James Defends a Murderer

Paul "Polly" Biegler (James Stewart) returns from a fishing trip to find an urgent message asking him to call Laura Manion (Lee Remick).  His secretary Maida Rutledge (Eve Arden) informs him that Ms. Manion's husband  U.S. Army Lieutenant Paul Biegler (Ben Gazzara) has been accused of the murder of popular innkeeper Barney Quill.  Ms. Manion wants to retain Paul's services as defense attorney in her husband's trial.  Our film this week is Anatomy of a Murder (1959).

An exceptional cast make this courtroom drama riveting. Led by James Stewart, the film, though dialogue driven, keeps the audience guessing from the second it starts. Mr. Stewart was nominated for an Oscar for the role, which he later said was his most challenging part since It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (TCM article). The laconic Stewart charm is still present, but he uses it to camouflage a cagey attorney, who employs every tool at his disposal to defend his client.

Lee Remick is remarkable as the rape victim who keeps the audience's sympathy from start to finish.  A kittenish vamp, who enjoys showing off her rather attractive body - and who tells us that her husband also enjoys showing her off, until he gets jealous - seems to be out looking for a lover. But, she informs Polly that she has never cheated on her husband, and we believe her when she says she was beaten and raped by Barney Quill.  We also know that she is an abused wife, who stays with her husband out of fear and sympathy.  Lana Turner was originally cast as Laura, but left the production after a run-in with director Otto Preminger.

Ben Gazzara is properly sinister as the accused murderer and abusive husband. He brings just the right amount of seething anger to the part; you know he is a dangerous man, but is he defending his wife or simply getting vengeance for Barney Quill's usurpation of Manion's personal property? This was only his second film.

The supporting players are equally remarkable. Arthur O'Connell was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Polly's partner, Parnell Emmett McCarthy, a former lawyer with a drinking partner. The case provides Polly with a mean of getting Parnell on the wagon. Also nominated in the supporting actor category was George C. Scott as visiting prosecutor Claude Dancer. Mr. Scott would later comment on his regard for James Stewart: " Some actors have a tendency to...sort of phone it in from there. But not Mr. Stewart...(he) came and stood by the camera and performed for me alone. It was a lesson I've never forgotten."

Kathryn Grant (Mary Pilant) is excellent as Barney Quill's live-in bar manager. The mystery surrounding her relationship with the dead man haunts the proceedings, with a surprise reveal. Finally, there is Eve Arden; the wisecracking Maida is patience on a monument - the business has so little money, Maida can't pay her own salary. But her loyalty to Polly is unswerving.

Both Spencer Tracy and Burl Ives were invited to play presiding judge Weaver; both turned it down.  Instead, the part was offered to lawyer Joseph N. Welch who came to prominence in the McCarthy era.  Acting as counsel for the U.S. Army, which was being accused by Senator McCarthy of \trying to blackmail him into ceasing an investigation of Army security practices, Mr. Welch said to the Senator "Have you no sense of decency?" the beginning of the end of Senator McCarthy's reign of terror (AFI catalog).Mr. Welch bring a sense of veritas to the role. The judge is both amusing and professional.

Bosley Crowther's New York Times review was extremely complimentary, calling the film "the best courtroom melodrama this old judge has ever seen.". The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, for Supporting Actor - Arthur O'Connell and George C. Scott; Actor - James Stewart; Film Editing; Motion Picture; Cinematography (Black-and-White); and Writing (Screenplay--based on material from another medium). It was added to the National Film Registry in 1993.

We'll leave you with a trailer and a strong recommendation that, even if you've seen it before, you give this excellent film a viewing.

Ann is Unfaithful

Christine Hunter (Ann Sheridan) returns home after a late party and is accosted on her front porch. She's forced into the house; we hear a scream and fighting. The next morning, her husband returns from a business trip to discover homicide detectives, a dead body, and his distraught wife. Our film this week is The Unfaithful (1947).

