Robert Avoids Heaven

Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) is a boxer with dreams of becoming the champion. He's trained long and hard, and is ready for the bout that will propel him to stardom. He's in his private plane, heading for New York when his aircraft is damaged. Plummeting earthbound, his spirit is plucked from his body by overeager heavenly messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton).  When Joe protests to Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) that he doesn't feel dead, Mr. Jordan discovers that Joe is destined to live another 50 years! Since Joe's body is gone (cremated by Joe's manager Max Corkle (James Gleason)), Mr. Jordan and Joe go out to find Joe a new body. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) tells the story of that quest.

I'm truly of the opinion that Robert Montgomery is one of our most underrated film actors. He's good in everything he does, and can play the villain, the anti-hero, and the hero with equal aplomb. He's delightful as Joe Pendleton, a man of deep feelings and simple tastes. He loves his plane, his saxophone, his dear friend Max, and ultimately, Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes). His quest for a new body is governed by the purity of his nature - he wants simply what he is entitled to, and wants the body he is given to match the one that he had. After all, he kept it "in the pink!"

Robert Montgomery was born into a privileged family, but that all ended with his father's suicide when Robert was 18. He decided to try his hand at acting and writing; by 1924, he was appearing on Broadway, where he was in 7 plays (through 1928). He signed a contract with MGM in 1929, where his stage training was essential in the booming sound era; he was often the juvenile in this period (as in Untamed (1929)).  In 1937, he showed a new side of his talent in Night Must Fall,  as an insane killer. World War II disrupted his career - he volunteered to serve in the Navy, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Upon his return, John Ford cast him in They Were Expendable (1945); when Ford was injured, Mr. Montgomery finished directing the film. His characterizations became even more nuanced, as he appeared in films like the film noir Lady in the Lake (1946). He turned to television, to produce his own anthology show, Robert Montgomery Presents.  Married twice, he had three children by his first wife, Elizabeth Allen. His daughter, Elizabeth, went on to perform in film and television (and is best remembered for her role in the TV series,  Bewitched). He died of cancer in 1981.

We were a bit less enthralled with Evelyn Keyes. There are times, especially at the beginning when she is pleading for her father, that she seems over-melodramatic. She improves greatly in the love scenes with Mr. Montgomery, and they have a warm relationship that is easy to appreciate. Rita Johnson, as the other woman in Joe's life - the almost widow Julia Farnsworth - is quite good as the would-be murderer. She's properly bitchy, and you eagerly await her - and her paramour Tony Abbott (John Emery) - getting their comeuppance.

The film's strength really comes from two magnificent supporting roles - Mr. Jordan and Max Corkle. James Gleason is excellent as the frequently bemused Max. His fatherly affection for Joe is apparent from the minute we first meet him, and his pain from the repeated loss of Joe is palpable. But Mr. Gleason also brings humor to the part - his inability to see Mr. Jordan, while he tries to have conversations with him make for amusing scenes, yet maintain the integrity of the character. In their review, the New York Times says that Mr. Gleason "steals the film's most comic scene as the manager with cosmic premonitions," but he never lets Max become a fool, and we are grateful for it.

What can we add about Claude Rains that hasn't already been said? He's delightful as Mr. Jordan - warm and understanding. He cares about Joe, and about his predicament, but he has a heavenly duty to perform, and Joe isn't always willing to acknowledge that. Mr. Rains brings a sincerity to the role that perfects the movie. We believe he is an angel, and we know that Mr. Jordan will keep an eye on his charge until he meets him again in 1991. This article from the Criterion Collection talks about "the hint of steel" Mr. Rains brings to the part. It is the making of the character.

The story upon which the film was based was initially purchased as a vehicle for Cary Grant (AFI Catalog)  Years later, Warren Beatty would ask him to play Mr. Jordan in his remake.  (Evenings with Cary Grant by Nancy Nelson). When Mr. Grant said no, Mr. Beatty cast James Mason in his 1978  Heaven Can Wait - which was, in fact, the title of the original play by Harry Segall (TCM article). 

Lux Radio Theatre in January 1942 aired a version of the story with Cary Grant, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains, and James Gleason. It was remade again as Down to Earth (2001) with Chris Rock as a comedian who is untimely snatched from his body.

We'll leave you with this trailer, and the suggestion that you give this delightful film a first (or a second) viewing:

Ronald Breaks the Bank

Paul Gallard (Ronald Colman) arrives at the Sports Club in Monte Carlo with an empty suitcase, and proceeds to win 5 million francs at the baccarat table. He departs with his winnings, telling the newspapers that gambling is a fool's game to which he will never return.  Miffed, the casino administration begin to move heaven and earth to get The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo (1935) to tempt him back to the tables, and hopefully, lose.

