February 3, 2007
"Did you ever get one of them days boys? Did you ever get one of them days?”
Elvis Presley sang those lyrics in his 1960 movie “GI Blues” in which he did not seem sad at all to me. How could he? He was singing most of the time. And, that is exactly my point. Since there is a lot of sadness going on right now in the midst of an exceptionally dreary winter, some of us are getting too many of “them days.”
Finding a remedy for lackluster “blue” days was exactly my purpose in watching “G.I. Blues.”
For some time now, I have understood that viewing old movies can give one an emotional lift and help ward off the nasty winter blahs, aka “seasonal affective disorder” (SAD).
Spending time outside in the fresh cold air can help and so can lots of light because SAD has something to do with sunlight deprivation.
However, there is another cure, and it is called “old movies.”
Here is how this works.
First you simply go to a store that has bins of vintage movies.
Number one, you have to leave your house to search for the movies. Voila! Fresh winter air. No more cabin fever!
Number two, the stores have a lot more light than your dreary house where you may keep the blinds closed a good part of the day.
Number three, the treatment is cheap. Most of the movies in the discount bins cost a mere $5 or less.
The next step, choose your movies carefully.
Old musicals are perfect choices, especially the ones in which the stars break into song at every possible opportunity. Elvis movies are unsurpassed in this regard.
In “G.I. Blues” for example, Elvis portrays a sad G.I. stationed in West Germany, but he always has his guitar handy. He takes part in a bet to con a girl (dancer Juliet Prowse) so he can get the money he needs to open a night club when he gets back to Oklahoma. His conscience wins out, as it always does with Elvis, and he sings his way right into the girl’s heart. The songs make us feel good. Everyone lives happily ever after.
And, there is a lot of gyrating going on, too.
Last week, I watched Carey Grant and Sophia Loren in the 1958 movie “Houseboat”. Simply delightful, although eye-opening.
What was so simplistic and innocent in that 1958 film would be against the law today. The little girl scared by thunder storms slept with her Dad a lot, and everyone in the movie smoked. Watching this Academy Award-nominated film gave me plenty to think about instead of an unrelenting ice storm and gray skies.
Simply put, movie therapy works! I think I have written about this before, but never mind that.
Next week, the 1943 movie “Casablanca”, inarguably the best Hollywood movie of all time, will be the crux of my winter “blues” therapy.
Humphrey Bogart who plays a cynical American must make a critical decision, his own happiness or save countless lives. Will he help his ex-lover (Ingrid Bergman) or not?
I won’t tell you the end, but you already know that anyway.
My thesis is simple. Raise the blinds, walk in the snow, turn on the lights, and watch old movies if you ever “get one of them days, boys.”
