May (Adele Jergens) and Peggy Martin (Marilyn Monroe) are Ladies of the Chorus (1949) in a burlesque theatre. When the star of the current show resigns, May is asked to take the lead role, but instead sends out daughter Peggy. An instant hit with the audience, Peggy also is has an unknown admirer who sends orchids to her every day. After a few weeks, Peggy's curiosity gets the better of her, and she decides to find out the identity of her mystery man. She also finds love - and complications. Nowadays, this film is remembered as a Marilyn Monroe film - her first "starring" role, in fact. But when it was released (as you can see in the poster to the left), the "star" was actually Adele Jergens, and Ms. Monroe was given second billing. All that changed once Ms. Monroe became a phenomenon. The title credits of the film were altered - Marilyn Monroe was listed above the title, and poster art featured her picture, not that of Ms. Jergens (as you can see below). In 1949, this was a B picture that didn't rate big stars, and Ms. Monroe was certainly NOT a big star. This was her first - and only - movie at Columbia Pictures (more on that later). But Ms. Monroe is used to good advantage in the pictures, and she is engaging as the ingenue.
The casting of the film is interesting - there is only nine years between the mother and daughter (Ms. Jergens was only 31). The studio makeup people put a little grey in her hair to make the alleged age difference more convincing. Regardless, the two worked well together and were quite friendly, with Ms. Jergens becoming very protective of her younger co-star (TCM article). Their easy rapport is evident in the film and adds to the audience's enjoyment. Adele Jergens worked as a model, a chorus girl, a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, and a performer and understudy for Gypsy Rose Lee in the Broadway review Star and Garter. When Ms. Lee was ill, Ms. Jergens was able to step in, which led to a contract with Columbia. While there, she appeared primarily B movies (The Guardian). The year this film was released, she met her future husband (they were together for 40 years, until his death), Glenn Langan on the set of Treasure of Monte Cristo. After the birth of her son, she returned to work, primarily television, retiring from performing in 1956. She died of pneumonia at the age of 84, a year after her only son died of a brain tumor.
This was Marilyn Monroe's only Columbia film. It's been said that Harry Cohn propositioned her, and Ms. Monroe declined. Cohn, not noted for being a beneficent boss, cancelled her contract (Marilyn Monroe: Her Films, Her Life by Michelle Vogel). The rest, as they say, is history. Of course, once she became known, Columbia capitalized on her appearance in the film and changed the billing (as previously mentioned) (AFI catalog). This, by the way, is not the breathy Marilyn of later pictures - she's not yet the sexpot into which she would be molded.
The film really belongs to the women in the cast, including Nana Bryant as Adele Carroll, our hero's mother. Without giving too much away, her performance is a majro reason that this movie is a fun ride. Her actions take what could have been a really trite weeper and turn it into a delightful romance.
We do have a couple of male performers. Rand Brooks (Randy Carroll), best remembered today as Charles Hamilton (Scarlett's first husband in Gone with the Wind) is fine as the enamored society gent. He is very convincing in his big scene with May (asking for Peggy's hand in marriage). Eddie Garr (Billy Mackay) only has a few scenes as the man in love with May. Mr. Garr is probably best remembered today for being the father of actress Teri Garr.
There is one fairly inane scene in which Dave and Alan Barry play decorators Ripple and Ripple Jr. It wants to be a burlesque routine, but it really is just silly. Otherwise, this is an enjoyable film, and a chance to see Marilyn Monroe as you will never see her again.
