Caddie Movie Review

Based on the true story of an anonymous woman who raised her two children alone after her husband ran off with her best friend, Caddie makes a hopeful statement for strong, resilient women who don't spend their lives waiting for a romantic prince to sweep them off their feet, but make the best of circumstances, even when they're dreary. Unable to find any other job but as a bar maid, Caddie works energetically for her kids and herself. Director Donald Crombie suggests that the world is filled with Caddies, worthy of more dignity and respect than they've ever received. At one point, Peter, Caddie's true love from Greece (ably played by Takis Emmanuel), tells her that she isn't like all the other women who work in bars. Her snappy retort is filled with rage at the stereotype. Helen Morse is wonderful as Caddie, persuasively revealing the woman who can tackle everything, even the Great Depression, on her own terms. A guy at the screening I attended mentioned that Caddie's poverty seemed too beautiful to be real, but I beg to differ. Early in the film, it is revealed that Caddie would transform the most sordid surroundings into a decent place for herself and her family. There ARE women like Caddie in the world and, luckily for us, screenwriter Joan Long wrote about one of them for all the world to see.

1976 107m/C AU Helen Morse, Jack Thompson, Takis Emmanuel, Jacki Weaver; D: Donald Crombie; W: Joan Long; C: Peter James; M: Patrick Flynn. VHS