Janet Leigh made her film debut opposite Van Johnson in “The Romance of Rosy Ridge” in 1947. Six years later, they were again paired in “Confidentially Connie” (1953). Just like in the earlier film, Van Johnson is a schoolteacher who takes the calling of educating young people very seriously. He’s still in love with Janet Leigh, but they’re married when this film starts. This time, he is the one with the stubborn Southern father.
This is not only a charming romantic comedy but a touching family story. It highlights the nobility of the teaching profession and the struggles teachers have faced for years. It also celebrates the joys and challenges of impending motherhood. I warn you, though, don’t watch this movie when you’re planning a vegetarian dinner. The theme of a Texas cattle rancher and his expectant daughter-in-law who both love meat will have your mouth watering for steak!
A Tender Story
Joe Bedloe (Johnson) is a poetry professor at a midwestern university. He is very happily married to Connie (Leigh), who is expecting their first child. She comes from a long line of teachers, so she knows that it isn’t a lucrative profession. However, now that their family is growing, she’s afraid that they won’t be able to provide for their baby unless Joe gets a promotion which comes with a raise. Without the extra money, the Bedloes may have to go back to Joe’s father’s ranch in Texas.Connie has never even met her father-in-law, but she has heard her husband complain about his stubborn father for years. Knowing that Joe doesn’t want to go back to being a cattle rancher, Connie encourages the honest professor to campaign for the promotion by flattering Dean Magruder (Gene Lockhart). Joe hates doing this and is very bad at it, so Connie fears that he’ll let his colleague Simmons (Hayden Rorke) get the job without even putting up a fight.
One day, Joe’s father, Opie Bedloe (Louis Calhern), pays them a surprise visit. Connie finds him to be a kind, loving man, and they quickly become fast friends. Mr. Bedloe humbly asks for his son’s forgiveness and asks him to come back to the ranch, although he still doesn’t understand Joe’s love for poetry and teaching. Joe is willing to forgive him, but he resists his wife and father’s attempts to get him back to Texas. When Opie learns that his daughter-in-law is expecting a baby, he is very distressed that they don’t have enough money to feed her meat, instead of fish and vitamins. Since Joe is too proud to accept any assistance from his wealthy father, Opie realizes he may have to use underhanded methods to help his family.
A Heritage of Freedom
Joe Bedloe and his father, Opie, are in two very different professions, yet they are the same type of man. Opie Bedloe is just what you’d expect a Texas cattleman to be: a manly, strong-willed leader who enjoys working hard all day and eating a thick, juicy steak for dinner. A poetry teacher is about as different from a cattle rancher as a man could be, and maybe that’s why Joe pursued it. He admits that he was rebelling against his father when he first left the ranch. However, it wasn’t out of pure rebellion that he chose teaching as his profession. He loves knowledge, literature, and its power to improve people’s minds and lives, and he feels it’s important to teach young people. Nevertheless, he retains his athletic, outdoorsy qualities, which help him reach uninterested students like an oafish football player.This story really isn’t about Connie or even Joe. It’s about how Opie Bedloe learns to truly understand his son by developing an appreciation for the challenges and importance of the teaching profession. When he first comes to stay with his son and daughter-in-law, Connie kindly but honestly tries to explain to him why Joe loves being a teacher: “Opie, when are you going to get it through your head that teaching isn’t a business? It’s a calling. It’s something you make sacrifices for, because you believe in it.” It takes more than just words to penetrate Opie’s thick cowboy hat, however. He has to meet his son’s colleagues, have dinner with the dean, accidentally incite a price war between the local butchers, and see a group of students give Joe a commemorative volume of Shakespeare before he realizes that teachers are hardworking men doing an important job to support their families, just like him.
When Joe first tries to explain the importance of being a teacher to his father, he doesn’t just talk about sharing knowledge. He knows he is performing a sacred patriotic duty by being a teacher, just as his father does by feeding America. He explains, “Every thirty years there’s another generation of Americans, a whole new nation, 160 million new people. What’s the guarantee that they’re Americans? Why don’t they just turn into 160 million people with powerful airplanes and big bombs and an itch to rule the world? I'll tell you why. Because they’ve got a heritage. They’ve got a Constitution and a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence and a tradition of fair play. And how do they know it? Because the teachers of America tell it to them. Not only tell it to them but sell it to them.” Joe is a great teacher because he’s passionate about this duty of inspiring his students to be good Americans, which he does by opening their minds to the beauty and truth found in Shakespeare and other great literature.
Where’s the Beef?
“Confidentially Connie” is a refreshing look at simple American life in the 1950s. It celebrates family, learning, honesty, and meat! The emphasis on the importance of red meat in this movie will surprise many viewers today, but the trend of avoiding red meat and other animal products for fitness and wellness had not become mainstream yet. There have been some proponents of vegetarianism for decades if not centuries, but the average American in 1953 ate some kind of red meat, chicken, or fish for dinner most nights of the week. Vintage cookbooks which provide suggested meal planners for the week confirm this.As comical as Connie’s cravings for red meat might be to some people in our society of vegan diets and plant-based meat, many would agree that the nutritional value placed on steak at this point is not as dangerously outdated as the commonness of smoking. Thousands of conservative patriots are uniting through social media to promote the importance of a traditional, natural lifestyle, including fresh air, family values, and grassfed steak. Some call this line of thinking alt-right, others call it conspiracy theory, and still others refer to it as the red pill. I call it traditional Americanism, and it tastes great with wholesome old movies like this!
“Confidentially Connie” is a wonderful movie for the whole family to enjoy. It has great actors, a heartwarming story, and poignant messages. I can promise you an enjoyable evening if you choose this for a movie night. Just don’t invite your vegetarian friends. Why does the subtitle include the word T-bone, you ask? You’ll have to wait until the movie’s last scene to find out!
