William Powell and Carole Lombard in “My Man Godfrey”.

My Man Godfrey (1936) is an American screwball comedy directed by Gregory La Cava and starring William Powell and Carole Lombard. The film is based on a short novel, 1101 Park Avenue by Eric S. Hatch. My Man Godfrey is considered one of the best screwball comedies of all time. In 1999, the film was deemed “culturally significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Carole Lombard and William Powell

During the Great Depression, two socialite sisters, Cornelia and Irene Bullock (Gail Patrick and Carole Lombard respectively) are competing in a charity scavenger hunt and need to find a “forgotten man.” They come across a man living in a New York City dump, but Cornelia gets to him first. She offers Godfrey Smith (William Powell) $5 if he will come play along and help her win the scavenger hunt. Godfrey finds Cornelia’s attitude annoying and backs her up into an ash pile. Irene who has been watching the whole episode ends up speaking with Godfrey who finds her to be kind, but a little bit crazy, and decides to help her. Irene drives the two of them to the Waldorf-Ritz Hotel where she presents Godfrey as her forgotten man. Irene wins the scavenger hunt and is so grateful that she offers Godfrey a job as a butler in her family’s home. Little does Godfrey realize that the Bullock family is quite eccentric and hasn’t been able to keep a butler for more than a few days. 

Gregory La Cava (1892 – 1952) was an American film director best known for several landmark films from the 1930s including My Man Godfrey and Stage Door (1937). La Cava was born in Pennsylvania and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago. La Cava directed many of the top stars during his heyday including Irene Dunne, Helen Hayes, Constance Bennett, Charles Boyer, Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Melvin Douglas, and Katharine Hepburn. LaCava directed Ginger Rogers in three films in three years: Stage Door, Fifth Avenue Girl (1939), and Primrose Path (1940).

William Powell (1892 – 1984) was an American actor who was most famous for the Thin Man series in which he co-starred with Myrna Loy. Loy and Powell made 14 films together. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: The Thin Man (1934), My Many Godfrey (1936), and Life With Father (1947). Powell was under contract to Paramount, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he had his greatest success. Some of Powell’s popular films include Manhattan Melodrama (1934), The Great Ziegfeld (1936), Libeled Lady (1936), The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937), Love Crazy (1941), Life with Father (1947), The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947), Dancing in the Dark (1949), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), and Mister Roberts (1955).

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard on their wedding day

Carole Lombard (1908 – 1942) was an American film actress who gained great fame starring in screwball comedies. So popular was she as a comedic actress that Life magazine dubbed her “The Screwball Girl.” He got her start in silent films as a child and progressed to more important roles when a car accident almost ended her career. Glass from the car’s windshield cut up her face leaving her with a small scar. She eventually hit the big time in 1934 with her breakout performance in Twentieth Century co-starring John Barrymore. The film directed by Howard Hawks (a distant cousin of Lombard’s) lead to better roles and eventually superstardom. In Lombard’s short career, she appeared in several iconic films including My Man Godfrey, Nothing Sacred (1937), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and To Be or Not to Be (1942). At the height of her career, Lombard died in a plane crash while returning from a bond tour. At the time of her death, she was married to Clark Gable. Together they were one of Hollywood’s original power couples.

The excellent supporting cast includes Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Jean Dixon, Eugene Pallette, Alan Mowbray, Mischa Auer, and Franklin Pangborn. 

My Man Godfrey trivia:

• It was the first movie to be nominated in all four acting categories.
• Marion Davies, Constance Bennett, and Miriam Hopkins were all considered for the role of Irene.
• William Powell and Carole Lombard were once husband and wife and had been divorced for three years when they made the film.
• Jane Wyman has an uncredited role standing in the crowd at the Waldorf-Ritz Hotel.
• Gail Patrick (Cornelia) played Irene’s (Lombard) older sister, but in reality, she was almost three years younger.