An exceptional cast and a tight script make this film thoroughly enjoyable. Led by the always excellent Ann Sheridan, the cast portray characters that feel like real people.  Ms. Sheridan plays Christine with an underlying insecurity that makes you believe she could be swayed by loneliness and grief. But her clear love for her husband, Bob (Zachary Scott) also makes us sympathize with her as her world begins to fall apart. The film reflects the aftermath of the war - an increasing divorce rate as couples who married quickly find that they are incompatible. Chris and Bob are not, but the misery brought about by wartime separation is really the crux of this movie.

Ms. Sheridan is ably supported by Lew Ayres (Larry Hannaford), an attorney who spends much of his time in the divorce court. Larry sees Chris and Bob as a model of marital happiness, so when the truth about Christine is revealed, he is as offended by her "crime" as her husband.  However, Mr. Ayres makes his character pull back mentally and apply some objectivity to the case, which also helps the audience to side with Chris.  

This was Mr. Ayres second film after returning from service during World War II.  He was derided before the war for declaring himself a conscientious objector. Though he refused to kill, he was was quite to serve as a non-combatant; he won three battle stars as a medic and chaplain's aide in the Pacific.  He returned to his film career, which must have seemed an impossibility at the start of the War - his studio (MGM) and the public were horrified at his unwillingness to kill the enemy - he continued working in films and television until two years before his death at age 88 (Washington Post obituary). 

Zachary Scott is frequently the villain in films, but not here. He's a loving husband who watches his life fall apart when his wife is assaulted.  Once he discovers Chris' indiscretion, Bob does come across as petulant. He is redeemed by his interactions with Eve Arden.

Eve Arden (Paula) steals the movie in her big scene with Zachary Scott. Paula, Bob's cousin, appears on the surface to be a completely thoughtless person - a gossip who rather dislikes her cousin-by-marriage and takes a certain amount of joy in putting Chris in her place. But when the chips are down, it is Paula who sees the truth in Chris' story, and is not going to let Bob get away with his judgemental attitude. It's a magnificent scene.

Normally, we enjoy Jerome Cowan (the Prosecuting Attorney), but he ends up being distracting more than convincing. We found that we sought out Larry Hannaford during the courtroom scenes. His quiet dignity made the courtroom scenes more believable.

The Unfaithful is loosely based on The Letter (1940); though much of script was unfinished when production started (TCM article). In his New York Times review, Thomas M. Prior (T.M.P.) was not impressed with the script, though he was full of praise for the three leads.

This is very much a film about forgiveness, and as Jeanine Basinger points out, the topic is unique in this post-war film (I Do and I Don't: A History of Marriage in the Movies). Clearly, the MPAA thought so as well, as they allowed a film about adultery to be shot, though with one proviso: "the MPAA agreed to allow this if the film clearly conveyed the message that divorce is undesirable" (AFI catalog). 

We really enjoyed this film and heartily recommend it. We'll leave you with the trailer:

Cary Writes Words and Music

Cole Porter (Cary Grant), a law student at Yale opts to discard a career as a jurist to take up songwriting in Night and Day (1946) a very loose interpretation of Mr. Porter's life and career.

Since the release of  DeLovely (2004), Night and Day has had to bear the brunt of its claim to being a biography of Cole Porter. Quite frankly, it's not. It's a way of incorporating a vast array of Mr. Porter's glorious music into a film, and tell a story at the same time. Let's go over a few of the facts, and then we can talk about the film as a story, not a biography. 

Cole Porter did attend Yale, and one of his classmates was Monty Woolley (Mr. Woolley, who plays himself, was NOT a professor at Yale). The sinking of the Lusitania had nothing to do with the failure of See America First, as the ship sunk in May 1915, and the musical opened in March 1916. Mr. Porter was not wounded in combat during World War I; he is listed as serving in the French Foreign Legion during the war (Broadway, The American Musical). He also spent time in Paris partying and met his future wife in Paris. Linda Lee Thomas was well aware of Mr. Porter's sexuality when they married - she had come from an abusive first marriage. Linda Lee Porter never officially left Cole - in fact, it was she that worked with the doctors to keep them from amputating his leg following his horseback riding accident. She continued as his health advocate until her death in 1954 (Cole Porter obituary). Following her death, doctors convinced him to allow the amputation, and he lived as a recluse for the rest of his life (as Linda feared). Mr. Porter was as openly gay as the era would allow (The New Yorker). Regardless, he and Linda loved one another and were inseparable - les Colporteurs (Smithsonian Magazine). 

