Robert is in the Park

After a glorious six-day honeymoon in the Plaza Hotel, newlyweds Paul (Robert Redford) and Corie Bratter (Jane Fonda) settle down to married life in a fifth-floor walk-up apartment in New York City's Washington Square.  Dealing with the vagaries of life in the City (that we love!), Corie and Paul face broken windows, a bedroom that is actually a closet, plumbing that works backwards, a bathroom without a bathtub, and an upstairs neighbor who uses their bedroom window to get into his attic apartment.  Let's all go Barefoot in the Park (1967).

This was not the first time we'd seen this movie, though most had seen it many years ago. From my perspective, this has always been a movie I enjoyed. However, watching it with a more critical eye brought to all our attentions many issues with the film that we found, at the very least, to be annoying. Most of our irritation focused on Corie Bratter.

Corie is, by and large, a nitwit. She's gone from her mother's home to her husband's home. We've no indication that she has ever worked or even gone to college. We know her mother, Ethel Banks (Mildred Natwick) is a financially secure widow, living in New Jersey. Mrs. Banks has the money to send Corie costly - and frivolous - gifts from Bergdoff-Goodman (one of NYC's more expensive department stores). Corie has never wanted for anything. Nor it seems, has she ever been asked to use her brain. She sits around her new apartment all day; she's so bored that, at 5pm, she stands at the bus stop waiting for her husband to come home. And she has no concept of what is required to get ahead in the working world.  One wants to shake her periodically.

This is not Jane Fonda's fault - she is doing what the character was written to do.  If anyone is to blame for Corie, it is playwright Neil Simon, who really doesn't know much about women.  If you are familiar with his later film, The Goodbye Girl (1977), we have a similar ditzy woman. Paula McFadden could be seen as what could happen to Corie if Paul left her with a small child.  Mr. Simon writes about a woman whose only skill (and ambition in life) is to redecorate her apartment. At least Corie sticks to a budget. 

The role on Broadway had been played by Elizabeth Ashley, and Ms. Fonda was by no means the first choice.  Among the many actresses considered were Geraldine Chaplin, Elizabeth Hartman, Susan Saint James, Faye Dunaway, Yvette Mimieux, Sandra Dee, Suzanne Pleshette, Samantha Eggar, and Marlo Thomas (AFI Catalog). Though she is the focus of the story, Corie is the weakest character in the film, when viewed with 21st Century eyes.

Robert Redford reprises his role from the Broadway play.  He had to think long and hard before he took on the film - he didn't particularly like Paul, feeling the character was too uptight (TCM article). However, we found Paul to be likeable. Sure, he's not really open to new foods and he gripes a bit too much about the six flights of stairs to his apartment (he counts the stoop!), but he is also a responsible grown up. He's trying to build a law career and support his wife, while she spends all her time trying to get him to play, discouraging him from going to work, preventing him from preparing for a case, and keeping him out til 2am on a work night.  He is more sinned against than sinning. 

By far, the most interesting and enjoyable characters in the story are Ethel Banks and Victor Velasco (Charles Boyer). Ms. Natwick was reprising her role from the play, and received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress. She's wonderfully delightful as a middle-aged matron tossed into the maelstrom that her daughter and Victor Velasco create. Despite their chaos, she tries to become part of the festivities, even though everything that they suggest (a ride on the Staten Island Ferry in the dead of winter, food that must be "popped" rather than nibbled, a selection of unfamiliar alcoholic beverages) are way out of her comfort zone. You can't help but love Ethel.

Charles Boyer serves as an excellent foil for Ms. Natwick. The older couple are very much like Corie and Paul - one irresponsible, and the other perhaps a tad too responsible.  Mr. Boyer brings a joie de vivre to the part to which the audience easily responds. Taking on the role that Kurt Kaszner had originated on stage, Mr. Boyer been working in films, both in America and in France, since the 1920s. His first English-language picture was 1931's The Magnificent Lie. He would become one of Hollywood's most popular leading men when he appeared with Marlene Dietrich in The Garden of Allah (1935). He worked on Broadway and on radio, had a career on television, working with partners Dick Powell and David Niven on Four Star Playhouse. He continued working in film and television well into the 1970s.  His only child died in 1965; following his wife's (of 44 years) death from cancer in 1978, Mr. Boyer committed suicide at the age of 78.  

