Children With Their Mom or Dad

 

Daughters come in all shapes and sizes and so do their parents. I decided to take the daughters and find their inner blossom. No, no get your head out of the gutter, they change from plain into a swan with either the help or against their parent. Here are my 3..

1. NOW, VOYAGER-1942

Poor Bette Davis is a nervous, plain Jane daughter of a viper of a mom, played with great evil by Gladys Cooper. When we meet poor Bette, she is a beaten down woman who cannot escape the caustic diatribes of her mom until she is sent to a care facility. Under the careful, gentle guidance of head psychiatrist, played, as always, with great aplomb, by Claude Rains, she shines and finds her true self. She takes a cruise and meets Hubba Hubba Paul Henreid where they begin a sensual love affair. We know this because he lights 2 cigarettes and hands her one..a huge sensual innuendo that made many women swoon, not to mention they have to share a sleeping bag. The true test comes when she finally comes home to meet back up with her mamma who does not approve. It is a romantic film not just because of the love affair but because of the romance Bette finds within herself and how she comes to find her destiny in helping a smaller version of herself. It’s a great film with a great score by Max Steiner.

2. SABRINA-1954

I just rewatched this enchanting tale that stars the exquisite Audrey Hepburn who is the daughter of the chauffeur dad played by John Williams, a prolific character actor that we know the face but not the name. When we meet Sabrina, she is a sweet girl in bare feet ( you actually see how big Audrey’s feet really are!) who longs to be part of of the party atmosphere of her dad’s employer specifically, in the arms of playboy William Holden ( in fact, they had a very intense love affair and he was planning to divorce his wife but when she spoke about having children, he crushed her dreams because he had a vasectomy. She ended the affair but Holden always carried a torch for her). Her dad was able to save money and invest wisely, by listening in on his employer’s stock tips, to send his daughter to Paris to become a chef. 2 years later, she returns and , boy, does she return dressed to kill in a very chic ensemble complete with toy poodle. Holden sees this lady and stops his little sports car offering to take her home not realizing this is the girl of the chauffeur. He invites her to another party his parents routinely give. She appears in an outstanding gown and is noticed by every man there but she only has eyes for playboy Holden. She is so excited when he asks her to meet him at his usual seduction place but is very disappointed when his older, all business brother appears in the form of Humphrey Bogart. Bogie decides to “woo” her to stop this romantic liaison between her and his brother because the family needs him to marry the daughter of some gazillionaire for business reasons. Audrey enchants as she wears one great dress to another and, although the costumes were designed by Edith Head, this is when Hepburn met Hubert De Givenchy who did design the iconic gowns including the little black dress. Hepburn rarely wore any other gowns after this and had a beautiful friendship with the designer until her early death, from cancer in 1993. This is a fun film by Billy Wilder even though Bogart seems a little too old for the role.

3. GYPSY-1962

Natalie Wood is the plain daughter to a stage mom to end all stage moms, played by the brilliant Rosalind Russell. Russell doesn’t think too much about Wood because she puts all her efforts into blond top-billed Baby June ( as in June Havoc who was a good actress in her day) during the heyday of Vaudeville. When Baby June leaves the act to elope with her boyfriend to escape the overbearing clutches of her mom, mom is devastated not thinking she has another daughter that will blow her socks off. Wood develops into a vavavoom siren but she doesn’t know it. Her mom, still wanting to be famous, reaches a new low by offering Louise as a stripper at the burlesque theatre. Louise goes on stage, reluctantly, and appears awkward but, somehow, she finds her confidence and wows the crowd after taking off one glove. Before you can say, 1st rate stripper, Louise becomes Gypsy Rose Lee, the most famous stripper ever, and finally stands up to her domineering mom. This is based on a true story from the book Gypsy Rose Lee wrote, becoming a famous play and musical.

What parent/daughter films can you think of? Any where the daughter blossoms under their guidance or against it?