Ann Has a Secret

John Shadwell (John Boles) and Vergie Winters (Ann Harding) were planning to marry, but Vergie's father (Edward Van Sloan) told John that Vergie is instead marrying Hugo McQueen (Creighton Chaney). In pain, John marries Laura Shadwell (Helen Vinson) on the rebound. But Jim Winters had been paid $10,000 to tell the lie, and trick John into the marriage with Laura. Unable to divorce his wife, John visits Vergie on a regular basis, while his political star begins to rise. Our film this week is The Life of Vergie Winters (1934).

Based on Louis Bromfield's short story (AFI catalog), this film is similar to the stories that are told in Forbidden (1932) and Back Street (1932) - a couple whose true love is thwarted by circumstance, but stay together despite the rules of society. And while this is not an original plot, Ann Harding makes Vergie so likable that you don't really care that you know the story. You keep watching just to see her. 

There are class issues regarding Vergie's potential marriage to John which assist the Shadwells' lies; and Laura is eager to marry a man with political possibilities. Vergie, however, is seemingly well regarded (initially) by the community. A milliner with a popular store, her wealthy clientele are friendly with her (albeit only during business hours). When her secret life becomes more public, she loses her society shoppers, but inherits a new customer base, represented by Pearl Turner (Cecil Cunningham), a local madam. Rich or poor, Vergie displays an easy relationship with her customers.

The film also has an interesting "innovation" not a part of the previously mentioned movies. The Life of Vergie Winters uses narratage (New York Times review); the inner monologues of the townpeople at the opening of the film (the film actually begins with John's death and Vergie's imprisonment) serve as a kind of Greek chorus, preparing the audience for the story that is about to unfold. The technique was very reminiscent of the inner monologue in Strange Interlude (1932) and is interesting, if a bit stylized.

Frank Albertson (Ranny Truesdale) is the kind of man every woman wants to marry. His love for Joan Shadwell (Betty Furness) is deep; when the couple discover Joan is adopted, Joan suggests they break the engagement, since her background is so nebulous. Ranny complies - he demands his ring back; then asks for her hand and places the ring back on her finger. No further discussion of the subject is required (much to the disgust of Laura Shadwell). Ranny is a true gentleman, and Mr. Albertson gives him a warmth that makes him very engaging.

Helen Vinson, on the other hand, plays Laura as a opportunistic witch. She has no regard for John; she wants the prestige that his political possibilities will provide and nothing more. It's pretty apparent that the marriage is eventually one of convenience; it's also clear that she has no use for the child that she has taken into her home (the end of the film - without giving much away - substantiates that). Ms. Vinson's career was primarily playing the "other woman." She started on Broadway, appearing in four plays between 1927 and 1932, then went to Hollywood, where she would make 40 films, including Jewel Robbery (1932), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), and In Name Only (1939). Her final film was The Thin Man Goes Home (1945). Married for the third time to Donald Hardenbrook the following year, she left film at her husband's request. They were married until his death in 1976; Ms. Vinson died in 1999 at the age of 92.

One of the most appealing people in the film is that of Joan. We first see her as a girl of about 11 (played by Bonita Granville). She's an engaging child, kind to Vergie (who she has been told to avoid). The interaction between Ms. Harding and Ms. Granville is touching. The character does not alter as she ages - Betty Furness is lovely as a woman who has somehow stayed a good and loving person, despite being raised by a viper. 

There are a few other actors who should be mentioned - Lon Chaney, Jr. (still listed as Creighton Chaney - his true given name) has a few scenes as Hugo McQueen, the man Vergie's father says she is marrying. Donald Crisp is the villain of the piece as Mike Davey, a local pub owner who despises John. Sara Haden is Winnie Belle, the woman who has set her cap on Vergie's despicable father. Ben Alexander, who would later gain fame as the first of Jack Webb's partners in Dragnet, appears as Laura's brother Barry. And Walter Brennan has a brief scene as a rumor-spreading drunk.

The New York Times review by Mordaunt Hall was indifferent; the film was "important" enough that it opened at Radio City Music Hall. It probably will come as no surprise that the film landed on the Catholic Church's Condemned List, which also helped it to do well at the box office (TCM article).  But, with a release date of June 14, 1934, it's at the end of the pre-code era - the new regulations took effect on July 1st, and would effectively have made this film impossible to release in its current state. So, while it is not the most original of plots, it is handled well, and it's always a pleasure to see Ann Harding at her peak.  We enjoyed it, and think you will as well.

