Babe

"Babe" was simply one of the things I grew up watching. After it originally played on CBS in 1975 it was lavished with several Emmy nominations, then rerun in syndicated markets (pre-FOX Metromedia and so on) years afterward. It told the very simple story of Texan Babe Didrikson who was an Olympic athlete in the 30's and something of a womens' golf pioneer in the 40's-50's. What I remember was actress Susan Clark's genteel, understated approach to the decidedly feminist character. There was a lightness in the script enhanced by Ms. Clark's somewhat self-deprecating portrayal of Ms. Didrikson, then a fierce sense of independence and not wanting to show vulnerability- especially in the second act of the film when she fights cancer. While she plays sports alongside the men well, she longs to be as feminine as possible while courting future husband Zaharias (Clark's own future husband Alex Karras) A memorable scene shows her coming home from a beauty salon, transformed with hair and makeup, all along given encouragement by her prettier sister. It is as charming as all of her interplay with husband Zaharias. Would be a real gem on home video.