Another cast member from the play is Herbert Edelman (later billed as Herb Edelman - you may remember him as Bea Arthur's husband, Stan on The Golden Girls), playing Harry Pepper, the telephone man. New characters in the film include Mabel Anderson as Aunt Harriet (she has one scene) and Fritz Feld as the owner of the peculiar Albanian restaurant on Staten Island. 

The story has been redone several times. Broadway saw a new production in 2006, with Jill Clayburgh as Ethel, Tony Roberts as Victor, and Amanda Peet as Corie. It was made into a 1970 TV series with Scoey and Tracy Reed as the Bratters. In1982, a TV movie (based on a stage play) was aired, starring Richard Thomas and Bess Armstrong as the newlyweds.

When the film opened at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, the New York Times review was not complimentary, calling it a "carelessly knocked-together film". While the story hasn't aged well, it is still worth seeing, if only to see Mildred Natwick and Charles Boyer working together. We'll leave you with a trailer from the movie. 

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Separated at Birth Noir

Noir City DC was held in October 2018, and featured a number of fascinating films. Though I would have loved to have seen them all, having a job and other responsibilities precluded that. We were, however, able to see a double feature of two rarely shown films. The first was Destiny (1944), the story of Cliff Banks (Alan Curtis), an ex-con who has a penchant for getting himself involved with the wrong women. The second film was Flesh and Fantasy (1943), an anthology film - three stories that looked at superstition, dreams, and destiny. But more interesting than the films themselves was that fact that, at one point, they were to be one film.

Eddie Muller, founder of the Film Noir Foundation (and the host of Noir Alley on TCM) introduced the films, and also hosted an impromptu discussion in the lobby of the AFI Silver Theatre on the intermission. He provided a fascinating look at the history of these two films, originally intended to be only one movie, with four separate, interrelated vignettes.

Julien Duvivier had already been acknowledged as a great director, thanks to films like Pépé le Moko (1937), when World War II broke out. Like many of his compatriots, he left France to work in Hollywood, where he felt he would have more creative freedom (EuroChannel article). Mr. Duvivier was friendly with Charles Boyer and the two formed a production company. The result was Flesh and Fantasy, which would be distributed by Universal Studios. Only there was a problem. Universal executives thought the first vignette was too odd for their audience, and yanked it out of the film.  Then, the following year, Universal decided release it with a frame built around the short (to make it feature length and "clarify" it). They called back actors Gloria Jean  (Jane Broderick) and Alan Curtis, and over their protests, forced them to film this new, odd sequence. Mr. Duvivier refused to participate (ordering his name be removed from the picture), and Reginald Le Borg reluctantly assumed direction of the new section. The new film was Destiny (1944)
The difference in tone and texture between the two episodes is glaring. As Mr. Muller pointed out in his introduction, you know when Mr. Duvivier's sequence begins (and ends) without being told. His portion is dreamlike, but at the same time, intense and moody. Mr. Le Borg's portion is more matter-of-fact (it also doesn't help that the script he was given makes little-to-no sense. Cliff Banks is turned into an idiot in the frame story. I found the character more interesting as a monster). John Garfield had been the first choice for Cliff (when it was still part of Flesh and Fantasy).

Both Teresa Wright and Bonita Granville were considered for Ms. Jean's role (AFI Catalog). Gloria Jean was brought to Universal as a singing star in the mold of Deanna Durbin. She saw Flesh and Fantasy as a turning point in her career. Finally, she would be in a dramatic role (with almost no singing) with fine performers Like Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck. But, when the studio pulled her segment from the film, she was devastated, and felt that this action prevented her from advancing in the film industry (The Hollywood Reporter, 2018). By then end of the 1940's, her film career was pretty much over. She did some television, but eventually worked as an executive secretary at Redken Laboratories; she retired from that job after 30 years with the company. She moved to Hawaii to live with her son, Angelo and daugher-in-law (Angelo died in 2017). A biography was published in 2005 (Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven by Scott and Jan MacGillivray). Ms. Jean died in August 2018 of heart failure and pneumonia. She was 92.


