CHARMS FOR THE EASY LIFE (TV)
Summary
This made-for-television production, based on Kaye Gibbons's novel, is about three generations of women living in a rural North Carolina town. The program begins with Margaret, a woman in her twenties, mysteriously enacting a family ritual: putting a sheet over a mirror and stopping a grandfather clock's pendulum. Margaret then speculates on the early life of her grandmother, Charlie Kate Birch, a midwife and "expert in herbal concoctions." According to Margaret, Charlie Kate was traveling by car with her husband and young daughter Sophia through North Carolina in 1909, searching for a community to appreciate her medical know-how. They stop when spotting a lynched black man near the road and cut him down from a tree. Charlie Kate is able to revive the nameless man since the noose was placed too high on his neck. In gratitude, the man gives her the severed foot of a white graveyard rabbit, telling her that it will bring her "an easy life." When her husband tells her to throw the charm away, Charlie Kate realizes anew that her husband is "an idiot."
With her husband proving increasingly intimidated by his accomplished wife, he strikes out on his own. Eventually, Charlie Kate finds herself in North Carolina's Wade County. There, she settles in and soon finds herself trying to keep Sophia from a bad marriage. However, Sophia opts to wed anyway, beginning an unhappy union which is marred by her husband's infidelities. By now, the older Charlie Kate is forcing sewage lines to be extended into her poverty-stricken neighborhood, then shows the locals how to use toilets. Soon, Sophia gives birth to Margaret. As Margaret becomes a young girl, she joins her grandmother and mother on trips around town to follow up on suicides. She hears Charlie Kate tell the local physician, Dr. Trimble, that poor treatment of his patients left them with no hope. As Margaret grows older, she spends more time with her grandmother, helping her with doctoring. Sophia tells Margaret that Charlie Kate never got over her husband leaving her. Sophia explains to her daughter that Charlie Kate always loved her husband, though she thought him "a nitwit."
One day, Sophia notices that her husband no longer wears his wedding ring, as he flaunts his various mistresses to her and Margaret. Sophia then borrows the rabbit foot charm from Charlie Kate and prays for her spouse's death. Soon enough, the man dies of a cerebral hemorrhage and Sophia again has her freedom. Charlie Kate arrives to look at the corpse, entering the house for the first time since Sophia's marriage. Charlie Kate insists that the family follow tradition and mask the mirrors and stop the clocks to honor the dead. Charlie Kate immediately moves in with them, even setting up her thriving medical practice in the house.
By now, it almost being 1940, Sophia wants some excitement in her life. One afternoon, Charlie Kate hears singing outside. When she investigates, she sees it is her husband serenading her. Quickly, Charlie Kate packs a bag and decides to leave with him, stunning Sophia. Two days later, Charlie Kate calls from the Sir Walter Hotel, asking Sophia and Margaret to pick her up. Later, she reveals that her husband had another woman over the decades who recently died, only then deciding to reunite. Charlie Kate says she wanted no part of it. The next morning, Charlie Kate gets a call informing her that her husband is now dead. Sophia is shocked and broken up, though glad to hear that her father "purged" before he died. Charlie Kate explains to Margaret that purging is when one foams at the mouth upon dying, indicating a "great backjam of truths and desires and wishes that were never spoken, like a dead man saying he's sorry." Margaret is told that her father also purged. Charlie Kate then reveals that she will never take another man. To cheer themselves up, the three women go to see "Gone With the Wind," despite Charlie Kate's misgivings. At intermission, Charlie Kate tries to get a refund, proclaiming herself the first person who didn't like the picture.
While Sophia watches the second half of the film, Margaret joins Charlie Kate outside to read "The Yearling." However, Charlie Kate hates the book as much as "Gone With the Wind." Then, Sophia comes out of the movie with Richard Baines, a lawyer she met during intermission. Charlie Kate is unsure about her daughter's flirtation, thinking strange men bring trouble. Sophia cries, admitting she is lonely and that she has invited Richard to dinner that night. Charlie Kate continues claiming to her daughter that they don't need men. At that evening's dinner, Richard charms Margaret before showing his admiration for Sophia. Sophia and Margaret both immediately adore Richard, but Charlie Kate doesn't even stick around for the meal, and shows little interest upon returning home. After a year of dating, Margaret knows that Sophia and Richard are madly in love.
Meanwhile, World War II is about to heat up. Sophia believes she will soon be married to Richard. Sophia thinks it time her daughter begins dating. One day, Charlie Kate has to rush out to check on an ailing blind baby and Sophia and Margaret join her in the poverty-stricken mother's shack. Charlie Kate discovers that Dr. Trimble was responsible for accidentally blinding the baby. While looking at the infant amidst the home's stench, Sophia faints and falls to the ground. Charlie Kate brings her to Richard, who takes care of her. Later, Richard joins a strangely cheerful Charlie Kate for a brandy. The next day, Charlie Kate pays Dr. Trimble a visit to chastise him for his treatment of the ailing baby. Sophia and Margaret tag along to watch Charlie Kate yell at the "hoodlum" physician. She calls him a disgrace in front of his other patients, who quickly leave the waiting room. Accordingly, Charlie Kate's practice burgeons, with lines of people waiting to be healed. She even gets written up in the newspaper by Anna Hawkins, who doesn't know Charlie Kate but glowingly reports of her exploits. Meanwhile, Sophia keeps pressing Margaret to pick a college, though the girl is unsure if she wants to attend any at all. Charlie Kate tells Sophia to let Margaret make her own decisions.
