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Etiquetteer

Encouraging Perfect Propriety in an Imperfect World since 2001
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THIS IS ROBERT TALKING . . . Or, the Dark Side of Etiquetteer :-)

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Thursday Evening, October 8 - Picture Mommy Dead

October 8, 2020

1) I remember seeing this movie on television in the early 1970s, in the summertime. Picture Mommy Dead, with Don Ameche (!), Maxwell Reed (who is not Anthony Newley), Martha Hyer, child actress Susan Gordon, and cameos from Wendell Corey, Anna Lee (I adore her), and Signe Hasso (!). And the unforgettable performance of Zsa Zsa Gabor as herself in a red wig being burnt to death.

1a) Worth your time in the spooky season, especially this year. I won’t go into the plot, but there are issues you could just drive a truck through.

2) About ten years ago I rediscovered it on the Yewtybbe, and it’s funny how you can remember a movie not quite exactly the way it really is. I remembered Zsa Zsa in flames, but I remembered her face, her gown, her hair differently.

2a) The set design of this allegedly grand house is like a mashup of the renovated Truman White House, Barbie’s Dream House, World War II surplus green paint, and a gallon or two of Pepto-Bismol.

3) You can tell Zsa Zsa’s career is on the way down, because of the two blondes, she had to dye her hair red.

← Friday Night, October 9 - My Hair is FabulousThursday Morning, October 8 →
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