Remembering Pearl Harbor

In the Woody Allen film, “Radio Days” (1986), Mia Farrow plays a scatterbrained cigarette girl who yearns to be on the radio, circa 1941. Just as she gets her first big break and is about to utter her first line, the Pearl Harbor attack interrupts the broadcast and she misses her opportunity. As all the actors rush out of the studio, Farrow’s character asks with total innocence, “Aren’t we going to do the show? What do we do now? Come back Monday? Who is Pearl Harbor?!?” Eighty-one years later, there are probably those who ask the same question…or at least have no idea of the significance of what happened in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Today, visitors can take a boat to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, which was built over the sunken battleship where more than 900 bodies were unable to be recovered. As eloquently put on the wwiifoundation website:

But the USS Arizona was more than just a battleship. Her oil tears still leaked from below. Tears of those who never lived a full life. Never had kids or grandkids who would sit on their lap. Many would never be married. Many would never live to see their full potential.



Little known fact: it was Elvis Presley who helped make this monument a reality. The fundraising campaign began well, but was still short of the goal. Elvis performed a benefit concert at Bloch Arena in 1961 (while filming “Blue Hawaii”) and raised more than $60,000 towards completing the monument. Even more importantly, Elvis’ concert helped increase the awareness of the memorial fund, which made possible the May 30, 1962 dedication.



The Visitor Center is where tourists begin their journey to get to the Monument. 



Inside you can see the bell recovered from the U.S.S. Arizona after the attack. A similar bell was removed from the ship a year earlier and resides at the University of Arizona, Tucson.



The highlight of the visitor center was being able to hear the stories told by Everett Hyland, who was a crew member of the battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania. He immediately reported to his battle station when the attack began. In writing this post, I learned that the veteran passed away July 24, 2019.



From his obituary:

“If we ever go to war, the last place in the world I wanted to be trapped was down in the bowels of the ship,” the longtime Honolulu resident said in a Navy interview. “I wanted to be top side, so if something happened, I could get off it. So I volunteered for antenna repair squad. I was with the radio division.” When general quarters sounded, he realized there was nothing to be done at his battle station, so he and others began collecting ammo for a 3-inch 50-caliber anti-aircraft gun. The “Pennsy” was in Drydock No. 1 at the time. “We took one hit. The one that hit our ship just happened to be where we were,” Hyland recalled. The 18-year-old was so badly wounded by the aerial bomb that his own friends did not recognize him, the park service said. Flash burns covered his body. He had an ankle wound, a chipped bone in his right leg, his right hand was ripped open, he had a bullet hole through his right thigh, five pieces of shrapnel in his left leg, a chunk blown out of his left thigh — among other injuries. He spent nine months in recovery, and then went back to sea, the park service said. Since 1995, Hyland had volunteered at the visitor center weekly, sharing his story with visitors. “Uncle Ev” had a dry sense of humor and heard a lot of sea stories from the Dec. 7 attack but always “took great pride in telling what he knew and what he actually saw rather than enlarging the story,” said Daniel Martinez, chief historian for the Arizona Memorial.

Also nearby is the U.S.S. Missouri, which was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan, which ended World War II.



The plaque on the deck:



Just in case you need to see it closer:



As we get further in time away from each of these historic events, the meaning and ramifications diminish over the years. It is difficult today to imagine how the bombing of Pearl Harbor rallied our nation together, especially now at a time when this country is so divided.
 
See more Hawaii photos at my main website.

Reality Bites: The Purple Rose of Cairo

This post is riddled with plot spoilers, so if you haven't seen "The Purple Rose of Cairo," stop reading this blog, buy/rent the DVD, and THEN you can come back to read this column.

Written and directed by Woody Allen, this comedy/drama sat unwatched in a DVD boxed set that I had purchased years ago, mainly so that I could have "Radio Days," "Broadway Danny Rose," and "Hannah and Her Sisters." Finally, I decided to give it a whirl, and I am so glad that I did. The last movie to affect me the same way was "The Artist;" what makes "The Purple Rose of Cairo" much more powerful is that despite the fantasy and comic elements, it never lets the viewer forget that life can be full of harsh realities.



