Come Back Little Sheba (1952): Hazel on Downers

Through the years I've read many reviews and articles about the 1952 Oscar winner Come Back Little Sheba and it seems the general consensus appreciates the cinematic and artistic value of the film but the opinions about the story, individual characters and their relationship with each other are all over the board.  The middle aged marrieds, as the focus of the movie, could be the dramatic version of the Odd Couple, with the emotional scale heavier on the melancholy rather than the comic.

Come Back Little Sheba was originally a hit Broadway play written by William Inge.  Produced in 1950, it starred Shirley Booth as a blowsy, lazy housewife named Lola Delaney and Sidney Blackmer as her disillusioned, alcoholic husband, Doc.  Producer Hal Wallis brought the heartbreaking story to the screen via Paramount Pictures in the early 50's, with Booth reprising the role of Lola and Burt Lancaster taking on the part of Doc.  The play's director Daniel Mann was also brought in to oversee the production.  As with most film versions of famous plays, the story is visually contained with most sets limited to the interior of the Delaney's deteriorating mid-western home.  The film's focus is on the couple's deteriorating, mid-western marriage.

Lola is a slovenly matron, sloppy and pathetically child-like.  Her days consist of sleeping late, lounging on the sofa while the radio transports her to exotic locales and desperately trying to engage the mailman into general conversation, a result of her attention starved existence.  Doc is a chiropractor and recovering alcoholic, remorseful over his broken dreams of becoming a "real" physician due to his forced marriage to a pregnant Lola many years before.  As the film progresses, it is discovered that Lola is rejected by her father after she finds herself in the "family way" even when she and Doc marry.  To add insult to injury she loses the baby and isn't able to conceive again.  Their humdrum life together gets shaken up with the arrival of a young college co-ed (Terry Moore) into the home.  The nubile new border is a ray of sunshine to the crestfallen Doc, a source of emotional activity to the clueless Lola.

The driving influences of the two lead characters, as well as their casting, are what make the film so interesting.  In a time when middle aged actresses and roles for such veterans were in small demand, 54 year-old Shirley Booth not only repeated her stage success as Lola (she won a Tony for the role on Broadway) but walked away with the Academy Award, Golden Globe, New York Drama Critics Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for this, her debut film.  A triumphant victory to be sure, but such a huge achievement left little opportunity for her future in the film world.  Appearing in only four more movies (one in a mere cameo role), the talented Booth made an even larger impression on audiences as the meddling and guffawing maid Hazel in the long running television series of the same name, adding two Emmys to her collection of accolades.  Such honors weren't foreshadowed before filming of Sheba began however, and Paramount, wary of featuring depressing subject matter and an unknown (to film) actress, hedged its bets by casting Burt Lancaster as Doc.  An extremely appealing, athletic and virile actor, a former acrobat in fact, Lancaster had to stretch his acting muscles (and cover his physical ones) to portray an aging, mild mannered, broken husband.

For the most part, Burt's Doc was a personal success, gaining the actor the dramatic experience he would use to create legendary film characters in years to come.  But as an overall contribution to the completed Sheba, Lancaster's believability is lacking.  He was 15 years younger than Booth and even with aging make up, slumped shoulders and body padding, his good looks and athleticism showed through, particularly in the scenes where he physically attacks Lola.  It is hard to imagine Lancaster staying with the clinging, dowdy Booth.

Depending on who you ask, Lola is viewed as a sympathetic frump or a half witted slattern, whose non stop prattle drove her husband to drink.  Doc could be seen as a kind yet sorely disappointed man, whose once great potential was never to be discovered.  However, some call him an internal whiner, who should put on his big boy pants and build some sort of life with the upbeat, friendly Lola, who obviously cares for him.  Modern viewers of the film might question the choices made by the principals, living together under such miserable and depressing circumstances, but times and social mores were different in 1950 and the play/film is a good character study of a realistic, unglamrous relationship in mid-century America.  By the way, the title refers to Lola's little dog, who ran away before the movie begins and who is referenced throughout.