As you can see from the photo, The Porters looked nothing like their on-screen imitators.  Linda wanted Alexis Smith to play her, and when she expressed her desires to Warner Brothers executives, Cole jokingly said that Cary Grant should play him (Cary Grant: In Name Only by Gary Morecambe & ‎Martin Sterling). Mr. Grant and Ms. Smith are wonderful together, and Ms. Smith was thrilled to be working with him. Though he could be very definite in his opinions - for example, Mr. Grant demanded that his suit be cut so that only an eighth of an inch of cuff should show, Ms. Smith commented on his "care and attention" to the character (TCM article).  This was Mr. Grant's first technicolor film.

Warner Brothers incorporated their best character people into the film. Eve Arden finally gets a chance to sing as French performer Gabrielle, who introduces Porter's song "I'm Unlucky at Gambling." Jane Wyman (Gracie Harris) also gets a chance to show her vocal talents.  Dorothy Malone (Nancy) has some brief scenes with Donald Woods (Dr. Ward Blackburn) as her husband and Cole's friend and physician. Alan Hale (Leon Dowling) turns up as a theatrical producer who doesn't see the beauty of Cole's compositions. And Henry Stephenson (Omer Porter) is sympathetic as Cole's grandfather.

Monty Woolley gets to play himself, and get off some bon mots while he is at it. He pops in and out of the film, as Woolley wanders in and out of the Porters' lives (and back and forth from New York to Hollywood). There is some amusing banter as he goes off to film The Man Who Came to Dinner - he'd starred in the Broadway play (he almost didn't get the movie role - Warner Brother considered Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Robert Benchley, John Barrymore, and Charles Coburn). 

Mary Martin, who got her start in Cole Porter's Leave it to Me, reprises her hit song from the musical, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (though this song, along with several of the others, are cleaned up versions of Mr. Porter's sometimes rather racy lyrics).  Ginny Simms (Carole Hill), the woman who works with Porter in a music store in the film, is very loosely based on Ethel Merman. Ms Merman had appeared in earlier plays, but her first starring role was as Reno Sweeney in Mr. Porter's Anything Goes (AFI catalog).

The New York Times review by Thomas M. Prior (T.M.P.) was positive, though even Mr. Prior pointed out that it wasn't really a biography.  When the film  DeLovely was released in 2004, The Times again wrote about Night and Day as part of a discussion of the biographical aspects of the two movies. 

If you are not a stickler for facts, and would like to see some fine acting, pleasant singing, and spectacular songs, this film is worth a viewing or two.  We'll leave you with the trailer:

Joan Bakes

There's been a murder. Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), the second husband of Mildred Pierce (1945) is dead, and the prime suspect is Mildred's (Joan Crawford) ex-husband, Bert (Bruce Bennett). As Mildred relates the story of her life with Bert, Monte, and her children, we realize there are several suspects to the crime, including Bert's former partner Wally Fay (Jack Carson) and the Pierce's oldest daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth).

Our group discussed Mildred Pierce back in 2011;  we decided it was time for a re-watch.  The first reaction to the film this time was remembering how much we all despised Veda Pierce.  Ann Blyth plays her part with such supreme self-obsession that it's hard to find anything good about Veda. Even when she is telling her doting mother how much she loves her, Ms. Blyth has a look in her eyes that displays her manipulative behavior.  It's a remarkable performance, and one which Ms. Blyth does not couch by trying to make the audience like her (Shirley Temple was considered for the part - Director Michael Curtiz was not sympathetic).   Ms. Blyth did an interview at the TCM Film Festival (you can see her discussion of this film begins beginning at 5:14).

