DeeGeesLifeBlog ~ Life as Art ~ Or is it Heart?

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. ~ I Corinthians 13:12-13

Once upon a time yours truly was a hopeless romantic, caught betwixt and between the mighty novels and stage plays of English masters of plot, intrigue, and (always it seems) the love eternal. Samuel Goldwyn it is reported, always lived by the maxim Every good story must have a happy ending. And who could blame him. Long before the advent of daytime TV soaps, and endless re-runs of nickel-and-dime plot and counter-plot, a great entertainment rested on three elements – a beginning, a middle, and an ending.

Grand Hotel Mackinac c.1912

During the last weekend of October, the annual gathering takes place at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, of the followers of one of the most enigmatic and least-understood movies of the modern era. Produced for a paltry $5,000,000, it was filmed entirely on location at the hotel with outside scenes around the island, and barely lasted three weeks in general release when it hit theaters in October of 1980.

Yet here we are, early in the year of the film’s 36th anniversary, and once again the Somewhere In Time weekend will become a cherished visit this coming October for some happy couples seeking to embrace the film’s romance. Attracting some 800 fans (mostly husband/wife couples of the ‘hopeless romantic kind’) the weekend is a cornucopia of nostalgia, 1912 dress-ups, dinner parties, receptions and symposiums on everything from scene visits, intimate close-ups with actors, producers and directors, and quiet, reflective sit-downs in the areas of favorite camera-shots; not forgetting the tracking down of rooms 117 and 416.

I won’t dwell too much on the content since there’s a link following the movie clip to a wonderful article describing the whole weekend. Suffice to say that the movie ranks right up there as one of my favorites, and is listed as such on my Facebook page. Who couldn’t fall in love with Jane Seymour as actress Elise McKenna (long before she became Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) or take on the persona of Christopher Reeve as Richard Collier, traveling back in time from 1972 to 1912? The time traveler seeking the old/young lady who gifted him a pocket-watch on the only time they met this side of eternity.

Somewhere in time…

I do believe that deep, deep down in the psyche of each and every one of us, there dwells a yearning of eternal proportions, whether it be the longing of we believers in Christ to be united with him and the heavenly host in perpetuity; or down at the other end of the scale, where less-than-those in Christ still believe that there has to be something else to life, especially when it comes to romance. Somehow the romance part generally out-loves the spiritual part, but nevertheless, somewhere in time exists.

As to the time-traveler part of the story, surely we all do this each and every night when we fall asleep, and somewhere in our dreams visit places we’ve never seen before. Some indeed are fortunate enough to navigate the great divide while still sleeping, and awake in a far, far better place than they’ve ever known here on earth (or not, but that’s a story for another time and topic!).

As to Samuel Goldwyn and happy endings, this wonderful movie doesn’t disappoint. Richard does indeed fall asleep, his body at last finished with its time on earth. But in the final scene as he drifts towards the heavenly light, who does Richard find awaiting him, but his beloved Elise; and thus they are together once again, only this time for eternity. Somewhere In Valentine’s Time indeed.

As I say, once upon a time, yours truly was a hopeless romantic (and I guess it’s becoming evident that vestiges of that hopelessness remain with me!) – So Happy “Somewhere-In-Valentine’s-Day-Time” to all you other romancers on this February 14th 2016 ‘cos I just know that I’m not the only one out here … Am I?

A rose by any other name is still a rose..