November 22 - Mermaids

Today’s movie is a comedy-drama with a scene that happens on November 22. Watch it tonight and enjoy.

MERMAIDS                  

Mrs. Flax is a single mom with two daughters, teen aged Charlotte and young swim prodigy, Kate. Charlotte is obsessed with Catholic saints, even though the family is Jewish. After Mrs. Flax (that’s what Charlotte calls her mother) finds out that her boss, whom she has been dating is married, she moves the family from Oklahoma to Massachusetts, following her usual pattern of moving on to avoid trouble. Charlotte is not happy about this until she learns that a convent is located adjacent to their house. Charlotte becomes smitten with the convent’s caretaker and local schoolbus driver, Joe. Mrs. Flax meets Lou Landsky, a Jewish shoe store owner and they start a relationship. Charlotte pursues Joe and they go on a date. Then on November 22, 1963 [44:25 to 50:21] Charlotte is shocked by the news of President Kennedy’s assassination. She kisses Joe, but then runs away. Charlotte now thinks she is pregnant, so she steals her mother’s car and runs away from home, ending up with what she thinks is the ideal nuclear family. She finally learns she is not pregnant. Charlotte and Kate like Lou and Mrs. Flax gets jealous of their attachment to him. On New Year’s Eve, when Lou wants to get married or live together, Mrs. Flax breaks up with him. Joe drives her home and when Mrs. Flax kisses him, Charlotte becomes very upset.  Charlotte gets all dressed up and goes up to the convent where she and Joe consummate their relationship. Unfortunately, she was supposed to be watching Kate, who almost drowns in the river. This causes a huge fight between Charlotte and Mrs. Flax. Charlotte talks her mother into staying instead of running away.   Mrs. Flax and Lou reconcile, while Charlotte takes up Greek myths. 

This is a very funny movie. Winona Ryder’s narration makes the film. Her voiced thoughts are hilarious. The soundtrack on this film is fantastic.

The Sixties Chronicle ed. by David J. Hogan (Legacy Publishing, New York, 2004) at pages 164-167 gives the date of the assassination

Producer - Lauren Lloyd, Wallis Nicita, Patrick J. Palmer and Suzanne Rothbaum

Director - Richard Benjamin

Screenplay - June Roberts

Runtime -  1 hour 50 minutes

Released - December 14, 1990

Starring -

Cher as Rachel Flax

Winona Ryder as Charlotte Flax

Christina Ricci as Kathryn "Kate" Flax

Bob Hoskins as Louis "Lou" Landsky

Michael Schoeffling as Joe Porretti

Copyright by Ivan Walters in 2014.