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.

 

Click HERE to watch the film at the Movie Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion. Once you RSVP, you will receive an email invitation and link to join the discussion on Zoom.

 

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?

Joan Crawford, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda in Otto Preminger's Production of “Daisy Kenyon”

Daisy Kenyon (1947), based on the best-selling novel by Elizabeth Janeway, is one of many films referred to as “women’s pictures” during Hollywood’s Golden Age. In many ways, it fits that genre perfectly, especially with Joan Crawford—“an old hand at being emotionally confused” according to The New York Times review—playing the title role. However, in director Otto Preminger’s hands, it’s so much more, with the male protagonists, Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews, also grabbing the spotlight.

Andrews plays prominent attorney, Dan O’Mara who is married to Lucile (Ruth Warrick). They have two daughters Rosamund (Peggy Ann Garner) and Marie (Connie Marshall). O’Mara leads a double life: On the one hand, he’s a family man, and on the other, he’s a philandering husband carrying on an affair with Daisy (Crawford), a single career woman. The relationship is a strained one primarily because O’Mara refuses to divorce his wife and marry Daisy. Daisy is torn between her love for Dan and her desire for a relationship that doesn’t need to be kept secret. To complicate matters further, Daisy meets World War II veteran, Peter Lapham (Fonda). Not as exciting a character as Dan, but a safe one.

Who will Daisy choose? 

Otto Preminger (1905 -1986) was an American film director who made more than 35 feature films during a five-decade career. Born in Austro-Hungarian into a Jewish family. Preminger was drawn to acting from an early age and became the apprentice of famed stage director Max Reinhardt. In 1935, he was recruited by Twentieth Century-Fox to apprentice as a director at the studio. After a rocky start, Preminger established himself as an A-list director after Rouben Mamoulian was fired from Laura (1944). The film noir classic made major stars of Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews and is considered one of the best film noirs of all time. While under contract to Fox, Preminger directed Fallen Angel (1945), Centennial Summer (1946), Forever Amber (1947), and Daisy Kenyon (1947). After he left Fox, Preminger became a maverick, constantly clashing with members of the Production Code. He released two films without the approval of the Production Code: The Moon is Blue (1953) and The Man with the Golden Arm (1955). Both films were financial successes and helped bring an end to the Code entirely. Later successes for Preminger include Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Exodus (1960).

Crawford at the top of the triangle.

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).

Dana Andrews (1909 – 1992) was an American stage, film, and television actor. During the 1940s, Andrews was a major star and leading man starring in Laura (1944), State Fair (1945), A Walk in the Sun (1945), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Canyon Passage (1946), Boomerang! (1947), and Daisy Kenyon (1947), the latter co-starring Joan Crawford and Henry Fonda. During the 1950s, film roles were harder to come by, but he had success in Elephant Walk (1954) co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Finch, While the City Sleeps (1956), and Curse of the Demon (1957). In 1958 he replaced Henry Fonda on Broadway in Two for the Seesaw. Andrews worked a lot on television guest-starring on shows like The Twilight Zone, Checkmate, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Ben Casey, The Love Boat, Ironside, and Falcon Crest. He also starred in the daytime soap opera Bright Promise (1969 - 1971).

Trouble in the O’Mara household

Henry Fonda (1905 –1982) was an American stage and film actor. Fonda came to Hollywood in 1935 and became a star overnight. Early starring roles include Jezebel (1938), Jesse James (1939), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), and The Grapes of Wrath (1940) for which he received his first Best Actor nomination for playing Tom Joad. Fonda played opposite Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve (1942), My Darling Clementine (1946), and Mister Roberts (1955). In 1981 he finally won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Norman Thayer Jr. in On Golden Pond.