TCM Presents for June was a real treat - a big screen presentation of Some Like it Hot (1959). #1 on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs, this film is among director Billy Wilder's masterworks. The story focuses on two musicians Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon) who inadvertently witness the murder of seven gangsters in Jazz Age Chicago. On the lam from kingpin "Spats" Colombo (George Raft) who ordered the massacre, Joe and Jerry don dresses, become Josephine and Daphne, and join and all-girl's band headed to Florida. Intending to get a free ride south and then head on to Mexico, Joe and Jerry instead are trapped with entanglements. Joe assumes the disguise of millionaire Shell Oil Junior at first to seduce girl singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe), but finds himself falling in love with her instead. Jerry, however, is being pursued by actual millionaire Osgood Fielding, III (Joe E. Brown), who is unaware of "Daphne's" actual genter. Added to this, there is the meeting of the Convention of Italian Opera Lovers Association in their hotel, headed by Little Bonaparte (Nehemiah Persoff) and attended by "Spats" and his cronies.
One of the nice things about seeing this film in a theatre is listening to people actually laughing at the jokes in a 58 year old movie. The story is timeless, and so is the dialogue. Jack Lemmon is especially funny - his switches back and forth from "I'm a girl" to "I'm a boy" are the icing on this gender-switching farce. His interactions with the unappreciated Joe E. Brown are also priceless bits of comedy. It's also fun to watch Billy Wilder incorporate references to old gangster films of the 1930s. Witness Edward G. Robinson, Jr. (as Johnny Paradise) mimic George Raft's Guino Rinaldo in Scarface with his coin-tossing antics. "Where did you pick up that cheap trick?" Raft asks. According to the AFI Catalog, Wilder wanted Edward G. Robinson to appear in the film, but Robinson declined. He despised George Raft, and had vowed never to work with him again. One wonders if he enjoyed watching his son gun down Robinson late in the film!
Another visitor from the land of the 1930s gangster picture is Pat O'Brien, who often played a good guy in those early films. Here he is again on the side of law and order as Mulligan, the police detective investigating the massacre. He's got some nice repartee with both Raft and Nehemiah Persoff, making his relatively small role memorable. Tony Curtis had some troubles with doing a falsetto (his lines as Josephine are partially dubbed by Paul Frees), but he had no problems doing his Cary Grant imitation (Grant would later jokingly tell Billy Wilder "I don't talk like that!!!" (The Guardian)). Curtis came up with the idea of doing Shell Oil Junior as Mr. Grant, rather than just talk like Joe. Wilder, who had always wanted to work with Mr. Grant, was amused. Curtis, who later did a tribute to Mr. Grant for TCM, stated that he wanted to imitate Mr. Grant because it implied culture, and because he had always wanted to work with Cary Grant. The film was originally to be shot in color, but the makeup that the men wore was just too outlandish in color. Though Marilyn Monroe had expected (and wanted) to appear in a color film, Billy Wilder showed her the color rushes - she agreed to the switch to black and white.
When you watch this film today, you wonder how Mr. Wilder and Mr. Diamond were able to pull of this very daring film (the film was condemned by the Catholic Church's Legion of Decency). Yet, despite its edginess, audiences embraced it when it opened (see this TCM Article for more on the film's release). Very loosely based on a German film (Fanfaren Der Liebe) in which two musicians cross-dress (among their many wardrobe changes) to get jobs, Wilder and Diamond added the 1930s gangster angle. Frank Sinatra and Mitzi Gaynor were considered for the parts of Jerry/Daphne and Sugar. At one point, Wilder wanted Danny Kaye and Bob Hope for Jerry and Joe, but ultimately decided on Curtis and Lemmon.
For
all those Star Trek fans out there, watch for Grace Lee Whitney (in the
unbilled role, Rosella). She's very obvious in the party scene on the
train to Florida.
Though it did well at the box office, it didn't garner all that many awards - Golden Globe Awards for both Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe (the Globe has awards for acting in comedies, which surely helped against the juggernaut of Ben Hur). History has been kinder the to the film, and besides being first on the AFI comedy list, it is also #22 on the AFI's 100 Years, 100 Films, 10th Edition, as well as #48 on AFI's 100 Greatest Quotes of All Time. I'm going to leave you with that quote. Quite frankly, the line IS perfect!
