In a nod to Valentine's Day tomorrow, we pay tribute to that most romantic location...the drugstore.
Oh, my, how we've seen time and again that first flush of passion amid the nostrums and patent medicine, and comic books, and tuna melt sandwiches at the lunch counter.
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Only recently we were witness to the lusty scene of forbidden love over the costmetics counter in Richard Basehart's drugstore in "Tension" (1949). Here, in that sexy white coat, he woos Cyd Charisse with acne cream. Or something.
Dana Andrews, again in that sexy white coat, which is bona fide chick magnet, seduces Teresa Wright in the drugstore with perfume in "The Best Years of our Lives" (1946).
Even the very young are not immune to the romance of the drugstore. Puberty strikes young George Bailey and young Mary Hatch pretty hard in "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946).
She whispers into his deaf ear as he prepares a sundae for her, "I"ll love you 'til the day I die." Garbo never uttered more sultry words.
The drugstore is a place not only for romance, but for romantic rivalries. No nightclub was ever so rife with players in the game of love.
Makes you want to slip out for some Vick's Vap-O-Rub or disposable razors, doesn't it? Better doll up a little. You never know what chance meeting may occur in the prostetics aisle to change your life.
Happy Valentine's Day.
14 comments:
This was great! This was not only funny but I love the fact you acknowledged Tension. A seriously underrated noir.
"Say, brainless, don't you know where coconuts come from?" That George Bailey always knew how to talk to girls.
George sure was the master of "playing hard to get".
Jacqueline, your delightful tongue-in-cheek salute to romance at the drugstore in classic movies cracked me up! Any drugstore romance that involves Audrey Totter, one of Team B.'s favorite femme fatale types, is worth watching. Hope your Valentine's Day will be brimming with romance and intrigue, or at least some fine chocolate or other favorite treats! :-)
Nice post! Sadly I think the CVS's and RiteAids of today are not quite as romantic...
No mention of To Each His Own--for shame Jacqueline! LOL! That drugstore had a lot of drama!
Thank you, Dorian and Joel. I'm thinking of wearing something low-cut to the CVS and see what transpires.
Kim, all I can say is EGAD! Romantic drugstores is turning out to be a genre unto itself.
Oh, wonderful! To think that drugstores used to house Lana Turners. Where did they go wrong?
Every time I think of drugstore romances, I automatically think of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. It always seemed to be their trysting spot--ice-cream sodas galore!
Also, after years of visiting the auto-playlist finally wore me down...in a good way. I just added my own to my site's picture gallery.
Elyse, you and Kim are keeping me on my toes. More drugstore romances! Lana Turner at Schwabs! How could I have missed that? And Mickey and Judy, of course.
Joel, I did hope my playlist would sap the mental energy of my readers and put them under my power. "In a good way." Your playlist has quite a mix of music. I hope everybody will go check out The Dancing Image and your picture gallery. Especially if they get sick of my old fogey music.
Ha, there's stuff for the fogies too on there. ;)
What fun! I love this. Another later film that has love in a drug store is "Murphy's Romance" - a favorite of mine.
I've always thought of drugstores in movies as places where poison often gets mixed up in the prescriptions or places where the killer goes to purchase said poison. Shows how romantic my mind is. HA!
Terrific post, Jacqueline. I hope you had a great Valentine's Day.
I ate chocolate. :)
You must live in an interesting part of town, Yvette. Anybody who reads as many mystery novels as you do is bound to get suspicious.
I ate too much candy. Seems I always do.
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