Joan Sees "Red"

This week, we return to Joan Crawford with her 1937 outing The Bride Wore Red.  Anni Pavlovitch (Joan Crawford) is a singer in a cheap dancehall. One night, her performance is seen by aristocrats Count Armalia (George Zucco) and his friend, Rudi Pal (Robert Young). The Count bets Rudi that he could take a member of the lower class, and pass her off as an aristocrat.  Rudi laughs off the suggestion, and leaves; to prove his point, the Count offers Anni a two-week vacation, all expenses paid, in an elite resort, on the proviso that she convinces Rudi she is, in fact Anna Vivaldi, an aristocrat.  Anni is soon buying clothing, including a gaudy red evening gown - something she has desired her whole life - and is off to the country to live a life of leisure for two weeks.  However, she soon decides she would rather continue to live the life of an aristocrat - by seducing and marrying the already-engaged Rudi.  

Filmed during the period of time when Crawford was married to Franchot Tone (who plays the peasant Guilio, the postmaster who loves Anni at first sight), the movie is a bit slow in pace.  Crawford is excellent as Anni, but it is rather hard to understand why Guilio remains interested in her while she repeatedly is nasty to him; just as it is equally hard to understand why Maddalena Monti (Lynne Carver) stays true to Rudi.  We know early on he is a cad and philanderer.  Why such a nice girl would stay with him is a mystery.

Much of our discussion focused on Robert Young.  Though a good actor, he never really seemed to find his niche before he landed on TV.  On the small screen he easily engaged the audience, whereas on the big screen he always seems overshadowed by his costars.  Here too, Crawford and Tone are much more dynamic than Young.  It is hard to understand, money withstanding, why Anni would feel anything for Rudi.  Even as a skunk, he is rather banal.  

Certainly worth a look for this wonderful cast.  And be on the lookout for Mary Phillips as Maria, a former employee of Anni's dance hall who has found a better life as a maid in the resort; and for Dickie Moore as Guilio's young cousin Pietro.  They add to the film immeasurably. You'll also get a chance to hear Crawford sing.  Here is a clip: 

 
It is also worth noting that the film was directed by Dorothy Arzner, the only female director of this period.

All Singing, All Dancing?

This week, we decided to try a musical as we waited for more Crawford or Lombard movies to show up in the pipeline.  Our choice was Good News starring June Allyson (as library assistant and French tutor Connie Lane) and Peter Lawford (as football hero Tommy Marlowe).  Our stars are college students who become involved with one another when Tommy decides he needs to learn French to impress recent transfer Pat McClellan (played by Patricia Marshall).

This is fun, if odd little movie. Some really cute dance routines, but with the most remarkably unmusical cast you have ever seen.  Only Mel Torme (as Danny) can really sing.  Certainly Allyson and Lawford did not have the greatest sets of pipes in the business, though their dancing is indeed earnest.  Surprisingly, even the second string player (particularly Joan McCracken as Babe Doolittle)are not really what one could call singers.  Regardless, it is an enjoyable film.  We, the viewers, however, did want to take Tommy and launch him into another solar system for his casual attitude towards our heroine, Connie.

On the DVD of this film, there is a cut number. According to the notes, it was removed because it slowed down the action.  We decided to take a look, and found that we agreed. It's a shame though; it was the only chance Patricia Marshall had a chance to sing), and June Allyson had on the most attractive evening gown! So much nicer than the Peter Pan collar numbers she is forced to wear in the rest of the picture!  Here is a clip of a number that did NOT slow down the action - "The Varsity Drag":

We were not familiar with either Ms. Marshall or Ms. McCracken, and their history is rather interesting.  For Ms. Marshall, this was basically her only film (she would appear one more time, almost 30 years later in The Prisoner of Second Avenue). She returned to New York, and appeared in the casts of Mr. Wonderful and Pajama Game. She married Larry Gelbart, and was with him until his death in 2009.  Joan McCracken had nearly as short a career; she did some television work, and married Bob Fosse in 1951 (they divorced in 1959, but he remained a source of support for her until her death in 1961.

So, do take a look at Good News. It's lots of fun, and you'll get to see two actresses you'll not see again.

Myrna Sues Jean?

