TopBilled

X THE UNKNOWN (1958)

DIAL 1119 (1950)

SINCERELY YOURS (1955)

AUTUMN IN NEW YORK (2000)

COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA (1952)

Inescort, Frieda

THE QUIET MAN (1952)

AMBUSH (1950)

Today's neglected film is from 1947. It has never aired on TCM. This review can be found on my blog, along with all the other reviews: https://oforinvolvingmotionpictures.wordpress.com/2022/10/23/neglected-film-moss-rose-1947/ When I first viewed MOSS ROSE a few years ago, I enjoyed it but couldn’t quite accept Fox contract player Victor Mature in a Victorian setting. Perhaps because I tend to associate him with Betty Grable musicals and SAMSON AND DELILAH. But when I watched MOSS ROSE again recently, I found Mature to be more than adequate…in fact, it made sense they had cast him as a half-Italian, half-British man that had been raised in Canada. After all, Mature whose family name is Maturi, was a second generation Italian-American. Another item I originally questioned was Mature playing Ethel Barrymore’s son, since she seems considerably more refined. Though the story does explain how his father took him away from her as a small boy, so he technically wasn’t reared by her. Off camera, Victor Mature’s agent was Myron Selznick, brother of producer David Selznick who had Miss Barrymore under contract and had loaned her to Fox for this production. So that explains why Barrymore and Mature seem to get on so well in this story, as they were probably familiar with each other before working together. I do like how prominent Barrymore is in this picture. Often she’s assigned supporting roles with limited screen time, typically as an invalid at this phase of her career. But in MOSS ROSE she plays an active role, and she is quite villainous…she may look like a kind old lady, but cross this gal at your own peril! The top-billed star of the picture is Irish import Peggy Cummins. What I’ve always liked about Miss Cummins in all her movies is how she’s a real beauty but has a natural flair for character roles. She gives a very spirited and engaging performance here as a chorus girl who discovers the death of her best friend, another chorine. While the police are looking for the killer, Cummins spots wealthy Mature who had been seeing the dead girl. It doesn’t take long for Cummins to decide to use this to her advantage, since she knows Mature would become a person of interest in the investigation, if not the main suspect. The scenes where she visits Mature at his hotel room and blackmails him are uproarious…she’s a novice at this sordid negotiating, but her scheme proves successful. Cummins’ character does not want money to stay quiet. Instead, she will keep her mouth closed and not offer up incriminating testimony, if Mature will take her to his mother’s luxurious countryside estate. You see, Cummins has always wanted to be a lady of society. Hobnobbing with Mature’s mother (Barrymore), as well as Mature’s upper crust fiancee (Patricia Medina) will allow her to indulge in this fantasy. The scene where Cummins arrives at the estate and Barrymore gets one look at her is even more hilarious than the blackmailing. This girl is in way over her head but somehow she charms everyone. A short time later things turn sinister, when Medina’s character ends up dead…in much the same way that the murder of the chorine had occurred in London. When these women die, they have supposedly been praying and a moss rose (hence the title) is used to mark a certain passage in their bibles. When the inspector (Vincent Price) and his assistant (Rhys Williams) arrive to investigate the strange death, they collect circumstantial evidence, as well as the bible and the rose. In an intriguing scene, Price learns that Barrymore is very proud of her flowers, and he notices she’s been growing a bunch of moss roses. By this point, the audience surmises that Barrymore is the bible killer who leaves the flowers behind…but dense Price arrests Mature, believing him to be the culprit. Meanwhile Mature has realized he loves Cummins, and though she’s scared and wants to leave, she decides to stick by his side. Barrymore discovers that Cummins will now be marrying her son, and she wants her son all to herself. So she quickly arranges to commit another murder. Fortunately, Barrymore’s attempt to kill Cummins is foiled. This means Mature is off the hook, and he’s free to marry Cummins. The narrative wraps up rather quickly, but it is still nonetheless quite satisfying. Barrymore gives the best performance, but they are all wonderful. I am looking forward to watching this film again.

Sunday October 23, 2022 Western on TCM 3:10 to yuma

Sunday October 23, 2022

OCTOPUSSY (1983)

two thousand five hundred ninety-seventh category Fang you very much HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS (1970) LOVE AT FIRST BITE (1979) WHITE FANG (1991)

SHANE (1953)

WHO DONE IT? (1942)

MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (1981) Next: Life

ICE CASTLES (1978)

HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE (2004) Next: WHITE PALACE (1990)

DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER (1957)

TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1949)

THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL (1985)

DON'T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER'S DEAD (1991)

WINTERTIME (1943)

MAKING LOVE (1982)

Janet Gaynor