Jeanne Finds an Apartment

Peggy Taylor (Jeanne Crain) has a big problem - she needs to find an apartment quickly. The people who lent her the place where she and husband Jason (William Holden) have been living are about to return. But there are issues - Jason is attending school on the G.I. Bill, their allotment is barely enough to keep their heads above water, and Peggy is pregnant. So, when it suggested that Professor Henry Barnes (Edmund Gwenn) has an attic that might be suitable, Peggy leaps at the chance to find an Apartment for Peggy (1948).

Note the billing on the posters displayed here. This is not William Holden's movie - it belongs to Jeanne Crain and she runs with it.  She does an excellent job carrying the film. She portrays Peggy as an independent woman, who speaks her mind and does what she thinks is best. She worked to support her student husband for as long as she could, and now, pregnant and forced out of the workplace (pregnant women were routinely fired - it wasn't considered seemly for a woman who was showing to be out in public, according to employers), she works to keep her husband from losing his drive.  Peggy is a character who thinks ahead and outside the box; she hides nothing, not even her pregnancy (which, before 1948, would have been the norm for films). The result is the audience roots for her. (TCM article)

It helps that she has the always wonderful Edmund Gwenn to bounce off. The previous year, Mr. Gwenn had appeared in Miracle on 34th Street (1947) as Kris Kringle. Like that film, Apartment for Peggy was written and directed by George Seaton, but the character Mr. Seaton created for Mr. Gwenn in this film is far different. Professor Barnes is done with life - he's lost his wife, his son (who died in the war), his job (forcibly retired due to his age), and he is about to finish his book. He feels he has nothing to live for, and that his presence on Earth merely uses valuable resources to no purpose. Yet, Mr. Gwenn plays him as facing death matter-of-factly. He is not self-pitying; he is simply finished. The arrival of Peggy shows him that his life's work is not over.

Though not a war movie per se, like The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the war is a key focus of this film. Prof. Barnes lost his son to a war, Jason still has nightmares about the friends he lost when his ship was sunk and he survived on a raft. The women, too, are victims of the war; their men have changed, and now their ability to get an advanced degree through the GI Bill is widening the gap further. 

Peggy obviously worries that she - like her friend Ruth (Marion Marshall) will find her husband straying as the distance in their educational levels increase. So, she arranges for the wives to be tutored. The women eagerly drink in the lectures. They have sharp minds, and only need help in creating a path for their learning. These are not dependents - these are equal partners to their husbands.

I loved that the women arrived with their knitting - and that it is clear that their busy hands increase their ability to listen to the lecture. As a knitter myself, I appreciate it when films show that knitting increases attention; it's a concept that is hard to get across to the non-knitter.

Lee J. Cobb was scheduled to appear as Dr. Philip Conway, the part that eventually went to Griff Barnett. (AFI catalog). Mr. Barnett is fun as the doctor who is trying to prevent his friend from committing suicide, and who is supervising Peggy's obstetrical care.  Gene Lockhart is memorable as Professor Barnes' best friend, Professor Edward Bell.  

Also in the cast is the always enjoyable Charles Lane as Professor Collins, Jason's chemistry teacher.  Mr. Lane had a career that started with uncredited performances in 1930 and continued in film and television until 1995. A founding member of the Screen Actor's Guild, Mr. Lane was married for 70 years to his wife Ruth Covell; they had two children. Mr. Lane died in 2007 at the age of 102.

The New York Times review by Bosley Crowther was glowing - he called it "one of the best comedies of the year" and "a delightful and thoroughly heartening estimation of the capacities of modern youth." The review from Variety was also positive.

The story (which was originally titled  Apartment for Suzie) was used for four radio broadcasts. Lux Radio Theatre, aired it on 28 February 1949 with Jeanne Crain, William Holden, Edmund Gwenn, and again on 4 December 1950 with Ms. Crain and William Lundigan. Versions were also broadcast on the Screen Directors' Playhouse (again with Jeanne Crain) on 2 September 1949 and on 31 May 1951 as part of the Screen Guild Players.