Cast a Dark Shadow (1955): Bluebeard Bogarde

Dirk Bogarde was a cinema star of international magnitude in the 1960’s and 70’s, his films being screened across Europe and North America. In the 50’s however, his star shone mostly in Britain (albeit shown very brightly) and he was cast in a variety of roles including the comedic “Doctor” series. But some of his best roles from this period and precursors of those parts which made him a mega star, were those which cast him in a dark shadow. How’s THAT for a segue way?

Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) is a shadowy suspenser, very British and highly enjoyable. Bogarde plays Edward “Teddy” Bare (really, Teddy Bare?), a modern day Bluebeard, an unsavory charmer of well-off widows. As the film opens, Teddy is married to the much older Monica or ’Monnie’ as he affectionately calls her (Mona Washbourne). Innocent and trusting Monnie enjoys her drink a little more than she should, thanks to the coaching of her lay about husband. Unbeknownst to Teddy, she means to change her will in his favor, leaving him everything. Believing she is meeting with her attorney to adjust her estate without him in mind, he kills her, making it appear an accident, she being the victim of a gas fireplace. He later discovers he has slain the goose AND done away with the golden eggs.

Running low on funds (as most gigolos) our Teddy Bare seeks the green pastures of a recently widowed barkeep, Freda, who is coarse, loud and heavily endowed financially. Freda (convincingly played by Brit powerhouse Margaret Lockwood) is no shrinking violet and takes the slick Mr. Bare on toe to toe. They marry with the new Missus thinking her husband has as much spinach as she herself. He soon realizes Freda is no soft touch and his eye turns to a new, attractive widow in town named Charlotte (Kay Walsh).

Shadow is based on a play called “Murder Mistaken” by British playwright Janet Green. It has twists, turns and is a bit Hitchcockian in feel, Agatha Christie in theme. The deep black and white photography is brought to the screen via cinematographer Jack Asher, who would shoot many of the best known Hammer thrillers later in the decade and into the next. And not to be left out is the performance by Kathleen Harrison as Emmy, the slow witted, guileless servant, a role very similar to the one she played in her more famous film, the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol.

Portrait of Jennie (1948): Haunting Beauty

"Who knoweth if to die be but to live, and that called life by mortals be but death?" ~ Euripides

Portraits have played key plot elements in several classic movies during the 1940’s, sometimes even being the central theme around which the film is based. From Kitty (1945) and Laura (1944) to The Picture of Dorian Gray (also 1945), the mystery and enchantment of someone’s painted image intrigued moviegoers throughout the decade. One of the most fascinating examples in this circle took over four years to get on the screen. Portrait of Jennie (1948) is a romantic fantasy with shades of mystery and more than its share of haunting beauty.

 The film was based on a 1940 novel by Robert Nathan, who had also authored The Bishop’s Wife, which was adapted for the screen in 1947. MGM had taken an option on the story but dropped it, when producer David O. Selznick picked it up in late 1944. When casting discussions began, Vivien Leigh was considered for the part of Jennie. She was still under contract to Selznick at the time and there was even talk of she and husband Laurence Olivier starring together but the idea was dropped. There was also discussion among Selznick’s production team to film it with Shirley Temple, who was also under personal contract, over a period of years to take advantage of Temple’s transition from youth to young adulthood. As tempting as the marketing angle was to the publicity genius, Selznick felt it would be a perfect project for his then lover Jennifer Jones. Joseph Cotten was then cast in the male lead, making it the fourth film teaming for the duo in as many years (Cotten and Jones had previously co-starred in Since You Went Away (1944), Love Letters (1945) and Duel in the Sun (1946)).

