Fighting off the flu bug Sunday so remained in bed with warm soup and Gatorade while watching 2 movies highlighting the depths of wealth and depravity that money can deliver with both joy and sorrow. First up was 1949's That Forsyte Woman from the novel The Man of Property by John Galsworthy. A London family of well renown who live their lives making their own rules finds one son who is preoccupied with the idea of money and material possesion's denotes ones worth marries a woman simply because he desires her. He does not so much love her, but believes she is the "perfect" wifely accessory. She marries him, but later in their lives falls in love to a man who is engaged to her husband's niece and is one of her closest friends. Her husband finds out and asserts his rights forbidding her to ever seeing the young man and that he will destroy the man's life in repayment for her loving him. The wife runs away, and the young suitor chases her into the foggy London evening where he is run down by a horseman's coach and dies. The wife runs away with her husband's cousin who is a black sheep of the family and she eventually marries him. A right bit of an ass is Soames Forsyte as played by Errol Flynn and his wife Greer Garson as Irene spends her life never quite fitting in to the Forsyte name and family. Cousin Jolyon played by Walter Pidgeon has always been in love with her but is forced into the role of devoted friendship since his cousin was the one to marry her away. Robert Young takes advantage of the affections of young Janet Leigh in order to work his way into the Forsyte family surroundings so he can woo Irene away from Soames as he attempts to build her a home and a life with him. A bit of a low mover, but lots of finery and riches on screen and it is great seeing Flynn in something other than a dashing and heroic role.

The second movie for the day was Charles Dickens Great Expectations filmed in 2012. 

Young Pip and orphan meets an escaped prisoner while visiting his parents grave site. Helping the man with food and a file to escape his shackles only to having the prisoner captured later, young Pip grows up befriended by jilted Miss Haversham while falling in love with her adopted daughter. She is aloof and haughty and snooty but Pip hopes to become a true gentleman and one day gain her love. Pip is taken from his life as an apprentice blacksmith under the family which adopted him and goes to London where an unknown benefactor has set him up to become a part of "society" proper. The movie follows the growth of Pip into gentlemanly ways as he finds his way in life and love. Visually detailed movie with just enough style and acting to make it worth viewing, it stars Jeremy Irvine, Helena  Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Robbie Coltrane, Jason Fleyming and Holliday Grainger.

It has been a wild Flu season. Lots of folks here at the hospital have been out several days with relapse as well. It hit late Saturday afternoon when I felt nauseated. Thankfully a night/day of rest and self medicating along with plenty of sleep and a couple of hot bath's for sweating it out seems to have done the trick. Bit of the ol' timey wimey whibbly whobbly tummy, but since most of my day is spent at a computer I can endure. As long as I have my water and Sprite and crackers me and the belly shall survive

I've been keeping the tally on my same post as before for simplicity's sake.

A cold rainy day yesterday plus Disney+ meant reliving my childhood with:
Treasure Island (1950, Disney) If I was to pick one novel to take with me to a desert island this would probably be it, it's definitely one of my favorite stories of all time and not only do I never tire of reading it but it never fails to inspire my imagination. The film version by Disney is just as great, Long John Silver is convincingly lovable but also a threatening figure when needed and neither over powers the other.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea(1954, Disney): This is another all time favorite from my boyhood, and the visuals in the film are some that have stayed with me ever since then and have yet to be beet. I love that first shot of the under water funeral.

The Sign of Zorro(1958, Disney): I've been a big fan of Zorro since a kid after watching the serials with my grandfather, and latter the Disney show this film was compiled from and although I loved the sense of adventure I only got around to reading the actual novel this past summer and it was great. While I love the humor of the Disney film, and there is a lot of that in the novel, I'd love to see a version that really captures the full swashbuckling action on a grand scale. The Antonio Banderas films came close, but lacked the sword play.

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1984, Disney): This is one I missed during Halloween, which was a shame as it's a favorite of mine but it was fun even off season.

The Watcher in the Woods (1980, Disney): This was a first for me, an old Wonderful World of Disney movie of the week from the 80's that had a great coming of age story coupled with a great supernatural under current, I'm going to need to track down the novel post haste.

White Fang(1991, Disney): I saw this one in theaters back in the day and I loved seeing that story of love and endurance just as much today as I did then. Yeah, I cried.

Continuing to double dip between this and my Bela Lugosi thread with Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), which I review here.