The three stories that make up Flesh and Fantasy were supposed to flow, one into the other. Despite the unnecessary interruptions of Robert Benchley (I'm not really a fan. He frequently just goes a bit too far in silliness for my taste), the vignettes do still waft from story to story. The first (sometimes called "Mardi Gras"), stars Betty Field as Henrietta, an embittered seamstress, who yearns for Michael (played by Robert Cummings), a law student who is unaware of the homely woman. It has a romantic tinge, and is reminiscent of The Enchanted Cottage (1945). Ms. Field does a good job with the part, and provides just the right touch of hope to a woman who has all but surrendered her life. 

Story two (often called "The Palmist") concerns Marshall Tyler (Edward G. Robinson), a businessman who is told by palm reader Septimus Podgers (Thomas Mitchell) that he will kill someone. Tyler becomes obsessed by the prophecy, and is plagued by voices encouraging to control the prediction by picking a victim now, so that he will not be accused of a crime. Mr. Robinson is a deft actor who portrays mania well (if you've never seen him in Scarlet Street (1945), give yourself a treat). He's ably supported by Mr. Mitchell (a superb character actor), along with Dame May Whitty (Lady Pamela Hardwick) and Anna Lee (Rowena).

The final story features Charles Boyer as Paul Gaspar, a world-renowned high-wire performer who is having nightmares that see him falling from the wire as a lovely woman gasps in horror. While traveling back to America (and considering the future of his act), he meets Joan Stanley (Barbara Stanwyck), the woman whom he has seen in the dream. Romantic elements also infuse this story, and both Mr. Boyer and Ms. Stanwyck are excellent (and are excellent together). We also have Charles Winninger as King Lamarr, the sympathetic owner of the Paul's circus.
Originally titled For All We Know, Flesh and Fantasy also looked at actors Charles Laughton, Adolphe Menjou, Deanna Durbin and Greta Garbo as potential actors in the piece. (AFI catalog)  All three stories in Flesh and Fantasy made it to radio: a Screen Guild Theatre radio broadcast on April 1945 starred Ella Rains and Charles Boyer in "The High-Wire Performer" episode; a July 1945 broadcast featured Edward G. Robinson and Vincent Price in "The Palmist" episode; and in September 1945 John Hodiak and Claire Trevor enacted the "Mardi Gras" Episode.

Mr. Muller is hoping that one day, these films can be reassemble to finally show us the film Mr. Duvivier intended to release. In the meantime, I heartily suggest watching both films together, and let you mind wander over the possibilities. Here are trailers from both of the films:

Joan is Constant

Composer Lewis Dodd (Charles Boyer) is frustrated with his current composition, an atonal work that does not seem to be gelling. He decides to visit Switzerland, the home of her dear friend Albert Sanger (Montague Love), a musician of sorts and the father of three young daughters, Toni (Brenda Marshall), Paula (Joyce Reynolds), and Tessa (Joan Fontaine). Lewis brings with him a little musical piece he composed for the children; when he plays it for Albert, Albert encourages him to expand on THAT piece, and forget the atonal work. But when Albert dies suddenly, Lewis takes on some of the responsibility for the girls, especially after he meets - and marries - their cousin, Florence Creighton (Alexis Smith).  There is, however, a big problem. The ethereal Tessa is deeply in love with Lewis.

The Constant Nymph (1943) is based on a 1924 best-selling novel by Margaret Kennedy. This was the third iteration of the story to be presented on film - it had been done as a silent film in 1928, with Ivor Novello, Mabel Poulton, and Benita Hume as the three leads (and adapted by Alma Reville), and again in 1933, with Victoria Hopper, Brian Aherne, and Leonora Corbett. This version of the film sticks pretty close to the novel, which in some ways may work to its detriment, especially in our modern age. As is pointed out by fellow blogger at Paula's Cinema Club, it's a bit difficult to look past the fact that, by the film's conclusion, Tessa is about 15 years old. The idea that this so much older man has fallen in love with her is uncomfortable, to say the least. If only screenwriter Kathryn Scola had made Tessa a BIT older, the film would be more palatable.