Jack Carson  was, at one point, considered for the role of Monte Beragon (AFI catalog). It's hard to imagine him as a loafer - Wally Fay is constantly in motion, always looking for a deal, always on the make for one woman or another. Zachary Scott, on the other hand seems tailor-made for the passive Monte, a man who's never lifted a finger to do anything besides play polo and take other people's money.  The casting of Mr. Scott is an easy choice - it's helpful that he looks rather caddish, and since we know from the start that Monte is the victim, the audience can just wait to find out what he did that resulted in his murder (Zachary Scott: Hollywood's Sophisticated Cad by Ronald L. Davis).

Zachary Scott was born in Austin, TX; he left his home town at age 19 - he dropped out of college and worked on a freighter bound for London, where he worked in repertory theatre for nearly two years. Once back in Texas, he continued to appear on the stage; there, he was noticed by Alfred Lunt. Small parts on Broadway followed (he appeared in 6 Broadway productions throughout his career), which led to a contract from Warner Brothers. He never really evolved much beyond supporting roles in films like Shadow on the Wall (1950) and Flamingo Road (1949); his major starring role was in The Southerner (1945). By the 1950s, he was moving to television like many of his colleagues. Married twice (he had a child with each wife), he died in 1965 at the age of 51 of a brain tumor. 

If there is one person who comes close to stealing the film from Joan Crawford, it's Eve Arden (Ida Corwin). Besides bringing some humor to this melodramatic story, she the voice of truth She has what is perhaps the best line in the film (certainly the best comment on Veda): "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."  Ms. Arden received her only Oscar nomination (with Ann Blyth) in the Supporting Actress category (they both lost to Anne Revere in National Velvet).  She would later say that she never expected the part to bring her a nomination (TCM articles). 

Though it was nominated for 6 Oscars, the only winner that night was Joan Crawford, who wasn't even the first choice for the role - Michael Curtiz wanted Barbara Stanwyck. Ms Crawford wasn't at the ceremony, however. Fearing she would not win (see Ann Blyth's TCM tribute to Joan Crawford), Ms. Crawford took to her bed and called in sick. However, when she was notified that she had indeed won the award, she invited the press into her bedroom, where she prettily sat in her sickbed with the Oscar in her hand. 

 

The story was remade as a television miniseries in 2011 starring Kate Winslet.  With more time (five one-hour episodes), and no production code to deal with, the miniseries is closer in plot to James M. Cain's original book.  Carol Burnett did one of her memorable spoofs, "Mildred Fierce" (shoulder pads and all!). The film was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.

If you've never seen this production, treat yourself and find a copy - it's one of Ms. Crawford's finest performances (allegedly, her favorite role), and a film noir par excellence. Here's a trailer to whet your appetite.

Barbara's Reputation

It's 1942.  Jessica Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) has just buried her husband Paul, who died after a long illness.  He has left her financially secure - enough money to live comfortably and send their two sons, Kim (Scotty Beckett) and Keith (Bobby Cooper) to the boarding school Paul attended in his youth.  But with widowhood, Jessica finds that life in her suburban town is much different than she expected.  She is hounded by her mother, Mary Kimball (Lucile Watson) about proper behavior and finding a new husband (preferably Frank Everett (Warner Anderson) the family lawyer), is pursued by George Van Orman (Jerome Cowan), a would-be philanderer, and she finds she now that she is no longer part of a couple, she has no no real company except her maid, Anna (Esther Dale).  So, when her friends Ginna  (Eve Arden) and Cary Abbott (John Ridgely) invite her on a skiing tip, she desperately accepts.  It is there that she meets Major Scott Landis (George Brent), an officer awaiting permanent assignment abroad.  The two are quickly attracted to one another, but while Scott seems more interested in a fling, Jessica has commitment on  her mind.  Will the two be able to cross the abyss to create a lasting relationship? Thus begins My Reputation (1946).