Daisy Kenyon trivia

• Joan Crawford requested both Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews as her co-stars.
• Fond and Andrews didn’t want to make the film but had to it to fulfill their contracts.
• During an interview during the 1970s, Otto Preminger said he had no recollection of Daisy Kenyon.
• Crawford was borrowed from Warner Bros. for her role as Daisy.
• Andrews had already worked with Preminger on Laura (1944) and Fallen Angel (1945).
• John Garfield appears as an extra sitting at the bar in the Stork Club.
• Columnist Walter Winchel, writer Damon Runyon, and New York Post columnist Leonard Lyons all have cameos as themselves.

Dan O’Mara at the Stock Club with Leonard Lyons and check out
John Garfield drinking far left!

Click HERE to watch the film on the Internet Archive.

Click HERE to join the online discussion on November 25, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an email with a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

Discussion questions

1. When the film was released on DVD, the film company classified it as a film noir. Do you think this film fits that genre? How would you classify it?
2. Did you find the relationships between the three stars believable? 
3. Do you think Daisy made the right choice?
4. Were you surprised by anything?
5. Was the ending satisfying?

Screening of "Humoresque" at Daystar Center July 14

Humoresque (1946)

Where: Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Room 102

When: July 14, 2018

Time: 6:45 p.m.

Hosted by Stephen Reginald

Joan Crawford is Helen Wright, a wealthy patroness of the arts who is used to getting what she wants. She falls in and out of relationships with men, but things change when she meets Paul Boray (John Garfield), a talented young violinist. Helen’s love for Paul becomes obsessive and brings her to the breaking point. Will their love survive or will it destroy them both?

Warner Bros. pulled out all the stops with this lushly produced melodrama. For this film they employed some of the best talent behind the camera, including cinematographer Ernie Haller (Gone With the Wind) and director Jean Negulesco (Johnny Belinda, How to Marry a Millionaire).

General Admission is $5. $3 for Students and Seniors.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!

You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

John Garfield and Oscar Levant

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

Great films of 1939: "The Women" July 23 at the Daystar Center

Great films of 1939: The Women
Where: The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center, 1550 S. State Street, Chicago, IL
When: July 23, 2016
Time: 6:45 p.m.
Hosted by Stephen Reginald

The Women (1939) features an all-star female cast directed by George Cukor in the film version of Clare Boothe's Broadway play. Set among the pampered Park Avenue set played by Rosalind Russell, Joan Fontaine, Paulette Goddard, Mary Boland and Norma Shearer. Joan Crawford plays the manipulative Crystal Allen out to steal Mary Haine's (Shearer) husband so she can live on Park Avenue too. The film has the added dynamic of the real-life professional rivalry between stars Crawford and Shearer.

Director George Cukor (center) with cast of The Women

The Women has been remade as a musical in 1956 and updated in 2008, but neither version holds a candle to the original.

In 2007, the film was voted to the National Film Registry for preservation.

Part of the “Great movies of 1939” series. Discover some of the greatest movies from Hollywood’s most famous year.

Have some Joe and Enjoy the Show!

Before the movie, grab a cup of coffee from Overflow Coffee Bar, located within the Daystar Center. You can bring food and beverages into the auditorium; we even have small tables set up next to some of the seats. General Admission: $5 Students and Senior Citizens: $3.

Join the Chicago Film club; join the discussion

Twice a month we screen classic films and have a brief discussion afterward. For more information, including how to join (it’s free), click here. The Venue 1550 is easily accessible by the CTA. Please visit Transit Chicago for more information on transportation options.

Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill’s The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts “Chicago Film Club,” a monthly movie event held in the South Loop, for the past two years. Reginald has also taught several adult education film classes at Facets Film School, Chicago.

Daystar Center located at 1550 S. State St. works through a grassroots network of collaborations and partnerships with individuals and other nonprofit organizations. Through this web, they’re able to provide educational, cultural, and civic activities that enrich and empower their clients, guests, and community members. To learn more about classes and events offered at the Daystar Center, please visit their Web site.

