When an independent working woman chooses marriage over career, the results are disastrous in Crime of Passion (1957), starring Barbara Stanwyck as Kathy Ferguson Doyle and Sterling Hayden as police detective, Lieutenant Bill Doyle. Kathy is a columnist on a San Francisco newspaper - she writes the an "advise to the lovelorn" feature. Trusted by her readership, she manages to convince a woman who murdered her husband to turn herself in, resulting in the offer of a better job in New York, and a successful collar for LA based detectives Doyle and his partner Charlie Alidos (Royal Dano). But, Kathy, who has always disliked the thought of marriage (she says that "for marriage, read life sentence"), falls passionately in love with Bill, and consents to a whirlwind marriage. She quits her job, settles in LA with Bill, and tries to become a housewife. Bill's lack of ambition, however, frustrates Kathy, who is now trying to live her life through him. She devises a plan - get friendlier with Bill's boss, Chief Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr) and his wife, Alice (Fay Wray), in order to wrangle a promotion for Bill. In doing so, she begins to alienate the Alidos, (Virginia Grey as Sara), who have similar goals, creating problems for herself and for Bill. This TCM article hits on a point that we found seminal about this film - "it seems to be a strikingly modern commentary about how women were driven
mad by the limitations imposed on them in the postwar period." Indeed, for women today, Kathy's dilemma is quite contemporary, making the film both enjoyable and disturbing. When a woman, used to doing things herself, used to having the drive to succeed, marries someone who is entirely different from herself, is now bound to house and home, and can find no kindred spirit with whom to commune, is madness the ultimate outcome? It's obvious that Kathy is attracted to the police community - at dinner parties she wanders away from the female conversation (where they discuss recipes and television - much as she predicted prior to her marriage) to the room filled with police officers, where she is clearly unwelcome. Stanwyck, in her last film noir (see Eddie Muller's Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir) is both strident and desperate as a woman falling apart at the seams.
Sterling
Hayden is perfect as Bill Doyle - a nice guy, and a good detective, but rather banal - and Hayden seriously plays up the banal. Stanwyck was pleased at the idea of Hayden in the part (according to Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck by Ella Smith), but one thing bothered her. She was distressed by his rather badly
tailored suits, so they had a conversation and he got some better clothing (perhaps not entirely in character, but Hayden makes even good clothing looked rumpled). The biggest question though is, what we attract Kathy to Doyle, to the extent she would sacrifice everything for which she has worked. Hayden is certainly an attractive man, but one doesn't doubt that Kathy has ever lacked for male attention. He wants exactly the opposite of what she wants - he desires a "happy marriage... children and a home." Does the fact that Kathy (and Stanwyck) are no longer in their prime factor into her decision? It's hard to say. With the exception of Alice Pope, women don't come off very well in this film. Kathy spends much of the film verging on hysteria, and Sara Alidos is a manipulative conniver and vicious gossip. But, as portrayed by Fay Wray, Alice is different. She relishes her career as a homemaker, loves her husband, and would be far happier if he were home with her. She is the only genuinely sweet, unpretentious woman in the film, and Kathy finds herself liking Alice almost despite herself. In this review of the film from the New York Times, the reviewer joyously welcome Ms. Wray back to the screen. After a second marriage (to writer/producer Robert Riskin) in 1942, the actress whose beauty slew the beast in 1933, retired. However, she returned to both the screen (on occasion) and to television (more frequently - most notably with Raymond Burr in Perry Mason) in 1953. She retired again in 1980 - and turned down roles in Titanic and in the Peter Jackson King Kong. She died in 2004, aged 94; the Empire State Building dimmed its lights in her memory several days later.
Unfortunately, the film didn't do well at the box office - perhaps because it can be hard to watch. With the exception of Bill and Alice, this is a movie people by unpleasant individuals. And, in an era where television was now supplying most of the entertainment, this was not a film which parents could make as a night out with the children. But it is perhaps that "stark intensity" (as this New Yorkercommentary puts it) that makes the film so powerful today.
We'll leave you with this early scene in which Kathy meets Bill and the obnoxious Captain Alidos. His first comment to her, "your work should be raising a family, having dinner ready for him when he gets home," sets the tone for the film, as we also see Kathy writing for all the downtrodden women out there. Next week, we'll see Ms. Stanwyck again go up against male chauvinism in a much earlier (and much more lighthearted) film.
As promised, this week we viewed the1953 So Big, with Jane Wyman as Selina Peake DeJong. It's fun and interesting to view these films back-to-back. This version is considerably longer than the 1932 film. A lot of information that we lacked in the earlier film in filled in here. For example, the love between Selina and Pervus (Sterling Hayden) is very clearly delineated in this version. Certainly, Pervus is not an educated man; as with the first film, their love grows as she teaches him enough arithmetic to survive in the Haymarket. But this Pervus is a loving man, who calls his wife "Little Lina" and brings her wildflowers, because their land will not support a flower garden. But Jane Wyman's Selina is not as self-reliant as Barbara Stanwyck's Selina. This Selina is not able to vend her produce in the Haymarket, and the growth of her farm is largely due to the intervention of August Hempel (Jaques Aubuchon), the father of her old friend Julie (Elizabeth Fraser). There is a narrative voice (not any of the characters; assumedly, it is the voice of the author) who makes it clear that August was the prime mover in Selina's success. However, a quick review of the book plot reveals that the the 1932 version of the film is actually closer to the book in this regard. Selina makes a success of the farm on her own, not because of old friends.