Our entire group was very impressed with this film.  Yes, it has some of the tropes of a woman's film - the letchy married man, who thinks widows are fair game; the overbearing mother; the gossipy neighbors; the man who is "not the marrying kind" - but in many cases, the film upsets some of those tropes.  As a result, you watch with engagement.  It's not always apparent where the film is going to go next.

As always, Stanwyck is magnificent in a part that requires a lot of character growth (this TCM article is especially enthusiastic about her contributions to the film).  While it can be hard to imagine her as someone mother-pecked, she does it successfully.  Her frustration with her mother, and her initial inability to adapt to the world without her husband are not only convincing, they are spot-on.  We like her for her maternal instincts - to let her boys go away to school, as they and their father wanted.  But we ache for her loneliness, and her desire to just ask them to stay with her, if only for a little while.

The boys at first might seem a bit selfish.  But it is evident that Keith, the older of the two boys, is sensitive to the proprieties and to his mother's needs.  He tries to guide his younger brother, Kim.  But for Kim, the loss of his father has not yet hit home.  The action of the film opens the day after the funeral.  We know that Paul's death was far from sudden (we later find out he was in tremendous pain - assumedly cancer).  We can assume that not only were the boys aware that their father was dying, but that for several days, they've had to be on best behavior, and put up with adult funeral behavior (how many "I'm so sorry for your loss" can a child take?)   Though they love their mother, and want to be with her, they also want to break out.  The early desire to attend a baseball game not only allows them to become free of the funeral responsibilities, it provides a means to memorialize their father, who always took them to the game.  And Jessica understands and tries to allow them to begin the process of life over again.

There's no surprise when George is revealed to be a cad, or when or when Riette (Leona Maricle) is shown to be a harpy.  But, one is surprised when Mrs. Kimble turns out to be right about the town and the proprieties of mourning.  We want Jessica to be the one who is correct, but ultimately, it is her mother who has her finger on the pulse of the community.  A little calculation demonstrated that Jessica was a bit younger than her youngest son when Mr. Kimble died (her mother has been a widow for 25 years), and Mrs. Kimble has had to cope with life alone since then.  She wants her daughter to remarry (with her approval, of course), and she is a stickler for the conventions of mourning.  That she still wears black seems excessive; but Mrs. Kimble understands the responsibilities of being a widow raising children alone, and she wants more for her daughter.  We root for Jessica to find independence; but the film shows us that it comes with a price. 

George Brent treads a careful path with the character of Scott.  It would have been easy to make him either heroic or caddish - Brent makes sure he is neither.  As a man who never imagined himself within a family, he needs to grow and mature.  Though released in 1946, the film is carefully situated in the early years of the Second World War.  Scott is well aware that he will be going to fight.  His reluctance to take on the burden of a wife and family (that could be left alone) is understandable, as is his desire to spend time with Jessica, even if it means she will be away from her children.  But it also marks his innate selfishness, a trait that needs to change if he is to ever be a part of Jessica's life.   This was Mr. Brent's final film with Warner Brothers (AFI Catalog); the same year, he would portray Professor Warren in RKO's The Spiral Staircase.  

We wish there had been more of Eve Arden, who is a delight in everything she does.  Every moment with her is a gift - she plays Ginna as wry and amusing, but supportive to Jessica, and to her husband, with whom she has an easy-going and loving relationship.  With a career that began in 1937, and continued until 1987 (she died three years later, age 82), Ms. Arden spent much of her career playing the best friend (Mildred Pierce, for example), who knows the world WAY too well.  She segued from radio into television with Our Miss Brooks, where she got to play the lead as the smart and assertive Connie Brooks, a high-school English teacher (she also played Connie in the movie of the same name).  Married twice, with three children, Ms. Arden survived her husband of 32 years.  Her final appearance on television, in Falcon Crest, was with her dear friend, Jane Wyman.

