Kay Loves the Desert (and Errol)

In 1936, the Chicago Daily Tribune quoted Kay Francis as saying "I don't do much in it,  Things just happen about me. I am just a wife who has been unfortunate in love, as usual."  She was speaking about Another Dawn (1937) in which she plays Julia Ashton, a woman who has turned her back on love after the death of her aviator fiance.  But, when Colonel John Wister (Ian Hunter), who she likes and admires, proposes marriage, she agrees.  His deep love for her convinces her that they can be happy together, and she is ready for an adventure - his post is in the Sahara.  The presence, however of Captain Denny Roark (Errol Flynn), creates a problem, as Julia and Denny fall deeply in love, with neither of them willing to hurt John.

The fairly conventional ending is probably the weakest part of the film.  Nevertheless, the movie is worth watching for the interplay between Kay Francis and Errol Flynn.  As the wife who is unwilling to betray her husband, Ms. Francis is beautifully stoic.  And Flynn, as the loyal officer is - well, just beautiful.   This article from TCM sums it up nicely:  "Even if Another Dawn doesn't reach the heights of some other Errol Flynn vehicles, it is still a treat to see this iridescent specimen of masculinity at his peak in his mid-twenties, handsome and dashing in a British Army uniform."  And while this is no Adventures of Robin Hood, Flynn is very good as the conflicted officer.  Flynn can act, and act well - the fact that this film holds up at all is really due to him - he makes you believe that Denny cannot be dishonorable.

Frieda Inescort has a relatively small role as Grace Roark, Denny's sister.  We've seen Ms. Inescort before in a very different role - as the rather bitchy older sister in The King Steps Out.  But in Always in My Heart. she not only appeared with Kay Francis, she also was in the similar role as the "other woman;" for Grace claims to be in love with John.  One strange thing about the way Ms. Inescort plays the role occurs early in the film.  As John is about to leave for his holiday, he asks Grace if he can kiss her.  She looks rather uncomfortable, and as he leans over to lightly kiss her on the lips, she turns her head so the kiss lands on her cheek.  It's rather a shock when she later confesses her deep love to her brother (close as they are, he doesn't know either).   Is Grace so deeply in love that she fears his touch will unlock her reserve, or is it something else? It's hard to know, but Ms. Inescort makes Grace a more interesting character.

Also in the cast is Herbert Mundin as Wilkins, John's aide-de-camp - a soldier who has been accused of cowardice by his comrades.  Naturally, part of the plot of the movie has to demonstrated that he is not, in fact, a coward.  We've seen Mundin before in The Adventures of Robin Hood, as Much.  He was also in David Copperfield as Barkis.  After a stint in the Navy during World War I, Mundin appeared on the London Stage and on Broadway, then landed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox in 1931.  After a successful career, in which he played a variety of character roles, Mundin died in a car crash, aged 40, in 1938.

The film took awhile to be released, and was not really the first choice for either of our lead actors.  Kay Francis, due to her schedule, became exhausted, so there was a filming delay while she recuperated.  Errol Flynn found the script uninteresting; his dislike of director William Dieterle compounded his disregard for the film.  And other actors also were unimpressed with the script.  First considered for the role of Julia was Bette Davis, but she accepted a suspension rather than take the part.  Tallulah Bankhead was also considered as Julia, but that idea was discarded.

One of the impressive aspects of the film is the music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.  The militaristic air hits at the men's love for the military and their lives.  He'd only scored a few films, and his English was not strong, so Korngold was surprised and distressed that the whole of his score for the film wasn't used. But, he used the music (the love theme) for his Violin Concerto in D Major, and in 1995, the full score was reassembled and recorded by Naxos.

And we can't have a Kay Francis film from this period without magnificent costuming, here by Orry-Kelly.  A nice job is also done with the special effects.  One does feel the desert in the film.

All in all, this is a good film about good - and very British - people.  Colonel Wister especially has a very progressive view of world politics - he is hoping that he can help the process of seeing the native population of the Sahara region ready for self government within a few years. 

We leave you with the trailer for Another Dawn, which features Korngold's glorious score.

Hester Street

The Washington Jewish Film Festival was held at AFI Silver in late February - Early March.  We attended a screening of Hester Street (1975), directed by Joan Micklin Silver, and starring Carol Kane as Gitl Bogovnik, a Jewish immigrant from Poland.  We were fortunate to have Ms. Kane participate in an interview session after the film.

Hester Street is a story of immigration and assimilation.  Jake (Yankel) Bognovnik (Steven Keats), has been living in America for several years, working in garment sweatshop.  Jake lives as an American, not as a Jew; he has changed his name, shaved his beard, no longer wears a yamaka, sees women when he feels like it, and generally lives a secular life.  Though he cannot read or write, he has learned to speak English.  He looks down on his fellow immigrants who have not learned English, or who still cling to the old ways.  He's very attracted to Mamie (Dorrie Kavanugh), a young woman who is a frequent visitor to a local dance hall.  Mamie is very Americanized - dresses well, and, it turns out, is carefully saving her money to open her own dance hall.  But, just as Jake is getting to know Mamie better, he discovers that his father in Poland has died.  It becomes imperative that he bring over his wife Gitl, and their small son, Yossele (Paul Freedman).

 

Jake is horrified when he sees Gitl and Yossele.  She wears a sheitel, and conservative clothing.  Her son has a pais.  Jake's embarrassment is immediately obvious - he slaps Yossele for stroking his face (the child has never seen a man without a beard), and cuts off the pais the minute they arrive home.  He scolds Gitl for her garb, and demands that she remove her sheitel; she agrees to don a kerchief, but is horrified at the idea of showing her hair - she is a married woman - it would shame her to show her hair.

Just how much assimilation is required to make a home in a new world? For Jake, it is total, to the detriment of his religion and his culture.  To Gitl, a more moderate course is required.  She will learn English, she will adjust her garb to better fit into her new environment, but she will not give up her religion.

