012. Goodbye, My Fancy, 1951

What’s The Story? Powerful Congresswoman Agatha (our Joan) is lured to her alma mater to receive an award at their commencement ceremony. She confesses to her secretary Woody (Eve Arden, who steals every scene she’s in with sardonic wit and impeccable delivery) that she had an affair with one of her professors, Dr. Merrill (Robert Young, pre-Marcus Welby by about 16 years) back in the day which lead to her expulsion. Nipping at her heels is Life Magazine photographer Matt Cole (Frank Lovejoy), her old flame from their war correspondent days. As Agatha goes down memory lane at her old college, her romance with Merrill is rekindled. She also brings with her a film about the perils of restricting intellectual freedom, which rankles the college’s head trustee.

It’s a good set up for a romantic comedy and the film mostly delivers. Based on Fay Kanin’s play of the same name, the story structure is strong here. Agatha is strong-willed but lonely, good at her job but also wanting love. She’s a woman of conviction in a story that’s all about people compromising their values. The film moves at a nice breezy pace that doesn’t feel too fast.

So why does it feel a bit thin?

Easy. At 1951, Joan was in the middle of her Warner Brothers contract and her star power was just starting to wane. But Joan Crawford at 90% is still way stronger than most actors. The two other vertices of this love triangle — Robert Young and Frank Lovejoy — just don’t have the star power or the mettle to really serve as a strong equal to Joan. So, she easily blows them off the screen in every scene they’re in. And Lovejoy especially is just out of his element. You buy that he’s a cynical guy, but that is the only note he hits. His Matt Cole is too rough with Agatha to really be considered seriously. And while Robert Young is fine in the role, Cary Grant would have really served a better sparring partner for Joan. Also, every time he was on screen, I kept expecting him to sell me some coffee.

Oh, And How’s Joan? One year after Harriet Craig (previous post here), Joan has found a few layers in the Manicured Battle-Axe mode she was in during the 50s. She holds the center of this film quite well. While there are moments where her presentational tics are front and center (see the dazed expression she has when Agatha sees her old dorm room - false notes all around), there are moments where she absolutely shines. There is a lot of talk about freedom and democracy here and Joan sells those moments the best. You can feel that these are the reasons why Agatha got into politics in the first place and her steeliness is how a woman could have survived and thrived in Congress during the 50s. She’s good. Not her best but definitely not her worst.

She apparently did not get along with her co-star, Janice Rule. Ms. Rule, new to film but not to acting, kept missing her marks. Joan wasn’t having that, apparently telling her “Miss Rule, you’d better enjoy making films while you can. I doubt you will be with us long.”

Should I Watch It? Sure. Joan is good, the story is still relevant today and Eve Arden is just genius. It’s not as strong as it should be but it’s still entertaining.

How Can I See It? You can rent it from YouTube here and on iTunes.

011. Susan And God, 1940

What’s The Story? Rich lady about town Susan (our miss Joan) is due back any minute from a long trip to Europe. Her boozy estranged husband Barrie (Frederic March) is none too happy about this. Susan has alienated their daughter Blossom (Ruth Quigley, NOT Mayim Bialik) who gets into a crying fit over being sent to yet another summer camp and just wants her family to get back together. Susan’s good friends Irene, Clyde, Leonora, Charlotte and Hutchie are all at sixes and sevens as well, what with two of them prevented from being together by a lack of divorce and another couple longing for each other but one of them is inconveniently married.

Susan’s (and Joan’s) arrival in the film is on the bow of a speedboat, hurtling towards the group at breakneck speed. While she doesn’t crash into the pier, Susan definitely crashes into her friends’ lives. Talking a mile a minute, Susan waxes about the new religion she learned while in Europe, like she does with Leonora (Rita Hayworth) and her ex boyfriend. (Video can't be embedded, sorry) And Susan’s truth-telling has major consequences for her life and for those around her.

Based on Rachel Crother’s play, Susan And God starts out as a Noel Coward-esque satire on religious fads and superficial spirituality. And the first half of the movie delivers on this. Susan is about as deep as a pancake, and uses this new religion to try to deflect responsibility in her life while insisting it in her friends. There’s a lot of rat-a-tat dialogue which is delivered well by an able cast. But the film turns very serious in its second half, almost losing all of its comedy and bite where Susan tries to make things work with her family and all but forgets about the new religion. The film makes less sense at it goes on. It’s a forgotten part of Crawford’s filmography and it’s easy to see why.

Oh, And How’s Joan? Joan delivers most of the time. Paired again with her director from The Women George Cukor, Joan proves two films in a row that can can deliver funny dialogue while playing the pathos underneath. Her scenes with Frederic March sparkle. But the story goes off the rails and there’s little Joan can do about it. Joan got the role after Norma Shearer (her main rival at MGM) turned down the role. The film was a financial disappointment and started a run of films which ended in MGM not renewing her contract.

Should I Watch It? Eh. Maybe? She’s fine in it, but she’s way better in The Women (which I will cover later). If you are a completionist, sure give this a whirl. But I think your time will be better suited watching other films of hers.

Where Can I Watch It? I recorded it off of TCM, but you can buy the DVD of it here.

010. Dancing Lady, 1933

What’s The Story? In the middle of the Great Depression, Janie (Joan Crawford) just wants to dance. And the only place that will take her in the Big Apple is a burlesque house. She has an admirer in Tod (played by Crawford’s then-boyfriend-soon-to-be-second-husband Franchot Tone), a rich playboy who brought a bunch of friends to see the act. Janie is one of many dancers who gets arrested in a police raid (!) and then heads to night court (!) where she ends up in jail because she doesn’t have the $30 to post bond. Tod swoops in, pays the bills, and then starts to seriously woo Janie. Meanwhile, our heroine bluffs her way into doing an audition for theater director/auteur tyrant Patch Gallagher (played by Joan’s on-again, off-again lover Clark Gable). Tod pulls some strings and Janie gets into Patch’s newest show. Using her skills, talent and a lot of moxie, Janie proves to be an asset to the show and not just some rich guy’s girl.

Tod starts to put the screws to Janie to give up her career and marry him while Janie just wants to dance. And then sparks begin the fly with her and Patch. After Patch puts her in the lead of the show, she gets a charlie horse and he takes her up to his office.

The sparks, they are a-flyin’.

Now, the plot is pretty conventional but the execution is wonderful. The film is full of strong acting, fun dialogue and tons of charm. Dancing Lady not only features the film debuts of Nelson Eddy and Eve Arden (in a hilarious small role as an actress pretending to be Southern), but also the Three Stooges as stage hands (!) and Fred Astaire! His big number with Joan is a ton of fun, if very… very odd.

The number continues with them landing their flying carpet in Germany (!) where they all sing a song about beer and pretzels. (No, I’m not kidding) The film is a total blast.

Oh, And How’s Joan? She’s great! In 1933, we’re still in a transition between highly presentational and more naturalistic acting. Some of Joan’s co-stars (like Robert Benchley) are playing to the back of the house while others (like Gable) are scaled to the camera. Joan is mostly natural while lapsing every now and then into presentational. She’s very affecting (like the above clip with Gable) and her dancing is good too. In her first few years in Hollywood, she danced at nightclubs to help pay her bills. And that pays off here. She’s also quite funny. Here’s a great scene where she and Gable flirt/fight as they work out.

Joan even pulls the “You should smile more” line on Gable decades before people turned that phrase on its ear on Twitter! (And side note: Gable is suuuuuuuuper sexy in this. And their chemistry is great. it’s a lot better than her chemistry with Tone, who Joan married a couple years after this film… and then divorced.)

Should I See It? Absolutely! It’s fun and charming and super winning. It’s one of the best I’ve seen since i started this project.

How Can I See it? They play it fairly often on Turner Classic Movies. You can also rent it on iTunes here and YouTube here.