Most of the action in the 71 minute film is at the very beginning and the end. In between, there is the feeling that the screenwriters were killing time until we could get to those final scenes. It's not that the film was dull - it really wasn't. But it was hard to know exactly where the movie wanted to go and what tone it wanted to strike.

While this is not one of Ronald Colman's best roles, he is delightful as Paul (this was released the same year as Clive of India and A Tale of Two Cities - two powerhouse parts for him). He also has a very good rapport with Joan Bennett (Helen Berkeley) in their second film together - they had previously appeared together in Bulldog Drummond (1929). As in that film, it is clear that Mr. Colman is the star; unfortunately for Ms. Bennett, the part of Helen is not really well defined. As Ms. Bennett and Mr. Colman didn't work together after this, one wonders what would have happened had Ms. Bennett been given better written roles and a character able to go toe-to-toe with Mr. Colman.

Joan Bennett was born into an acting family. Her maternal grandparents were actors, as were her mother and father (her mother would eventually become a literary agent). Her sisters also were actors: Barbara and Constance Bennett. Joan appeared in two films (in 1916 and 1923), then was on Broadway (to which she would return in 1950, in Love Me Little) in Jarnegan (1928).  After two  uncredited film roles, she appeared as the ingenue in Bulldog Drummond.  With her blonde hair (her natural color) and youthful face, she was perfect for roles like Amy in Little Women (1933). Her career path would change, however, when future husband Walter Wanger and director Tay Garnett convinced her to go brunette for the film Trade Winds (1938). After that, she was a natural for roles like Kitty in Scarlet Street (1945). Married four times, her career all but ended when her third husband, Walter Wanger, shot Joan's agent in a fit of jealousy. She'd continue her career with regional stage performances (including the national tour of Bell, Book and Candle as Gillian). (In contrast, Wanger's career was not affected after he served his four-month jail sentence.) Television would prove a reentry for Ms. Bennett - she won an Emmy nomination for her role as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard in Dark Shadows (1966-1971). In 1970, she published her autobiography The Bennett Playbill (written with Lois Kibbee), and continued to appear in TV movies. She died of a heart attack in 1990, at the age of 80. For more on Joan and sister Constance, see this article from the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter.

Two excellent, but sadly brief performances are turned in by Colin Clive (as Helen's nefarious brother Bertrand) and by Nigel Bruce (as Paul's valet, Ivan). Mr. Clive is deliciously nasty; it's a shame he has so few scenes. And Mr. Bruce gets most of the really good lines. He's really funny, and not at all the buffoon that he would play in his later career.

Sylvia Sidney was originally considered for the role of Helen, and John Ford was to direct - an accident on his boat gave the director's chair to Stephen Roberts (AFI catalog). The film's title is taken from an 1890's music hall song, resulting in the studio being sued by the heirs of  songwriter Fred Gilbert, for violation of their copyright; they eventually lost the suit.  You can hear the song sung by music hall comedian Charles Coborn in the video below - you'll notice the song has nothing at all to do with the plot of the movie. The song would actually be sung in several films, including The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Alien: Covenant (2017). (TCM article).

The New York Times reviewer was not impressed with the film; they somewhat liked Ronald Colman, but were quite hard on Joan Bennett (really, she doesn't have a strong script. We thought they were being unfair).  It wasn't until May, 1946 that a radio version aired on Hollywood Star Time, with Rex Harrison and Lurlene Tuttle as the leads.  Perhaps the film is justifiably forgotten today, but it's worth seeing for Colman alone. He's always a treat.

As promised, we'll leave you with the song on which the title was based.

Katharine's Getting Married

It's been two years since Tracy Samantha Lord Haven (Katharine Hepburn) divorced her husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) and Tracy is about to remarry. Her fiance is George Kittredge (John Howard), an up-and-comer who is completely different from the wealthy Dexter. Tracy, however, is not happy. She seethes with resentment towards Dexter, and towards her father, Seth Lord (John Halliday), who has been cavorting with a dancer in New York City. So, when Dexter shows up the day before her wedding with two reporters from the scandal sheet "Spy Magazine" in tow, Tracy is ready to give Macaulay Connor (James Stewart) and Elizabeth Imbrie (Ruth Hussey) the ride of their lives.

