The Woman in White

 

(1948)
Directed by Peter Godfrey
Written by Stephen Morehouse Avery, from the novel by Wilkie Collins
Starring Alexis Smith, Sydney Greenstreet, Eleanor Parker, Gig Young, Agnes Morehead, John Emery, John Abbott
IMDB Entry

The Woman in White is one of my favorite novels, a tale of suspense and thrills that is surprisingly modern. It is not surprise that it was made into various movies.

The movie starts out following the book. Walter Hartright (Gig Young) is an artist hired to teach Laura Fairley (Eleanor Parker) at their mansion in Limmeridge House. On the way there, he runs into a mysterious woman wearing white (Eleanor Parker again), who vanished. Hartright is astounded by how much Laura resembles the woman he met on the road. He meets the others of the household, the hypochondriac Frederick, Laura's father (John Abbott); Marian Halcombe, Laura's cousin (Alexis Smith); and their guest, the affable and sinister Count Fosco (Sydney Greenstreet). Later we learn of the dastardly Sir Percival Glyde (John Emery), who is in league with Fosco to marry Laura and gain access to her fortune.

The book is difficult to adapt to the screen. You think at first that it will concentrate on Laura and Walter, but Walter vanishes for half of it, and the narrative focuses on Marian, who ferrets out what Fosco and Glyde are up to and takes action to stop it. Walter finally shows up when things have gone too far, but  she is the one who bails them out.

The movie makes massive changes to the story once the situation is set up. Marian's role is downplayed, the central issue -- the threat posed to Glyde by the woman in white -- is left out, There's also a bit of silliness behind Fosco's plans, and the ending completely contradicts the ending of the novel, giving it a Hollywood ending that is a bit ridiculous. Some of these changes are more logical than in the book, but they come across as too convenient.

Sydney Greenstreet is wonderful as Count Fosco; I wouldn't be surprised if the movie was made as a showcase for him. Alexis Smith is not appropriate to play Marian, since one major point of the book is that she is an unattractive woman.* On the other hand, John Abbott is excellent as Laura's father, a weak man so afraid of straining his nerves that he does nothing.

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*Every dramatization of the story ignores this.

Midnight

(1939)
Directed by Mitchell Leisen
Written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett
Starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore, Mary Astor, Francis Lederer
IMDB Entry

Many consider 1939 as the pinnacle year for Hollywood. You had films like Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, Ninotchka,  Goodbye Mr. Chips, Wuthering Heights, and, of course, The Wizard of Oz. Other great films just got lost in the shuffle, and one of these was Midnight.

Eve Peabody (Claudette Colbert) wakes up in Paris in a train compartment with no money and wearing only an evening gown. She meets a cab driver Tibor Czerny (Don Ameche) to help her look for work as a singer. With no luck, he lets her stay in his apartment as he completes his shift. But Eve sneaks out and ends up at a concert. When it's discovered she had no invitation, she tries to escape, but is roped into a bridge game with Helene Flammarion (Mary Astor), Jacques Picot (Francis Lederer), and Marcel Renard (Rex O'Malley). She introduces herself as the wife of Hungarian Baron Czerny and stays to keep from being found out.  She loses and when being asked to pay up, she finds money in her once-empty purse. Picot insists on escorting her to her hotel. She tries to bluff and names the Ritz at random and can't shake Picot's attention.

But when she gets to the hotel, she discovers that she indeed has a suite there.  She manages to shake off Picot. The next morning, clothes are delivered. Eve is baffled until Georges Flammarion (John Barrymore) shows up. He explains he knew she wasn't a Baroness, and has been fixing things up for her: putting money in her purse, making the hotel reservation, sending over the clothes and a car. It is not what you might think: Flammarion wants her as a decoy. Picot is a ladies man, and has been seducing Helene Flammarion.  He wants Eve to entice him away from her.

Meanwhile, Tibor goes searching, recruiting the taxi drivers of Paris to look for Eve.

The story is nicely constructed.  Given the constraints of the Hayes Code at the time, it is interesting to see the suggestions of sex in the setup.* The situations do work and the humor doesn't fall flat.

Claudette Colbert is fine in the role ** and Don Ameche shows leading man charm. John Barrymore "the Great Profile" is an avuncular figure, much like his brother Lionel's kindly character in You Can't Take it with You. Of course, Mary Astor reminds you a bit of her role in The Maltese Falcon, but here she is much blander. 

Future gossip queen Hedda Hopper has a small role as the woman running the concert Eve crashes and I was delighted to spot Monty Wooley (The Man Who Came to Dinner) in a small role as a judge.