Yet, when I initially saw the film (on TCM, after it had mostly disappeared from view), it reminded me of a film and a novel that I really love. Because the theme of The Constant Nymph is very much that of an unattainable love. The other film, Portrait of Jennie (1948) and the novel, Tryst by Elswyth Thane, both focused on young women in love with men that time and fate had removed from their grasp. The difference between them and The Constant Nymph is that the characters are just enough older to make the relationships acceptable. As viewers, we really wanted to look beyond Tessa's age, but this was difficult, as she herself kept alluding to it.

Nevertheless, the performances of Joan Fontaine and Charles Boyer were excellent. Ms. Fontaine is convincing as a teen-ager (though she does appear to be in her late teens, not really 14), and Mr. Boyer is romantically intense. Ms. Fontaine was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in this film (she lost to Jennifer Jones in The Song of Bernadette; the other nominees were Jean Arthur in The More the Merrier,  Ingrid Bergman in For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Greer Garson in Madame Curie); she succeeds in creating a characterization that is both young and unworldly, enthusiastic and frail. Boyer was not enthusiastic about the script (TCM article) - he felt Lewis was being booted about by the women and had no real strength. Warner Brothers, however, met his price ($150,000 and top billing) so he accepted the role, and gave a sympathetic performance.

The same cannot be said for Alexis Smith, who is unimpressive as Florence. Ms. Smith affects a rather odd accent which is more snooty than truly English. It's genuinely difficult to understand what Lewis could possibly see in Florence - from the moment we meet her, she is a nag and a shrew. She has no understanding of his music or his ambitions, and is more concerned with the fame that marriage to him might bring her. As a result, her epiphany at the film's conclusion is forced. 

Peter Lorre is delightful in the small role of Fritz Bercovy.  Mr. Lorre plays the part as a man genuinely in love with Toni Sanger (though it's hard to say why. Ms. Marshall's portrayal gives us a woman who is almost as unlikable as Florence!). Fritz also deeply cares for his two little sisters-in-law, and though he is a tad absent-minded, he is also kind. Peter Lorre began his film career in Germany, with the highly-regarded M (1931). By 1933, however, he had left Germany - as a Jew, he knew the dangers that were facing him with the rise of Fascism. He worked in England for awhile, and eventually emigrated with his wife, Celia Lovsky, to America, where he found work, often as a villain. But what a villain - All Through the Night (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Casablanca (1942) are just the tip of an impressive resume. Mr. Lorre and Ms. Lovsky divorced by1945; though he would remarry twice, they remained friends, with Ms. Lovsky often serving as his publicist and manager.  Because of chronic pain, he became addicted to morphine, an addiction he fought and conquered, but it did affect his ability to get roles. He died in 1964 from a stroke, leaving behind his wife and daughter.

Music is very much a factor in the film; the lovely score and Lewis' concert piece were composed by Erich Marie Korngold.  Mr. Korngold was on the set, and was involved in the story development and provided the piano dubbing for Mr. Boyer and Mr. Love.  The tone poem, "Tomorrow," became quite popular, and Mr. Korngold published it as his Opus 33 (Korngold Society) You can listen to the suite below.
Charles Boyer was not the first choice for Lewis - the film rights were originally purchased as a vehicle for Errol Flynn.  One wonders if the January-February 1943 trial of Flynn on charges of statutory rape had something to do with the change in the lead (it certainly would have been an even more problematic film with Flynn playing Lewis). Other roles were also in flux - Joan Leslie was, at one point, cast as Tessa, and both Wendy Barrie and Eve March tested for the role. Margaret Sullavan, Merle Oberon, Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland were also considered for parts in the picture. (AFI catalog).  In 1944, the film would be adapted for radio as part of the Lux Radio Theatre, with Charles Boyer repeating his screen role and Maureen O'Sullivan taking on the part of Tessa.

The New York Times review was ecstatic, calling the film "a fine tribute to the virtues that have made the book endure." In many respects, it is an excellent film; we found that we wanted to find ways to mentally change Tessa's age to make the story more acceptable to a 21st century audience.