Eben Adams is a downtrodden artist, a wandering soul in search of what he’s not entirely sure. His name fairly drips of early-mid century American artist. He half heartedly wanders into the low key but high quality gallery of Matthews and Spinney, the latter name belonging to a straight talking, self proclaimed old maid who takes a shine to Adams. Receiving a verbal as well as a financial renewal at Matthews and Spinney, the artist heads back out into the cold that is Manhattan in winter. While wandering in the park, he encounters a strange but lovely girl named Jennie. She talks of things and places from 20+ years earlier, as if they were happening that day. She leaves as suddenly as she appeared, leaving Adams to speculate on such an odd child. Taken with Jennie’s unique spirit, the artist creates a sketch of her which he presents to Matthews and Spinney. Mr. Matthews, who originally thought Eben’s work lacking, finds the sketch so striking and inspired, that he offers him a relatively substantial sum.

Adams once again meets Jennie, while out and about, but notices that she seems to have aged somewhat, changing from a child into a pre-adolescent. His subsequent encounters with her prove just as strange, each revealing a maturity in years. As she “ages” he falls in love with her and she with him. This romance, created beyond the confines of time and space, blossoms but where will it lead?

With production beginning in February 1947 and ending in October 1948, Jennie was fraught with problems, least of which was Selznick’s perfectionism. William Dieterle was chosen to direct. His creative sense of the visual had been used to great effect in the fantasy The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941), which had photographic elements that could transfer into this project. Ethel Barrymore was perfectly cast as Miss Spinney, as was Cecil Kellaway as Mr. Matthews and Lillian Gish as a kind nun who knew Jennie as a child.

Portrait of Jennie was released on Christmas Day 1948 and although not very well received, has over the course of time become a classic. Joseph Cotten won the International Prize for Best Actor at the 1949 Venice International Film Festival for his portrayal of Eben Adams and Selznick and Jones married the following year. Though problems and chaos plagued production of the movie, the end result is a fascinating fantasy ghost romance.

A Kay Francis Double Feature: "Wavishing"

Most fans of classic movies know film divas of the 1930’s such as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. They are iconic figures who more often than not, appear as caricatures of there original screen image. But among these movie queens, there is a name that hardcore cinephiles also recognize with as much stature in the deco era: Kay Francis.

A sultry brunette who was always dressed to the nines, Francis wrung her hands and suffered long in films at both Paramount and Warner Brothers studios during the Depression. She headlined both light comedies and heavy melodramas, with emphasis on the latter. Two prime examples of a “Kay Francis film” are featured below, the first from her early days at Paramount and the second during her tenure at Warners.

The Virtuous Sin (1930)
Is there such a thing as a virtuous sin? Kay seemed to think so in this very early talkie in which she co-starred with Walter Huston. Set in World War I Russia, it’s actually a bit hokey and kind of dated but since it’s a pre-code, there’s enough risqué hanky panky to make it fun.

Kay plays the wife of a medical researcher (Kenneth McKenna), an eager chap who is taken into the military against his will. His disgust of his current station leads to insubordination and eventually court martial. Sentenced to execution by his superior (Huston), our doctor friend is hopeless. Enter Kay, determined to save him no matter what it takes, even though she has admitted she isn’t deeply in love with him. She frequents a café cum bordello in an attempt to tantalize the general who sentenced her husband to die, hoping to “persuade” him to reverse his decision. So what does she do instead? She falls in love with him!

The Virtuous Sin is the kind of improbable melodrama that ran rampant in pre-code Hollywood. Hand to forehead tales with overacting styles that carried over from silent films. They are a hoot to watch though and rarely boring. As an interesting side note, Kay and costar McKenna carried on a torrid affair during filming which culminated in their marriage in early 1931.

Living on Velvet (1935)
Although not one of Francis’ better known or more notorious vehicles, Living on Velvet is a good example of the genre she starred in while at Warner Brothers. At her zenith, she was among the highest paid stars in Hollywood. At her lowest ebb at the studio, she was among the highest paid stars in Hollywood. You see, hers was an extremely lucrative contract and even when Warners thought her time had passed and gave her sub par scripts in hopes her ego would make her break said contract, she plugged along collecting her paychecks and becoming a very wealthy woman.

