TV and Movies

[AngelPuppy1]

I was looking over our TV guide listing last week and it has this movie highlighted.  I never saw it but remembered that I always wanted to and I was always enthralled by Hayley Mills!  I asked DH to record it for me, so will watch it.  Can't wait to see it!  And I am sure the scenery will be stunning as well!  

[LyndaGee]

I really enjoyed this.  Tnank you, Oznell!  The scene on the windmill was something!  Glad to hear Hayley enjoyed her time at Disney.

[golding76]

Oh my, oznell, how can I thank you enough for alerting me to this perfectly entertaining film?  It satisfied on so many levels.

Of course the scenes on Crete brought back many memories.  Although my time was primarily spent on the western side of Crete (in the Chania/Souda Bay area), Crete is, of course, Crete.  This island has an assuredly distinctive personality.  Plus, I visited the eastern side (Heraklion, Knossos, Agios Nikolaos).

The bridal celebration with the music and dancers made me remember a major celebraton we enjoyed there.  We had the recognizable Cretan music that is characterized by the lyra, the dancers just like the ones you saw (but only four of them) and the same look to our outdoor/indoor venue.  They generally look the same with the simple tables and tablecloths and chairs with straw seats.

In attendance were many of the fierce-looking Cretan men in the native garb, just as you saw in the movie.  Truly, they can be intimidating.  Cretan men are taller than the regular Greek male.  At least they were.  These days with mixed marriage and more protein in the diet, most likely the height of the Greek men has leveled off and the Cretans no longer have such a towering advantage.

This movie had romance, mystery and suspense.  Really, the degree of fear it stoked in me is about all I can stand these days.  I'm not one for ghouls and gore -- not by a long shot!

I do not believe I have ever seen Pola Negri act before, and so that was an unexpected delight. 

How I wish I could see more movies like this one nowadays.  Such a pleasure!

Thank you again, dear. 

[Oznell]

Oh, you're so welcome, @golding76 -- love your stories and travelogue about Crete!  Such a beautiful and enchanting place.  That simple hotel by the sea.  I really liked the faded blue that you seem to see used in Greek architecture-- was noticing it in some of the wood work in the hotel.  So fresh and sort of sea-swept in feeling...

Mary Stewart always wrote of the deep-in-the-bones hospitality of the Greek.  No matter how modest the circumstances, the stranger is so often welcomed and even feted.  Eli Wallach's evil "Stratos" was markedly the exception to that...

[golding76]

Thank you, oznell.  I'm not an expert but had the good fortune of spending my time with my husband's family.  In fact, the whole lot of us (well, the younger ones) went off to Knossos and the beach at Agios Nikolaos (mentioned in the movie) during the huge holiday of the Dormition of the Virgin.  We decided to do this at the last minute, and when we arrived at Agios Nikolaos there were no rooms available anywhere.  One hotel keeper offered us something akin to a stable.  It was clean.  Yes, we slept there. LOL  It was too far to travel back to Souda Bay from there, and we accepted the accommodations available.  We slept on cots with sun-bleached white sheets.  There was straw on the ground/floor.  Oh my, when I think of this now...

As a group, Greeks are hospitable.   It is a charming and kind trait.  Wallach's "Stratos" was truly a wretch, wasn't he?  For some reason, I sensed that he used the attitude and accent of Stratos when he later played "Tuco" in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.  I couldn't get that thought out of my head.  Wallach's accent was modified to sound more Spanish, of course.  To my ear, however, Greek and Spanish -- when spoken fast and heard from a distance -- can sometimes sound strangely similar.  Odd, since Greek is by no means a Romance language.

As for Irene Papas, her demeanor and general look in Moon-Spinners seemed to have later spilled over into Zorba the Greek, in which she played the beautiful young widow.   I could not shake either thought about Wallach or Papas as I watched them.

Funny story to tell you about our big shindig with the Cretan fierce old men in attendance.  We were toasting all over the place, and for some reason, I took my small glass of whiskey (I believe -- I hate hard liquor) and hit the bottom of the old Cretan's glass before touching the top.  My husband immediately took me aside and told me not to do that.  I asked why.  Apparently it means you want to fight.  I had no idea.  At once, I stopped clinking my "cheers" like that. 

[golding76]

Believe me, by no means do you want to cross this guy.

[golding76]

Now that I think about it, I clinked the top of the glass and then the bottom.

Not really sure but think this was the threatening gesture, in that order.  It happened over 36 years ago, so I do not remember it all that well -- top and then bottom or bottom and then top.  I just know that you don't do it unless you want to fight.