This is the third installment of our Classic Cinema With the Sage Sisters movies that are about characters with mental and emotional health issues. In each of the three so far, what the characters need most to heal is a strong support system. Home Before Dark is from 1958 and like, Now, Voyager before it, the main characters, both named Charlotte must do the work necessary to be able to begin the healing process.
At the beginng of this movie, Charlotte comes home, after a year, from a mental hospital into the same situation that caused her breakdown. Charlotte’s husband Arnold is cold, her step sister, Joan is patronizing, and her step-mother, Inez is controlling. But while Charlotte was in the mental hospital, her husband rented out the downstairs bedroom to a new colleague at the college, Jake Diamond played by Ephrem Zimbalist Jr. Jake is observant and the only one in the house who understands what Charlotte has been through because of his war experiences. They become friends and he helps her begin to unravel her tangled emotions enough to see her situation clearly.
This is a beautiful story that is not aired often, which is odd since it has a 7.0 rating on IMDb. You might have a hard time finding it but once you do, it could become one of your favorite movies.
I am the author of a biography about my father’s amazing story of living as a Jewish man in Hungary when the Nazis, and later the communists, seized power. Growing up in affluence, young Ervin Wolf was forced into a labor camp, unaware that his parents were deported to Auschwitz.
In Not a Real Enemy: The True Story of a Hungarian Jewish Man’s Fight for Freedom, Ervin relies on his wits and good fortune to escape the Nazis not once, but twice. Once freed, however, he finds life under communism so unbearable he must make the most daring of all escapes in the dead of a winter’s night. Not a Real Enemy is the true story of one of the most unknown chapters in the Holocaust, following the transformation of a young man as he confronts antisemitism, cruelty, kindness, despair, and hope in his journey toward freedom. The book has now won a Nautilus Book Award, a National Indie Excellence Award, a Living Now Book Award, and a Readers’ Favorite Book Award for 2023!
There are many parallels with today’s world, including refugees, racism, antisemitism, 2 wars, pestilence, and a Russian invasion! The little known and poorly understood Hungarian Revolution in 1956 has been compared to the current conflict in Ukraine by some experts.
If you purchase the book using the link below, I can mail you a signed copy or eBook version. A review or any suggestions would also be wonderful! Please also consider a book talk/presentation as well, if feasible.
I am donating 10% of my proceeds to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC in honor of my late parents, both Holocaust survivors. They were Holocaust and history educators throughout their lives in the free world. The book is available at that museum, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, as well as at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart!
I have also donated copies to the Yad Vashem, the Florida Holocaust Museum, the Holocaust Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Museum of History and Holocaust Education near Atlanta, Georgia, the Imperial War Museum in London, the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Michigan, as well as many other organizations.
Survivors of the Shoah (1993) Available on the Schindler’s List DVD
Painful Joy, Max Friedman, Story-Power episode 91 January 3, 2024
Classic Cinema With the Sage Sisters, Keeper of the Flame, episode 14, September 3, 2025
The Hate You Give, Angie Thomas
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PodMatch This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Robert J. Wolf, M.D. and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch at my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.
Story-Power on Patreon I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power Patreon Community so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. Patreon is $5 a month for content not found on the Story-Power podcast, or on my Sage Woman Blog. They have recently instituted a free tier so you can try it out before you buy. If you’re passionate about stories, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower. Let’s share what we’ve learned from the stories we love.
Classic Cinema With the Sage Sisters
Stories are a huge part of the way humans communicate with each other. Celeste and I think all stories are allegories where we can learn all kinds of important things, not the least of which is how to understand ourselves and others better. The best stories can be told over and over from one generation to the next and still teach great lessons. Emotional Intelligence and critical thinking are two of those lessons. Celeste and I think there are many classic movies that show us the progression of where humanity is today and we want to share them with you.
Shakespeare was right, “All the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players.” The stories we tell and consume are us trying to figure out who we are, why we’re here, and the kind of world we want to live in.
Come join the conversation on YouTube and our Facebook group.
Celeste and I continued our Classic Cinema With the Sage Sisters series of movies about mental and emotional health with this very famous movie, Now, Voyager (1942) with Bette Davis, Claude Rains, and Paul Henreid. Here’s the description of the movie.
Charlotte Vale, a member of a wealthy Boston family, has a nervous breakdown and goes on a voyage of healing and self-discovery. In the end she learns to love herself, maintain her independence from her controlling mother, and also nurture a their relationship. Finally she discovers that helping others is one of the best ways to heal yourself.
When I showed this movie to my Dramatic Structure students, I was surprised that they liked, some loved, it. I think they could relate to feeling beaten down by life events, or family members, or society. And this movie gave them some practical tips about how to gain self-love and confidence so they could withstand the ups and downs of life better.
At this juncture in our history, with all the chaos, nurishing our mental and emotional health is of vital importance. Celeste and I hope you’ll listen to our analysis of the movie, and then go watch it for yourself.
It’s been awhile since I posted regularly. I’ve finished revisions to my book Time’s Echo and sent it off for comments from beta readers. Which means, I’ve time to post a few book suggestions for you.
