TopBilled
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Posts posted by TopBilled
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Desi Arnaz
Next: had a role on Search for Tomorrow
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WABASH AVENUE (1950)
Next: MEET ME AFTER THE SHOW (1951) two with Betty Grable
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THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
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Duncan, Sandy
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TOMORROW IS FOREVER (1946)
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Essential: MAID OF SALEM (1937)
TopBilled:
After a month of romcoms, we turn our attention to a period piece about a woman accused of witchcraft. I should mention that in anticipation of Halloween, our theme this October is Witches. Some of the female characters in the stories we will be discussing embrace their powers, and some do not.
MAID OF SALEM takes place in 1682. It is set in the port of Salem, Massachusetts where a public declaration of witchcraft will ruin a young woman’s life. The basic gist of the story? A community that adheres to Christian values has a specific set of rules about how women should maintain a respectable lifestyle.
If a person like Colbert’s character is unable to repress her desires– in this case, choosing to dance with a man– she is considered a woman possessed by dark forces. The attitude that surrounds calling out such behavior means she will be made a public example. The ensuing hysteria will only increase if other women follow the same path as her, since they too will have to suffer shame for these transgressions.
To some extent this type of enforced morality is prevalent today. Peer pressure attempts to control through subtle means the way members of a group are supposed to act. We don’t like to think that American society is still so Puritanical, but I would argue part of it is.
One has to wonder what Claudette Colbert thought when the bosses at Paramount approached her with the idea of starring in such a film. Perhaps she saw it as a challenge, since the script was so different from what she had been doing. To work on a story where characters meditate on sin, where persecution and martyrdom are on display– that’s a far cry from the romcoms she had been making.
I suppose any star would welcome the chance to tackle such meaty material. After all, it was an opportunity to appear in a big-budget historical drama directed by Frank Lloyd. A highly regarded director, Lloyd’s career stretched back to the early 1910s when the movie business was in its infancy.
To be honest, I think Colbert fares considerably better than Fred MacMurray does. Not because she’s playing the central role, but because she has facial features that convey a timeless quality. By comparison, MacMurray seems a lot more modern in his appearance. Incidentally, Colbert gives a fine believable performance in John Ford’s DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK, two years later. She just fit these types of characters and situations better.
Colbert always comes across like such a fundamentally decent person in her motion pictures. Underneath it all we just cannot believe she’d ever really be a witch. There’s nothing spooky about her. There’s nothing really spooky about any part of MAID OF SALEM. While watching it, the only thing I feared was running out of popcorn.
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Jlewis:
One of the more curious and fascinating Fred MacMurray/Claudette Colbert pair-ups is this grade A costume drama supervised by Frank Lloyd in August-November 1936. Set in ol’ Salem, Massachusetts and “based on authentic records of the year 1692” (although some Hollywood license is needed for entertainment purposes), our recreated world here is presented as “a gateway to the vast territories of the New World,” territories that the residents are most fearful of and protect themselves with the strictest of religious rules.
Love the cast and set design here. This is a big production worthy of Cecil B. DeMille with considerable attention in its historical detail. The cast is mighty, with Harvey Stephens and Gale Sondergaard playing front-burner characters Dr. John and wife Martha Harding, these being the support system for our lead Barbara Clarke (Colbert). Then there’s Benny Bartlett and Louise Dresser as Timothy and Ellen Clarke, the colorful Goode clan (Edward Ellis, Beulah Bondi as the most familiar character face, Bonita Granville and Virginia Weidler) and the always reliable Donald Meek as Ezra Cheeves.
Comedy relief is provided by Sterling Holloway, the voice of many Disney characters in later years. The official law-maker, the Crown Justice Sewall, is covered by William Farnum, one of the top stars of the silent era.
Prominent black actress Madame Sul-Te-Wan plays a fortune-teller named Tituba, who is later ostracized for “be-witching” the residents with her colorful story telling. This is one of those selected thirties films that attempts to tackle the taboo subject of racism, although certainly not the only example predating the post-World War II period. Colbert the star appeared in IMITATION OF LIFE two years earlier.
It is Tituba who predicts that our heroine “will meet a man.” Enter MacMurray as Virginia fugitive Roger Coverman escaping that colony’s tax complications. “Glory be,” he exclaims when she stumbles into the seaside cabin he is residing in with an acquaintance of both. She is enamored by him and even learns to…gasp!…dance with him like people in the more heathen parts of the New World. Romance blossoms and Barbara herself falls into dangerous questioning by the townspeople for socializing with this stranger.
A lot happens in our crisp 84 minute running time. Barbara learns some backstory history of her own mother, accused falsely of being a witch, while also defending fellow nurse Rebecca (Lucy Beaumont) who is accused of the same in some dramatic court scenes.
