As we wrapped up 2010, Mer and I finally broke into a gift from late 2009 – The Premiere Frank Capra Collection. This contains five films, all of which are amazing, and all of which are stories of the little guy winning over long odds (and winning the love of the smart and witty girl along the way). These include:

American Madness – a bank president sticks to honesty and fairness
It Happened One Night – a reporter falls in love with a rich girl promised to be wed to a famous aviator
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town – an ordinary many inherits a huge fortune
You Can’t Take It With You – a family lives doing just what it wants to do and ignores the rat race
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – an ordinary man becomes a Senator

All of these films were incredibly entertaining and wonderfully witty. They are also all feel-good films, and darn it, I like to feel good. I know the world is not really a place where the ordinary person wins against long odds, but I don’t care. I still want to believe that.

The casts were star-studded, with Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, and Jimmy Stewart (one of my favorite actors). The actresses were less well known to me, but they were all sassy, pretty, intelligent, and snappy dressers (with the exception of the occasional very odd hat). It Happened One Night in particular is an amazing film for romantic comedies (and, as an aside, the creators of Bugs Bunny cited Clark Gable’s character as a major inspiration).

Four of these films were new to me (I had seen Mr. Smith years ago), and I could not have been more delighted. Mer and I actually spent New Year’s Eve finishing up Mr. Deeds and then watching Mr. Smith. We each had a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream, and I went to bed quite happy, but well before midnight. The odds were not terribly long on that.

New Year’s Day, we went to Aunt Mary’s. As often as we all are around, she tries to have a New Year’s Day party every year (some years it is in March, but she tries to have it). She keeps it fairly small, and the people she invites are fun to be around – this year it was the Georges and the Bakers and us. There was good food, and then we always play games. Sadly, this year, I had a migraine move in on me right after dinner, and I skipped the games in favor of taking a nap. Mer played the games (Catch Phrase and Would You Rather?), and she reported they were much fun.

I took Mer out for dinner at Aladdin’s – my head was feeling better, but my stomach was queasy from the headache. Aladdin’s has healthy food, and it did the trick – after supper I was feeling much better, so I drove to the Churchills’ to see if they wanted some dessert. Zach was entertaining a friend with New Year’s Day football, but Londa joined us at Friday’s for dessert. We got to catch up with Londa for about an hour, and that was much fun. Dessert with a good friend; I think Frank would have approved.