We'll close with the scene in which Peggy tries to rent an apartment from Professor Barnes.  Do give this delighful film a viewing!

Barbara Needs a Lawyer

Since the death of her father when she was 9 years old, Fiona Gaylord (Barbara Stanwyck) has been the titular head of the family. As such, she has spent much of her life in court, fighting to get her father's will to probate. An alleged remarriage, the death of various lawyers, and a second will that leaves 10% of the estate to a charity have delayed action on the will and forced Fiona, Susanna (Nancy Coleman), and Evelyn (Geraldine Fitzgerald) into near penury. In the 23rd year of the court proceedings, the crux of the matter is now that Charles Barclay (George Brent), who heads the charity that would benefit from the new will, is trying to force The Gay Sisters (1942) to sell their home, something that Fiona rejects.

Based on the novel of the same name by Stephen Longstreet, the plot of The Gay Sisters owes much to Dickens. If you've ever read Bleak House, you'll find that the basic plot is the same - conflicting wills and children driven to near bankruptcy as they wait years for a resolution to their case. The novel is possibly based on actual events: the Barkley Square project is the Rockefellers vs the Vanderbilts regarding the construction of Rockefeller Center. (TCM article).

As is so often the case, Ms. Stanwyck was not the first choice for Fiona. The film was intended for Bette Davis, with sister Evelyn Gaylord Burton played by Mary Astor. Though Ms. Davis and Ms. Astor got along swimmingly on the set of The Great Lie the previous year (the two women rewrote and improvised to strengthen the script (TCM article)), Ms. Davis felt that Ms. Astor would appear to old for the role of younger sister Evelyn. (TCM notes). In the long run, Ms. Davis felt that Fiona was too hard and withdrew, with Irene Dunne, Norma Shearer, and Katharine Hepburn all considered for the part. Ms. Stanwyck is excellent in a role that can be unpleasant at times. She is able to make Fiona tough and likeable. 

Another almost casting note was Olivia de Havilland as Susanna, but Ms. de Havilland wanted a vacation, so the part went to Nancy Coleman instead (AFI catalog). Like Fiona, this is a tricky part; Ms. Coleman does a decent job of keeping Susanna from being too much of a doormat, though there are times you would like to shake her. With two such powerful sisters, she is much too unwilling to confront anyone, and it can become irksome after awhile.

In the few films in which he was listed, Gig Young had heretofore been acting under his real name - Byron Barr. The audience, however, liked his character's name, so in this film (and after) he was listed as Gig Young. He's good in the role, though one wonders at the character's attraction to Evelyn. Regardless, Mr. Young makes it clear that sexual chemistry is not enough for Gig. Mr. Young had a long and successful career. He moved into television in the 1950s, but continued acting in films, eventually winning an Oscar (after two prior nominations) for Best Supporting Actor in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Married five times (including 7 years to Elizabeth Montgomery), he inexplicably shot to death his wife of less than one month, then killed himself. 

George Brent has a nearly impossible role to play. We find out that he's a rapist (sure, he and Fiona were legally married, but it's still rape). He's trying to steal her property for his grand real estate scheme, all because he is in love with her. Huh? Mr. Brent does a decent job; you do end up rooting for him a little - not to win the case, but to come to his senses. 

Young Larry Simms (Austin) is jdelightful as Fiona's ward (and son). The interplay between him and Ms. Stanwyck is wonderful - her stamping of her feet to make him follow orders, and his growing trust of her make Fiona a more likeable person. Mr. Simms (who died in 2009) left films in 1954 -  he really didn't much care for acting - to join the Navy. He would later have a career that took him around the world as an aeronautical engineering. He spent his acting years primarily playing Alexander "Baby Dumpling" Bumstead in the Blondie series. 

The film features a plethora of excellent character performances, including Donald Crisp and Gene Lockhart, as good lawyer Ralph Pedloch and shady lawyer Herschell Gibbon. We also have a brief appearance from Ann Revere as Ida Orner, the nurse who attended Fiona during her confinement. It's wonderful to get such excellent actors in even these minor parts.

