Familiar Scenes from Duarte, CA

Love this 2003 picture of Mom, John, and Charlen.  Classic scene from a weekend in that gorgeous house in Duarte.  Everything in this scene is signature Mom.  Clean bar top, except for the hamburger buns.  No dishes in the sink, and a little coffee still on the pot behind her.  I miss that copper-colored tea kettle clock that used to hang where that brown plate is next to the window, like this one. 

On Friday, September 13, 2019, I wrote to Charlen

I will never forget how you & John bought mom a musical [chime] for her home on Elda.  John installed it.  It was a big to-do.  It changed the character of that house.  It may have been shortly after you guys moved to Van Nuys, like early, early 70s.  The advertising image of Van Nuys back in the 60s anf 70s was so modern, elegant, and upscale.  Anyway, one of the tunes played on the doorbell repertoire was Greensleeves. 

Here is "Greensleeves." 

I was so moved by it because it reminded me of the first movie I'd ever seen in the theaters, How the West Was Won, 1962, but I couldn't find "Greensleeves" on its soundtrack so I'll have to keep looking. But what an indelible memory of linking John and his efforts to making things beautiful for Mom and her remaining family in Duarte. 

Turns out I was right.  One of the songs that Debbie Reynolds sings in How the West Was Won was put to the tune of "Greensleeves."  Wikipedia confirms this:

Debbie Reynolds sings three songs in the film: "Raise a Ruckus Tonight" starting a party around the camp fire, "What Was Your Name in the States?", and "A Home in the Meadow"^[27] to the tune of "Greensleeves", with lyrics by Sammy Cahn.^[28] Her rendition is heard by Cleve (Gregory Peck), who is so moved he proposes marriage. This scene ends The Plains segment. 

Here she is singing "A Home in the Meadow" to the tune of "Greensleeves."  Marvelous! 

Does the narrator's voice at the 00:15 to 00:25 mark sound familiar?  I had to look him up for I hadn't heard his voice or given much thought to him in recent years.  But his voice sounded familiar enough for me to take notice.  He wasn't a favorite actor of mine but he had a presence for sure.  It's Spencer Tracy.  

The film begins with narration by Spencer Tracy as the aerial-borne camera sweeps over the Rocky Mountains. "This land has a name today," says Tracy in the opening lines of the film, "and is marked on maps."

I should add that it was Sally who sat next to me in the theater and comforted her younger brother.