As we wait for a few more Crawford or Lombard movie to appear on our favorite channel, we visit with a pair of truly lovely, talented ladies - Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow - in the hilarious Libeled Lady(1936).  Loy is Connie Allenbury, a wealthy young lady with lawsuit on her mind after a newspaper, run by Spencer Tracy's Warren Haggerty inadvertently libels her.  To circumvent the suit, Haggerty comes up with a plan - marry his fiance Gladys (Jean Harlow) to writer Bill Chandler (William Powell), then have Bill seduce Connie, so Gladys can sue Connie for alienation of affection!  Only problem is, both Gladys and Connie actually fall in love with Bill, who is head over heels for Connie. 

This is a very funny movie. If you have a decent script (which this does), it is rather hard to miss with this cast.  Spencer Tracy as the reluctant groom is a riot; and you are rather pleased when he gets a bit of his comeuppance.  Harlow as the doubly spurned woman is lovely.  Thankfully, she gets her man in the end (this is a comedy!). 

And can you miss with that wonderful team of Powell and Loy! They had already made the first Thin Man  together, as well as Evelyn Prentice and Manhattan Melodrama. You cannot see the credit list and not assume that they will end up together.  They are perfectly matched, and Powell does his utmost to turn Bill from cad to dream.

A screwball comedy in the best sense, this one is well worth a look. We highly recommend it.  Here's a trailer to give you a taste:

Joan and Gary and Franchot and Robert

None of us had seen 1933's Today We Live, so when we discovered TCM was airing it, we were very eager to see it. A great cast (Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone, and Robert Young) and a marvelous director (Howard Hawks) led us to expect another forgotten gem.  But, it turns out, this one was probably forgot for a reason. The word "turgid" rather sums up the odd movie.  During WWI, Richard Bogard (Cooper) has just arrived in England to rent a country mansion on the day when his landlady, Diana Boyce-Smith (Crawford), finds out that her father has been killed in action.  Quickly, they discover they love one another - only problem Diana is engaged to childhood friend (and war officer) Claude Hope (Young), who is serving in the military with Diana's brother Ronnie (Franchot Tone).  Diana flees to the continent to work in the war effort; Richard follows her, joining the air corps.  Of course, they meet. Of course, Ronnie and Claude are there too.  Complications, as they say, ensue.

This film is very much inspired by director Hawks' experience in World War I. Indeed, his earlier film, The Dawn Patrol, also looked at fliers during the war; his later Only Angels Have Wings would be his penultimate tribute to the men who risked their lives in the air.  The problem with the film is that we have a bunch of obvious Americans playing Brits.  The writer seems to think that speaking in clipped sentences is the way to convince the audience that his actors are really English. It doesn't work.  

This is clearly a pre-code movie. Diana is no innocent. In fact, we realize that she is living with Claude while in Europe.  But other than that, it is not really all that racy, or even romantic.  The scene where Cooper and Crawford announce their love for one another rather leaves the viewer going "HUH? Where did THAT come from?"  Too bad, really. They should have made an interesting combination.  

We'll be taking another short break from Crawford for the next two weeks (while we wait for a few movie that will be aired in July).  Next week, we look at a comedy the great Jean Harlow. We hope you'll join us.

Carole Takes the Train

Some time ago, we did a Carole Lombard film festival. There were a few movies we didn't get to see because we couldn't lay hands on them, but we finally got a copy of 1934's Twentieth Century, a delightful comedy in which Carole trades tirades with John Barrymore. Would be actress Mildred Plotka (Carole Lombard) comes under the spell of producer/director Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore).  Their professional partnership results in a name change (to Lily Garland) for Mildred, as well as fame and fortune to them both UNTIL yet another fight results in a rift that drives Oscar into near bankruptcy. His solution - woo Lily back into his latest play, featuring her as Mary Magdalene.  As they say, high-jinx ensue.

This is a very funny movie, but it is LOUD.  Neither Oscar nor Lily believe in talking - they scream, screech, yell, bellow, cry, but they NEVER just talk. Much of this movie resembles an old fashioned farce, with lots of noise, slamming doors and just generally weird characters. Some good character actors here - including Walter Connolly as the much put-upon Oliver Webb (Oscar's favorite hobby is firing poor Oliver), as well as Oscar's other aide Owen O'Malley played with gusto by Roscoe Karns,  Of course, one really does want to see Barrymore and Lombard together, as they duel endlessly.  And then, there is Oscar's oft repeated line "I close the iron door..."  Here's a little montage of the action:

Our thanks to Carole and Co. blog for mentioning our efforts here. It was just a coincidence that we had another Carole movie in the pipeline.  We hope to find a few more.  In the meantime, we also hope for some other fine performances down the road.

