From Paramount Pictures
Directed by Melville Shavelson
Starring
Bob Hope
Vera Miles
Paul Douglas
Alexis Smith
Darren McGavin
Who among you has heard of this one? I am guessing not many and that is why I want to bring it to your attention. It is the story of James J. Walker or Jimmy or Beau James, the 97th mayor of New York. It is a well-told, if slightly romanticized tale, as Hollywood is given to doing, that features a stand-out performance from Bob Hope.
Let's peak into a fact or two about Hope before we move along to the film's subject. This is probably the best movie he ever appeared in. Personally, I am not fond of his comedies, except for the very silly Son of Paleface (and Jane Russell and Roy Rogers were more responsible for my attendance in 1952 than Hope). I think I can promise you that this will be the only Hope movie I will ever review. I generally avoided his films but I had already crossed paths with him a few times by 1957 and noticed that if he weren't performing, this was a very serious man... bossy, firm, certainly with a do-you-know-who-I-am attitude and really, kinda dark.
So I took note of three movies he made in the mid-50's that surprising starred Hope in dramas. I had a hunch that the man I'd seen in person might just pull off this dramatic stuff. Some years later I heard that it was very important to him to manage some dramatic roles just as his pal and perennial costar Bing Crosby had done. When Crosby won an Oscar, Hope felt a knot in his stomach.
In 1955 he was the patriarch in The Seven Little Foys, about a real-life vaudeville family. Yeah, it had comedy and song and dance but it was about a performer who did all that. There was plenty of serious stuff as well. The next year he made That Certain Feeling, a romantic comedy-drama, wherein he and George Sanders vied for the attentions of Eva Marie Saint.
In 1957 he made this film and while it, too, has some singing and a little soft-shoe, it turned out to be Hope's best dramatic performance. And you know what? He's great in it, the best work he's ever done on the big screen. Sadly, he never made another stab at a dramatic film.
The story covers the six years that Jimmy Walker was mayor of The Big Apple... 1926-32. The screenplay was written by Gene Fowler who was a good friend of Jimmy's. He knew the man well and loved him as a good friend but he was also the man who put a frosted lens over the more shady aspects of the flamboyant mayor.
Jimmy had been in the New York state assembly and senate and was eminently qualified to be mayor but he was reluctant to do it. Ultimately, the snappy dresser, smart talker, jazz-age aficionado and former songwriter who liked to perform, was talked into it. The thing most appealing about Jimmy was that he was madly in love with his city.
After he was elected, he brought much prosperity to New York, adding more hospitals, theaters, improving transportation and more and residents loved him as though he were a big movie star. The problem was Jimmy did everything on the fast track. He loved to be seen in all the hot spots and he was known to spend more time at the ball park than city hall. He loved to spend money.
It was discovered that he and his administration were corrupt. A scandal enveloped him because of his accepting money in return for favors. (Hmmm, maybe we could remake this today, change some names and update it some.) Though both were Democrats, President Roosevelt determined to force Jimmy to resign.
Additionally, Jimmy had lost some favor because of his personal life. He and his wife Allie (Smith) are separated when the story opens and he asks her to publicly show support by being the adorable and adored wife and she complies.
But after he takes office, he meets showgirl Betty Compton (Miles) and they fall in love. He wields his power to get her the lead in a Broadway musical. She is ambivalent about being the other woman. She knows his marriage is on the rocks and that he and his wife are together because they're Catholics.
Both of his right-hand men, the gruff Douglas and the savvy McGavin, try to get Walker to unload Betty. While both like her, they know his public flaunting of their relationship could contribute to his undoing.
Betty doesn't want to be the First Lady of anything political and she is tired of being the second lady personally. Just before Walker resigns, Betty leaves him. Just as it looks like his relationship with Allie is truly on the mend, Walker leaves her as well and hopes to return to Betty. Jimmy's resignation speech takes place at a sold-out Yankee Stadium, which is quite touching but fictional. Hey, movies need a solid ending.
There is no doubt one of the top stars of the film is New York. The film-makers want us to know it and love it as much as Jimmy does. It is a lovely experience, too. To add to the luster, famed New York columnist Walter Winchell, with that no-nonsense voice, narrates the film. He knew the real Jimmy, too.
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| The real Jimmy |
I have high regard for the performances of Hope's four principal costars. I think all films in which Douglas appeared are better because he's part of them. He rarely did anything other than gruff/kind but he did it better than anyone. He often supported a leading man and was usually the voice of reason who becomes exasperated along the way.
Miles, always a great favorite, gets to do some singing (really?) and dancing here. To my knowledge this is her only showgirl role and she handles it with expertise. She was a great match for the dramatic Hope. As is so with the others. she has one outstanding scene that she totally commands.
Smith, as strong and capable as Miles always is, plays it a little softer here. Allie can be cold and aloof and she can be warm and caring. The character clearly loves her husband but she has no intention of getting in his way. She and Miles also have a good scene together in which both show what decent characters they are portraying.
McGavin always intrigued me. I thought he was a dynamic and intelligent actor who never made it to the top of the Hollywood heap. Too bad too. His character is also very intelligent and quick and also a bit critical of his boss's decision-making. His final scene, where he politely and cleverly tells Walker how he views him as a man, a boss and a politician, cuts to the core.
Shavelson had been a gag writer for Hope for years and with the comedian's help he became a movie director two years earlier with The Seven Little Foys. He worked as a director more in comedies but he did do three or four dramas. His major contribution here was knowing Hope as well as he did. No doubt a debt of thanks is owed him for Hope's dramatic turn.
I liked the ending, too, with Hope and Miles on a ship sailing out of New York Harbor. Walter Winchell, of course, brings the well-made story to a close with... and so Jimmy sailed away from his one true love and into years of exile and wandering. But his friend Gene Fowler's affectionate memory of him is green and the love of him is warm. He is a legend now. And when you ride in the taxicabs of the streets of New York, if you ask who best typifies the heart of the greatest city in the western world, you are bound to hear the name Jimmy Walker. And the smile that goes with the utterance of that name makes you warm and fine and forgiving all day long.
I still don't think this is available on DVD or Blu-Ray but it is available on YouTube. Check it out if you're so inclined. See an unusual Hope performance and a very good one. See all good acting. See New York. See an interesting story of a colorful real man. See it with popcorn on a Sunday afternoon. Have fun.
Next posting:
She'll get you higher and higher
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