Roger, for his part, attempts to leave for the more accepting climate of the Spanish controlled Florida territories with his uncle Jeremiah Adams (Halliwell Hobbes) but fate intervenes and he, like Barbara later, is put in prison. He eventually escapes his confines with bloodhounds hot on his trail and, in a curious coincidence that only Hollywood screenwriters can provide, returns to Salem just as the Virginia governor arrives to check in on the court proceedings going on.
Barbara is rescued from the noose just in time for our happy reunion and, hopefully, will no longer be just a “maid” of Salem. Although one can easily question the logistics of our story, it all winds up as highly entertaining DeMille-ish melodrama of the highest order.
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THERE'S ALWAYS A WOMAN (1938)...THE AMAZING MR. WILLIAMS (1939)...GOOD GIRLS GO TO PARIS (1939)
Next: Maureen O'Hara & Charles Laughton
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Dexter, Dex -- played by Michael Nader in TV's Dynasty
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CARSON CITY (1952)
Next: lots of hallucinations
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Lee Remick
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Brady, Scott
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ZIS BOOM BAH (1941)
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Today's neglected film is from 1935. It has aired once on TCM.
The original source material for this film comes from Charles Dickens’ last work which was incomplete at the time of his death. There is much speculation regarding how the author would have finished the story, which was one of his darkest and most nihilistic works of fiction. Universal played up the novel’s non-ending when advertising the film which arrives at its own conclusion.
Claude Rains was not the first choice to play the opium addicted choir master who becomes obsessed with a young woman. The studio initially wanted Boris Karloff who was not available. Interestingly Karloff was also the first choice when the studio was casting THE INVISIBLE MAN two years earlier. But a falling out between Karloff and director James Whale prevented that. So on two separate occasions Rains stepped in for Karloff. Karloff would return the favor when Rains was unable to appear in Universal’s proposed sequel for PHANTOM OF THE OPERA which became known as THE CLIMAX (1944).
Back to Edwin Drood. David Manners portrays the title character. Though some articles online claim this was Manners’ last film, that is not true; he would appear in five more pictures.
Manners has substantially less screen time than everyone else since Drood vanishes in the second half, which gives us our mystery. Where has he gone, what has happened to him, was he murdered?, etc. These are the questions left dangling by Dickens’ unfinished manuscript.
In addition to Rains and Manners, there are other distinguished members in the cast. Drood’s girl is played by Heather Angel, and Douglass Montgomery is cast as a rival for her affections.
British actress Valerie Hobson is also on hand as another young lass. The performers are assisted by ornate sets that provide a melodramatic, Gothic quality. The studio allocated a sizable budget for this production, and it shows.
When Rains suggests that Manners has been murdered by Montgomery’s character, Montgomery also disappears— but then returns in a disguised form to investigate what really happened.
The choir master is the culprit in this version, but of course, Dickens may have intended for him to be “innocent” after all…if Drood was meant to turn up alive and well at the end. We’ll never know. But we do know that in this version, making Rains the villain is a laudable choice…he’s an expert at playing deranged behavior with a flair. His performance in THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is absolutely brilliant.
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two thousand five hundred seventy-fifth categoryPsychos in the 60s
PSYCHO (1960)
HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)
TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1965)-
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Don Murray
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X MARKS THE SPOT (1942)
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Zimmer, Kim
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Special Theme: Directed by Robert Wise
Cheat Sheet:
2991. MADEMOISELLE FIFI (1944) with Simone Simon & Kurt Kreuger.
2992. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) with Patricia Neal & Michael Rennie.
2993. THE CAPTIVE CITY (1952) with Joan Camden, John Forsythe & Marjorie Crossland.
2994. DESTINATION GOBI (1953) with Casey Adams, Judy Dann & Richard Widmark.
2995. HELEN OF TROY (1956) with Rossana Podesta.
2996. UNTIL THEY SAIL (1957) with Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie & Sandra Dee.
2997. THE HAUNTING (1963) with Julie Harris & Claire Bloom.
2998. THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971) with James Olson & Paula Kelly.
2999. TWO PEOPLE (1973) with Lindsay Wagner & Peter Fonda.
3000. THE HINDENBURG (1975) with Anne Bancroft.
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THE ADVENTURES OF JANE ARDEN (1939)
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HALLOWEEN (1978)
Next: lots of songs with Elvis
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Arden, Jane -- played by Rosella Towne in THE ADVENTURES OF JANE ARDEN (1939)
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COLE YOUNGER GUNFIGHTER (1958)
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RIVER LADY (1948)
Next: Great
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VICTOR VICTORIA (1982)
The first actor/actress that comes to mind..
in Games and Trivia
Posted
The one and only Eileen Fulton
Next: had a romance with a costar