The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) is an unusual film, in that it feature Joan Crawford playing an historical person and is set in the 1820s and 1830s. Never before, nor again, would Crawford tackle a period piece, which makes this a fascinating diversion.
Crawford plays Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal Timberlake Eaton, an innkeeper's daughter who becomes influential in the Andrew Jackson (Lionel Barrymore) White House, following her marriage to Secretary of War John Eaton (Franchot Tone). Her common birth, her forthrightness, and her earlier marriage to John "Bow" Timberlake (Robert Taylor) make her an easy target for gossip. And then there is her relationship with John Randolph (Melvyn Douglas). She loves him, he claims not to love her, but then he realizes too late that he does have feelings for her.
It's hard to imagine a studio other than MGM being able to assemble this much talent in one movie. Besides the already mentioned Crawford, Tone, Taylor, and Douglas, we also have James Stewart as "Rowdy" Dow, Lionel Barrymore as Andrew Jackson, Beulah Bondi as Rachel Jackson, Sidney Toler as Daniel Webster, and Louis Calhern as Sunderland. With the exception of Crawford and Barrymore, the supporting actors have minimal screen time. Certainly, Taylor and Stewart had not yet achieved the level of stardom that we are familiar with (Taylor's breakout in Camille was 4 months away, while Stewart would wait another 2 years before You Can't Take it With You.); yet Taylor gets second billing under Crawford, in spite of being in only about 1/3 of the film (no spoilers here; you have to watch the film to find out why). We particularly enjoyed a scene in which Peggy and Bow are sewn into adjacent beds so there will be no
hanky-panky.
Crawford's Peggy is very sweet; and also quite bright - she does
the accounting for her father's inn, and she is shown as being quite savvy about business. As always, Crawford creates a strong
and feminine character (with the assistance of Adrian, in his creation of some spectacular period dresses). Despite this, Crawford felt that the audience - always her career arbiter - did not like her in costume roles, and so she opted to not appear in an historical drama again. This TCM article discusses the public reception - or lack thereof - of the film.
The article also discusses the personal life of Lionel Barrymore in some detail. Barrymore's severe arthritis had already become a problem. He could still stand, though doing so was painful; walking was next to impossible. He was also dealing with his wife's illness - an illness that would claim her life 4 months later. Barrymore's relationship with the always wonderful Beulah Bondi - in her Oscar-nominated role - is warm and loving; acting as a counterpoint to the blustering, somewhat abrasive politician. One particularly funny scene with Barrymore involved an unnamed character actress - the mother of one of the cabinet wives - who congratulates Jackson for his successful put-down of her daughter.
The character of John
Randolph is, however, a frustrating one. While his reluctance to become involved with a girl he'd known
since she was a child is understandable, Randolph seems hell-bent on being unhappy, and making Peggy unhappy as well. Even when it seems that love is within their grasp, he is unable to compromise to unite them. Certainly, Jackson is equally to blame for Peggy's eventual unhappiness, but it's easier to blame Randolph, with his easy assumption that Peggy's beliefs should take second place to his own. It's not one of Douglas' better roles; a bit too angst-y for our taste.
We found it interesting that the author
of the book The Gorgeous Hussy, Samuel Hopkins Adams, also wrote the
book The Harvey Girls and the story Night Bus (which became It Happened One
Night). An article in the American Journal of Public Health discusses his career as a "journalist and muckraker".
Ms. Crawford was likely correct to eschew historical pictures after this. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable film and worth viewing.
A Night to Remember (1942) is one of those films that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be when it grows up. Screwball comedy? Horror? Suspense? Romance? Take your pick, because the film really doesn't do any of them very well.
The film opens on Nancy (Loretta Young) and Jeff Troy (Brian Aherne). They have just arrived at their new Greenwich Village basement apartment, which Nancy found for them (Jeff's never been there before). He's a hack mystery writer (he writes as Jeff Yort), and wants to work in the Village, in hopes of writing the Great American Novel. They have arrived early (without notifying their landlord), and are stunned that the apartment isn't ready for them (who arrives two days early, and expects to just move in? They haven't even paid for the apartment yet). But the real problem is, the landlord is more frightened than annoyed that they are there. And there is this weird housekeeper who says something keeps crawling on her feet.
The film is extremely repetitious. The housekeeper keeps telling the same story over and over; there is a door that is always getting stuck. It's like the writers had a few jokes, and decided they could keep using them. Rather than build on humor, the repetitions become inane.The one humorous bit is the introduction of Old Hickory, a turtle that was the mascot of the speakeasy that used to be in the apartment building. Old Hickory keeps turning up (scaring everyone), and MANY people, including the police inspector investigating the murder (of course, there is a murder!), are fans of Old Hickory.
The film is based on the third in a series of nine mystery books about the exploits of
Jeff and Haila Troy, entitled The Frightened Stiff. There was also a Screen Guild Theatre radio production of the film, with Lucille Ball playing Nancy Troy and Brian Donlevy playing Jeff on May 1, 1944.
The supporting cast is good, albeit not well used. Sidney Toler
as Inspector Hankins (shades of Charlie Chan!) is the only smart one within a group of fairly dumb police officers, That's probably why he is an inspector. At one point, Jeff comments that the police are no longer allowed to used rubber hoses during an interrogation - shades of the Miranda Warning!.
You get to see the wonderful Lee Patrick
(playing apartment house resident Polly Franklin) right away, but you have to wait quite a while before Gale Sondergaard
(as Mrs. DeVoe) shows up. Both are fun to watch. We would have liked to have seen more of them, as both Aherne and Young got a bit annoying after awhile.
As the movie opens, it has a creepy air. We felt that the writers should have emphasized that suspense aspect more, as we think they would have had a better movie. Not that humor and murder can't be done - Miss Pinkerton, which we saw a bit ago, was able to do it. So did the wonderful Cat and the Canary. But the problem with A Night to Remember is that nothing really makes sense. Why would the landlord would rent an apartment in the building to an outsider, when he and all the tenants are so frightened that an outsider will discover their crimes. And, the ending is very abrupt. The murderer is revealed with almost no explanation, and the film is over.
We kinda
liked the little apartment, though, with its private garden in the back. It is supposed to be on Gay Street, which is a
real Village street. But other than that (and Old Hickory), this movie was missing that certain something that makes you want to come back for more. It's no wonder there were no further Troy mysteries.