Double-0 Joan

We were able to get a copy of Above Suspicion when it last aired on TCM, much to our delight.  The advertisements which aired on TCM made the film seem to be a much more tongue-in-cheek story than we would have expected from a World War II vintage (1943) film, and while there are some moments that are humorous, on the whole, this movie very much reminded us of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (plug for my favorite TV show), it had those same elements of seriousness that one expects from good spy story, combined with humor. Here, we have a pair of innocents, newlyweds Frances and Richard Myles (Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray), who are recruited to locate a scientist with essential war related information.  Because they are Americans, and because they are on their honeymoon, it is believed that they are "above suspicion".  Of course, they are not, and rather rapidly they come under the eye of Count Sig von Aschenhausen (Basil Rathbone), a former classmates of Richard's who is deeply involved with the Gestapo.

There are a number of nice touches in this movie. The introduction of the character of Thornley (Bruce Lester), who also came to Germany to assist the English, and who also was considered "above suspicion", much to his sorrow makes a nice counterpoint to our couple.  Also, it was wonderful to see that excellent actor Conrad Veidt as Hassert Seidel, who is working AGAINST the Nazis.  Veidt escaped from the Nazis, yet spent most of his years in Hollywood playing rather horrid Nazis. Robert Osborne, in his introduction, reminded us that this was Veidt's last movie - he died a short time later from a massive coronary - a great loss to film. 

This was also Joan Crawford's final MGM film (and her only film with MacMurray).  She is really delightful in it.  And the ending, in which she has to assume a disguise in order to escape from he Nazis, is wonderful.  She really is convincing in her costume!  Add to all this excellent performances by Fred MacMurray and Basil Rathbone, and this is certainly a movie that is worth your time.  It was our belief that the film did not do especially well in 1943 - a shame, because it is certainly a film that keeps you interested. A truly neglected little gem.  We found a trailer for you to look at:

Joan Gets "Chained"

Chained (1934) is a delightful movie, and we heartily recommend it.  Joan Crawford plays Diane Levering, a secretary who has fallen in love with her married boss Richard Field (warmly played by Otto Kruger).  He loves her dearly, and asks his wife for a divorce.  Though they have lived apart for years, she likes the position and money his name provides and refuses to let him go.  Diane is not willing to be a mistress, so she leaves the country on a cruise, where she meets Argentina rancher Mike Bradley (Clark Gable). Of course, they fall in love.  It should be simple, but it is not. For when Diane goes back to Richard to end their relationship, she finds he is joyfully awaiting her, divorce in hand, having given up almost everything to be with the woman he loves.

And so it goes.  One of the things that makes this movie so delightful is the performances by the lead actors.  Crawford's Diane is a genuinely good woman.  She loves Richard, but has resisted breaking up his marriage (even though it is clearly a marriage in name only).  So too is Richard the ultimate gentleman.  Even as we root for Mike and Diane to get together, we have warm feelings for Richard.  One wants to find him a nice woman, who will love him as much as he deserves. Add to this strong performances by Gable (watch him in the scene where he finally meets Field. It is wonderful). Stuart Erwin joins this ensemble as Mike's best friend, Johnny Smith; you begin thinking he is a fool you will despise, but realize he is a true friend and a good person.  One other little plus - as Diane and Mike cavort in a swimming pool on the ship, they are joined by a young boy - played by Mickey Rooney.  Don't look away, you might miss him!

This isn't shown very often; too bad. It is well worth your time. Gable and Crawford do have a screen magic that is hard to beat.  And the story is just lovely.  Here's a scene from the beginning of the film, where we get to know Diana and Richard:

Joan Needs an Umbrella

1932's Rain most assuredly falls into the Pre-code era.  Ms. Crawford starts as the notorious Sadie Thompson, a woman with a shady past, who is traveling through the Pacific.  Trapped on Pago Pago with a reformer (Walter Huston as the creepy Alfred Davidson), his snooty wife (Beulah Bondi), and Sgt "Handsome" O'Hara (William Gargan), Sadie immediately befriends O'Hara.  But when O'Hara is placed in the brig, she finds herself under attack from the other hotel residents.  Davidson convinces the governor to deport Sadie on the next departing ship, which happens to be going to San Francisco. A terrified Sadie begs for a reprieve, but to no avail; instead she finds herself the latest victim of Davidson's reform efforts.