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Questions for discussion:

1. Is there a serious message amidst all the comedy? If yes, what is it?
2. What do you think motivated Godfrey to get back on his feet?
3. Did you have a favorite supporting character?
4. Did Lombard and Powell have believable screen chemistry?
5. Why do you think the film has remained a classic 85 years after its initial release?

Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake in Preston Sturges’s “Sullivan’s Travels”

Sullivan’s Travels (1942) is a satirical look at life in Hollywood as only director Preston Sturges could tell it. It centers around successful movie director John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea) and his quest to learn more about life so he can film the deadly serious novel O Brother Where Art Thou?

Sullivan’s previous films were profitable comedies, but the director yearns for more. He wants to be taken seriously like Frank Capra.

To learn about life, Sullivan disguises himself as a hobo. Along the way, he meets a disillusioned young actress (Veronica Lake) who convinces him to take her on his quest. Together they experience many adventures where they discover that a bit of laughter goes a long way in tough times.

But then the movie world is suddenly turned upside down when Sullivan goes missing. Where is John L. Sullivan?

Sullivan’s Travels features the great Sturges stock company, featuring William Demarest, Robert Greig, Eric Blore, Esther Howard, and Franklin Pangborn.

Veronica Lake and Joel McCrea

Preston Sturges (1898 - 1959) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and film director. Sturges was one of the first film directors to direct his screenplays, opening the door for Billy Wilder and Joseph L. Mankiewicz to do the same. Sturges was a successful playwright, Hollywood screenwriter, and script doctor. As a writer-director, Sturges had an amazing output of films in five years, all considered classics today. These films include The Great McGinty (1940), Christmas in July (1940), The Lady Eve (1941), Sullivan's Travels (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), Hail the Conquering Hero (1944), and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). After leaving Paramount Pictures in a dispute with upper management, Sturges's career declined and he never produced anything close to the quality of his earlier successes. Despite this decline, Sturges is considered one of the greatest talents to come out of Hollywood.

Joel McCrea (1905 – 1990) was an American movie star who appeared in over 100 films. During his almost-five-decades career, McCrea worked with some of the top directors in Hollywood including Alfred Hitchcock (Foreign Correspondent 1940), Preston Sturges (Sullivan’s Travels 1941, The Palm Beach Story 1942), and George Stevens (The More the Merrier 1943). McCrea worked opposite some of the top leading actresses of the day including Miriam Hopkins, Irene Dunne, Veronica Lake, Claudette Colbert, and Barbara Stanwyck with whom he made six films. He was the first actor to play Dr. Kildare in the film Internes Can’t Take Money (1937) costarring Stanwyck. McCrea married actress Frances Dee in 1933. The two were married until McCrea died in 1990.

Veronica Lake (1922 - 1973) was an American film, stage, and television actress. She was a popular star of film noirs, often paired with Alan Ladd in the 1940s. She was also famous for her peek-a-boo hairstyle. Her home studio, Paramount, dubbed her the peek-a-boo girl. Women and girls all over the world copied her hair-over-one-eye hairstyle. Lake became an overnight sensation with her role in I Wanted Wings (1940). During the height of her career, Lake was making $4,500 a week. Some of her popular films include Sullivan’s Travels (1941),  This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), So Proudly We Hail! (1943), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Lake’s career declined due to her struggle with alcoholism. She died from cirrhosis of the liver in 1973. She was 50 years old.

Sullivan’s Travels trivia

• Veronica Lake was six months pregnant when she signed on for this film. Costume designer Edith Head designed a wardrobe to hide this fact. Production was from June 12 to July 22, 1941, and her daughter Elaine Detlie was born on August 21, 1941.
• Sturges wanted to use a clip from a Charlie Chaplin film in the church scene but Chaplin refused permission.
• Sturges wrote the film with Joel McCrea in mind. He never considered anyone else for the role.
• Anthony Mann was Preston Sturges’s assistant.