The story was aired on the Lux Radio Theater in November 1942, with Ms. Stanwyck and Robert Young as Fiona and Charles. In November 1956 it was revived on the Lux Video Theatre, this time starring Alexis Smith and Don Taylor.

With so much going on, the plot can become a bit dense, but we found this to be an enjoyable film.  The New York Times review, however was very unfavorable; based on some of his comments, we wondered if the reviewer was watching the same movie.  We'll leave you with the trailer to the film:

Barbara Writes a ANOTHER Column

The purchase of a newspaper by the powerful D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) results in the firing of most of the staff when Norton hires Henry Connell (James Gleason) as his new managing editor.  Norton wants circulation numbers, and that means that "dead wood" needs to be cut.  Included is columnist Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck), who is the sole support of her mother and two young sisters.  Ordered to supply her final column before she leaves, Ann tosses off a letter, supposedly from a man, John Doe, who intends to commit suicide on Christmas morning in protest for the ills of the world.  When her prank results in a nationwide outcry to find and help John Doe, Ann and Norton manufacture a "John Doe" in the form of down-on-his-luck baseball play Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper), who agrees to pose as Doe for a fee.  Her job secure, Ann happily works for Norton, unaware his motives are far from pure.

Thus begins Meet John Doe (1941), one of director Frank Capra's most well-regarded films.  Number 49 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Cheers, it's one of the films that helped to invent the term "Capraesque" - films about the ability of the honest underdog to achieve his goals through courage and perseverance (sometimes called Capra-corn).  Capra's abilities as a director held such trust with his actors that Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward Arnold, Walter Brennan, James Gleason and Spring Byington all agreed to appear in the film without a completed script.  Capra went into the project without a satisfactory ending, and actually test marketed FIVE different endings (TCM).  The one we see today is the one that garnered the most public appeal, and was suggested in an anonymous letter to Capra from someone who had seen the multiple endings (AFI catalog).

Originally, Capra thought in terms of Jean Arthur and James Stewart for his leads.  He also considered Ronald Colman (who would have been all wrong!), and he tested both Ann Sheridan and Olivia de Havilland as well.  Barbara Stanwyck came on board when Warner Brothers refused to allow Ms. Sheridan to do it (she was being punished). 

We are indeed lucky that the stars were willing to take on such a nebulous project, because the casting is spot-on. Cooper is able to convey the innocence and confusion of John, without making him into a complete idiot.  And then there is Stanwyck.  The role of Ann is a difficult one - we have to understand her desire for money, but still like her and root for her.  The rapport between her and Spring Byington (as Ann's mother) is essential; there bond in the film is undeniable.  As a result, we root for Ann, even when we know that she has really gone over the edge in the push for John Doe's stardom.

Spring Byington provides the focus that we need to understand Ann.  Generous, kind, loving; a mother who adores her children, and whose love for her late husband ventures almost into adoration, Mrs. Mitchell is both inspiration for Ann as well as motivation.  Ann sighs as her mother donates money to those she feels are in need, even as the family is on the verge of being penniless.  And, as Ann struggles with the motivations needed to make John Doe convincing, it is Mrs. Mitchell who suggests her late husband's diary as a source of inspiration.  With 119 film and television credits to her name, Byington was a dependable and much admired character actress, usually playing a mother or older relative of the lead character.  She started on Broadway; her first feature film role was as Marmee in Little Women (1933) (We've discussed her films When Ladies Meet (1941) and My Love Came Back (1940)).  She worked in both film and television until 1968.  She died in 1971, aged 84.  

Interestingly, this was one of the first films to deal with Fascism in America (this glowing New York Times review is very appreciative of the "inspiring message for all good Americans" that is present in the film.  Capra, who had been born in Italy (he had settled in Los Angeles by age five, so it is unlikely that he remembered much of his birthplace), may be reacting to the fact that it had already been overtaken by fascism. 

