Couldn't help it, I laughed...

[onager]

Woo-hoo! As you all know, whenever I run into a Major Cultural Note about atheism, I report it. At very tiresome length...

The other night I watched Bachelor In Paradise, a 1961 flick with Bob Hope and Lana Turner.

Usual Tedious Personal Explanation: this thing was filmed where I live - in the San Fernando Valley. That's a suburb of Los Angeles that has been described as "Long Island with the top down."

But in 1961, the tract homes and suburban sprawl were still being built. Heck, the trees had just been planted and you can see that in the movie.

As Robby Cress says better than I can, on his Dear Old Hollywood blog:

...to anyone who appreciates mid-century (20th century) fashion and design, the look of this film is stunning. The mid-century tract homes, an early suburban grocery store, bowling alley, tiki bar, cars, drive-in restaurant, clothes - everything in this film is a colorful step back in time.

Cress even tracked down Lana Turner's house in the movie, which is still standing in Woodland Hills. And THE CARS! Yes! Everybody drives humongous 1961 Chrysler Corp. convertibles!!! Be still, my beating heart! e.g., Turner has a gold Plymouth with "Tri-Tone" upholstery.

http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/search/label/Bob%20Hope

As for the movie itself...well, by 1961 Bob Hope was somewhat past his shelf life as a Swingin' Ladies Man, with his pouchy eyes and prominent bald spot. And Lana Turner was only 3 years past the scandal of her gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato being stabbed to death by her 14-yr-old daughter. (Cultural cross-reference: you may recall that Stompanato was a character in James Ellroy's novel L.A. Confidential.)

Still, this line made me laugh. The movie locale is a suburb named "Paradise Village." When Hope arrives, he says:

"Sorry I'm late. My cab driver couldn't find Paradise. He's an atheist."

Other cultural x-refs: in 1961, the landmark school prayer decisions were still a year away, although more than 30 states had already outlawed sectarian prayers in school. The economy was booming, despite a crippling corporate tax rate of about 90%...cough. Milton Friedman and his buddies were still considered cranks and crackpots. And almost the only people taking LSD were unwitting CIA test subjects.

[Warpy]

1. Leary and Alpert had got their hands on LSD by then

and been impressed enough to start IFIF (International Foundation for Inner Freedom, how's that for pretense?), so there was a core group of dusty professorial types and their more adventurous students ready to spring it on a regimented, grey population.

I utterly lack any appreciation for mid century excess, probably because I grew up on the east coast where it was but a pallid imitation of what was happening in California. Show me a Jetson's coffee table in Formica over laminated wood and watch me cringe.

Still, it's nice someone could even say the word "atheist" back then. It's far less socially acceptable today.

For those who don't realize what the modern incarnation of mid century modern is doing, I refer you to http://unhappyhipsters.com/

[progressoid]

2. Wow, I didn't know that about Turner's daughter.

That was a fun little detour to wikipedia :)

[onager]

3. You might also want to find...

Episode #2 of the Investigation Discovery TV show James Ellroy’s LA: City of Demons. He interviews the woman herself, Cheryl Crane.

I watched that episode, but otherwise that show doesn't work for me. They just try too hard to push the whole noir angle. Right down to Ellroy wearing batwing suits and fedoras straight out of 1947.

But what really turned me off was the talking dog...

Oh, and it doesn't help that Ellroy is a hard-core right-winger. I caught a documentary about him one night, where they made the mistake of letting him run his mouth unsupervised. Jebus. Ellroy probably thinks Mussolini was a bleeding-heart liberal.