Wednesday, April 7, 2010

CACTUS FLOWER


This is the cactus flower that has bloomed this season here. It is Adrenium.

In 1960s, a simple and delightful romantic movie 'Cactus Flower' was quite a hit. I saw it on a Sunday morning show during our courtship days when it came a few years later for a re-run. It was fun seeing Sunday morning shows as tickets were available at reduced rates. Problem was to find a library that was open on a Sunday morning, or to warn a friend not to visit home as I would be ‘visiting’ his home on that Sunday morning. Cactus Flower starred Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman, both of them playing a middle aged couple. Walter Matthau, even in his youth, had always looked middle aged and haggard, and Ingrid Bergman even in her past-prime looked ever beautiful and charming. This movie also starred Goldie Hawn in her debut.

To know more about our cactus, the Adrenium, I had just googled it, when I found there was a page on Cactus Flower film in Wikipedia. Some experts from there:

Walter Matthau plays a dentist with a roving eye who had a serious problem with commitment issues. Whenever a girl wanted a commitment, he would pretend to be a married man with three children. However, when his young girl friend, Goldie Hawn, attempts suicide, he decides to marry her. But then he needs a wife to divorce! He pleads his secretary, Ingrid Bergman, to pose as his wife. She accepts it reluctantly, but ends up having a crush on him. With all the hilarious twists and turns, Walter Matthau, too falls in love with her. Goldie Hawn gets fed up with all the lies and drama, and leaves the dentist for one of his own friends.
The namesake of the film is a prickly cactus that Ingrid keeps on her desk at the dentist's office. Similar to her, the cactus is cold and inhospitable. However, by the end, both the cactus and Ingrid Bergman have bloomed.
The movie was based on a successful Broadway play, but ended up being better than the play in critical acclaim and box office earning. Goldie Hawn got several awards for her role, including her only Oscar as the Best Supporting Actress.

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