We'll leave you with this trailer:

Ingrid's Bad Marriage

Following the murder of opera star Alice Alquist, her young niece Paula (Ingrid Bergman) is sent to Italy to live and work with Alice's dear friend and former voice teacher Maestro Guardi (Emil Rameau). Ten years later, Paula has fallen in love; her mentor encourages her to follow her heart. After some indecision, Paula elopes with Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer), whom she has known for a scant two weeks. Gregory confesses to Paula his desire to live in London, and Paula decides it is time to re-open her aunt's home and give Gregory his dream. That dream turns into a nightmare for Paula, as Gregory slowly and systematically begins to Gaslight (1944) her.

AFI Silver presented Gaslight as part of a program recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October).  If you've heard of the term "to gaslight," it originated with the 1938 stage play from which this play was adapted. Gaslighting is defined as " to attempt to make (someone) believe that he or she is going insane (as by subjecting that person to a series of experiences that have no rational explanation)" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). And if anyone is the personification of the gaslighted woman, it is Ingrid Bergman. With merely her eyes, and by changes in posture, Ms. Bergman is magnificent as a woman being continually cowed by the man that she loves. We first see Paula around the age of 12 - and you believe Ms. Bergman IS a child (it helps that she doesn't talk - director George Cukor knows that her voice would reveal her age, and so he lets her tell her story just with the stunned look on her face.  We then watch her become a woman who goes from independence to fearful dependence. It's a phenomenal performance, certainly worthy of the Oscar that was given to Ms. Bergman. (She was up against stellar competition: Claudette Colbert in Since You Went Away; Bette Davis in Mr. Skeffington, Greer Garson in Mrs. Parkington; and Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. Not a decision I want to make!) In an interview of the American Film Institute, Lynn Redgrave focused on Ms. Bergman's expert handling of this role.

Charles Boyer certainly makes a case for citing this film as one about domestic violence. Yes, his goal is to find the jewels that the late Alice Alquist hid somewhere in the house. But Boyer paints a picture of a man who likes the power that his manipulation is providing. When Paula finally rebels against him, Boyer initially cringes as he sees his control ebbing. But then his eyes change - he's discovered a better way to humiliate her; there is triumph, pleasure, and satisfaction in that look. Boyer, like Berman, can do much with just the briefest glint in the eyes. We know there is no reason for him to pull this subterfuge - all he needs to do is tell Paula he would like to prowl through Alice's costumes. But Boyer demonstrates that Anton's actions are about power over Paula and a revenge against Alice for complicating his life. On a personal note, Boyer's wife was pregnant with their only child during the filming of Gaslight. Though it was believed the child would be born after filming ended, Patricia Boyer delivered a few weeks early. The cast celebrated the event with champagne! (TCM articles)

Angela Lansbury, in her first film role (she also appeared as the older sister in National Velvet that same year), was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress. She is marvelous as Nancy Oliver, a servant girl, who has delusions of seducing the master of the house and supplanting her mistress. In the video below, she discusses her experiences on the film, including the celebration of her 18th birthday on the set. Nominated three times for the Oscar (including a nomination for The Manchurian Candidate, which is arguably her finest film performance), Ms Lansbury was not awarded an Academy Award until 2013 when she was (finally) given a Special Oscar. Though her film roles were varied, Ms. Lansbury's greatest impact was felt in the theatre. She currently has 5 Tonys to her credit, with an additional two nominees. She was also nominated 18 times (including TWELVE consecutive nominations for Murder She Wrote) for the Emmy Award. She was married for 54 years to Peter Shaw (until his death in 2003), and has two children. You can see Ms. Lansbury next year, as the Balloon Lady in the remake of Mary Poppins.
Joseph Cotten is also very good as Brian Cameron (in the stage play, the character was named Rough, and there was no romantic attraction between him and Mrs. Anton. In the American production, Angel Street, the part was played by Leo G. Carroll). Mr. Cotton brings just the right amount of gravitas to the role, but there is also a twinkle in his eye as he describes to Mrs. Anton his interest in her and her Aunt Alice. His interactions with Constable Williams (Tom Stevenson) are wonderful, as they converse about both the case and Nancy. And the scene in which he asks Lady Dalroy (Heather Thatcher) to seat him next to Mrs. Anton at dinner is wonderful. It is unclear as to whether he is attracted to Paula, or to the fact that she so much resembles her aunt. But, at the point at which Brian enters her life, Paula very much needs a friend, and Brian has already been shown to be a kind and sympathetic figure.