Another change here is Selina's father, who is remarkably cleaned up. In the book (and in the Stanwyck film), Mr. Peake is a gambler, and the victim of a murder. Here, he is a stockbroker, and dies of a heart attack, as he unsuccessfully attempts to preserve his fortune for his daughter. We do gain a lovely piece of dialogue, however, that was lost in the last film and preserves for us the theme of Ferber's novel. Mr. Peake tells his daughter that: "there are only two kinds of people in the world that really count. One
kind's wheat and the other kind's emeralds." The wheat are the people
who feed us; the emeralds are those that create the beauty in the world. Of course, Selina becomes wheat, while the life she desires for Dirk is that of emeralds. (In the prior film, this line was given to Roelf, towards the end of the film). In this version, we never see Mr. Peake, only his portrait, which becomes integral to the development in the story.
There are some other interesting changes from the earlier movie. Young Roelf Poole, played by here Richard Beymer, is a musician (rather than a painter), which allows Selina to be his tutor both in reading and in music (the film opens with Selina playing the piano). Dirk in this version is considerably older in this when his father dies, which makes his contributions to their work in the Haymarket much more convincing. And finally, there is the introduction of Selina's friend, Julie and her daughter Paula (played by Martha Hyer) Julie is portrayed as a good woman who, unlike her daughter, is not a snob; she cares for Selina despite the fact that Selina is now poor. Paula, on the other hand, values only money, and becomes the temptress who lures Dirk away from the "emerald" life his mother desires for him. The film contains some lovely performances - Jane Wyman is excellent as Selina, and Steve Forrest (who died this past May) is quite good as the grown Dirk. It was a pleasant surprise to see Tommy Rettig as the young Dirk DeJong. Nancy Olsen, however, as Dallas O'Mara was unimpressive, especially since we had just seen Bette Davis conquer the character in the previous version. The pluck and humor of Dallas was lost here; Olsen seems to spout platitudes, making it hard to see why Dirk is so taken with her. The performance that really stands out, however, was that of Sterling Hayden. He imbues Pervus with humanity. His good looks, combined with his strength and his gentleness finally revealed what attracts Selina. He is a gentle man, a man of the land, and a man whose love for his wife, his son, and his farm run deep.
In conclusion, we thought the 1953 version contained the better script (though we were a tad annoyed that the character of Selina was weakened by the interventions of August Hempel.) And while Jane Wyman was exceptional, the performances of Barbara Stanwyck and Bette Davis really sold us on the 1932 film. Here is the trailer from the Jane Wyman film, to introduce you to the major characters:
We begin today a series of viewing devoted to the films of Joan
Crawford. We are rather bound to what is in our personal collections,
but I think we can promise you some interesting choices.
We begin with one of her odder films - 1954's Johnny Guitar.
First off, it is rather strange to see Joan in a Western. I don't
believe she had ever done one before, nor did she ever do another one.
As directed by Nicholas Ray, this is also a very peculiar western. For
one thing, the lead protagonists are two women: Vienna,
as played by Joan Crawford has opened a gambling saloon just outside
town, as she waits for her land's value to appreciate with the arrival
of the railroad; and Emma Small, a local rancher who loathes Vienna for a
number of reasons, not the least of it is Emma's attraction to The
Dancing Kid (Scott Brady), who rather has eyes for Vienna. In this scene, Johnny and Emma hint at their past:
The
whole movie is centered around the conclusion, the battle between
Vienna and Emma. More than a simple catfight, it is the kind of battle
one normally expects of the male rivals in the film. In fact, for the
most part, the men are rather weak. Sure, Vienna has hired Johnny Guitar
(Sterling Hayden) to work for her - he is a reformed gunfighter and her
former lover - but he revolves within her orbit, not she around his.
Vienna and Emma are clearly alpha females. The men do their bidding.
The
personal antagonism of Ms. Crawford and Ms. McCambridge has become the
stuff of legend. On screen, they spit fire at one another. The film is
both electric and fascinating for its oddness. It verges on film noir,
yet it isn't quite.
Costuming is an important feature in Johnny Guitar.
Witness Vienna, posed in her flowing white dress, positioned next to
Emma in her black mourning weeds: Even when Vienna switches to clothing
that is less conspicuous, she puts on a blazing red shirt - matched
precisely to Ms. Crawford's bold red lipstick. Crawford
looks tall and stately (though she was only 5'4"), next to the "tiny"
Mercedes McCambridge (who was 5'3"). Even Ms. McCambrige's name in the
story - Small - speaks to her personal and physical attributes. As a
result, Vienna always stands out. Ms. Crawford makes sure of that!
Next time, we'll go on to a much earlier Crawford film. Please join us.