The film features excellent performances by a number of child actors, notably Scott Beckett and Bobby Cooper, who play the Drummond brothers as good kids who are trying to cope with a new way of living. Janice Wilson, who we last saw in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers  plays Penny Boardman, a neighbor who is very attracted to Keith, and Ann E.  Todd plays Gretchen van Orman, the daughter of the rather nasty Riette and George.

Bosley Crowther, in his New York Times review, is being very cranky, we think, when he says the film is "much ado about nothing—or practically nothing."   We disagree and suggest you give it a viewing.  This trailer will give you a taste.

Kay Flies

Kay Francis takes to the air as Janet Steele in Women in the Wind (1939), a film that looks at flying from a woman's point of view.  Janet Steele has been nursing her brother, Bill (Charles Anthony Hughes), an aviator who was injured in an air accident, and requires expensive surgery to save his life.  Janet, a flyer herself, decides to enter an air race to win the funds necessaryfor Bill's surgery.  She approaches Ace Boreman (William Gargan), an arrogant ladies' man (and friend of her brother's), to enlist his support (she needs a plane!).  Of course, they fall in love.  But there is a wrinkle.  It turns out that Ace's Mexican divorce from his wife, Frieda (Sheila Bromley) is not legal in the United States.  And SHE wants his plane as well.

Obviously, we love Kay Francis, and she is (as always) just fine in this picture.  As we've mentioned before, Ms. Francis was tarred with that Box Office Poison list that also affected Katharine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, and Norma Shearer.  Warner Brothers had tried to buy Ms. Francis out of her contract; when she refused they stuck her in a bunch of unappealing roles.  Women in the Wind was her last film under that WB contract.  (This TCM article goes into greater detail).  But this film is not really all that bad for a B picture - what we lose are the glorious costumes that usually grace Ms. Francis' films.  While Orry-Kelly is listed as providing the gowns, Ms. Francis spends most in work clothing, which very much become her.  And Eve Arden (as Kit Campbell) looks fantastic in the riding pants that she sports for a good part of the film.

This is not a complicated or deep film, but it has the feel of being about ordinary people in extraordinary situations.  The characters (especially the women) are so precisely drawn, it makes the movie better than it should have been.  You end up liking many of the characters, and even those that were not likeable are interesting enough that you want to see them again.  Much of this, of course, is the acting.  With strong character actors like Eve Arden, Eddie Foy, Jr (as Denny Corson), and  Victor Jory (as Doc), the ordinary dialog sparkles.  

We especially liked the way the film portrayed the relationship between Janet and Kit; in fact, for the most part, the picture gives us a glowing view of sportsmanship in the aviation race, both among men and women.  There is, of course, the rotten apple of Frieda, but even she comes through in the end.

One odd bit of film editing occurs mid-film.  A mechanic has tinkered with Janet's plane, causing it to leak gas.  This forces Janet to land in the middle of a field, and try to obtain some gas from a local farmer.  As the plane leaks, the editor keeps cutting to the leaking part.  Then, after Janet gets gas and takes to the air a second time, there is a quick cut to the damaged part.  It doesn't seem to be leaking, but still, our immediate reaction was "oh, no, it's going to leak again".  But, the it doesn't.  And Janet's subsequent problems are totally unrelated to her gas line.  And we can't leave out another continuity error.  When Kit's plane crashes, she comes out of it all neat and clean and uninjured, despite the fact that we see the plane burst into flames.  Ms Arden said in her autobiography that, much to her dismay, "the audience howled" at what was supposed to be her big dramatic scene.

One interesting bit of background (from the article cited above) - the character of Denny Corson was based on Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, a flyer who was SUPPOSED to fly from New York City to Long Beach, California, but instead flew to Ireland.  He had asked for permission to fly to Ireland, but it was denied, so he "made a mistake" and went in the wrong direction.  Though Corrigan never admitted to purposefully going against orders, most historians believe he wasn't such an awful pilot that he couldn't see the difference between water and land.

