Brainy Beauty & Guillaume
Last night Movies!, channel 5–2 on over the air antennas in NYC, ran Framed (1947), starring Glenn Ford, part of the station’s Sunday Night Noir series. It’s middle of the genre fare, entertaining but never approaching complete satisfaction. On the plus side, it introduced me to an actress who was a complete mystery to me, despite her having amassed 43 credits beginning in 1941. In scanning them, I recognized only one title, Flying Leathernecks (1951), starring John Wayne, which frequently ran on Channel 9 back in the day. According to her bio at IMDb, Carter was a brainy beauty, graduating with degrees in arts and music from Mather College (Western Reserve) in Cleveland. She headed to New York in pursuit of a career in opera, supporting herself by waitressing, singing in churches, modeling, and writing radio scripts. That didn’t work out, but she landed parts in Broadway musicals, and was eventually spotted by Darryl Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox, who offered her a contract. Curiously, she has only one singing credit, although she seemed a natural for Hollywood musicals. As for her role in Framed, she was much too sunny for a femme fatale, although it was certainly no stretch that Ford’s character would get stupid about such a stunning beauty. Her career lasted until 1955. She passed away at 80 in 1994. Here she is:
Given the date, I googled “Literary April Fools Pranks.” Here’s the one I liked best, edited by yours truly: “The Today Program on BBC Radio ran a segment reporting that an excavation at Shakespeare’s home in Stratford had unearthed evidence that his mother was French — and that, by extension, so was the Bard himself. It was said that archaeologists had found a locket owned by Shakespeare’s mom, Mary Arden (‘Ardennes’?) that contained a French inscription as well as a lock of the hair of Mary Queen of Scots, who was French. The researchers noted possible French connections in Shakespeare’s writing. For instance, As You Like It is set in the Forest of Arden, perhaps an allusion to the Forest of Ardennes in France. The segment included an interview with a former French Culture Minister who said: ‘We are delighted to learn that Shakespeare was French… We are looking into how to honor the great playwright. Of course we have Racine and Molière, but we will make some room for him in our national pantheon of literature.’ French authorities reportedly asked to borrow the locket to display in France.” Parlez-vous français? Et tu, Guillaume?
How’s this for creepy? Since December, 23 horses have died at the Santa Anita race track in California. So far, no one has a clue as to the cause. It sounds like a plot from a Dick Francis novel.
With the wind stiff at my usual nook, I took the show to Bay Parkway today. My thanks to the two women who each bought a book in Russian, and to the gentleman who purchased Gorgias by Plato; and to the woman who selected The Autism Book: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Early Detection, Treatment, Recovery, and Prevention by Robert W. Sears and the Longman Dictionary of American English by Pearson ELT.
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