Friday, July 19, 2024. Not as hot, yesterday in New York with the temps reaching up to the mid-80s but dropping to the mid-60s by late night. A relief for one and all. The sunset in the West was spectacular as you can see from the photo I took at about 8:25: sensational.
Today’s subject of Lauren Lawrence’s “Society Dreams” is the actress Eva Marie Saint whose career on stage, screen and television was very active (and awarded) during the entire last half of the 20th century and right into the 21st.
Her first film you might recall was Elia Kazan’s highly memorable On the Waterfront in 1954 playing opposite Marlon Brando for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (the film won 8 Oscars).
And that was just the beginning of a long and extremely successful career including That Certain Feeling with Bob Hope; Raintree County opposite Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor; A Hatful of Rain with Don Murray and Anthony Franciosa; Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest with Cary Grant; Otto Preminger’s Exodus with Paul Newman; The Sandpiper with again Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix opposite Yves Montand; with Warren Beatty in All Fall Down; Loving with George Segal, to name just a FEW of her films, including How the West Was Won, Taxi, Nothing in Common opposite Tom Hanks, as well as several television miniseries!
She starred in 21 films. All of which is barely touching on an amazingly active career also on stage and on television where she won an Emmy for the 1990 miniseries People Like Us.
Along with all of her professional activity, in 1951 when she was 26, she married producer/director Jeffrey Hayden. Their first child Darrell Hayden was born two days after she won the Oscar for her role in On the Waterfront. She and Mr. Hayden had four grandchildren and were married for 65 years (he died eight years ago at age 90).
Two weeks ago, on July 4th, she turned 100. I think she’s retired now, although you can tell by her vast amount of serious work that serious actors act (and her career has lasted for eight decades) … so you never know when a new script opportunity might be presented to lady. Maybe her “dream” might lead to an extraordinary professional opportunity.
SOCIETY DREAMS: Eva Marie Saint
by Lauren Lawrence
The Dream: I dreamt that I was with strangers, lots of people at a big party outside. Then suddenly I was rising up from the ground; I was flying. As I took off I was looking down at those at the party. No one missed me. No one saw that I was gone. What does that mean?
The Interpretation: Flying dreams are self-empowering as they endow the dreamer with an attribute they lack – superhuman qualities — even a sense of omnipotence. Often dreamt by those who have their feet planted firmly on terra firma — the wish is to lighten up and become unburdened by worries.
One understands that rising up may elude to an uprising. As such, there is an element of defiance: In that rising from the ground is against the natural laws of gravity, these dreams signify the wish to defy the rules and regulations imposed by society.
Because Eva Marie Saint was a Quaker raised to feel the burdens of the world’s suffering, there is this need to break from tradition.
Flying solo away from the partygoers represents this wish to detach from the herd mentality and embrace one’s singular identity, one’s personal space. When one feels isolated in a crowd, flying off becomes the big party — the consolation and celebration of self.
“Looking down” reflects the dreamers humility. Although fame has elevated her as a star, she is humbled by the realization that no one in the crowd misses her or sees that she is gone; this incorporates what is key to performers: The ability to assess others’ emotional reactions to themselves.
The phrase “No one misses me,” is a self-justification: It is indeed acceptable to fly off by oneself. On another level, the phrase reveals the dreamer’s conscientious nature: Even though those at the party are strangers, she has an obligation to her host to be sociable and engage. This, and this alone, is why she notes that her absence will not be missed.
A broader perspective is wished for, unencumbered by the restraints of everyday living. In this view, the dream reveals Eva Marie’s fierce independence and love of personal freedom.
For private dream analysis, contact laurenlawrence@aol.com