Gitl's mentor in change in played by Doris Roberts.  Her Mrs. Kavarsky is now a woman of New York, but one who understands the  collision of cultures that Gitl is trying to circumvent.  Mrs. Kavarsky is also aware that Jake is more interested in starting a new life with Mamie than in learning to accommodate his wife's needs.  Roberts is wonderful in the role.  She is strong and protective; she is also cagey.  She understands the workings of this marriage - Ms. Roberts gives the impression that perhaps Mrs. Kavarsky has lived through a similar problem.  Regardless, she comprehends the need to adapt, and carefully educates her new charge in the ways of the city.

The other influence on Gitl is Mr. Bernstein (Mel Howard), the boarder in the Bognovnik apartment.  Mr. Bernstein is an educated man, who in his youth wished to be a rabbi, but found he did not have the temperament for the job.  He now works in the garment factor with Jake, but his evenings are devoted to his studies, as he reads and comments on the Torah.  He also begins to tutor young Joey in Hebrew, something his father is unwilling - and unable - to do.  Thus, Gitl is able give Joey his culture, while still allowing him to adapt to a new land.  And Joey will get the education his parents do not have - he will also be able to read and write.

The performance that is most impressive is that of Carol Kane.  Much of her dialogue is in Yiddish (we learned in the Q&A that accompanied the film that Ms. Kane learned the script phonetically), and she must convey her story with her eyes.  Below is the scene in which she arrives at Ellis Island.  Watch her as she tries to comprehend the confusion around her, as she first sees her husband, and as she begins to understand that the man that she married is gone.

Filmed at a miniscule budget of $400,000 (it was filmed in New York City in 34 days), the film was only seen by the public thanks to the tenacity of producer Raphael Silver (the husband of the director), who brought it to the Cannes Film Festival.  The word of mouth allowed them to open it in New York, and finally to a wider audience.  This TCM article goes into greater detail on the trials of getting the film produced and out to its audience.  This glowing review from the New York Times provides a glimpse into the reception the film received at the time.

As promised, we leave you with Gitl's arrival at Ellis Island:

Barbara Shoots (at a Target)

Annie Oakley (1935) stars Barbara Stanwyck as the legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley.  The story is loosely based on Annie's early years in the entertainment industry, when she broke into the business by competing against a male rifleman, here named Toby Walker (Preston Foster).  And while the film does get a lot of the information right, it takes many liberties with Ms. Oakley's life, not the least of which is that it changes the name of her partner and husband from Frank Butler.  Nevertheless, it's an entertaining film, as long as you realize it is "FILM history".

Young Annie Oakley is the main support of her family - her mother and younger siblings.  Annie is a crack shot; she hunts quail for an upscale Cincinnati hotel; as she able to hit the bird directly in the head, so no buckshot ruins the meat.  When Toby Walker, the new attraction for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show stays at the hotel, the hotel manager, Mr. MacIvor (Andy Clyde), suggests a shooting match between Walker and the person who is supplying him with his game.  MacIvor, however believes his supplier is a man.  Annie is able to match Toby shot for shot, but when her mother overhears a discussion that Annie's win might cost Toby his position with Bill Cody, she encourages Annie to lose the match.  Annie, who finds Toby quite attractive, purposely misses her next shot. Regardless, her talent with a rifle is noted by Jeff Hogarth (Melvyn Douglas), who hires her for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.  Soon, Annie is the star of the show, with Ned Buntline (Dick Elliott) hinting at a bitter rivalry between Annie and Toby (for publicity), while Toby secretly teaches Annie showmanship, and while Toby and Annie fall in love.

Barbara Stanwyck as Annie Oakley

The real Annie Oakley

Let's start with a look at the real Annie Oakley.   She was born Phoebe Ann Moses in 1860, and following her father's death in 1866, she lived a life of privation.  After being sent to a foster home (she would only identify the people as "the wolves"), she eventually returned to her mother; she began hunting and was able through her work to pay off the mortgage on her family's home.  That same year (1875), she competed against Frank Butler in a Cincinnati challenge match, and won.  Butler was instantly fascinated by her, and the following year, they wed.  By 1882, she joined Frank's act - she was so popular that Frank became her manager and publicist, leaving the shooting to Annie.  After a long career, both with the Wild West Show and on stage, Annie retired.  The Butlers lived in retirement until her death in 1926.  Frank died 18 days later.   For an in-depth biography of the real Annie Oakley, as well as an analysis of Annie Oakley on Stage and Screen, visit: Annie Oakley (The American Experience).

What is really successful in this film is their ability to catch the romance between Annie and Toby.  The audience and Annie never question that the couple are deeply in love.   Surely, it plays fast and loose with the facts, but neither are demeaned.  Annie is clearly Toby's equal, and even after he is told (by her) that she let him win, he is not intimidated by her, but respects her abilities.  Stanwyck is especially vibrant in the role of Annie.  She is sweet when she needs to be, but proud of her abilities and not one to hide her light.  One scene especially shows Stanwyck at her best.  Alone in her room, Annie longs for Toby, whom her colleagues believe has purposefully injured her hand.  She knows the injury was accidental, but Toby has been fired by Bill Cody (Moroni Olsen), and Annie is unable to prevent it or even go to Toby.  Her pain radiates from her; the scene is done in silence.

This was Stanwyck's first film at RKO. She had been appearing in films at Warner Brothers and was dissatisfied with the parts she was receiving their.  She'd already ventured over to First National for The Woman in Red and to Edward Smalls (Reliance) for Red Comrade.  Her next film, A Message to Garcia, would be at 20th Century Fox.  In A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940, Victoria Wilson stated that Stanwyck was "outside the protection of a single studio" (full quote at Rogerebert.com).  Perhaps this is why she never won an Oscar.  Regardless, it gave her the ability to control her own career to a degree that other actresses probably envied.  For more detail on Stanwyck's move to RKO, see this TCM article.

