Joan's "Lost" Film

Wealthy Letty Lynton (1932) (Joan Crawford) left the United States to live in South America. She's been in an assignation with the domineering  Emile Renaul (Nils Asther), who is insistent that she will never leave him. Letty escapes to a U.S. bound ship, where she meets Jerry Darrow (Robert Montgomery); romance follows, but the threat of Emile is a clear and present danger to Letty's happiness. 

The legend of Letty Lynton has existed since it was taken out of circulation in 1936, following a battle about the copyright of the story.  It was a film I’d always wanted to see (what WAS the Letty Lynton  dress??), and while I normally avoid pirated films, the opportunity to see it on stream from another country was just too tempting to resist.  The copy was pretty awful, which I expected, but the full film was there.  And so we got to watch this Joan Crawford movie we never expected to view.

 

This is Ms. Crawford's film - she is the focus of the story and is in nearly every scene. As good as her supporting cast is, that is what they are - support for the story of Letty's decision to try and change her life.  She's awfully good - we were especially impressed with a scene mid-film in which Letty tries to reconnect with the Mother (May Robson) who emotionally withdrew from Letty when Letty was a child.  Letty's meanderings have been an attempt to avoid her mother's coldness and find some semblance of love. With the possibility of a new life with Jerry, Letty makes one more appeal to her mother. Ms. Crawford never loses her cool but her face reflects the pain she feels as her mother yet again withdraws from her.

We always enjoy Robert Montgomery, and he is very good in what is essentially a minor role. Sure, he’s the romantic lead, but as we mentioned, this is Letty’s story, not his. Mr. Montgomery is able to bring Jerry to a higher level - he gives him an inner strength that is crucial to the film’s ending. Interestingly, he was not the first actor considered - Robert Young was also considered for the part. 

There is nothing in the least attractive about Nils Asther’s Emile. He’s a bully, abusive, and a stalker. If we were supposed to have any sympathy for his passion for Letty, it’s pretty much gone when he shows up at the dock in New York.  Nils Asther started his Hollywood career during the silent era, when his strong Swedish accent didn’t matter. While his career continued into the talkies, it was limited to playing foreigners, like the General in The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933). He would continue in films and television until 1961. Briefly married to Vivian Duncan, the couple had one daughter. Mr. Asther died in Sweden in 1981 at the age of 84.

The film makes a nice counterpoint between the relationships of Letty and her mother to Jerry's loving and affectionate parents (played by Emma Dunn and Walter Walker). We do have a brief scene with them and Letty - Ms. Crawford again nicely shows the longing Letty feels for such a family dynamic without being over-the-top.

Letty's true mother is played by her maid and confidant, Miranda (Louise Closser Hale). She sweet, if at times a bit muddled, but her affection for Letty is very clear from the start of the film, and her desire to get her charge to a better place is also obvious.  Ms. Hale is a delightful actress, with great range; this film shows another aspect of her talent.

Finally, Lewis Stone  (John J. Haney) drops in as a policy investigator towards the end of the film. He's not very bright, and is rather superfluous to the story.  The scene itself IS necessary to mend a bunch of fences, but Haney is a head-shaker of a police officer.

The New York Times review by Mordaunt Hall was negative; however, the picture was popular - Letty's white dress becoming a fashion sensation.  When the studio attempted re-release, a lawsuit followed (for more information, the AFI catalog details the particulars), and the film was eventually relegated to the archives.  Letty's story may have been influenced by the murderer Madeleine Smith. Her story made the screen in 1950 in the David Lean film Madeleine with Ann Todd as the notorious Ms. Smith

We'll leave you with this scene of Letty and Jerry falling in love. Here's hoping the film is eventually able to be re-released with a decent print.

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Is Robert a Liar?

Larry Balantine (Robert Young) is on trial for the murder of his lover, Verna Carlson (Susan Hayward). His defense attorney has put him on the stand to tell his bizarre tale of adultery and larceny.  Our film tonight is They Won't Believe Me (1947).

Robert Young gives an excellent performance as a suave and rather creepy opportunist. Told in flashback, his story IS unbelievable, but the film leaves it entirely to the viewer to decide fact from fiction. That Larry is so reprehensible a human being makes the audience doubt his word. Yet, his story is so entirely ludicrous, one wonders if even he could make it up.

Mr. Young's film career started in 1931 (he had three uncredited appearances in short films in 1928 and 1929), with a small role in a Charlie Chan film, The Black Camel. He worked consistently in supporting and leading roles, appearing in H.M. Pulham, Esq.(1942), Crossfire (1947), and Three Comrades (1938). In 1954, he started a new phase of his career, as the star of Father Knows Best, a TV series which ran for six years. In 1969, he began work on another TV series, as the kindly Marcus Welby, M.D., which ran for seven years. He worked in television until 1988. Married to Betty Henderson for 61 years, he became a spokesperson mental health issues - he had suffered from depression and alcoholism for thirty years. The Robert Young Community Mental Health Center is named for him because of his work to support mental health issues with the passage of the 708 Illinois Tax Referendum. Mr. Young died in 1998, at the age of 91 - he was survived by his four daughters and many grandchildren.

