What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Monday, December 11, 2023

Penny Serenade - 1941

I'm not 100% sure why this was in my list of movies to watch. Cary Grant is in it, and that's the best guess I've got. I had no idea what this was about when I pressed play.

Julia is getting ready to leave her husband. She opens up a book of records and begins to play them. Then she reminisces about her life with Roger. It was a good life with bumps along the way. Everything starts to go south when they try to start a family. An earthquake in Japan causes her to lose her baby, and the injuries she sustains makes it impossible for her to have more children.

Enter their friend, Applejack (neat name by the way). He comes to help Roger with his struggling newspaper, and he pushes them to adopt a child. Julia has been thinking about it for a long time, but Roger seems to be the one who needs convincing. Once he sees the baby, she steals his heart.

When tragedy happens, their marriage goes south. I feel like the movie did as well. It might have something to do with the unclear amount of time that passes between Trina dying and Julia packing up. Was it a few weeks? The letter to the orphanage lady says less than three weeks ago. Then, at the end, Julia says, "I've needed you an awful lot these last few days." It's an emotional moment, and they end up talking about what they've gone through. Julia starts to head down the stairs, still planning to leave, but then the orphanage lady calls up and offers them a little boy. Okay! Let's fix up the spare room! It was just a weird ending. You can't just replace a child and repair a marriage like that.

I didn't hate the movie. The acting in it was pretty good. When Cary Grant was in front of the judge pleading to keep Trina even though he didn't have an income, I thought it was a great scene. That's why it was so strange at the end when they just went from tearfully talking about Trina to planning on bringing home a little boy. The pacing struck me as a little slow at times as well. This one just wasn't for me.



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