Click HERE to watch the film at the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. What did you make of Sturges’s critique of Hollywood? Do you think there was any truth in his satire?
2. This was Veronica Lake’s first big starring role. Was she up to the task? Many studio heads didn’t think she was right for the role.
3. The film is filled with great dialogue. Was there a line from the movie that was, particularly memorable or funny?
4.  Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake supposedly didn’t get along. Did that show in their performances?
5. The film has many character actors that Sturges used in many of his movies. Do you have a favorite? 

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman star in “Gaslight”

Gaslight (1944) is an American psychological thriller set in 19th-century London. The film was directed by George Cukor and stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and Joseph Cotten. The film features Dame May Whitty, and Angela Lansbury in her feature film debut.

Alice Alquist, a world-famous opera singer is murdered in her home in Victorian London. Her niece Paula (Bergman) is sent to Italy to study opera like her aunt, but unfortunately, she doesn’t have her aunt’s talent. When she reaches adulthood, she falls in love with her accompanist Gregory Anton (Boyer). They marry after a two-week romance and settle in her late aunt’s townhouse. Paula has a hard time living in the home where everything reminds her of that terrible murder. While moving her aunt’s furnishings into the attic, Paula discovers a letter from a man named Sergis Bauer. When Gregory sees the letter he becomes enraged, but then apologizes.

Is Gregory hiding something from Paula? If so, what does it mean?

 

Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer

George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964).

Charles Boyer (1899 - 1978) was a French-American stage and film actor. Boyer was nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award four times. He became a major movie star in the late 1930s in films like The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939). He starred as the evil husband of Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight (1944). Boyer starred opposite most of the top female stars of the period including Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur, Greta Garbo, Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine, Katharine Hepburn, and Olivia de Havilland. As he grew older, Boyer played supporting roles in film and also starred on Broadway in Kind Sir (1953 - 1954) and The Marriage-Go-Round (1958 - 1960).

Ingrid Bergman (1915 – 1982) was a Swedish actress who became an international star upon her Hollywood debut in Intermezzo (1939). Few actresses were as popular as Bergman during the 1940s. In fact, she was the number two box office draw (after Bing Crosby) in 1946. She starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) opposite Gary Cooper, and Gaslight (1944) for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award. She starred opposite newcomer Gregory Peck in Spellbound (1945) which was her first collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock. Bergman would win another Best Actress Academy Award for Anastasia (1956) and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Murder on the Orient Express (1974).

Joseph Cotten (1905 - 1994) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actor. Cotten achieved fame on Broadway in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair.  He became famous worldwide after appearing in Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). As one of the most popular leading men of the 1940s, Cotten starred in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Gaslight (1943), Duel in the Sun (1946), and The Third Man (1949). Cotten alternated between work on stage and film into the late-1950s. Cotten also appeared on television guest starring in The Name of the Game, Cimarron Strip, and Ironside. Cotten’s last film role was in 1981.

 

Angela Lansbury and Ingrid Bergman

Gaslight trivia

• M-G-M tried to get the film negatives of the 1940 British version destroyed.
• Ingrid Bergman studied mental patients to help with her characterization of Paula.
• Angela Lansbury turned 18 during the production of the film. The cast and crew held a birthday party for her.
• Bergman was initially concerned that she wouldn’t be able to portray a fragile character like Paula.
• Boyer’s son and only child was born during production.
• In her autobiography, Bergman said that Boyer was the most intelligent actor she ever worked with and one of the nicest.

 

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Discussion questions

1. The film is described today as a psychological thriller. Does that description work for you? Would you categorize it differently?
2. What did you think of Bergman’s performance?
3. Charles Boyer was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in this film (he lost to Bing Crosby). What did you think of his performance?
4. Angela Lansbury had never acted before her role as the maid, Nancy. What did you think of her performance?
5. Joseph Cotten is hardly ever mentioned when this film is discussed. Is his a thankless role?

