By The Light of the Silvery Moon

Nobody wants to serve up their pet turkey for Thanksgiving. Especially Wesley. So he doesn’t. But his family is expecting him to bring the turkey back from the butcher, ready to roast.

“By The Light of The Silvery Moon” is a classic 1953 film that revolves around the Thanksgiving holiday. Doris Day plays Marjorie Winfield who teams up with Bill Sherman played by Gordon MacRae. The turkey part is when Marjorie’s young brother, Wesley is not willing to give up his pet turkey for the feast. Billy Gray plays Wesley and gives a believable performance as the rambunctious, mischievous kid in the family who stirs up trouble when he finds a love note that he believes incriminates his father as a philanderer.

Bill has returned from World War I and Marjorie is anxious to get married. There are some good laughs when Chester Finley, another suitor suits up and tries to impress Marjorie at the piano bench with his poetic song written just for her — about bees and buzzing. But I’m afraid he’s a bit of turkey.

The family sits down to the Thanksgiving meal, complete with roasted turkey when the supposed sacrifice flies through the window and the family looks at Wesley for an explanation.

I told my four-year-old granddaughter about the turkeys that run wild up here where I live. She wants to come see them. She informed me “Deila Nona, you know I don’t eat turkey or any meat.” 

“I don’t like the food chain,” she informed me. And then she made a face of disapproval. If we watch this movie, the deal is sealed — no eating the turkey.