Living on Velvet gave her two leading men, George Brent and Warren William (though there was no doubt that Kay was the star). Aviator Brent loses his parents and sister in a plane crash in which he had piloted the plane. Guilty and reckless, he feels he is now ‘living on velvet’. When he meets Kay, it is love at first site for them both, although she is Warren’s girl. Kay marries George only to be plagued by his lackadaisical outlook about making a living and life in general.

Francis had worked with both George Brent and Warren William before and worked with Brent several more times before leaving Warners. Life was not velvet for William during this period. Once a leading man at the studio and on loan-out films like the previous year’s Cleopatra and the original Imitation of Life, Velvet relegated the actor to what was basically supporting status. Far from the suave and virile men he’d played earlier in the decade, he was a mere door mat for best friend Brent and girlfriend Kay to walk across on there way to the alter.

One notable scene from Living on Velvet has Brent’s character giving Francis a diction lesson. The star had a noticeable lisp, where her ‘r’s came out as ‘w’s. So much so that she was often teasingly called the “wavishing Kay Fwancis.” In their shared scene, George gives Kay a verbal exercise where she must repeat “around the ragged rocks the ragged rascal ran,” only Francis’ version went: “Awound the wagged wocks the wagged wascal wan.” Audiences found her self deprecation charming.

The actress continued making films after she left Warner Brothers in the late 1930’s, but her glory days were long behind her. A workhorse (she made 15 films in 1930-31 alone) as well as a clotheshorse (her costume changes were legendary), Kay Francis was also a true blue star.
For more information about the colorful Kay Francis, author Scott O’Brien has penned a fascinating biography entitled, Kay Francis: I Can't Wait to be Forgotten - Her Life on Film and Stage (linked below).

The Women (1939): Color It “Jungle Red”

Start with one highly seasoned Norma Shearer. Next, add a fairly hard boiled Joan Crawford (she will toughen even more during cooking). Take one second string star, Rosalind Russell, just waiting to blossom. Mix in a couple of fresh faces with fresh figures, preferably Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine. Then sprinkle the whole thing with colorful supporting players like Marjorie Main, Mary Boland and Lucile Watson. Serve up with art direction by Cedric Gibbons and couture by Adrian (no last name necessary) and you’ve got a recipe for cinematic success known far and wide simply as, The Women (1939).

With a cast largely consisting of discarded Scarlett O’Hara wannabes, The Women was produced the same year as Gone with the Wind and was second only to that gargantuan film in profits for its studio, MGM, in 1939. Director George Cukor was signed on to tame these lipsticked lionesses after also being discarded as director from the Civil War epic, when the films’ star, Clark Gable, complained that he was giving too much attention to the female leads. Cukor said of The Women: “ At the time it probably wasn’t as silly as it seems now, because it came from a different world. ‘Kept women’ and marital break ups were big moral questions then. Now, of course, everybody would be screwing everybody, and everybody would know about it. Crystal wouldn’t be a kept woman, she’d be carrying on with another girl.” But Cukor’s deft and skillful directing aside, the classic comedy belonged entirely to its title characters.

The plot is indeed as Cukor described it about ‘kept women’ and marital break ups, in a gossipy modern high society circle of “friends” in NYC. Based on the hit Broadway play by Clare Booth Luce, it ran 666 performances on the Great White Way in 1936. In a nutshell, wealthy and elegant socialite Mary Haines (Shearer) goes through her privileged tasteful life in bliss with her handsome, engineer husband, Stephen and their daughter, Little Mary (it must be noted that nary a man steps in front of the camera during the two plus hours of celluloid. They are merely referenced….A LOT!). Her happy existence is threatened big time with the onset of Crystal Allen (Crawford, pictured here with her signature designer Adrian), shopgirl, home wrecker and floosie supreme. Enter Sylvia Fowler (Russell), et al, Mary’s dearest “friends” who verbally and maliciously take her (and each other) apart piece by piece.

