100-Word Challenge: BREAKFAST: Yankee Doodle Grapefruit
Another 100-word challenge via Velvet Verbosity:
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In 1931, Jimmy Cagney branded Mae Clarke’s face with a grapefruit, sealing her Silver Screen fame with citrus. Her name forgotten, she reappears only with the search string “James Cagney Grapefruit,” her face smeared with pulp, an blond angel with a dirty face.
The movie? The Public Enemy, 1931.
The plot? Yankee Doodle goes sour. Sour like the grapefruit now dangling off of Mae Clarke’s chin.
The point? In 1931, what couldn’t you do to the woman, your wife?
Rumor has it that Mae’s ex, in an act of vicarious abuse, paid every day to see her hit.
Mae, she paid dearly, too.
Huh, that was a story I had never heard before. Really sad and kind of awful. Makes me kind of growl too.
Ack! I didn’t mean to make anyone growl… But yeah: a grapefruit in the face over breakfast is more than a little demeaning.
very beautiful, in a strange, tragic way
Growl, yes. And want to smack someone. Maybe with a grapefruit.
I know the subject matter should be handled with care. But, considering the current mood it reminded me a candy comercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV_u9EDE2Z8
Ha. I mean, I don’t think the Husby here was ever sweet. But that’s the image I got in my head as soon as I read it. :/
I remember seeing that scene many times over the years, but I never knew Clarke’s story. So very sad. Knowing that now gives that scene tragic meaning.
(via Velvet Verbosity)