Is there anyone who can play dotty canniness like Dame May Whitty? The character of Miss Bessy Thwaites was an invention of the film (she's not in the play or the British film), and she is delightful, though a bit scary as a murder stalker. Sure, she adds a bit of comic relief, but multiple viewings help you realize that SHE is a key factor in Paula's marriage to Gregory. Had she not brought up Alice's murder on the train, would Paula have fallen so readily into Gregory's arms? True, she supplies valuable information to Brian about the goings on in the house, but on many levels it is disturbing that she knows so much ABOUT the Antons' lives.

The original play, Gas Light was produced on the West End in 1938; in 1941, it opened on Broadway as Angel Street, with Vincent Price as the Anton character (called Manningham in the play). I was lucky enough to see an excellent 2007 off-Broadway production by the Irish Repertory Company (you can see a review here). There was also a British film, called Gaslight (1940), starring  Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard. It is still available for viewing, despite an MGM's efforts to destroy all copies of the film. There have also been six teleplays of the story (see the AFI Catalog for a listing of the tv versions and their casts) and a 1946 radio version in which Ms. Bergman and Mr. Boyer reprized their roles.

Gaslight was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, winning two (the other was for Cedric Gibbons Art Direction). The other nominees were Best Picture, Best Actor (Charles Boyer; this was his third of four nominations. He never won), Best Writing, Best Black and White Cinematography, and of course, Ms. Lansbury's nomination. (Though not costume design. A shame - Irene's costuming work is impressive in the film).  In the AFI's 100 Years, 100 Thrills, Gaslight placed at #78. 

If you've never seen the film, treat yourself with a viewing (keep the lights on!). In the meantime, we'll leave you with this trailer.

Charles Needs a Green Card

We return for a visit with an old friend - Olivia de Havilland in Hold Back the Dawn (1941).  This is an absolutely wonderful film, romantic and engaging.  Sure, it's a melodrama, but in the best sense of the word, with characters that grow and keep you engaged in their stories.  It also continues to be a timely story - that of immigration and the desire for people to find a home in the United States.

The film is narrated by Georges Iscovescu (Charles Boyer), who is on the run and trying desperately to get some money.  He sneaks into the Paramount lot, to tell his story to Hollywood director, Mr. Saxon (played by Hold Back the Dawn's actual director, Mitchell Leisen). The war in Europe is raging, and Georges has escaped Europe to Mexico, intent on settling in the U.S.  However, the U.S. immigration quota for Romania (Georges' place of birth) has already been exhausted, and there is a long waiting list.  Georges finds himself stuck in a seedy little bordertown hotel, with other hopeful immigrants, waiting from five to eight years for a spot to open up.  The arrival of Anita Dixon Shaughnessy (Paulette Goddard), Georges former dancing partner and lover, presents another option: marry an unknowing American and get a green card as the spouse of a U.S. citizen.  Once in the country, divorce the duped spouse, and go off with Anita.  Georges sets his sights on Emmy Brown (Olivia de Havilland), a shy schoolteacher in Mexico for the day.

The film contains some absolutely outstanding performances.  Charles Boyer is wonderful as a cad who gradually changes into a decent person (and in some sense, much against his will). As he begins to fall in love with Emmy, we can see his inner battle between his growing feelings for her and his desire to resume his wayward life.  As Emmy, Olivia de Havilland is sweet and generous, but with an inner core of strength that becomes apparent towards the film's end.  Her conversation with Anita, and her comment that she is "from a small town. We don't have any of those fine hotels. We eat at the drugstore... But we leave a tip just the same" is both biting and assertive.  Finally, Paulette Goddard gives us an Anita who is grasping, passionate, and self-serving, but is also an absolute riot.  That our immigration officer, Mr. Hammock (played with verve by Walter Abel) is also attracted and amused. 

