Three Wishes (United States, 1995)


Figure 1.--Tom misses his dad. He had no one to help him with baseball. Some american boys wore shorts in the 1950s, but this varied by region and social class. These shorts look different than the ones I remember in the 1950s, especially the early 1950s.

"Three Wishes" is a 1995 film directed by Martha Coolidge. Jane Holman is a military wife during the 1950s. Her husband is lost and probably dead in Korea. The movie begins with a car ride. Jane is in the car with her two boys, Tom and Gunny. Distracted by the kids she hits a drifter, Jack McCloud. Jack's leg is broken. Even so the police give him a hard time. Feeling responsible, she offers to allow Jack invites Jack and his dog Betty Jane to stay at her home until his leg has mended. The neighbors are syspicious. There is something different about Jack played by Patrick Swayze. Jack has the requisite problems with his host, especially the older boy, but soon is accepted and eventually makes him self a irreplaceable presence. Jack gives some help to Tom who is having trouble with baseball. The point here is that dad's help boys with sports. I'm sure some dad's did. In my own exoerience, however, I do not recall that as very common. Tom's success with baseball draws considerable attention on Jack. Tom's younger brother Gunny begins there is something special about Jack and Gunny and sets out to learn more. This comes to the head at a community picnic. Joseph Mazzello plays Tom. Seth Mumy plays Gunther ('Gunny'). TV fans will know Seth's father--Billy Mumy. Billy of course played Will Robinson in the TV-series "Lost in Space". The film provides some good examples of period early 1950s clothes, but the accuracy is somewhat variable. Tom wears both long and short pants. The shorts seen here, however do not look quite right forthe early 50s. Gunny wears more juvenile outfit, For a community picnic he wears a yellow shorts set with a self belt. This does seem accurate for the early 50s.

Filmology

"Three Wishes" is a 1995 film directed by Martha Coolidge.

Cast

Joseph Mazzello plays Tom. Seth Mumy plays Gunther ('Gunny'). TV fans will know Seth's father--Billy Mumy. Billy of course played Will Robinson in the TV-series "Lost in Space".

Plot

Jane Holman is a military wife during the 1950s. Her husband is lost and probably dead in Korea. The movie begins with a car ride. Jane is in the car with her two boys, Tom and Gunny. Distracted by the kids she hits a drifter, Jack McCloud. Jack's leg is broken. Even so the police give him a hard time. Feeling responsible, she offers to allow Jack invites Jack and his dog Betty Jane to stay at her home until his leg has mended. The neighbors are syspicious. There is something different about Jack played by Patrick Swayze. Jack has the requisite problems with his host, especially the older boy, but soon is accepted and eventually makes him self a irreplaceable presence. Jack gives some help to Tom who is having trouble with baseball. The point here is that dad's help boys with sports. I'm sure some dad's did. In my own exoerience, however, I do not recall that as very common. Tom's success with baseball draws considerable attention on Jack. Tom's younger brother Gunny begins there is something special about Jack and Gunny and sets out to learn more. This comes to the head at a community picnic.

Costuming

The film provides some good examples of period early 1950s clothes, but the accuracy is somewhat variable. Tom wears both long and short pants. The shorts seen here, however do not look quite right forthe early 50s. A British reader writes, "Yes, they are different; that's because they are jeans-based, sometimes known as cut-down jeans; however the hems look so well done that they were probably intended to be shorts from the beginning." American boys did wear cut-offs, but this was in the 1970s, at least the ones manufactured to look like cut-offs. (Notice the different American and British terms.) Many probably most American boys in the 1950s did not wear short pants. This varied widely by region and social class. Where I grew up in Washigton D.C. during the 1940s and early 50s, boys even in elementary (primary) school did not wear short pants. When we moved to Alabama I noted that boys did wear summer play shorts. We lived near an Air Force base and a lot of the military children dis wear shorts, but not to school. The shorts here, however, are longer than the shorts I remember boys wearing at the time. The shorts I remember were boxer shorts. They also look to be jean shorts and I don't remember boys in the 1950s wearing jean shorts. Jean shorts appeared in Europe, but except for cut-offs were not popular in America. Gunny wears more juvenile outfit, For a community picnic he wears a yellow shorts set with a self belt. This does seem accurate for the early 50s. Another American reader writes, "I think HBC is are precisely right about boys not wearing jean shorts or cut-offs in the 1950s--and especially not LONG jean cut-offs. That came much later. Some boys, I think, did wear shorts for play or dress-up in New England (a somewhat upper-class style), but certainly not jean shorts. One used to see "Bermuda shorts" with long socks sometimes on prep school and college kids in the summer at country clubs--but jean shorts, never." This is very helpful. America is a large country and conventions varied regionally. A HBC reader, however, does remember jean shorts in the 1950s. In a military family the children, two brothers and a sister, wore both short and long jeans. Readers may also want to have a look at the HBC U.S. 1950s page for more detailed information.








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Created: 10:39 PM 12/11/2004
Last updated: 10:12 PM 12/14/2004