Rita's on Broadway

We see a suicide note.  Charles Engle (John Qualen) has decided to end his life after his wife runs off with another man, taking with her $3,000 Engle embezzled from his employer.  His boss, Mr. Hopper (George Watts), tells him he has until 6am to retrieve the money and return it. So, Charles goes out to jump in the river, but the police by the waterfront scare him into away from the pier and into The Pigeon Club.  In his ennui, Charles throws what money he has around, raising a number of eyebrows, including those of an unusual trio.  Bill O'Brien (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), in some senses the narrator of the film, is a con man who hopes to make a bit of money off this new mark.   Nina Barona (Rita Hayworth), is a would-be performer looking for someone to cast her in a stage play, or provide a few bucks til she finds a producer.  Gene Gibbons (Thomas Mitchell) is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who has just had a play fail miserably, and his girlfriend leave him; he would like to find an angel for his next play, and he thinks Charles is the answer.  So begins Angels Over Broadway (1940).

Angels Over Broadway shows great promise as it opens; it is witty and interesting.  Even the double meaning of the title - the Broadway "angel" (or financier) being sought by all three of our characters, framed in comparison to the angelic deed that the three agree to perform in order to save Charles' life - shows imagination.  By the end, however, the plot begins to implode, and we felt that the writers just didn't know how to end it.  Some of the plots just seem to stop (Gene Gibbons, for example), and the ending given to Nina and Bill has an artificial feel to it.  It's too bad, really, because there are some great characters that showed a lot of promise.

We particularly enjoyed Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.'s small time con man.  He's properly smarmy, but is also attractive. Fairbanks is always a dynamic actor, and he tries hard to make his character realistic.  But, there are problems even a talented actor can't overcome.  For example, though he and Nina bicker, and he denies an attraction, he seems protective of her.  But there is little chemistry between him and Rita Hayworth, and her character is really a riddle. Hayworth doesn't get to do very much, and her character's actions are contradictory.  It doesn't feel like Nina has an awakening; the character does a complete about-face in her attitudes and actions, and its not clear why.  But she is not given a lot to work with - the screenplay is much more interested in Fairbanks and in the always wonderful Thomas Mitchell.

Also given short shrift is John Qualen, a great character actor with a sizeable part in screen time, but no real opportunity for character development.  Qualen gives the appearance of sleepwalking through the film, and while in other films he is often portrayed as an everyman, he is rarely weak in his portrayals.  Here, he is not so much nebbishy as he is a non-entity.  Qualen had a lengthy career, working in films and television from 1931 to 1974. Many of you will remember him as Vera Miles father in The Searchers or as the expectant father in Whipsaw.  His career started on Broadway; he went to Hollywood to recreate his stage role in the screen version of Street Scene and became a favorite of director John Ford.  Qualen appeared in Ford's films over a thirty year period.  John Qualen died in 1987 (aged 87) having been married to his wife since 1924.

Ben Hecht was actually nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Angels Over Broadway (it lost to The Great McGinty), and it was well received critically.  Audiences, however, did not warm up to the film.  This TCM article goes into more depth on the film and on Rita Hayworth.

Having recently seen the film Raffles, we were amused when Gene steals a brooch, and his ex-girl friend announces "You're no Raffles".  All in all, we were sorry that we didn't enjoy Angels Over Broadway more.  It showed such promise!  It might be worth a look, just for the beginning of the film, and to see Fairbanks in top form.  

We'll leave you with a scene from early in the picture, as Bill begins his flirtation with Nina:

Kay's Velvet

Kay Francis is again our star this week, co-starring with another of our favorites, George Brent in Living on Velvet (1935).  George is Terry Parker, a flyer who is en route, with his mother, father and sister, to Newport for a family event, when the plane is trapped in fog.  Try as he might to break into clear skies, Terry is thwarted, until his plane runs out of fuel.  The plane crashes - and Terry's entire family is killed.  Terry walks away from the plane with some scratches, a headache, and a great deal of survivor guilt.  From this point, Terry lives his life wildly - he is "living on velvet" - he should be dead, but is not, so he will live life to the fullest, and not worry about the consequences.  But then he meets Amy Prentiss (Kay Francis), the love of his friend Walter "Gibraltar" Pritcham (Warren William).  For Amy and Terry, it is love at first sight; but the problems that ensue as they try to live within each others lives is the focus of the film.