“Mildred Pierce”: 4th Film in “High Heels and Fedoras” series at Daystar Center May 14, 2013

Tuesday, May 14, 2013
6:30 p.m.
The Venue 1550 at the Daystar Center
1550 S. State Street


Mildred Pierce was a critical and financial hit when released in 1945. It resurrected the career of screen legend, Joan Crawford, who many had written off as a has-been. The movie was a showcase for some new talent too, but it was Crawford’s film and she commands the screen in every scene she’s in.

The straightforward narrative in the James M. Cain novel was changed for the film version. Mildred’s story is told in flashback, a popular film noir convention that works really well and adds to the movie’s texture. The film itself is put together very nicely with the Warner Brothers A-Team pulling out all the stops. Cinematographer Ernest “Ernie” Haller’s black and white photography is beautifully atmospheric. The angles, the contrasts, are seamless and help advance the story without getting in the way. The score by Max Steiner is lush without being overwhelming, at least not overwhelming as far as Steiner scores go (They’re all kind of overwhelming, actually). Legendary makeup artist Perc Westore makes Crawford’s transition from waitress/working mom into successful/sophisticated businesswomen seem natural and believable. Much of Crawford’s look in this film, and for the rest of the decade, is due in great part to the costuming of Milo Anderson. Last but not least, director Michael Curtiz assembled all the pieces together to form a perfect whole, but Curtiz wasn’t at all set on working with Crawford.

Zachary Scott, Joan Crawford, and Ann Blyth

According to Crawford, Curtiz wanted Barbara Stanwyck to play Mildred. He didn’t want to work with a “difficult” has-been. In order to change Curtiz’s mind, Crawford submitted to a screen test. This was unheard of for an established star, but so determined was Crawford to snag the role that she consented. Crawford’s screen test impressed Curtiz enough that he agreed to direct her. And for Crawford, a new career was born at Warners.

Mildred Pierce was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress. Crawford’s Best Actress Award was the only win, put it propelled her back to the top of the heap, giving fellow Warner contract-player, Bette Davis a run for her money. Ironically, Davis’s career was on a downward arch while Crawford was starring in some critical and commercially successful melodramas. After Mildred Pierce, Crawford starred in Humoresque (1946), Possessed (1947), Daisy Kenyon (1947), and Flamingo Road (1949). Possessed brought her a second Best Actress nomination.

Mildred Pierce isn’t considered a true film noir movie, by some critics. But it sure feels like film noir to this movie fan.

To purchase tickets for the May 14 screening, click here. Tickets are $5 per person general admission $3 for students and seniors. Tickets may also be purchased at the door. To stay on top of film events like this, join the Chicago Film Club Meetup.

To download a flyer to post in your building or office, click here.


The Venue 1550 is located at 1550 S. State St. in the Daystar Center. The Daystar Center offers a variety of educational, artistic and cultural activities, including classes for children that teach practical life skills like social aptitude, creativity and cultural awareness in fun ways; classes for adults that give space for self-reflection and improvement; room rentals for many different-sized groups in several multipurpose rooms. For more information, call 312.674.0001 or visit their Web site.

Dana Andrews Blogathon begins here!

The Blogathan is now!

Check out my post below and then click on the links to the posts by other bloggers to get their take on Dana Andrews and his films. Be sure to leave comments on the various posts and let us know what you think!

“Hello, Honey Bunch”—Dana Andrews in Daisy Kenyon
Daisy Kenyon, based on the best-selling novel by Elizabeth Janeway, is one of many films referred to as “women’s pictures” during Hollywood’s Golden Age. In many ways it fits that genre perfectly, especially with Joan Crawford—“an old hand at being emotionally confused” according to The New York Times review—playing the title role. However, in director Otto Preminger’s hands, it’s so much more, with the male protagonists, Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews, also grabbing the spotlight. Of the two, Andrews has the more complex and challenging role. He brings a sense of humanity to a character who may or may not deserve it.