 

We focused a bit of our discussion on the male leads.  Melvyn Douglas appears in a secondary role with Preston Foster in the lead.  We wondered what the film would have been like had the roles been switched.

We've only seen a few films with Preston Foster, and in most of them he had a supporting role (for example, The Harvey Girls (1946) in which he plays the evil Sam Purvis to John Hodiak's heroic Ned Trent); he was briefly discussed when he appeared opposite Carole Lombard in Love Before Breakfast.  Foster had a long career, appearing in film and television til 1967. He had started on the Broadway stage, appearing in five plays between 1929 and 1932.  After that, he was Hollywood bound.  He also had a career as a vocalist and songwriter, appearing in trio consisting of himself, his wife Sheila Darcy (to whom he was married from 1946 until his death in 1970) and guitarist Gene Leis.  When Foster retired from acting, he took on the role of executive director of the El Camino Playhouse, where he wrote, directed and acted in plays (the Playhouse closed in 1966).  Preston Foster died in 1970, at the age of 69.

Also in the small role of Vera Delmar is Pert Kelton, whose distinct speaking voice is instantly recognizable. We've mentioned her before in our discussions of Cain and Mabel and Bed of Roses (wherein she plays the hooker, Minnie) - in this film, she plays a character much closer to that of Minnie.  Vera is a bit of a tramp; she's interested in Toby, and doesn't really care what she has to do to get him.  Kelton makes the most of her short screen time to create a memorable characterization.

Pert Kelton had a very varied career.  Her film career, in which she was generally the wisecracking buddy or a floozy, only lasted from 1929 to 1939.  After that, she seems to have moved back to the East Coast, where she appeared in radio.  In the 1950s, she appeared in short sketches the Cavalcade of Stars as Alice Norton - sketches that would give birth to the television show The Honeymooners.  Kelton, however would not continue on to the series - her husband Ralph Bell had become embroiled in the McCarthy Era blacklist, which led to her being dropped from the show. She did continue in small roles on Cavalcade, and it has been suggested that Gleason attempted to keep her working for as long as he could.  He, in fact, invited her to appear in The Color Honeymooners as Alice's mother (since, by that time Audrey Meadows had assumed the role of Alice). Ms. Kelton died in 1968 at the age of 61.  Though many of the episodes from Cavalcade are lost, here is a short bit with her that survives:

We leave you this time with a short clip from Annie Oakley - the shooting contest between Annie and Toby.  We'll be back soon with a discussion of a more recent film, as well as our evaluation of a Kay Francis film.  

Barbara Demonstrates Yum-Yum

When Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) discovers that his seven years of relatively isolated research have led to a complete lack of understanding of current American slang, he ventures out of the confines of his enclave.  In his quest, he meets Sugarpuss (Katherine) O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck), an entertainer who is currently on the lam from the cops - seems her boyfriend, Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews) is suspected of murder and wants her out of the way, since she could link him to the victim.  Sugarpuss arrives on Bertram's doorstep, and within an hour has his research colleagues eating out of her hand, as well as a room in their headquarters.  Meanwhile, Joe is planning a wedding - since a wife can't testify against her husband.  And Bertram is falling in love with his sexy house guest. 

Ball of Fire (1941) is another one of those madcap films that show Barbara Stanwyck's gift for comedy, as well as her chemistry with co-star Gary Cooper.  They had worked together earlier that year in Meet John Doe, and Cooper suggested her for the part of Sugarpuss when other actresses turned it down - among those approached were Virginia Gilmore (Sam Goldwyn's first choice, as she was under contract to him at the time), Ginger Rogers (who thought the role beneath her), Carole Lombard, Jean Arthur, Betty Fields, and Lucille Ball.  Goldwyn and director Howard Hawks were thrilled at having Stanwyck in the role, and their confidence paid off.  (This TCM article gives a little more information on the casting woes of the production).  

Stanwyck carefully balances the greedy showgirl against the young woman who falls in love - against her will - with a man who "looks like a giraffe", "gets drunk on a glass of buttermilk," and "doesn't know how to kiss".  Without the fine hand of Stanwyck, the film could have easily imploded, as it did with the remake (A Song is Born).  Stanwyck gives us a Sugarpuss who glows with love and with sexuality, and who is finally bested by an innocent man who loves her with all of his heart.  She is intelligent, though uneducated, but she is someone who hungers for love AND for knowledge.  And though clearly Joe has gotten her a job in a classy joint, Stanwyck shows us Sugarpuss' roots - watch her walk on the stage as she performs - Sugarpuss started as a stripper.  

As always, Stanwyck is impeccably dressed by her favorite costumer Edith Head.  She has some lovely street clothing, as well as a splendid costume for her act, that is both breathtaking and cheesy at the same time.  And watch how it sparkles in the dull environs of the professors' apartment house - Head makes Sugarpuss the real bright spot in the lives of these sequestered intellectuals.

Equally perfect is Gary Cooper as Bertram.  It would be easy to make Potts merely a jerk, rather than an innocent, but Cooper carefully walks that line.  Certainly Potts is naive, but he is eager to learn and to experience new things.  His enthusiasm for the slang he is discovering is palpable. He is a man dedicated to his scholarship - though much younger than his scholarly colleagues, he hasn't had the opportunity to interact with the opposite sex, but when he does, his inhibitions take a back seat to his passion.

It's interesting to see Dana Andrews in a supporting role.  His Joe Lilac is an egomaniac, surrounded by Yes Men, who is quite sure he can tame Sugarpuss with a large diamond and a marriage certificate.  Given that Andrews has very little screen time, he makes the most of what little time he is provided.  You don't forget Joe - Andrews makes him just sinister enough to keep the comic background, but still have a character that is a threat to our lovers.