Mr. Young is ably supported by three excellent actresses.  Susan Hayward is believable as Verna Carlson, his secretary and mistress. She's far smarter than Larry, ambitious, and independent. She's willing to marry for money - she's already planning to marry Larry's partner Trenton (Tom Powers) when Larry shows up. What at first begins as a flirtation turns into something deeper, as the pair try to decide if they want each other, or wealthy spouses. Ms. Hayward had been borrowed Walter Wanger, and RKO had to shoot around her as she finished up work on Smash Up: The Story of a Woman (1947) (AFI catalog).

Jane Greer's Janice Bell is also smart, but she is far more gullible than Verna.  Where Verna has no illusions about Larry's character, Janice believes he is better than he is, even falling for him when she has been convinced he might be a murderer.  Of the three actresses, her's is the least fleshed out character. It's hard to say we get to know Janice in great detail. But the part would bring her much more attention, landing Ms. Greer what is possibly her most famous film, Out of the Past (1947) (TCM article).

Rita Johnson is probably best remembered today for two villains - in The Major and the Minor (1942) and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). While Greta  Balantine  is a bit of conniver, she's a very sympathetic character.  For some reason, she genuinely loves Larry, even though she is well aware of his infidelities and the fact that he married her for her money.  Regardless, she's willing to overlook his straying, and give him some of the things he wants, but on her terms.  Sadly, Larry is better at thwarting her - he has no affection for her. She's merely a bank account.

The film was produced by Joan Harrison, who was at this time one of only three female producers in Hollywood.  Ms. Harrison's career was discussed in some detail in the Noir Alley intro and outro to the film.  Eddie Muller discussed Ms. Harrison's career with Christina Lane, the author of Phantom Lady: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the Forgotten Woman Behind Hitchcock.

New York Times review by A. H. Weiler (A.W.) was positive, callinig the film "engrossing entertainment." Sadly, in 1957, 15 minutes were cut from the film in order to make it more attractive as part of a double feature. It was this cut version that was available from that time forward.  In 2021, the film was released on BluRay (and on Turner Classic Movies) with the cut scenes restored.

We highly recommend this excellent film - and try to see the original version.  We'll leave you with this excerpt featuring Robert Young, Susan Hayward, and Rita Johnson.

Claudette is on the Run

Private detective Guy Johnson (James Stewart) is hired by millionaire Willie Heyward (Ernest Truex) to protect him from himself - he's a notorious lush and womanizer. After Heyward's marriage to Vivian Tarbell (Frances Drake), Heyward goes (drunk) to bawl out a former flame - who's murdered while he is there. Guy tries to protect Heyward, but is arrested with him and sentenced to a year in prison, while Heyward gets the death penalty. On his way to prison, Guy sees a personal ad that leads him to believe he can catch the real murderer; he escapes from the train. And promptly kidnaps Edwina Corday (Claudette Colbert), a renowned poet. Our film this week is  It's a Wonderful World (1939).

It's always a pleasure to see Claudette Colbert, and she's delightful in this film. Edwina is smart and resourceful, but there is a problem - we could not understand why she would go out of her way to help Guy Johnson.  He's horrible to her from the start,  and he just really isn't that attractive a man that she should fall in love with him.  Personally, we thought she should have run the minute she saw him.  Both Myrna Loy and Frances Drake were considered for the part of Edwina - Ms. Loy was not available, and Ms. Drake was instead cast as Vivian.  So, Ms. Colbert agreed to appear in the part. She was taken aback by director W.S. Van Dyke, II's fast style of direction, and not satisfied with the film in the end. (TCM article).

Where one rather likes Edwina, the same cannot be said for James Stewart's Guy. He's mean, nasty, and violent. He hits Edwina, he almost drowns a police officer, and his motivation for trying to save the man who is about to die for a murder he did not commit is money, and nothing more.  Mr. Stewart and Ms. Colbert never really gel as a couple. It's hard to imagine the pair living a life together at the close of the film. Mr. Stewart does have some good comic moments, especially when he is trying to hide behind thick eyeglasses, but it's not enough to make the audience really like him.

The film is blessed with some excellent supporting players - Guy Kibbee (Cap Streeter) as Guy's surprisingly supportive partner has some good moment.  Nat Pendleton (Sergeant Koretz) AND Edgar Kennedy (Lieutenant Miller) provide humor as two bumbling police officers; sadly, they are even dumber than Guy. Sidney Blackmer (Al Mallon) is menacing as the villain - Vivian's lover and enforcer. And Frances Drake does a good job as the malicious wife out for her husband's fortune.

The New York Times review by Frank S. Nugent was not positive; they were especially critical of the script by Ben Hecht.  In the long run, the story is too similar to It Happened One Night (1936), and not nearly as funny.  It's entertaining in places, but frankly, it is far from a perfect film.
If you are a James Stewart or Claudette Colbert completest, you'll want to catch this for the good moments. Otherwise, you might just want to see them in some of their better films.  Here's a trailer from the film: