I wish this meant, I’ve been canoodling from 2 till 4, but alas, it’s just the title of my favorite Audrey Hepburn film, and where I took my blog name, athingirl, from.
Gary Cooper, who plays the naughty millionaire, Frank Flannagan, in the very beginning, as she’s leaving his suite at The Ritz in Paris, when she says, I heard you were totally no good, after he tries to woo her into coming back, answers…how bout I’ll try to be good, and you try to make it, thin girl. I paraphrased a bit, but you get the gist.
He keeps calling her that, since she won’t tell him her name, the coquette she always played so well…
You know who I am Mr. Flannagan, I’m the girl in the afternoon.
I love this little exchange too
Frank Flannagan: Everything about you is perfect.
Thin Girl: I’m too thin! And my ears stick out, and my teeth are crooked and my neck’s much too long.
Frank Flannagan: Maybe so, but I love the way it all hangs together. [they kiss]
The other thing I’ve stolen, is whenever she appears a bit teary eyed says, soot, it’s only soot.
I’ve been weeping a lot lately for a number of reasons, personal and otherwise. I cry for our government in such sad shambles leaving me and my fellow citizens, more than monumentally confused.
The homeless taking to the streets setting up house on corners and in doorways, some with kids, many with dogs who loyally stand by, friends till the end.
I cry for me and my many losses, wishing I could knock on Mimi’s door to enjoy her warm company, or call Liz in Arizona to remember old times. Both have gone to their rest they more than deserved being two of the kindest, noblest souls I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.
I weep for my old neighborhood that now looks like an abandoned movie set they’re about to tear down. Stores I frequented for years are now empty, their windows covered with clapboard and beware of rat poison signs.
You’d think watching an old movie made in 1957, would sadden me further, yet it doesn’t, uplifting my spirits instead. The innocence of Audrey who was all but 28, and Coop who told his agent, he was much too old to play opposite her, yet did, and somehow it worked, especially in the final frame when she’s weeping and says, don’t worry Mr. Flannagan, I’ll be alright, it’s only soot, as he gently swoops her off the platform as the train leaves the station.
So whenever someone says, Susannah, you look sad. Have you been crying?
I say, oh don’t be silly. It’s soot, it’s only soot.
SB