Kim Marries a Stranger

A man brags that he has ten thousand dollars in cash with him; the next day he is found murdered. That same day, new bride Millie Baxter (Kim Hunter) is on the train to New York City to meet her groom, Paul Baxter (Dean Jagger). A traveling salesman, Paul left almost immediately after the wedding; the couple married having only known each other for four days. Millie is about to find out what happens When Strangers Marry (1944).

A suspenseful film that keeps you on guessing throughout, this is a fun way to spend an evening. It's not a perfect film by any means, but it has some redeeming values, not the least of which is the performance of Dean Jagger.  It's unusual to see Mr. Jagger as a romantic lead. Often, he is the older, wiser man, but here he is love interest. Casting him threw this audience off balance; we are so used to him in more sinister roles that it was easy to accept that he might be the murderer. Paul Kelly, another actor with a bit of a sinister background (you can learn a bit more about his past in this post), was also considered for the lead (AFI catalog).

Kim Hunter also contributes to the film's success, though one has to shake their head at the character's stupidity.  Millie comes across as a traveling salesman groupie.  She's already had one unsuccessful relationship with Fred Graham (Robert Mitchum) - it ended, he said because of his job.  Yet Millie marries Paul after having been with him for four days in a three month period. This certainly makes Paul all the more suspect, but it also makes Millie appear very, very naive - almost to the point of stupidity. How can she have married someone she barely knows, who then disappears for an extended period of time?

Kim Hunter began her film career in 1943, with a lead role in The Seventh Victim. After several years, she went to New York, where she joined the Actor's Studio, and was cast in the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire as Stella DuBois Kowalski, a role she reprized in the film version. She continued to appear on Broadway on television in the 1950s, despite being blacklisted (Unfriendly Witnesses: Gender, Theater, and Film in the McCarthy Era by Milly S. Barranger). Television would continue to be her main medium until 1968, when she was cast as Zira in Planet of the Apes. She would appear in two more of the franchise's films. She died of a heart attack in 2002 - two years after the death of her husband of 49 years, Robert Emmett - at the age of 79.

This is one of Robert Mitchum's first credited roles. We are, of course, used to Mitchum as the cool leading man. At this point in his career, he is still learning, and it is obvious. Towards the end of the film, he overacts quite a bit.  Of course, it may have been that he was truly afraid for his life. The film was produced by Frank, Herman, and Maurice Kozinsky, aka the King Brothers (TCM article).  Mitchum agreed to do the film as a one-time thing, but the Brothers were eager to sign him to a contract. According to Kim Hunter, he would be harassed daily by men who Mr. Mitchum claimed had guns.  Luckily for him, filming was over in seven days, after which he signed a contract with RKO (Robert Mitchum: "Baby I Don't Care" by Lee Server). Once at RKO, he started to get parts in films like The Locket (1946), Crossfire (1947), and Out of the Past (1947).

 

William Castle was offered the opportunity to direct the film. The Kings told him that, if he could finish filming in 7 days, he would be given a $1,000 bonus. He asked his cast if they would consent to a rehearsal period of one week (with no pay!). They did, and filming was completed in the one-week period.

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When the film was reissued in 1949, there was a change in title - it was now Betrayed, which kinda gives a lot of the plot away. It also had a new star.  Mr. Jagger was now third billed, with Mr. Mitchum dominating the poster (above). 

The film got good reviews on release - James Agee in Time, and Variety both were enthusiastic in their praise.  Orson Welles actually talked to William Castle about working together following this film's release.

While we didn't love this film, it was certainly a pleasant way to spend an evening - an interesting film noir, good performances, and a chance to see Robert Mitchum learning his trade. What's not to enjoy? We'll leave you with a scene from the film:

Barbara has a Whip

The Bonell Brothers, Griff (Barry Sullivan), Wes (Gene Barry), and Chico (Robert Dix) ride into Tombstone, Arizona with a warrent for the arrest of Howard Swain. Working for the U.S. Attorney General, former gunfighter Wes is not interested in the problems local Marshal John Chisolm (Hank Worden) is having with Brockie Drummond (John Ericson), the out-of-control brother of Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck), the political force in the territory.  But when Brockie attacks Marshall Chisolm, Griff finds himself going head-to-head against Brockie, and by extension, Jessica and her Forty Guns (1957).

