Claudette Goes Mad

As Ellen Ewing (Claudette Colbert) is about to take her wedding vows to David McLean (Robert Ryan), a stranger accuses her of already being married to another man, Lucian Randall (Dave Barbour), a charge which Ellen denies.  Ellen and David attempt to disprove the charges, but a succession of people claim to have been a part of the so-called wedding.  Our film this time is The Secret Fury (1950).

This is a fun film, primarily because of the performances of Ms. Colbert and Mr. Ryan.  Though the script has more holes in it than a piece of Swiss cheese, it does have a decent mystery story, and you will be hard pressed to identify the villain until the very end.  Regardless, it is a lesser work of Ms. Colbert.

Despite that, she is very good as a woman being driven slowly mad for no apparent reason.  A gifted pianist, with a substantial inheritance from her father, Ellen seems rock solid. However, as more and more strangers contradict her beliefs, her mind deteriorates and she ends up institutionalized, giving Ms. Colbert the opportunity to play a character who has completely lost her place in the world. Ms. Colbert was interested in the part because Mel Ferrer was directing (TCM article).

One of the major attractions of this film is Robert Ryan, who gets to play a good guy.  David never loses faith in Ellen, despite the evidence piling up against her. He keeps digging to get at the truth. Mr. Ryan makes David a warm and engaging character. He's funny, he's loyal, and he is clearly in love with Ellen.

Also in the cast is Jane Cowl as Ellen's Aunt Clara. We're never quite sure of Aunt Clara. Like many of the other characters, she suspects that Ellen is either lying or has gone insane. Ms. Cowl manages to keep Aunt Clara ambiguous.  Likewise, Paul Kelly as DA Eric Lowell also questions Ellen's mental status and becomes suspect to the audience.  This, of course, keeps the audience guessing through the whole film. 

This was the film debuts for both Philip Ober (playing Ellen's lawyer Gregory Kent) and his then-wife Vivian Vance (playing Leah, the hotel maid) (AFI Catalog). Ms. Vance is quite interesting as the cagey maid.  The marriage to Mr. Ober would end nine years later; Ms. Vance would go on to play Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy. One more actor to watch out for is Jose Ferrer in a cameo appearance.

As I've mentioned before, I'm always on the lookout for women playing physicians in films. We have one here - Elisabeth Risdon as Dr. Twining, Ellen's psychiatrist.  Dr. Twining is a competent physician and a kind person. As is often the case in these films, there is no questioning by the patient or their family of the presence of a female physician.

Bosley Crowther was unimpressed with the film in his New York Times review, puzzling as to why "a respectable cast...descends to such cheap and lurid twaddle."  While we would not quite call the film twaddle, we should note that it doesn't seem to be particularly film noir (it was advertised as such on the film channel), and the script IS inferior to the talents of the cast.  But we do recommend it to see Mr. Ryan and Ms. Colbert together.  We'll leave you with a scene from the film:

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:

Clark Rides the Night Bus

When Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) literally jumps ship to join her new husband King Westley (Jameson Thomas) - over her father's vehement objections - hell breaks loose. Alexander Andrews (Walter Connolly) hires every detective he can find to search for Ellie, but she has other ideas. She boards the night bus to New York City to reach Westley. Unfortunately, Ellie has no idea of how to be on the lam; she is befriended by reporter Peter Warne (Clark Gable) who plans on using her story to get back in good graces with his editor. Our film is It Happened One Night (1936).

Victoria Riskin provided an introduction to this film, which was part of the Fay Wray/Robert Riskin Retrospective at the AFI Silver Theatre.  Mr. Riskin collaborated with Frank Capra on the film -  Mr. Capra read the story Night Bus by Samuel Hopkins Adams, which was published in Cosmopolitan, and approached Mr. Riskin about adapting it for the screen (Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood Memoir by Victoria Riskin); they pitched it to Harry Cohn at Columbia.