This month TCM Presentsoffered a theatrical screening of the story of the woman who is #23 (on the Villain side) of the Greatest Heroes and Villains of all time (according to the American Film Institute). We are speaking, of course, of Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) in All About Eve (1950) The event was hosted by TCM's own Ben Mankiewicz. In his commentary, he spoke briefly about his Uncle Joe, who at the 1951 Oscar ceremony took home two Oscars for the film as Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The was the second year in a row for him to receive the same awards: he had won the previous year, for A Letter to Three Wives, and he remains the only person in Oscar history to accomplish this feat. All About Eve was nominated for 14 awards (a record at the time. It has since been tied by Titanic), and won 6, including Best Picture. Two of the nominations were in the category of Best Actress. Both Bette Davis (Margo Channing) and Anne Baxter vied for the Award (Ms. Baxter was not willing to be nominated in the Supporting Category, since she was the title character). It's been speculated that they split the vote, resulting in Judy Holliday winning for her performance in Born Yesterday (certainly a worthy winner as well) If you are not familiar with the story, a few words are in order. On the evening of the annual Sarah Siddons Society Awards, Broadway actress Eve Harrington is being presented with its highest honor. From the audience, fellow awardees director Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill) and playwright Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), Lloyd's wife Karen (Celeste Holm), and famed actress Margo Channing look on. As she watches the action, Karen recalls the night she met Eve, introduced her to Margo, and changed their lives forever.
The film has a fascinating history, and I heartily recommend the book All About "All About Eve" by Sam Staggs. The film was based on a short story that appeared in Cosmopolitan. "The Wisdom of Eve" is allegedly based on a real incident involving actress Elisabeth Bergner and her secretary Martina Lawrence, but it has also been speculated that supposed impetusis a rivalry between Tallulah Bankhead and Lizabeth Scott, when Scott understudied Bankhead in The Skin of Our Teeth. Regardless of who was the factual inspiration, the screenplay gives us a portrait of a woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her goals - a woman who is just one in a long line of ambitious individuals. Once you've seen the film, it's hard to imagine anyone but Bette Davis in the role of Margo. She literally inhabits the character. However, Ms. Davis stepped in at the last minute when Claudette Colbert severely injured her back, and had to bow out. At age 42, Davis was fast becoming a has-been - her last part was in Beyond the Forest (1949), after which she and Warner Brothers studio bid each other a not-so-fond farewell. Beyond the Forest has one major claim to fame - it's the film in which Davis uttered the immortal - and often parodied line - "What a dump." When Joseph L. Mankiewicz called and offered her the part, if she could be ready in 10 days, she jumped. She credited Mankiewicz with "resurrecting her from the dead." (TCM article) Tallulah Bankhead would claim that the film was "all about" her. And while Ms. Davis steadfastly denied Ms. Bankhead as an inspiration, some aspects of the role do seem to very much hearken up images of Ms. Bankhead. When she started filming, Ms. Davis had laryngitis, so she maintained a lower
vocal range throughout the film - a voice that closely resembles that of Ms. Bankhead. The "surprise"
curtain call as Margo stands alone on the stage of "Aged in Wood" was
also taken directly from Ms. Bankhead, who it was reported used that
gimmick when she did her own curtain calls. And accidentally or not, Ms. Davis' most famous dress in the film looks amazingly like dresses worn by Ms. Bankhead (see below).
About the dress - Edith Head had to quickly alter or remake dresses for her new star. When Ms. Davis tried on the party dress, Ms. Head was horrified to realize that the dress was too big above the waist. Davis saved the day by pulling the neckline down around her shoulders, giving the dress a sexy (and coincidentally more Bankhead-like) look. Ms. Davis' is not the only stellar performance in the film. Anne Baxter is an impressive Eve, going from wide-eyed innocence to malevolence with the merest flick of an eye. Eve will use anyone and anything to get what she wants, and it is never more apparent than when she sets her cap at Lloyd Richards. Watch as she sexually manipulates her friend (Randy Stuart) to call Lloyd for her. There's a hint of relationship that's more than just friendly between the two.