 

 

Joan Crawford and Melvyn Douglas lead the cast in “A Woman’s Face”

A Woman’s Face (1941) is an American drama film directed by George Cukor and starring Joan Crawford and Melvin Douglas. The strong supporting cast includes Conrad Veidt, Osa Massen, Reginald Owen, Albert Basserman, Marjorie Main, Donald Meek, Connie Gilchrist, George Zucco, and Henry Kolker.

As a teenager, Anna Holm (Crawford) was disfigured in a fire. The fire scarred the right side of her face. Imbittered because of this, she engaged in a life of crime. Her life changes when by chance, she meets Dr, Gustaf Segert (Douglas), a famous plastic surgeon. He successfully restores her face giving Anna a chance to live her life out of the shadows.

But old habits are hard to break and Anna finds it difficult to leave behind her past life.

Will Anna be able to start a new life with her new face or will her old life and associates drag her to her doom?

 

George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964).

Joan Crawford (190? – 1977) was an American actress. A former dancer, Crawford was signed to a movie contract by M-G-M in 1925. She started out in small parts in silent films, sometimes doubling for established star Norma Shearer. Crawford was an amazing self-promoter and by the 1930s, her popularity rivaled Shearer and Greta Garbo. She was famous for playing shop girls who somehow made it big. During the height of the Depression, women flocked to her films. But by the late 1930s, her popularity was beginning to wane. She left M-G-M and was absent from the screen for almost two years. She signed with Warner Bros. and made a successful comeback in Mildred Pierce (1945). The film was a hit with audiences and critics alike and won Crawford her one-and-only Academy Award for Best Actress. She went on the star in Humoresque (1946) with John Garfield, Possessed (1947) with Van Heflin, and Flamingo Road (1949).

Melvyn Douglas (1901 – 1981) was an American actor. Douglas was a popular leading man during the 1930s working with some of Hollywood’s most famous leading ladies including Greta Garbo, Claudette Colbert, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Myrna Loy, and Merle Oberon. He won two Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards late in his career for Hud (1963) and Being There (1979). Douglas’s last film role was in Ghost Story (1981) co-starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Fred Astaire.

A Woman’s Face trivia

• The role was planned for Greta Garbo but she had retired from film giving the role to Joan Crawford.
• A Woman’s Face was originally filmed in 1938 in Sweden starring Ingrid Bergman.
• Crawford was disappointed that her performance wasn’t nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award.
• Bette Davis said that she would have liked to have played the role of Anna Holm.
• M-G-M studio head, Louis B. Mayer thought that the role was a risk for the glamorous Crawford.

 

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Discussion questions

1. How did you feel about the character of Anna Holm? Did you have any sympathy for her?
2. What did you think of Crawford’s performance? Was she believable as a woman scared physically and emotionally?
3. Was her relationship with Melvyn Douglas realistic? Did they have good screen chemistry?
4. The film has an amazing supporting cast. Did any one of them stand out to you?
5. Some critics consider A Woman’s Face a film noir. Do you think this is an accurate classification? How would you classify it?

Ronald Colman struggles to avoid “A Double Life”

A Double Life (1947) is a film noir directed by George Cukor, starring Ronald Colman and Signe Hasso. The husband and wife team of Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin wrote the screenplay. Milton R. Krasner did the cinematography and Miklos Rozsa wrote the score.

The plot concerns the famous Broadway stage actor Anthony “Tony” John (Colman) who is coming off tremendous success in a comedy entitled A Gentleman’s Gentleman. Max Lasker (Philip Loeb), a theatrical producer wants Tony’s next play to be Shakespeare’s Othello. Lasker also wants Tony’s ex-wife, Brita (Hasso) to co-star as Desdemona.

Tony and Brita star in Othello to wonderful reviews and the play runs for over a year on Broadway. As time goes by, Tony finds it difficult to distinguish between the character he is playing and reality. Will Tony be able to hold on to his sanity or will he disintegrate into madness?

