Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Only Way I Could Like This Clip More Would Be If Tuesday Weld Put On Dobie's Boxing Gloves

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis has not yet been released on DVD, but someone has just put up several episodes on YouTube, including this one, "The Fist Fighter," about a boxing match between Dobie Gillis and Milton Armitage (Warren Beatty, looking about fifteen). Old-timey television, Maynard G. Krebs, and boxing — you can imagine my enthusiasm.

For those who don't know, Tuesday Weld was of the Boston Welds, third cousin once removed to William Weld. And, apparently, the money-hungry character Thalia Menninger, who only wanted to marry rich "for her family," was a little close to the bone for her:
My father’s family came from Tuxedo Park, and they offered to take us kids and pay for our education [when he died], on the condition that Mama never see us again. Mama was an orphan who had come here from London, but so far as my father’s family was concerned, she was strictly from the gutter. I have to give Mama credit — she refused to give us up.

So I became the supporter of the family, and I had to take my father’s place in many, many ways. I was expected to make up for everything that had ever gone wrong in Mama’s life. She became obsessed with me, pouring out her pent-up love — her alleged love — on me, and it’s been heavy on my shoulders ever since. To this day, Mama thinks I owe everything to her.

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