Crawford at the top of the triangle

An obtuse triangle

Andrews plays prominent attorney, Dan O’Mara who is married to Lucile (Ruth Warrick). They have two daughters Rosmund (Peggy Ann Garner) and Marie (Connie Marshall). O’Mara leads a double life: On the one hand he’s a family man, and on the other he’s a philandering husband carrying on an affair with Daisy (Crawford), a single career woman. The relationship is a strained one primarily because O’Mara refuses to divorce his wife and marry Daisy. Daisy is torn between her love for Dan and her desire for a relationship that doesn’t need to be kept secret. To complicate matters further, Daisy meets World War II veteran, Peter Lapham (Fonda) who immediately proposes marriage. Daisy accepts his proposal and the two are married. But it’s Daisy’s complicated relationship with Dan that is the most intriguing.

Adored and despised

Trouble in the O’Mara household

As the wayward husband, Andrews is charming, lively, and exciting. It’s easy to understand how Daisy might be attracted to Dan. And why else would she put up with all the complications—although they’re starting to wear her down as the movie begins—that he brings with him. Dan is the perfect chameleon. When he is with his two daughters—who adore him—he’s seemingly thoughtful and loving. At the office he is authoritative, but still charming. One look at the adoring expression of his secretary Marsha (Victoria Horne) and you know this is true. Dan’s relationship with Lucile is chilly at best, if not downright cold. One senses from their early interactions that the marriage was probably on the rocks before Dan began his affair with Daisy. Dan’s law partner is Lucile’s father. Did Dan marry Lucile to advance his career? Now that he’s a high-powered New York attorney, is Dan bored with his wife and family? To make things more complicated (and interesting), Dan takes on an unpopular case. He defends a Japanese-American veteran who had his home and property taken from him while he was serving overseas. Dan calls it as he sees it, a clear act of prejudice. An injustice that should not be ignored. Like many characters in Preminger films, no one is all bad.

Daisy and  Dan: It's complicated

An man of contradictions
In his review of the film in the Times, Thomas M. Pryor said “As the philandering father, Dana Andrews gives a performance that is full of vitality and technical grace, but it lacks authority, Mr. Andrews, somehow, just doesn’t appear to be the type.” But that’s exactly the point. Andrews’s O’Mara is a man of contradictions. He’s conflicted and extremely unhappy. It’s pretty obvious that Daisy wasn’t his first extramarital affair. On the surface, O’Mara seems to be a man in control, but in his solitary moments, Andrews’s facial expressions reveal Dan’s inner conflict, his sorrow. When he finally leaves his wife and dissolves his partnership, Dan seems happy at last. Lucile, bitter over the way she’s been treated, sues Dan for divorce and sole custody of their daughters and drags Daisy into the suit accusing her of alienation of affections. To spare Daisy from the ugly court proceedings, Dan gives in to Lucile’s demands. He gives up his daughters. In Dan’s mixed up mind, he somehow thinks Daisy will divorce Peter and marry him. That’s one complicated plot line, even for the movies! 

Reel life and real life converge

Dan at the Stork Club with Leonard Lyons
and check out John Garfield on the left!

Even though Dan is pretty much a heel, we sympathize with him. As noted earlier, characters in Preminger films are often neither heroes nor villains, but something in between. Preminger and screenwriter David Hertz give Andrews plenty to work with. When he’s stalking Daisy at her apartment, the lighting is low and shadowy. Small things like taking a swig from a quart of milk while he’s waiting in the hallway outside Daisy’s empty apartment is a great little bit that Andrews pulls off with natural ease. Andrews and Fonda brilliantly underplay the interactions between their characters. They act almost like best friends and fraternity brothers vying for the same girl in college. Preminger has Dan mingle with some real-life New York characters like Walter Winchel, Leonard Lyons, and Damon Runyon at the Stork Club (recreated on a Twentieth Century-Fox sound stage). If you look carefully as the camera scans the Stork Club bar, you’ll get a glimpse of John Garfield, who supposedly, was filming Gentleman’s Agreement at the time, and did the cameo as a favor to Preminger. And you’ve got to love the way Andrews calls everyone “Honey Bunch.” Andrews makes it all seem real and plausible—Dan O’Mara knows these folk! 

