Robert Loves a Nurse

Robert Montgomery stars as Lieutenant Wally O'Brien in War Nurse (1930).  The film opens at the outbreak of the First World War.  American women from all parts of the country and all walks of life daydream about becoming a war nurse.  Each has their own reason, and their own view of the mission.  The film follows the lives of  Barbara (Babs) Whitney (June Walker), Joy Meadows (Anita Page), Cushie (ZaSu Pitts), Rosalie "Brooklyn" Parker (Marie Prevost), and Marian "Kansas" (Helen Jerome Eddy) as the women venture to France to nurse the wounded. 

Though Mr. Montgomery is given top billing, this film really is about the nurses - all of them.  Sure, Babs is our "heroine", but each of the women has an interesting backstory and a distinct personality.  We grow to like all of them, and to admire their dedication to an awful and dangerous job.  The men in the story are the window dressing; the women are its heart.

Some movies are eternal, and it doesn't really matter when they are filmed.  Some are time capsules of their era.  In a sense, War Nurse is both.  This film looks back 12 years to "the War to end all wars," yet we know what the characters and filmmakers do not.  That, in a scant 8 years, the world will be at war again.  And though the technology may change, the effects of war and the work of the nurse do not.  We can empathize with the characters because their struggle represents the struggle of all nurses in a war zone. 

Based on the book 1930 book War Nurse: The True Story of a Woman Who Lived, Loved and Suffered on the Western Front (AFI Catalog), this is an excellent and compelling story.  We only had one minor complaint with the film, the levity that was inserted into the script felt forced and flat.  Not that one wants the film to be oppressing, but often the wisecracking just didn't belong.  It sometimes seemed to interrupt the flow of the action, and we were eager for the story to continue.

 

June Walker, in the role of Babs, is just wonderful.  Her scenes with Mr. Montgomery have a real feeling of truth.  We were especially impressed by the scene in which Wally visits her in her small flat.  Their interplay is excellent, and you come out of the scene sympathizing with both of them for different reasons.  Ms. Walker had a long career, in both television and theatre.  In 1926 (after making one short silent and one silent feature), she married writer/actor Geoffrey Kerr.  They had one child, actor John Kerr.  The marriage lasted until 1942, after which Ms. Walker made a few movies, but primarily appeared in television, working until 1960.   She also had a long career on Broadway, beginning in 1919, and working until 1958.  She appeared in 34 plays including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1926, as Lorelei Lee), Waterloo Bridge (1930, as Myrna), and The Middle of the Night (1956).  Ms. Walker died in 1966.   

Hedda Hopper is appealing in the small part of Matron Townsend, an experienced, no-nonsense nurse, who looks over both the male patients and her nurses (see this TCM article).  Robert Ames as Robin Neil is also good.  Ames died the year after this film was released.  A severe alcoholic, Ames was trying to recover, but it is suspected that his sudden withdrawal from alcohol resulted in his death (which was attributed to delirium tremens).

We were especially intrigued with ZaSu Pitts as Cushie (her work in the film is briefly noted in this New York Times review).  With her sad face and voice, Ms. Pitts sound career was frequently in comedies.  In the early 30s, she was often partnered with Thelma Todd, in what has often been referred to as Hal Roach's feminine version of Laurel and Hardy (like Stan and Ollie, Thelma and ZaSu also used their real names in these films).  During the silent era, Ms. Pitts received much deserved praise for her work in Greed (1921); in the sound era, a film to not miss is her performance in Ruggles of Red Gap (1935).  She worked steadily, easily moving into television in the 1940s (she was a regular on The Gale Storm Show - also known as Oh, Susanna); her last film was released after her death from cancer in 1963: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  Ms. Pitts was also an author: she penned a book Candy Hits by ZaSu Pitts, which was published just after her death. Her unusual name was a combination of her two birth names EliZA SUsan (pronounced "Zay-soo").

Though a precode film, the characters of Joy and Robin are both punished for their sins (for more on the plot, and an interesting discussion, visit this Pre-code.com review).  For a modern audience, the lack of background music and special effects (a bombing sequence is very clearly backscreen projection), can be surprising.  Regardless, you are still seeing a grim picture of the war, without viewing a lot of blood and gore.  

We'll leave you with this clip from the film.  We highly recommend it.

Jean Moves to the City

Three Wise Girls (1932) stars Jean Harlow as Cassie Barnes, a small-town beauty who is sick of being badly paid in a local soda fountain so her boss can paw her.  Encouraged by the success of a another young woman from town, Cassie moves to New York City, where she finds more of the same kinds of bosses.  One day, she finally decks the latest sexually abusive boss, gets fired, but manages to get her pending pay with the help of Jerry Wilson (Walter Byron), a visitor to the shop.  Cassie's life turns around when her inspiration for her move, Gladys Kane (Mae Clark) helps her get a job as a model.  Cassie begins to date Jerry, not knowing that Jerry is a married man, and that her life is taking the same sad path as that of Gladys - in love with a man who can provide nothing but a fancy apartment. 

The film is very reminiscent  of the previously discussed Our Blushing Brides, which starred Joan Crawford as a woman facing challenges similar to those of Cassie. Harlow is quite good in her first starring role as a young woman with drive, but with scruples.  Our introduction to her, as Cassie walks home after her date attempts to go too far, gives us an immediate insight into her character.  We were also very amused at the scene in which she tries to get a job as a model.  Her idea of how a model would walk is a hoot.

Marie Prevost is wonderful as Dot, Cassie's roommate.  Dot is content to find happiness with an ordinary man and to live within her budget.  Prevost's turn of phrase is always amusing, and she makes a good counterpoint to the more ambitious Cassie. It's a shame that Marie Prevost didn't have a more substantial career in the sound era.  Though active in silent films (she made a total 121 silent films); her career never really seems to have taken off in talkies.  After 1933, offers began to peter off, and she found herself unable to get roles.   She died in 1937, at age 38, the result of alcoholism and malnutrition.  Interestingly, her sad life was one of the motivating factors for the creation of the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital.

We also enjoyed  Walter Byron as Jerry.  He too started in the silent era, most notably in Queen Kelly, starring Gloria Swanson in the title role.  Byron had a fairly busy career in the 1930s, but by the end of that decade, he was appearing primarily in uncredited roles.  So, in 1942, he retired.  He died in 1972 at age 72.

It was enjoyable to see Andy Devine in a small role as Callahan, Jerry's chauffeur and Dot's love interest. And the lovely Mae Clark as Gladys was very good.  One forgets that Mae did a lot more than get a grapefruit shoved in her face.  She worked widely in the 1930s, in such films as Frankenstein (as Elizabeth), the 1931 Waterloo Bridge (as Myrna), and Penthouse.  Later in her career, she worked in supporting roles and in television until 1970.  She died in 1992 at age 81.

Though the film was not as well received as the studio would have liked, as this TCM article points out, Harlow hit a popular note, and a star was born.