Queen Joan

When Jennifer Stewart (Lucy Marlow) arrives at the home of her cousin, Eva Phillips (Joan Crawford), she discovers a mess of unhappiness.  Eva's sister-in-law, Carol Lee (Betsy Palmer) despises Eva and is loathe to tell her about Carol Lee's engagement to Judson Prentis (John Ireland); Eva's husband, Avery is rarely sober, Eva's son Ted (Tim Hovey) has constant nightmares. Jennifer, however, is immediately enchanted with the affectionate Eva, and becomes her acolyte and defender.  Little does she know Eva is not the woman she images; she is, in fact, the heartless Queen Bee (1955).

We always enjoy Joan Crawford, and seeing her play the witch is generally a pleasure.  But Queen Bee really taxes that pleasure button.  Based on a novel by Edna Lee, the film is melodrama at its worst.  The plot has holes in it a mile wide, and the characters are superficial, and annoying.  Even Ms. Crawford suffers from the inconsistencies in a character that could have been a companion to Harriet Craig. Eva is uptight, controlling, and jealous, just like Harriet, but she is Harriet on steroids. Unlike Harriet, she is contradictory.  On the one hand, she emotionally tortures her family endlessly. One the other hand, she falls into an inconsolable depression when a person she has just tormented beyond endurance dies.   Once she recovers, she's back on the torture trail.  She is, to quote Winston Churchill, "a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

But she's not the only character that makes you throw up your hands in despair.  Let's look at her husband, Avery.  When we meet Avery, he snarls at Jennifer about the scar on his face.  His family, even the sister that loves him, calls him "Beauty" as a nickname!  The scar and the nickname are brought up the once, and then dropped.  We know he got the scar in an auto accident, but it is a throwaway reference. He's a raging alcoholic (allegedly because he is married to Eva); he also is fairly spineless.  Even with the health and well-being of his children are at stake, he is terrified of confronting his wife.

 

Which makes us question why Jennifer would fall in love with him.  She despises him on first meeting, but within a hair's breath is madly in love (and for no good reason.  The man is constantly inebriated and is verbally abusive to boot).  But quite frankly, there's not much to like about Jennifer either.  An orphan, she has come to the Phillips' home because Eva, who has been supporting Jennifer in Chicago, has invited her.  Jennifer has had a good education, thanks to the financial munificence of the Phillips', but she doesn't seem to have made any effort to support herself by getting a job.   At first enamored of Eva, she ultimately discovers her to be a monster.  But still Jennifer stays.  Why? Her affection for the children? This great love for Avery? Again, the film gives you no legitimate reason for her actions.  In its review of the film, the New York Times  talks about Ms. Marlow "gawk[ing] and quak[ing]."  I hate to agree with Bosley Crowther, but he's right on this one.

As if all this is not enough, the film throws in the abusive Miss Breen (Katherine Anderson), the stereotypical evil nanny (the character Bette Davis would play in The Nanny).  The character arrives when Eva suffers her nervous breakdown, then stays on to emotionally and physically torment the children.  Miss Breen serves a point - she provides Eva with a source of blackmail at the end of the film, but quite frankly, Eva could have gotten her blackmail information without Miss Breen's annoying presence.  All Miss Breen contributes is to make Avery, in his one moment of rebellion, again look like a weakling.

It is nice to see Fay Wray (Sue McKinnon) in the film, even if it is only for about 5 minutes. But, the presence of her character is, again, rather pointless (she's a rather dotty lady who was emotionally damaged when Eva stole Avery from her.  She doesn't know how lucky she was!) According to this TCM article, Ms. Wray announced her return to film (she had retired when she married Robert Riskin, to care for her child from her prior marriage and to her two children with Mr. Riskin) after her husband's death in 1955.  Ms. Crawford not only sent her a note saying "Welcome...we need you", she arranged for her to be cast in the part of Sue.  It's a thankless role, but Ms. Wray is excellent in this little snippet.  While not her first post-retirement role, it was certainly not her last.  She would continue to act in both film and television until her final retirement in 1980.  She would marry again, in 1971; she and Dr. Sanford Rothenberg were together until his death in 1991; Ms. Wray died in 2004, aged 96. 
Oh, yes, and then there is the supernatural element of young Ted, and his dreams of a horrific car crash, which, by the conclusion of the film, we discover has a supernatural element to it (the abusive nanny wasn't enough of a leap into the macabre).  

