My Favorite Wife

 (1940)
Directed by Garson Kanin
Written by Bella Spewack, Ben Spewack
Starring Irene Dunne, Cary Grant, Randolph Scott, Gail Patrick, Scotty Beckett, Granville Johnson
IMDB Entry

Irene Dunne may be the most obscure of the big name 30s movie stars. She was one of the best actresses in screwball comedy and was nominated for five Oscars for comedies and for dramas.  But none of her films, though good, were rated as classics and unless you're a big movie buff, you probably haven't heard of her.  My Favorite Wife is considered one of her best.

It is a remake of Tennyson's "Enoch Arden" poem. Nick Arden's (Cary Grant) wife Ellen (Irene Dunne) has been lost in a shipwreck for seven years. He has her declared legally dead in order to marry Bianca Bates (Gail Patrick*). But Ellen shows up on his doorstep.  Her two children don't remember her, but Nick's mother, who is taking care of the kids, does, and tells her the situation. Ellen flies to their honeymoon destination and Nick spots her. He finds out her story and dithers about what to do. Just as he is about to tell Bianca the situation, he is interrupted to learn that Ellen wasn't alone on the island, sharing it with Stephen Burkett (Randolph Scott); the two of them even referred to each other as "Adam and Eve."  Nick becomes jealous when he sees Burkett and discovers he's more fit  and handsome then he is, complicating an already complicated situation.

The story, alas, didn't work well for me because of the contrived way Nick is kept from telling Bianca the truth. Dunne, however, is wonderful. She had a radiant charm and playfulness that few can match.

The performance that also stuck in my mind was that of Gail Patrick as Bianca. Patrick specialized in the slightly snotty woman who was a rival with the lead actress for the attentions of the lead actor, and, of course, never getting him. Her role here is more dramatic than comic as she is hurt and frustrated by Nick leaving her on weak excuses to talk to Ellen. You really feel sorry for  her. Patrick suggested that she and Stephen end up as romantic partners, but the director turned her down.

The movie was produced under the Production Code and it's telling to see that Nick and Bianca never consummate their marriage, probably to avoid outright bigamy or divorce.

Director Garson Kanin was a solid writer (with his wife, Ruth Gordon), responsible for many Tracy/Hepburn films and the play and movie Born Yesterday. This was one of his most most successful.

Sam and Bella Spewack were a successful Broadway writing team, best known for Kiss Me Kate.

Of note was that the movie was revamped after previews showed the second half didn't work. Kanin had the inspiration to bring back the character of Judge Bryson (Granville Bates) to help fix the plot problems. Gail Patrick, a former law student, help with the legal terminology, though the Spewacks were not happy they changed their script.

Of note in the cast was Scotty Beckett, one of my favorite members of the Our Gang comedies.

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*Patrick's biggest role in Hollywood was, as Gail Patrick Jackson, the executive producer of Perry Mason, responsible for casting all the major actors and guiding the show.

Audrey Munson (model)

 (1891-1996)
Wikipedia Page

She's often called America's First Supermodel, back before the term meant someone who modeled dresses.  Very few people would recognize her name today, but Audrey Munson was the inspiration for dozens of sculptures.

She was born in Rochester, NY in 1891 and moved to New York at age seventeen to try her hand at acting. in 1909, she got a bit part in a play, but her career got a boost when Felix Benedict Herzog spotted her on Fifth Avenue and ask her to pose for him. Herzog introduced her to others in the art world and she began to pose for various New York City artists, the best know of which today is Charles Dana Gibson.* She had no objection to posing nude, which created further opportunities.

The Spirit of Life
Saratoga Springs, NY

At least twenty sculptures of her were in New York City at one point. She also posed for statuary at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.

Her success led to film. In 1915, she appeared in the film Inspiration, notable for her being perhaps the first actress to perform nude in a non-pornographic film. The censors didn't like it, but didn't like the idea of having to censor classical art, so they allowed it -- as long as she didn't move.**

She made three other movies, but her career suddenly cratered. In 1919, a Dr. Walter Wilkens, a stalker who insisted she was in love with him, murdered his wife so they could marry. Munson insisted otherwise, but since she left town to avoid questioning, her reputation went down the drain. Wilkens was convicted and hung himself in prison waiting to get the electric chair.

Munson's career as a model ended with the scandal. She came back with a series of (possibly ghostwritten) articles about her life and participated in various publicity stunts which didn't work out. In 1922, she attempted suicide. Her mother, who had been closely connected to her career, had her committed to a mental asylum in 1931, where she was treated for depression and schizophrenia.  She remained there for over 64 years, dying at age 104, forgotten by everyone.

But her sculptures live on. I've seen The Spirit of Life in Saratoga Springs, not knowing anything about the story behind it.  

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*Creator of the Gibson Girl.

**There was a similar restriction on nudes in Mrs. Henderson Presents.

The Bitter Tea of General Yen

 (1933)
Directed by Frank Capra
Written by Edward Paramore, from a novel by Grace Zaring Stone
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Nils Asher, Walter Connolly, Toshia Mori, Gavin Gordon
IMDB Entry

Controversy changes with time. What was controversial at one point may be considered innocuous decades later. The Bitter Tea of General Yen  was around long enough to be controversial again.

In the 1920s, during the Chinese Civil War, Megan Davis (Barbara Stanwyck) travels to China to marry Robert Strike (Gavin Gordon). She finds the missionary community has a very stereotyped view of the Chinese.  When a call comes for Strike to rescue some orphans, she comes along. Strike goes to the warlord General Yen (Nils Asher), asking for safe passage. Yen give hims a document calling Strike a fool and which gives the soldiers a good laugh. When they try to save the children, Megan is knocked unconscious and awakens in the General's palace.  

Yen is enamored of Megan, and she begins to develop feelings for him, which she works hard to resist. They discover Megan's maid Mah-Li (Toshia Mori) is a spy, but Megan begs for her life. Yen agrees, but makes her promise to forfeit her life if Meh-Li betrays him again. Of course,  things go badly,  leading to a tragic ending.

The movie opened Radio City Music Hall, but the engagement was cut short as the romance between Yen and Megan incensed racists. Nowadays, of course, it is criticized for casting a white actor as Yen, though is it notable that they did cast Torshi Mori as Meh-Li -- though Mori was Japanese, which in Hollywood at the time was no different from being Chinese. The idea of Megan falling in love with her captor is also problematic these days.

Stanwyck was a major star of pre-code movies and does a good job showing her feelings for Yen despite her major misgivings. Nils Asher was from  Sweden and was  a heartthrob in his time, but has been forgotten. Torshi Mori had a good career in the 30s playing Asian women; her work here was highly praised, though she was not cast in anything of note afterwards. Walter Connolly also stands out as an American merchant who is out to make money from the revolution.

Director Frank Capra went on to direct a long list of classic films, including It Happened One Night, American Madness, and, of course It's a Wonderful Life.

The Purchase Price

 (1932)
Directed by William Wellman
Written by Robert Lord, from a novel by Arthur Stringer
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Lyle Talbot, Hardie Albright, Leila Bennett
IMDB Entry

Most pre-code films that are known today are set in an urban environment. The Purchase Price is different -- set in a farm in North Dakota -- and is a different take on the standard love story.

Joan Gordon (Barbara Stanwyck) is a night club singer in New York, the lover of the gangster Eddie Fields (Lyle Talbot). She wants to end it so she can marry the wealthy Don Leslie (Hardie Albright).  But Leslie's parents forbid it and he breaks it off.  Joan doesn't want to go back to Fields, so flees New York for Montreal. Fields tracks her down. Emily (Leila Bennett), the hotel maid tells her that she has arranged to be a mail order bride in North Dakota, and, to be more attractive, she sends Joan's photo to her prospective husband. Wanting to ditch Fields for good, she pays Emily to take her place. When she reaches the small town of Elk's Crossing, she is met by Jim Gilson (George Brent), who recognizes her from the photo.

On their first night together, Joan kicks Jim out of the bedroom, forcing him to sleep in the bard. He resents this and, despite her many apologies, is cold to her. Over time, she falls in love with Jim, but he is too obstinate to acknowledge it.  And then Leslie tracks Joan down.

Stanwyck had a long career for a female Hollywood star, running from the silent days to the 1980s, winning multiple Emmys. George Brent was a big star at the time, and also had a long career, but things devolved to small roles.

Most interesting to me was Lyle Talbot, whose career was the busiest of the three (340 films). He was a mainstay in 60s TV and his best known film role was in Plan 9 From Outer Space, where he appears in one scene to brief Jeff Trent about the aliens and is clearly the most accomplished actor in the film. I also remember him from a bit in Green Acres, which Lisa asks him what actor he is.*

Director William Wellman became a major director, winning an Oscar as the screenwriter for the original A Star is Born and getting three other nominations.

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*The joke here was that several former actors were being elected to office around that time. When she presses, he says, "Lyle Talbot."

Three Strangers

 

(1946)
Directed by Jean Negulesco
Written by John Huston, Howard Koch
Starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring, Peter Whitney, Alan Napier, Robert Shayne, Rosalind Ivan
IMDB Entry

Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre were inextricably linked since they appeared together in The Maltese Falcon. Warner Brothers understood their appeal, and gave them every opportunity to work together. Three Strangers is one opportunity.

Chrystal Shackleford (Geraldine Fitzgerald) sees Jerome Arbutny (Sydney Greenstreet) on the street and invites her up to her apartment. Johnny West (Peter Lorre) is already there, and Chrystal explains her plan to the other two strangers. It is Chinese New Year, and legend has it that the idol of Kwan Yin will grant their wish if the three of them agree on it. It turns out West, a habitual drunkard, has bought a sweepstakes ticket for the Grand National. They agree they will not sell it before the race is won and go their separate ways.

Shackleford is married. Her estranged husband (Alan Napier) returns from Canada, informing her he wants to remarry and wants her to give him a divorce. Shackleford refuses and tries to split up the union.

Arbutny is a lawyer, handling the business affairs for Lady Belladon (Rosalind Ivan), who still believes she talks to her dead husband. When he learns that he has lost all her money in speculative stocks, he is desperate to get it back before the auditors arrive.

Johnny gets lost in the bottle and is involved in a robbery when a cop is murdered by Bertram Fallon (Robert Shayne). Johnny was in an alcoholic blackout but eventually is arrested for the murder. He is cleared just in time for the Grand National -- and the chance at the main prize. But things fall apart.

Greenstreet is great as the crooked lawyer. Lorre portrays a philosophical drunkard to perfection, and Geraldine Fitzgerald excels as someone who turns out to be a femme fatale.

Two actors known for television are Alan Napier (Alfred in Batman) and Robert Shayne (Inspector Henderson in The Adventures of Superman).

The screenplay is by John Huston, who had moved on to be a director at this point. He was in the army, so the director's chair went to Jaen Negulesco, who was a successful, though not a big name director.  Huston originally wrote it as a sequel to The Maltese Falcon, but the rights were not available. Howard Koch co-wrote Casablanca and Orson Welles's radio version of The War of the Worlds. His career was derailed by the blacklist.