Marie Dressler is a hard core bad ass!

First an update on my tragic "couch" accident and my knee. Saw my doctor yesterday. Got an x-ray. We'll see what's up. She thinks I've hosed up my medial meniscus. Whatever that is.  Anti-inflammatory meds and ice packs have helped and I'm mostly back to normal. But surgery may be in my future. Who knew sitting on your couch with your feet propped up could be so hazardous?

So, I recently watched a couple old b&w movies starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Mostly dramas with a hint of dark humor. They were fairly heavy in topic though.

Min and Bill addresses a baby girl abandoned by her alcoholic, selfish, crap mother and the woman who takes her in. Dressler plays the woman who raises the girl and the movie shows the lengths she goes to to protect this young woman from the sperm donor mother who would ruin the girl's life for a few bucks. Beery plays a friend to Dressler.

In Tugboat Annie, Dressler is the title character. A woman dealing with raising a son to have a better life than the one they live as poor tugboat operators and coping with constant disappointment from her alcoholic husband, Beery. And despite all the disappointment, she loves him and never talks him down. It's sad and uplifting at the same time. I won't ruin the end, but this was so worth the watch. Find it. Really.

Both movies showed Dressler as this hard-edged softy with heart, honor and love filling every ounce of her large body. I loved her. The minute I saw her, I was in awe. She had this ability to be both tough and kind, sharp and soft. I could see her as a person I would have loved to have known.

Any way - for those who've never heard of her - check her out. Watch her films. Wallace Beery is pretty awesome too. No lie. But Marie Dressler is an unconventional rock star.