Originally titled Woman with a Whip, this is an interesting movie with a decent plot and an excellent cast who play well together. Barbara Stanwyck is in top form as Jessica. She is tough, and she is feminine; she makes it easy to understand why men both love and fear and respect her. It's not her forty gunslingers; it's Jessica herself who is a power to recon with. Interestingly, Stanwyck had SOME competition for the role. Marilyn Monroe, who was a contract player at 20th Century Fox badly wanted the part. Director Samuel Fuller wanted Stanwyck, and he won the day (TCM article). As an aside, Ms. Stanwyck did her own stunts, including one in which she is dragged several feet by a horse - a stunt that the stunt personnel would not do. In fact, Ms. Stanwyck redid the stunt 3 times, until Mr. Fuller was satisfied with it.

Barry Sullivan is good in the film - his stiffness works as stoicism, and he is able to handle the scenes between him and with Ms. Stanwyck well. Their romance has just the right amount of edge to convey strong individuals who click (See this discussion of some of the sexual byplay in this Slant review). He also handles the transition of Griff from stern control to subdued rage. And his rapport with Gene Barry is good. 

Mr. Barry brings humor to the role of Wes; his compatibility with Eve Brent, playing gunsmith Louvinia Spangler (Ms. Brent would later appear in a pair of Tarzan films as Jane, opposite Gordon Scott) is quite sexy. Wes is another man who like his women strong. His comment that he's never had a woman make a gun for him before is tinged with innuendo.

Robert Dix does a nice job of showing growth in the character of Chico. He manages to mature from an impetuous kid to a mature, thoughtful man. Mr. Dix is still acting - he'll be appearing in The Last Frankenstein sometime this year. John Ericson, however, retired in 2008; he makes Brockie a sociopath, though sometimes the character is a bit over the top. Ziva Rodan, in the small role of Rio (blink and you'll miss her), retired to Israel in the late 1960s. She's since returned to California (though not to acting).

Given the respect so many critics have for Samuel Fuller, this film is highly regarded by critics. The Slant review, cited above and this Senses of Cinema article praise his skill both with the script and with the camera. Mr. Fuller had a very different ending of the film in mind; the studio however, over-road him - they deemed his concept too harsh( AFI catalog). While Mr. Fuller's proposed ending really horrified us, we didn't like the one he chose either. We felt that he weakened Jessica, and that with a slight change, she would have remained the strong woman we so admired.

Jessica comments in this film on her age (some statements have been made that Ms. Stanwyck was too old for the part. We beg to differ). But age would be a factor for her career from now on. Ms. Stanwyck would not make another film until Walk on the Wild Side four years later (Barbara Stanwyck: Miracle Woman by Dan Callahan) in which she is decidedly supporting to Capucine. That would be followed by two more films, after which she moved into television where she was far more appreciated.

Filmed in Cinemascope (in black and white), the film is both gritty and beautiful. If this Variety review is any example, it was well received (especially since it was filmed for $300,000 in one week). A Criterion review of the Blu-Ray release also sings the praises of Mr. Fuller and Ms. Stanwyck. We'll leave you with this trailer, and a suggestion to visit Tombstone the next time the film is available:

Nurse Rosalind

We continue our investigation of the view of women in the medical professions with the biography of Sister Kenny (1946).  Elizabeth Kenny (Rosalind Russell) returns from nursing school to her parent's home in Brisbane, Australia, where she begins a career as a bush nurse.  It was a career urged on her by her mentor Dr. Aeneas McDonnell (Alexander Knox) and she finds satisfaction in work, though she intends to continue only until her fiance,  Kevin Connors (Dean Jagger) returns from the military.  Called to the bedside of a seriously ill child, she cables the symptoms to Dr. McDonnell, who responds with a horrible diagnosis - infantile paralysis (polio) and instructions to "treat the symptoms" as no other remedies exist.  Elizabeth does so, and the child fully recovers from the devastating illness - as do five other children likewise afflicted - much to the shock of Dr. McDonnell.  He determines that Elizabeth's treatment must be shared, but when Dr. Charles Brack (Philip Merivale), a leading orthopedist, ridicules and mocks her, Elizabeth determines to begin treating children with her method, regardless of the opinion of the "medical men" who despise her.

While the basic facts presented about Sister Kenny are accurate, by all accounts the story of her "great love," Kevin Connors, was fictitious.  Given all she had to go through to get her work taken seriously, it seems silly that Hollywood felt, that as a woman, she had to give up a man in order for her sacrifice to be truly important.  But, putting that aside, this is a sensitive and  well-acted enactment of work that possibly helped in the efforts to wipe out polio. 