This film features a number of memorable performances by the supporting cast.  Of special note is Rosemary deCamp as Berta Kurz.  Patiently waiting to get into the US, the pregnant Berta is all the more sympathetic because of her desire to make a better life for her child.  Without giving too much away, her actions to make sure that her child will have a secure future will have you rooting her her.  Hold Back the Dawn was released in September of 1941, just before the war in the U.S. starts, but after the war in Europe has forced thousands of refugees to flee the Nazis.  Though never stated, it seems obvious that Berta and her husband are Jews, fleeing the holocaust.  It's interesting that the film never discusses WHAT the characters are running away from, yet you cheer for them all the same. 

Costuming for the film is done by Edith Head; here she creates a variety of costumes, with bold, elaborate clothing for Anita, and simpler, more everyday garb for Emmy.  The costuming tells us a great deal about the characters, adding even more dimenions to the characterizations.

Watch for the scene where Georges is escaping from the police.  It's quite well done, but has some humorous moments.  Also, George's encounter with an American woman at the bullfight is also quite funny.  Watch their faces as her marital status becomes apparent.  Finally, the lovely scene in which Emmy names some olives that Georges shook from a tree (you have to see the film to find out why) is gentle and romantic.  

The film is based on an  autobiographic story by Ketti Frings, with a script by  Billy Wilder and Charles Bracken.  This  TCM article discusses some of the story and script changes, causing some annoyance to all of the authors.  Despite the changes, this is still a remarkable script.

Robert Osborne, in an introduction to the film on TCM noted that deHavilland was in the unenviable position at her home studio of Warner Brothers of having to go outside the studio to find good roles.  Here, she goes to Paramount, and ends up with an Oscar nomination.  It is worth noting that, at Oscar time, Olivia DeHavilland was pitted against her sister Joan Fontaine (for the film Suspicion), the first time siblings had competed for the same award.  Joan, of course, won, beginning rumors of a feud between the sisters.  This Hollywood Reporter article looks at the story behind the feud.

As we leave you, here is a brief scene of Georges romances Emmy in pursuit of a green card:

Red-Headed Jean

Some time ago, before we began this blog, our group watched Red-Headed Woman (1932), the wonderful pre-code film starring Jean Harlow as Lil "Red" Andrew.  Since then, I rewatched the film with one of our newer group members, and thought it might be nice to add this fun and rather raunchy movie to our blog.

The film opens in a hairdresser's salon.Our "heroine", Lil, has opted to become a redhead (with probably one of the best lines in movie history!).  Here is the scene, it's delicious:


We quickly discover that Lil has more than just hair-color on her mind.  She has decided that it is time for her to come up in the world, and she aims to do this by seducing her happily-married boss, Bill Legendre, Jr. (Chester Morris).  Tricks such as working her way into his home and revealing his picture on her garter work wonders.  She also succeeds in making sure his wife finds them in a compromising position.  Bill tries to resist her, but, as we see below, he isn't very good at staying away from our siren.

Wife Irene (Leila Hyams) has no patience with Bill's philandering, and they divorce. Lil is all set to move in as the new Mrs. William Legendre, but, as the film progresses, we find out even marriage to a wealthy, attractive man is not enough to keep this social climber happy.

This film provides some outstanding performances.  The always attention-getting Ms. Harlow is stellar here as a woman with one goal and no morals.  Also delightful is Una Merkel  as Lil's best friend and confidant, Sally.  While Sally appears to have a few more morals than Lil, there's not much difference in them, except that Lil is willing to go to any lengths to get what she wants, while Sally hasn't quite got the nerve.

Some interesting casting notes are Henry Stephenson as Charles Gaerste, one of Lil's conquests.  The sight of the usually powerful Stephenson as Lil's plaything is something to behold.  And, as a surprise, we have an early appearance by Charles Boyer as Albert, Gaerste's chauffeur.  This was only his fifth film, and he is certainly a standout. 

Our pre-code delights are a little sado-masochism (take a good look at the clip above!), lots of lingerie, and a bad woman who does not get her just deserts in the end.  According to this article on the TCM website, the film was also one of many (but an important one) in pushing the film industry towards enforcement of The Motion Picture Production Code.  

So, why did Harlow dye her trademark locks red for the film? Well, the story was based on a novel of the same by Katherine Brush, and we can assume the studio wanted to attract readers to the film.  Regardless, Harlow as a red-headed woman is still a powerful sight to behold.