A Sweet Lullaby For Film Freaks

Last night after I got tucked into my jammies, I turned on the television and found myself disappointed. One channel was talking about the arrest of a Pakistani-American who'd attempted to blow tourists to "Kingdom Come" in Times Square. On another news channel the focus was on a woman who had stabbed random strangers at a local Target. It just happened to be the Target store that I called my own for years. And on the third station there was a gathering of law enforcement dudes with guns and other types of weaponry who were attempting to get a wayward bear out of a tree. While it's true that I've lived alone most of my adult life, I am still scared of the dark and prone to having nightmares after watching scary programs before bedtime. So I started looking for a little bedtime television. A little video lullaby was what I needed -- and I found it on TCM. There she was -- Judy Garland -- on her way across the country as a mail order bride in "The Harvey Girls." And the next thing I know, the entire cast starts singing "Atchinson, Topeka and the Santa Fe." How can you not love it? Ray Bolger does his solo, and then the music gets slow and pretty, and Judy starts to sing...sure it's beautiful, but now I don't want to sleep...I want to stay up and watch it through to the end.  Ah well, it's worth the dark shadows under the eyes on Tuesday. I dare you not to start calling it "Calla-forn-eye-aye!' Seriously.