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:

Barbara Marries Joel

Banjo on My Knee (1936) begins at the wedding of Pearl Elliott (Barbara Stanwyck) to Ernie Hollie (Joel McCrea).  Ernie and his father, Newt (Walter Brennan) live and work on the Mississippi, they are, as the introduction to the story tells us, part of a community of riverboat people who live outside of towns.  Pearl is an outsider (we are not told how she and Ernie met), just that she was a servant in her past life, has little education (she never got past the 4th grade, and can just barely read and write her name), and she loves Ernie dearly.  She is readily embraced by her new community, with the exception of Leota Long (Katherine de Mille), and it looks like all will be well.  But the arrival of Mr. Slade (Victor Kilian), a local businessman, creates a problem - he gets fresh with Pearl, Ernie decks him, and everyone thinks Mr. Slade (who fell over the side of the boat) is dead.  Ernie has to get out of town immediately.  Of course, Mr. Slade is fine, Ernie returns from 6 months at sea with money in his pocket.  And a plan - he is going to leave again (and leave Pearl) to head to Aruba, where he will set up a home for them.  Incensed, Pearl leaves him; first Ernie, then Newt go looking for her.  But Ernie is a man with a temper, who doesn't have the best judgement in the world, so finding Pearl becomes very complicated. 

Stanwyck's Pearl is an appealing character.  Despite her lack of education, she is intelligent and self-sufficient.  She didn't marry Ernie to support her - we quickly see that she is well able to take care of herself.  She is also honest and forthright.  When Warfield Scott (Walter Catlett) takes her to New Orleans to "work" for him, she arranges to pay back his expenses, rather than become his mistress.  Her relationship with her father-in-law also demonstrates the character's virtues.  In the long run, Newt is much more sympathetic to his daughter-in-law than he is to his son.  A little willing suspension of disbelief is needed in the film - though Stanwyck is supposed to be a poor girl, she's got awfully nice clothing (costumes by Gwen Wakeling). We also get the added treat of seeing Stanwyck, the Broadway performer.  She again is allowed to do her own singing, and dances a perky routine with Buddy Ebsen (Buddy).

Joel McCrea, on the other hand, has a fairly thankless role as Ernie.  Ernie is an immature idiot, and is not very good husband material.  In fact, we found Ernie to be very reminiscent of Ed, the character he plays in The Primrose Path.  Given the choice of Pearl ending up with Ernie or Chick Bean (Anthony "Tony" Martin), we were rooting for Chick, a much more attractive character.   

Joel McCrea very much wanted to work with Stanwyck again after they appeared in Gambling Lady (1934), and the feeling was mutual.  Stanwyck requested McCrea as her leading man in  Internes Can't Take Money (noted for being the first Dr. Kildare movie).  And McCrea returned the favor when her requested her as is his lead in Trooper Hook (1957), their final of 6 films together.  For more information on their partnership and friendship, visit these TCM articles.

The opening of the film is a bit slow, but once Pearl relocates to New Orleans, the action picks up.  William Faulkner was hired to do some of the dialogue writing on the film, but none of what he wrote survived; Nunnally Johnson gets the actual screenwriting credit.  The country background is always evident; even when Newt and Pearl go to the city, Newt's contraption is a constant reminder of his rural roots.  His determination to play "St. Louis Blues" to his son and bride on their wedding night calls up the idea of the country shivaree.

The film is full of notable character actors.  Walter Brennan, the man who was never young, plays Ernie's father, Newt.  Brennan, whose career would span from 1925 to 1975, with (according to the IMDB) 243 screen and television credits, is probably best known to some of us as the lead in The Real McCoys.  His film career is notable, winning an Oscar (the same year as this film) for Come and Get It, and appearing in such highly regarded films as Meet John Doe (1941), To Have and Have Not (1944), My Darling Clementine (1946),  and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), to name a VERY few.  He was married for 54 years to his wife, Ruth (until his death in 1974 at the age of 80).  A noted conservative, he actually campaigned against Richard Nixon in 1972 for being too liberal.

Buddy Ebsen had nearly as long a career as Brennan, though he really made his greatest mark in television, most memorably in The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones. His gangly looks and rubbery dancing pretty much typecast him as a country guy, though in his later years, his more distinguished appearance helped him to get more interesting parts.  He started his career in vaudeville, dancing with his sister Vilma.  He continued doing films throughout his career (for example, the role of Doc in Breakfast at Tiffany's), but by1951, he was devoting more and more time to television.  He famousy danced with Shirley Temple in Captain January (1936), his first appearance without Vilma (she appeared with him in one film: Broadway Melody of 1936, then retired).  He's also remembered for being the first choice for the role of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, but the aluminum-based makeup landed him in the hospital and he was replaced by Jack Haley).  Like Brennan, he too was a conservative, and (though it was not in his home state), campaigned against his former colleague Nancy Kulp when she ran for a congressional seat in Pennsylvania in 1984. 

