Abraham's Son, Chapter 14

 INT. KITCHEN OF ABRAHAM'S HOUSE - NIGHT

ABRAHAM makes popcorn in preparation for watching movie on TCM.

INT. LIVING ROOM OF ABRAHAM'S HOUSE - NIGHT

ABRAHAM sits, eats popcorn and watches 1989 film Field of Dreams with Kevin Costner (as Ray Kinsella).  

RAY KINSELLA (O.S.):  Dad...you wanna have a catch?

ABRAHAM turns off TV at end of film, takes empty bowl of popcorn to kitchen and then starts heading to his bedroom.  There is a knock on his front door.  ABRAHAM looks at his watch.  It is about 10:30 PM.  He is surprised somebody would arrive at such a late hour.  ABRAHAM walks to door and calls out.

ABRAHAM:  Who is it?

SARA (O.S.):  SARA.

ABRAHAM slowly opens front door.  The two of them stare at each other in silence for a moment.  Finally...

SARA:  I'm ovulating.

ABRAHAM is shocked by what she said.

SARA:  Can I come in?

ABRAHAM steps aside and gestures to SARA his permission for her to enter house.  She steps in and walks toward area where they had their discussion the previous Thursday.  

ABRAHAM:  Have a seat.

They both sit.

SARA:  Sorry for what I said last week.  I was rude.  I coulda just said no.  (pause)  You've been very nice to me from the start.  Treated me like a friend.  I didn't treat you like a friend last week.  (pause)  I've been doin' a lot a thinkin' since then.  What you said, act of kindness, kinda stuck with me.  You want a kid, your own kid, that's not so crazy.  Maybe bein' pregnant wouldn't be so bad, maybe it's something I should have in my life.  Maybe.  (pause)  So, if you wanna do it with me...tonight...okay.  What do ya wanna do?  

ABRAHAM:  I feel the same as I did last week.   I'm ready.  (pause)  I want you to know...our making love...I thank you ...for doing this.  (pause)  Do you want anything...before we...?  

SARA thinks a minute.

SARA:  Got any Baileys Irish Cream?

ABRAHAM:  I believe I do.  Let me get a couple of glasses.

ABRAHAM goes and finds the bottle and fills two glasses.  He returns and hands one to SARA.  Then he makes a toast.

ABRAHAM:  To our child.

ABRAHAM and SARA each take a sip of Baileys Irish Cream.

Jerry Mahoney

This is the 400th post of my blog I started in December 2014.  

Jerry Mahoney is a ventriloquist's dummy created by Paul Winchell in the early 1940s.  He wears a red sport jacket and a bow tie.  Jerry has an outspoken personality which exasperates Paul.

Paul Winchell was born (originally Paul Wilchinsky) into a Jewish family in New York City on December 21, 1922.  At six years of age, he contracted polio.   

When Paul was about 12 years-old, he saw a magazine advertisement offering a ventriloquism kit for 10 cents.  Receiving school credit from his art teacher for creating a ventriloquist's dummy, he named his dummy after the teacher.

Paul worked on developing a comedic routine with his dummy, Jerry Mahoney.  He won first prize on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour in 1938.   Shortly thereafter, Paul became a professional entertainer at age 16.

Paul's first show (with Jerry) on the radio was in 1943.  However, he was overshadowed by the veteran ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen, whose daughter Candice was a classmate of mine at Penn from 1963 to 1965.

In the 1950s, Paul moved to television for The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show.  The Saturday morning program was sponsored by Tootsie Roll, a chocolate flavored taffy.  I used to watch the show regularly.

On one trip to New York City with my parents, my mother (my father was busy with business at Nestlé) arranged for the two of us to attend a live broadcast of The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show.  We sat near the back of the studio audience.

I remember there were at least three cameras between the audience and the principals on stage, which hindered our view.  Also, there was an electric sign which told us when to applaud.  We did as instructed.  It was a thrilling experience to be there for a live TV show, my only such experience.

Paul Winchell died in 2005 at the age of eighty-two.  Jerry Mahoney is at the Smithsonian Institution.