Myrna Loy, Miriam Hopkins, Constance Bennett and Margaret Sullavan were all approached to play Ellie. Finally, Claudette Colbert (who was not enthusiastic) consented to do the part, contingent upon a hefty salary. Similarly, Robert Montgomery was requested for the part of Peter, but Louis B. Mayer decided to send Clark Gable instead; Mayer resented Gable's increased salary demands and decided four weeks at a Poverty Row studio was fit punishment (AFI Catalog).  By the film's conclusion, no one was particularly thrilled with the result - except the audiences!

Claudette Colbert is excellent as Ellie. It's a difficult part - Ellie needs to be snooty enough to be believable as a spoiled brat, but warm enough to attract Peter's attentions from the start. Ms. Colbert had not wanted to work with Frank Capra again (there had been some animosity on the 1927 film For the Love of Mike) and she was unwilling to show her legs for the now-famous hitchhiking scene. However, when Mr. Capra brought in a model to be "the leg," Ms. Colbert said, "get her out of here, I'll do it -- that's not my leg!" and did the scene that has become synonymous with the film (TCM article). She left the film convince it was "the worst picture in the world," but by 1982, when Frank Capra received the AFI Lifetime Achievement award, she was much more enthusiastic. (You can see her speech here).

While Mr. Gable had worn a mustache in other films, the reaction to his appearance in It Happened One Night convinced him that he should keep it permanently (Clark Gable: A Biography by Warren G. Harris). He also began wearing a trenchcoat as a lucky charm. Mr. Gable gives Peter Warne just enough arrogance to stand up to Ellie, but he's also warm and gentle. There's a scene in which a woman faints on the bus - Peter's ambivalence in wanting to help her, but knowing that he hasn't very much money, makes you warm to the character. Gable also has the unique ability to play comedy without being silly. Watch him undress in a scene that could have been ridiculous - with him doing it, it's a masterpiece.

The film is replete with some very impressive character performances. Roscoe Karns is decidedly slimy as Oscar Shapeley, the lecherous traveling salesman.  Alan Hale seems friendly and innocuous as Danker, the driver who picks up our hitchhikers (but he's not). And finally, there is Walter Connolly as Ellie's beleaguered father, a man who only wants the best for his only child, but isn't always very good at letting her know that.

It Happened One Night became the first comedy to win an Oscar, and the first film to win Oscars in the five major categories: Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Writing (Robert Osborne commentary).  It became the model for a subset of the screwball comedy genre (See: The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930's by Elizabeth Kendall). It spawned two remakes (both musicals): Eve Knew Her Apples (1945) with Ann Miller, and You Can't Run Away from It (1956) with June Allyson. It appears on multiple AFI lists: #46 on 100 Years, 100 Movies (Anniversary Edition) and #36 on the original list; #8 on 100 Years, 100 Laughs; and #38 on 100 Years, 100 Passions. In 1993, it was added to the National Film Registry.

If you've never seen this excellent film, treat yourself and find a copy. In the meantime, we'll leave you with the scene that nearly bankrupted the men's undershirt industry:

Wayne and Colbert

Again, we had a bit of a break in our meetings, but we are back together, and decided to follow up The Searchers with another (and very different John Wayne movie.  This time, we saw Without Reservations, a light comedy feature Claudette Colbert as hit writer Christopher "Kit" Madden (think of her as Margaret Mitchell crossed with Ayn Rand), whose best-seller is about to be turned into a motion picture.  En route to the west coast, Kit meets two fliers, Rusty Thomas (John Wayne) and Dink Watson (Don DeFore). A few seconds with Rusty, and Kit is convinced that he is the embodiment of her lead character, Mark Winston.  She attaches herself to him, in hopes that he will portray her character in the upcoming movie. 