Nowadays, we would recognize Sadie as a victim of Stockholm Syndrome.   Rain does a good job of showing Sadie's transformation from good-time girl to missionary.  Frankly, we thought Crawford was GORGEOUS once the heavy Sadie makeup was stripped off to reveal her true face.  The reformed Sadie IS almost saintly in appearance, with her long-sleeve, flowing robe, while Davidson resembles something along the line of an old-testament prophet. Without giving too much away, the ending is jarring, and one that would not be permitted once the code was strictly enforced.  Here is the scene where Davidson goes to work to demoralize Sadie:
 
Beulah Bondi is just wonderful as the prissy Mrs. Davidson, a part she originated on Broadway; It is also nice to see Guy Kibbee as Joe Horn, the resident hotel owner. He is sympathetic to Sadie, but powerless, if he is to be allowed future residence in Pago Pago.

There is an excellent article on the TCM website that will give you some further insight into this interesting film.  We hope you will join us next week for another early Crawford.

Joan Sells... Perfume

That wonderful year of 1939 brought us Joan Crawford, along with a galaxy of female stars, playing the gold-digging, husband-stealing Crystal Allen in The Women. Norma Shearer is the star here; Mary Haines, the woman whose husband is stolen by Crystal.  The movie, as the tagline says, stars all women, but is about men - the men in their lives, who they talk about constantly.  We have all kinds of women here, from the innocent (Joan Fontaine) to the experienced (Paulette Goddard) to the nearly idiotic (Mary Boland, as the hysterical Countess de Lave).  Rosalind Russell, in a supporting role, shines as the gossipy Sylvia Fowler, and there is an equally enjoyable performance by Lucile Watson as Mary Haines mother.

Much of our conversation focused on the position of this movie within the "chick flick" universe - starring only women, could it be a chick flick?  Interestingly, the movie was marketed to men.  One assumes the moviemakers figured the men were the harder sell, so the ads point up many lovely, undressed ladies ("Zips up the back and no bone").  It is surely a movie about women; and the little fashion show demonstrates it is a movie FOR women. But there is enough, we thought, to keep a man watching.

Crawford is just magnificent here.  And she surely has the best line in the whole movie: "There's a name for you ladies, but it no used in high society, outside a kennel". Crystal may lose the fight, but she'll be back again; perhaps to win the war!

Thanks to YouTube, enjoy this trailer:

Joan Sings Torch

Torch Song (1953) marked Joan Crawford's return to MGM after her years at Warner Brothers.  However, she returned for a VERY strange film indeed.  She is Jenny Stewart, a temperamental stage star who has alienated EVERYONE in the cast of her latest show, and has no social life to speak of. Into her life comes pianist Tye Graham (Michael Wilding), who was blinded in the war.  He attempts to humanize Jenny, whom he loves because "he knows what she looks like". Torch Song seems most biographical in nature.  From Jenny's dislike of any woman she sees as competition to her passionate love affair with her fans, the plot seems to be borrowing from Crawford's own life.  Did she know how close it would look to her public? One wonders...

Let's just get past the black-face number right away.  It is just stunningly WEIRD.  WHY they found it necessary to perform the song Two-Faced Woman with Crawford done up as a mulatto with bejeweled eyebrows is incomprehensible. In the 21st Century, one rather sits there going "Huh??" And then there is the singing.  A documentary on the DVD showed Crawford testing the music in her own voice.  Never really a strong singer, age (and smoking) had destroyed with little musicality her voice had in her youth. Thus, the producers were forced to substitute a "ghost" singer for her.  Want a glimpse? Here she is "singing" "Follow Me".

On the plus side, is her relationship with her sister and mother. What at first seems like an avaricious family living off their successful relative turns into something much more complex.  There is real love and pride of the mother for her star daughter.  And the sister, coveting Jenny's coat, beams when Jenny relents and presents it to her: "Thank you, Jenny! I'll even wear it to bed". she says as she leaves.  Sure, they are not perfect; but there is a love there, that we understand Jenny has ignored in her climb to the top.

Be prepared if you decide to watch this movie - it is NOT politically correct, but Crawford holds her own here. And damn, has she got good legs!!

Next week, we go back to an earlier Crawford movie.