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Post by flossieskid on Mar 26, 2023 2:04:11 GMT -5
It is interesting that there is so much curiosity about the heritage of Flossie Brimmer. I agree with Easton that Mr. Brimmer was German and my Mom’s character was not. I could understand the confusion about her being German because she reads the German bible at the end of the episode.
As I have mentioned before on the blog that I would always run lines with my parents the night before they were going to the studio the next day to shoot their scenes. I never understood why my parents didn’t cue each other during these run throughs, but they didn’t, so I did.
It was during my time cueing my Mom during her scenes for the episode that I asked her why she wasn’t German but her husband was? She thought a bit and said something like, “Well, goodness me (one of her favorite sayings) I have no clue! If she was in Germany someplace to meet her husband AND she spoke German, yes, why wasn’t Flossie German, accent and all?” She thought she might get another episode explaining all this. Sadly, she died and never got the chance.
But she loved that episode and I think I may have mentioned, but Claire Whitaker, screenwriter and Executive Producer the last years of the series and the co-writer of “The Firestorm” told someone during a video interview that “The Firestorm” was her favorite episode of the entire series. So nice to know!
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Post by Kyle on Mar 26, 2023 7:24:27 GMT -5
There were a lot of German immigrants in the Northeast at the time, particularly in Pennsylvania (which is close to Virginia). It’s not a stretch that Mrs Brimmer met her husband right in the US.
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Post by patriciaanne on Mar 26, 2023 10:02:44 GMT -5
flossieskid Tracey, how cool that you remember running lines with your mom for this episode. Do you still have a copy of the script? The Firestorm is one of the best episodes and your mom's role was absolutely pivotal, even though it may not have been a large part if you're counting lines. Small put powerful!! And she certainly convinced me that she spoke German. 🥰
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Post by Easton on Mar 26, 2023 10:35:35 GMT -5
This is the conversation between Flossie Brimmer and John-Boy inside the print-shop shed. Flossie has come to the shed to talk to John-Boy about printing excerpts from Mein Kampf (transcribed from my DVD copy of The Fire Storm):
Flossie: "John-Boy, if you quote from that book, you might just stir up a real hornet's nest. Some people don't take kindly to foreign ways and ideas. Sometimes it makes them do terrible things. Mr. Brimmer, God rest him, was a good man, but he was German-born."
John-Boy: "I didn't know that."
Flossie: "No one does here on Walton's Mountain. That's how we wanted it when we moved here. Mr. Brimmer had become an American citizen, and a good one. During the Great War, that didn't mean much - not when people found out where we came from. Terrible things happened. Neighbours turned against him. Men he worked with. Even my own family. So we moved several times. It wasn't until we came to Walton's Mountain that we finally found a place where we could keep our secret - where we could live in peace. Don't stir up those hates again, John-Boy!"
* * * * *
At the end of the meeting, John-Boy explains to Flossie that what happened to her was because of ignorance, which was why he had to print the excerpts - to let people know what was happening in Europe to at least try to stop what happened to Flossie and her husband from happening again. He also promised to keep Flossie's secret.
From their conversation, I get the feeling that Mr. Brimmer emigrated to America when he was just a young man, possibly even in his late teens. He and Flossie may have met even before he became an American citizen. I'm even more convinced that Flossie was not German, especially with Flossie's family's reaction to finding out that Mr. Brimmer had been born in Germany. |
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Post by Emmy on Mar 26, 2023 12:25:15 GMT -5
Mr. Easton, the part in the script where Mrs. Brimmer says to John Boy that her and her husband had moved several times before settling on Waltons Mountain has me to believe that Mrs. Flossie Brimmer indeed met her husband in the United States after he had come over from Germany. While Mrs. Brimmer was with her husband she easily could have picked up a lot of the German she had learned from him and that is how she was able to read it and speak it.
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Post by flossieskid on Mar 27, 2023 4:34:17 GMT -5
And the Forum’s “Best Information Prize” (awarded by me - and not sanctioned by anyone important on the Forum!) is shared by Easton AND emmy!! Easton, because he was kind enough to take the time to post the exact dialogue with Flossie and John Boy in his print shop (JB’s not Easton’s!) and the prize is shared with one of the Forum’s young new participants - emmy - for pointing out the words that TOTALLY solves the mystery: Flossie says, “….even my own family” absolutely CONFIRMS that Flossie met Mr. Brimmer in the USA. It makes sense that if her whole family were against her German husband - they were surely NOT German!
Applause to you emmy for your eagle eye, or should I say “eagle ear”and to Easton for printing the evidence for all to read. Now, the mystery is solved once and for all! Do you think that if Easton and emmy put their heads together, they might take on the mystery of “The Bermuda Triangle ”? Emmy will have to Google that one!
To PatriciaAnne- I do NOT have a copy of “The Firestorm “ script - much to my dismay. I would give up almost anything (except an uncrowded 405 Freeway in L.A. on a Friday night!!) to get a copy. I might check with Earl’s family, but I think he donated all the scripts somewhere. Sadly, the 2 screenwriters who also produced the episode, and were personal friends, have died. Maybe I will call Warner Brothers Studios, where it was filmed, to see if a copy is floating around somewhere!
I really appreciate the interest, information and opinions shared by so many Forum participants about my Mom’s portrayal of Flossie. As I have said in a previous post, she loved that episode and was thrilled about how it was received. Each time I watch that end scene, I am in tears. But, then I realize how wonderful “happy tears” can be.
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Post by Easton on Mar 27, 2023 7:46:20 GMT -5
Do you think that if Easton and emmy put their heads together, they might take on the mystery of “ The Bermuda Triangle ”? I can't speak for Emmy, but I've already taken that one on (as well as that Daniken fiasco from several decades ago) and there is no mystery behind the Bermuda Triangle. What happens there also happens everywhere that there is open water.
Book burnings, racism, bigotry, hatred, and war, however, are and have always been very, very real.
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Post by sdw on Mar 27, 2023 9:56:50 GMT -5
My ancestors on my Mom's side came from Germany,some of them from Pennsylvania, into Virginia, down to Tennessee where I live.
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Post by Emmy on Mar 27, 2023 10:15:55 GMT -5
The Bermuda Triangle? I did Google it because at first I thought it was a special geometrical shape that the country Bermuda came up with.  It seems like from reading about all the weird things that went on in that area of the water like Mr. Easton has said has most likely happened other places as well all over the world. It just seems like it became a big thing or something there for some reason. It must not have been that big of a thing because I never really heard of it before. |
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Post by Easton on Mar 27, 2023 14:20:06 GMT -5
I forgot to mention. When I was watching The Firestorm in order to transcribe it, I noticed how remarkably blue both Nora's and Richard's eyes are.
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Post by Emmy on Mar 27, 2023 15:38:35 GMT -5
I forgot to mention. When I was watching The Firestorm in order to transcribe it, I noticed how remarkably blue both Nora's and Richard's eyes are. John Boy must have taken after his daddy with the eyes because John(Ralph Waite) had beautiful blue eyes. Michael Learned(Olivia) also has blue eyes but not a deep bright blue as Ralph's. Nora Marlowe(Flossie) did have beautiful blue eyes. I could not find a photo of Debbie Gunn who played Patsy Brimmer, but Eileen McDonough who was also Patsy Brimmer had dark eyes. She must have taken after her uncle and not her Aunt Flossie. |
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Post by JessicaGirlSpy on Mar 27, 2023 15:53:42 GMT -5
Do you think that if Easton and emmy put their heads together, they might take on the mystery of “ The Bermuda Triangle ”? I can't speak for Emmy, but I've already taken that one on (as well as that Daniken fiasco from several decades ago) and there is no mystery behind the Bermuda Triangle. What happens there also happens everywhere that there is open water.
Book burnings, racism, bigotry, hatred, and war, however, are and have always been very, very real.
I had to Google Bermuda Triangle, too. I've heard of Bermuda shorts, Bermuda vacation, and Bermuda tree, but not Bermuda Triangle. During my brief Bermuda research I found this song, |
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Post by Johnny on Mar 27, 2023 16:17:11 GMT -5
I had to Google Bermuda Triangle, too. I've heard of Bermuda shorts, Bermuda vacation, and Bermuda tree, but not Bermuda Triangle. During my brief Bermuda research I found this song, < beach boys song - Kokomo > Interestingly, there is no Kokomo in Florida. However, I have been through the town of Kokomo in Indiana  As a boy of 10, I was curious about the Bermuda Triangle and being open minded about the possible realities, I purchased a paperback book that pointed out the many peculiar events that took place there. After reading, it peaked my curiosity just as descriptions of ghosts occupying old homes did. However as a person who understands science, I haven't seen enough evidence to convince me either of these notions have any merit. |
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Post by Emmy on Mar 27, 2023 16:28:07 GMT -5
I had to Google Bermuda Triangle, too. I've heard of Bermuda shorts, Bermuda vacation, and Bermuda tree, but not Bermuda Triangle. During my brief Bermuda research I found this song, < beach boys song - Kokomo > Interestingly, there is no Kokomo in Florida. However, I have been through the town of Kokomo in Indiana As a boy of 10, I was curious about the Bermuda Triangle and being open minded about the possible realities, I purchased a paperback book that pointed out the many peculiar events that took place there. After reading, it peaked my curiosity just as descriptions of ghosts occupying old homes did. However as a person who understands science, I haven't seen enough evidence to convince me either of these notions have any merit. |
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Post by Johnny on Mar 27, 2023 16:37:14 GMT -5
< Wizard of Oz - Lion - I do believe in spooks> I still meet people who have a strong feeling about ghosts. In an old farmhouse where I was staying, there was a guest who asked me if I felt the presence of a ghost. She felt the presence of a benevolent ghost, a man who wandered the halls late at night. I told her, no I didn't, but that I am also not ghost-sensitive. |
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It seems like from reading about all the weird things that went on in that area of the water like Mr. Easton has said has most likely happened other places as well all over the world. It just seems like it became a big thing or something there for some reason. It must not have been that big of a thing because I never really heard of it before. 
