Robert Avoids Heaven

Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) is a boxer with dreams of becoming the champion. He's trained long and hard, and is ready for the bout that will propel him to stardom. He's in his private plane, heading for New York when his aircraft is damaged. Plummeting earthbound, his spirit is plucked from his body by overeager heavenly messenger 7013 (Edward Everett Horton).  When Joe protests to Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) that he doesn't feel dead, Mr. Jordan discovers that Joe is destined to live another 50 years! Since Joe's body is gone (cremated by Joe's manager Max Corkle (James Gleason)), Mr. Jordan and Joe go out to find Joe a new body. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) tells the story of that quest.

I'm truly of the opinion that Robert Montgomery is one of our most underrated film actors. He's good in everything he does, and can play the villain, the anti-hero, and the hero with equal aplomb. He's delightful as Joe Pendleton, a man of deep feelings and simple tastes. He loves his plane, his saxophone, his dear friend Max, and ultimately, Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes). His quest for a new body is governed by the purity of his nature - he wants simply what he is entitled to, and wants the body he is given to match the one that he had. After all, he kept it "in the pink!"

Robert Montgomery was born into a privileged family, but that all ended with his father's suicide when Robert was 18. He decided to try his hand at acting and writing; by 1924, he was appearing on Broadway, where he was in 7 plays (through 1928). He signed a contract with MGM in 1929, where his stage training was essential in the booming sound era; he was often the juvenile in this period (as in Untamed (1929)).  In 1937, he showed a new side of his talent in Night Must Fall,  as an insane killer. World War II disrupted his career - he volunteered to serve in the Navy, rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Upon his return, John Ford cast him in They Were Expendable (1945); when Ford was injured, Mr. Montgomery finished directing the film. His characterizations became even more nuanced, as he appeared in films like the film noir Lady in the Lake (1946). He turned to television, to produce his own anthology show, Robert Montgomery Presents.  Married twice, he had three children by his first wife, Elizabeth Allen. His daughter, Elizabeth, went on to perform in film and television (and is best remembered for her role in the TV series,  Bewitched). He died of cancer in 1981.

We were a bit less enthralled with Evelyn Keyes. There are times, especially at the beginning when she is pleading for her father, that she seems over-melodramatic. She improves greatly in the love scenes with Mr. Montgomery, and they have a warm relationship that is easy to appreciate. Rita Johnson, as the other woman in Joe's life - the almost widow Julia Farnsworth - is quite good as the would-be murderer. She's properly bitchy, and you eagerly await her - and her paramour Tony Abbott (John Emery) - getting their comeuppance.

The film's strength really comes from two magnificent supporting roles - Mr. Jordan and Max Corkle. James Gleason is excellent as the frequently bemused Max. His fatherly affection for Joe is apparent from the minute we first meet him, and his pain from the repeated loss of Joe is palpable. But Mr. Gleason also brings humor to the part - his inability to see Mr. Jordan, while he tries to have conversations with him make for amusing scenes, yet maintain the integrity of the character. In their review, the New York Times says that Mr. Gleason "steals the film's most comic scene as the manager with cosmic premonitions," but he never lets Max become a fool, and we are grateful for it.

What can we add about Claude Rains that hasn't already been said? He's delightful as Mr. Jordan - warm and understanding. He cares about Joe, and about his predicament, but he has a heavenly duty to perform, and Joe isn't always willing to acknowledge that. Mr. Rains brings a sincerity to the role that perfects the movie. We believe he is an angel, and we know that Mr. Jordan will keep an eye on his charge until he meets him again in 1991. This article from the Criterion Collection talks about "the hint of steel" Mr. Rains brings to the part. It is the making of the character.

The story upon which the film was based was initially purchased as a vehicle for Cary Grant (AFI Catalog)  Years later, Warren Beatty would ask him to play Mr. Jordan in his remake.  (Evenings with Cary Grant by Nancy Nelson). When Mr. Grant said no, Mr. Beatty cast James Mason in his 1978  Heaven Can Wait - which was, in fact, the title of the original play by Harry Segall (TCM article). 

Lux Radio Theatre in January 1942 aired a version of the story with Cary Grant, Evelyn Keyes, Claude Rains, and James Gleason. It was remade again as Down to Earth (2001) with Chris Rock as a comedian who is untimely snatched from his body.

We'll leave you with this trailer, and the suggestion that you give this delightful film a first (or a second) viewing:

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:

Cary Meets a Dancing Caterpillar

Once Upon a Time (1944) is not one of Cary Grant's best known films.  A war-time film, with no mention of the conflict, it is a fairy tale designed to entertain and allow escape from the horrors of that war.  The film is based on a 30 minute radio play "My Client Curley," by Norman Corwin (which was based on a short story by Lucille Fletcher Herrmann).  It aired on the Columbia Workshop on March 7, 1940, with Fred Allen in the lead role (the radio play was redone in 1946, this time with Robert Montgomery in the lead).  It's hard to imagine Cary Grant in a role which Fred Allen initiated, but the studio originally wanted Humphrey Bogart, then Brian Donlevy for that part. Either would have resulted in a very different film.

