PRELUDE TO THE PREQUEL.....

From what I have learned over the years (from reading all those movie-themed publications of which I cannot name you one at this moment and I place that blame strictly on the shoulders of one Katie Couric) before every "take" the Director calls for, he or she will dutifully explain the "back story" of the action about to be preserved forever on film to the actor or actress so that he or she can heartfully emote or deliver what "the boss" hopes will become "classic" in due time.....and, hopefully, everyone will hit their marks, say their scripted lines and the Director will heave a sigh of relief and holler "Cut!"....and everyone exits to the make-shift picnic table covered in red-and-white checkered oilcloth  and where Arby's Roast Beef Sandwiches, Curly Fries and Cherry Turnovers await for the taking....

At least that is the way I see it being played out when Brandon, Bryan, Darrin (he loves Arby's as much as I do!) and Winston commence filming the story of Rhoda come Fall near Peoria, Illinois.  

To know Rhoda and all her complexities, you have to know the "back story" of her family life which begins with getting to know Mary "Old Moll" Derry, a gun-toting, varmint-shooting, spell-casting, fortune-teller of the American Revolution, "Witch of the Little World" and was said to "command rattlesnakes to guard her and her home," a hovel in the mountains above Uniontown, Pa.  She was a renowned practitioner of both "Pow Wowing" and the "Heshen-Hammer," both varied types of Occultism that originated hundreds of years ago in Germany, and was reputed to possess an "Erdspiegel" a type of crystal ball by which she could tell fortunes.  (This validated information comes from a letter written to Joan Brown Derry, another family historian, by Wilbur R. Landman whose grandparents knew "Old Moll" personally, and from whom they bought supplies at the "Granny Store" owned by "Old Moll.")

Mary, born between 1760 and 1768, and her husband, Jacob, born about 1765 in Loudoun County, Virginia, "came up over the Allegheny Mountains out of Harpers Ferry after the end of the American Revolution" and unto them were born Basil, Jacob, Barbara, Jeremiah, Rhoda and Mary.  It is from Jacob that Our Rhoda A. descends.  (An interesting note here is that the first Rhoda, born in 1804, married a Jacob Isenhour and is likely related to President Eisenhower.)

Landman's great-grandmother Cunningham often related stories about "Old Moll"..."she was a real witch," and in his letter Landman says "she is the witch who forewarns Polly Williams that her fiance will murder her, casting her off the white rocks in the mountains near Fairchance."  He continues:  "She was widely known throughout southwest Pennsylvania as a healer, using herbs and roots, was able to ride a great distance on a broomstick and she walked with a cane."  The "point" being...even though living at a far distance from her Grandmother but hearing "stories" of things that had "been wrought," our Rhoda's early childhood education was definitely defined in ways that would affect her uncertain teen years.    All this plus dodging bullets from a flintlock  wielded by a "witch-hunting" mother .... and definitely begs the obvious sensibility of an "Old Moll" question:    Why walk when one can conjure up a ride? 

Now I am debating whether or not to point this Blog in the direction of Brandon, Bryan, Darrin and Winston!  It may be a little bit too much "back story" information but I'm thinking these four young men from Illinois are more than up to the task of bringing Rhoda's story to life in a way that will stir the souls of the film's beholders...and if they should feel the prod of "Old Moll's" cane, so much the better!

More "back story" stuff....
Long ago and far away in the distant land of Atlantic, Iowa, a little five-year-old missy  (raising hand here!)  made a solemn promise to herself that when a little girl was born unto her, that little babe would be named "Mary Elizabeth," not knowing, of course, her father's name would rhyme with ....guess!   When "Old Moll's" story was told to us several years ago, we marveled at all that had been ascribed to this celebrated-for-her-time plainswoman.  How much embellishment was added by "witnesses" to her story as it was handed down from generation-to-generation is up-for-grabs.  We do know for a fact that the practice of "Pow Wowing" is used for  "cure or to effect a change and is based on Bible verses".  What is equally fascinating is that "Old Moll's" gift is in evidence in today's generation of family members ... but that's a story for another day!

Now, let me tell you a little bit about "the boys!"   ... stay tuned!