This is a film that is blessed with an amazing supporting cast.  We have the always excellent Allen Jenkins as the neighborhood garbage man, who wants to enter a "quizzola" (he's got all the boxtops he needs.  What he needs are the answers).  Dan Duryea as Duke Pastrami, Lilac's lead henchman is delightfully oily, with his rather disturbing laugh is put to good use.  Watch for the scene when he licks his thumb to clean his gunsight - thus tipping his hat to co-star Gary Cooper (who did the same maneuver in Sergeant York).  "I saw this in a movie," Duryea quips. (Interestingly, a few days after seeing Ball of Fire, I was watching Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955), and my husband noticed that Fess Parker (as Crockett) does the same maneuver while fighting Santa Ana at the Alamo. Coincidence? I think not.)

And let us not forget the "seven dwarfs" (Yes, the film is loosely based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Professor Potts colleagues in research.  Among the superb actors gracing the cast are Oscar Homolka as Professor Gurkakoff (Mathematics), Henry Travers as Professor Jerome (Geography), S. Z. Sakall  as Professor Magenbruch (Physiology), Leonid Kinskey as Professor Quintana, and Richard Haydn as the appropriately named Professor Oddly (Botany).  Sugarpuss calls them a bunch of "squirrelly cherubs", a most apt description.  But rather than just have them there for laughs, they are intrinsic to the plot - it is their combined brain power that will save the day for our couple.

One other note of interest, actress Mary Fields, who plays Miss Totten, is the only actor to appear in the remake, A Song is Born. She plays the exact same character in the remake, though there was a seven year gap between the films.  

Ball of Fire was well received at the time of its release, as is evidenced by this New York Times review.  In 2007, it was selected as a TCM Essentials pick (as well as a 2012 Essentials, Jr. selection).  AND it is number 92 on the American Film Institute's 100 Funniest American Movies Of All Time list.   If you've never seen it, treat yourself to a viewing - and if you have seen it, curl up on a cold evening and watch it again!  We leave you with the scene in which Sugarpuss demonstrates "Yum-yum".  We'll be back soon with more Barbara!

Barbara Runs a Brothel

In the 1962 film Walk on the Wild Side, Barbara Stanwyck takes on an interesting supporting role, as Jo Courtney, owner of a New Orleans brothel, and lover of Hallie Gerard.  Regardless that Jo should be a minor character to the romantic leads, Laurence Harvey (Dove Linkhorn) and Capucine (Hallie Gerard), it is Stanwyck you remember at the end of the film, not Harvey or Capucine.  Her strength and power as an actress resonates throughout the project, and is the one saving grace of a fairly disjointed film.

Dove Linkhorn is hitchhiking his way from West Texas to New Orleans in search of his great love, artist Hallie Gerard.  He meets a young runaway, Kitty Twist (Jane Fonda), and they begin to travel together.  Kitty is a forward young lady, and makes romantic overtures towards Dove, but he'll have none of it.  When he discovers that Kitty has robbed a generous innkeeper, Teresina Vidaverri (Anne Baxter), he rejects Kitty totally, and returns the stolen item (a rosary) to Teresina.  Grateful, Teresina hires Dove to work in her restaurant, and helps him run ads in the local newspaper, in an effort to locate Hallie.

Hallie, meanwhile, is unaware that Dove is searching for her.  She's a lazy woman, she sleeps all day, lives off of Jo Courtney (the owner of a local brothel, known locally as The Dollhouse), and bemoans the loss of her art (the photo above shows Jo examining some of Hallie's work).  For some reason, Jo is passionately in love with Hallie, having discovered her in New York, where Hallie was trying to break into the art scene. It's made repeatedly clear that Jo does not want Hallie turning tricks (Jo despises the touch of men, and she doesn't want Hallie soiled); it's also quite clear that Hallie routinely ignores Jo, and ventures down into the brothel to turn a trick or two.  She doesn't have to provide sexual favors (to anyone but Jo, that is), but she chooses to. Why? Who knows.

It doesn't help that Capucine couldn't act her way out of a sack of potatoes.  A French model who came to America with Charles Feldman (the producer of this film), she had a moderately successful career - she's best known for The Pink Panther (in which she played Inspector Clouseau's adulterous wife, Simone).  But she is so stiff and frozen faced throughout this movie, that one wonders what the heck all these men (Dove, of course, and she's obviously a big hit in the Dollhouse) and Jo could possibly see in her.

She meets her match in lack of affect by her co-star, Laurence Harvey.  Cast as a Texas dirt farmer who's never left his home before, Harvey gives new meaning to the words "cold and aloof".  What worked beautifully in The Manchurian Candidate doesn't work here at all. According to this TCM article it was hate at first sight between Harvey and Capucine.  She accused him of being "unmanly" in his kisses.  He responded by saying that "kissing her was like kissing the side of a beer bottle".  And, as with Hallie, we have all these women queuing up to bed him. It's unreal.

On the other hand, Stanwyck is amazing.  She is controlled, elegant, and sinister.  She does her best to make the viewer understand her passion for Hallie, her disgust of men in general - and her handicapped husband in particular.  She isn't the least afraid to make Jo unlikeable, but with a cool collection that makes her fascinating to watch.  The ultimate professional, she dressed down Laurence Harvey when one of his tantrums resulted in an hour delay.  (He never did it again!)

We also enjoyed seeing Anne Baxter as Teresina.  Sure, her Spanish accent is rather odd, but she does a good job with the character in spite of it.  A historical aside, Baxter discovered she was pregnant at the time of the filming began, and relied on her wide skirts to hide her girth when filming finally ended during her 7 month.  This TCM article will give you more information on the behind-the-scenes of the film.

We get a couple of scenes of Jane Fonda with Barbara Stanwyck, but young Fonda is such a nascent actress (this is only her second film) she is overwhelmed by Stanwyck (the character of Kitty is supposed to be, of course).  Good as Ms. Fonda is, you still can't take your eyes off Stanwyck.  We would have enjoyed a scene between Baxter and Stanwyck - as the bookends for Good and Evil, but alas, it was not to be.  The characters are in the same room for a brief period, but there is no interaction. 