Though the fact that the ending was an afterthought is often evident when you watch Meet John Doe, it doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the film or of the performances of these amazing actors.  We'll leave you with a trailer:

Santa Claus Comes to NYC

Though Christmas is now but a memory, the TCM presentation of Miracle on 34th Street (1947) on the big screen was a real treat for the holiday season.  The story focuses on Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), an elderly gentleman who takes Christmas quite seriously.  When he encounters a drunken Santa Claus at the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, he confronts the parade's organizer Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara), who immediately hires him as a substitute Santa, both for the parade, and later to work in the store.  Doris is rather matter of fact about Christmas; she's raised her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to view it as a commercial holiday - Santa Claus isn't real nor are fairy tales to be regarded as anything more than silly fictions.  There is, she tells Susan, no such thing as "happily ever after," something their neighbor Fred Gailey (John Payne) finds distressing, since he is hoping for a "happily ever after" with Doris.  So, when Kris announces he IS the real Santa Claus, and is labeled as mentally incompetent by Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall), the Macy's staff psychologist, Fred decides to represent Kris in court - and prove Kris is the REAL Santa.

As someone who grew up in New York City, shopping at Macy's and Gimbel's, this film has resonances that cannot be escaped.  At one point, we see a shopper's book that Macy's has created to help guide customers to products they don't carry (but that other stores do - one of Kris' innovations).  Most of the stores in the book, including Gimbels - have since closed.  I've been to the Parade once, and watched it on television nearly every year - and the metamorphosis of the Parade from a "home town" event to an advertisement for New York City tourism is something this film makes very apparent.  (I'm not complaining - I like seeing the Broadway plays show their stuff).  So, regardless that this is an annual event, the film provides a time capsule view of a New York that is long gone, when the parade was a local event run by a local store, not a national pastime.  (To this day, Macy's in Herald Square uses Miracle on 34th Street as a window display at Christmastime.)

This Fathom presentation of the film was made especially poignant by the death of Maureen O'Hara on October 24, 2015.  The last survivor of the lead actors in the cast, her portrayal of Doris is on spot.  She makes the character tough, but never heartless - her affections radiate from her lovely eyes, but she is always in charge of her home and her business.  Born in Ireland as Maureen FitzSimmons in 1920, Ms. O'Hara started her career at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.  After a screen test, Charles Laughton signed her to a contract and starred her, with him, in Jamaica Inn (1939).  The rest, as they say, is history.  In 1941, she appeared as Angharad in director John Ford's How Green Was My Valley, the first of their 4 films together.  Her most famous screen partner was certainly John Wayne - a collaboration that didn't begin until 1950 in Rio Grande.  Never even nominated for an Academy Award (is that even possible), Ms O'Hara was finally given an Honorary Oscar in 2014.  With her flaming red hair and a complexion that looks like pure butter, Ms. O'Hara was so staggeringly beautiful in color films she was sometimes called The Queen of Technicolor.  Regardless of that beauty, she was an actor without compare.  

Edmund Gwenn actually appeared as Santa in the 1946 Thanksgiving Day Parade, and other members of the cast (like Ms. O'Hara) were shot in the parade to add scenes to the film  (see these TCM articles and the AFI catalog for more background on the film).  Ms. O'Hara was initially reluctant to appear in the film, as she had JUST been allowed to visit her family in Ireland (she was barred from visiting her homeland because of War restrictions.  Ireland was a neutral country during World War II), and was now being called back immediately to appear in " silly little movie about Santa Claus".  She stated that, once she saw the script, she changed her mind - the film, by the way is still #9 in AFI's 100 Years, 100 Cheers.

There have been other attempts to trap the lightning in a bottle that is Miracle on 34th Street, with limited success.  Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and Edmund Gwenn reprised their roles for the Lux Radio Theatre version on December 22, 1947.  In 1955, Thomas Mitchell appeared as Kris in a live television version (also starring Teresa Wright and MacDonald Carey) for the Twentieth Century Fox Hour.  Meredith Wilson (of The Music Man fame) wrote a musical version of the tale in 1963 entitled Here's Love, which ran for 334 performances and starred Laurence Naismith as Kris.  On December 14, 1973, another television version ran, starring Sebastian Cabot as Kris and Jane Alexander as Doris (now named Karen!).  Finally, a big screen version was again attempted in 1994, with Richard Attenborough as Kris - Macy's refused to allow their name to be used in the film!  Even star John Payne tried for many years to produce a sequel to the story, based on his own screenplay, but the attempts ended when he died in 1989.

