My mother loved to show films for special occasions with an old-fashioned home screen and a cine camera. All the chairs set up like a cinema. The Lady Vanishes at Christmas, Oh, Mr Porter for New Year and assorted Agatha Christies for birthdays.
For my tenth birthday, I asked for a cowboy film. I was a little obsessed with cowboys — the drama, the heroism, the good vs bad. As my guests sat down and the movie flickered to life I saw that not only had my mother found a cowboy movie but miraculously the hero was a cowgirl. Annie Get Your Gun. I had got my wish…until she opened her mouth.
It was a musical and of course, with a girl as the lead, it would have to be a musical. It ended with Annie, by far and away the best shot on set, deliberately losing a contest to a cowboy, because it was ‘better to win the man than the competition’.
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