Magnet #474 - Bar Harbor, Maine...why not Bar Harbor?"
- Cousin Julia, Summer Magic
Right at this moment, my sisters (who unpacked the DVD out of moving boxes) are now re-watching Moon-Spinners for the thousandth time, and I've hit pause on Summer Magic, to write this post.
I certainly didn't intend for this to be a Hayley Mills mini-marathon, but who can resist the call of Beautiful Beulah, Maine, and the wonderful, oh so cheesy Carey family of Summer Magic?
There's the ever-so-put upon widowed matriarch, Margaret, placed in reduced circumstances, mother of willful daughter and consummate dreamer Nancy, ragtime pianist son, Gilly, and impish son, Peter, who sleeps every night with the Shaggy DA dog.
Nancy (who has the cutest dresses, with the wrongest hairwear) has convinced the affable Osham (?) Popham (played by the affable Burl Ives) to let them live in the gorgeous abandoned yellow house in the outskirts of Beulah, and it's all about how the Bostonian Careys get used to living in the countryside (because really, who needs money, in the land of milk and honey)?
And then horrendously prissy and snobby Cousin Julia, who is the Pink of Perfection, comes to live with them, and turns their lives topsy-turvy....
And then a hot teacher shows up to create a love triangle...
And then the hot owner of the house comes back and...
Ok, ok, the story's way too complicated to get into, but suffice to say that there's a happy ending. Of course. Hello, it's Disney!
(Actually, in point of fact, Summer Magic was based on a book called Mother Carey's Chickens, written all the way back in 1911 and already downloaded to my BlackBerry. It was written by Kate Douglas Wiggin...who, in addition to pioneering Kindergartens in the U.S., also wrote Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.)
Also? Being Disney, it has several musical numbers that won't leave your head - apparently ever. For serious, yo. I'm seeing tonight that on top of quoting scenes, I can still sing along for every freakin' number... Good. Grief.
Overall the movie tends to hold up ok - mostly because even though it was released in 1963, it's set in the early 1900s. I won't lie, some of the songs are pretty FF-worthy - particularly when they're just montages of the countryside and the flora and fauna of said countryside. Some of them are just toe-tappin' fun. Yeah, you read that right - I said toe-tappin' fun.
You'll see below by the lyrics of Femininity, some of the songs are pretty darn offensive to our modern-day feminist sensibilities. But, scored right, and yeah, I'll be singing this song all the way to work today.
eta:
Oh! I forgot! I've never been to Maine, either! Save the World Sister got me this magnet while hiking in Maine. Huh. Now there's a question. I wonder why comes it's "trekking" when you're in Nepal, but it's just plain old "hiking" Stateside.
eta2:
You know what's funny? Reading comments on the YouTube installments. So funny to see how people react to this movie...
I certainly didn't intend for this to be a Hayley Mills mini-marathon, but who can resist the call of Beautiful Beulah, Maine, and the wonderful, oh so cheesy Carey family of Summer Magic?
There's the ever-so-put upon widowed matriarch, Margaret, placed in reduced circumstances, mother of willful daughter and consummate dreamer Nancy, ragtime pianist son, Gilly, and impish son, Peter, who sleeps every night with the Shaggy DA dog.
Nancy (who has the cutest dresses, with the wrongest hairwear) has convinced the affable Osham (?) Popham (played by the affable Burl Ives) to let them live in the gorgeous abandoned yellow house in the outskirts of Beulah, and it's all about how the Bostonian Careys get used to living in the countryside (because really, who needs money, in the land of milk and honey)?
And then horrendously prissy and snobby Cousin Julia, who is the Pink of Perfection, comes to live with them, and turns their lives topsy-turvy....
And then a hot teacher shows up to create a love triangle...
And then the hot owner of the house comes back and...
Ok, ok, the story's way too complicated to get into, but suffice to say that there's a happy ending. Of course. Hello, it's Disney!
(Actually, in point of fact, Summer Magic was based on a book called Mother Carey's Chickens, written all the way back in 1911 and already downloaded to my BlackBerry. It was written by Kate Douglas Wiggin...who, in addition to pioneering Kindergartens in the U.S., also wrote Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.)
Also? Being Disney, it has several musical numbers that won't leave your head - apparently ever. For serious, yo. I'm seeing tonight that on top of quoting scenes, I can still sing along for every freakin' number... Good. Grief.
Overall the movie tends to hold up ok - mostly because even though it was released in 1963, it's set in the early 1900s. I won't lie, some of the songs are pretty FF-worthy - particularly when they're just montages of the countryside and the flora and fauna of said countryside. Some of them are just toe-tappin' fun. Yeah, you read that right - I said toe-tappin' fun.
You'll see below by the lyrics of Femininity, some of the songs are pretty darn offensive to our modern-day feminist sensibilities. But, scored right, and yeah, I'll be singing this song all the way to work today.
You must walk feminineHeh. You're still here. Go. Watch!
Talk feminine
Smile and beguile feminine
Utilize your femininity
That's what every girl should know, if she wants to catch a beau
Dance feminine
Glance feminine
Act shy and sigh feminine
Compliment his masculinity
That's what every girl should know, if she wants to catch a beau
Let him do the talking
Med adore good listeners
Laugh, but not too loudly (Haha)
If he should choose to tell a joke
Be radiant, but delicate
Memorize the rules of etiquette
Be demure, sweet and pure
Hide the real you
You must look feminine
Dress feminine
You're at your best feminine
Emphasize your femininity
That's what every girl should know
Femininity, femininity
That's the way to catch a beau
eta:
Oh! I forgot! I've never been to Maine, either! Save the World Sister got me this magnet while hiking in Maine. Huh. Now there's a question. I wonder why comes it's "trekking" when you're in Nepal, but it's just plain old "hiking" Stateside.
eta2:
You know what's funny? Reading comments on the YouTube installments. So funny to see how people react to this movie...
6 comments:
That song is the Mad Men definition of feminism, huh?
Hahahaha, yep, cc, it sure is. Heh, and in my head, Joan's teaching her girls the song. I'm gonna go back to link to it. Worth a giggle or two.
Maine is beautiful and well worth a road trip. See, the thing about Disney movies based on books is that they almost never actually base the movie on the book. They use the names of the characters and maybe the setting and then they go all DIsney on it and it isn't anything like the book. You'll see that if you read Moonspinners. That said, if you're big into Hayley Mills, it probably won't matter much. Enjoy.
you know i thought bar harbor would be really cool because of summer magic... but really, it's like stars hollow, but in maine.
but i STILL love summer magic. i think haley mills' movies are a family test - like if you don't like it, are we really friends with you? hahahahah Gordon likes summer magic and moonspinners... is he singing the songs along with us? probably not, but he doesn't mind when we watch them. :)
also, i don't know why its trekking in nepal and hiking in the states. i think tourists in nepal want to sound cooler or something.
I love when -- spoiler alert -- Hayley comes bounding down the stairs and is stopped short by the hot homeowner. I like to think they got together. Swoon.
@Vicki - Ah, but therein lies the beauty (and curse) of Disney. I always expect Disney to Disney-fi any book. Parent Trap was nowhere near the original Lisa & Lottie book, but I love the happy movies ever so much more than the books...which tends to happen with Disney anyway.
Nothing wrong with a little Stars Hollow in Maine. And yes, Gordon - and actually Ro's Ivan, too - scores major points with me for being able to a) hang with the girls and b) put up with whatever the girls are sucked into at the time.
And, dude. Spoiler alert or not (dudes, the movie's been out since the early 60s, I'm past spoiling), Nancy Carey totally got together with Mr. Hamilton. That night. And forever after.
Post a Comment