Many character actors contribute to this film - Gene Lockhart as Judge Henry X. Harper, the man who must rule on the reality of Santa Claus; William Frawley as Charles Halloran, Judge Harper's cagey political advisor; Jerome Cowan as district attorney Thomas Mara, whose own son is called to testify as to the reality of Santa Claus (how does Tommy know there really is a Santa Claus:  "Because my Daddy told me so"), and Philip Tonge as Doris' colleague Mr. Shellhammer.  But in many senses, the film is stolen in one brief scene by Thelma Ritter as the harried mother who can't find the fire truck her son wants in time for Christmas.  This was Ms. Ritter's first role, and of course, she shines.

We'll close with the scene in which Doris asks Kris to tell Susan he isn't really Santa Claus:

Reginald Hates Christmas

TCM hosted another Fantom Event this weekend - a double feature of two excellent Christmas films.  I'll be posting about both of them, starting with the 1938 A Christmas Carol, starring Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge.  A later post will deal with the second feature on the double bill.

In the spirit of total honesty, I'm going to admit right off that my favorite Christmas Carol is the Alistair Sim version from 1951.  My husband is a fan of The Muppet Christmas Carol (Michael Caine as Scrooge).  And I have a fondness for Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol as well (I love the music).  But this version, with Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit, and real life wife Kathleen Lockhart as Mrs. Cratchit is excellent (oh, and there is also young daughter June in an unbilled appearance as Belinda Cratchit).  It does alter the book in many respects.  We get much more exposure to Scrooge's nephew, Fred (Barry McKay) and fiance Bess (Lynne Carver) than in the book.  That's not a bad thing, but does skew the story a bit.  We also have an incident in which Scrooge fires Bob Cratchit on Christmas Eve (for hitting him with a snowball).  THAT is a big change from the book, and very much changes the dynamic of the story.  While we gain a more preoccupied Bob, we lose so much of his Christmas spirit - remember that, in the book, to the dismay of Mrs. Cratchit, Bob insists on toasting "Mr. Scrooge, the founder of the feast" in the Christmas Present visit.  This Bob has no reason to toast Scrooge - and does not.  To my mind, the elimination of this brief dialogue is unfortunate, because, in one sentence, you can appreciate the genuine goodness of Bob Cratchit.

That being said, seeing A Christmas Carol in a theatre is a moving experience.  Reginald Owen plays Scrooge as a man looking for redemption.  Certainly, it is a short film (only 69 minutes.  Both the Alistair Sim version and the Muppet version are 85 minutes), so Owen doesn't have a whole lot of time to accept his future, but he is believable as someone who faces his destiny and resolves to be a better person.

Owen was not the first choice for the role.  For years, it had been performed on radio by Lionel Barrymore, and MGM was eager to have him recreate the role on screen.  However, Barrymore broke his hip on the set of Saratoga, and was unable to participate in the film.  Always a gracious man, Barrymore consented to do the trailer for the film (as this TCM article points out, in the 1930's, Barrymore WAS the character of Scrooge to the general public), and handed over the radio broadcast for 1938 to Reginald Owen, so there would be no unfair comparison.  Though bitterly disappointed that he would be unable to enact the part, Barrymore suggested Owen for the role, and supported his substitute as much as was possible.  Interested in hearing Mr. Barrymore's interpretation? Old Time Radio has a recording of the Campbell Playhouse production, hosted by Orson Welles.

I'll end with the beginning of the Scrooge's journey towards redemption.  Pictured above is Leo G. Carroll as the Ghost of Jacob Marley.  I felt that Carroll played to the ambiguity of the character - Marley, a selfish and grasping man in his lifetime, reaches out to his old partner to try and help him to avoid Marley's fate.  Will Marley receive some heavenly brownie points for this effort? It's not clear from the dialogue between the two, but Carroll's is on a man more concerned with his old friend than with any credit he will garner.  See if you agree.

Here's the trailer, with commentary from Lionel Barrymore, himself.