Dan is looking pretty grim.

A broken man
The film concludes when the three have a showdown of sorts at Daisy and Peter’s New England cottage. By this time, Daisy has decided that life with Peter may not be as exciting or passionate as it was with Dan, but she has a better chance at happiness with a man like Peter. Dan, not accustomed to losing in court or in love, is devastated. He’s finally made the decision to divorce his wife and the woman he wants doesn’t want him. The picture of Dan in the backseat of the cab as he’s about to leave the cottage is one of deep hurt and despair. He’s given up his marriage, his daughters, his law partnership and he’s left with nothing. He’s a truly broken man.

Backstory: According to Andrews’s daughter, Susan, in the documentary Life in the Shadows—The Making of Daisy Kenyon, Andrews only made the film because he knew Fox would sue him for breach of contract if he didn’t. His daughter thought it was a good role for him, but suspects because his character doesn’t get the girl at the end he didn’t want to star in it. Crawford, on loan from Warner Brothers, requested and got both Fonda and Andrews to star opposite her. Obviously too old for the role, Crawford wanted the audience (and studio executives) to believe that she could still play the types of roles that made her a star at M-G-M when she was still in her twenties.

Backlot mystery

Check out the movies playing in Daisy’s neighborhood—the Fox backlot. Mr. Lucky is the main feature starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. The second feature is The Woman in the Window starring Edward G. Robinson and Joan Bennett, but we only see Robinson’s name on the marquee. Daisy Kenyon opened at the Roxy in New York on Christmas Day 1947. Mr. Lucky was released in 1943 and The Woman in the Window  was released in 1944. Both films would have been at least two years old when Daisy Kenyon was released. Neither film is a Fox production. Mr. Lucky and The Woman in the Window  were released by RKO, not Fox. One wonders how those two films ended up playing in Daisy’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. 

Noir classic?
Fox has included Daisy Kenyon in its “Film Noir” DVD collection, which is an odd fit considering it doesn’t quite match that genre. The film incorporates some noir techniques like the great shadowy cinematography by award-winning director of photography, Leon Shamroy. Some suspect this technique was used to soften Crawford’s features and make her appear younger than she was; Crawford and Fonda were both 42 years old when the film was released, Andrews, the baby of the group, was 38.

Check out the great posts on Dana Andrews below. Click on the respective links to read them. Enjoy!


Another Old Movie Blog and its take on Swamp Water (1941). Is this Dana’s first breakout performance?

They Don’t Make ’Em Like They Used To takes on Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956). Will you have doubts after you read this post? 

Speakeasy serves up Fallen Angel (1945). Can a fallen angel be redeemed by love?

Carl Rollyson, author of the new biography releasing this September, Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews gives his short take on A Walk in the Sun (1945). Is it the best World War II film ever made?


bettiwettiwoo makes us take another look at Laura (1944), as if you had to twist our arms to do so!

Once Upon a Screen reviews The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Is this Dana’s best film role?

Bobby Rivers TV takes a look at the career of Dana Andrews in Overlooked by Oscars: Dana Andrews and shares how Andrews’s performance in The Best Years of Our Lives impacted his life.

Paula’s Cinema Club examines Boomerang! a film totally dependent on Dana carrying the movie. Does he deliver the goods?

The Shades of Black and White blog reviews State Fair. Is this musical version better than the original or the 1962 remake?

What Happened to Hollywood takes a look at the gritty Where the Sidewalk Ends. Another great collaboration between Andrews and director Otto Preminger.

Cinema_Fanatic pictures Laura, another take on the classic. Is this a fair portrait?

Immortal Ephemera shows some mettle with The Purple Heart. Dana heads a strong cast in this WW II classic.

Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings on Wing and a Prayer. Did Dana reach new heights with this role?

Dana Andrews biography due September 2012

The Enigma of Dana Andrews
The first definitive biography of Dana Andrews is set for publication in September. Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews was written by Carl Rollyson who has biographies of Marilyn Monroe and poet Sylvia Plath (February 2013), among others, to his credit.

Understated and Underrated
Like many of Andrews’s fans know, the actor was terribly underrated even when he was at his peak in the late 1940s to early 1950s. For this new biography, Rollyson had access to journals, home movies, the Andrews family, and studio records.

Noir Legend
According to the author a study of film noir would not be complete without a review of Andrews’s work. The films Laura, Fallen Angel, and Where the Sidewalk Ends immediately come to mind when one considers some of Andrews’s best noir films.

The Man Under the Fedora 
As well as Andrews wore a fedora, he was incredibly versatile and could hold his own when cast alongside other major stars like Joan Crawford and Henry Fonda in Daisy Kenyon. It’s this critic’s opinion that Andrews gives the best performance in that film. Under Otto Preminger’s tight direction, Andrews’s Dan O’Mara is a multidimensional character who is neither hero nor villain.

Dana Andrews Blogathon Coming Soon
In July I’ll be hosting a Dana Andrews blogathon. More information about that event will be forthcoming. In the meantime, you may preorder Hollywood Enigma: Dana Andrews from Amazon.com.

Classic Movies for Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is just around the corner, so I thought I’d suggest five classic films with mothers as the main characters. Several of the movies listed will be familiar to most, but there may be a few you haven’t seen. These films are hardly an exhaustive list and I know I’ve left out some beloved films, but these are all great movies starring true Hollywood legends. Let me know what you think and feel free to offer up your personal Mother’s Day favorites.

Irene Dunne as Marta Hanson

I Remember Mama (1948)—Irene Dunne received her fifth Best Actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in this film. The story is told through the eyes of daughter Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes). Katrin yearns to be a writer, but can’t seem to write anything worth publishing. That is until she writes about her mother. As Marta Hanson the matriarch of a clan of Norwegian Americans living in San Francisco during the early 1900s, Dunne gives a sensitive and multi-layered characterization. A simple story, simply told, it is both charming and poignant; you’ll find it hard to resist. Dunne was still a beautiful woman when filming began—she was 50, but looked decades younger—so she put on a fat suit, acquired a perfect Norwegian accent, and dressed in simple, worn-looking dresses. The amazing supporting cast includes Ellen Corby, Edgar Bergen, Philip Dorn, Florence Bates, Rudy Vallee, and Oscar Homolka. Directed with a steady hand by George Stevens, I Remember Mama holds up extraordinarily well and is a classic in every sense of the word. Hankie Alert: One, but it will be wringing wet!

Joan Crawford (left) and Ann Blyth play mother
and daughter in Mildred Pierce.

Mildred Pierce (1945)—Joan Crawford stars in the title role as a mother determined to be successful in the business world. After divorcing her husband Bert (Bruce Bennett), Mildred works hard to support her children as a waitress. She learns the restaurant business inside and out, eventually saving enough money to open Mildred’s, a restaurant of her own. Soon she has a small chain of restaurants and Mildred is riding high. But nothing can satisfy her spoiled eldest daughter Veda (Ann Blyth). Veda is a social-climbing snob who resents her mother’s middle-class roots. No matter what Mildred does for Veda, it just isn’t enough. As the self-sacrificing mother, Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Based on the novel by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce is an engrossing film told from the woman’s point of view. Warner Brothers’s top director, Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), ably supported Crawford. A great supporting cast that includes Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, and Eve Arden, all doing great work here, only adds to the fun. Hankie Alert: One.

Barbara Stanwyck as Stella Dallas

Stella Dallas (1937)—Barbara Stanwyck in the title role, plays the ultimate self-sacrificing mother in this classic directed by King Vidor. As a poor girl who marries up only to find out that life at the top isn’t exactly what she thought it would be, Stanwyck is amazing. In the hands of a less talented actress, this film could have been one big hot, sentimental mess. When Stanwyck marries the richest guy in town, she is disillusioned with society life and finds it constraining. After she gives birth to a baby girl, her husband Stephen (John Boles) has society expectations that Stella rebels against. Divorced, Stella raises her daughter Laurel (Anne Shirley) on her own. When Stephen enters a relationship with an upper-class widow, Laurel is introduced to a world of refinement and beauty that are hard to resist. Although she loves her mother, the garish way she dresses and how Stella carries on with old family friend Ed Munn (Alan Hale) embarrass Laurel. Stella sees her daughter slowly drifting away and makes a decision that changes both of their lives forever. Hankie Alert: Three, at least.

Dunne and Alan Marshall share a moment
in The White Cliffs of Dover.

The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)—A huge hit when released in 1944, this film isn’t as well remembered today. However, M-G-M thought this film was good enough to be the studio’s 20th Anniversary release. The movie is based on the verse novel The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller. Irene Dunne plays Susan Dunn, a young American woman on vacation in England with her father (Frank Morgan). During her visit, she meets John Asherwood (Alan Marshall), a young British officer and titled gentleman. After a brief courtship, they marry. Shortly thereafter, World War I breaks out and John is off to war. Susan loses John just before the war ends, but gives birth to a son, John Jr. As John grows up and the shadow of another world war blankets Europe, Susan fears she will lose her son too. Susan learns that she cannot hold onto John Jr. just like she couldn’t hold onto his father. The film gives us a glimpse of the tragedy of war from a female perspective that is compelling and heartbreaking. Directed by Clarence Brown (National Velvet), the film features some great British actors in supporting roles, including C. Aubrey Smith, Dame May Whitty, Gladys Cooper, and Roddy McDowell. Van Johnson and an unbilled, and very young, Elizabeth Taylor, round out the cast. Hankie Alert: Two, maybe three.

Myrna Loy played the mother of 12 children
in Cheaper By the Dozen.

Cheaper By the Dozen (1950) This film is based on the real life story of efficiency expert Frank Bunker Gilbreth (Clifton Webb) and Lillian Moller Gilbreth (Myrna Loy) and their 12 children! Jeanne Crain plays eldest daughter Ann who narrates the film. Directed by Walter Lang and shot in beautiful Technicolor by the award-winning cinematographer, Leon Shamroy, it’s picture postcard perfect. As the mother of the Gilbreth brood, Loy radiates warmth and charm. One of the most popular films of 1950, Cheaper By the Dozen was followed up with Belles on Their Toes in 1952 starring Crain and Loy. Hankie Alert: Maybe half a hankie. You’ll mostly be smiling during this family classic.

It's a tie!

Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn win movie star poll

Of the six actresses (Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Stanwyck, Hepburn, Carole Lombard, and Claudette Colbert), Stanwyck and Hepburn each received 30% of the vote. Davis received 15%; Lombard and Colbert both received 10%; and Crawford received 5% of the vote.

Oscar champ

Hepburn is the Academy Award champ, winning four competitive Oscars in the Best Actress category. Stanwyck never won a competitive Oscar but was nominated for Best Actress four times, the last time in 1949 for Sorry Wrong Number. But the role that Stanwyck is most remembered for today is her portrayal of the ultimate femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson In Double Indemnity.

Davis is "Dangerous"

Bette Davis won two competitive Oscars and was nominated a total of 11 times for Best Actress (the first was a write-in nomination for Of Human Bondage). The award she won for Dangerous in 1935 was considered by many to be a consolation prize for losing the year before (Of Human Bondage was released in 1934).

Lombard and Colbert one-time neighbors

Before Carole Lombard married Clark Gable, she lived next door to Claudette Colbert. At the time, both were top stars at Paramount studios, often competing for the same roles. Colbert excelled at both comedy and drama but received her only Best Actress award for It Happened One Night, costarring Lombard's future husband, Gable. Ironically, Lombard was offered the role of Ellen Andrews but was committed to making a movie with George Raft. Lombard never won an Academy Award and was only nominated once for her breakout role as Irene Bullock in My Man Godfrey. At the time of her death in 1942, Lombard was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood with a bright future ahead of her. It's impossible to know what awards might have come her way had she lived.

Crawford: The movie star's movie star

By all accounts, Joan Crawford loved being a movie star. For years, she answered her own fan mail and autographed her own photographs for distribution, when a lot of other stars allowed others to forge their signatures. A major movie star since the silent picture days, Crawford remained a major force in Hollywood until the early 1960s. She won her only Academy Award for her performance as a self-sacrificing mother in Mildred Pierce, a role that was supposed to go to Barbara Stanwyck. Director, Michael Curtiz didn't want to work with Crawford. Desperate for the role, Crawford agreed to a screen test, which was unheard of for a star of Crawford's caliber, but it won Curtiz over.

Who’s your favorite?
Did the poll overlook your favorite movie actress from Hollywood's golden age? Who would you have included, voted for?

Howard Hawks and "His Girl Friday"

Howard Hawks is one of the greatest American movie directors of all time. Adept at all film genres, Hawks excelled at fast-paced screwball comedies like Twentieth Century, Bringing up Baby, and His Girl Friday.

His Girl Friday was a reworking of the Ben Hecht Charles MacArthur classic The Front Page. By making Hildy Johnson a woman and the ex-wife of editor Walter Burns, Hawks thought the dialogue was funnier and added a dimension that The Front Page lacked. This was a pretty risky decision at the time, since The Front Page was considered a classic not to be messed with.

Hawks's risk paid off and the casting of Cary Grant as Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson was inspired. In Grant's capable hands, Walter Burns is a more complex character than he was in the original. In The Front Page, Burns is a total cad. He wants to lure Hildy back to the newspaper business for completely selfish motives. In His Girl Friday, Walter wants Hildy back at the paper because she's a great reporter, but also because he's still in love with her. Russell's Hildy is the perfect Hawksian heroine: self-assured, smart, and independent. It's hard to believe that Russell was the eighth choice to play Hildy Johnson. Jean Arthur, Katherine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Irene Dunne, Margaret Sullivan, and Ginger Rogers all turned the role down. Hawks wanted Carole Lombard, who he directed to stardom in Twentieth Century, but she was too expensive, working as an independent actress. Joan Crawford was even considered for the role.

Russell was so put off by being eighth on the list (ninth if you count Crawford) that the first time she met Hawks, she showed up with wet hair. She soon discovered that Hawks wanted her to succeed in the role and after a few rough patches early in the shooting, she quickly gained confidence, going toe-to-toe with the more experienced Grant (His Girl Friday was his third film with Hawks).

As the story goes, Hildy quits the paper to marry dependable, but dull, insurance salesman Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Tired of being a "newspaperman," Hildy says she wants a normal life of domesticity, but Walter suspects she's fooling herself, so he plots to lure her back to the paper and into his arms.

Hawks was never one for depicting domestic married life on the screen, preferring to portray the chase and the buildup to marriage, and no one  showcased the chase better than Hawks. Since Hawks admired smart, funny women, his heroines are never given short shrift on film. From camera angles to screen time, Grant and Russell are treated equally. One of the reasons Hawks's films still seem so fresh and contemporary is due to his strong female characterizations.

Howard Hawks directed some of the greatest films of all time and His Girl Friday is one of his best.

His Girl Friday opened at Radio City Music Hall on January 11, 1940.