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I did watch a few movies while I was getting ready for the trip, and a couple since getting back. Let's see how many I can remember.

Samurai Spy. This was kind of hard to follow, despite (or maybe because of) nearly endless backstory narration at the beginning. But it had some good set pieces, and a bad-ass villain who dressed all in white.

Plymouth Adventure. Historical costume drama about the Pilgrims features Spencer Tracy as the captain of the Mayflower and Gene Tierney as an upstanding Pilgrim wife he tragically falls in love with. Tierney kills herself by jumping off the side of the Mayflower because she can't stand the shame of, well I'm not sure what. She didn't cheat on her husband. Maybe that's what she was ashamed of. This was perfect to watch while beading the bubble machine, because it was interesting enough to maintain my attention but not so interesting as to keep me from working.

The Adventures of Robin Hood. I love this movie so much, I can't think of anything to say about it. Errol Flynn at his finest, Claude Rains, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Alan Hale! That's really all that needs to be said.

I'll Take Sweden. Bob Hope moves his daughter (Tuesday Weld) to Sweden to get her away from her undesireable boyfriend (Frankie Avalon), then discovers that those perverted Swedes think sex is healthy and natural! Horrors! According to the movie, all Swedes were also deeply involved in Freudian analysis. The movie ends up with Avalon, Hope and Hope's Swedish girlfriend chasing Weld and her Swedish boyfriend around a hotel, trying to find them before the boyfriend can sexually assault Weld. Because date rape is funny! Actually this movie was funny, in a bizarre way. Worth the price of admission just for Avalon singing the title song.

Christopher Strong. Katharine Hepburn plays an aviator who falls in love with a married British nobleman. They have an affair, she gets pregnant and realizes that his life would be ruined if he knew about it. So she flies too high on purpose and dies. I think this is supposed to be inspiring but I found it kind of sick. She's a courageous, independent woman for most of the film, but love messes with her head so badly that she'd rather kill herself and her fetus than inconvenience her lover. Wow, how romantic. Billie Burke (Glinda the Good) plays the wife. I kept waiting for her to ask Hepburn if she was a good witch or a bad witch.

Break of Hearts. Hepburn again, this time playing a composer who marries an orchestra conductor. Too bad the husband is a drunken womanizing lout. Another guy loves Hepburn and would clearly treat her a whole lot better, which is too bad because she's destined to stay with the jerk. Because he needs her to prop him up and keep him from drinking too much. Gender attitudes in the 30s were lovely, weren't they?