A CRISPY SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES

Recently I watched ‘Marty’ for oh, about the 50th time. In ‘Marty’ Betsy Blair plays Ernest Borgnine’s (‘Marty’s) love interest: a chemistry teacher at a public school in Brooklyn. “I was never very good at chemistry,” Ernest Borgnine admits–which was true: I looked it up. In his third year at Hamden High School in Connecticut, Ernest Borgnine received a ‘C-’ in chemistry. And then he entered the US Navy. Betsy Blair, however, never took chemistry in her life! And she claims that she is a chemistry teacher at a small public high school in Brooklyn! I have always had trouble with this movie; love is supposed to be based on trust. On the other hand, it is difficult to study chemistry when you are married to–Gene Kelly! What finesse, what esprit de corps! Ah, An American in Paris! Singing in the Rain! It is as if his feet moved to a choreography by–God Almighty! I could watch Gene Kelly all night. Now Fred Astaire I could watch all day AND night. What charm, what politesse! His voice is silky smooth, and quite underrated. And the way he dances on the ceilings and with hat racks! Truly, a man without peer! Still, he broke his ankle on a skateboard when he was seventy. Growing old is terrible, and humorous. But I digress. What I am trying to say is: Betsy Blair was married to Gene Kelly but never to Fred Astaire, I believe in God Almighty, growing old is terrible and humorous, and did I mention that Ernest Borgnine was married to Ethel Mermann? Only for a month, though. That’s humorous. Or at least a humorous image. And oh: Betsy Blair was a liar. But that’s OK: she was married to Gene Kelly.

all artwork, including monsters but not old timey photographs,
® mr. crispy flotilla, 2007