She Married a Dead Man and Boy, Was He Stiff! But Seriously, Folks...

Cornell Woolrich was one of the most memorable mystery writers I ever read, but I would hardly argue that he is the Frank Capra of American mystery writers. He tended to write about people who were either doomed or trapped, and only a few of his novels had anything close to a happy ending. His novel I Married a Dead Man was very easily one of his darkest books. So naturally when it came time for HBO to make a movie out of it back in 1996, they made it into a romantic comedy.

Stop and think about that. A dark mystery novel with a downbeat ending...gets turned into a romantic comedy. Mrs. Winterbourne, to be exact. (At least they had the good grace to change the title.)

The result was not quite as bad as I feared, but it's nothing to write home about, either. Ricki Lake played Connie Doyle, a teenage runaway who got impregnated out of wedlock by the wrong guy and then discovered that the guy did not love her as much as she thought. She ended up alone and homeless and spent her last dime on a train trip to her father's house. The train had an accident, two people who befriended her got killed, and the movie was off on its way to the perfect feel-good ending.

To be fair, it is hard to expect rom-com audiences to put up with the sort of dark plot twists that Woolrich liked to put in his novels. But then that is why they were not meant to be rom-coms.

Oh, well. At least Shirley MacLaine and Brendan Fraser got to earn a paycheck.

I eagerly await the inevitable musical comedy adaptation of The Bride Wore Black...

Movie Song of the Week: “There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This”

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, it's the great Chita Rivera and her friends Shirley MacLaine and Paula Kelly in a number from 1969's Sweet Charity.

I'm not sure whether the West Side Story references in this song were intentional but given the fact that Ms. Rivera played Anita in the original Broadway version of WSS, it wouldn't surprise me if they were.

I hope you all enjoy it. Even if its lyrics seem even more poignant in these times than usual.

Movie Song of the Week: “Rich Man's Fugue”

From 1969's Sweet Charity, it's a song proving that even in the 1960s, people were parodying the dance styles of Baby Boomers. I would like to believe that Suzanne Charney -- the brunette girl with the ponytail -- went on to become a big star but unfortunately, she did not. But Ben Vereen became a big star, and you can catch a glimpse of him in the last third of the number. And of course, this movie's director -- dancer/choreographer Bob Fosse -- managed to become famous too.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Movie Song of the Week: “Big Spender”

And here's Shirley MacLaine's Charity Hope Valentine with the 1969 version of “Ten Cents a Dance.” Okay, I'll admit I like this song too and I can never have too many kind words for the choreography of Bob Fosse. Plus, this is one of my favorite songs from 1969's Sweet Charity, which was Bob Fosse's directorial debut. (There is one number I like better but I'll post it at a future time.)

I'm not too crazy about certain portions of this movie but I do own a copy on DVD so I obviously have some fondness for it. However, I'm still embarrassed by how old I was before I figured out what this song really meant. I mean, I got the obvious wordplay of lyrics like “hey big spender, spend a little time with me” right away when I was a kid but the more adult implications of the song just flew right by me. Which makes me wonder what today's children will make of today's music.

Anyway, I hope you all like the song.