Thursday, September 4, 2008

Cupidon's Blog

Bojour Cherie!

I am Cupidon! Pint size companion to Clio Dulaine. I know all the dirt of the people here abouts in Saratoga Springs. I smoke cigars with Mr. Clint and he says I should "start one a them there blogs on the internets." So here I am to give you all the gossip.

They say charity begins at home so I will give the goods on Mrs. Dulaine. First of all. She is not a countess. She wants me to call her "her ladyship," but that is just a little joke with us. Just like Mr. Clint was never a colonel in the army. Second of all Angelique is not black. She is a white woman in make-up. I think Clio thinks it is more chic to have black maid so she makes Angelique put on the make-up. But I ask you, what is the deal with the eyebrows? She went crazy with the eyebrows.

Now you might have heard a word or two around the Springs about Mrs. Dulaine and Bartholomew Van Steed. I think, meh, she likes his money, but she is in love with Mr. Clint. You watch, Cherie, she will always go back to Mr. Clint even though his idea of money is winning $500 in a card game. Did she not follow him here from New Orleans? She may talk about getting revenge for her mama and marrying a rich man, but I can tell, in her heart it is all Clint, Clint, Clint all the time. Let me tell you another thing, Cherie. That door between their rooms is never locked, not even once. They are alike those two. Always lying, always angry and always scheming to "get the other fella first be he gets you."

The big talk around Saratoga Springs is the railroad, the so-called Saratoga Trunk line between the coal fields and the rest of New York. Bartholomew Van Steed owns it, but Mr. Soule and his cronies are trying to get it away from him in the courts. So Mr. Clint says he should hire some tough guys and take it back, station by station. I tell Mr. Clint when the day comes to fight, Cupidon will be there by his side. I despise Mr. Soule because when Mrs. Dulaine addressed him he sat there in his seat like a lump. Maybe she is only a pretend countess, but still a gentleman should stand up and greet her. He is no gentleman and he will not keep the railroad. Oh no, Cupidon will see to that.

I should say something about the social scene here. Everyday the place to see and be seen is at the spring drinking the waters. As usual with these things the water is terrible, nasty stuff. It was a mystery to me how this place could be so popular-- a musty old hotel full of rich stuffed turkeys drinking disgusting water? That was until I met Mrs Coventry Bellop. As Mr. Clint says, she is one tough old battle ax. (He say that to me in private, not to Clio because she likes Mrs. Bellop.) Now this Bellop uses her influence to make the resort popular among her set of folks. If they decide to go elsewhere she convinces them to stay because she knows the dirt on all of them, even more than Cupidon! They are all scared of Mrs. Bellop, even Mrs. Van Steed, Bartholomew's mama. Oh, Mrs. Bellop should write a blog too! But that would not do because she makes her living by keeping her mouth shut. In return for this service, the hotel overlooks her bills. It is quite an arrangement. I guess she sees something of herself in Mrs. Dulaine, so she has decided to keep quiet about New Orleans and all of our mischief there for free.

Well, that is about all for now, Cherie. Angelique is coming to roust me for an errand. I better post this before she can stop me.

Au revoir!

7 comments:

kda0121 said...

I saw Saratoga Trunk many years ago and have been wanting to view it again, but have missed it the few times that TCM has shown it. I don't remember much about it, except for Flora Robson's make up, the train wreck at the end and that it was a longgggggg movie.

I can't recall the reason, but Saratoga was filmed in 1943 and release was held up till 1945. I think they knew they had a lemon on their hands and didn't know how to make lemonade.

Jennythenipper said...

It is a long movie. It took me three days to watch it (i don't always have two hour chunks of time, so i watch 45 minute chunks of movies)It's really two movies that weren't quite long enough so they smashed them together.

I really enjoyed it, though. (They showed it on Ingrid day in August). I love Cooper and Bergman together and this is a good showcase for them. There are a couple of scenes when they don't say or do much but they just sit there together and it actually says it all. It's quite beautiful. The movie is a bit silly, I think and I think that's may be why it was never a hit. It was really a comedy dressed up in the trappings of a potboiler.

I think the reason for the delay was supposedly there was a backlog of war movies that they had to try get on screen before the war was over. You might be right, though. The studio may have sensed they had a flop on their hands.

I know a number of Gary Cooper fans who adore this movie. It's an interesting character for him, more of a Gable-esque Gambler whose a sucker for a pretty face. I liked him in it quite a bit.

kda0121 said...

I will watch this the next time it is on. I almost always like Coop and Ingrid is no slouch either; although I do prefer her as a blonde.

Nancy "Beaky" Bruce said...

I have to admit -- this is one of my absolute favorites of Coop's movies -- because of the chemistry w/ Ingrid Bergman. Yes - it's too long. Yes, even with the length, it remains a bit confusing because the exposition in spots just isn't clear. And yes, it never does really make it as a movie.
But it's a must see every so often. Coop out of his traditional role and Bergman is just sinfully delightful.

One day I'll see For Whom the Bell Tolls with them... I just figure the chemistry won't hold a candle to this one, so I put it off.

Jennythenipper said...

Ah, Beaky, it was partly on your recommendation that I was so looking forward to this movie. The chemistry is great. I think my favorite scene is where she is sitting in church and he sits down beside her. Lovely.

OF course their chemistry is great in For Whome the Bell Tolls as well. Though that movie is far from perfect too.

Evangeline Holland said...

I love this movie. It helps that I read the Ferber book on which it was based, so it made sense--and the length didn't faze me because it used just about every plot point from the novel. The costumes were gorgeous and I adored Ingrid as a brunette.

Jennythenipper said...

I hadn't thought about the fact that it is an adaptation. Perhaps if I read the book.... Any good adaptation is going to be long. Books can always cover so much more plot than a film.

Saratoga trunk was recently put out on DVD. It was one of the most anticipated Gary Cooper DVD releases and this is a sleeper favorite of many a Coop fan. It's been a year almost since I watched it. It might be time to dig it out again!