The summer has become autumn and maybe your reading tastes have changed too. Recently, I’ve read some interesting books by former and upcoming podcast guests that I think you might enjoy.
John DeDakis, a former CNN editor, has a fascinating book series about a young woman who becomes a journalist when she finds her aunt on the garage floor of their home with the car running. The police think it’s a suicide, but Lark Chadwick is not so sure. The first book in the series is Fast Track. In this book she discovers dark secrets about her parent’s death in a train accident when she was a baby. Her investigation is encouraged by her soon to be mentor, Lionel Stone, a Pulitzer-Prize winning former editor for a national publication. He’s now semi-retired, living in his Wisconsin hometown and running the local newspaper. There are several edge of your seat installments to this series which should keep you busy for a month or two.
If you’re into memoir, you might enjoy Red Bird, by Diandra Ford-Wing inspired by two traumatic events in her life, the mysterious death of her beloved Aunt in Africa, and the equally unexplainable death of her Mother not many months later. I found this book to be quite inspirational as Diandra deals with her grief.
I may have suggested this book before, but it’s good enough to suggest again. It’s The Housekeeper’s Secret, by Sandra Schnakenburg. Sandra grew up in a troubled home. From the outside her family looked like they had it all. When Lee joins the household has the new housekeeper, Sandra, her mother and siblings gain some much needed stability. It isn’t until Sandra is an adult that she discovers that Lee has a secret she wants Sandra to discover and share with the world in a book. It’s a real life detective story. I never thought a memoir could be this riveting. This book is a page turner.
As the AI debate rages, the series by Guy Morris beginning with Swarm might be for you. One of the main components in this story is based on actual events. A rouge AI program named SLVIA was developed by the NSA. They sent it out to learn assuming it would return, but it didn’t and now Derek Taylor, a fugitive hacker has direct contact with SLVIA through an implant in his head. This is good for awhile until a Chinese AI virus threatens national security, SLVIA, Derek, and Lt. Scott must stop the virus from spreading across the globe. I’ve only read the first book, but am looking forward to reading the next books in the series which are, The Last Ark, and The Image.
If military mysteries are your style, Early This Morning by Darrell Berry might be for you. The structure is interesting. From the beginning we know the villains are at the Pentagon and in Congress, but what we don’t know is how the company of mostly gay service men and women will survive the extremely dangerous mission they’ve been sent on.
My next suggestion is a fantasy series by J.F. Monroe, beginning with The Legendary Guardians: Reunions. I never thought of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as heroes, but in these books they are fighting angels and demons who want to start a war on Earth.
If you’re a writer, you might be interested in Lorraine Haataia’s book, Finish Your Book. It’s full of tips for new and even experienced authors who feel the need to refresh their skills in a supportive writing community. Lorraine is the founder of Prolific Writers Life were writers and experts connect. Writer’s get feedback and encouragement to not only finish their book but explore the options for publication and promotion. I belong to PWL and can testify that it’s a fun place to meet fellow writers and publishing experts.
My final suggestion is historical fiction story by D. H. Morris, The Girl of Many Crowns. It’sbased on her ancestors, Judith of France, a descendant of Emperor Charlemagne, and Baldwin Iron Arm of Flanders. Judith is a pawn in her father, King Charles political machinations when she’s married at the age of 12 to Aethelwulf the aging King of Wessex in England. The marriage is an attempt to fortify France against the Danes (Vikings) who are raiding all over what is now Europe. When Aethelwulf dies two years after their marriage, she’s then forced to marry his son who is cruel and power hungry. But when he dies, her father tries to marry her off again. This time she refuses and is imprisoned in one of her father’s palaces. But she has fallen in love with Baldwin, the mentor and protector of her younger brother, Louis. They cause a scandal in the Holy Roman Empire when they elope aided by Louis and her other brother Charles. You’ll have to read the book to find out what happened to Judith and Baldwin. It’s a gripping story.
That’s all for my book suggestions. I’d like to hear what books you’ve been reading lately that we might want to put on our reading lists.
The issue of mental and emotional health is a topic of much debate these days. After the pandemic and now all the chaos going on in the world, those of us who might not have acknowledged the fact that our own emotional and even mental well-being are in jeopardy are now considering how to cope.
Celeste and I decided we’d contribute to the discussion by talking about four movies dealing with mental and emotional health issues. These movies were ground breaking in that they were made during times when mental health was an almost taboo subject.
The first of these is Captain Newman, M.D. (1963). It’s based on a real-life doctor, Captain Ralph Greenson, a psychiatrist who worked with traumatized service men during WW II and was one of the first to identify the symptoms of PTSD following combat. Gregory Peck heads an all-star cast including Angie Dickinson, Tony Curtis, Eddie Albert and Robert Duvall, a year after his appearance with Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird.
The movie shows how war affects those who fight. Some of the characters in the movie, like the Base Commander, think that claiming mental illness is a way to avoid going back into battle. It’s not until a tragedy involving an important colonel happens that the Commander begins to understand that “battle fatigue” is a real thing.
We hope you will watch both our analysis and the movie. If you’ve seen it, tell us how it affected you.
Sage Woman Chronicles 