The film remarkably is able to stay true to its theme; it doesn't throw in artificial agents (like, say, a pregnancy) to force character growth.  It is the story of a marriage, full of love, but one in which the persons involved have very different views of life.  Amy understands that Terry's apparent immaturity is not that, but a grief so deep it is hidden from all but those who know the man intimately.  George Brent is able to make Terry understandable and relate-able.  Terry is not whiny or morose; regardless, you feel his pain.  Brent is able to throw a cast to his eyes that remind you of the deep pain the rules his life.

Richard Brody's video analysis of the film, from the New Yorker, is worth a few minutes of your time.  In it, he talks about the serious tone of the film, and the conflict between Amy, a woman from a well-to-do family who sacrifices a life of comfort for the man she loves, and Terry, who wants to spend his gift of life dipping into his ever growing bucket list.  Amy wants a family, a nice home, and no pending bills.  Terry wants to do what he wants, when he wants, and hang what comes after.  After all - life is short, and he wants to do it all.

Though the film has funny moments (we'll talk about one of them a little later), this is NOT a comedy.  Oddly, the advertising (as seen above), seems to imply that it is, showing Kay Francis in a lovely evening dress and a top hat.  And in the image below, a funny love triangle is implied.  While we do have a bit of a triangle, Gibraltar is a friend to the couple, once  he realizes that he is an afterthought to Kay.  There are no amusing fights.  One wonders if the public felt tricked when they realized the serious theme of Living on Velvet.  Certainly, Kay Francis had already appeared in comedies (like 1932's Trouble in Paradise), but she was best known for women's pictures, or "weepers" - and she is the name above the title - so it's hard to fathom. The New York Times review from 1935 makes no mention of the advertising, but it was not positive, They liked the beginning of the film, but felt that the ending was unconvincing.

We were very impressed with the way the film portrays the moment when Terry and Amy meet.  Certainly, it's highly romantic, but it is a lovely enactment of love a first sight.  Ms. Francis, especially, shows the intensity of her reaction (a clip is below).

An image that is particularly jarring is the newspaper headline which informs us of the death of Terry's family.  We get to meet them, if only for a few moments.  That the film used known character people of the caliber of Samuel S. Hinds and Maude Turner Gordon makes the headline even more surprising.  In much the same way that Janet Leigh's abrupt death in Psycho is a surprise because of who is playing the part, we had a similar reaction when we realized that the characters were indeed dead.

There is one very funny scene that has to be mentioned.  Terry and Amy are on a bus, in their first flush of love, and he asks her to just talk.  She complies: "Thirty days has September. Apwil, June...".  He stops her and asks her to repeat: "Thirty days has September. Apwil".  And he begins to tease her about her lisp, asking her to say "Around the rocks, the rugged rascal ran", which she gamely tries - and, of course, fails to say with the dreaded "W" sound.  Finally, she repeats her first line, and when she gets to it, carefully says APRIL, then, grins happily.  As fans of Ms. Francis and her delightful lisp, it was a hoot to see her not only acknowledging it, but laughing with us about it.

For those who would like more background information on one particularly scandalous aspect of the film, this very brief  TCM article is worth a look.  Our Kay, it seems, had a very busy vacation just before the filming started, resulting in an abortion, and a long recovery process.

Warren William as Gibraltar is absolutely terrific, as a man who loves, but who won't settle for less than the real thing.  Once Gibraltar realizes that Amy will never love him the way she does Terry, his every action is to facilitate their marriage.  Mr. William started his career on Broadway, appearing in 22 plays (primarily in supporting parts.  Once in Hollywood, he worked steadily - appearing mostly as lawyers and businessmen - throughout the 1930s and into the early 1940s, but by the end of the war, he was only in 3 films.  He was quietly married to the his great love, Helen Barbara Nelson from 1923 until his death at age 53 of multiple myeloma in 1947.  His beloved wife died a few months later.

We also enjoyed Helen Lowell as Amy's Aunt Martha, the nay-sayer in the marriage of Amy to Terry.  Aunt Martha doesn't like Terry one bit, and isn't adverse to saying it; Ms. Lowell makes her a force to be reckoned with!  She was 69 when she appeared in this film; she would die two years later, having appeared in 31 films.

Before we go, we want to mention again the costuming by Orry-Kelly.  There is a gorgeous dress with a cameo belt that we were lusting after (a couple members of the group are big fans of cameo jewelry).  As promised, we leave you with a portrayal of love at first sight:

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: