Mariah Popham[1] (also spelled as Maria Popham[2]) is a character who appears in the 1963 Disney live-action film Summer Magic.
Background[]
Mariah serves as the wife of Osh Popham, living in the town of Beulah in Maine. Despite having a loving personality with Osh, she can occasionally become frustrated in certain situations such as the case of her husband being irresponsible for writing a letter to Mr. Hamilton by taking advantage of him to rent the yellow house and that he never checked if he received a mail from him. She is also shown to give out a critique to the paintings that Osh made, whether they are in good condition or not - although she would occasionally describe them with judgmental facts. Despite her temper, she mostly shows a calm personality, especially when it comes to Osh.
Role in the film[]
Nancy approaches Osh's wife Mariah whom she has been longing to meet her and that her husband is being too modest, fearing that he hides about his own talents. She replies to Nancy that her husband does, just as the latter tells Mariah and her husband about the supplies needed for the house with approval from Tom Hamilton, which Osh replies that she doesn't need permission from him as he explains to her that Mr. Hamilton has deep-seated faith according to him, just as he tasks Nancy to give his wife her mother's grocery list.
Osh returns to the post office where his wife asks him if he wrote a letter to Mr. Hamilton about advising him that he took it on himself to rent the yellow house, which he claims to her that he already wrote the letter to him. As his wife asks him that if Mr. Hamilton responded yet, Osh replies to his wife that he is a very busy man. Mariah then warns him that if he does not receive a letter from Mr. Hamilton soon, she would take over the post office. Osh then realizes that his wife forgot to turn off the pot which is boiling, so she decides to turn it off before it causes a disaster in the facility.
Later, Osh approaches his wife Mariah being dropped off by Gilly who is telling the truth of Margaret, recapping to him that she searched the store for a letter from Mr. Hamilton, but did not find one, explaining that she would tell the Carey family her suspicions. At the Carey family's house, Mariah engages in a private conversation with Nancy and her mother Margaret, recapping that her husband Mr. Popham always looked on the bright side. She also shares with the Carey’s that she is tired of her husband's silver linings. Osh then fakes of him having an injured leg, getting his wife's attention to urgently bring him to a good place where he would be "healed". Later when Nancy and Julia invite a young man named Charles Bryant for a lawn party, Margaret asks Osh's wife to know if she wants to come, which she agrees.
Mariah later approaches her husband, where one of the paintings one of the paintings that she recognizes is that of Mrs. Griswold, whom she describes a painting of Mrs. Griswold with cold facts. Osh then tells his wife to relax during the picnic and not to describe his paintings with cold facts. Nancy later returns to Osh, who recaps to him that since he misplaced Mr. Hamilton's letter, he was unable to sleep for nights, just as he reveals that the letter is in a Dutch oven, which he opens a cabinet revealing a hidden letter inside. She later sits next to her husband during the musical number "On the Front Porch", where everyone enjoys a quiet evening.
During the climax of the film after Osh negotiates with Mr. Hamilton, Mariah approaches her husband, curious to know who that man is, only for Osh to reply to his wife that she must have faith in herself. Later during a Halloween party at the barn, Mariah and her husband are present attending a ceremony showcasing a tribute to Mr. Hamilton's mother hosted by Margaret, which Osh tells her to calm down. After the ceremony, Mariah became impressed with everyone. Mariah and her husband are last seen dancing a waltz just before the film ends.
Trivia[]
- Una Merkel, the actress who played Maria Popham, previously starred in the 1961 Disney live-action film The Parent Trap. Both, Summer Magic and The Parent Trap feature songs written by the Sherman Brothers.
References[]
- ↑ Summer Magic Closed Captions (DVD, 2005)
- ↑ Summer Magic Soundtrack (back cover)
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