This AFI Catalog entry notes that the film received Oscar nominations for black and white cinematography and for costume design (it lost to The Rose Tattoo and I'll Cry Tomorrow, respectively).  The film also changed the ending of the book, possibly to provide what they considered a happy ending.  But nothing is all that happy about this film, and it did Ms. Crawford no good service.  So, unless you hunger for the complete Crawford, avoid this one.  We'll leave you with this clip in which Ms. Crawford is matchmaking for  Ms. Marlow:

Barbara Hates Housework

When an independent working woman chooses marriage over career, the results are disastrous in Crime of Passion (1957), starring Barbara Stanwyck as Kathy Ferguson Doyle and Sterling Hayden as police detective, Lieutenant Bill Doyle.  Kathy is a columnist on a San Francisco newspaper - she writes the an "advise to the lovelorn" feature.  Trusted by her readership, she manages to convince a woman who murdered her husband to turn herself in, resulting in the offer of a better job in New York, and a successful collar for LA based detectives Doyle and his partner Charlie Alidos (Royal Dano).  But, Kathy, who has always disliked the thought of marriage (she says that "for marriage, read life sentence"), falls passionately in love with Bill, and consents to a whirlwind marriage.  She quits her job, settles in LA with Bill, and tries to become a housewife.  Bill's lack of ambition, however, frustrates Kathy, who is now trying to live her life through him.  She devises a plan - get friendlier with Bill's boss, Chief Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr) and his wife, Alice (Fay Wray), in order to wrangle a promotion for Bill. In doing so, she begins to alienate the Alidos, (Virginia Grey as Sara), who have similar goals, creating problems for herself and for Bill.

This TCM article hits on a point that we found seminal about this film - "it seems to be a strikingly modern commentary about how women were driven mad by the limitations imposed on them in the postwar period."  Indeed, for women today, Kathy's dilemma is quite contemporary, making the film both enjoyable and disturbing.  When a woman, used to doing things herself, used to having the drive to succeed, marries someone who is entirely different from herself, is now bound to house and home, and can find no kindred spirit with whom to commune, is madness the ultimate outcome?  It's obvious that Kathy is attracted to the police community - at dinner parties she wanders away from the female conversation (where they discuss recipes and television - much as she predicted prior to her marriage) to the room filled with police officers, where she is clearly unwelcome.  Stanwyck, in her last film noir (see Eddie Muller's Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir) is both strident and desperate as a woman falling apart at the seams.

Sterling Hayden is perfect as Bill Doyle - a nice guy, and a good detective, but rather banal -  and Hayden seriously plays up the banal.  Stanwyck was pleased at the idea of Hayden in the part (according to Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck by Ella Smith), but one thing bothered her.  She was distressed by his rather badly tailored suits, so they had a conversation and  he got some better clothing (perhaps not entirely in character, but Hayden makes even good clothing looked rumpled).  The biggest question though is, what we attract Kathy to Doyle, to the extent she would sacrifice everything for which she has worked.  Hayden is certainly an attractive man, but one doesn't doubt that Kathy has ever lacked for male attention.  He wants exactly the opposite of what she wants - he desires a "happy marriage... children and a home."  Does the fact that Kathy (and Stanwyck) are no longer in their prime factor into her decision?  It's hard to say.

With the exception of Alice Pope, women don't come off very well in this film.  Kathy spends much of the film verging on hysteria, and Sara Alidos is a manipulative conniver and vicious gossip.  But, as portrayed by Fay Wray, Alice is different.  She relishes her career as a homemaker, loves her husband, and would be far happier if he were home with her.  She is the only genuinely sweet, unpretentious woman in the film, and Kathy finds herself liking Alice almost despite herself.  In this review of the film from the New York Times, the reviewer joyously welcome Ms. Wray back to the screen.  After a second marriage (to writer/producer Robert Riskin) in 1942, the actress whose beauty slew the beast in 1933, retired.  However, she returned to both the screen (on occasion) and to television (more frequently - most notably with Raymond Burr in Perry Mason) in 1953.  She retired again in 1980 - and turned down roles in Titanic and in the Peter Jackson King Kong.  She died in 2004, aged 94; the Empire State Building dimmed its lights in her memory several days later.

Unfortunately, the film didn't do well at the box office - perhaps because it can be hard to watch.  With the exception of Bill and Alice, this is a movie people by unpleasant individuals.  And, in an era where television was now supplying most of the entertainment, this was not a film which parents could make as a night out with the children.  But it is perhaps that "stark intensity" (as this New Yorker commentary puts it) that makes the film so powerful today. 