Marilyn Monroe, in an early role as would-be actress Miss Casswell is quite amusing - the scene in which she sets set her sails to accost Max Fabian (Gregory Ratoff) after calling him an "unhappy rabbit" is priceless. And Celeste Holm brings charm and poise to the part of Karen. But for me, it's the "character" performances that make this film what it is. Let's start with Thelma Ritter as former vaudevillian, and Margo's dresser, Birdie Coonan. It sometimes seems that Birdie gets a good portion of the wonderful lines. For example, after Eve tells the story of her life, Birdie retorts "What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." Or, when Bill asks her what message she would like delivered to Tyrone Power once Bill arrives in Hollywood - "Just give him my phone number; I'll tell him myself." But more than the lines (and this is a phenomenal script for good lines), it is Ritter's delivery that makes them. Her Birdie is smart and cagey - she is the first person to spot Eve as a phony. As always, Thelma Ritter is a gem, and it is always sad for me that Birdie disappears in the last third of the film. But can any discussion of the perfect delivery of perfect lines be complete without a discussion of George Sanders. His Addison DeWitt (who may have been based on critic George Jean Nathan - AFI catalog). is a masterpiece of wit and malice. A theatre critic who describes himself as: "My native habitat is the theater. In it, I toil not, neither do I spin. I
am a critic and commentator. I am essential to the theater." We learn quickly that Addison is an impressive judge of people. Without a word, Sanders shows us that Addison, like Birdie, knows that something about Eve is not right. Eve, who has managed to play nearly everyone like a violin, does not realize Addison is not be played. Sanders is a perfect partner for Eve, and a perfect foil for Bill Sampson and Lloyd Richards, both of whom remain far to oblivious of Eve's manipulations for a very long time.
Claudette Colbert was not the only person considered for Margo - Susan Hayward (deemed too young), Ingrid Bergman (didn't want to leave Italy), Marlene Dietrich, and Gertrude Lawrence were all in the running at one time or another. Jeanne Crain was also considered for Eve, but her third pregnancy prevented her from getting the role (she and her husband eventually had 7 children). John Garfield and Ronald Reagan were discussed for Bill, and both Jose Ferrer and Clifton Webb mentioned as Addison. The film would be performed four times as radio productions (the last one, in 1954 featured Claire Trevor, Ann Blyth, William Conrad and Don Randolph). It would ultimately be remade as a musical - Applause, which starred Lauren Bacall as Margo in the original cast. (I saw it after Ms. Bacall left. Her replacement - Anne Baxter!) As I mentioned before, All About Eve is an awards favorite, and the praise just keeps on coming. It was #28 in AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies, and in 2014, Richard Brody of the New Yorker discussed the film as a commentary on the difference between film and theatre. But All About Eve was not just a film that was discovered later in its life. These reviews in Variety and the New York Times demonstrate that the film was immediately a critical hit. I'll leave you today with a clip from the film - perhaps the most famous line in the film (though there are others that are just as magnificent). It was voted #9 in AFI's 100 Greatest Quotes; so here's Ms. Davis warning us to "Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night"
The fishing town of Monterey, California is the setting of Clash by Night (1952), a film noir that features Barbara Stanwyck as Mae Doyle. Mae's been living in New York, the mistress of a wealthy married man. Though they were deeply in love, he was unable to divorce, and when he died, the small settlement he left her was taken back by her lover's family. Broke and depressed, May returns to her childhood home, now occupied by her brother Joe (Keith Andes). Mae's beauty and strength of character attracts a gentle fisherman Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas), as well as his friend, the cynical and callous Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan). Though frightened of marriage, Mae decides that Jerry might be her salvation, even though she is dangerously attracted to Earl. Clash by Night is very intense film, and as such, it is hard to actually LIKE it. We have characters we can understand, but many of whom are terribly hard to admire. Stanwyck's Mae Doyle is at the top of the list. She was born in Monterey, but left because she hated it there. Now she's back, but she still hates the place. Why does she return? Wasn't there somewhere else she could go? And strong as she is, was it so impossible to stick it out in New York City, where it seemed she was happy? Stanwyck, in a sense, creates a character that is a cypher. We never really know Mae, a woman who wants to be happy, but can't seem to find real contentment. Her marriage to Jerry seems an act of desperation. And though she loves her child, her sorrow and pain after her daughter's birth hint at the least of post-partum depression- or perhaps we are just looking for an excuse for her misery.
Jerry, as played by Paul Douglas is a sympathetic character, but also a weak, and sometimes pathetic,man. His love for Mae is genuine. He is a good and loving father to their daughter, Gloria, but he is manipulated by everyone. Earl, who is supposedly his friend, ridicules him. His Uncle Vince (J. Carrol Naish) uses him as a source of money, and as a tool for vengeance on Mae (Uncle Vince's predilection for pornographic poster art, and his constant "requests" for money put Mae in the position of asking her husband to get Vince out of the house. You can't blame her for that). And Mae, who cares for him but has no love for him, consents to marry him - with his knowledge that there is no love - in order to have a caretaker and provider. So, while you feel for Jerry, it's difficult to like him, he is such a patsy.
Robert
Ryan, who played the part of Joe (Mae's brother) in the original
Broadway cast of the play, was the only cast member to appear in the
movie (the play featured Tallulah Bankhead as Mae and Lee J. Cobb as
Jerry). Ryan, as Earl, gives us a portrait of a man who is a lost
soul. Too intelligent for his job as a movie projectionist but too
unambitious to do anything else, Earl spends his life drinking too much
and ridiculing everyone and everything around him. Mae, who is
initially repulsed by Earl's negativity, finally responds both to his
sexuality and to his intellect. But in the final analysis, Earl is not
someone who can even take care of himself, much less a wife and child.
Should Mae leave with him, we wondered how long it would be before he
abandoned her and the child for which he has no regard or affection.
Perhaps the most attractive characters in the story are Joe and Peggy
(Marilyn Monroe). Peggy deeply loves Joe - and he loves her - but she
is no victim. Their love ultimately is one of equals, and will succeed
because of their commitment to one another. Ms. Monroe was really
breaking through in this small, but pivotal role. And while her
relationship with Stanwyck was cordial, the seeds of her later problems
had already begun. According to this TCM article,
director Fritz Lang was frustrated by her lateness and inability to
remember her lines. Stanwyck, however, never lost her cool, and would
do repeated takes when Monroe forgot her lines. Ultimately, Stanwyck
would comment, after Monroe's death that Monroe "drove Bob Ryan, Paul
Douglas, and myself out of our minds." However, "she didn't do it
viciously, and there was a sort of magic about her which we all
recognized at once."
The film, not surprisingly, changed a great deal of the play (by Clifford Odets). The setting is changed from Depression-era Staten Island, New York (which, of course, makes Mae's return far less drastic). And the endings of the play and film are far different (no spoilers, should you want more information take a look at this article in the AFI Catalog). Joan Crawford, Jeff Chandler, and Mala Powers were considered at one point for the parts of Mae, Earl and Peggy, all interesting choices. Regardless, without Stanwyck's powerful and layered performance, this film would likely have fallen apart (this New York Timesreview comments on the strength of the performances in a film that they don't necessarily think holds together).
As we've said before, any Stanwyck movie is worth a look, and this certainly is, not only for her, but also for strong performances from Robert Ryan and Paul Douglas. And the opportunity to see Marilyn Monroe before she became a love goddess is a treat. We will leave you with this clip from the film, in which Mae returns to her brother's home, and meets the woman he wants to marry.