Let's spend a moment talking about infantile paralysis.  When this film was released, it was only 17 months since the death of one of polio's most famous victims - Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  Though many Americans were unaware that the disease had left the President in a wheelchair (in the 1930s and 1940s, reporters were willing to help conceal the President's condition), most realized he had been afflicted with the disease years earlier.  Polio, generally a disease of the summer months, affected everyone, regardless of race, creed, income and age,  (children were the primary targets; Roosevelt was 39 when he contracted it in 1921), and there was no way to prevent it.  It wasn't until the Salk and Sabin vaccines of the 1950s that polio could be prevented.  The result: a disease that is virtually unknown in the U.S. today. (I taught a class to junior high school students on doing medical/health research, and I would always ask them about polio. Most had never heard of it.)  For more information on polio, visit the PBS Whatever Happened to Polio? and this New York Times article on polio treatment.  An FYI - both Alan Alda and Martin Sheen, who contracted polio as children, credit the Kenny Method as the reason they can walk today.

Rosalind Russel is magnificent as Kenny, a role that was a labor of love for her.  She became friends with Sister Kenny because of her work with The League for Crippled Children.  Russell's youngster, Lance, was unable to walk, and on a visit to Russell's home, Kenny noted a spastic muscle.  Lance was admitted to the Kenny Institute in Minneapolis, and left able to walk (TCM article).  Sister Kenny was pleased at Rosalind Russell's involvement in the film, and Russell was eager to tell her story.  Though the film did not do well financially, it did earn Russell an Oscar nomination (she lost to Olivia de Havilland in To Each His Own).   Russell would say of Kenny: " If she hadn't gone stamping through the world, stirring people up, we'd have been a whole lot longer getting the Salk vaccine" (Naomi Rogers. Polio Wars: Sister Kenny and the Golden Age of American Medicine, 2013).  One more thing to note: Elizabeth Kenny was not a member of a religious order. In the UK and in Australia, "Sister" is a title given to a nurse manager.  It's a term that may disappear, according to this article in The Telegraph.

An interesting bit of trivia: in a brief hospital scene in the film, Ellen Corby appears as a scrubwoman. The performance is uncredited (but listed in the IMDB).  Years later, when Ms. Corby appeared as Grandma Walton on The Waltons, the Kenny Method is used to treat Olivia Walton (Michael Learned) in the first season episode "An Easter Story".

If there is one downside to the film, it is the fact that there are really no grey areas - Elizabeth Kenny is "good" and right, the most of doctors, like Brack are "bad" and wrong.  But as this biography of Elizabeth Kenny points out, two years after she established her first clinic in Townsville, more Kenny clinics opened in Brisbane.  While the more conservative medical community did not support her, there were physicians who did, and much earlier than we are led to believe in the film.  That "deliberate manufacture of emotional blacks and whites" is the main criticism of this New York Times review.

But, to our minds, what the Times saw as a major failing, we see as a quibble.  As the story of a notable woman, who dedicated her life to a cause she saw as important, we found this an excellent and moving film.  It makes you want to learn more about Sister Kenny and about the cause she was espousing.  As time has progressed, her therapeutic methods became the norm; thankfully, in the U.S., her clinics are no longer needed for the treatment of polio victims.  Today, the Kenny Clinic still exists, as the Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, treating people with injuries and disabilities.

We'll leave you with a scene from the film, in which Sister Kenny faces down Dr. Brack. 

Olivia's a Farmer

The Civil War is over.  John Chandler (Alan Ladd) and his young son David (David Ladd) arrive at the small Illinois town of Aberdeen.  Once a soldier of the South, the widowed father needs help - his son is mute, the result of witnessing his mother's death in a fire.  John is trying to find a doctor - any doctor - who can help his boy regain his ability to speak.   Doctor Enos Davis (Cecil Kellaway) recommends a colleague at the Mayo Clinic, an expert in dealing with traumatic speech loss.  But before the Chandlers can head out, John is arrested after he crosses paths with the local town bully, Jeb Burleigh (Harry Dean Stanton) and his father Harry (Dean Jagger).  Thus begins The Proud Rebel (1958).

Some films don't seem to have become recognizable classics, and The Proud Rebel is one of them.  Our question is "WHY NOT??"  This is an excellent film that carefully treads a thin line between sympathy and mawkishness - a line it never crosses.  In many ways reminiscent of Shane and The Big Country, this is an outstanding film, which emphasizes the need for family.  The talent of the three leads: Olivia de Havilland (as Linnett Moore), Mr. Ladd, Sr. and Mr. Ladd, Jr.  are important reasons, though the excellent script is a prime factor.