We'll leave you with this early scene in which Kathy meets Bill and the obnoxious Captain Alidos.  His first comment to her, "your work should be raising a family, having dinner ready for him when he gets home," sets the tone for the film, as we also see Kathy writing for all the downtrodden women out there.  Next week, we'll see Ms. Stanwyck again go up against male chauvinism in a much earlier (and much more lighthearted) film.

Ronald is a Thief

The Unholy Garden (1931), an early talkie starring Ronald Colman, was our film for this week.  Barrington Hunt (Colman) is a thief, on the run from the law.  He escapes to the Palais Royale, an "unholy garden", or thieves' hideout.  There, he meets Camille de Jonghe (Fay Wray) and her grandfather, the Baron Louis de Jonghe (Tully Marshall), who are also in hiding from the Baron's brother, from whom the Baron stole a sizeable chunk of money.  This also makes the Baron an attractive target for the criminals who inhabit the Palais.  They enlist Hunt to exercise his charms on Camille, in hopes of locating the hiding place of her grandfather's money (and of getting past the Baron's rather large handgun).  Hunt is attracted by the prospect of a large profit and some personal time with the lovely Camille, but the situation becomes complicated as he finds himself attracted to her.

There's not a lot to praise about this film - it's really a mess.  Colman is, of course, good, but he doesn't have a lot to work with.  A lot of the plot is jumbled (just WHY did the Baron steal his brother's money? Why did he bring his granddaughter along? And, WHY does she stay - she, seemingly, has her own money.)  Interestingly, this  New York Times review was quite favorable.  They found it a "packet of excitement and fun".  Their only complaint concerned the theatre's sound levels - too loud for Mordaunt Hall, even in 1931.  Despite the positive review, this TCM article says that the film did not really do well in the box office.  We agreed with the general public, and wondered if Mr. Hall saw a different film.

As you can see from the poster art, Colman's name is prominent in the advertising.  Yet, in the film credits, he is listed last, though clearly he is the star.  Nothing about his listing suggested his starring role; we found that odd.  We expected, at the very least an "AND" to separate him from his costars, but there was nary one to be found.  Colman had already had an extensive career in silent films and had made several talkies, including his turn as the gentleman turned investigator Hugh Drummond in Bulldog Drummond (1929). The billing was as peculiar as the film itself.

Fay Wray rather overdoes it as Camille - a lot of crying, cowering, and screaming.  She was two years away from the film in which her screams would make her a household name - King Kong.  Wray's career was long - from a short in 1923 to the TV movie Gideon's Trumpet (starring Henry Fonda) in 1980, but after King Kong, she was relegated to B films.  She retired - temporarily in 1942 - following her marriage to Robert Riskin, but returned to films in 1953, eventually finding a more secure home in television.  She died in 2004, aged 96.

We can't really recommend this one, unless you are a fan of Colman (which we are).  Just have your copy of Talk of the Town available to watch afterwards.

Fay's a Lawyer

Sometimes watching a film so firmly set in its own time can be almost painful for a modern audience.  Such is the case with Ann Carver's Profession (1933).  Fay Wray plays Ann Carver, who has married her college sweetheart, "Lightning" Bill Graham (Gene Raymond) after both have worked their way through advance degrees - he as an architect, she as a lawyer.  Though Bill was a football hero in college, the real world places him into an architectural firm, where he gets to do the scutwork for very little money.  Ann has been unable to even find a job.  She's frustrated and Bill is eager to help her find a position.  So, when an evening arises in which he can sing his wife's praises to the head of a law firm, he does so, and Ann takes it from there, providing some advice that results in the firm's winning an important case.  Ann is on her way.

It's at this point that film becomes annoying.  There is no middle of the road for Ann.  As a successful lawyer she is selfish, rude, smug, and an all-around heel.  She becomes the stereotypical career woman - a man-eating viper who cares for nothing but her success.  SHE purchases a large house.  SHE hires many servants (why does a young married couple need a maid, cook, and butler anyway?) - Bill is not consulted.  After all, SHE controls the purse strings.  When she is forced away on business, Bill can't pay the staff - he has no access to HER funds.  All in all, he is humiliated in every way, and Ann, of course, is oblivious to his needs.  HER job comes first, especially since she is the big wage earner.