TCM Presents for February was the delightful The Philadelphia Story (1940). Katharine Hepburn is perfection as the intolerant Tracy, a woman of strict principle who finds herself torn among 3 men on the eve of her wedding. She never misses a step as Tracy discovers the true meaning of love as her inhibitions fall away.

Katharine Hepburn came to Hollywood to star in A Bill of Divorcement (1932) with John Barrymore. Two years later, she won her first (of four) Oscars for Morning Glory.  But, by 1938, with her films not doing well, she bought out her contract, and departed from Hollywood (after she was included in a list of actors termed Box Office Poison), Ms. Hepburn returned to New York, where she appeared in the Broadway production of The Philadelphia Story, a play which had been written by Philip Barry with her in mind. The play was a huge hit (it ran for 417 performances in New York, then opened on National Tour). All the major studios wanted it, but there was a catch. With the help of her friend Howard Hughes, Ms. Hepburn had purchased the rights to the play. No film would be made without her in the lead, and without her approval of her leading men. MGM bit the bullet, and bought the film, hired Philip Barry to write the screenplay, and (with Ms. Hepburn's approval) hired Cary Grant to play Dexter (even with his high salary demands and insistence on top billing!) This Philadelphia Magazine article  has more behind-the-scenes information on the production. For more on Ms. Hepburn's fascinating life and career, check out her autobiography Me, and the authorized biography that was published just after her death, Kate Remembered by A Scott Berg.

James Stewart is equally good as the angry young man who disrupts Tracy's life, a part that Ms. Hepburn intended for Spencer Tracy (they had not yet met). Mr. Stewart brings both a swagger and sass to Macauley Connor. He begins by resenting Tracy and all she represents, but ends deeply infatuated with her. Mr. Stewart would win his only Best Actor Oscar for his work in this film. His scenes with all three of his co-stars crackle with energy.

Cary Grant, however, was NOT nominated for his role as Dexter. Why will always be a mystery to me. He is wonderful (as always) in a part that Ms. Hepburn intended for Clark Gable. She asked Mr. Grant to appear when Gable was unavailable, and he agreed - provided he got top billing and a salary of $137,000 (which was given to British War Relief) (TCM article). As with their three prior parings (Sylvia Scarlet (1935), Holiday (1938), and Bringing Up Baby(1938)), their interplay is dynamic. There is an ease in their conversations that make them all the more real. Mr. Grant is equally adept at sparring with Mr. Stewart. And his scenes with Virginia Weidler (as Tracy's younger sister Dinah Lord) are a pleasure to watch.

The other nominated actor in the film is the always excellent Ruth Hussey (best supporting actress). If you have never encountered Ms. Hussey, treat yourself with this film or with The Uninvited (1944). There is a world-weariness to Liz, but it has not eliminated her hope for a future with Mike. Ms. Hussey began her career in Providence, RI as a radio commentator.  She eventually moved to New York where she modeled, and found jobs with theatrical touring companies. That got her an MGM contract, where she appeared films such as The Women (1939), Another Thin Man (1939), and H.M. Pulham, Esq (1941). She also appeared on Broadway in State of the Union (in the role Katharine Hepburn would play on film), and Goodbye, My Fancy (Joan Crawford's movie outing). Ms. Hussey appeared on radio and television as well until her retirement in 1973. She was married for 60 years to talent agent Bob Longenecker until his death in 2002; the couple had three children. She died in 2005, following an appendectomy, at the age of 93.

Donald Ogden Stewart won an Oscar for adapted screenplay, and director George Cukor was nominated. The film is listed as #44 in the100 Years, 100 Movies, 10th Anniversary Edition (interestingly, the rating went up from the original list, where it appeared at #51). It's also #44 on the 100 Years, 100 Passions list. In 1995, it was added to the National Film Registry.

The Lux Radio Theatre adapted the film twice: in July, 1942, with the original cast, and in June, 1943 with Robert Taylor, Robert Young, and Loretta Young. (AFI catalog). It would be remade as the musical High Society in 1956, starring Gracy Kelly, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Celeste Holm, with glorious music by Cole Porter.  The New York Times review was glowing when the film opened at Radio City Music Hall, and quite honestly, what's not to love. We'll leave you with the trailer to this outstanding film:

Clifton in Suburbia

Henry (Robert Young) and Tacy King (Maureen O'Hara) live in the small town of Hummingbird Hills. Henry is a young lawyer trying to get ahead in his firm, which requires the Kings to socialize with his boss, Horatio Hammond (Ed Begley) and his wife Martha (Josephine Whittell) on command. The Kings have a another problem that complicates these command performances - their three rambunctious boys make it impossible for them to keep a maid, or hire a local babysitter. So, Tacy puts an ad in the Saturday Review for a live-in babysitter, and gets an immediate response. But there is a complication - the applicant, Lynn Belvedere is a man (Clifton Webb). Our film this time is Sitting Pretty (1948).