Linnett Moore, as portrayed by Ms. de Havilland is a wonderful woman - she is strong, brave, and stubborn, but also kind, sympathetic and loving.  The film is a love story, but it concentrates on the love that blooms between Linnett and young David more than that of John and Linnett.  Certainly, there is a love story for the adults, but it comes from the desire for family and home more than one of passion.  It is a love story of deep commitment and common beliefs.  Nevertheless, it is a love that will withstand the ravages of time.

Alan Ladd plays John as a man still scarred by the death of his wife.  In Linnett he begins to find the cure for his pain, though his almost obsessive quest for a cure for his equally damaged child is a major barrier.  His obsession initially makes him emotionally unavailable; the image he carries of his wife (a photo he immediately unpacks when he moved into Linnett's ranch) seems to act as an emotional spur, reminding him of the need to find a doctor for David.

The film is full of counterpoints. There are the two family units - the caring relationship of Linnette, David and John, set in contrast to the cruelty of three Burleighs.  The Moore farm, with its simple, cozy atmosphere, can be compared to slovenly home of the Burleigh's. The photo of John and his wife that sits at his bedside will later echo a scene of  John posing with Linnett for a similar photo. 

The performance that really stands out in the film is that of David Ladd, who, at the age of 11 gives a genuine portrayal of this child in crisis.  The chemistry between him and his father is impressive, as is that between him and Ms. de Havilland.  After a notable acting career, David became a producer (like his older brother, Alan Jr).  He and Olivia de Havilland have remained friends since the movie; according to an introduction by Robert Osborne, they regularly speak on the phone. This New York Times review is especially complementary (and deservedly so) of David's work in the film.

Alan Ladd is perfect as the tormented father.  Ladd started in film, in a number of uncredited roles, in 1932, and continued being a face in the crowd and in small roles (including a role as a reporter in Citizen Kane), until his breakthrough performance in This Gun for Hire (1942).  Though he had a wonderful speaking voice (he was much more successful in radio during his early career), his height (he was either 5'6" or 5'7", depending upon the source) was a barrier to leading man roles.  His frequent co-star Veronica Lake was tiny (she was 5'1"), and his costar here, Ms. de Havilland was also not very tall (5'3"), but stories exist of Ladd being perched on a box, so he was taller than costars like Sophia Loren (5'9" Boy on a Dolphin).  But limiting discussion of Ladd's height is to ignore his talent.  In films like Shane, The Glass Key, and The Blue Dahlia he is magnificent - with his subdued demeanor and rumbling voice, he seems made for film noir and westerns.  He was married for 22 years to Sue Carol, who also acted as his agent; the marriage produced three children - David, Alan Jr, and Alana.  Ladd battled depression (his mother, herself a victim of depression, ended her own life), attempted suicide in 1962, and died of an accidental overdose (sleeping pills and alcohol.  Ladd suffered from chronic insomnia) in 1964.  Following his death, his final performance in The Carpetbaggers (he played Nevada Smith, a character later revisited by Steve McQueen) was released, to excellent box office.

Filmed in Utah, the scenery (and cinematography by Ted D. McCord) is fantastic (it should be noted that Utah looks nothing like Illinois!).  According to the AFI catalog, Adolph Menjou was to be in the film (probably in the role of  Harry Burleigh, the role ably enacted by Dean Jagger), but a torn ligament forced Menjou to withdraw from the production.  There was one star of the film who got special treatment - that was King, the border collie that portrayed David's pet, Lance.  According to this  TCM article, "King and his two canine stand-ins were deemed so important by the production team that they were given their own hotel room in one of Utah's finest motels right next to Ladd's and de Havilland's quarters." 

We'll end with the introduction of Linnett Moore. Ms. de Havilland is dynamite in the scene.  And let's take this opportunity to wish this amazing actress a happy 100th birthday (with a link to a recent write-up in Vanity Fair of her 1962 autobiography Every Frenchman Has One):

Barbara Pines

Barbara Stanwyck has a relatively small part in Executive Suite (1954).  She plays Julia O. Tredway, the daughter of the late head of the Tredway Corporation, a respected furniture manufacturer, now headed by Avery Bullard (voiced, but unseen, by Raoul Freeman).  However, Julia and her love for Bullard are not the focus of the film; Executive Suite is the story of a critical moment in the history of the Tredway Corporation, as the company's various executives battle for control of the firm after the death of Bullard.