Wilder was unhappy with some of the changes made by director Mitchell Leisen and pushed to move from screenwriting to directing, with superb results. Leisen was relatively active in film, specializing in romantic comedies.

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*Even further, when Eve wakes up in the hotel room in the morning, she is obviously supposed to be naked (she has no clothes but her cocktail dress), but she remains under blankets to appease the censors. This also may be the orientation of screenwriter Billy Wilder, who grew up in Vienna.

**I can note that her legendary obsession of favoring her left profile can be seen throughout the film. Most everything shows that side of her face more prominently and, while there are a few angles where you get to see her full-faced, absolutely nothing is shot to focus on her right profile. Oddly, most versions of the movie's poster shows it; one would assume she could do nothing about it (or it's just her left side flipped).

Transplant (TV)

(2020-2024)

Created by Joseph Kay
Starring Hamid Haq, Laurence Leboeuf, John Hannah, Ayisah Issa, Jim Watson, Airen Gulamgaus
IMDB Entry

Hospital emergency rooms are a perfect place for drama, and the Canadian series Transplant* is a nice example of the genre.

What sets it apart is the background of the lead doctor. Bashir "Bash" Hamid is a Syrian refugee, a doctor who is trying to establish himself in Toronto. He has no luck until a truck crashes into the restaurant where he has been forced to work. His experience of first aid in a battle zone help him save lives, including that of Dr. Jed Bishop (John Hannah), head of the emergency department at York Memorial Hospital.**  

Bash has to start as a resident, taking on the duties in the ER. He's joined by several other residents. Magalie "Mags" Leblanc pushes herself and can't leave any problem behind. June Curtis (Ayisha Issa) is a surgery resident who keeps to herself. Theo Hunter (Jim Watson) is in pediatrics and is away from his wife and daughters, causing tension. Bash also has to care for his 12-year-old sister Amira (Sirena Gulamgaus) and with issues due to his Syrian connections.

It is the usual ER parade of emergencies, but the characters hold it all together, with compelling stories both inside and outside the hospital. It's certainly not The Pitt, but is an honorable attempt at the genre.

It is currently available on Peacock.

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*Also broadcast on NBC.

**One sign of the quality of writing is that Bash's running into Bishop does not seem contrived.

Madam Bovary

 (1949)
Directed by Vincente Minnelli
Written by Robert Ardrey, from the novel by Gustave Flaubert
Starring Jennifer Jones, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Christopher Kent, James Mason
IMDB Entry

For decades, Hollywood was restricted in subject matter by the Hayes Code, which limited what could be portrayed. This created many problems, but one was that movies about serious or sexual subjects couldn't be made. Madam Bovary was an attempt to make a classic story about a married woman having affairs (definitely taboo under the code) 

The movie begins with a frame tale. Gustave Flaubert (James Mason) is on trial for writing his scandalous book. Facing a hostile courtroom, he explains what the book should not be censored.

Emma Bovary (Jennifer Jones) grew up in a convent, learning about romance from novels. She eventually meets and marries Charles Bovary (Van Heflin), a country doctor, who she thinks will become a renowned physician. Alas, Charles is not above remaining a country doctor and his dullish personality does not satisfy Emma's desire for a life out of romance novels. When the aristocrat Rodophe Boulanger (Louis Jourdain) starts romancing her, she accepts, finding him much more attractive than her husband. But Boulanger eventually and cruelly rejects her and she falls into the arms of poverty-stricken Leon Dupus (Christopher Kent), thinking he can romance her like Boulanger.

It is interesting to note the changes from the novel. The frame tale helps to build sympathy for Emma and they are, of course, discreet about any sexual part of her relationships.* There's also a difference in her downfall. In the book, she goes into debt for her affair with Leon;** here, she does it to remodel the house.

Jennifer Jones was possibly cast as Emma  because her image from her academy-award-winning role in Song of Bernadette, where she played a nun. She's quite good. Van Heflin is also good as Charles, where he manages to be flawed but caring toward his wife. Louis Jourdan is fine as Emma's seducer.

Director Vincente Minnelli*** was usually know for musicals, but handles the drama well.

Two better-known actors show up in small parts.  Gene Lockhart, **** the judge on Miracle on 34th Street has a small role, and Harry "Colonel Potter" Morgan has an even smaller one.

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*When she first goes to Boulanger, we see her clothes on the ground, but nothing else.

**In the book, the ultimate tragedy is not because of how she is treated as a woman (though it is overall a feminist novel as her destruction is due to how men treated her), but because she wanted to have an affair with the poor Leon and tried to live it up like she did with the wealthy Rodophe.

***Yes, Liza's father.

****Yes, June's father.