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NAZI AGENT (1942)

Quillan, Eddie

Roseanne

Today's neglected film is from 1950. It has aired once on TCM. A lot can be said about NO MAN OF HER OWN, a 1950 offering from Paramount’s in-house director Mitchell Leisen. He directed many hits for the studio over a twenty-year period, and one of them in 1939 starred Barbara Stanwyck. He had a chance to work with the actress again on this film, and in my opinion, they both collaborated on a masterpiece. The film is hard to define. It’s based on a Cornell Woolrich crime story, so by most accounts it would seem like noir. But in some ways, it takes a cue from Stanwyck’s previous Stella Dallas, since it’s about a single mother struggling to make it. Despite the noir elements and being a bonafide tearjerker, the story does manage to have a happy ending. I think the upbeat conclusion is the only way they could get it by the production code office. Stanwyck’s character lies about the parentage of her illegitimate child, and she takes on a different identity to pass the baby off as someone else’s. However, she finds a redeeming love in the last few minutes of the film, which sort of balances out the errors in judgment she makes in the early portion of the narrative. I’m okay with it, and if you view this film, I trust you will be okay with it, too. It’s a satisfying motion picture. Some of the reasons it is so satisfying? Well, there’s the careful methodical way Leisen establishes the pace, not to mention Stanwyck’s heart wrenching performance at nearly every turn. Plus the cinematography is particuarly sharp– don’t miss the train wreck scene near the beginning, where Stanwyck and costar Phyllis Thaxter take a tumble. The special effects are superb in this sequence, and the violence is shocking and just pulls you right into what’s happening. Often the supporting players help make an above average film a sublime one. Here, we have Jane Cowl in her last screen role. She plays a society woman trying to give her son and daughter-in-law a real shot at love and enduring happiness. Also in the cast is Esther Dale as a fussy but well-meaning housekeeper; Richard Denning as a doomed son; the already mentioned Phyllis Thaxter as his equally doomed wife; as well as John Lund and Lyle Bettger as Stanwyck’s various love interests. Bettger is especially smooth here as a cad who nearly sabotages her chance at a good life. NO MAN OF HER OWN has a lot going for it. It works its magic on you. It grabs your attention and does not let go. And when you get to the end of the story, I am confident you will feel like I did– knowing you have watched a great Hollywood film.

two thousand five hundred sixty-second category The setting is Hawaii HAWAII CALLS (1938) MA AND PA KETTLE AT WAIKIKI (1953)

PENNY SERENADE (1941)

Ian Holm Next: Kornel Lajos Weisz

KING RICHARD AND THE CRUSADERS (1954)

Peter Godfrey & Errol Flynn Next: DEEP VALLEY (1947) and ROAD HOUSE (1948)

THE LONG GOODBYE (1973) Next: GOODBYE CHARLIE (1964)

THEY SHALL HAVE MUSIC (1939)

MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945)

A BILL OF DIVORCEMENT (1940)

MAMA STEPS OUT (1937)

ICE COLD IN ALEX (1958)

O'Brien, Joan

Sunday September 18, 2022 Seldom on TCM the lawless

Sunday September 18, 2022

Louise Beavers ***** Who was in: THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU (1944) PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945) NEVER SAY GOODBYE (1946) THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1948) THREE SECRETS (1950)

SEND ME NO FLOWERS (1964)

Hugh Marlowe Next: guest-starred on Picket Fences

Kringle, Kris -- played by Edmund Gwenn in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947)

THE WESTERNER (1940)...SWAMP WATER (1941)...THE NORTH STAR (1943) Next: Gloria Stuart & Michael Whalen

HOME ALONE (1990)

Ice-T Next: Georgette Andre Barry