We found it a bit disconcerting to see Claudette Colbert going so totally gaga over a man as to be downright silly.  She doesn't want to tell Wayne her real name, so she adopts the pseudonym Kit - short for Kitty - Klotch.  Klotch?? She is a writer; one would think she could write herself a better character. And then she gets on a train without a ticket (because the boys are going on the less expensive train. She has first class accommodations on the SuperChief). Of course, hijinks  ensue, and love - eventually - follows.  Here's a scene on the train, in which Rusty discusses Kit's book:


On the plus side was a cameo by Cary Grant (always welcome), and Don DeFore as Dink was quite fun.  We spoke at some length about DeFore, an actor who we felt was highly underrated, and probably should have had a more extensive career.  But John Wayne making eyes at Dona Drake (as Dolores Ortega) just made no sense when the lovely Claudette was there.  We kinda wondered why Kit would stand around doing dishes while the men flirt with Dolores. The car they are in belongs to Kit. If WE were Kit, we would have left them behind!! (And gone looking for Cary Grant).

Okay, so not our favorite movie, but we didn't hate it. It's tongue is mostly in its cheek, and it does seem to know how totally silly it all is.  With the second World War over, this lighthearted look at a couple of fliers must have been a welcome relief.

We will be back soon. We'll be spending some time with the glorious Carole Lombard.

I Cover the Waterfront

I'll just start out by saying that this movie was a big disappointment.  We were all so pleased to find another early Claudette Colbert movie, but she has so little to do here that it was just a waste of her great talents.  I Cover the Waterfront follows reporter Joe Miller (Ben Lyon) as he tries to get the goods on Eli Kirk (Ernest Torrence), a smuggler who deals in illegal Chinese immigrants.  The beginning is pretty horrific - about to be trapped by the authorities, Kirk throws his "cargo" overboard (bound with chains to make absolutely sure he sinks), with a shrug and the comment that "He knew what he was getting into."  The big complication here is that Kirk has a daughter, Julie (played by Colbert), and our hero Joe falls in love with her.  In the end, Julie must choose between Joe and her father.  

The meeting between Julie and Joe IS rather funny. Joe receives a report of a nude woman swimming in the ocean.  It's Julie, and it seems she does it all the time. She doesn't like swimsuits (then again, if one thinks of the suits at THAT time, one can understand why!).  Joe camps himself beside her clothing, so she is unable to get dressed, and of course, he won't leave until she agrees to meet him again.  Here's a later scene, with Julie and Joe:



We can't really recommend this one, though it is nice to see Claudette in just about anything.  Better yet, get Torch Singer!

Claudette Sings!

Last evening's precode movie was Torch Singer (1933), with Claudette Colbert as an unwed mother who is forced to surrender her baby for adoption when she unable to find a means of support for the little girl.  Sally (or Mimi, her career name) becomes a "loose" woman by reputation. However, IS she? We see her flirting, but never see any evidence that her reputation is more than rumor to support her employer's contention that torch singers must suffer for their art.  Suffer she does though, unable to find her little girl, she turns to drink. We (the viewers in NYC) had a lot of affection for her, and felt that her reputation was hype.


We were fascinated to learn that Ms. Colbert did her own singing.  She has two songs, a children's lullaby and her character's signature song "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Love". Ms. Colbert has an interesting (though not exceptional) voice - it dark and rather throaty, but she certainly can carry a tune, and she SURELY sounds like a torch singer.  

The two men in her life, played by Ricardo Cortez (as Tony) and David Manners (as Michael, the father of the her baby) are surprisingly sympathetic. Both good, supportive men, who care for her and want the best for her. We are inclined to dislike Michael at first, but when he tells his side of the story, he becomes easier to like. It was interesting, we felt, that the men WERE shown in such a positive light. We expected one or the other to be the villain of the piece. If there was a villain, it was the women (Michael's aunt) who refuses to help the destitute Sally.

We were especially pleased to see the interactions between Sally and the nun who runs the hospital where Sally gives birth. There is no condemnation here - only support. And Mother Angelica is, as we learn later in the film, a woman of deep principle.

Again, we highly recommend this movie for those of you interested in pre-code movies, or in Claudette Colbert. She is just glorious!