Sucker For Romance

I got sucked into a vortex of romance yesterday.  I'm talking capital-R Romance in films where sex was left to the imagination in fade-to-black scenes.  "Dodsworth" (1936, Walter Houston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor, David Niven) was playing when I came back from the barn and the day got shot down right then and there.  I truly intended to get some work done as soon as I saw The End, but as luck would have it, "Dodsworth" was followed by "Now, Voyager."  I've seen "Now, Voyager" (1942, Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Raines, Gladys Cooper) countless times and could recite the script from memory.  Back in the day, the Kids' dad made points by lighting two cigarettes at one time like Henreid's romantic gesture.  Of course I had to watch "Now, Voyager."  Two movies down and the day was moving on, but wouldn't you know "Love Affair" was next?  This was the original 1939 version with Charles Boyer, Irene Dunne, and the always impressive Maria Ouspenskaya.  A gal could drown in Boyer's liquid brown eyes and his voice and accent could seduce a statue.  Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr made a credible remake in 1957, "An Affair To Remember."  I never miss watching "An Affair To Remember."  (The third remake doesn't deserve honorable mention.)  Thankfully, "Dark Victory" was not on the film agenda or my cause would have been completely lost.  I've seen "Dark Victory" (1939, Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, and a very young Ronald Reagan) so many times, I can walk through the room, catch a scene, and cry right on cue.

Dewy-eyed and sighing, replete with romance, I walked out with Bess to put the kids to bed.  It was a good day.