Al Cervi

Al Cervi was born February 12, 1917 (106 years ago) in Buffalo, NY.  He was captain of his high school basketball team and achieved All-City honors.  

After his junior year, Al quit school and played professional basketball for the Buffalo Bisons of the National Basketball League.  After the team went out of existence, he joined the US Army Air Forces for five years (1940-1945).

After WWII, Al signed on to play for the Rochester Royals basketball team from 1945 to 1948.  Today, that National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise is known as the Sacramento Kings.

After the 1948 season, Al signed on as the player-coach of the Syracuse Nationals or Nats (now the Philadelphia 76ers).  The team qualified for the NBA playoffs eight of the nine years he was their coach, finally winning the championship in 1955, defeating the Fort Wayne (now Detroit) Pistons, 4 games to 3.  

On April 10th, 1955, Syracuse won game 7 of that series at home by a score of 92-91.  It was to be the Nats only championship.

As I lived near Syracuse growing up, I (along with my family) attended many of the Nats home games at the Onondaga War Memorial.  I also listened to many of their games on the radio.

Their top players from the championship season were:

Dolph Schayes NYU 6'8" - Grew up in a Jewish family in New York City.  Joined Nats in 1948 and played for 16 years.  First NBA player to score 15,000 points.  Adept at set shot.

Johnny Kerr University of Illinois 6'9" - Joined Nats in 1954.  NBA All-Star three times. 

Red Rocha Oregon State University 6'9" - First person from Hawaii to play in NBA.  Shares NBA record for most minutes (67) in a playoff game.

Paul Seymour University of Toledo 6'1" - Had a twelve year career in NBA.  Was also a successful coach with four different NBA teams.

George King University of Charleston 6'0" - Hit series clinching free throw to win championship in 1955.  Played five years with Nats.

Earl Lloyd West Virginia State University 6'5" - First Black to play in an NBA game.  Had career highs in points and rebounds for Nats in their championship year.  Excellent defender.

On March 26, 1963, the Nats played the Cincinnati (formerly Rochester) Royals at home with 7,418 fans in attendance.  It was the fifth and deciding game of the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals.  The Royals won in overtime, 131-127, eliminating Syracuse.  It was the Nats final game...ever.  

On May 22, 1963, the Nats were sold to new ownership who moved the team to Philadelphia (and renamed them).  Three months later, I moved there, too.

 

The Fabelmans

 The Fabelmans is a 2022 film co-written, co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg.  It is basically the story of Spielberg's early life from the time he saw his first movie until he started his career making movies.  The story also deals with his relationships with his mother and father.

When Spielberg was five years-old, his parents took him to see his first movie, The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille.  Young Steven (Sammy in the film) was particularly impressed by the train crash scene.  

From there, Sammy (Steven) developed a tremendous interest in making movies.  He continued making movies all the way through high school.

Spielberg found it difficult accepting his Jewish heritage; he said: "It isn't something I enjoy admitting [...] but when I was seven, eight, nine years old, God forgive me, I was embarrassed because we were Orthodox Jews. I was embarrassed by the outward perception of my parents' Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times."  I can relate to that.  

Spielberg also suffered from anti-Semitism: "In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. Two bloody noses. It was horrible."  Thankfully, I did not have a similar experience at OHS.

Among Spielberg's films were a long list of successes:  Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), The Color Purple (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015) and West Side Story (2021).

In 2010, I nearly crossed paths with Steven Spielberg.  I was working as a customer service rep/cashier at Kohl's department store in Durham, North Carolina.  He was on a business trip to the area with some staff and was staying at a hotel near the store.  

Spielberg came to Kohl's with a female associate to buy her a swimsuit.  The cashier recognized him and saw his credit card.  Unfortunately, I did not have a shift while he was at the store.  Close, but no cigar.

The Fabelmans ends with a real life story of Spielberg's, meeting the legendary director, John Ford, when Spielberg was just at the beginning of his film making career.  With Sammy sitting in Ford's waiting room, the theme from the opening scene of The Seachers (1956) is heard.  There are movie posters of many of Ford's films on the walls.  When Ford finally arrives, he gives Sammy a quick lesson in art (where is the horizon in a picture?) and then tells him to "get the fuck out of my office."