All in all, with a disjointed story line that verges into taudry soap opera at times, a cast that never quite all seem to be in the same movie, and some plot twists that seem to be thrown in just to shock (what is the point of Jo's leg-less husband? A symbol of emasculation, maybe?), this is a film that just never quite gets to the point.  We'll leave you with our introduction to Jo and Hallie:

Barbara Writes a Column

To Please a Lady (1950) stars Barbara Stanwyck as columnist Regina Forbes, a powerful woman who has an influential gossip column.  She sees herself as a crusader for good, but, like all good columnists, she is looking for those items that will intrigue her readship.  When she is told about  local midget racecar driver, Mike Brannan (Clark Gable) by assistant Gregg (Adolphe Menjou), she heads out for the track.  Brannan is a pull-no-punches kinda guy, and will do what it takes to win.  He gives no quarter, and, as a result, has been blamed for the deaths of other drivers.  He shows no remorse for his competitiveness, and Regina goes after him in her column, effectively ending his ability to compete in the racing circle.  Months later, when Regina looks back into his life, she and Brannan find themselves attracted to one another.

Though titled like a romance, this film spends a lot of time on the racing scene.  The last quarter of the film is taken up with the Indianapolis Speedway race, and if you aren't a racing fan (we aren't) it can get rather tedious.  The film was later retitiled Red Hot Wheels for a 1962 re-release, which was more in keeping with the plot line.  As it happens, though Clark Gable was eager to appear in a racing film, he objected to the original title - he thought it would bring up images of his recent marriage to Lady Sylvia Ashley (they would divorce in 1952).  In foreign release, To Please a Lady was titled Indianapolis.  The multiple titles hint at the main problem with the film.

A New York Times review of the film very much liked the racing scenes from the film, liked the actors, but did not like the script, which they called a "hackneyed melodrama".  It is easy to understand why they were so taken with the racing scenes - they were filmed at the Indianapolis Speedway, and showed racing filmed at actual speed.  Gable did some of the driving (primarily the scenes where a close view was required) - stunt drivers took over for the rest.  But they are correct.  The script seems to be seeking its context, making the film disjointed.

On the plus side, there are two dynamite performances by stars Gable and Stanwyck.  Stanwyck's Regina is a tough-minded career woman.  She's very good at what she does and she enjoys doing it.  She literally goes toe-to-toe with Gable; she challenges him to "knock that smile" off her face.  When he does, she merely gives him the eye (at which point, he gives her a big kiss).  As discussed in this TCM article, Gable and Stanwyck had not appeared together since Night Nurse.  As with that film, the fireworks between them are palpable.  Two scenes, with Mike and Regina conversing on the phone, are very titillating - the two exude sexual tension.  It's also fun to see a romance between two grownups, who end by respecting each other's occupations.  The film's ending makes it quite clear that Regina will not be relegated to a little haus frau, nor will Brannan give up racing.  But they will make their relationship work.

According to this AFI article, Lana Turner set was to be reunited with Gable in the part of Regina in June of 1949; by September; Stanwyck had been official signed in the role.  There was a radio version in 1951 of the teleplay on the Lux Radio Theatre, with Donna Reed and John Hodiak in the leads, and Adolphe Menjou reprising his role as Gregg.   It's a part for which Menjou is well suited.  He gives the appropriate amount of sneer to the character.  You'll want to watch for the scene where Regina tries to talk to Mike on the phone, while Gregg listens in.

Also in the cast is Will Geer as Jack Mackay, a car designer with a new engine that Brannan wants to buy.  We were, of course, all familiar with Geer from his later career in television.  He had, however, a substantial film career, primarily in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  However, by 1951, his film appearances were minimal - he had been blacklisted after refusing to testify in front of HUAC (here is a brief newspaper article  which talks about Geer's testimony). He and his wife appeared in theatre during this period, including a run with the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, CT (an avid gardener, he planted a Shakespeare Garden on the theatre grounds)  As the blacklist broke down, he again began appearing in films (including Otto Preminger's Advise and Consent) and television.  He died in of respiratory failure in 1978, during the run of the television show that made him famous - The Waltons. 

This was director Clarence Brown's 8th and final film with Clark Gable (We previously discussed Possessed and Chained). Brown had at one time been an automobile test driver, and had owned a car dealership.  His interest in his subject is apparent in this film, as is his precision in filming the race scenes.  An interesting fact - in 1930, he was nominated for the Oscar for TWO films in the same year - for Anna Christie and for Romance. 

One more note about Clark Gable - he found filming in Indianapolis to be quite hard, as it was the last place that Carole Lombard had been before she died in 1942.  Gable quietly visited several places in the city where his late wife had been on her ill-fated bond tour.  

In closing, we'll just say that we wish there had been interaction between Gable and Stanwyck, because when they are together they smoke.  That Gable and Stanwyck were good friends in real life shows.  We'll leave you with a trailer from the film.

Judy's Over the Rainbow - and so is Elphaba

This will probably be one of my odder blog posts, but the coincidence compels me to discuss a recent screening of the much loved The Wizard of Oz along with the Broadway play Wicked.  We literally saw the two within one week of each other, so we arrived at the play with a totally clear picture of the 1939 classic in our heads.

I'm sure you are all familiar with the plot of The Wizard of Oz.  It's a film I grew up with - it was aired once a year (usually around Thanksgiving), and though my father was not a fan of musicals, the decks were cleared so my brother and I could watch it.  I recall being terrified when the image of the Wicked Witch of the West replaced that of Auntie Em in the giant crystal ball.  Interestingly, at a discussion of the film I attended a few months ago, the speaker said that he found that women/girls were frightened by the crystal ball, while men/boys related their fear of the flying monkeys!  We watched on a black and white TV set, and, since I grew up on 1930s and 1940s b&w movies, it was a revelation to me when, seeing it on a big screen for the very first time, Dorothy opened the door to COLOR.  I was able to live the experience that must have greeted most viewers in 1939!

