Three times in the movie they are eating dinner; spaghetti noodles and no sauce? What the heck? And they serve it up with Green Beans.
spaghetti noodles and green beans... yuck! No wonder the Fred Savage character was so messed up.
"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."
They actually talked about that in the DVD commentary. LOL!
Nick Castle mentioned he thought it was Lucy Deakins' (who played Milly) idea to have spaghetti with no sauce. Lucy then acted like she couldn't remember why she would suggest that. She said something like, "Would I do something like that??" I don't remember the exact words.
BUT...if you watch closely, at the dinner scene at night when Eric is eating with them, you can see Milly bringing out a small bowl of sauce. Then the Mom goes and puts sauce on her spaghetti but the others don't. I actually missed seeing this so many times till I happened to catch it, and then they pointed out (also in the commentary) that the Mom was the only one who put sauce on hers.
As for the beans, no idea. LOL!
That's awesome! All these years I wondered.. Thanks!!
"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."
You're welcome!
I rediscovered this movie about a year ago. It was my favorite movie when I was a teenager and somehow I forgot all about it. I hadn't watched it at all since the 1980s so it's been a little over 20 years since I had seen it. I mean it was weird, it being my most favorite movie I was obsessed with, (I even drew pictures and wrote stories when I was a teen) till I forgot it even existed!
Anyway, watching it again after 20+ years along with the commentary there were several things I noticed now, that I totally missed as a teenager. Like the one I told you about. In that scene you can see Milly walking to the table holding a small white bowl. That's the sauce. Then the Mom goes and puts some sauce on her noodles but none of the others do. I never even noticed that years ago till now. And all these years I always wondered WHY on earth they'd always eat spaghetti with no sauce? LOL! And then they talk about this very thing in the DVD commentary. LOL!
Also I was thinking about the spaghetti and beans and why they would eat that for so many meals? What I think is, with the Mom working late, Milly is the only one who can fix dinner. And maybe spaghetti and beans were all she knew how to fix or something? She was 14 so maybe she really knew nothing about fixing a really nice meal. I guess maybe the writers of the movie decided to have it this way to show how the family was really struggling with the loss of their father/husband. I don't know, that's just what I was thinking about.
Oh, and during that one scene the Mom says this line, "Spaghetti again?? That's the 4th time this week!!" And Milly never answers I don't think. LOL! But I always laughed at that line.
Of course I thought they could always eat out sometimes, or call to have a pizza delivered. Did they have microwaves back then?? 1986? LOL!! They could've had microwave dinners. That one scene where Milly comes home from the hospital, the Mom says, "How about we go out for dinner?" LOL! So at least that shows they ate out once, or were going to...if you remember in that scene they don't go eat out because they find out Eric is in the institution and they go there to try to see him instead.
Sorry my reply is so long....this movie is my absolute favorite over all these years and I find myself talking about it alot sometimes. LOL!
Hi Lynnmcfall90, sorry I didn't reply sooner, forgot I posted here lol. Thank you so much for the information and insight. Thats cool that they talked about the spaghetti with no sauce on the oommentery. How cool is that? All these years, and that is the one thing that sticks with me about this movie. I'll have to watch again and see if I can spot the Spaghetti sauce.
I also had a son who would eat Spaghetti noodles plain with grated cheese, but he grew out that by the time he was 13 lol.
"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."
That's ok. Actually I don't come here to this board too often but I do check in every now and then.
And you're welcome. It's always so much fun when new things and answers are revealed about movies you've remembered over the years. I just love making new discoveries like that and am always like, "Hey..I never noticed that the first time I watched this!" LOL!
But if you don't have this movie on DVD, you should really get it and watch it with the commentary. It is excellent! So much fun and they point out so many things I missed when I was a fan so many years ago. Many other things I too wondered about for YEARS have stuck in my mind too that I've wondered about that that are answered in the commentary. For example my biggest wonder and question for YEARS were about Eric's tears. :0)
Anyway, I'm glad there are people out there who remember this movie today. I feel bad that I myself forgot it even existed till about a year ago. How could I forget such a good movie like this I'll never know! But now that I've rediscovered it again, it's now one of my most favorite movies ever!
Oh and I have a nephew who LOVES spaghetti noodles. But he will NOT eat any sauce with it at all. I don't know if he ever will. But he'll eat bowlfulls of noodles constantly when he's here visiting! I think he'd like the Michaelson family because of this. Ha ha!
(I love spaghetti with sauce the best however I've found I love eating only the noodles with cheese melted on it. That way it's like macaroni with cheese. LOL!)
Back in the 80's the sauce was considered unhealthy and fattening. Many people who were dieting would eat just the pasta. Funny how now it's the opposite. When I'm dieting I pour the sauce over veggies like cauliflower or zucchini.
"The end of the shoelace is called the...IT DOESN'T MATTER!"
I used to nanny kids who ate noodles plain. Sometimes, thy would add a tiny bit of grated cheese but that's it. If I can't have the sauce, what's the point?
share[deleted]
Heh heh heh, i remember posting here because I bought "The Pasta Boat" (as seen on tv) it works real good!
"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."
I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that. I didn't notice the small bowl of sauce mentioned by a previous poster.
I often have spaghetti without sauce, but I add olive oil and Parmesan cheese, which is very tasty and doesn't make as much of a mess as marinara sauce.
I made this the other day, I made some Rigitoni pasta, and mixed in some fresh shredded motzralla cheese, chopped up some fresh parsley and mixed witih olive oil and some salt and pepper.
"I'm a vehemently anti-nuclear, paranoid mess, harbouring a strange obsession with radioactive sheep."
That sounds delicious! Pasta is also good with vegetables like broccoli and beans, and as the side dish to chicken, beef or tuna. I love red sauce, but often it tends to overwhelm the pasta.
share
LOL, I thought the very same thing. Oh, it sooooo healthy.
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
An above poster is correct; there is a small bowl of sauce put on the table by Millie.
But Eric never uses it, as there was a big family argument; I think he's just so happy to have food that he doesn't even try to use it.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."
My sister was a no sauce spagetti person. Just butter
This isn't Wall Street-this is Hell. We have a little something called integrity-Crowley
In Morocco they serve it with heavy butter cinnamon and sugar, no sauce. Try it sometime with angel hair or vermicelli.
"The end of the shoelace is called the...IT DOESN'T MATTER!"
I always thought it was weird but my mother inlaw's mother would at times serve spaghetti with butter sauce on it. Yuck. I always assumed it was something from the depression era lol It was so thin you couldn't see it.
shareNot something from the depression. It is a misconception of many Americans that pasta is always served with some kind of tomato based sauce. That is common, but authentic Italian dishes also used other things including butter, olive oil, cream sauces and other things.
My grandmother was born in Sicily and, among the Sicilian community where she lived in the US, was considered one of the best cooks; almost every relative and family friend came to my grandparent's house for holidays and special occasions.
She often made pasta with butter and with oil (those are separate preparations.) They are quite good and you should try them.
i don’t actually like too much sauce on my spaghetti. no greens though please.
share