this fine mystery. Let me say that the early part is so like human nature. Because a movie, a book or a person doesn't knock our socks off at the beginning does not necessarily mean that they should be disregarded or disrespected. How often does a person grow more attractive or less attractive as we are exposed to them? Often, I think. A human is like a good mystery. If they are worth knowing, it is doubtful that they will be so shallow as water in a pool. Rather, they are like a view of the Grand Canyon. It changes with the light, morning or evening, summer or winter, if you are alone or with others, when you are happy or scared, frightened of it or at peace. People are so complex and hidden from our eyes and senses. Unless someone sets off alarms in you, scares the tar out of you, perhaps you should reserve judgement, attractive or not, rich or not, personable or not.
     I fear that we as people are prone to throw away potential friends as though they were used tissue. It is a great tragedy. In our fast food world, we want fast friends, fast fun, fast relationships. Fast plots. Fast consummation  of things best left for savoring.
     From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Game Review: NFS, Hot Pursuit

    This game was one which I refused to download for a while, even though it was on sale for 99 cents. I thought that it looked boring and narrow. Boy, was I wrong! This game totally kicks butt. It is one of those rare games that will actually give you an adrenaline rush. It is that intense. The developers, EA Games, have recently updated the app to include two main avenues of play. You can either be the cops or the racers who are trying to evade the cops. As a racer you have to deal with cops trying to hit you and make you crash, cops buzzing you with helicopters, oncoming traffic, tack strips spread across the road and roadblocks. In the cop mode you are a cop and you are trying to stop a reckless racer by any means, fair or foul. As a racer you can use nitrous oxide for increased speed, overdrive capability and oil slicks. You also can jam the cops communication with a jamming unit. Like almost all games these days, it gets harder as you go along. I prefer my games to...

Shadowgun: Crushing The Driller On Level 4

      Hey, everyone. Let's talk about the game called Shadowgun, the I-Pad game with which I have a love-hate relationship. Most of you who made it past the evil Cyber Lobster are doubtless locked in a death struggle with the Driller at the end of level 4. At this point you have been in the cave for a long time. The Driller breaks through the rock wall and chases you through the tunnel as you try to shoot out the green lights which slows the Driller down. If you are slick enough to shoot out all the lights and emerge from the cave, a rolling door crashes on the Driller and crushes his aggravating carcass. I have tried and failed to beat the Driller at least 250 times. I hate the Driller to the heights and depths my soul can reach. I hate it like a plague. I hate it with intensity of feeling. I hate it like a rich man hates taxes. Excuse me, I got carried away.       We had a big dinner here at the green retreat and my friend Trevor was ...

Stick Bugs

    Here at our place we have these odd bugs that look very much like a stick with legs. They are whoppin' big things, 6 to 8 inches long. They're called stick bugs. They'll give you quite a start if you feel something on your head and feel around up there and contact one of them. They like to ride piggy-back on each other and I don't know why that is. I'm not crazy about them.     Last night I told you about the army of raccoons that ran away as I came home. Evidently they returned later because I found two tiny footprints on the dust of my car. I was relieved that they didn't write "Wash me".     Today I was changing the filter on my water system. My well is good despite the dry weather but I have iron water that requires a pretty good filter, a 5 micron. This takes out the sediment and makes your toilets look more civilized. Anyway, as I was doing this I heard a tremendous crash. It sounded like it was quite a way off so I didn't investi...