Unlike my lucky friend, Elke, who is forever winning contests, I just won what might be my first. (Okay, so, I did win a music composition competition once, but that was back practically in the Dark Ages). I was listening to Dr. Paul Camerata's SQPN podcast, SaintCast about "all things Saint-like." He has a regular segment called Saint Jeopardy in which he offers clues and some lucky listener comes up with the winning "question," usually in the form of 'Who is Saint X?' This time, I realized that I actually knew the answer.



The clue was that the "famous person" (ie., not a saint) was born on St. George's Feast Day. (You remember St. George and the dragon, right?). This "famous person" was quoted as having penned these lines:

O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint,
With saints dost bait thy hook! Most dangerous
Is that temptation that doth goad us on.

Now, you're probably saying, "way too easy! That's Shakespeare, (Measure for Measure, Act 2, Scene 2). I read it in high school!" Yep! I didn't win the big bucks, but I may have scored a SaintCast T-shirt...

When St. George's mom became a widow, she returned home to 4th century Palestine and her hometown of Lydda -- known today as Lod. She raised the future St. George near the site of the future Ben Gurion International Airport. Her son grew up to be a Roman soldier like his dead dad, and a dragon-slayer to boot. George was tortured and executed on this date in 303 while still in his 20s, not for killing a fire-breathing reptile, but for becoming a Christian.

Below is a clip from the 1948 film of the 1943 Broadway musical, One Touch of Venus written by Ogden Nash and Kurt Weill. The Broadway production featured Mary Martin (who I saw as Peter Pan on the first TV program I ever watched), with choreography by Agnes de Milles. The film version stars 26 year old Ava Gardner and 30 year old Robert Walker. Two years later, he suddenly died in rather mysterious circumstances "after being administered an injection of sodium amytal by two doctors who appeared at his house." (If someone in a white coat comes to your house with a needle, slam the door!) So, what is the connection between St. George, Shakespeare and this clip? Today is St. George's Day and William Shakespeare is 444 years old. In (Much Ado about Nothing, Act II, Scene I), he gives Don Pedro, Prince of Arragon the famous line that Ogden Nash borrowed:

Don Pedro: Speak low, if you speak love.
Balthazar: Well, I would you did like me.
Margaret:  So would not I, for your own sake; for I have many ill qualities.
Balthazar: Which is one?
Margaret:  I say my prayers aloud.
Balthazar: I love you the better; the hearers may cry Amen.
Margaret:  God match me with a good dancer!
Balthazar: Amen.

Tags: ava gardner, kurt weill, odgen nash, robert walker, shakespeare, st. george
Current Mood: loved lowly
Current Music: יהודה פוליקר & עמיר בניון: דברים שרציתי לומר