Charles Painted

Coast Guard officer Scott Burnett (Robert Ryan) can't shake the trauma of a shipwreck. He resists becoming involved with Eve Geddes (Nan Leslie), a local woman who loves him, and spends much of his free time riding his horse on the shore.  But when he happens upon Peggy Butler, The Woman on the Beach (1947),  he is captivated.  Peggy, however, is married to Tod Butler (Charles Bickford), a renowned painter who has completely lost his sight.

This film showed such promise - a great cast and what could have been an intriguing story. Sadly, it's not. The characters are undefined, the plot is haphazard, and the actors are given precious little with which to work  

Let's start with Robert Ryan.  The film opens with the reveal that Burnett is badly affected by post-traumatic stress.  He has a woman who loves him and who he claims to love. But one look at Peggy Butler, and Burnett is obsessed.  Does it have to do with his illness? It's hard to say - Joan Bennett is at her alluring best in this film; at the same time, Peggy is not particularly pleasant, and as we quickly discover, has a proclivity for taking strange men into her bed. It's pretty clear from even their first meeting that she's not a particularly nice person.  

It might have worked had there been any chemistry between Ms. Bennett and Mr. Ryan, but there isn't - he's stiff - even his "lovemaking" is uninterested.  Would the film have been better with the original actor slated for the role - George Brent (TCM article)?  It's hard to say.

The other side of the triangle is Charles Bickford as the blind painter.  Tod Butler is a nasty piece of work - his wife was the cause of the accident that blinded him, and he is making sure she pays for her sins. It's hard for the audience to sympathize with him - he's a brutal bully. And you should have some pity for this man who lost his livelihood and much of his identity because of his drunken carousing. But he (along with Scott) spend so much time brooding, you just don't really care.

Ms. Bennett was very involved with the project - it was she who recruited Jean Renoir as the director (Val Lewton was originally slated to direct). She and Mr. Renoir were friendly - that she could easily converse in French added a level of comfort to their relationship. But, bad previews led to rewrites and reshoots to the point where the film was probably lost in the shuffle.

There are a couple of other actors worth mentioning. Nan Leslie as Eve is a totally useless character. She's a cypher, and adds nothing to the story. We don't know very much about her, she's not really appealing, and so we don't really want her to be with Scott.  Irene Ryan (Mrs. Wernecke) is supposed to provide some comic relief, but as good an actress as she is, there just isn't any humor in her part. 

Based on the novel None So Blind by Mitchell Wilson, the movie was filmed with the working titles of None So Blind and Desirable Woman (AFI catalog). The New York Times review by A, H. Weiler (A.W.) wanted to like the film, but felt it needed "a mite more clarity."

We can't recommend this film at all, but we'll still leave you with a clip from the film's opening:

Cary Knits

A woman walks on a pier, her eyes fixed on the sea.  The waterfront guard, fearful that she is a potential suicide, is about to confront her when he is stopped by a sailor.  The sailor, Hard Swede (Charles Bickford) proceeds to tell her story. Our film for tonight is Mr. Lucky (1943).

Cary Grant is magnificent as the somewhat shady Joe Adams. He walks a fine line in making Joe (who'll use the name Joe Bascopolous throughout the film) both suspect and likeable. Classified as 1-A by the Draft Board, Joe gambles for, and wins the identity of the dying Bascopolous, as well as the gambling ship Fortuna from his former partner, Zepp (Paul Stewart), an equally devious character who's quite willing to cheat to get what he want. Joe then sets about finding some suckers to rent the ship. He focuses on a War Relief charity, run by Dorothy Bryant (Laraine Day). She's suspicious of his motives, but is eventually won over by his charm and seeming dedication to the war efforts. 

We, the audience, know that Joe is up to no good, but with Cary Grant in charge, it's easy to understand Dorothy's change of heart. And, as he gets to know her, we learn more about his life - Joe has not had it easy, and he's determined that nothing, not even war (it's not his war, he tells us) will alter his path. His growing affection for Dorothy is displayed by a tie she gives him as a gift - watch as he refuses to remove it (she tied it on for him).

 

Laraine Day is a good match for Mr. Grant - she's smart and determines. One doesn't feel that she is an easy mark, which makes her changing relationship with him all the more convincing.  Both Ruth Warwick and Anna Lee tested for the part (and Mr. Grant's new wife Barbara Hutton wanted to play Dorothy as well. Mr. Grant nixed that idea. (TCM article)), Ms. Day, however is ideal casting. The scene in which she uses the Australian (or Cockney) rhyming slang that Joe taught her to warn him away is beautifully done.

