If you’re a regular reader — as always, thank you! — then you know that I have opened up a reader poll at least twice a year since Spring 2014, when I ask readers to vote for the next film for me to analyze. You can see past reader polls here.
I’ve pulled together five film titles from my private collection of reel librarian titles.
Now is the time to choose your next adventure!
After Twilight (2005):
This is NOT a movie from the Twilight vampire film saga. Rather, it’s a short film filmed in Houston, Texas. Here’s the intriguing write-up from the Librarians in the Movies: An Annotated Filmography site:
Bookish Jen Frazier seems an unlikely choice to be a freedom fighter, but when a theocratic new order occupies the state of Texas, she is pushed into action carrying contraband for the underground. After a series of narrow escapes from the police, she is finally able to deliver the package to its intended recipients. In so doing, she makes the ultimate sacrifice and the contents of the mysterious package are revealed to the audience. Saying any more, including which character is the librarian, would spoil your viewing of the film.
Apartment for Peggy (1948):
In this 1948 film, a Technicolor romantic comedy about veterans’ wives set during World War II, stars Jeanne Crain as Peggy. William Holden plays her husband, Jason, and Edmund Gwenn plays Professor Henry Barnes, who rents his attic space to the couple.
Prof. Barnes also lends his personal library to the veterans’ wives so they can study up and converse more intelligently with their husbands. Jeanne volunteers to be the librarian and apparently has a few scenes checking out books from the professor’s home.
The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag (1992):
The title of this film is quite literal: In order to get attention, a small-town public librarian (Penelope Ann Miller) finds a gun — guess where she puts it?! 😉 — and confesses to a murder she did not commit.
Doesn’t that movie plot sound like the result of a Mad Libs?
The title character in this reel librarian movie is a classic Liberated Librarian role. I have seen this movie multiple times… do y’all want me to see it once more?
Margie (1946):
Another 1940s film starring Jeanne Crain! This time, Crain plays troubled teen Margie MacDuff, while Lynn Bari plays a supporting role as school librarian Miss Isabelle Palmer.
Apparently, there are several bloomer elastic mishaps — not kidding — and the library is a popular place to fix one’s bloomers. Miss Palmer also garners the attention of the new French teacher, who the female students are swooning over. Miss Palmer’s age gets a lot of snide comments from the jealous teens, including:
I don’t see what he sees in her. She’s old. She must be 25 at least.
She’s well-preserved for her age.
It would be nice to see this attractive, modern, and “well-preserved” reel librarian up close. 😉
Teenage Mother (1967):
A new health teacher in a high school is hired to teach sex education and gets blamed when a student turns up pregnant. In one scene, the teacher asks the school librarian why the library does not own a specific textbook on sexuality, and she gets told by the librarian that it’s a “filthy book” inappropriate for teenagers.
Taglines for the film included:
- The Film That Dares To Explain What Most Parents Can’t …
- Teenage Mother – Means 9 Months of Trouble!
- She did her homework in parked cars!
The reader poll will stay open through next Tuesday, April 4, 10 p.m. PST. Thanks in advance for helping choose which film I should analyze next!
I’ll be back next week on Wednesday with the winning film.
REEL LIBRARIANS 