Volume XVII, Issue V
Hayley Mills in 'Tiger Bay'
When Walt Disney decided to make a film adaptation of the 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna, he was concerned that the lead actor might be too much of a ‘Pollyanna.’ Fearing that the role would become way too saccharine, he considered it very carefully. Upon viewing the film debut of John Mills’ daughter Hayley in ‘Tiger Bay,’ Disney knew he had someone who could add a dimension of reality to the character.
Hayley Mills and her father star in this gripping film.
Tiger Bay (1959)
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Tiger Bay, released in 1959, marked the film debut of 12-year-old Hayley Mills and few actresses have had such an extraordinarily impressive start to a film career. This is a crime thriller but it’s also a bit more than that - it’s a film about friendship and loyalty and duty and moral dilemmas. (read more)
Through the Eyes of a Child
Eleven year old Gillie lives in a world of troubles and dashed expectations. Her parents are gone and she deals with life in the care of her aunt, street bullies and the need to fend for herself. Wonderfully portrayed by Hayley Mills, Gillie is a study in the child who builds a world of lies to protect herself perhaps from the brutality of life. Mills is brilliant in her role, often saying volumes with facial expression and simply with her eyes. A lot of us fell in love with Hayley in Pollyanna. Here I came to fully appreciate her depth as an actor.
Though my childhood was in no way as bleak as Gillies,’ I remember my own response to leaving the idyllic world of home and backyard building of little paper houses with my sisters, and entering the world of endless waxed hallways – the industrial school of the mid-Twentieth Century! I did not fit in well there. Just like Gillie, I ‘created’ in my mind my means of escape. Adults would call it lying and some of them were not amused. I had one teacher who would not allow us to erase anything. I remember once making a childish mistake in the marbled copybook. In my anger and frustration I blacked out the entire page with my pencil! My dad came to the rescue with an Exacto knife and cut out that entire page so skillfully that it could not be detected. He cheered me on as I ‘recreated’ the work.
Next to the pencil, the eraser would become my favorite tool! Now you wouldn’t think that one destined to design could get in trouble with a pencil – think again! In first grade we were issued those fat pencils meant to fit our chubby hands. I unthinkingly picked up a regular #2 pencil (I had been drawing and writing with thinner pencils for some time) and the teacher saw me. She broke the pencil over my hand! I began to believe the true lie: “I was a BAD KID!”
Later, a teacher, no doubt frustrated with me, tore up a very nice drawing of a T rex that I had done. I began to hide my drawings in a box under the bed. Later, not being drawn to athletics, I became the target of school bullies. Life was a series of gauntlets to be navigated. I loved to escape by myself to the beauty of the woods. My mother had to ring a cowbell to get me home for dinner. Sometimes I didn’t hear it and returned to a plate of cold victuals. To this day I do not complain about cold food!
All this is to say that in the character of Gillie I saw a wonderful portrayal of how we as children handle the complex dilemmas that the world presents to us. We ‘create’ a narrative that helps us navigate things. Those of us who work with children would do well to study this creative mythology.
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.” – Mark 10: 13-15
Teaching People to Dream
Sometime in our past Century, we ceased to see the people. We saw the poverty and despair and attempted to solve the problem institutionally. Government programs could muster so many resources and initially they could indeed create new housing and feed the multitudes. But the truth is that the same despairs followed people into their rebuilt communities. Excerpts from the Redemptive Compassion DVD present a biblical call to holistic help by Lois Tupyi.
San Donato Val di Comino
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By Christopher F. Rufo
At six o’clock each morning, the alcoholics, addicts, and mentally ill residents of San Donato Val di Comino, Italy, emerge from their homes and congregate—sometimes together, but mostly alone—in the cafés around the town’s main square. Some of the hardened alcoholics order an espresso with a shot of liquor, then climb into work trucks and head out to farms and construction sites. The mentally ill—who suffer predominantly from depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia—order cups of coffee or sit at the patio tables emptyhanded, an indication that they have run out of cash for the month. (read more)
The lesson for Americans: culture matters. If we want to reverse the destruction of human life through addiction, mental illness, homelessness, and violence, we must reimagine our moral and cultural possibilities and seek to reestablish familial and communal bonds that can prevent the most vulnerable from falling into the abyss. No doctor, pill, or public policy can replace a truly compassionate society—one that loves the mad and the addicted but restrains them from harming themselves and their neighbors.”
Photo by Samuele Tocci.
Laney’s Palette Art Show
Saturday September 14th, 2019 in Crozet, VA
Works by Kristina Elaine Greer will be on display at the gallery space of Tabor Presbyterian Church, 5804 Tabor Street, Crozet, Virginia 22932. There will be an opening reception on Saturday, September 14th, 2019 from 1:00 to 4:00pm at the church. All are invited. The show will feature Laney’s Acrylic Paintings and Pencil Drawings from 2004 – 2019.