We leave you with a trailer from the film:

Rita Haunts Otto

Rusty Parker (Rita Hayworth) is the lead performer in Danny McGuire's (Gene Kelly) Brooklyn night club.  She learns of a contest to model for the fashion magazineVanity from fellow dancer Maurine Martin (Leslie Brooks) and decides to enter.  Though Maurine does all she can to sabotage Rusty's chances, magazine editor John Coudair is so taken by Rusty's appearance that he hires her.  It seems Rusty is the spitting image of John's lost love, Maribelle Hicks.  It's no coincidence - Rusty is Maribelle's granddaughter. Unfortunately, not everyone is thrilled by Rusty's success.  Maurine is furious; but Danny is also angry and jealous, for his girlfriend is being courted by other men; specifically, Noel Wheaton (Lee Bowman), who is as captivated by Rusty as John was by Maribelle.  In his pursuit of her, Noel encourages Rusty to quit her job at Danny's place: he will get her show on Broadway. 

Thus begins Cover Girl (1944).  It is not really one of Gene Kelly's best musicals, which is sad to say.  One of the problems is that there are just too many musical numbers which don't advance the plot; instead, the serve as distractions away from the story of Rusty and Danny.  One example is the "Cover Girl" number, which is way too long, and Rita Hayworth isn't in enough of it.  The same with "The Show Must Go On": you have to wait too long to see Hayworth, and instead, get to look at a bunch of models trying to be as engaging as Hayward (and not succeeding).  It's not that the dancing or songs are bad, it's that they are jarring. They don't seem to fit into what is going on.

However, there are some wonderful numbers.  Kelly's impressive "Alter Ego" number, in which he dances with himself, (back before CGI).  Hayworth (not singing - Hayworth's singing was dubbed. More on that later) "Long Ago and Far Away" (a spectacular Jerome Kern/Ira Gershwin song), and finally the amusing "Poor John", which DOES advance the John-Maribelle story.  Also intriguing is the first "trio"  number with Phil Silvers (as Danny's best friend, Genius), Gene Kelly, and Rita Hayworth ("Make Way For Tomorrow").  The routine feels like a practice for Singin' in the Rain, perhaps not surprising, since it was developed by the same choreographers (Kelly and Stanley Donen). This was Donen's first film work with Kelly, so it is interesting to see the development of their unique and impressive partnership.

Though Rita Hayworth "sings" in a number of films, she is actually dubbed in every one of them.  This was a surprise to us, as we were so familiar with her in Pal Joey and in Gilda.  We, of course are curious as to WHY she was dubbed. We assume that powers-that-be deemed her inferior (as with Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Natalie Wood - all of whom had sung in films with their own voices in other films, but in My Fair Lady, Showboat, and West Side Story, respectively, were determined to be vocally insufficient).  However, she did do SOME singing in Gilda, and sang for the troops during World War II (see this article on Gilda from TCM). Below is a YouTube video of Ms. Hayward singing "The Heat is On".  Why she wasn't allowed to sing is a mystery.

The movie draws some nice parallels between Rusty and her grandmother, but we felt that Rusty comes off as a bit more callous than Maribelle.  Rusty clearly doesn't love Noel; and while Danny is acting like a total jerk, consenting to marry Noel is cruel to Noel.  Is she going to Noel for security? Because she SHOULD be married? Or just passively letting Noel lead her by the hand? Regardless, she ends up jilting him at the altar (Maribelle tells John they are done long before their relationship gets that far).  We thought that Noel took it a lot better than he should have.

As always, Eve Arden is tremendous as assistant editor Cornelia Jackson. The scene in which Rusty walks in being "animated" is a hoot; it's instantly apparent that Rusty is no actress (and that Hayworth is fantastic at mocking bad acting).  But the scene is stolen in one look by Arden.  As always, Ms. Arden can do more with an eyebrow than most performers can do with their entire body.

To close, here is one of our favorite novelty numbers from the film, Ms. Hayworth doing "Poor John".

