From Universal-International
Directed by Douglas Sirk
Starring
Barbara Stanwyck
Richard Carlson
Lyle Bettger
Marcia Henderson
Lori Nelson
Maureen O'Sullivan
Billy Gray
Richard Long
Lotte Stein
One assumes that fans of Stanwyck or director Sirk have seen this little gem from 1953. It is an engaging family drama in a decade where both did such enjoyable work. One might call this early Sirk or at least when considering his American films. It doesn't stand up to his later Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind or Imitation of Life but it is great fun to take in from start to finish. It features one of Stanwyck's sweeter dramatic performances. The bottom line for me is I could never get enough of these two.
Around the turn of the 20th century in fictional Riverdale, Wisconsin, Naomi Murdoch leaves her school teacher husband and three children to go off and become an actress. It skipped no one's notice that her sudden departure was also due to an impending scandal with a man she's not married to. Her aspirations were directed toward Broadway but she never accomplished more than vaudeville. When her youngest daughter, Lily, is about to star in a high school play shortly before graduation, she sends a note to her mother asking her to attend. No one was aware that Lily had written to her. Naomi didn't respond to her daughter so when Naomi knocks on the open screened door when the family is sitting around the dinner table, everyone is genuinely shocked.
Lily (Nelson) is beyond thrilled but her older sister Joyce (Henderson) is clearly agitated. Young brother Ted (Gray) is surprised but he was barely old enough to remember his mother when she abandoned the family. Henry, too, is clearly surprised to see his wife but might there have been a glimpse of his heart beating faster?
How various people might react toward Naomi is reflected in each of her daughters. The family housekeeper-cook, Lena (Stein) is most joyful at Naomi's return, even though it is planned for only one night. Joyce is embittered that her mother obviously cared so little for the family that she walked out and didn't even maintain any contact. Let's face it, it's pretty unusual for a mother to do that and Joyce's attitude is echoed by many of the townspeople who, nonetheless, can't wait to get a look at the hussy.
There's the biting social commentary on small town thinking which I found a perfect examination since I'm originally from a small town and my family, in its way, was the subject of sniping, gossip and viciousness.
Lily, on the other hand, is full of love and forgiveness and thinks of her mother as a goddess. She is unaware of Naomi's unfulfilled ambitions, however, and when Naomi leaves again, Lily intends to go with her.
Before long, of course, who comes around but Naomi's past paramour, Dutch (Bettger), lurking in the dark around the Murdoch home, determined to pick up where things left off. Naomi is not at all interested but she elects to meet Dutch at their former trysting meeting place where he has gone to hunt while waiting for her. Unfortunately, as he makes his move, she pushes him away and he falls into his rifle which sends a bullet into him.
Of course the whole town hears about it (most feel smugly confident that once a harlot, always a harlot) but when Henry visits Dutch in the hospital, the latter shows some decency when he tells Henry that not only did Naomi rebuff him but she's interested in nothing but Henry and her family. I think you know it all ends well.
Sirk was a stylish dramatist who was able to present the soap opera elements of the story with conviction and flourish uncommon to the genre. He would work with Stanwyck one more time in 1956's There's Always Tomorrow. It's too bad they didn't work together more.
It was a wonderful role for her. Frankly, Stanwyck could do anything and she is one of the few for whom I would say she never ever gave a bad performance. Some of her films weren't so good but she always gave them all she had. She had played a role like this several times before but rarely had such a character been played with such a sense of regret and a determination to make amends.
I hate to drag Carlson through the mud and while I thought he was fine in the role, he and Stanwyck were hardly an ideal match. A stronger male lead might have raised the bar for the film a bit more.
Nobody did smarmy better than Bettger. He was rarely a hero in his movies because he was just so good at portraying mean and bad that's its just about all he was offered. This was a second teaming for him and Stanwyck... they played similar roles three years earlier in No Man of Her Own.
The younger stars all acquitted themselves quite nicely. Universal filled the picture with its contract players. Nelson and Henderson lucked out with showy roles. One can only imagine how intimated they must have been working with such a superstar.
Long, playing Henderson's beau, would one day play Stanwyck's son on TV's The Big Valley. Universal, with its penchant for hiring handsome young men, gave small, uncredited roles to Stuart Whitman, Guy Williams and Brett Halsey. Stein was an infectious delight as the housekeeper.
The set that was the large Murdoch home was grand and the theme music running throughout the film was a total romantic delight.
If you haven't seen the film, give it a try. Aside from seeing Stanwyck, I loved the look into a serious family problem and liked very much how it was laid out. You might, too. In the meantime, here's a clip.
Next posting:
Movie review
No comments:
Post a Comment