The film marks a reunion for Stanwyck and William Holden (McDonald "Don" Walling).  Stanwyck was the star of Golden Boy (1939), and Holden was a newbie when he appeared in the title role.  As the film rushes came in, Harry Cohn made it clear that was not satisfied with Holden's performance, and was going to replace him.  Stanwyck defended him, and worked with him to improve his performance (Check out this TCM article for that story and others).  Golden Boy became Holden's breakthrough role.  Stanwyck and Holden remained friends, and he tried for years to convince the Academy to present her with an Honorary Oscar for her body of work.  Ultimately, he did succeed, but by the time she received the award, he had died.  In this video, you can will see Holden's praise of Stanwyck at the 1977 Oscars, and her moving acceptance speech in 1983 as she expresses her affection for her "Golden Boy".
The film actually belongs to Holden's Don Walling, the head of Tredway's research and development arm, and on his evolution into becoming a leader.  Disillusioned by his mentor, Bullard, but nevertheless grieved by his death, Don becomes convinced that only he among the corporate vice presidents can keep Tredway afloat.  His passion for a quality product and for the continued stability of the company put him at odds with other members of the board of directors.  Holden gives Don the necessary sincerity and gravitas needed to lead a major corporation.  He also demonstrates a devotion to his wife Mary Blemond Walling (June Allyson) and son Mike (Tim Considine). While some of his colleagues consider him too young to lead a company, the film focuses on his growth into the new position.

Also remarkable is Fredric March as Loren Phineas Shaw, the chief financial officer for the company.  Shaw's economies have put him at odds with Don, having advocated for and won approval of a cheap brand of furniture that, while enhancing the company's coffers, proves an embarrassment to the firm's employees and to many members of the board. March gives Shaw a number of small tics that quickly define his character for the viewer - watch how he constantly wipes his hands.  His Shaw is a character you cannot like, and March is not afraid to make him, while not quite a villain, at the very least an unattractive individual.

A greater portion of the film's $1.25 million budget went to actors' salaries, and to good effect, because each actor gives a distinct three-dimensionality to the characters.  Though only in about 3 scenes, Shelley Winters is excellent as Eva Bardeman, the secretary and mistress of Josiah Walter Dudley (Paul Douglas). Walter Pidgeon's Frederick Y. Alderson gives us a man at the end of his career, who must face the fact that he will never rise to the heights of power that he always hoped was his future. But especially worth noting is the performance of Nina Foch as Bullard's executive secretary, Erica Martin.  Foch was nominated for an Oscar for her brief, but powerful performance as a woman who is privy to her late employer's secrets, but who is the soul of discretion.  In the clip below, Foch describes her conversations with the film's producer John Houseman and director, Robert Wise, as they took a tiny, weak part and made it into the small gem that you see today. To make Erica a real person, Foch and Wise created a backstory for her:
The film opens with point-of-view camera work.  Since we are seeing the world through the eyes of Avery Bullard, his sudden death is quite shocking.  As a result, we never actually see Bullard, not even a photo of him.  This allows the audience to create their own picture of him, based on the various portraits that his colleagues paint.

Also very interesting is the credit role.  We are all used to credits which show brief names of the characters' next to that of the actors, but Executive Suite gives us the characters full names - names that were not used within the film.  We learn that Don Walling's name is actually MacDonald, and that his wife's maiden name is Blemond.   Again, the character's begin to have a life outside the frame of the story - they have a past.  They will have a future.

We were unfamiliar with Lucille Knoch, who the end credits inform us was Mrs. George Nyle Caswell (the wife of Louis Calhern's manipulative George Caswell - another masterful character creation), not his mistress, as we all had assumed.  Ms. Knoch quite good in this part.   She had a relatively short career - this was possibly the largest role she ever had.  She seems to have stopped acting after 1957; she died in 1990.

Interestingly, the film did have a future, of sorts.   It was made into a TV show from September 1976 through February 1977.  It lasted for only 18 episodes, which is not surprising, considering the new show's competition was Monday Night Football, The Rockford Files, and the NBC Movie of the Week.   Given that competition, it's shocking that it made it past the first month.   Only the Don and Helen Walling characters continued in the TV show - they were played by Mitchell Ryan and Sharon Acker.  Even the name of the company was changed in the prime-time soap opera.  It was now the Cardway Corporation.  You can see a advertisement for the show on YouTube.

We'll leave you with a trailer from the film - an introduction to all the characters, including Stanwyck's Julia Tredway: