Saturnalia is Soon!

Last Sunday I watched a movie! Me! I really, really enjoyed it, which shocked the heck out of me. And, it is a Christmas movie, although that really didn't occur to me when I watched it. I wasn't paying attention to that aspect. Yea, there was a Santa in it but it was more the social and cultural stuff the movie discussed that struck me.

The movie is called 'It Happened on Fifth Avenue'. It was filmed/released in 1947. Yes, it's in black and white. It's a comedy. No, I didn't recognize any of the stars' names, except Alan Hale, Jr (Hi, Skipper!), although I recognized a face or two. You can watch it, or download it, on the internet archive.

Mom (Mary), Jim, Trudy, Dad (Michael J. O'Connor): image from the Movie Database

The plot: A hobo goes into a seasonally vacant mansion in New York owned by the second richest man in the world (Michael J. O'Connor). He ends up letting in other poor people; a guy named Jim Bullock, who is an army veteran, and other army veterans and their families who have no housing due to a housing crisis. They are all poor and had all served in WWII. The daughter of the rich man, Trudy, shows up, and joins the people living in her home, pretending to be down on her luck as well. These people do nothing bad to the home and care for it well. She ends up falling in love with Jim. Her dad (Michael/Mike) shows up and she convinces him to fake being homeless as well. She calls her mom (Mary) in to help. Her parents are divorced because all her dad cares about is money. Her mom's wonderful! Jim and the other army vets are raising money, from the poor, to buy an old army base in New York to provide homes for the poor veterans and so on. Lots of ins and outs, but basically it ends like we want it to end, Jim and Trudy together, Trudy's parents back together, and the army base turned into homes for the poor.

The social commentary on rich versus poor made by the film, especially one of the end scenes when Trudy's dad along with the army veterans throws fruit at his assistant when that assistant comes to boost them out of their homes on the old army base, was awesome! It made me remember, we've done all this before, and made me realize, we are gonna haveta get more forceful to get things done again. TPTB will only back down if forced, or if smart (right, FDR?).

I don't know why, because this is more the 'Holiday Season' (Saturnalia is in a few days!) than a political awareness or learning season, but I have been learning a lot about old political heroes and their fights in the last couple of days. I'll let everyone know some of those learning dives when I get done with them .

Ohh and no, I haven't gotten a new TV and I didn't watch the movie on the internet. I saw it while visiting my father at his dementia care home. My dad, myself, and a few of the other residents sat in the TV room and enjoyed the movie.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Here's the open thread - remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!