There are a number of wonderful actors in supporting parts. Charles Bickford's part is small but pivotal (we wish we'd seen more of him). Gladys Cooper (Mrs. Steadman) finally gets to play a good person - she is lovely as Dorothy's colleague in the charity. She, too, is intrigued by Joe; she's also immensely supportive of Dorothy when the going gets tough. Alan Carney (The Crunk) is amusing as Joe's henchman, and Paul Stewart is properly intimidating as Joe's enemy (when Mr. Stewart plays evil, he is most convincing). 

We had a bit of a problem with Mr. Bryant, as played by Henry Stephenson. Mr. Stephenson is  prim as Dorothy's grandfather, but he also has a loving relationship with his granddaughter. Is is hard to imagine him calling the police when it is sure to get Dorothy arrested.

As a knitter, I'm terrifically intrigued with Cary Grant learning to knit for the cause (you can see him in his early efforts here). And though the film gets chuckles out of men learning to knit, they also show him and The Crunk appreciating the craft after they learn it. Joe's admiration for a hand-knit tea cosy ("nice work") is endearing  Dorothy also points out that many men in England who are unable to serve in the military are learning to knit so they can provide warm clothing for the troops. If you would like to learn more about knitting in World War II, visit Knitting for Victory. Efforts still continue for today's veterans at the National World War II Museum (Knit Your Bit).

Based on Milton Holmes' story "Bundles for Freedom," which appeared in Cosmopolitan, the original ending of the story was far different that the one we see (AFI catalog), and it is for the best. Cary Grant asked RKO to purchase the film rights for him, and they obliged. Mr. Holmes and Adrian Scott were credited with the screenplay (Radical Innocence: A Critical Study of the Hollywood Ten by Bernard F. Dick).

Mr. Lucky opened at Radio City Music Hall and received a positive New York Times review - they called it "is a picture of many moods, and they are all handled expertly by Director H. C. Potter." Ms. Day and Mr. Grant reprised their roles for Lux Radio Theatre in October 1943. In 1959, a television series, loosely based on the film, premiered with John Vivyan (as Mr. Lucky) and Ross Martin.

If you've never seen this film, you are in for a treat. Here is the trailer:

Olivia Marries a Doctor

This week, our movie is 1955's Not as a Stranger, wherein Olivia plays a superior OR nurse named Kristina Hedvigson, who falls in love with medical student Lucas Marsh (Robert Mitchum).  Marsh wants to be a doctor, and will do anything to get there, including marry Kristina (whom he does not love), in order to pay his way through medical school.  The big problem with Marsh, though, is not that he doesn't love Kristina - he doesn't love ANYONE.  He does love medicine, wants desperately to be an excellent doctor, but will not brook any kind of medical mistakes.  As a result, he is cold and unforgiving, with no patience for his colleagues.

Olivia's Kristina is a good woman. Somewhat unsophisticated, but an excellent nurse and a caring human being.  But she is plain.  It is interesting the way this is accomplished.  The blonde wig and very white makeup that Olivia wears makes her looked washed out. Her usual vibrancy is replaced by a ghostly, almost surreal invisibility; a symbol, perhaps, of the fact that Lucas never really sees her.  In this scene, the young doctors learn about the human spirit:
This movie is also chock-full of supporting performances by actors one doesn't always see in supporting roles.  Frank Sinatra, for example as Alfred Boone, another medical student who is just not up to Lucas' standards, but is a good, caring man, is just wonderful here.  His sympathetic nature radiates.  He is the perfect foil to Mitchum's uptight perfectionist.  Broderick Crawford, as one the medical school's key instructors and Charles Bickford, as the doctor who gives Lucas his first job, are also excellent, again providing a glimpse of the humanity that is necessary to a successful medical career.  Bickford especially shows us medicine as a caring profession; he knows every one of his patients, and treats them with understanding and love.

Finally, there is our only other major female role, the always fascinating Gloria Grahame as Harriet Lang, a wealthy widow who is looking for excitement. And of course, the rather studdily Mitchum is quickly within her sights.

A big thumbs up for this so often overlooked movie. If you've never seen it, by all means, give it a try.

Next week, we again venture west.