Most, if not all, of the movie’s stars were in some sort of career shift. Norma Shearer, whose MGM high-up honcho husband, Irving Thalberg had died two years earlier, was in a state of dated star decline, holding her own basically because she was also holding substantial MGM stock left to her by her dear departed spouse. Joan Crawford was also on the verge of “has been” status after a string of flops at Metro. Pop columnist Sheila Graham noted in early 1939, “After three misses in a row, if Joan Crawford doesn’t come up with a hit picture soon, she will be joining Luise Rainer in the Hall of Forgotten Stars at Metro.” Never any love lost between Shearer and Crawford, the two divas had an long standing feud over who was the female powerhouse at MGM. Crawford always felt that Norma got the choice roles at the studio, merely because she was sleeping with the boss and was fond of calling her “Miss Lotta Miles”, a moniker Shearer had worn back in the 20’s as a model for a tire manufacturer. Their attempts to one up each other on the set were legendary, including Crawford’s clacking knitting needles during many of Shearer’s scenes.

Rosalind Russell had been at MGM for half a decade, relegated to second tier status for most of that time with a few exceptions, most notably on loan out to Columbia for Craig’s Wife (1936). With the success of The Women, Russell’s talents as a comedic gem had been discovered and utilized. Like Russell, both Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine were actresses who were just on the verge of stardom. Goddard had actually been a hair’s length away from winning the coveted role of Scarlett in GWTW before losing out to Vivien Leigh. On loan out from producer David O. Selznick for The Women, she would leave the showman’s employ later that year to enter a long term, very successful run at Paramount where her star would shine. Fontaine would also shoot to stardom in 1940, when Alfred Hitchcock cast her as the second Mrs. deWinter in his classic Rebecca. Not as high profile as most of the other females on the Women set, Fontaine had up until that time, fell mostly in the shadow of her more successful, higher profile sister, Olivia de Havilland. In “Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography” the star praises Cukor and most of her cast mates (except Shearer, of course!) with the noted exception of Fontaine. “I think the only one I could have done without was Joan Fontaine. She wasn’t a bitch, she wasn’t nasty - there was just something about her. She had the smallest part of all of us and maybe she was just a little jealous."

Marjorie Main presented a trial run of her Ma Kettle character ten years early and it suited her Lucy character in The Women to a tee. Comedy veteran Mary Boland spouted her faith in “l’amour” throughout the film, cracking many hilarious one-liners along the way and in a small but fun part, luscious Virginia Grey, as one of Crawford’s department store co-workers, makes one wonder why Stephen Haines didn’t sniff around HER end of the perfume counter instead of the world weary Crystal’s.

Above, MGM boss Louis B. Mayer, with Paulette Goddard and director George Cukor at The Women premiere

The Women was an enormous hit. It’s premise was successful enough to warrant not one but two remakes, albeit sad disappointments, both. First in 1956 with The Opposite Sex starring June Allyson and Joan Collins, then again over 50 years later under the original title with Meg Ryan and Annette Benning. Neither even came close to the sparkling wit and vicious bite of the original film. It’s phenomenal ensemble may never be duplicated under such circumstances again.

2012!: Let the Classic Movies Continue!

It’s another year and another passel of great classic films to look forward to in the next twelve months. I’m not sure who or what films might show up, but there are some stars, films and film genres that I hope to feature in the near future. Look for Carole Lombard, Edward G. Robinson, Alfred Hitchcock, Olivia de Havilland, a glimpse of classic British films from across the pond and much more.

Thank you for sharing your love of classic film with me and letting me share it with you in 2011. I hope great things are in store in 2012. Happy New Year!