Then there is Wicked, the story of Oz BEFORE Dorothy's arrival, loosely based on the book by Gregory Maguire.  It tells the story of Oz from the point of view of the woman who will become the Wicked Witch of the West.  Born green - the result of her mother's imbibing a "green elixir," which she acquired from the soon-to-be Wizard of Oz - the child Elphaba Thropp is despised by her parents.  Nevertheless, she is a loving woman, devoted to her crippled sister, Nessarose, and eager to please her father (her mother died giving birth to Nessarose).  She accompanies her sister to Shiz University, where the headmistress, Madame Morrible, discovers that it is Elphaba who has the talent to be a witch, not the pouty Nessarose.  And while Elphaba is eager to work with the Wizard of Oz, she is horrified to discover that he is merely a talentless bigot, who is systematically destroying Oz by turning the inhabitants against one another.  He has started by enslaving the talking animals of Oz.  Why? Because a common enemy unites people.  The Wizard intends to make Elphaba a tool in his further efforts to subjugate Oz, but Elphaba will have none of it, and by "defying gravity", she escapes to begin an organized resistance against his rule.

I had seen Wicked several years ago, when Idina Menzel was still playing Elphaba. This time, Elphaba was enacted by Caroline Bowman, an amazing singer and actress.  The role of Glinda was ably filled by Kara Lindsay, who gave Elphaba's description of Galinda's personality ("blonde"...) a whole new meaning (and no, that is not a misspellling.  Galinda changes her name to Glinda).  All in all, it's a wonderful cast in an amazing production, and if you find yourself in New York, or with access to a traveling version of the play, try to see it.

What the play does is tell us how the various characters came to be - from the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda, and the Wizard, to the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Scarecrow.  We even find out why those damned shoes are so important to the Wicked Witch.  We never actually SEE Dorothy, though we find out she is there (and that Elphaba finds her and her dog "Dodo" REALLY annoying).  Nevertheless, Dorothy is a key ingredient to the success of the story.  As the story ends, you will begin to see how tightly Wicked and The Wizard of Oz link to one another. 

So let's end this post with a little music - first, the ever wonderful Judy Garland sings Over the Rainbow

And the ladies from Wicked sing about their friendship in For Good.

Barbara Suspects Errol

Five months after the opening of The Two Mrs. Carrolls, the next Warner Brothers pairing of Barbara Stanwyck and Peter Godfrey was released.  Cry Wolf (1947) stars Stanwyck as Sandra Marshall Demarest, a newly married woman who arrives at the home of her recently deceased husband to find a mystery.  Sandra's marriage to James Demarest (Richard Basehart) was a secret one, much to the consternation of his guardian, Mark Caldwell (Errol Flynn).  Sandra is quite open that the marriage was one of convenience for her and for Jim - the marriage would allowed Jim to gain access to his inheritance. In exchange, Jim promised Sandra (his close friend from school) a stipend to support her graduate work (she is studying for a doctorate in geology) and a divorce in 6 months.  But, on his visit home to notify his family of his wedding, Jim died suddenly.  Now Sandra has arrived at his family home to find out exactly what happened to her young husband.

Stanwyck is really impressive in the film.  Her athleticism stands her in good stead as she rides horses, journeys through the house in a dumbwaiter, drops from ceilings, and climbs fences in search of the truth (TCM calls her a midlife Nancy Drew!).  She also has a magnificent wardrobe, designed by her favorite costumer, Edith Head.  (Ms. Stanwyck ALWAYS looked amazing in riding clothes!  Take a look at her 20 years later in The Big Valley!)  But, while we are told Sandra is a PhD student in geology, that point is never pursued.  She could be anyone, not a highly intelligent graduate student.  We wished that her training had been actually used to solve the mystery.

As to Errol Flynn, if you are expecting him to be a romantic swashbucker, think again.  His Mark Caldwell is a stiff, unattractive liar.  And Flynn is not afraid to play him as such; it has been said that he ultimately relished the role BECAUSE it was so different from his usual fare, finally giving him a chance to play a more dramatic part.  That the film attempts to tack on a romantic ending is a betrayal of the work of both actors.  It's clear that Mark is genuinely suspicious of Sandra from the outset, and she doesn't like or trust him one little bit.  He's also quite the male chauvinist: “Next time you hear some odd noise in the night, just follow the memorable custom of your sex and stick your head under the bedclothes."  Why an educated woman would want him is beyond our ken.  As a result, the ending of the film seems like it belonged to a different movie.

Quite frankly, a lot of the film doesn't make sense.  Mark claims to be protecting Jim and sister Julie (Geraldine Brooks, in her first film role) from [spoiler] the family's hereditary strain of insanity, but he does little to actually CARE for them.  He just keeps them hidden.  And, when Sandra arrives, claiming to be Jim's bride (regardless of her claim to a marriage of convenience), Mark makes no inquiries to determine if Sandra might also be bringing an heir to the Demarest fortune within her.  One would think he would confide in her, regardless of his fears that the family skeleton could have an impact on the political career of his brother. 

Much of the suspense focuses on just WHAT is going on in Mark's laboratory.  He is not called Doctor, so he isn't a physician (heck, his lack of knowledge about mental illness proves that).  So, WHAT is he doing?  We never find out (and when we see the lab, it doesn't look like anything was ever DONE in it.  It's too clean to even be Mark's library!)  The lab is more of a MacGuffin - just stuck in because working in a lab sounds mysterious and Frankenstein-y.  Visions of Mark trying to reanimate Jim's dead corpse run through one's mind.

Errol Flynn was not the first person considered for the role of Mark - Dennis Morgan was the original thought (which would have been a reunion for him and for Stanwyck).  And Dorothy Malone was to be Julie.  Unlike Ms. Brooks, Malone would have come to the production with some film credits under her belt - including her standout performance as the bookstore clerk in The Big Sleep.    But Brooks does a good job with a fairly thankless character.  That same year, she would graduate to a better part as Joan Crawford's stepdaughter in Possession. Ultimately, Ms. Brooks would make her name in television, as a featured guest star in such shows as Dr. Kildare, The Fugitive, and Bonanza (where she appeared as Ben Cartwright's first wife - and Adam's mother - Elizabeth Stoddard Cartwright), and in the theatre.  She died in 1977, aged 51 of a heart attack.  