Joan Gets "Fancy"

In 1951, Joan Crawford starred in a delightful comedy with a political bent - Goodbye, My Fancy.  Ms. Crawford is Congresswoman Agatha Reed, invited by her alma mater, to return for the graduation ceremony to receive an honorary degree.  There are, of course, some complications.  For one, Agatha never graduated from the school - she was dismissed for staying out all night with a man.  Another is that her former fiance (Robert Young) is now the dean of the college.  Trailing after Agatha to the ceremony is photographer Matt Cole (Frank Lovejoy) her romantic interest during the war, when she was a war correspondent. And then there is the film that Agatha recently released, on her experiences during the war and the effects of tyranny on intellectual freedom. 

There is no question here of age appropriateness. Agatha IS an older woman.  She's had at least two successful careers and her former beau has a 22 year-old daughter.  Yes, she was his student (making him a few years older), but she is a mature woman, and Crawford plays it as such.  She is also a woman deeply in love with a memory.  And we get to watch as she decided between Young and Lovejoy.  Acting as our commentator is the always delightful Eve Arden.  No movie with Eve Arden in it is ever dull, but Ms. Arden is at her witty best here.  We think she got all the best lines.  She is a riot!

Robert Young, unfortunately, doesn't get to do much here, which is too bad.  Always an interesting actor to watch, he is eye candy here - Agatha's past incarnate.  Her future, too, she hopes.  But a future that will completely alter all she has accomplished in her past.

Without giving away the ending, we found the film fascinating for its view of the importance of career to women and for its emphasis on the importance of freedom of speech. In an era where the House Un-American Activities Committee was abrogating the rights of the free speech of all Americans, this is a daring statement.

Before we go, here is a copy of the trailer:

Next time, another Crawford film from the 1950's

Joan Wins an Oscar

Let's just get it out of the way, Mildred Pierce (1945) is an essential film.  From the first moment that we see Mildred (Joan Crawford), as she contemplates a leap off a bridge, to the conclusion, this is a film that sucks you in with its performances, dialog, and images.  It is a quintessential film noir, and perhaps Ms. Crawford's finest performance. Mildred Pierce tells the story of the ultimate movie Mom.  Mildred wants the best for her two daughters, teenage Veda (Ann Blyth) and tomboy Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe).  Mildred's efforts to create a better world for her daughters, however, seems to have created a monster in Veda, a selfish, nasty, and snobbish young lady who looks down on her mother, and has no appreciation for Mildred's sacrifices.  After husband Bert (Bruce Bennett) loses his job, and seems uninterested in getting another, Mildred strikes off on her own, using her talent for cooking and her own personal determination to open a successful restaurant.  And that, of course, is when the problems really start for Mildred.  Her involvement with two men Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) and Wally Fay (Jack Carson) will only bring her more misfortune.  And Veda, now running with the wealthy crowd, is doing all in her power to make sure she remains in the upper classes.

The cast here is exceptional, most especially Eve Arden as Mildred's friend and partner Ida Corwin.  Ms. Arden is wonderful in everything she does, but here she brings a tone to the movie that it so desperately needs. Without her, the movie would have been a morass of sorrow. With her jibes and asides, Ida acts as both chorus and comic relief in this most serious of films. Much of our discussion focused on Jack Carson's Wally vs. Zachary Scott's Monte; which of the two men was the bigger creep.  The votes seemed to favor Monte, who is so selfish and craven.  But there was commentary on Wally's ability to betray his business partner, his ability to immediately attempt to seduce his wife, AND his willingness to turn on Mildred when it is advantageous for HIM.  And, when handing out the prizes for evil, we did not forget that most famous of movie bitches, Veda Pierce, truly a remarkably evil lady.

Oh, and the next time you watch the movie, take a look at the scene where Mildred and Monte go swimming.  The suit Mildred wears could have been loaned to Lana Turner for The Postman Always Rings Twice!  To those who felt Ms.Crawford had no sex appeal, take a look at her here.  We surely know why all the men are interested in her!  Here is a trailer:
If you haven't ever seen Mildred Pierce, run don't walk to your local library and borrow it (or put it on your Nexflix cue, or watch it the next time it airs on TCM). You won't be disappointed.