AUNTIE MAME

After his father dies, a young school boy goes off to live with his aunt, knowing very little about what kind of person she is and what he was about to get into. Auntie Mame, as she is known by, who lives the most eccentric life, knows the most unique kind of people, and lives by her motto to always “live, live, live.” At first you don’t really know what to make of her, but once you get to know her you realize she’s a caring, witty, and loving woman that only wants to show her nephew the best that life has to offer.

Auntie Mame is a very free spirited person, along with many other people in the world. And along with free spirited people there will always be the ones known as “stick in the mud.” That is what Mr.Dwight Babcock is. Mr. Babcock is, Patrick, the nephew’s trustee. He does everything in his power to make sure that Auntie Mame has no influence on the boy, especially since she sent her nephew to a nudist-type school.

On one of nephew Patrick’s Christmas breaks from prep school, Mr. Babcock’s doing, Auntie Mame meets an oil baron named Beauregard Burnside. They met at Mame’s new job she had gotten during the depression at Macy’s department store, where she was later fired because of a mix up. After hitting it off, Mame and her nephew were invited to go down to the South to meet Beauregard’s family, where Mame had a life threatening experience while on a hunt, but was later proposed to be Mrs. Burnside.

Years went by and the two lived a happy married life traveling the world, until one day while climbing the Matterhorn, Mr. Burnside had a fatal fall. Although Mr. Burnside was no longer with her she still had her nephew to love, but like most children... they do grow up. Not only was he grown up, but he was also in love and planning on marriage too. Except to a very dull girl with a very dull family background, and, after reading this much, do you really believe Auntie Mame would let this marriage happen? I’ll let you be the judge of that one.

I really enjoyed this movie because in real life I too have an aunt that is very similar to Auntie Mame. Eccentric, loving, and a bit loud at times, but that’s just more to love. The film was released in 1958, it is based on the novel by Patrick Dennis about his life with his aunt. It was directed by Morton DeCosta, and stars Rosalind Russell as Auntie Mame.

IMITATION OF LIFE

While spending a day at the beach, a young widowed mother and her daughter meet a black homeless woman and her daughter. After getting to know each other, the widow decides to let the homeless mother and her daughter come and live with them in their tiny apartment.

                                           

Lora Meredith, a young mother who had lost her husband in the war, who’s determination to make it on the stage and make a name for herself tries to give her little girl everything she never had. Later on she does land a small part in a comedy play and then becomes an overnight success. She finally has her dream of becoming a star, and is now able to afford a nice home for her and her new friend and their daughters. Along with that she is able to buy her daughter things she could never have before, but the only thing her daughter really asks for is that her mother would be around more often.

                                   

Annie Johnson, a mother with a kind loving heart, who would put someone else’s happiness before hers was left by her husband and she now has to take care of their daughter who’s half black and half white. Her daughter loathes the thought of knowing that she is only half white and tries to make sure no one ever finds out who her mother is. When she gets older she decides to run away and become a show girl at a night club.

No matter what happened to them in their lives, the mothers were always there for each other. They didn’t betray each other, they would come to each other when they had troubles, and they even treated each other’s daughters as their own. This movie was released in 1959 and was directed by Douglas Sirk, and starred Lana Turner and Juanita Moore. They played how friends should be no matter their backgrounds or who they were before. Although the ending is bitter sweet, it shows how strong a friendship can be.