Totally wasted is Jerome Cowan as Mark's brother, Senator Charles Caldwell.  We enjoy seeing Cowan, and one wonders why he was even bothered with this virtual cameo.

The music by Franz Waxman is quite excellent, and the costuming by Edith Head is exceptional.  Her designs are classic, and could easily be worn today.  Head was Stanwyck's favorite designer - according to Criterion, "Stanwyck was so enamored of the clothes that Head created for her characters that she hired her to design her personal wardrobe."  According to Edith Head: The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer, Stanwyck was so impressed with Head's designs when they worked together in Remember the Night, that she asked for Head to be her costumer in all her films.  Stanwyck had a notoriously long waist, which Head was able to camouflage, changing the direction of Stanwyck's film career to include more "dress roles".

So, while Cry Wolf starts well, by the end it feels rushed and is not really all that convincing.  The New York Times was also not a fan of the film.  As this TCM article points out, critical opinion in general was not very kind.  However, you do have an opportunity to see Errol Flynn in a role that was very unconventional for him (and hints at the character of Soames in That Forsythe Woman), Stanwyck looking stylish, and a young actress at the start of her career.  Here's a trailer to the film:

Barbara Has Her Portrait Painted

Our film for this week, The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), opens in a bucolic setting.  We meet Sally Morton (Barbara Stanwyck) and her beau, Geoffrey Carroll (Humphrey Bogart) as they vacation in the Scottish countryside.  Though they only met a week ago, they appear deeply in love.  Geoffrey is a painter, and is happily sketching his new love.  It begins to storm. The couple race for shelter; Geoffrey covers his beloved with his coat, then ventures back into the rain to help their guide.  When he returns, he finds Sally cold and distant.  She has inadvertently discovered a letter in his pocket - addressed to Mrs. Geoffrey Carroll.  Sally runs out into the storm and leaves Scotland.

Geoffrey, however, is now obsessed by Sally.  He sees her as his muse, and determines that he must get her back.  So, on his way home, he stops at a chemist's shop and manages to purchase a supply of poison.  Within a year, he is married to Sally.  Within two, he has lost his interest in his wife, and has discovered a new muse in the person of Cecily Latham (Alexis Smith).  And it seems that Sally is destined to follow the first Mrs. Carroll to the grave.

As this TCM article points out, The Two Mrs. Carrolls was not well received upon its release (It had, in fact, moldered in the Warner Brothers vaults for two years before its release).  Time magazine felt Bogart was miscast as an artist, while the New York Times's Bosley Crowther called the film 'a monstrosity" (they also stated that its release was delayed by the Warner Brothers for two years).  We, however, could not disagree more.  We found The Two Mrs. Carrolls to be an enjoyable film, with a strong cast that really pulls you into the action.  The film is based on a play that ran for 585 performances on Broadway, (with Elisabeth Bergner as Sally and Victor Jory as Geoffrey; produced by Bergner's husband, Paul Czinner). 

Let's start with Humphrey Bogart, who is wonderful as the insane artist.  Bogart plays Geoffrey with a delicacy that makes you at times doubt he could possibly BE a murderer.  His devotion to his daughter, Beatrice (Ann Carver) is sincere.  And his early scenes with Stanwyck exhibit a true love.  But, like Mr. Hyde, his dark side is quickly revealed, and the violent underbelly of the character is apparent.  Time's comment that "Bogart appears uncomfortable. Violence and murder are old stuff to him, but madness and paint brushes are not quite his line," is a bit odd.  For one thing, Bogart was well acquainted with "paint brushes" - his mother, after all, was the noted artist Maud Humphrey and baby Humphrey was her frequent model.  (For more on Maud Humphrey, visit this website from the Winterthur Museum). And he was no stranger to playing insane characters either - his Joe Gurney in King of the Underworld and George Halley in The Roaring Twenties are not exactly poster children for mental health.

We know that Geoffrey's passion for Cecily would eventually head down the same road as his love for Sally, though Alexis Smith plays Cecily as such a viper, it's doubtful anyone would really care.  While Sally runs from the possibility of an affair with a married man, Cecily relishes it.  And while Geoffrey is quite insane, one wonders if Cecily's disregard for Beatrice would have been the eventual cause of her demise.  We'll never know.

We loved Stanwyck as Sally.  She's a strong woman, who, overwhelmed by her discovery of her husband's perfidy, still takes charge of the situation.  Is she afraid of him? You bet, but she doesn't give in to being a victim.  She fights to the very end.  One also never doubts that Sally is a woman of integrity.  We know that Cecily is a manipulative witch, but Sally is a loving mother and wife who is supportive of her husband when his career is on a downturn, but is not a doormat.  That her warm relationship with her former fiance is believable is due to Stanwyck's sincerity as an actress.

Also impressive is Ann Carter.  The actress had a short film career, and is remembered especially for The Curse of the Cat People and I Married a Witch (as Veronica Lake's daughter).  She makes Bea a remarkably knowing child, but manages to avoid that smart-alacky attitude over-intelligent movie children often have.  Her career was over by 1953.  Around that time, she contracted polio. She eventually recovered, went to college, married, and had three children.  When she died in 2014, at age 77, ovarian cancer, she had been married to her husband (Crosby Newton) for 57 years.

I'm not big on spoilers, but the picture above was too good to resist, as actress Stanwyck observes the artistic results of Geoffrey's tormented mind.  The revelation of Sally as The Angel of Death is a shocking moment - much more powerful on the screen.   No details here, but suffice it to say, it's a scene to look out for.  The blog The Last Drive-In has a number of photos from the film (many are spoilers, so beware); this photo was one of them. 