Mia Farrow is perfectly cast as Cecelia, a slightly awkward waif-like waitress during The Depression.



Trying to support her deadbeat husband, Monk (played by Danny Aiello), she often escapes to the local movie house to get lost in the enchantment of the silver screen. Cecelia's apologetic and mousey personality comes to life when she talks about Hollywood. She is most comfortable talking about fictional characters, rather than the depressing reality that is part of her daily routine. Even though she knows her cheating husband squanders her hard-earned money, she sheepishly plays the dutiful wife. Monk's pathetic justification for beating Cecelia is "I never just hit you, I warn you first."



You can see why she loves the movies.

Then one day, life changes for Cecelia. Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), the leading man in "The Purple Rose of Cairo," has noticed that Cecelia has watched the movie at least four times in a row. He literally steps out of the screen and joins Cecelia in the darkened theater, escaping with her into the outside world.



The rest of the cast watches with surprise and horror as Tom leaves them in limbo, unable to continue the plot of the movie without him.



Like a true 1930's romantic comedy, Cecelia finds that Tom has instantly fallen in love with her, wanting to spend the rest of his days with her. He no longer wants to be stuck playing the same scenes over and over every day inside of a black and white movie. However, real life rears its ugly head when Tom attempts to pay for the expensive champagne that the two have been indulging in; the money in his pockets is phony. Unfortunately, the wealth he has on screen doesn't translate to the real world. The two are forced to run out on the bill and must come up with an alternate plan to be together. Meanwhile, Monk catches up with the two and picks a fight with Tom for attempting to steal his wife. Unlike the movies, the punches actually hurt. On the plus side, Tom notes that: "I don't get hurt or bleed, hair doesn't muss; it's one of the advantages of being imaginary."



While trying to sort things out, Cecelia meets Gil Shepherd, the real life actor who plays Tom Baxter. To protect his career, he has flown out from Hollywood to get his alter ego back into the movie. Amazingly enough, Gil also finds Cecelia attractive, and the two share a romantic scene inside of a music shop where they play the ukelele and sing to each other.



Tom decides to take Cecelia into his world; here, his money allows them to go club hopping and Cecelia is able to enjoy the magic of the movies firsthand (even if the champagne tastes like ginger ale). The supporting cast is not happy with this, as it changes the entire plot of their movie.



Gil enters the theater and professes his love for Cecelia, forcing her to choose between fantasy (Tom) and reality (Gil). The cast of the movie attempts to give her their advice:

The Countess: "Go with the real guy, honey, we're limited."
Rita: "Go with Tom! He's got no flaws!"
Delilah, the maid: "Go with SOMEBODY, child, 'cause I's gettin' bored."

Both Tom & Gil attempt to woo her:

Tom Baxter: [to Cecilia] "I love you. I'm honest, dependable, courageous, romantic, and a great kisser."

Gil Shepherd: "And I'm real!"

Surprisingly, Cecelia chooses reality and decides to meet up with Gil later to go back to Hollywood with him. Sadly enough, Gil has duped her, feigning interest only long enough to get Tom back into the movie so that all of the prints of the film can be destroyed, thus saving his career. He flies back to Hollywood alone, feeling somewhat guilty, but not enough to do anything to help Cecelia's current situation: no husband, no job, and no way to get back to Tom. In an instant, Cecelia's newfound confidence and strength become shock and heartache as the theater owner tells her that Gil Shepherd has returned to Hollywood...without her. In her tearful eyes, you can see that reality has hit her hard, leaving her with virtually no options. I wondered how Allen would end things; would he tack a happy ending on or would he let the audience use their own imagination as to Cecelia's fate? Fortunately, he made the tough decision and chose the latter. The final scene of Cecelia in the theater, watching Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, is both heartbreaking and uplifting, as once again, she gets lost (temporarily) from the outside world and finds happiness through the flickering images on screen. This is what it must have been like for millions during the Depression.

The chemistry between Daniels and Farrow is fantastic; you totally believe that there is a love triangle occurring between three very different characters. For those that have seen the film, if given the choice, it would be interesting to know which life you would have chosen for yourself?

See more Silver Screen photos on my Movie & TV web pages.