The action opens on Jerry Flynn (Cary Grant), a Broadway producer, who after three flops is about to lose his theatre. He's literally down to his last nickel, so when he sees two young boys performing on the street, he tosses the coin to them.  The boy who is obviously in charge of the operation, Arthur "Pinky" Thompson (Ted Donaldson), insists Jerry gets his nickel's worth, and look into the shoebox, which his friend holds.  Pinky plays "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" on his harmonica, as Jerry peers into the box.  There, Jerry sees Curley, young Pinky's pet caterpillar.   And Curley is dancing in time to the music.  Jerry hatches a plan - he will sign Pinky on as a client, sell Curley to the highest bidder, and use the proceeds to save his theatre. 

Having Cary Grant play Jerry contributes to making this film sympathetic.  It's hard to dislike Grant, but Jerry is eminently unlikeable.  He's vain and greedy - yes, he is having a bad stretch, but he is quite willing to betray a child to save himself.  At one point, he even slaps Pinky, but Grant is an actor who is able to come back from that incident, and make us believe that Jerry is repentant.  It is hard to think of either Bogart or Donlevy being able to re-engage the audience after that particular incident.  Though both are magnificent actors, both had been on the wrong side of the law too often to engender that kind of sympathy. 

Another almost-ran in the film was Rita Hayworth, but she went on suspension rather than accept the role of Pinky's sister Jeannie.  It's not hard to see why.  Janet Blair does her best with Jeannie, but there is precious little to work with.  Regardless, Blair had a respectable career, starting as one of the Three Girls About Town (1941).  She was Rosalind Russell's choice for Eileen in My Sister Eileen (1942),  and even ventured into television as Henry Fonda's wife in The Smith Family.  She died in 2007 of pneumonia, at age 85.  

The film shines all its light on Grant and Donaldson; while we have wonderful actors in the cast, including James Gleason as Jerry's right-hand man, McGillicuddy (aka The Moke) and William Demarest as a reporter named Brandt (who dislikes Flynn intensely), they get almost nothing to do.  But young Ted Donaldson shines in his first role - he is sweet and engaging as Pinky, but never sloppy.  He (and Grant) make us believe in a dancing caterpillar we never actually see.  This TCM article discusses the long, friendly relationship between Grant and Donaldson, with Grant (and then wife Betsy Drake) even attending Donaldson's high school graduation.  Years later, Donaldson would pen a heartfelt letter (synopsized in Evenings with Cary Grant) to Grant, thanking him for his friendship.  Donaldson would continue in films until 1953, appearing in the Rusty series and as Peggy Ann Garner's younger brother in the wonderful A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, as well as voicing Bud on the radio version of Father Knows Best. But, like so many child actors, he found no demand for her services as a teen and young adult, so left acting to write.  This chapter in Growing Up on the Set will provide some insight into Donaldson's later life.

We'll end this week's discussion with a clip of Cary Grant trying to get an "angel", in the form of a banker who is about to foreclose on the Flynn Theatre. While not a great film Once Upon a Time is worth a look, just to see Cary Grant. We'll return after the holiday!

Buster Crabbe goes PreCode

Search for Beauty is the final entry in the Pre-Code Hollywood DVD set, and what a hoot. Buster Crabbe (of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers fame) plays an Olympic swimmer who becomes an editor for a health magazine, only to discover the owners are interested in a sex magazine. One interesting point is that the movie opens at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, showing Crabbe's character, Don Jackson, winning the gold medal in the 400 meter swim meet - the event for which Crabbe actually won his gold medal. His best girl is played by Ida Lupino (appearing as a platinum blonde!). Both are hired by the magazine to give it credibility, while the publishers fill the rag with salacious pictures and stories.

There is lots of innuendo here; there are also male and female swimmers in showers; beauties in bathing suits and tight training outfits; ladies dancing on table tops in lingerie.  In this musical number, you can get a glimpse of some of the milder aspects of the movie:


But parts of the movie are even a bit racier:  there are also naked male bottoms. Early in the film, we venture into the locker room at the Olympics, to witness several young men running to showers bare bottomed. 

We found the combination of Buster Crabbe, as our upright hero, and Robert Armstrong, as our loose-moraled publisher (his character, Larry Williams, just got out of jail as a result of selling non-existent oil wells) amusing. And, of course, it is never hard to have James Gleason in a movie, even when his character is not quite on the right side of the moral.

Finally, do watch to see the scene in which Ida Lupino listens to two female writers relating the sensational stories they have written for the magazine. These two look like they should be teaching Latin, not writing salacious stories!

Next week, we start Forbidden Hollywood, 3