In a very small part is Theresa Harris, an African-American actress who has one scene - she sings St. Louis Blues in the New Orleans club.  If you've seen Baby Face, then you are familiar with her characterization of Chico in that excellent film.  She shares no scenes with anyone in this film (it probable that the number was inserted with the intent of removing it in the South).  But she would appear with Stanwyck one more time in The File on Thelma Jordan. This New York Times article discusses the career of Ms. Harris.

The Breen office was not entranced with the film, and demanded a number of changes, according to this AFI article.  They were especially concerned with what they saw as a preoccupation with Ernie and Pearl's wedding night festivities (or lack thereof).  Darryl Zanuck ultimately agreed to tone down the drinking and to make it more obvious that it is Newt's desire to serenade the couple (rather than his wanting a grandchild) that has him pushing them into bed.

So, while not a great movie, some excellent performances, and worth a look.  We'll end this week with Stanwyck singing "Where The Lazy River Goes By"

Bette Talks to Herself

Two times the Bette Davis equals two times the passion in 1946's A Stolen Life.  The inimitable Ms. Davis plays sisters Katherine and Patricia Bosworth, twins who are identical in appearance, if not in temperment.  We meet would-be artist Kate, on her way to an island off the Massachusetts coast.  Having missed her connection, Kate asks for a lift from Bill Emerson (Glenn Ford).  She is immediately attracted to Bill, a solitary man who loves the quiet island, and who has no real ambitions to live any other life but the one he already has.  They seem an ideal pair until Pat Bosworth enters the picture.  Once Pat realizes that Bill is attracted to Kate, she goes after him with a vengeance.  The result, Bill marries Pat, leaving Kate bereft.

We were all VERY impressed with Bette Davis in this dual role.  She plays the two characters so that the sisters are subtly different.  Patricia is perhaps more the Davis we are used to in films like Jezebel and The Letter - assertive, domineering, in-charge; Kate is more retiring and inward, more like the character Davis played in Now Voyager.  It's easy to tell the sisters apart when they are separated, but Davis is able to make them different as they converse with one another.  She never seems to lose focus of who she is portraying.  And while the costuming by Orry-Kelly gives us slight clues, those differences are also subtle, letting Davis do the work through her acting.

While Glenn Ford is very good as Bill, he does come across as a bit of a twit.  It's clear that his attraction to Patricia is purely sexual. He states that he likes Kate, but that there was never a spark between them like there is between him and Pat.  Yet, it's clear that Pat is his total opposite - where he is unambitious and wants a simple, country life, she is all about the city and excitement.  Why Pat would want to do more than have a brief fling with him is a big question here.  It's clear that she is gone off with her sister's beaus before.  Does she want to marry Bill only because it is clear that Kate is finally in love? One wonders if Pat is interested in keeping her sister uninvolved (and therefore, closer to her) than in stealing her sister's great love.  By marrying Bill, we know that Kate will never involved herself with him again leaving the sisters' relationship status quo.

The only character that is wasted in the film is Dane Clark as the artist Karnock.  At first, it seems he might be the person who will make Kate forget Bill, but he is so eminently disagreeable, that it's hard to warm to him.  Only in one scene, where he encounters Kate posing as Pat, are we allowed to find him even the slightest bit likeable. Unfortunately, the character never goes anywhere, and we were left wondering what the film would have been like if he had actually become involved with Pat. 

On the other hand, Charles Ruggles gives a well-rounded performance as Kate and Pat's guardian, Freddie Linley.  Though he says very little, his understanding of the sisters is obvious.  He affection for Kate is also apparent.  In the end, we discover he really is the only one who truly "knows" them.  A quick nod also to Walter Brennan doing what he does best - being irascible; no one really does it better!

Bette Davis was a producer on the film, as is discussed in this TCM Article, and she had say in the casting. Dennis Morgan was originally considered for the part of Bill, but Davis would not have him in the part.  The studio then suggested Robert Alda, and while she accepted Alda, she really wanted Glenn Ford.  However, Jack Warner didn't want to pay the money for a loan-out from Columbia, until Davis was able to show him a screen test of Ford in the part.  The film is actually a remake of a 1939 German film, starring Elisabeth Bergner (perhaps best known in the US for her role as Rosalind in the 1936 As You Like It). 

Though A Stolen Life was not really admired by The New York TImes when it was released, we think it is a movie that has aged remarkably well.  In this age of digital special effects, you will be amazed at what was possible in a 1940's film.  You will totally believe that the twins are talking with one another.  To give you a taste of what's in store, here is Bette talking to Bette: