Endearing and Heart-Wrenching Fiilm

Thanks to filmmaker Vohn Regensburger for this wonderful e-mail message about CAKE: A Love Story, an award-winning short film based on It Had To Be Us, the romantic memoir my husband and I wrote under the pen names of Harry and Elizabeth Lawrence. This film is now available on Amazon Prime.

A producer friend of mine and I watched your short movie, CAKE: A Love Story depicting your romantic life story and we just loved it! The story was very endearing and heart-wrenching as it unfolded.

The two lead actors, Debra Lord Cooke and Richard Vernon were marvelous playing you two and were so relatable, funny and heart-felt in their roles. I just thought all along, “Isn’t this just like love: blue sunny skies and summertime… until it isn’t!”

I felt by the end of the film I was good friends with you as a couple and had known you both forever. I believe that piece is so hard to accomplish in a film, let alone a short. I’m so glad you stayed with it and were able to get this released and shared with the world.

Please let directors Misha and Vera Zubarev know a job well-done, as well!

Grandma Knows Best

Passage, a short film expertly directed by Linda Palmer, reached me on a deep emotional level. Maybe that’s because I have a soft spot for grandmothers. I was lucky enough to have two of them, and I miss them both every day. June -- a grandmother played by Ellen Gerstein -- is at the center of Passage. When Jessie (Julia Parker) -- her homeless unemployed daughter, young granddaughter Paris (Kruiz Mauga), and their elderly cat show up at the doorstep of her trailer home, she tries to help them with advice -- and dreamcatchers.

Unfortunately, June’s daughter is skeptical of any suggestions coming from someone as eccentric as her mom. However, by spending time at the trailer and talking with June, Jessica’s attitude slowly changes. Their conversations about age and priorities are fascinating!

Jessie, June and Paris evoke empathy throughout the film. We see the love they have for each other, and we want everything to work out for them. When an unexpected event forces Jessica and June to work together to help Paris accept it, the way they handle the situation looks absolutely beautiful on screen.

Describing how Passage came to be, director/co-writer Palmer (Our Father) says, “One of my friends, Julia Parker, and I were chatting about pet stories and I shared a personal story that she mentioned would make a great short film. I let her know if she played the mom and helped me produce, I would be interested, and voila...6 months later Passage was born!”

         

I think that helps to explain why this film comes across as so endearing. Plus, besides wonderful performances, Passage features a sensitive story, realistic dialogue, gorgeous cinematography, and music I want to hear over and over again.

It’s no wonder Passage is already receiving recognition on the 2018 film festival circuit!  For more information about this movie, go to the IMDb website and the film’s Facebook page.

Happy Birthday, Olivia de Havilland!

Olivia de Havilland turned 102 today. This legendary actress was born in Tokyo to British parents in 1916 and has appeared in over 50 films during her illustrious career, earning five Oscar nominations and two gold statuettes for Best Actress -- one for To Each His Own (1946) and the other for The Heiress (1949).

To many moviegoers, de Havilland gave her most memorable performance as Melanie Wilkes in Gone with the Wind (1939). “As Melanie, de Havilland is the perfect picture of purity, especially shining when introducing Scarlett O’Hara to the tongue waggers at husband Ashley’s birthday party,” writes Richard Teague in his book, Reel Spirit: A Guide to Movies that Inspire, Explore and Empower. But this talented actress also galvanized attention in roles leaning more to the darker side in films like Dark Mirror (1946) where she portrayed twin sisters -- one a disturbed murderer. 

The list of directors de Havilland has worked with reads like a Filmmaking Who’s Who; it includes such famous names as John Huston, Victor Fleming, Anatole Litvak, Mitchell Leisen, Stanley Kramer and William Wyler. She co-starred with luminaries like Charles Boyer, Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift, Joseph Cotton, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, Ralph Richardson and Errol Flynn. 

Flynn appeared with de Havilland in one of my favorite adventure films, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). I own the video of that terrific movie and still watch it frequently. The chemistry between Flynn as Robin Hood and de Havilland as Maid Marian simply can’t be matched in terms of good-natured bantering and mutual attraction. That’s probably why these two actors were paired in seven more films. 

Happy Birthday, dear Olivia de Havilland. 

And thanks for your many terrific film performances!