Later, Dr. Trimble arrives at Charlie Kate's, contrite about having blinded the baby. Charlie Kate takes him in and tells him how he can repent. Meanwhile, Richard still hasn't proposed to Sophia. That evening, after hearing about Pearl Harbor, Charlie Kate reveals that Charles Nutter -- the man she thinks Sophia should have married -- has become an administrator of the local veterans hospital. Charlie Kate decides to volunteer at his hospital, asking Margaret to join her. Upon meeting him, Margaret is "devastated" that Charles was not her father. Margaret quickly goes to work meeting with injured military patients and reading them letters from loved ones. One patient, Tad, learns that his girlfriend has decided to break up with him and won't wait for his injuries to heal. Charlie Kate encourages Margaret to pen a nasty letter to Tad's sweetheart. The next day, Margaret finds a patient, Tom Hawkins III, that only wants to sleep due to his painful back injury. Charlie Kate is tough on him, forcing him to rise. He reveals that his mother is Anna, the newspaper columnist that has written so many valentines to Charlie Kate. Then, Tom asks Margaret if he can go on a date with her. Charlie Kate actually likes Tom, thinking that he and Margaret will marry one day.
That evening, Tom calls Margaret and they make plans to get together at a holiday party. At the soiree, Charlie Kate runs into Dr. Trimble, who tries to be "humorous" in telling Charlie Kate of a California man who was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Charlie Kate immediately dismisses him. Then, Tom asks Margaret to dance, during which he reveals that he is about to be discharged from the army. He tells her that he will be staying in nearby Asheville for three weeks, working as a German translater, and they make plans to write each other. Charlie Kate accepts Tom's letters, not letting Sophia in on their romance. Margaret struggles with not seeing Tom. Then, as Christmastime approaches, Sophia realizes that Charlie Kate and Margaret are sharing a secret. Later, Margaret gets a call informing her that someone staying at the Sir Walter is now calling herself Mrs. Richard Baines. Just then, Richard arrives at the house and Charlie Kate immediately confronts him. He claims ignorance, stating that they are divorced and that he didn't know his ex-wife was in town. Charlie Kate forces Richard to go down to the Sir Walter and send his former spouse back to her own home. Then, Richard and Sophia decide to drive to South Carolina and get married.
On Christmas Eve, Richard's presents are opened by the family and Margaret receives a package from Tom: all of his personal artifacts. Margaret is touched, not knowing what to give him in return, until Charlie Kate insists on passing on her "charm for the easy life." Later on, Tom returns to town and Margaret and Charlie Kate have Christmas Eve dinner with his family. At bedtime, Margaret finds Charlie Kate marching in the living room, which she explains to be a form of exercise. Charlie Kate then notes that the Hawkins are a splendid family, and that both of her "girls" are finally happy. The next morning, Margaret awakens and atypically doesn't hear Charlie Kate. Searching the house, Margaret finally finds her grandmother has died on Christmas. She rushes to call Sophia in Myrtle Beach but is unable to make a connection. Then, a teary Margaret goes back to her grandmother's body and begins the family's mourning ritual: covering the mirrors and stopping the clocks. Finally, Margaret notes that Charlie Kate didn't purge, having spoken her mind throughout her life.
Details
- NETWORK: Showtime
- DATE: August 18, 2002 Sunday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:50:42
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:87424
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama; North Carolina; Families; Marriage; World War II
- SERIES RUN: Showtime - TV, 2002
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Mimi Rogers … Executive Producer
- Chris Ciaffa … Executive Producer
- Peter Pastorelli … Line Producer
- Spencer Proffer … Supervising Music Producer
- Joan Micklin Silver … Director
- Angela Shelton … Writer
- Kaye Gibbons … Based upon the book by
- Van Dyke Parks … Music by
- Gena Rowlands … Cast, Charlie Kate Birch
- Mimi Rogers … Cast, Sophia
- Susan May Pratt … Cast, Margaret
- Geordie Johnson … Cast, Richard Baines
- Ken Mitchell … Cast, Tom Hawkins III
- Wayne Robson … Cast, Doctor
- Kayla Perlmutter … Cast, Margaret (Child)
- Kirsten Kieferle … Cast, Charlie Kate (1909)
- Christine Rotenberg … Cast, Sophia (1909)
- Sylvie Weir … Cast, Town Person
- Phil Cook … Cast, Town Person
- Ken Gorin … Cast, Town Person
- Karl Wanhala … Cast, Town Person
- David MacNiven … Cast, Sophie's Husband
- Robert Clarke … Cast, Coroner
- Ann Holloway … Cast, Patient
- Gerry Tucker … Cast, Patient
- Ron Morgan … Cast, Patient
- Patricia Welbourn … Cast, Pearl
- Peter Costigan … Cast, Young Man
- Tanya Henley … Cast, Ticket Taker
- Rufus Crawford … Cast, Lynched Man
- Jim Aldridge … Cast, Invalid
- Jim Flett … Cast, Roy
- Stan Coles … Cast, Dale
- Joe Bostick … Cast, Young Man
- Leni Parker … Cast, Blind Girl's Mother
- Daniella Roccasalvo … Cast, Blind Girl
- Gretchen Helbig … Cast, Nurse
- Paul MacFarlane … Cast, Police Officer
- Steve Behal … Cast, Charles Nutter
- Judy White … Cast, Louise
- Aaron Ashmore … Cast, Tad
- Brain Paul … Cast, City Official
- Gary Brennan … Cast, Doctor Trimble
- Stella Sprowell … Cast, Mrs. Baines
- Bryan Hatt … Cast, Delivery Boy
- Dwight McFee … Cast, Mr. Hawkins
- Joanne Boland … Cast, Tom's Sister
- Maggie Huculak … Cast, Anna Hawkins
- Scott McVitte … Cast, Jitterbug
- Chad McFadden … Cast, Jitterbug
- Shannon Boeckner … Cast, Jitterbug
- Krista Leis … Cast, Jitterbug
- Ron Kennel … Cast, Charlie's Husband