Happy Father’s Day to Howdygramsters far and wide!

Saturday was a long day around here, packed with projects, fun and excitement that included two loads of laundry, an extended afternoon nap, watching most of the U.S. Open (round three) and a couple of movies on TCM, World Without End (1956) and All Through the Night (1942).

World Without End stars Hugh Marlowe, the reigning king of crap science fiction. Oddly enough, this movie shares a lot of plot elements with two other films: Forbidden Planet, which also was released in 1956, about a scientist father and a gorgeous daughter creating their own food and living underground; and Planet of the Apes (1968) about a spaceship from earth that returns hundreds of years in the future after nuclear war. Unfortunately, while Forbidden Planet and Planet of the Apes were terrific movies, World Without End really SUCKED.

Although the producers obviously spent plenty of dough on Technicolor, the film suffers from demented dialog, cheesy sets and bullshit costumes. All the men wear glittery satin jumpsuits with stupid hats that look like carved-up cantaloupes (see photo below) and the women — all sex-starved because who the hell would get turned on by an old guy in a cantaloupe hat — are running around in halters, mini-skirts and stilettos. (It’s gratifying to know that stilettos will survive a nuclear holocaust. There’s hope for mankind.)

Before I forget ... HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to Howdygramsters far and wide. Since Sam and I no longer have dads we commemorate the day with a 24-hour yahrzeit candle, which we lit during the U.S. Open.

May your Father’s Day be merry and bright and filled with all good things, including brunch, beer and a chance to sit around the house in a suit and tie reading your favorite magazine. L’chaim, y’all.