Mary and Ellen are characters featured in the 1963 Disney live action film Summer Magic. They are two maids who work at the old house of the Carey family at Boston, Massachusetts.
Background[]
Mary and Ellen serve as maids of the former Carey family house, especially when they were moving away from Boston to Beulah. Although the attire they wear are almost identical to each other, their appearances are distinguished to tell which one is which - Mary is much older than Ellen with the latter herself being a bit younger than her. However, they would occasionally remind anyone who enters the house to get their attention such as when the Perkins businessmen arrive and swap the Carey family's piano for a piano player. In spite of these, they would occasionally talk to each other privately when they are doing their duty in cleaning the house.
Role in the film[]
Ellen is first seen asking Mary that Margaret, the mother of the Carey family, was once a happy wife, but is now a poor widow who lost her husband, just before Nancy interrupts. She then shares her story with them that she was reading a book titled True Blue, where Lord and Lady Darcy and their children lost their riches throughout the story, which they became impressed with the story. Mary then offers Nancy that she and Ellen found a nice situation in Salem at a low price, but they become distracted upon hearing a telephone ring, leading them to answer the phone. Ellen interrupts, telling the Careys that two haulers from Perkins and Co. are selling the piano.
Mary and Ellen later follow alongside the Careys who discovered a piano player that was placed with the old piano exchanged for the other piano. As the piano plays by itself, Mary and Ellen look at the lyrics on the sheet music during the musical number during the musical number "Flitterin". Throughout the song, Mary and Ellen sing along with Gilly and Nancy, just before Margaret arrives. The maids then continue resuming their duty at the house being sold just before the Careys leave for Beulah. They do not appear again throughout the rest of the film.
Trivia[]
- While Hilda Plowright (who played Mary) was credited in the film's opening credits, Marcy McGuire (who played Ellen) was not credited for unknown reasons.
- Additionally, Plowright was credited in the film's opening credits, despite only appearing at the beginning of the film.
- Ellen was Marcy McGuire's first and only role in a Disney production as well as her final acting role before her permanent retirement in 1963 and her later death on August 7, 2021.
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