New Year's and Bachelor Mother (1939)

For Polly Parrish (Ginger Rogers) in Bachelor Mother (1939), the New Year is off to a bad start before it even began. Around Christmas time she gets a note from her employer John P. Merlin & Son, a New York City department store, that her services will no longer be needed after the holiday is over. Without a job or any family members around to help her, she's in dire straits. While out and about looking for new employment, she stumbles across a baby that has been left at the door stop of a foundling home. The home's staff refuse to believe her when she says the baby is not hers.

"I wasn't leaving it, I was just picking it up!" - Polly 

The foundling home and David Merlin (David Niven) get together and devise a plan. They give Polly back her job and bring her the baby along with a lot of baby supplies back to Polly as a Christmas present. Seems like the New Year is going to be filled with dirty diapers, feedings, no sleep and a lot of nosy visits from David Merlin.

David Merlin and Polly Parrish are total opposites. Merlin is wealthy and reckless, speeding in the middle of the night and getting thrown in jail, showing up to work after noontime and stringing his society girlfriend along. Polly on the other hand is responsible, poor and has a very cynical outlook on life.

"I almost envy you. I do envy you." - David

"Really?!" - Polly

Fast forward to New Year's. David Merlin (David Niven) calls up his society girlfriend Louise King (June Wilkins) after 8 pm on New Year's Eve inviting her out. But it's too little too late and she turns him down.

"Why David. Are you under the impression that we have a date tonight?" - Louise

He offers a date to Polly which seems quite a rotten thing to do seeing as she's basically his back-up so he won't go stag. Polly sees right through this and realizes she can't go even if she wanted to because of the baby and because of their noticeable class difference.

"Well you and your... And me in my... What I've got. We'd make half of a lovely couple." - Polly

As long as Polly can get the landlady to watch the baby, David offers to dress her up in the finest from his department store and to take her out for an amazing night on the town.

The New Year's scenes in Bachelor Mother (1939) are quite grand. They have colored my idea of New Year's celebrations with it's 1930's elegance in black and white. David gets Polly a new dress,  a mink coat with orchids, stockings, handkerchief, purse, gloves and shoes.

Transformation complete.

They go out to a restaurant for dancing, a four course meal and all the tinsel and confetti they can stand. But there is a bit of a problem. How is Polly going to be able to talk with David's upper-class and wealthy friends with whom she has nothing in common? David devises a ruse in which Polly is the daughter Swedish magnate and doesn't speak a word of English. She dances the night away with his buddies, much to David's dismay, and needs not worry about revealing her true status. She's a queen for one glorious evening. And we get rewarded with some fun made up Swedish.

"Svell" - Polly

Polly is having so much fun she misses out on all the food!

"Hey, I'm hungry" - Polly

They leave the party in search of some food but find themselves in Times Square instead. They got lost in the crowd, the great equalizer. For one night everyone is the same, gathering together to celebrate the New Year that they'll all experience together.

They watch the ball drop in Times Square, find each other in the crowd and ring in the New Year with a kiss.

It's a very romantic New Year's celebration. Once it's over, reality meets our two heroes and the complexity of their situation comes to light. But for that one glorious night, they could forget their troubles, their class divide and just enjoy the evening.

I think I will always be longing for a New Year's Eve like the one David and Polly have in Bachelor Mother. This wonderful film is from a year known especially for being a golden year in Hollywood history. I watch it every year and it's become part of my own New Year's celebration. I hope it'll become part of your celebration too.

"'Appy Nuuu Cheah!" - Polly in her fake Swedish accent

Celebrating New Year's

Now that Christmas is over I'd like to talk to you about my most favorite holiday of them all: New Year's!

New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is that special time when we shed the skin of the old year and start afresh with the new. It's essentially everyone's birthday as we all celebrate having lived yet another year and we rejoice in the opportunity to see what the next year will bring. At New Year's we reflect on the year we just lived, the good and the bad and we make plans for the next. Lots of people make New Year's Resolutions and while some might scoff at the idea I think we should embrace resolutions as it shows our desire to better ourselves and to set goals for the future.

At New Year's we close a chapter and open a new one with a grand party. The celebration has no religious connotations and it's a great equalizer with everyone participating. Except kids. They are left out because they have to be to bed well before midnight. The occasional kid stays up until the New Year but what I enjoy about the holiday is that it's a holiday for adults. We dress up, celebrate with champagne, streamers and fun holiday tchotchkes. We seal the New Year with a big kiss. It's my favorite holiday of them all.

What has influenced my growing love for New Year's as a holiday has been certain classic movies especially Bachelor Mother (1939) and Ocean's 11 (1960). I long for the day when New Year's was even more glamorous than it is today and I strive to celebrate it each year with grand style. I'll forego anything Christmas just to be able to put more into New Year's. It's that important to me.

For the next few days leading up to New Year's I'll be talking about some classic movies that feature the holiday as a significant part of the plot. In the meantime, I leave you with Kate Gabrielle's wonderful compilation video of New Year's scenes from classic movies. Enjoy!

Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot, 

and never brought to mind? 

Should old acquaintance be forgot, 

and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, 

for auld lang syne, 

we'll take a cup of kindness yet, 

for auld lang syne.

God Speed - Jack Klugman (1922-2012)

Jack Klugman 

1922-2012

My heart is broken. Many of you know that I absolutely adore Jack Klugman. He is one of my favorite actors and is someone whom I affectionately refer to as "my boyfriend". In fact I even devoted a week to him called "I Heart Jack Klugman Week"  on this blog in which I discussed some of his films and his two top TV shows.

There was something about Jack Klugman that charmed me immensely. His goofy smile, the twinkle in his eye, his natural humor and his good nature. I was just thinking about him the other day, wondering if he was okay or if we would all lose him soon. Unfortunately, the latter assumption was correct.

Please do me a favor: watch one of Jack Klugman's performances. Watch his medical drama Quincy M.E. or his sitcom The Odd Couple.  Quincy M.E. is available on Netflix Instant and DVD and Odd Couple is on DVD. You can also watch him in 12 Angry Men (1957) (he was the last surviving cast member), Days of Wine and Roses (1962) and The Detective (1968). Watch him and try to see what I saw in him. Honor him that way.

I wish I could have met Jack Klugman. I wish I could have told him how much I adored him and how much his entertainment meant to me. Alas it was not meant to happen. I have his book Tony and Me. I got a signed copy online. It's something he touched with his hands. It's the only piece of him I have and I will treasure it always.

Maybe that's my copy he's signing.

God Speed my Jack Klugman. I will treasure all the wonderful entertainment you left us with. Thank you and I hope you give Tony Randall a big hug when you see him. God Speed.