I love it when the audience or reader knows something that the character in the story doesn’t know. A ticking bomb under the table (Hitchcock) the identity of the murderer (Columbo) the unrequited love (Cyrano).
That’s why I adore the song “You don’t know me” written by Cindy Walker and Eddy Arnold in 1955.
The lyrics describe these timeless feelings:
No you don’t know the one who dreams of you at night
And longs to kiss your lips and longs to hold you tight
To you I’m just a friend that’s all I’ve ever been
But you don’t know me
Greer Garson, “Random Harvest”, 1942 (Photo credit: thefoxling)
One of the absolute best “you don’t know me” stories is Random Harvest. SPOILERS. How could a woman marry a man, settling for a platonic marriage of convenience when she was once married to him and he adored her but now he doesn’t remember her????? Heartbreaking, full of angst and oh, so unrealistic. But I love it.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a version of “You Don’t Know Me” that I didn’t like. I like Micky Gilley’s version, Ray Charles‘, Willie Nelson’s, and recently Michael Buble‘s.
Enjoy.
Ah, great old song! I Ioved Eddy Arnold as a singer but I always thought of him as a poor man’s Jim Reeves – sorry, Eddy, but Jim was my favourite male country singer.
I can’t remember ever seeing “Random Harvest” – who was the male co-star, please? I loved all the old movies I did see with Greer Garson – she was so beautiful and gracious.
Ronald Colman was in Random Harvest. He had a wonderful melt-your-heart voice and was handsome, too. I like him in TALK OF THE TOWN, too.