Carol Burnett Lampoons Wyler's Heiress (1949)

I should have known that "The Carol Burnett Show" made a spoof of William Wyler's drama The Heiress (1949). If it's a classic film then TCBS has made fun of it.

It's called "The Lady Heir." Here it is on Youtube.

Part 1


Part 2

Childhood Ruined: Indiscreet (1958)

Indiscreet (1958) held a promise of adulthood for me as a kid. Not the flirting with a married man part - the scandal went right over my head! - but that an adult can consume only chocolate and milk for dinner and not get in trouble. [It looks like chocolate; it could be individually-wrapped pieces of soft cheese.]

I didn’t understand that Ingrid Bergman eating this paltry meal in a tailor-made housecoat is meant to display loneliness and depression.  She seems to be living the high life to a kid who has to dress for dinner and eat all her vegetables first.

A few minutes later, the Bergman character, still wearing her housecoat,  has cold cream all over her face during her meetcute with Cary Grant. This scene typifies an ease of life, a lack of regimentation, that I wanted very much when I grew up.

It was only later that I realized meeting him without makeup is meant to be a comic situation at Bergman’s expense since a handsome man shows up and the lady looks like a slob [or as close to it as she gets in the film; she still looks beautiful to me].

The audience is meant to contrast that first lonely meal in her house with the cheerful second one - breakfast with Grant with a fully cooked meal on a gingham tablecloth.  The scene is like a Vermeer genre piece, there’s so much strategically-placed sunshine pouring in.

She’s happy. I’m not. My childhood version of this film is ruined. 

Tom's Review of Durbin's Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943)

Movie star Deanna Durbin is known for her feel-good films and perky demeanor - assets that helped morale during the harrowing times of World War II. The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943) is one of Ms. Durbin's more dramatic films. Durbin plays a missionary who aids orphans in war-torn areas.


Tom at The Amazing Deanna Durbin Blog has written a review of that film here: The Amazing Mrs. Holliday (1943).

Tom makes an excellent point that the movie is so realistic that for awhile "it almost felt like an autobiographical film." He's right - the first half of the film is like an engrossing documentary or newsreel. The studio-controlled star was rarely allowed to do straight drama, which is one more reason to see this movie and enjoy a not-as-well-known side of Deanna Durbin.