Penny Serenade

I just finished watching this 4 star black and white movie from 1941. It stars Cary Grant and Irene Dunne as Roger and Julie Adams, a couple who go through tough times and even tragedy but still manage to make it in the end.
A modern day fairy tale, or a lesson for modern times?



As Julie prepares to leave her husband Roger, she begins to play through a stack of recordings, each of which reminds her of events in their lives together. One of them is the song that was playing when she and Roger first met in a music store, "The Night We Fell in Love". Other songs remind her of their courtship, their marriage, their desire for a child, and the joys and sorrows that they have shared. A flood of memories comes back to her as she ponders their present problems and how they arose.





They first meet when Roger spots Julie in the window of the penny serenade shop where she works. He's too nervous to tell her he likes her so he ends up buying 27 records from her even though he has no record player to play them on. I was hooked when he confessed this. No games, no one-liners, and no pickup lines; just an honest "I'm guilty" look on his face when she realizes how much he likes her.






Beulah Bondi (who played George Bailey's mother from It's A Wonderful Life) has a great supporting role as Mrs. Oliver, the head of the adoption agency who has doubts about the couple at first, but then grows to care a great deal for them. The ending is heart-wrenching. Will they stay together? Will they stop talking about how it's over?





I don't know because Santa dropped off early Christmas presents at the front door and my son screamed and hollered until I paused the movie and came down to see. His sisters aren't here so he had sole rights to seeing which packages were for who. Before I went back upstairs to finish the movie I had to remind him not to change all the names to "Brosden".

And just as the movie finished, a real surprise, I heard him calling again, albeit somewhat muffled. As I descended, each time my foot touched a step I felt my heart touched by a thought. Love is absolutely the most wonderful, powerful and terrific emotion we have. Yet it can also be the most elusive. How in the world do you make it last? How do you know when someone really loves you? How..........

And there it was. My son had "boxed" himself up, as a gift to me. How loving is that? How unelusive, how lasting, and how real is the love of a child.


I hope your holidays are wonderful, powerful and terrific. I hope they're filled with love.