George Cukor (1899 – 1983) was an American director. He was famous for directing comedies and literary adaptations of classics like Little Women (1933) and David Copperfield (1935). He was famously fired from directing Gone with the Wind (1939), but that incident didn’t mar an impressive directorial career that included The Philadelphia Story (1940), Gaslight (1944), and Born Yesterday (1950). Cukor won an Academy Award as Best Director for My Fair Lady (1964).

Ronald Colman (1891 – 1958) was an English-born actor whose career started in the theatre. In 1923, Colman appeared opposite Lillian Gish in the silent film The White Sister. He was a hit with the public and starred in over 20 silent films in America. Due to his wonderfully trained stage voice, Colman made the transition to talking pictures with ease. Some of his sound films include Clive of India (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), The Talk of the Town (1942), and Random Harvest (1942). Colman was nominated three times for the Best Actor Academy Award. He finally won for his performance in A Double Life (1947).

Signe Hasso (1915 – 2002) was a Swedish actress who was promoted in the United States by RKO Pictures as “the next Garbo.” Although she wouldn’t live up to the promotion, Hasso had some memorable film roles in Heaven Can Wait (1943), The Seventh Cross (1944), Johnny Angel (1945), and The House on 92nd Street (1945). Hasso also acted on the Broadway stage and appeared on television making guest appearances on Route 66, Starsky and Hutch, Trapper John, M.D., and Hart to Hart.

A Double Life trivia:

• Laurence Olivier was originally slated for the role of Anthony John.
• The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Actor (Colman winner), Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Miklos Rozsa winner), Best Director (George Cukor), and Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon).
• Colman had never performed any Shakespeare before and was uneasy about doing so on film.

Click HERE to watch the film on the YouTube. Please use this link because other versions on the channel aren’t as good.

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Questions for discussion:

1. Noir or not? Does this film fit in with your idea of what makes a movie qualify as a film noir?

2. Was Ronald Colman convincing as a major Broadway star?

3. Did Colman and Signe Hasso have good on-screen chemistry?

4. There are lots of double images in the film; do you recall any of them? There is the contrast between illusion and reality. Our hero seems to have trouble distinguishing between the two as the film progresses.

5. Was the ending inevitable? Does it help with its film noir credibility?

Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, and Frances Dee star in “If I Were King”

If I Were King (1938) is a historical biographical drama directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Ronald Colman, Basil Rathbone, and Frances Dee. The supporting cast includes Ellen Drew, Ralph Forbes, Henry Wilcoxon, and (Roy) Paul Harvey. It’s based on the play and novel of the same name by Justin Huntley McCarthy. The screenplay was written by Preston Sturges. The cinematography is by Theodor Sparkuhl (The Glass Key 1942).

Frank Lloyd (1886 – 1960) was a Scottish-American film director. He started directing long-form silent films in 1915. He worked at for all the major studios including Paramount, Fox, and M-G-M. Some of his notable films include Cavalcade (1933), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), and Blood on the Sun (1945). He won two Best Director Academy Awards: The Divine Lady  (1929) and Cavalcade (1933). He was Scotland’s first Academy Award winner.

Ronald Colman (1891 – 1958) was an English-born actor whose career started in the theatre. In 1923, Colman appeared opposite Lillian Gish in the silent film The White Sister. He was a hit with the public and starred in over 20 silent films in America. Due to his wonderfully trained stage voice, Colman made the transition to talking pictures with ease. Some of his sound films include Clive of India (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Lost Horizon (1937), The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), The Talk of the Town (1942), and Random Harvest (1942). Colman was nominated three times for the Best Actor Academy Award. He finally won for his performance in A Double Life (1947).

Basil Rathbone (1892 – 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He won acclaim as a Shakespearean actor in the United Kingdom and then as a character actor in Hollywood. He appeared in many classic films in the United States including David Copperfield (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and The Adventure of Robin Hood (1938). He is probably best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in 14 years between 1939 and 1946. Author Margaret Mitchell thought of Rathbone when they were casting the film version of her novel Gone With the Wind (1939). Rathbone actively campaigned for the role that eventually went to Clark Gable.

