On a minor side note

I am wondering if you—and our dear readers—could post about their favorite movies to watch high. This is a subcategory I've previously not given thought to, since my days of recreational use are far behind me. But I have recently had the occasion to smoke for medicinal purposes. And I've found—very much to my surprise—that Dinner For Shmucks is not only utterly charming, but holds up well to repeated viewings.

Six Degrees of Movie Star Separation

Dear e~.,

I'm so happy you mentioned Robert Taylor, for I've been trying to think up an excuse to make you talk about my favorite actress: Vivien Leigh, who appeared with Taylor in "Waterloo Bridge." It would be fun and interesting if we agreed on either her merits as an actress or her qualifications for the most beautiful actress in classic movies. But it would be even more fun and interesting if we didn't. I haven't heard your opinion on this before and look forward to knowing it.

In case you didn't see "Waterloo Bridge," it's a dark little movie where Viv plays a prostitute. I know that's almost as hard to believe as when the sainted Audrey Hepburn played one in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" despite the fact that the thought of her in bed with some swollen-nosed thug was more than ludicrous. So the audience must suspend their belief a tad also with Vivien, knowing she wouldn't dirty her little hands or feet by doing such dastardly deeds. Still, even if you don't believe she's had to go to the dark side for money during the war, her natural darkness bleeds through the performance and she is full of natural guilt and remorse.

I remember watching this movie when I lived on the Cape, and my stepfather's stepmother moved to Brewster. She had all the old film star biographies around, and I used to pour over them until my eyes were practically black and white like the pictures. Vivien was my favorite then, as now. I think part of it is that she reminded me of my grandmother, who from the front looked a little like Ava Gardner, but from the side had Vivien's exact profile. But that grandmother was of Czech and Austrian descent, not English, and did not have Viv's thin bow-like lips. But from the side, they could be twins.

Another reason I loved Vivien is because she was so petite. It's been said in biographies that her stage voice was rather thin. You can see her pushing her thin voice through that corset and up to her voice box belting out the true southern belle brat's argument with Mammy. I think she made a wonderful Scarlett, but there are at least two places where her southern accent sounds just a tad British. But we must forgive her, for she carried that entire movie on her narrow little shoulders so beautifully.

I'll be waiting anxiously e~ for your input on this Leigh thing. I do think although Liz Taylor may have been more striking, Vivien was just so freaking pretty, and had so much class, and the sweetest girlish expression on her face but with the strange and seductive tilt of her eyes - why I do believe she could have snared any man she wanted in the world with them.