Cruella

Cruella

Noel Laflin

9-5-18

The movie was going along splendidly until Cruella de Vil made her entrance onto the big screen.

Within no time at all, my kid sister, who was maybe five or six at the time, was suddenly out of her seat and on the popcorn strewn, soda soaked, sticky, red, concrete theater floor wailing.

To this day, I have no idea whether we stayed for the rest of the film or not. I do remember my older brother Bob and I had little success in calming down our frightened sibling.

Susi’s reaction was not that all unusual, or so I have since learned. Neil Patrick Harris said pretty much the same thing when the flamboyantly dressed, smoke curling villain appeared during his first viewing of the Disney classic. I recall hearing that comment during an interview with the actor a few years ago and immediately flashed to that day at the old Fox Theater in downtown Anaheim back in 1961.

Some thirty-odd years later, Richard Beltran and I got to meet the real person behind the voice of Cruella, as Betty Lou Gerson was chatting up visitors and hawking autographed photos at a Hollywood event. A lot of old-time entertainers were there, including, Adriana Caselotti (the voice behind Snow White), Billy Barty, a very old Little Rascal, Julie Newmar, and Betty Lou.

Everyone was very nice. Julie was still statuesque, Billy still short, and Adriana still singing about a prince who would come. I told Betty Lou, who was eighty years old at the time and extremely pleasant, about the episode regarding my sister.

And, Susanne Laflin, if you are reading this – which I know you are – Betty Lou felt bad about that.