Frances Dee (1909 – 2024) was an American actress. Dee started her career as a film extra and eventually graduated to playing lead roles opposite major stars like Maurice Chevalier, Leslie Howard, Walter Huston, and Joel McCrea. Dee and McCrea met and starred together in the film The Silver Cord (1933) and were married later that year. Dee and McCream had three sons and were married for 57 years. Some of Dee’s films include An American Tragedy (1931),  Little Women (1934),  I Walked With a Zombie (1943), and Four Faces West (1948).

 

Ronald Colman and Frances Dee

If I Were King trivia

• Charles Boyer supposedly turned down the lead role.
• This was the film debut of Darryl Hickman.
• Frances Dee and Ronald Colman reprised their roles on the radio. Dee in 1939 and Colman in 1946.

 

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Kim Novak and Fredric March meet in the “Middle of the Night”

Middle of the Night (1959) is an American drama film directed by Delbert Mann and starring Fredric March and Kim Novak. The supporting cast includes Glenda Farrell, Albert Dekker, Martin Balsam, Lee Philips, and Lee Grant.

Betty Peisser (Novak) a recently divorced and working as a secretary for a clothing manufacturer. Her boss, Jerry Kingsley, a much older widower who lives with his unmarried sister Evelyn (Edith Meiser) listens to Betty’s retelling of her loveless marriage to her ex-husband George (Philips). At first, Jerry’s affection for Betty is fatherly. But as time goes by, the two begin to fall in love.

Will Jerry and Betty make their relationship work despite the backlash from their friends and relatives?

Kim Novak and Fredric March

Delbert Mann (1920 – 2007) was an American television and film director. He won the Best Director Academy Award for his first film, Marty (1955). Other Mann films include The Bachelor Party (1957), Separate Tables (1958), Middle of the Night (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Dear Heart (1964). Mann still worked in television, directing several movies including Heidi (1968), David Copperfield (1969), and Jane Eyre (1970).

Kim Novak (1933 - ) is an American film and television actress. She retired in 1991. Novak was one of the last “studio-created” stars during a time when the studio system was in decline. Born Marilyn Pauline Novak in Chicago, her name was changed to Kim after she signed a long-term contract with Columbia Pictures in 1954. By the next year, Novak was a major star working opposite the likes of Frank Sinatra and William Holden. Some of her significant films include Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), Pal Joey (1957), and Bell, Book and Candle (1958). Perhaps her most celebrated film is her dual role in Vertigo (1958) co-starring James Stewart and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 2012, the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound critic’s poll voted Vertigo as the best film of all time. After retiring from film, Novak has devoted herself to painting and has exhibited her work publicly.

Fredric March (1897 - 1975) was an American actor and two-time Best Actor Academy Award winner. Also a famous stage actor, March won two Tony Awards as well and is one of a few actors to have won both the Academy Award and the Tony Award twice. March was an immediate success in films receiving his first Best Actor nomination in 1930. He won his first Best Actor Oscar for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) and second for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). During the 1930s and 1940s, March was a popular leading man starring opposite Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Janet Gaynor, Norma Shearer, Katharine Hepburn, and Carole Lombard. March continued acting on stage and in films until 1973, two years before his death from cancer.

 

Lee Grant and Kim Novak

Middle of the Night trivia

• Kim Novak considered this her best performance.
• Edward G. Robinson played March’s role on Broadway. Gena Rowlands had the Novak role on stage opposite Robinson.
• James Stewart, Ernest Borgnine, and James Cagney were all considered for the role of Jerry Kingsley.
• Jean Simmons was considered for the role of Betty.

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube.

 

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Discussion questions

1. Did you find the relationship between Novak and March believable?
2. Do you think May-December relationships can be successful in real life?
3. Was the chemistry between Novak and March believable?
4. Did you find the ending satisfying?