The director of the film is Peter Godfrey.  He had already directed Stanwyck in Christmas in Connecticut and Cry Wolf (which we will look at next time) and had directed Alexis Smith in The Woman in White.  One wonders if he was familiar with Hitchcock's Suspicion - the scenes of Bogart carrying the poisoned milk to his wives is very reminiscent of Cary Grant on the same mission.  Godfrey's career was respectable - he appears to have retired after directing some television episodes in the 1950s, and died in 1970. 

We'll leave you with a trailer from the film. Next week, another Peter Godfrey/Barbara Stanwyck mystery.

Barbara's Boat Sinks

Before Walter Lord wrote A Night to Remember, before James Cameron went trolling on the ocean bottom to snatch images of the wreck of a great ship, there was Titanic (1953).  Starring Barbara Stanwyck and Clifton Webb as Julia and Richard Ward Sturgess, the film used a family dispute to tell the tale of the doomed ship.  Not that this was the first telling - there had been a 1915 silent version, as well as a German film from 1943 (which the commentary on my disk stated was more a diatribe against the inefficiencies of Great Britain than a tale of the factual Titanic).  And while the 1953 film is focused on the marital discord of the Sturgess family, it also attempts to tell - within dramatic reason - the true story of the sinking of RMS Titanic.

Julia Sturgess and her two children, Annette (Audrey Dalton) and Norman (Harper Carter) board the HMS Titanic, ostensibly on a brief vacation to see Julia's midwestern family.  Unbeknownst to her children, however, Julia intends to relocate the children to America permanently.  Her husband's chosen lifestyle - wandering from hotel to hotel to partake in the social season for that particular venue - has become stale to Julia, and she sees her children becoming petty snobs who look down on their family and their country.  In hot pursuit is Richard, who manages to board the sold-out ship by bribing the head of an immigrant family - give Richard his steerage ticket, and Richard will pay the man what amounts to a small fortune to take a later boat.  Richard then boards with the rest of the Uzcadum family, and boldly forces himself into first class and his wife's cabin.  The couple begin a battle for what they both see as the future of their offspring.

The film mixes the lives of the fictional characters with those of historical ones.  We see John Jacob and Madeleine Astor, and Isidor and Ida Strauss board.  We meet Maude Young (Thelma Ritter), a character based on the Unsinkable Molly Brown.  We also follow the activities of the crew, most notably Captain E.J. Smith (Brian Aherne) and Second Officer Lightoller (Edmund Purdom, in his film debut), who periodically converse about the iceberg that will doom the ship.

It's particularly enjoyable to see Robert Wagner in the role of Gifford Rogers, a young man who becomes instantly smitten with young Annette Sturgess.  This was one of Wagner's earliest movies - he had come to the public's attention the year before, when he played a shell-shocked soldier in the Susan Hayward film With a Song in My Heart.  In Titanic, he has only a few scenes, but one that is worth noting is with Stanwyck:  he seeks her advice on how to best court her daughter.  Their easy conversation doesn't give any hint of the feelings of the two stars.  In the video below, Mr. Wagner discusses his relationship with Stanwyck.  He fell in love with her on this set of this picture, and, after a four-year affair, proposed marriage.  Stanwyck declined, because of their age difference (he was 23 when the affair started; she was 45).  Here is a video of Wagner discussing his love for Ms. Stanwyck:
Clifton Webb is always a fascinating actor to watch.  He takes a character who could be merely a mustache-twirling villain, and gives him many layers of emotion, affection, and disdain.  By the end of the film, his Richard Sturgess becomes something of a hero, as he faces the inevitable with courage.   We watch him use his children as weapons against his wife, but then see the love that he has for them, an affection that is quite mutual.  

Stanwyck's Julia is likewise layered.  She lives in an era where she and her children are still the property of her husband.  She must sneak away from him if she is to retain custody of the children.  But we also discover that she has betrayed her husband - we never learn if he has been equally lax in adhering to their marital vows (she never accuses him of it, so we must assume he has been faithful).  By adding this piece of information, Julia becomes somewhat less attractive.  While we don't root for Richard, we begin to understand him.  Both Webb and Stanwyck give us flawed, human characters.  To choose between them is not easy. It's fun to know that Mr. Webb was actually a big fan of Ms. Stanwyck, stating "that woman's an absolute dream to work with." (Sitting Pretty: The Life and Times of Clifton Webb By Clifton Webb)

Thelma Ritter is one of my personal favorites.  In listening to the commentary on my DVD, I was dismayed to hear the film critic Richard Shickel say she always played the same character (he also couldn't remember Robert Wagner's TV credits, but that is another issue).  I beg to differ - surely, she played tough-minded middle class women, BUT, her characters are always nuanced.  In Titanic, she hasn't a lot to do - there are a lot of characters, as I've previously noted, and she has very little screen time.  But what she has, she makes use of.  She becomes the eyes of the audience - as Richard suffers an emotional reaction to his wife's betrayal, it is Ritter's Maude who sees his despair. 

Other appearances worth noting are Richard Basehart as George Healey, a priest who has recently been defrocked because of his alcoholism; Allyn Joslyn as Earl Meeker, a man who survives the disaster by sneaking on a lifeboat dressed as a woman; and the lovely Frances Bergen - mother of Candace, and wife of Edgar - as the pregnant Madeleine Astor.  

The story of a man dressing as a woman to escape the ship is a common one in Titanic lore.  The only truth to the story that is known is that John Jacob Astor put a woman's hat on a small boy, in order to get him onto a lifeboat.  The rule of the era was that women and children were evacuated first, and while men did survive in lifeboats, none are known to have sneaked on in women's garb. 

Originally, the film was to be called Nearer My God to Thee, the song that was allegedly playing as the ship slipped into the ocean, though there is no historical basis for this rumor.  This TCM article provides more information on both that rumor and the film itself.  

In the meantime, we'll close with a trailer that serves as an introduction to some of our main characters.  We'll be back next time with another Barbara Stanwyck film: