Take One Rainy Night (Details)
citation: McCall's, October 1959, LXXXVII(1):72-73, 172-174
alias: None
teaser: … also take two girls, two men, and a movie that got bad reviews
summary: As Benjamin and Ruth Callandar drive into June and Charley Howser's driveway, Ben doubts his wife's sanity. She and June want their husbands to take them to the movies in San Francisco — during a rainstorm.
Ben exits the car with his coat and hat on backwards, then rings the Howser's bell, standing with his back to the door. Recovering from her surprise, June invites Ben in to wait for Charley, who also does not want to go to the movies.
Charley wishes they could convince the two women to stay home and have drinks by the fireplace. Exasperated, June calls to Ruth, suggesting the two women go to the movies, leaving their husbands at home. The men agree, and their wives drive off.
As they prepare to enjoy the afternoon, Ben and Charley ridicule the musical their wives will be watching. They mock imagined scenes of what they are certain will be a dreadful movie, but predict their wives will claim the movie was much better than it was.
To enable them to cite actual scenes from the movie to refute their wives claims, Ben and Charley decide to secretly go to the movie and gather data.
At the theater, they grouse though a cartoon, and travelogue, before compiling their list of trite, over-used scenes in a very predictable movie. Just before the movie's end, they leave to be home before their wives return.
Sitting around the fireplace drinking, Ben and Charley confront Ruth and June, asking how they enjoyed the movie. The women do not respond to being egged on, and provide no details.
Amused, Ruth and June admit they did not go to the movies afterall. On the way to the theater, Ruth realized Ben's movie reviews were usually accurate, so they decided to have drinks around the fireplace at The Inn.
From the way Ben's hair curls when it's wet, Ruth suspects her husband, and Charley, went to the movies. Caught in their own game, Ben and Charley praise the movie their wives didn't see.
words: 3,863
genre: None
similar: None
people: Benjamin Callandar, Ruth Callandar, June Howser, Charley Howser
places: San Francisco, CA: movie theater, The Inn
comments: Forthcoming