Set in counterpoint to our last film, All That Heaven Allows, we have the same suburban mentality looked at from both the dramatic and the decidedly comic points of view. The role of the vindictive neighbor here is taken on by Richard Haydn as Mr. Clarence Appleton, an effete botanist who lives with his deaf (and equally nosy) mother. Mr. Appleton takes great pleasure in snooping around the community, looking in his neighbors' garbarge and opening up their mail. He's quite as malicious as Mona Plash, but it's all in the attitude. Where Sara and Cary fear Mona, Mr. Belevedere and Tacy view Mr. Appleton with disdain.

As in the last film, the gossip affects the family dynamic, with Henry constantly fearful of the appearance of their living circumstances, while Tacy turns up her nose at such nonsense. But with a family of five to support, and a job in which he is at the mercy of a stuffy and judgemental boss, Henry perhaps has a right to be nervous.

As played by Mr. Young, the one thing that makes Henry problematic is his lack of presence in his boys' lives. He frequently seems removed from them - too busy to pay attention. As a result, these are youngsters who need a firm hand, and neither Henry (nor Tacy) seem capable of supplying that discipline.

Which is where Mr. Belvedere comes in; as an expert in children (he is, he declares, a genius, with experience in a wide variety of areas) who claims to not particularly like them, it is apparent that he is willing to spend time with the boys. Within a day of his arrival, he has cured the youngest son of pelting everyone at the kitchen table with his food (check out this TCM article for Clifton Webb's account of the filming of the scene) and taught the youngest two boys some yoga poses. As portrayed by Clifton Webb, Mr. Belvedere is a man with definite beliefs, who practices what he preaches. The boys need attention, therefore, he gives it to them, and makes them nicer children.

In one scene late in the film, Tacy encounters Mr. Belvedere at a ritzy restaurant lounge. After her comment that Henry is a lousy dancer, Mr. Belvedere invites her to dance, and she compliments him on his terpsichorean skills (you can see that scene below). In fact, Clifton Webb began his career as a professional ballroom dancer, eventually becoming a Broadway star in both comedies and musicals. His 23 Broadway credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, Blythe Spirit, and Present Laughter. In fact, if you go to the outer lobby of the Music Box Theatre today (where he performed in As Thousands Cheer), you'll find a poster discussing the history of the theatre - and on it is a picture of Clifton Webb. In 1945 Mr. Webb (who had had a few small roles in silents and one early talkie) starred in Laura (1945). He made the role of Waldo Lydecker his own, and appeared on the big screen from that point on. Primarily out of touch with his father (who had left his mother shortly after his birth) he was extremely close to his mother, Mabelle. They lived together, hosted parties together, and were, to all intents and purposes, a couple. She died at age 91, in 1960. Mr. Webb only survived her by six years, dying of a heart attack at the age of 76.  He did begin an autobiography, but was never able to complete it. It was published, in 2016 by Robert Wagner (not the actor) as Sitting Pretty: The Life and Times of Clifton Webb. 

John Payne was considered for the role of Henry, and Celeste Holm was also proposed for a part in the film (probably that of Edna Philby, which was ably filled by Louise Albritton in the final version). (AFI Catalog).  Larry Olsen, who played Larry King, the King's eldest son, is the brother of Susan Olsen of Brady Bunch fame. He stopped acting at the age of 16; he died in 2015, aged 77. Betty Ann Lynn, who appeared as Ginger the babysitter would later appear as Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show (by then, her name was Betty Lynn). She'll be 92 this year. John Russell (Bill Philby) is probably best remembered today for his role on TV's Lawman. He died in 1991 at the age of 70.

 

The New York Times was quite pleased in their review of the film. And the film was successful enough to result in two other movies - Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949) and Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell (1951). Three more films were originally planned, but Mr. Webb's reluctance to continue in the role cancelled them. Mr. Webb did, however, reprise his role in this film on the February 1949 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. When the 20th Century-Fox Hour performed a television version, Reginald Gardner took over the part of Mr. Belvedere; in 1965, it is believed Victor Buono took on the part for a pilot that never saw the light of day. Finally, in 1985, a successful television series, starring Christopher Hewitt as Mr. Belvedere ran for five years.

We'll leave you with Ms. O'Hara and Mr. Webb cutting a rug.