The biggest problem with the character of Ann is that she is so exaggerated. Her shift from frustrated housewife to power lawyer is dramatic and unrealistic.  This basically nice woman becomes a harridan for no real reason,other than absolute power corrupting absolutely.  It doesn't help that her rise to fame is so unrealistic - within a few weeks of being hired, she is a headline-making, major player in her law firm.   

Of course, this is a precode film, so we have a scene with Ann and Bill snuggling in their big double bed.  There is also Bill's "relationship" with Carole Rogers (Claire Dodd).  The consensus among our group was that there was a brief fling between the two;  however, Bill is ultimately disgusted with Carole's drunkenness and lewdness.  In spite of the affair, it's still hard to work up much sympathy for Ann.  She treats Bill as an appendage - someone to bring her to important work-related dinners - not as a husband.  Appearance is all that matters to her, and when Bill decides a career change will bring him more money, Ann is horrified - what will people think of HER with a "crooner" as a husband? 

We suspect not a lot of attention was paid to Ann Carver's Profession, as it was released the same year as another film starring Ms. Wray - King Kong.  She had already ventured into the land of horror that year (with The Vampire Bat and Mystery of the Wax Museum), but with the popularity of Kong, Ms. Wray became a staple in the genre, and was often called The Queen of Scream. 

Regardless, she had a long career - she appeared in films and on television as late as 1980.  Interestingly, she would marry the screenwriter for Ann Carver's Profession, Robert Riskin, in 1942.  They had two children and were together until his death in 1955.  Fay Wray died in 2004, at the age of 96.  

We'll close with a clip from the 1998 Oscars with Billy Crystal. A tribute to King Kong was part of the entertainment that evening, and Mr. Crystal surprised Fay Wray by introducing her from the audience.  

Oh, and Ruthelma Stevens was barely findable as a party guest.  A shame really...

Warner Loves Fay (and Ingrid)

Several months ago, we discussed a film with Warner Baxter, and decided we wanted to view another of his movies.  This week, we watched Adam Had Four Sons (1941), with Baxter as Adam Stoddard, Fay Wray as his wife Molly, and Ingrid Bergman as their governess, Emilie Gallatin. The action opens with the arrival of Emilie, a young woman from Europe, who is immediately accepted - and adored - by her four young charges, Jack (who will grow up to be Richard Denning), David (Johnny Downs), Chris (Robert Shaw) and Phillip (Charles Lind).  The story follows the hardships of this good family, and the woman who becomes an intrinsic part of it, through a stock market crash, the First World War, and interpersonal catastrophes.  Through it all, Adam, his four sons, and Emilie remain true to each other, despite the attempts of the world to break them apart.

The film emphasizes the strength of this family.  Despite everything, the brothers, their father, and even the adopted family member, Emilie, remain loyal to one another.  Torn apart by the world's events, they cope and regroup.  Even when one seemingly insurmountable outside force - Jack's wife, Hester, played with relish by Susan Hayward - tries to fracture the brothers, she cannot succeed.  It is interesting that their home is named Stonehenge,  symbolizing the durability and longevity of those that abide in the home. 

The film features several strong women characters.  Fay Wray's Molly is the heart of the family.  Meeting her, we understand WHY the boys are so good and loyal.  She is the epitome of the good wife and mother.  Yet, she is not cloying or ridiculous.  Ingrid Bergman's Emilie, the adopted mother, begins as a naive girl and grows into a powerful woman.  She comes to the family as an employee, is forced to leave because of Adam's sudden impoverishment, but returns, not as an employee, but as substitute for the mother the boys have lost.  This was only Bergman's fourth film in the United States, but you can already see her skills.  Cousin Phillipa (Helen Westley) is the traditional cagey old lady. She knows more than she says, hides her wisdom behind her relish for a good, stiff drink, but works for the good of her nephews.  Vance (played by June Lockhart) is another innocent.  The childhood sweetheart of Phillip, she does not waver in her love, even when Phillip is severely injured.  And then there is Hester.

Susan Hayward's Hester is quite the conniver.  She enters the story as the wife of David, but the audience knows immediately that she is up to no good.  Of course, while Emilie and Cousin Phillipa are also well aware that she is merely an opportunistic schemer, it takes the men a bit longer to catch on.  Hayward truly makes the part her own; she uses sly glances, and the most subtle of movements to convey who Hester really is beneath all the artifice, she makes you want to slap her silly!

Given the title, one would think this is a film about five men.  But, really, it isn't.  It is about a family, and the women in the family that help the men to remain true to themselves. Here, we see Emilie's return and the introduction of Hester: