There’s Magnificence in You
There has come a time in every romantic relationship I’ve had when I asked myself the big question about the other person “Is she the one?” Generally it takes a while before I seriously start to wonder about it but there have also been times when I thought I found her immediately. Sometimes I knew she and I wouldn’t take things any further and there have been a few times when I hoped we would but we didn’t. Those of you who know me or have read the Be the Boy archives know that I once asked the big question…
”Baby, lets be private detectives.”
(Myrna Loy and William Powell as Mr. and Mrs. Charles with their dog Asta)
She said no. Like a fool I had already bought a hat and gray overcoat, I had already called the sign maker to come paint our names on the plate glass with a big eye underneath. I was heartbroken, my coat and hat were put in the closet, I stopped smoking a pipe and I fired the saucy secretary I had taken on (which was good because I was having a difficult time explaining to my girlfriend at the time why there was a girl who looked like Mary Astor, at a typewriter answering my phone). Once she told me that we’d never be a fast talking private eye couple I found it hard to keep things going, we just wanted different things from life.
In the years since I have tried without success to find the girl I could have at my side to trade wisecracks with while we solved mysteries but it hasn’t happened. It may be time to put this dream to bed, realizing this I have been putting together a new plan…I’ll be a struggling writer, with a job I dislike (done and done) who wins the heart of a smart talking socialite just before she marries some other guy (not done yet). When you’ve spend as much time watching old movies as I have, it’s hard not to picture yourself in the characters shoes. Who has seen The Philadelphia Story and not felt an aching in their heart when Macaulay carries the quite drunk Tracy in through the door singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”? How could anyone not want to do that? I’d only say no if Myrna Loy was already mixing drinks at home.
(From The Philadelphia Story)
